Lonely finds me
One day you will come
But I'll wait for love's sake
One day to me, love
I will stay forever here to wait for your love
Epilogue
I had always thought of Oblivion as a dark place. That was what everybody had told me.
On the contrary, it was very bright.
I couldn't see. I had no eyes. Or a body. I just felt it this inexplicable luminance enveloping me. Like when you're sleeping and someone turns on the light and even if you keep your eyes closed, the light is so bright that it passes through your eyelids.
I was also told I wouldn't feel or hear anything.
Strangely, though, I could still hear Belial's voice muttering an incantation. It was very quiet, muddled as if trying to overhear someone from a closed room. Or maybe it was just a memory, replaying itself in my thoughts.
For a while, I stayed like that: floating in that ocean of light.
With nothing better to do, I mulled over the most trivial things, like was Eldest a boy or a girl? Or what was the real deal between Hector and Luci? Who made Crackheads and why?
Lots of questions, all of which I answered with a lot of maybe's.
Then, I got to thinking: how did the Helcium pendant end up with me when its original owner was Vincent's mom? And that... that I remembered how.
After Adrianna's death, Alessandra--I mean, I, in the height of my emotions, went to the Sinclairs. I wanted to kill Vincent, but the Madame came to stop me. Said she knew a way so that I could get back my sister's soul. She was the one who told me that Sileas and Amarah were plotting to overthrow Pilgrim and that if I manage to thwart their coup, I would be rewarded with anything I would ever want.
In exchange for her son's life, she gave me the Helcium pendant. She said it would protect me someday, and protect me, it did.
I dwelled on Nysmic. On Memory Tomes. On draughting boots and who made them. I dwelled on anything but the people I had left behind, because that was the painful one.
A while passed and nothing had changed. Except that someone was humming a tune. This gentle, tiny voice made me want to fall asleep, but it didn't feel like it was allowed here. This was Oblivion after all.
To my surprise, a touch of color swirled in the endless white before me.
At first, all I could make out was someone dragging a chair. It was hard to see with the blaring light. But as that person came closer, the light dimmed a little, allowing me to see a little child in white dress robes, with porcelain skin and white blond hair--Eldest.
To make it even weirder, Eldest was carrying me--a small glowing orb of gray and violet--on the palm of his hand. Momentarily, he stopped humming to set down the chair.
"Have a seat, Aramis Rayne," said he with a smile as he sort of let me float over the padded seat.
I wanted to ask him a few questions--a few meaning seven hundred--but I didn't have a mouth, or a face to put the mouth in. All I could do was watch him walk to the other end of the room--if it was even a room to begin with--to take a box that was sitting on the table.
That very same box that had swallowed Adrianna's soul.
Humming that tune again, Eldest picked up a fishing rod from the nonexistent floor. He reached into his pocket and drew a glowing blue orb--Carter's soul. Nonchalantly, he attached the soul at the tip of the fishing line like a bait. Then, he opened the box containing Adrianna's soul.
Once the lid was lifted, a chorus of hair-raising shrieks tore through the silence, drowning the tune he was still humming. I was afraid Legion would escape, but to my relief, the souls stayed inside the box.
Eldest stepped back a few paces before casting the line into the box.
If I had a mouth, I could have been screaming the foulest curses at the most powerful being in the universe. How could he disrespect a soul like that?
"Sshhh... Quiet," he hissed to me as if he could actually hear my mental screams. "This will only take a minute."
I didn't know how long it took, but his head was already lolling back and forth and his eyes were drooping when something began to tug the rod. Startled, Eldest jolted awake and pulled it up. He spun the reel towards him, yawning as he did.
When he finally pulled his 'catch' out of the box, two orbs were already attached to the end of the line--one blue, one white with thin streaks of black. Looking pleased with himself, Eldest set his catch down before closing the box, which took more than a little effort, by the way. He literally had to sit on the lid as he closed the latch to keep the souls from escaping.
"Whew," he sighed. Then, looking at the two souls he just caught, he said, "You two..."
All of a sudden, the glowing orbs of light grew brighter and bigger until they exploded quietly before my very eyes. Once the explosion had died, I couldn't believe who I saw--Carter and Adrianna, hand in hand.
Eldest handed Carter the box. "Carter, please be a dear and bring this to my safe. And take your new friend with you."
Carter nodded and towed the disoriented Adrianna with him. And together, they disappeared.
"W-wait!" I called.
I was so shocked to see the two of them that I didn't notice that I, too, was no longer a ball of light. With a gasp, I stared at my hands, felt my face.
I was me again.
"Are they going to be okay?" I asked, still staring at the spot where Carter and Adrianna had disappeared.
Eldest chuckled. "Okay? They are going to live in my house. So, I guess, they are going to be better than okay." Turning to me, Eldest placed his hands behind him. "As for you, Aramis Rayne; I don't know what to do with you, yet."
"Why am I even here in the first place? I thought I would end up in--"
"Oblivion?" he cut me off, nodding. "Supposedly. If someone hadn't used your soul as an Offering before you turned into fireflies."
I swallowed hard and breathed through my mouth. "Meaning, I'm still dead."
