Chapter 36 - Forged (2) (Special)

Aries Blackwood:

I open my eyes to the darkness.

Pitch black darkness was all I could see. And I doubt if my eyes were even open at this point.

But then I see something glimmer distance away and so I reach towards my only source of light which guided me to a land, painted in red, soaked in blood. Piles and piles of dead bodies covered the entirety of the land and there he stood, a boy with a sword pierced right through his heart.

He holds his ground until no heart beats the land. Then he too falls on his knees. Swinging his sword up and onto the ground, he holds his wounded body upright as if proving the land that he was invincible even in death.

And as something in that blood-soaked golden hair spurs my curiosity, I inch closer towards him, studying the lines of his equally bloodied face but his piercing blue eyes stops me from going any closer. For I see a replica of my own eyes.

For I see myself in him.

Baffled at the of my younger self, my other self, I take two staggering steps back, but the emerging of a bright light stops me from running back into the dark abbey that I just freed myself from. And there she appears, a being of heaven. Dazzling, supreme yet so delicate.

Her silver hair lights the world as she floats in the space before him just as his heart stops to beat and he too shuts his eyes to the world and falls forward onto her small shoulder. Gently stroking his muted hair, she holds a smile so subtle, so pure.

“It’s okay, Aries. I got you.”

And I immediately know that soft, sweet whispers of hers. It was her. It was my Althea. But her whisper of his name also confirms my knowledge of the boy. He was in fact me and it seems like I was no stranger to her. She knew me. Or the me in her arms.

With my heart now pounding hard in my chest, I kneel beside her, trying my best to be the one showered with her loving affection. “Althea, my love…” But it was as if he was the only thing that she saw. Her eyes never look my way, and it pains me a little, even though I knew that the boy she gave her care to was also me.

“Althea…” I bring my hand forward to brush her soft hair, but my hands slip right through her. Seems like I cannot even hold her.

“Althea…” I call out her name again, this time desperation in my voice. Because I wanted her to notice the me now. The me that knew of her more than the boy in her arms could ever know.

But her eyes simply move to the sharp metal that sucked his life away. Then with just a brush of her fingertips it disappears as if it never existed. Cupping his bloodied face, she pulls him to her, until their forehead connects.

“Would you let me love you, Aries?” She whispers as she holds the softest smile across her lips.

And as an answer, a trail of blood flows from their connected forehead and onto her luminous skin, down the curve of her face as if she had cried tears of blood. “I’ll take that as a yes then.”

But all I saw was that he had sullied her, all I knew was that he had stained her innocence.

Inching closer until her rosy lips are a breath away from his filthy ones whilst her nose slightly brushing against his, a bright light forms on her parted lips and it flows onto his. As if she was feeding him with her love. As if offering herself to him.

And something in me can’t help but feel envious of him even though the boy in her arms was very much me from another life.

“You don’t have to be alone anymore. I’ll always be here with you from now on.” She whispers against his lips. “Till all infinity. I, Althea Silvermoon, the goddess of life, promise you today to only love you Aries. Here, I offer you half my soul and all my heart.”

She pulls away but their connection never severed, her lips now slightly stained red, soaked with his blood. “Even if you don’t know me yet- even if I won’t remember you, my heart forever will. So, keep it safe until we meet again.” She smiles as she brings his hand over her heart.

And I cannot help the tears forming my eyes and the pain pricking my heart, blurring my vision of her.

“Aries let’s be together from now on till the end of infinity. Okay?”

But before I could reach her, the darkness does and once again all that surrounds me is the pitch-black night.

“Althea.” My frantic heart drums as I circle the dark to find the light of her soul. As I try and hold the fragrance of her life.

“Althea, where are you? Please come back to me.”

I fall on my knees, fingers laced deep into my hair. Tugging my hair hard, I cry out into the darkness. “You promised.” Pathetic tears now roll down my eyes. “You promised to be with me for all infinity. You promised me…”

And as I fall into the depth of my despair, I feel a gentle breeze of the cool air. Lifting my head up, I see the world now blooming with bright colours of rainbow. A land beautifully planted with love.

Then I hear laughter ring the field like a sweet melody. A tune I forever wanted to hear.

I turn around in circles, desperately trying to locate the source of the music until I finally see a beast soaring high up in the sky with his magnificent wings. And there she was. Tightly holding onto his back as he circles the sky.

“What do you say Alex, should we get out of here?”

“Althea. Please don’t leave me.” I quickly get up from the ground and run after them.

But who was I even competing against? A divine beast with a pair of wings? My strides get shorter and slower as her laughter sounds like another breeze of air.

Breathing heavily but my heart stilling, I watch as they soar high up in the sky and far away, away from my reach. And a lonely tear finally rolls down the corner of my eye as my heart squeezes tightly, painfully.

But a small smile forms on my lips regardless of the pain.

“Do you not wish to be with her?”

I abruptly turn around upon hearing a soft whisper and I’m once again blessed with the sight of another goddess, the moon herself. “If you want her that much, why don’t you chase after her?”

I stare at her silver eyes for a while longer before I shake my head and exhale loudly. Then I look up at the sky where she had just vanished into. “I want to- so much. But she looks so happy- here…” I quickly press my lips together, stopping the sobs from racking through my lips.

Then I look back into her eyes once again as I voice the feelings in my heart out loud. “I love her. I miss her—”

I clutch my fists tight, trying to hold anymore tears from flowing. But it was no use. Tears flow heavily down eyes as the needles prick my heart deeper and harder.

