Epilogue: Denuo
(anew, again, a second time)
"With the approaching beginnings of the 14th peace conference between the Kings and Nihilsomno, the city is hosting its most noble guests at the welcoming gala. King Noctis hopes to make an announcement that will reshape our world."
On the precipice of change, he finds himself unable to do little else but nurse the drink in his hand and try to at least look as if he is interested in what the dignitaries in front of him are saying. The entire group of delegates were eagerly awaiting the news that he was going to announce at the peace conference the next day. Each had, in their own way, tried to get any sort of hint out of him that would give them an idea as to how he planned to reshape their world. Any attempts were always met with a smirk and proper excuses. No hints would cross his lips nor the lips of his companions. They would all find out together and he doubts any of them can guess what it is. What he can finally show them. Finally, after so long.
It has been so long that he almost does not remember the details of how things had finally come to be. He tries to go back to that time and finds that the memories are hazy in the aftermath of so much toil. It had been a fight. A fight in so many ways. He can recall that those first nights had been the hardest. He can remember those well at least. Nights that had previously been occupied with lazy brooding had turned into pacing hours of endless longing. Events too fresh that had left a permanent mark. Memories of their tension laced moments together and the feel of her body beneath his made him weak. The need to reach out and touch and the moment he finally had. He would have almost been tempted to stop the silence and see her then. Then, in those moments of weakness that had been frequent at first. It was within those moments that he made himself recall the image of her lying in his arms as though dead. A reminder of the risk he would take if he gave up and went to her before he was ready. An image that could easily stir a nightmare. That was the image he kept to keep his distance.
The first thing to be done was gain power. With the triumphant return of the Crystal, it had not been very hard to demand the coronation that he had been due. The same coronation that had been postponed again and again to the many excuses made up by the Concilium. They had not been able to forestall it any longer. As soon as he had left the limits of the Nihilsomno to chase after it, the city had suffered from the loss. He had not had the time to notice during the brief moments he had stopped there before racing to Tenebrae, but the people had noticed the absence of the Crystal and had demanded its recovery. A recovery that the Concilium had failed to provide. The people had looked upon him as their hero for the return of their most precious possession. That had been the easy part. It had only been mere months later that he was officially king and had taken his place among his ancestors to continue their dynasty.
The second thing had taken considerably longer. He had pursued it with a dogged determination that left him no more time to waste nights pacing. Every moment that he had not been overseeing the matters of his kingdom, he was using to find the answers that he needed. After some digging, Phil had managed to discover the books that the villain had taken. The contents had left him feeling so angry that he had thrown them all in the fire to burn and never to be looked at again. Experiments and tests of those like him that had been tortured to death and all for a vain cause. Evidence of the waste that he wished he could fully avenge for their sakes. There had been other sources, but none with specific details. Most, it seemed, had only vague hints that only alluded to things and not the things themselves. The first year had born very little that was helpful.
Another two years had gone by before they had finally caught a significant break. Two years without any real findings and he had almost lost his mind in frustration. Any clue that he could uncover had been a struggle and fight against something. One lead had led to another and then a dead end. Then it was one dead end after another and the fighting seemed to be in vain. It had been an almost endless cycle until one night, in the wee hours of twilight, that they had stumbled onto something that they could use. Durus had been reading an old tome from the ancient archives that mentioned the events of the First Light. It had not been the first tome to mention the event so it had not particularly excited them until Durus had kept on reading. It was the first document to confirm that his dreams had been telling him the truth. That there would always need to be two.
There was mention of a tale of old. A tale of two lovers. A man of the night falls for a woman of the day. It was not a tale of indescribable happiness and perfection, but a tale of patience and steadfastness. For the man of the night knew nothing of what it was to live in the light and the woman of the day knew nothing but fear in the night. As day and night are, these two would be forever together yet eternally apart. Until such time as the moon hovers over the sun or the sun hovers over the moon. Rare occurrences that were the only times these two lovers could be joined.
Of course that had not satisfied him because he had every intention of being with Stella always, once he found out what it was that would be required of him to save her. There was no possible way that he would be separated from her to only meet so little as that tale had insinuated.