"Yes."
I felt like throwing up. For a while there, there was maybe a 0.008% of me that kept hoping I was still alive and this could all wrap up a happy ending. But no. Eldest just wanted to rub it in my face.
"So, you won," I retorted. "I couldn't have everything. You were right."
Sighing, he flopped down the floor right in front of me and crossed his legs together. He knotted his brows as he examined my face.
"On the contrary," he mumbled. "You did it, Aramis."
"Yeah, yeah. You're so smart and I'm the dumb one--" I began to say before what he just said registered to me. "Say what now?"
Narrowing his eyes at me, Eldest crossed his little arms in front of him. "You saved the world and the man you love. You have everything you wanted. Well, not everything, technically, since you're not there to actually have them... But, yes. You accomplished what you said you will accomplish and that's that."
"B-but... you didn't accept my second Offering!"
He simply answered, "I left you a box. The Box. To put Legion in. Is that not sufficient?"
My mouth was open, but there were no words. I was just so confused.
"When you were wondering: where oh, where shall I put my sister's soul? Well, here is a box! How convenient! Someone must have went out of their way to leave this box for me to use," he went on. Then, he placed both hands on the sides of his mouth and whispered, "That someone is me."
"And? What happens to me now?"
"Oh, my. People are very difficult to please these days. Not even a thank you?"
"Thank you, Eldest... Almighty One. Uhm... Most powerful Immortal? Creator of--"
He silenced me with a cold hard stare. "Don't patronize me."
"Oh... o-okay."
Shaking his head, the kid got up, clapping the invisible dirt from the bottom of his robe. "Since you offered your sister's soul and Legion, I'll grant two of your requests."
It didn't take two seconds for me to answer, but when I did, my voice sounded feeble. "First, I had a friend--her name's Rosario. She perished into Oblivion--"
"And you want me to retrieve the soul of this... Rosario," he sighed.
"Yes."
"Typical," he muttered, waving at me to continue.
"And second," I dropped my gaze. "Please... let Vincent be happy."
For a while, he didn't say anything. When he did, I could tell he wasn't happy with my requests. But I had already made them the moment I had my second Offering mark and I had no intention to change my mind.
"Well that's a very vague request, Aramis Rayne."
I shrugged. "You're Eldest. You can do anything."
"Do you know what the person who Offered your soul to me wished for?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. "Bring. Aramis. Back. To life. For the first time since they were banished from my realm, I accepted an Offering from a Haljan and she asks of me the one thing she knew I wouldn't do."
My throat clenched. "Was it B-belial?"
"With an Offering mark carved on her forehead, would you believe?" he laughed in incredulity. " The proud Manticore, scarring her face all for a girl. She could have asked for anything... Anything. Forgiveness, for one. Or freedom. First time in a million years, we meet again. And the one thing she asked me, one thing she begged on her knees for is to bring a human back."
Swallowing hard, I clutched the skirt of my dress, remembering that little conversation we had in the arena. I told her she would look good even if she had a mark on her face. She didn't find the joke funny. But she did it anyway.
I averted my gaze. "Why are you telling me this?"
He shrugged. "Just curious."
"A-about what?"
He stepped closer to me until I was forced to look him in the eyes. "What is it about you that changed her, that changed them? A lot of people clearly want you back, but here you are making a request like 'Let Vincent be happy'? I mean, really?"
"He deserves it."
"We all think we deserve something. I, for one, think I deserve a break... Don't you think you deserve to live?"
"What's the point?!" My facade finally broke. "You said it yourself. You can't bring me back."
He pressed his lips into a thin line and spun on his heels. "Very well then. Let's go and make your wishes come true, Aramis Rayne."
"Go where?"
Eldest stopped. "Well, I'm afraid Vincent's "happiness" is too vague a request and may entail a combination of many different components. That being said, let us--how do you say it--go to work."
As he walked, he snapped his fingers.
One second we were in the white room and the next second, we were already in front of Sinclair mansion. Or what remained of it.
Eldest skirted the slabs of rock scattered about before glancing at me over his shoulder. "Would magically repairing this house to its original form make Vincent happy?"
"I... guess?"
He kicked a rock. "I guess is not enough. Let's go."
Again, he snapped his fingers and instantly, we were transported to the ruins of Pilgrim Reaper's castle in Halo.
Eldest ran across the yard. He stopped at the fountain and stared at the crumbled pieces of what once was Madame Roselle's statue.
"What about this?" he asked. "I can fix this. Will that make Vincent happy?"
"Sure... But, it's just a statue," I told him. "Maybe if you bring back the real Madame Roselle?"
With a sigh, he rolled his eyes. He snapped his fingers muttering, "Next."
It was a series of maybe's and no's and snapping of fingers as we popped in and out of different places.
So far, we had been to an impoundment lot where Vincent's Cruiser was jailed. To a bakery in France where Crackheads were specially made by one of Pierre's familiars. To Scotland where Vincent had been born. To Bora Bora.
Still, we didn't find what we were looking for.
Apparently, my request was difficult and Eldest was planning to work me to death for it.
