The sun was just sinking below the horizon when Astera Ambrosia appeared in the trees. There was a sharp wind that evening, but she didn't bother turning up the hood of her leather jacket - she didn't feel the cold as her bright green eyes scanned the night air above the apartment building. The street was quiet as a lone crow flew and landed on a telephone pole. The only other movement was the rapid blue blinking of the alarm light in one of the parked cars.
The crow fidgeted on the pole, and a cold black eye peered into the apartment building across from it. There was only one window alight in the dusty old building, and it cawed out harshly into the night air.
At Tether Hawkstar's signal, Astera melted out into the open and swiftly scaled the side of the building.
She swung gracefully into the balcony of the lighted window, and glanced back to find that the crow had followed her into the landing. She cracked her knuckles as the crow melted and morphed into itself, and where it had been perching, a dark, handsome man was now standing. His long black hair streamed over his shoulders, and he smiled grimly at Astera as he tied it back with a rubber band he kept around his wrist.
"Ready?" He whispered, his lovely purple eyes glowing in the dark.
"Whenever you are." She replied flatly.
Tether nodded in reply and began to pick the lock on the window. A few moments later, there was a tiny click, and the shifter slowly pushed the window open. He drew the ratty curtain back and looked in; the kitchen the window opened out into was dim, and the source of light came from down the hall.
Tether slipped silently into the room, his movements as agile as a cat's. He looked around furtively as Astera climbed just as quietly in, and they didn't bother closing the window again as they set off into the hallway.
The apartment was dingy, and badly lit. Astera looked coolly at the long scratches in the walls, and gingerly sidestepped wads of light yellow fur. As they approached the long square of light that spilled passed the half closed door of the bedroom, Tether looked back and waved a hand at Astera, his eyebrow up expectantly.
She rolled her eyes dramatically and pulled up the white hospital mask that hung around her neck. When the straps were secure over her ears, she looked up to see that Tether had already pulled up his own mask.
They paused outside the room and listened. Shallow, ragged breathing sounded from inside the room, and the vile smell Astera and Tether had gotten used to floated out to meet them. The two looked at each other. It was for sure; the room's occupant was definitely sick.
They braced themselves, and slowly pushed the door wide open.
A bare light bulb lit the room, and it was empty except for a bare and soiled mattress on the floor. The scratches in the walls here were deeper and more frequent, but instead of a monster curled up on the floor, the naked figure of a young man shivered on the mattress.
He was turned away from them, but Astera could see that the man's blonde hair was matted with sweat, and his back was heaving with exhaustion. The pale skin there was pockmarked by handfuls of black, rotting spots and were concave as they ate into his skin.
"Are you here to kill me?" He asked weakly without bothering to face them.
Astera looked at Tether to find the shifter looking sorrowful. She reached out and touched his arm gently, and he glanced at her miserably.
"It's okay if you are." The werewolf coughed violently, finally turning to face them. His brown eyes were too bright, and his handsome face looked anguished. A large black spot obscured his right cheek, and Astera was taken aback to see that a hole was forming in the middle of the spot; the disease had eaten its way through the young man's cheek. His teeth glistened wetly through the ragged opening, and the young man rose a trembling hand to hide it. "You know I can't kill myself."
Tether ventured further into the room, his hands out cautiously. "How long have you been sick, mate? You shouldn't have come back to the city, you'll infect more people."
"Don't worry, I met no one on my way to die." The werewolf flinched as Tether drew closer, and he flapped a hand weakly at the approaching shifter. "Not too close, friend! Don't you have a silver bullet?" He joked, his voice floundering.
"Sorry." Astera said frankly, pulling a silver knife from her side. She looked down at the werewolf, her face stony and her eyes cold. She couldn't let Tether see how much this was affecting her; he was already miserable, and she needed to be his rock. "We're too old-fashioned to use guns."
The werewolf nodded, his bright eyes locking on to the knife as if it was a lifeboat. "Make it quick." He whispered. "I don't want anyone to die because of me."
Tether crouched beside the werewolf and looked at Astera. "Here, it's my turn." He held his hand out.
"I got it." Astera told him gently, crouching beside him. "You can wait in the hall."
Tether made no move to leave, and his lovely eyes watched as she adjusted her grip on the dagger.
"Wait!" The werewolf cried out suddenly. He turned his head so he could cough away from them, and Astera waited patiently as he finished. "Let me die in my true form, please." His bright, shiny eyes pleaded with her.
Astera nodded, and she and Tether obligingly backed away. When they were against the wall, the werewolf moaned and began to shudder. Light blonde fur began to bloom on his body , patched around the rotting spots, and there were quiet cracks and creaks as his bones rearranged themselves. The young man's face grew longer sprouted a snout, and his eyes lengthened and melted into a beautiful yellow. A long furry tail sprouted from his tailbone, and a few moments later, a massive, shaggy wolf laid where the young man had been. He looked at them, and his yellow eyes looked mournful.