“There really was no place for you in heaven. Your soul was doomed to reside in hell for eternity. I had long given up on you child.” I look back at her, but her eyes were now fixated on the heart of the garden where a small pond sat. “But she never did.”

Then she slowly walks away from me and towards the edge of the small pond. “This is where she asked me to let her be with you.”

Like a magnet pulled by its other half, I walk towards her. “This is where she offered herself to save your soul. You didn’t even know her, yet she was so keen on being with you. I had asked her why she was so willing to love someone that doesn’t even know her existence?”

Then she looks at me with a sad smile on her face. “You know what her answer was?”

I shake my head, my eyes still on hers as I try to control these emotions wanting to pour out of me once again. “She told me she could hear your soul. That she could understand your heart. Said she would womb your sin and find a place where you both can be together in this loop of infinity.

She was willing to sacrifice herself just to hear you laugh. I warned her. But my daughter is too stubborn for her own good.” She too shakes her head and chuckles softly.

“I told her that just because she wants to be with you, doesn’t mean that you too would want the same. And you know what she told me…”

Then her face appears before my eyes. Of her innocent self from moment ago. The wind gently caressing her silver hair as it passes by. “It’s okay even if he doesn’t love me back. I’ll be more than happy to be the only one that loves him.” She tilts her head to the side with a huge smile on her face. Innocence and selflessness in that smile.

Tears falls down my eyes like the waterfall, uncontrollable and unstoppable.

I clutch my heart as I try to get closer to the mirage of her, but she vanishes with just a touch of my finger.

“Althea…”

Feeling weak, I fall on my knees, head held low. It hurts.

“So, tell me this child, if heaven and hell was to come between you once again, would you still hold onto her?” I look up at her sad eyes. “Are you still willing to love her as she loves you? Unconditionally and selflessly. Are you still willing to suffer knowing just how much it hurts?”

“Heaven punishes the wrong and hell the sinner, but everything I did this time, I did as they willed. So, shouldn’t they be punished for going against their own will by pulling us apart? For they will be the ones who is wrong this time. For they will be the ones who has sinned.”

But there is no hesitation in my heart as I finally answer her questions. “But still if they do come between us again, yes, I will still hold on to her and I will only love her more. I’m willing to suffer eternity of heartbreaks if that means that I’ll have her in my arms at the end of it all.”

I see a smile form on her lips before darkness surrounds me once again, but this time, I find myself falling.

“Wait for her in the land of sand, it won’t be long before she returns. Until then…” Her whispers fade as I fall deeper and deeper into the darkness and I close my eyes, finally giving in to the surging of hope she had blessed me with.

And another day passes by with the sky now turning dark.

It has been a week since I came to this land, taking a shelter in the homes of Sole pack. They were all welcoming, never questioning my sudden appearance nor my identity, just accepting me as I came. And I was grateful that they did.

A week passed but I still didn’t get a whiff of her scent. Will it be tomorrow? I question the goddess at every sunset.

But this sunset as I walk the empty land, something makes my heart anxious and my feet to advance faster. And soon as I enter the gates of the pack land, the ever so familiar scent fills the capacity of my lungs, and my eyes immediately searches through the crowd huddled by the fire as my drumming heart beats in synch with another amongst the crowd.

And as my eyes dance across the crowd, I see his face. Alexander. He looks back at me with lips parted, surprise clear in his eyes, but soon shuts those lips to hold a small smile as he murmurs something. However, the drumming of my heart was too wild to hear him, or anything else expect the heart that beats along with it.

He was here and that only meant that she was somewhere near—

My eyes instantly lower to the figure beside him. Although her body was fully covered with the excess fabric and her face with a hood, there was no doubt who she was.

It was her. It really was her.

My legs move unlike my heart, short and slow as my eyes tries to draw the lines of her beautiful face and paint the colour of her eyes and lips, hidden beneath that fabric.

Then her arms reach forward as if wanting to feel the touch of our skin and I immediately comply. I walk straight into her longing palms and her hand holds my heart like it would cease to beat if she let go. She gasps for air although she breaths.

And it hurts me to see her like this. For I have been the cause of her pain.

And when I finally take the hood off her to dive into the ocean of her eyes, my heart squeezes painfully tight when I see a thick piece of fabric instead. She sobs into me as I place a kiss onto her silver crown. And I hold her tight, pulling her small body deeper into the heat of my embrace. Ah, how I missed this. These feelings, her, every little thing about her.

I’m sorry. I’m never letting you go again. I promise myself as I hold her tighter.

Moments pass in her arms when all of a sudden, I feel a small tug of my t-shirt and I cannot help but comply to her and drop lower. Then I feel her breath on the side of my neck followed by the touch of her soft lips, making my body ignite in flames. And a second after, I feel the sharp tips of her canine pierce through my flesh.

My eyes widen for a second as I feel her canines harshly dig into my throat as if she was scared that I will push her away, as if I will reject her touch.

But who was going to tell this sweet soul of mine that Aries has long been at Althea’s mercy? She could break his heart, tear his soul, still he would forever love no one but her.

With a smile now stretching across my lips, I place my hand on the back of her head, pulling her further into the curves of my neck. Letting her do whatever she pleased, mark me, claim me.

I would be happy even if she decided to suck the life out of me. If she wished to leave me now, I will let her. But if she wished to hold me, I will tie her down with my soul.

And now that she has claimed this body too, there was no power in heaven or hell that could pull us apart. For she had forged my life with hers.

Now I was as much hers as she was mine.

She is mine!

THE END.