Then he had found the most disparaging bit of information closer to the close of that third year, about himself. Of what his role was. As the moon was merely a reflection of the light of the sun, so was he. It not only meant that his survival was dependant on Stella, but it also meant that he would be taking her power as well. It described him as some sort of leech. A parasite that naturally had to feed off of her. This discovery had been one of the blackest moments of his life. That he would suck the life from her as he had taken the life from his parents. He was an even bigger monster than the vile thing he had destroyed. It meant he was an even bigger threat to her than that monster had ever been. What did that say about his nature? What did that say about him?
He had immediately despaired. It had not been an encouraging find. It was also incredibly bad timing when he received word from Cal not that long after he had found out this fact. Cal, who had continued to surprise him with his continued friendship and support. The man really did look too brightly on even the darker things of life. He had not been sure to feel admiration or bafflement. Maybe a bit of both. The news from Cal had him tempted to sink even further into himself. It was about Stella's health. While it had not been particularly dire news, it had not been good news either. Stella's father had passed after struggling for so many years with illness and she had taken the blow very severely.
It left him even more frustrated. He wanted to be there. He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to be that shoulder she cried on and the arms she needed to hold her. Yet with this new information, he knew to do so would only make things worse for her. He could not risk her. He could not endanger her. So when the announcement of the King of Tenebrae's funeral had been received, he could only allow Legatus and Phil to represent Nihilsomno in his stead. There had been no other choice. The day of the funeral, he had mourned her loss and had spent the day, deep within the archives, looking at tomes with eyes that could only see her tears. There had been little that could console him, even when Phil had returned. The only comfort had been knowing that it had been for her benefit that he had not gone himself.
When the fourth year had been reached, he realized one thing. It was pointed out by Phil one day as the thought had struck him. It was a point that was so obvious that he felt like a complete idiot when Phil had pointed it out. If he was such a leech, than how was it that his own strength could keep almost half of Nihilsomno alive and functioning? There was hope after that, a shift in the air around him. Another defiance against Fate. Even though it still did not answer the all important question, how did one recharge a dying star? It would be as difficult to figuring as how to save a dying crystal. Which no one had ever been successful at. Needless to say, it had been a positive revelation and a daunting task all at once.
His Crystal had always provided him with cryptic messages and vague statements. He had never minded it before but by then it had begun to aggravate him. There had been no dreams to help either. Phil had asked him to write down any details that he remembered from that one dream. The one that had offered such unknown insight. After four years, the details had, understandably, been more than a little hazy. He had also not been himself at the time. Having been injured and nearly having his body taken over by an evil villain. Then upon awakening, had found out that Stella had stolen his Crystal and the things that happened after that. If those memories had started to become distant, how much more so a dream. Dreams, which were harder to recall when he had, had such pressing matters to open his eyes to.
Even the details of those days had begun to fade. His feelings not as intense as they had been. The drive was still there, but the moments when he forgot the why were becoming more frequent as the time went on longer since he had last seen her. Stella had become his hope rather than the thing to possess. The goal rather than the obstacle. Until she became like a dream herself. The yearning had faded but the want had not. He wanted Stella still, but he did not waste many thoughts on just how much. It was a given and no longer had to be addressed after so many inner debates.
Then Durus had offered a rather far fetched theory about the situation. That maybe his and Stella's roles were reversed in the aftermath of what had happened to her. Not possible to him, but it had led to a thorough examination of his powers. Phil had computed the amount of energy Nihilsomno consumed in a day. Then computed the amount of energy that the Crystal actually emitted to help with that provision. Only then could they determine just how much energy was his own strength. It had been hard to recall how much of the city had remained light when the Crystal had been taken. He remembered when he had been reunited with his Crystal and how it had flickered like a dying bulb. When he concentrated, he also remembered that Stella had never looked exhausted when he was with her. She had been weak and tired looking after he had been asleep for that day, but he cannot say she looked that way before. He is sure he would have noticed if she had, considering how closely he had always been watching her. He tried to remember how she had looked while she had slept after their final confrontation. Had she looked more weakened or had she been showing improvement at his nearness?
As far as he had known before, the moon was a relatively dead rock. Until they found research stating that within the moon's crust, the core was hot. So it would have not have been entirely impossible for the moon to produce its own energy. It was merely dormant, inaccessible. His power was not dormant persay, but it was not easily accessible either. That information had helped greatly to ease his worries. To extend his powers, it was just his own will that made things happen the way they did. It had been instinct rather than training that had made them possible. A reflex instead of a conscious reaction. Never had he felt an extension of himself or an exertion that would cause him to tire. His battles never lasted long enough for him to see just how long he could keep going either.