"That is it," Eldest stomped in front of me. "You know what? I'm a very busy person, Aramis Rayne. I appreciate you saving the world. I really do. But now that the world isn't ending, I still have seven billion mortals to look after. And I can't spend my whole eternity trying to find happiness for the one immortal boy who hates everything."
"So what now? You're just going to quit like that? You're not going to do it?"
"No," he answered, raising his hand and about to snap his fingers. All of a sudden, he smiled. "I guess, you're going to have to do it yourself."
I could feel my forehead creasing involuntarily. It took me a whole five seconds to figure out what his words meant.
"W-whaaat?!" The word sounded like it was made of three syllable and two pitches higher. "I--You said you can't bring people back!"
"I said, I wouldn't. That's different."
He was about to snap his fingers when I shouted, "W-wait! What about Rosario's soul?"
Giving me a meaningful look, he patted his belly, nodding to me as if I should already know what the heck that meant.
Eldest paused again, pointing a finger upward. "Oh, and about that curse in your family... you better hope it's a boy."
"Okay... I'm so confused right now," I grumbled.
"This has been an engaging conversation; one I have to cut short. So, I will see you around, Aramis Rayne," he said, before snapping his fingers.
Next thing I knew, I was falling. All I could make out was the blur of brown and green before I hit the ground face first.
"Ow..." I groaned, pushing myself up.
"That's my line." It was Vincent's voice.
As I lifted my face, I realized I hadn't landed on the ground after all. I landed on Vincent. We were in a clearing in the woods near Sinclair mansion. To my left, I recognized the fallen tree from when Vincent was teaching me how to draught.
Vincent was propping himself onto his elbows when our gazes finally met.
Suddenly, his eyes widened. His mouth parted twice before he managed to say, "I knew you'd come back!" before looping his arms around me and falling flat on his back on the ground, taking me with him.
My forehead hit the bone of his shoulder and I could barely breathe with how tight he was embracing me, but I was just too happy to get angry. It felt so unreal, I couldn't help but wonder if Eldest was just playing tricks on me.
He began to laugh. I had never heard him laugh this loud before. Then, his laughter faded into silence. I saw tears glisten at the corners of his pale eyes.
"You're here," he murmured. "You're really here. I... can't believe it."
I pretended not to see his tears and got to my feet. Putting on my best smile, I offered him a hand. "What are you doing here?"
Still, with his wide eyes fixed on me, he got up. It took him a few seconds to blink and answer my question. "Vlad and the others are back in the mansion--what's left of it, actually. Tryin' to sum up how much we'd have to spend to rebuild it. Dad wants us to stay in Halja, but it's always a hassle having to activate lodestones whenever we need to go back to earth. And why am I telling you all this when I should be askin' you how the hell this happened?" He gestured to all of me, turned around to ruffle his hair before pacing to and fro. "I'm dreaming or I'm losin' my mind. It's one of the two... but honestly, I couldn't care less."
Shaking my head, I stepped closer to him and placed my hands on both sides of his face. I looked into his eyes and said, "Vincent, look at me."
He breathed in and out quickly three times before finally meeting my gaze. The purplish bags under his eyes told me he wasn't getting any sleep. He looked exhausted and anxious. And I couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it had been for him.
"I missed you," he murmured, his voice breaking. "Everyday that you're not here's everyday that I missed you."
I blinked rapidly, forcing out a chuckle. "You're not dreaming and you're not losing your mind, okay? Eldest brought me back."
"S-so... this is real?"
"Very."
"Th-that's..." he stared at the ground for a good three seconds before laughing. Inconspicuously, he brushed the mist that had formed on the edges of his eyes. "That's awesome..."
"Yeah," I nodded. "He said you're too much work. Told me to keep you from getting yourself into more trouble. Turns out, you can't live without me."
He scoffed. "True that."
"But honestly, I came back because of the vacation," I chided.
"Oh yeah?" He looped an arm around the small of my back and pulled me closer to him. "Just the vacation?"
Slowly, he leaned in and touched his lips on my forehead, then my cheek. I couldn't breathe. The tiny sparks of electricity from his kisses woke up the sleeping butterflies in my stomach. My heart skipped a beat, but I managed a straight face. Or at least, I thought I did.
"Yeah..." I replied. "And there's this one immortal boy who hates pretty much everything. He has anger issues so he yells a lot, but I still... miss him a little bit."
"A bit," he muttered, not making any effort to hide his frustration. He dropped his arms, looked away and stepped back. "So I just about lost my mind over this girl who missed me a little bit. I think I'mma go die in a hole now."
Quickly regretting my few last words, I caught his hands, trying to search his gaze. "I'm kidding, Vincent. I love you."
He pressed his lips together, trying not to smile. Then, he lowered his face to me until our lips had almost touched. As I closed my eyes, I saw a future for the two of us. And even if I didn't know what that future had in store for us, just the thought of him holding my hand for the rest of forever was enough.
My heart was racing, pounding against my chest in anticipation.Holding my breath, I waited, and waited. And waited. And waited.
"I loved you first," he whispered, grinning.
Annoyed, I twisted on my heels and started towing him to the narrow path heading home. "It's not a contest, Vincent. Not a contest."
---END---