Chapter 34 Forgive Me, Elias

Chapter 34 Forgive Me, Elias
🌞 Seraphina 🌞

The Curse Bearer formed the habit of laughing at the worstest threatening moment because that was what he was doing at this crucial moment. While Elias radiated in pure pain because of the lamp he brought, he was marveling in joy. Making mockery of him.

His laughter just tied a knot in me that made me want to pounce on The Curse Bearer and feed on him.

“Hurting him? Oh no, dear Seraphina. I’m only showing him what happens when the mind refuses harmony.”

I ignored him and turned to Elias, my heartbeat frantic. “Elias… Elias, look at me,” I said, reaching out instinctively. My hand brushed his arm, and then—

Pain.

Not me

But him.

He jerked back with a sharp hiss, as though my touch had seared through his skin. His body flinched violently, and I drew back instantly, shock freezing my breath. My fingertips tingled, stinging as if I had touched fire.

“What— what just happened?” I whispered, staring at my trembling hand.

Elias’s eyes were wide, dark with confusion and fury. His breath came ragged. “Don’t~~” he rasped. “Don’t touch me.”

That cut deeper than I expected.

My gaze flew back to the Curse Bearer. He was watching us both, eyes gleaming. His amusement was evident — cruel, unrestrained. And my mind was just screaming, what is there to be amused about? He was the mastermind behind this creative act.

“You see,” he began slowly, almost gently, “this is what happens when two souls share a path but not a thought.”

I kept getting more infuriated with how calm and steady he was while my heart on the other hand was about jumping out of the chest. I cursed below my breath.

My pulse stumbled. “What are you talking about?”

He leaned back lazily, resting his elbow on the chair’s arm. The lamp continued to hum on the table before us, its light casting his face in eerie shades of red and gold. “You’ve already agreed in your mind, haven’t you?” he said, his smile curving wider. “To the first option. The easy one. The safe one. The one that lets you run from the road and all its dangers.”

My breath caught. “No—”

“Ah, but you did,” he interrupted, lifting a finger. “Perhaps not aloud, perhaps not fully formed… but in thought, you did. The moment I offered it, you imagined the Still City. You longed for it — even if just for a heartbeat.”

I felt my chest tighten. He was right. For a fleeting second, I had thought of it…the peace, the safety, the end of hunger and fear. Just a second. But a second was enough. I realized that the choice would prove me as a weakling which I knew I was beginning to become.

“And because your King’s mind,” he continued, gesturing at Elias, “rejects what yours accepts, the balance between you both is broken. Your thoughts are not in sync — and your bond burns.”

My eyes widened, flicking between him and Elias. “Burns?”

I looked back at Elias, he was fully sheathed in his cloak, no torn part on the part of his body I touched. So?

“Yes.” His grin turned venomous. “Every touch of yours, every brush of skin, will scorch him until your minds reconcile — or until one of you breaks.”

I shook my head. “No… no, that’s not possible—”

“Oh, it is,” he said, standing. The movement sent shadows dancing across the walls. “Magic, child, thrives on unity. Even curses crave balance. And when balance is lost, pain follows.”

Elias was breathing heavily beside me, still keeping his distance, his hands trembling slightly though his expression had hardened into stone.

The Curse Bearer looked at him with mocking reverence. “Even the ruler of a kingdom,” he said softly, “lacks knowledge.”

Every cruel word, every hurtful word directed at Elias burned me. Hurts me, makes me spiteful and vengeful. It once made me want to change my thoughts about time travelling.

The lamp’s hum finally began to fade.

I stared down at the cursed object, at its dying glow. This lamp wasn't known for something like this, unless it was twisted to do bad, it came down on me again that my asset was with him. And how this lamp had turned to evil makes me think worse of how the Sunstone would be manipulated.

Elias’s face was still pale, and his jaw locked tight. I could see the tremor in his hands as he stared at me. Not with eyes filled with anger,but with something else that penetrated my train of thought.

It was a clear betrayal.

Am I betraying him?

Is what I am doing called betraying? It doesn't seem like that to him,I was just obviously trying to save us both from the stress, pain..and whatever worst that could come to us again.

He should agree with me and make this easier for us…also save himself from the pain.

But with his facial expression,it doesn't seem like he has the intention of going back. And neither am I.

Nevertheless. I couldn’t let it end like this.

I took a shaky breath, forcing my thoughts into a single line of resolve. If what the Curse Bearer said was true, if our minds had to align — then I could fix this.

“We both agree to the first option!” I yelled suddenly, my voice cutting through the charged air. “Do you hear me? We agree! I chose it, Elias chose it also!”

I did this for us. I did this for him most especially.

Because seeing him in pain just feels like a knot or a tie that connects us keeps echoing and screaming for help— to be saved…. To be delivered from the hellish destroying fire.

He turned toward me sharply, disbelief flashing across his face. Then came the scorn. The cold, sharp edge of it.

“You don’t get to decide that,” he said, his tone coming off furious. “Every choice you’ve made since we met has led us deeper into ruin. And now you want to drag me into another one?”

My lips parted, but no words came out. The sting of his words burned hotter than any curse. I understand his point, despite my resolve fighting him not to. His words were getting to me and it shouldn't.

“I’m trying to save us,” I whispered.

“By surrendering?” he shot back. “That’s not salvation, Seraphina. That’s your fear talking.”

“It’s not fear, it’s reason!” I shouted, stepping forward. “You saw what that thing did— what it can do! You think your pride will protect you from it? You’re being stubborn!”

“And you,” he snapped, “are being reckless—again!”

The lamp interrupted fiercely by flickering violently between us, its golden glow throbbing like a heartbeat. The hum returned, sharper this time, as if echoing our argument and telling us it was time to stop and come to an agreement.

“You don’t listen, Elias!”

“And you don’t learn!”

Our voices crashed together — accusation against defiance, desperation against control — and again the world seemed to tilt — seemed to be at risk.

The Curse Bearer chuckled softly from where he stood, his laughter deep and cold. “Ah, lovers and their endless quarrels,” he murmured. “How tragic… and how very predictable.”

He tilted his head, eyes gleaming. “You have seconds left.”

I froze. “What?”

“Seconds,” he repeated, his tone almost playful. “Before your indecision becomes final. The curse is already feeding, choosing for you. And if you keep bickering…” He smiled thinly. “It will choose death.”

Elias turned to me, his expression hardening. “Then let it.”

My heart lurched. “No!”

The ticking in my head — whether real or imagined — grew louder. Panic surged up my throat. I didn’t have time to argue, to reason. I had only one choice left.

Forgive me, Elias.