They had ventured to Glacies again and taken hold of the ruined statue of the lovers. He had wanted to see if there was anything that he could do to restore it. Which had led to an examination of what the worn and tattered tapestries had contained so long ago. Anything that would be able to provide him clues. Until he realized that the tapestries each contained a clue to a map. Sort of a legend to help direct him. To where, he had not been certain, but he had a feeling and he needed to try. They had led him to a deep cavern, hidden within the depths of the snowy mountains. Within the caves, was a labyrinth of little tunnels that only the map could direct you through successfully. At the end, he had found something equally startling. He had found a cave of inactive Crystals. He and Phil had known that the secret group had found something in the mountains, but he had not known that this would be it. The Crystals were inactive in that they were not of any use unless they were given life. Life that only he and Stella together, would be able to give. That is, if she had not had her strength wiped from her on an ill and gruesome attempt.
To see proof that their union had been prepared for, gave him renewed hope. After that, things began to take shape rather rapidly. When they had found the answers, he had marveled at how simple it all was. Nothing complicated and nothing complex. The light would come again and nothing was going to stop its arrival. As the eclipses were inevitable, so would be the meeting of his moon to her star. They would always come together, no matter how long it took.
The orchestra plays a song in the background and as the melody builds he looses himself for a moment when he sees her enter through the other side of the hall. It is the first time he has seen her in so very long a time that his eyes do not see anything else but her. She looks about the hall as someone aids her in taking off her jacket. He feels a swell of pride when he watches the astonishment in her gaze as she takes in the décor. It was so important to him that it please her and it pleases him to see her so. The white dress that she wears shines like a ray of hope in a sky that had forgotten what it was like to see the sun. Just by looking at her, he feels the years had been worth the results. It had all been worth the sacrifice and the fight and the distance.
His attention is divided before he can meet her eyes when he is drawn into a conversation with an envoy from a distant land. A land that he does not remember because his mind is still on her figure as she makes her way around the hall. He feels her presence in the air and within his mind. It feels like a cool breeze on a summer's day, refreshing and potent. There's a feeling of completeness now that they are in the same room after so many years a part. She looks different, older but no less desirable as the last time he had seen her. When he had seen her looking so peaceful as he had laid her upon the sheets of her bed in Tenebrae. The touch that he had not been able to withhold and the tingling in his fingers once he had allowed them to touch her face. The sweet sigh that had escaped her lips when he had. The kiss he had not given her. He has never considered the lone kiss they had shared to count. Not when he had been so confused and so blinded by his hurt of her betrayal. That kiss had been born of emotions that should not have been there for their first kiss. But he can remember the way she had felt beneath him. How even within those tense moments of undeniable attraction and unforgivable betrayal, her body had been pliant and accepting of his. Accepting when she should have been struggling and he knew the reason she had not. It makes him almost shudder.
He feels her presence behind him before she can even utter a word. When she does speak, her voice is like a soothing lullaby to ease his racing mind.
"Hello Lord Noctis," she says when he turns around to face her.
There is a kind smile on her face and he does not hide the need in his eyes as he seems to devour her features.
The impact as all the memories resurface is like a tidal wave that almost has him staggering back. All those longing thoughts that had him in barely suppressed control just bubbled forth onto the surface, even after all this time. Suddenly he was back to that time when thoughts of her permeated his mind to the point where she was all he could think about. His hands grow sweaty as he feels the need to reach out and touch her. The sudden impulse was as powerful now as it had been then. Perhaps moreso since it has been too long since the last touch. He does not realize he has not said anything in response until her smile almost wanes as he continues to stare at her so intently. Staring at her so intensely that it looks like his gaze causes the slight shiver he sees go through her body.
"Hello," he manages to say and his voice is remarkably steady.
She is close, so close. Yet not close enough.
"How are you?" she asks. She is holding a drink in her hand and her grip looks a little bit tense. It is as tense as he feels as he continues to stare at her.
"I have been busy," he answers and she lets out a friendly laugh at his vague answer. It makes her eyes sparkle and his heart begins to race. "You look well." She does look well. She looks very well. One could almost believe that there was nothing terribly wrong with her.
