#1 – illusions

Silent, I watch her as she stands there before me, beautiful in all her innocence, captivating and alluring, serene and elegant. Her heavily-lashed eyes are confused, disbelieving, uncertain. I feel the tender smile form on my face as I gaze at her, a warmth rushing through my body…a warmth I have not felt for what seems like a millennia. I cannot help but revel in the sensation, drinking it in like a man dying of thirst.

The sight of her soothes me, despite the variations in her appearance. I forget that she is much younger, untouched by the subtle distortion of time. Her features are still softened by youth, smooth and exquisite in their perfection. Her eyes yet harbour such depths of naïveté that it evokes a sharp pang of reminiscence to a much simpler time. She is not yet the Queen I now know, but she is all that I have longed for, the light to vanquish this plaguing darkness.

My eyes skim over her fuku, unused to the foreign garb that now adorns her slight form. Had she really worn this once…had she been a soldier like the rest of them? My attention shifts to the others for a moment, they seem the same; the only difference again lies in the great wealth of experience that separates them from then and now. I return my eyes to her, unable to be distracted for long.

My heart aches for her, my loneliness overwhelming me, and I entertain selfish thoughts. I want to take her from here, forget the overall purpose of the moment, and escape with this angel in my arms. She is real, alive, well and wonderful, and I want her to be mine. I want my beloved…but it is not to be. I must suppress my yearning and do what it is I came to do.

"Who are you?" Her words resound in the silence, and though threaded with uncertainty, her commanding tone envelops me in the nostalgic embrace of familiarity.

I smile again, taking pleasure in the sound of her voice. Yes, she is real…and I am just an illusion, in my world filled with illusions. Tainted by a deep sorrow, I know my smile fails to convey the joy I feel at her arrival. Will my response spark any such joy in her?

"My name is King Endymion."

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