Astera came forward quietly and crouched next to the werewolf. Slim, pale fingers reached out and stroked the soft fur on the wolf's head, and it howled quietly in sorrow.
"Your pain is over now, brave one." She whispered, uncharacteristically tender. She looked a lot like her twin, Apollo, in that moment, and Tether looked down at the floor, his hands clenched into fists beside him. "Go in peace."
The werewolf's sad yellow eyes were still on her green ones when she pulled the silver knife deftly across the wolf's throat.
Astera and Tether were silent and still as the wolf's bright red blood slowly pooled on the bare white mattress. When the wolf's yellow eyes looked as cold and still as gems, she slowly wiped her blade off on a clean section of the mattress and stood up. She rose gracefully and turned to look at Tether.
"Love?" She asked softly.
He bit his lip and looked away from her and the body behind her, his eyes bright. "Apollo better find a cure for this fast." His voice was anguished.
Astera went to him and pulled his arms around her waist. She touched his face with blazing hands and looked tenderly into his beautiful eyes. He'd always hated the killing of the innocent, and here they were, doing exactly that for about a week now ever since she'd received Apollo's butterfly. Tether was the one who suggested they go kill the infected ones before they could spread it, and although she knew he knew it was necessary - there were no survivors they knew of, so definitely no cure - she knew it was killing him.
"This is my brother we're talking about." She smiled beautifully at her lover. "He'll find a way to stop this, I promise."
---
Jed felt exhausted as he and a group of soldiers swam as fast as they could to the gates. Dark blue shadows marked the soft skin below his eyes, and his lips were set into what felt like a permanent, hard line.
The streets of Gorlan Fay were deserted, but Jed could feel unseen eyes watching him from the windows. The merpeople of the great underwater city were afraid, and they should rightly be. The last time the magical world had been afraid of a disease, The Black Plague had wiped at least half of the mer out. Mer memory was long and vivid, and the news of this terrible, deadlier disease had people seized up with terror.
Jed's group slowed as they reached the great stone arches of the gates. There was a slight commotion there; a group of mer guards wearily restrained an older mer woman, and Jed couldn't understand her garbled pleading until he was close.
"Please, look at them, they are well - "
"Ookami." Jed touched her shoulder gently, and the merwoman turned to face him. Her dark blue eyes were wide and bright with fear, and her pretty, lined face looked panicked. Her silver hair floated like a cloud around her, and her green tail swished in the water frantically.
"Prince Jed!" She bowed low, the top of her head trembling slightly.
Jed rubbed his neck in vague irritation; he hated it when the people called him that, but they continued to despite his displeasure. The soldiers were watching quietly, floating in a loose ring around Jed and Ookami.
"What's the problem, Ookami?" He asked her gently, taking her hands. "You're scaring the surrounding dwellings with your yelling."
"Please, Prince Jed." Her lip trembled, and her hands gripped Jed's painfully. "It's my son."
Jed looked past her to the gates and his heart fell.
The giant, flexible membrane had been pulled tight and secure over the usually open arches. A group of mer guards were stationed beside it, making sure it wasn't broken through or pulled back up, and just beyond the transparent membrane floated a young merman and his wife.
They stared back at him anxiously, clutching each other's hands fretfully. Jed knew the man well; they'd gone to school together, chased eels together in their childhood. Jed gently disentangled himself from Ookami and swam over to the membrane. The guards obligingly parted to let him through, and Jed peered through.
"Nodame." Jed said quietly.
"Jed, please." The man replied urgently. His blonde hair floated into his dark eyes, and he pushed it away impatiently. "Please, look at us, we're fine."
Nodame really did look fine. His pale, broad chest was smooth and unblemished, and he didn't seem to have any trouble breathing or be in any pain. His red tail looked healthy too; none of the scales were missing, and his fin didn't look thin at all.
Jed glanced at his wife. He'd gone to their wedding, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember her name. She looked back at him silently, her blue eyes fearful.
Maybe a little too fearful.
"Why is your wife wearing a breastplate?" Jed asked calmly.
She flinched as if she'd been struck, and Nodame's calm expression flickered to reveal a look of terror. A second later, he was calm again.
"We went to visit relatives over by America." Nodame explained slowly. "You know how dangerous the waters are there. I was just looking out for her safety, Jed."
Jed flipped his tail in agitation and sighed. "Take it off, please."
"Jed, is this necessary - ?"
"Yes, you know it is." His voice came out hard, but his face was apologetic. "Please, Nodame."