She smiles brightly again and for some reason, it causes his eyes to look down at the necklace that she wears.
"Thank you," she says politely and she unconsciously reaches for the pendant hanging from her neck. "Do you like it?"
Like it was not the term that he would use to describe how he felt about her wearing the waning Crystal that had taken her brightness to live.
"Cal gave it to me," she says absently.
He is more relieved that Cal had heeded his advice and given it to her in a way that she would wear it always.
"It suits you," he says, not taking his eyes from it.
As he stares, he can almost feel the thing greet him in welcome.
A sharp intake of breathe from Stella has his eyes looking up at hers again. She shakes her head as if to clear her thoughts.
"I just got the weirdest feeling just now," she says, not quite looking at him. Her eyes look glazed as she pauses to recompose herself.
"What feeling?" he asks, stepping closer to her.
He watches raptly as she takes a shaky breathe and exhales it. Could it be working already?
"I feel...," she says, not quite looking him in the eyes. "I feel almost..."
"Stella," calls a masculine voice from behind her.
He looks up to find a blond haired man of large build, standing behind Stella. A stranger to him, but definitely not a stranger to her.
"Yes?" she answers with an easy smile towards the stranger.
It is that easy smile that makes his heart stop beating.
"Perhaps we ought to leave now," the blond man suggests in a worried tone. His handsome face a picture of genuine concern. Then the man looks up at him apologetically, but there is no real recognition in the man's gaze. "I am sorry to cut your conversation short."
"No, no, you did not interrupt," Stella reassures him but she pauses when she sees the look that must be on his face when his eyes settle back on hers. "Lord Noctis, might I present, Divum?"
He waits for her to say something else. That perhaps this good looking, broad shouldered man was a relation of some sort, but she does not add anything other than his name.
"Lord Noctis, King of Nihilsomno," Divum says with a surprised look on his face. "A very big honor to meet you." The man offers his hand to him.
He looks at it a moment before he accepts with a very forced smile. "The honor is mine, Divum," he says and looks down at Stella again.
She does not move to answer him but he can sense that she is becoming uncomfortable standing between the two men.
"Shall we, Stella?" asks Divum, smiling down warmly at her.
"Yes, yes we should," she agrees, smiling up at him again. "It was very good to see you again, Lord Noctis."
"Will you never call me, Noct?" he asks instead.
He can see the hesitation in her eyes.
"I'll call you that the next time we meet," she promises, as she had promised them. He is not sure what to make of that but she gives him no time to reply before she is walking away from him with the other man.
This is not how he had foreseen things happening when he saw her again after five long years without her. He is not exactly sure what he had expected, but ending the night watching her leave with another man had not been it. There is nothing he can do but watch them as Divum helps Stella back into her coat and they leave the party all together.
"Noct, you look like you've seen a ghost," says Phil.
Suddenly his heart is in his throat and he almost chokes on it as he watches their retreating backs.
"This is worse than seeing a ghost," he answers as he walks to where they had disappeared, heedless of the eyes that follow him as he does so. He makes his way outside just in time to see their car drive away and he can make out the outline of her head as it drives away. "Much worse."
The stark denial and dreading acceptance gnaws at him as he watches the car until he can no longer see it on the street. This cannot be right. Yet he is not naïve enough to think that after five years Stella would not have acquired the interest of another. How ironic that the other had a name meaning, "Sky". Irony was as ever, never lost on him and he could have just let Fate be fickle as it always had been, but he had already determined that he would defy all of them to help and win Stella back. Yet he had never factored in a third party to this. Was he to be the third wheel to their unintentional crowd? There is this ache in his chest as he thinks of Stella with another. A heartbeat that seems pounding in his ears, though his heart feels like it is breaking. Even if it were by her choice that she stay with another, he cannot find it in himself to be pleased. He cannot even be pleased for her sake. Call it the selfishness on his part. That part that really was the spoilt prince that would never have to settle for second best. Because anyone other than Stella would always be second rate in comparison.