The young couple looked at each other. Behind Jed and the guards, Ookami couldn't keep her silence any longer.
"They're clearly fine!" Her voice cracked, and Jed glanced back to find that she was wringing her hands. "Jed please, they aren't ill."
"Then she won't have a problem taking off her breastplate." Jed said calmly, turning back to face Nodame and his wife to find that they hadn't moved
His friend couldn't keep his composure up. His face looked terrified and anxious, and he pushed closer to the membrane. "Please." He whispered hoarsely, his eyes bright. "Please, Jed. Aren't we friends? This is the love of my life, please don't make us do this."
Jed clenched his jaw, and took a deep breath. "Nodame. Take off her breastplate."
The young merwoman cracked. "Prince Jed - "
"Don't call me that." Jed snapped, his voice hard. "If you wish to enter, take off your breastplate."
They were taken aback at his harshness, but Jed made his face stay severe. If even one sick person entered Gorlan Fay, the entire kingdom would be killed. He had to be strong, he had to be ruthless - no matter how much it hurt.
The young woman's lip trembled, and she pushed her husband's hands away.
"Nimi - "
She ignored him and flipped the catches on the straps. The heavy rock breast plates slipped away and thudded into the sand below her. The crowd of guards behind Jed inhaled sharply and made noises of dismay; her chest was dotted with a small handful of rotting black spots.
Jed's chest felt tight.
"What are you going to do?" She asked, turning her nose up bravely. "Leave us out here to die?"
"Yes." Jed replied simply, and Ookami began to scream behind him.
Jed ignored her, waving a hand behind him, and the guards immediately moved to restrain the hysterical merwoman. In front of him, Nodame and Nimi were staring at him in horror.
"Jed, you can't mean that." Nodame pleaded.
"I do." Jed rose a hand to touch the membrane; it felt tough and cool. "I can't risk the entirety of Gorlan Fay, you know this."
"Jed, please- "
"You know you're sick too, Nodame." Jed said, forcing the words through numb lips. "You've been exposed to her; you'll show symptoms soon. Please, go now. You know I will not let you in."
The couple held each other tight as they stared at Jed. Nodame's mother was still screaming, her sobs echoing through the empty streets. Jed watched as Nodame's eyes turned cold.
"Fine." He said quietly. "We'll be going now."
"Nodame! Nodame!" Ookami gasped, pulling at the hands that held her back.
But her son was already leading his wife away. He looked back to find Jed motionless, watching in dejection as they left. Nodame's face was hard and icy now, almost hateful.
"I hope you feel terrible for this, Jed." He said quietly. "I hope it haunts you for the rest of your life."
Then he and Nimi were swimming swiftly away, faster and faster until the gloom of the ocean swallowed them up. Behind Jed, Ookami had collapsed, her sobs turning into wails as she desperately tried to call back her son.
Jed closed his eyes tight and leaned his head against the cool membrane. "It's already haunting me, old friend." He whispered to himself brokenly.
---
In a cold, abandoned farmhouse in Russia, Prenjaw adjusted the blankets he'd piled onto Jin. Cold drafts rattled through the old wood and seeped through the rafters, and the young mongool girl cough piteously into the dead air. The wind howled outside the windows, and Prenjaw settled next to Jin, his hand smoothing her matted black hair.
"It's so cold." Her voice was hoarse and quiet, and Prenjaw could barely hear her above the fury of the wind outside.
"I know, I'm sorry." Prenjaw looked down at her miserably. "I'm so sorry, Jin."
He leaned his head back against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. He had been hoping to travel to India, where he had contacts, but then Jin had broken out in sickly smelling, rotting black spots. There was no way anyone would help them, not with her looking and smelling like that. Prenjaw had tried for days, but every magical person he met scurried away in fear once they saw her.
Eventually, Prenjaw accepted that Jin was never going to make it to India.
He clenched his teeth in anger and helplessness as she began to cough again. He hated this feeling, the feeling of being unable to do anything. All he could do for her was make her as comfortable as possible before she died. Because she would die, Prenjaw had angrily come to accept that; no matter how well he took care of her, she would go into the cold arms of Death soon.
She fidgeted under her blankets, and Prenjaw fussed at the pillows he'd piled beneath her. At first she'd insisted that he share them with her, but now she was too weak to argue with him. Prenjaw sat next to her in the thin, traditional leather garments of his people, and his thick reptilian skin barely felt the cold.
Jin, however, felt the cold deep in her bones. "Come under here with me." She told him, and Prenjaw immediately complied. Before, he would've hesitated at the impropriety, but he didn't care anymore. If he ever went back home, he wouldn't be the same prince everyone there loved.
Prenjaw mused on that thought silently. He'd been with Jin for days now, and he hadn't fallen ill at all. The only pain he had was the perpetual headache that followed him from Xiou, but he had yet to succumb to the awful coughing and vile black spots. Jin was beginning to see things, see her dead parents standing sentinel at her door, but he was the picture of health. Why hadn't he gotten the sickness from her, when he was so close to her?
"I wonder if that witch is still alive." Jin whispered suddenly.
Prenjaw looked down at her in surprise. "Pardon me?"
"The one that healed you all those years ago." Her breath was ragged, and the eyes that looked up at him weren't quite focussed. "What was her name?"
"Androgena..."
"Yes, her." Jin sighed and leaned her head against Prenjaw's leg."If only you could call her again, and she can come heal me."
Prenjaw digested this. He knew nothing of the witch that had saved his life as an infant; was she still alive? If she was, where did she live? Androgena sounded like a European name, maybe Greek - ?
"Stop thinking so hard."
Prenjaw blinked. "What?"
"I can feel your mind racing. It's useless, you know." To Prenjaw's dismay, her lovely eyes filled up with tears. "I'm going to die soon, Prenjaw."
"No, no, don't say that."
"It's true though." Jin hiccupped as the first of her tears began to fall. "I'm going to die, and leave you in this horrible place by yourself. Why on earth did you take me with you? You could have left me, and saved yourself all the trouble - you could've gotten out if it wasn't for me, people would have helped you."
Prenjaw was silent as she cried. His heart ached to see her cry, but he knew nothing he could say would convince her. She was going to die, and he would be alone.
"I couldn't leave you." He touched her cheek shyly, gently. "I'm irrevocably in love with you, Jin."
She looked up at him in surprise. "Did I just hallucinate you saying that?"
"Not at all." He smiled down weakly at her. "I love you, Jin. I love you so much."
To his bewilderment, she began to cry harder.
"I didn't mean to trouble you with my confession." He told her anxiously.
Jin laughed through her tears. "Oh, Prenjaw, you big lug. I'm crying because I'm so happy to hear you say that."
"Really?" Prenjaw frowned. He could never understand women.
"Yes." Her eyes were suddenly clear, and very tender. "I'm happy, because I love you too."
Prenjaw's heart suddenly felt very warm, and a shy smile spread across his face.
"Can you hold me?" She asked him weakly.
"Yes, yes, of course." Prenjaw carefully pulled her up so that she was cradled against her chest. She was so light and small, just a bundle of bones and beauty. He adjusted the blankets again, and then wrapped his strong arms around her. "Are you comfortable?"
"Yes." She whispered, her breath fanning across the skin of his throat. "This is the best place in the world, my dear Prenjaw."
He pressed his lips gently against her hair, and she sighed. They sat like that for a long while, just holding each other, their breath making cold puffs in the air as the wind continued to howl outside and beat at the walls.
"Prenjaw?"
"Yes, love?"
"I think I'm going soon." Her voice was very quiet, and very scared.
"Jin..."
"No, really." He could feel her tears start up again. "I can feel it, Prenjaw, and I'm so scared. I don't want to leave you."
"I don't want you to leave either - "
"But I am." Her voice was anguished. "I'm leaving very soon, dear one, and I'm so afraid. Can you sing to me?"
There was a lump in Prenjaw's throat, and tears welled up in his own eyes. He looked up at the bare ceiling, blinking rapidly to keep them back. He took a deep, shuddering breath. "What would you like me to sing, Jin?"
"Little lotus flower." She whispered, naming the famous Chinese lullaby.
Prenjaw shivered. "Are you sure? That song..."
"It's perfect." Jin shuddered in his arms, and his arms tightened. "Please, Prenjaw."
"I will." Prenjaw kissed her hair again, his hands starting to tremble. "I will. I'll do anything for you."
She pressed her face against his neck, a smile on her lips, and Prenjaw took several more deep breaths to steady himself before beginning to sing in a soft, deep voice.
"Oh, little lotus flower, in the shadow of Great Wall.
Oh, little lotus flower, far, far away.
Oh, little lotus flower, shining like the moon.
Oh, little lotus flower; gone, gone too soon.
Gone, gone too soon."
He sang the verse twice, and when his voice died in his throat, everything was very still. The wind still howled and the shutters still shook, but in that lonely room, everything was suspended in time. Jin was motionless in his arms, and the tears ran down his face freely.
Prenjaw cradled Jin close to him, his arms shaking. "Little flower? I love you so much."
Jin made no reply, her eyes closed and her chest still.
"My little lotus flower." Prenjaw whispered, clenching his eyes shut tight. "I love you, I love you so much."
The sky darkened outside and the wind tried to tear the abandoned farmhouse apart. And inside, in one of the cold rooms, Prince Prenjaw of the mongools said a final goodbye to the first girl he ever loved.
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