There are stares in his direction as he walks heedless through the streets. He does not care that they are confused and perhaps a little frightened to see him walking like a regular pedestrian on the sidewalks. He does not care that they are watching his every move as he makes his way towards the residence that Stella was to be housed in during her stay here. There is no room to care when he feels like the world has flown off its axis and he does not know how to gain his balance back. When he reaches the block, he teleports the rest of the way so that nobody can see him as he stares pathetically up at the lit window that he knows to be hers. He feels so lost and not himself. Five years of trying and trying and finally finding success. Only to see her leave with someone else. Someone else who represented the broad sky to their day and night. The sky did not change. It was the constant that the sun and moon could not be. Was that what she needed? Someone constant? He is not sure he has ever been constant, but his yearning for her had always been that. Did that count? Did it matter now? It must not.
Standing there, alone and unable to do anything else but he continues to stare up at the her window. That she would be with another now when he had felt like his heart had returned, only to be torn out again, seemed cruel. He had not let go of her so that another could grab hold of her instead. He remembers the envy that he had felt before. The jealous envy of those that had come before him and tasted her lips. Those in her past that had gone so that he might find her and covet her so. He feels the chill at recalling that. Now, he was one of them. One of those distant faces from her past that had left her to be longed for by another. That his face would be one of the many that he is sure had been before him, makes him feel ill. Yet what could he have expected? A creature as enchanting as Stella could not have gone unnoticed not to have them. She would never go unnoticed because she was all brightness. She was his brightness and that she should be with another made the dark world he had worked so hard to leave behind these last five years, become tempting once again.
"What is the nightmare and what is the reality?" he asks himself. "I wish I were asleep. Asleep so that I could wake and find this not to be true. For our true selves are asleep, lying dormant in the darkness of the night."
The light within the window goes out with a snap and it startles him from his musings. What was to be done now? Was this why the sun and moon eclipse so infrequently? Was this the separation that stopped them from uniting every night and every day? He would never allow himself to even think to share her, but he must if she has chosen another over himself. Their time together need only be brief and far between for them to work together and give life to the new crystals that had formed. He did not want brief. He did not want far between. He did not want other times. He wanted every moment and every time. That is what he had worked towards. That had been the hope he had kept within him as he had pushed himself. Now, to be defeated while he had been fighting so hard in such a simple way. It was the ultimate failure. He could almost hear the three constant enemies of his life laughing at him in the breeze that flew by his ears. This was something he could not fight. As powerful as he was, he could not fight this. It almost did not make sense that he could not. Then he looks up again at the darkened window and feels his own world darken with it. With a quick flick, the light was taken out. Left with nothing but a rapidly cooling heat that would be gone too soon. Then, there would be nothing left but the coldness that followed.
There were no options now. Not options with this lose of hope. A hope that died with the light of the window. Dashing up there and breaking down the door would do no one any good. The alternative was not much better. The next day he was set to announce the reshaping of their world. A way to renew what had been lost. It was to be his greatest success. Yet standing here, he realizes that would not have been his success. That would have been Stella by his side, always. Selfishness demanded he withhold his findings to avenge his broken heart. The world would crumble, but his pride would be intact if not his soul. That would be the way of darkness. That would be the return to the world that he had always lived. He could do it. No one would know.
Black hair swishes as he shakes his head from those thoughts. He was not that person anymore. He was not that evil that he had always thought he was. He was not quite light either, but he was somewhere in between. His mind goes back to the statue of the lovers. The one he and Stella had stared at together. It had been incomplete and had remained so in the whirl of discoveries they had made after he had brought it here. How fitting. It was incomplete, as he was now. Their embrace would always be unfinished. Taking another look at the dark window, he knows he will still make the announcement. If only to save her and that had been the real goal all along.
To save her. The second, had been to have her.
His head is bowed as he makes this decision. He had been standing here long enough. It was time to leave.
"Noct?"
His eyes fly up at the sound of his name and his entire body freezes at the sight that greets them. A vision in white that seems more dream than reality. The light that was supposed to be at the end of his dark tunnel. What could she be now?
"What are you doing here?" she asks, but she does not come any closer.
"You are here," he answers.
She frowns at him and shakes her head with confusion.
"I really do not understand you," she says.
"But you had wanted to before," he reminds her.
"You avoid me for five years," she accuses, but she does not look angry, only wounded. There is a sadness in her eyes that tears at him. "No word. No news. Nothing and now..."
"I was not ready," he says.
"You are now?"
"Yes," he answers firmly.
"Why now?"
"I have the answer." He looks down at the pendant still hanging from her neck.
She inhales quickly as she had before and her hand clasps her chest.
"Do you feel that?" he asks, taking a step towards her.
"Yes," she says breathlessly, before taking another quick breath as she feels it again. The hand over her chest tightens.
"You and I," he explains, taking another slow step towards her. "Cannot be a part. You told me once that you could not stay away from me. You know I felt the same."
She does not say anything and she does not move either as she watches him take another step closer.
"I had to stay away from you," he says. "As much as it pained it to do so. I had to."
"Why?"
"Because I needed to save you."
"Through avoidance?" she asks resentfully.
"No," he says with a shake of his head. "I know now that avoidance was a mistake."
She inhales with a gasp again.
"What does it feel like?" he asks curiously. It does not look painful, but she has such a look of awe and surprise on her lovely face. He is still a short distance away from her but with each step he can feel the energy begin to swirl. He does not need to explain because he knows she understands.
"Like a bolt. It tingles," she replies, but those words do not seem to be what she wants to say.
"That, is why I stayed away," he explains. "To find out how to do that. For you."
"You should have told me," she whispers accusingly, but she looks too confused to be angry. "Do you remember what happened the last time we spoke?"
It is a memory he does not like to replay.
"I do," he says regretfully.
"Then I wake up in my room and I could have sworn it was a dream," she says. "Except for this." She lifts her pendant.
His eyes flicker towards it a moment before his eyes return to hers.
"I know it was not Cal who gave this to me," she explains. "I know that there are things you have hidden from me. What are they?"
He does not answer that because he is more concerned with something else.
"So you wear it knowing it came from me and yet you...," he stops himself from accusing her of being with another. He stops himself because he has no right to accuse her, but he does feel a certain amount of smugness at the knowledge.
"What do you want from me?" she asks with another confused frown.
He is sure that the expression on his face when he looks at her now answers for him without words.
"What I have always wanted," he answers, taking that last step towards her. He can feel the tension and he is almost shaking from it as he reaches up to touch her face. "You."
As soon as his fingers touch her skin, it is like a burst of energy and tingles his skin, sending a shiver through his entire body. The raw power pulses like a real thing between them and he can finally see just how powerful they would always be. They only needed to be together. A glittering light, takes his eyes away from Stella to look down at the Crystal between them. Yet even knowing that this is was what they were destined to do, it marvels him to see the evidence of it. The pathetic thing, that looked on the verge of flickering out, now looks bright and full. Life shone vibrantly through its core and sparkled the area around them.
Stella gasps, bringing it up to her face.
"Did, did you do that?" she asks looking up at him in surprise.
"Not alone," he says leaning closer to her, watching closely as she turns her gaze to it again.
When her blue eyes reach his again, he can see that she somehow understands.
"This is why we cannot stay away from each other," she says weakly, as the discovery sinks in. Then she frowns. "All we have to do is touch?"
"It is a bit more complicated than that," he says. "Do you see the intensity of the light?"
He watches her eyes look down before she nods.
"Do you feel the tension from me?" he asks.
"Yes," she whispers.
"It is not just any sort of touch or connection," he explains. He forces himself to relax and takes several breathes before he can feel some control slip into place. His hand brushes down her arm, but this time, there is only the tingling sensation of touch. Nothing as powerful as before, but just as electric. "It must be intense."
It makes him linger on the notion that perhaps the intensity increases with the forbidden feeling of them together. That she belonged to another yet craved him. That lure would keep the intensity. He does not like that idea.
"You are making it sound simpler than it is," she chides.
"I am," he answers honestly. "How do you feel?"
"Confused," she says quickly. "All this time, I thought your distance was a rejection. Now you are telling me you were doing it for us. This is all happening too quickly. I have moved on with my life and you...why do you never go away?"
"I could ask the same from you," he says.
"This is your announcement tomorrow," she states, her eyes wide. "What did you think you were going to tell them about us?"
What did he think their relationship would be when he did, was the real question.
"What I thought and what I think now are different," he says vaguely. "It all depends upon you."
She looks away from him and bites her lip in indecision. There is a regret there that he does not wish to cause her. No matter the cost to himself, it was not a choice he should force her to make.
"We, can always be friends," he suggests weakly, though the idea of them as friends still makes him feel ill.
She shakes her head vehemently. "I don't want to be friends."
"I will not even mention your involvement then," he says. "They need only think it was me. So you need not worry about appearances sake."
"Appearances sake?" she asks looking up at him confused.
He manages a small smile. "Still not friends. Still not … we still do not know what we are to each other."
She nods weakly in agreement to that.
"You have moved on," he says, coming just that much closer. Their chests are almost touching and he can see her pulse quicken as the tension around them mounts and mounts. "I will not force you to do anything you do not wish. The decision must be yours."
He watches her face carefully to see if she understands. Of course she does. Her eyes are watery as they look back up at him.
"But I want you to know this," he says, raising his hand to stroke her face in a light, lingering touch. "I hope you try to understand that I have made mistakes. I am just a man." With his other hand, he reaches for her waist and pulls her the rest of the short distance between them and presses her tightly against him. "And when he holds you close. When he pulls you near. When he says those words that you need to hear. Know, that I wish I was him because those words are mine. Because it is I that wants to do all those things and say those words to you, always." He brushes his open lips against her parted ones once and savors the feeling and the taste. "It does not matter if you do not feel the same now or if you will never feel the same. My feelings will not change."
He releases her and takes a step back. She seems to stumble a little in the absence of his body and she looks overwhelmed and torn.
"You and I," he says taking another step back. "Can never stay apart, but I will not force you to stay with me."
He takes another step back, but he cannot turn his back to her just yet. Every muscle in his body is screaming in protest of being taken away from her, but he keeps on with his steps.
"The time to act is now," she whispers, but the words do not seem entirely hers. "For, what is coming, cannot be stopped."
He nods. "We will act, but it does not mean we… it does not mean we must be lovers."
"Like that statue," she says. There is something in her gaze but he cannot read it. "Unfinished and uncertain."
"But together all the same," he finishes.
"How am I to be with another without thinking of you?" she asks.
He can a twinge in his heart at her question, but there are not any words he can say. There was no way he could be with another without thoughts of her either.
"Your will has been robbed from you too much for me to try and rob you of it now," he says. "If you choose another, I will abide by it."
"And still bring forth the light?" she asks.
"Yes," he nods.
"Why?"
"Because that is what you would want."
The answer seems to surprise her.
"For me?" she asks weakly.
"Always," he answers firmly.
"So you mean to leave me here tonight, like this and then tomorrow still make the announcement."
"Yes."
"No matter my decision?"
"No matter," he confirms. He is far enough away now that to turn around was only appropriate. "Good night, Stella."
He turns around and is about to walk away when her voice stops him.
"Do you have the statue?"
"Yes," he says hesitantly. He does not understand the meaning behind the question.
"During your announcement tomorrow," she says. "The statue can finally be finished."
He whirls around in surprise to face her. He knows his eyes are wide with shock from her pronouncement.
"Finished?" he asks quietly.
"Finally to be complete," she says. "For always."
She does not give him anytime to reply or react, before she runs back inside and leaves him alone. His eyes watch her in gaping awe as she disappears inside the building. There is no sound around him in this silent night. There is only the frantic beating of a rapid pulse. Slowly, the cold, vacant heart in his chest widens. Those two holes left behind by his parents are filled and he realizes that now, he will never be dark again. He can never be dark now. Not when he can finally feel how the moon glows with the reflection of the sun. A sun that had just promised to always be there.
The light was finally coming, again.
The end.
Author's End Notes: My song quotes are all over the place. The mini storyline for the Epilogue was inspired by The Airborne Toxic Event's, "Sometime Around Midnight." Unwittingly, Bon Jovi's, "Always," made it's way in at the end there too.
I want to thank all my readers and reviewers for their constant support while writing these fics. It has been a long, arduous ride writing these different stories to completion but I can leave feeling accomplished. With this conclusion of Adventum Aduro, it starts my retirement/hiatus/holiday from fanfic writing. My last hiatus lasted five years and though I hope it does not take that long for me to write another fanfic again, it will be awhile before you read something else from me.
I know that I did not fully explain a few details but those were purposely left out in favor of keeping the mystery. Hopefully more info on the game will come quickly so that my fellow fanfic writers in this genre will be able to keep writing as they are. Thank you all!