220. SET DAHLIA FREE

220. SET DAHLIA FREE
~DAHLIA

Orion was right there trying to— I paused as my eyes carefully took in what he was doing—

He was trying to break into a mirror?

“Orion!” I called, already rushing towards him.

But I was stopped by an invisible barrier.

“What is this?” I wondered out loud as I tried to feel through the barrier.

It didn't pulse like a force field. It was simply there like a see-through wall.

My heart dropped.

I couldn't stay back here. I had to do something…

I took a step backward, and then I saw a flicker of my own reflection over the clear barrier.

Confused, I tried the same movement again and as my reflection flashed, I understood.

I was also in a mirror. Orion could see me as well. But there were so many mirrors surrounding him, it would take forever for him to come to me.

I had to get his attention somehow. “Orion!” I yelled, knocking violently on the mirror. “Over here!”

I hit it over and over, but nothing got to him.

He was fully invested in the mirror that was in front of him. The tears on his face only streamed faster as his efforts failed.

His hair was messed up and his clothes were soaked with tears and sweat. But this didn't seem to bother him as he kept fighting endlessly to meet his goal.

He pushed, clawed and kicked like a mad man.

But every time, the mirrors shattered. Yet, the cycle continued.

My stomach flipped as it struck me that whatever was happening would soon get to the mirror that I was standing in unless he let me in.

“Dahlia… don't hate me. I love you!” He suddenly screamed.

My insides halted. For a second I thought he had finally seen me.

I looked more closely, I realized that he was indeed looking at me through the mirror. But it was a different mirror.

And it was a different version of me. A copy of me.

“Your love is mine, Dahlia! Why can't you see that you belong to me! Only me!” He yelled, rushing towards the mirror just as it shattered.

But the act itself wasn't what struck me, it was his words… the emotion buried in them…

“Dahlia! You can't leave me! You can't belong to someone else!” He kept yelling, his eyes glowing red.

And his aura twisting. Dark mist loomed over him, almost like another barrier…

And as I looked closer, I saw that this was in fact what fueled the mirrors. The more obsessive he became, the more mirrors appeared.

It was then I understood his prison. He had the key in his hands but didn't know it because he was holding tight to the illusion of having me to himself…

The illusion of being loved and accepted…

“Orion…” I whispered as my heart cracked at his sorry state.

Yet, he barely heard me as he kept screaming at each activated mirror… at each version of me that chose a different Ravenwood brother other than him…

“I don't want to be alone, Dahlia! Why can't you see that?! Why can't you love me back!”

His voice became dark and that mist around him brewed stronger.

“Why can't you see that you are all I have? And I am supposed to be all you have too?”

I turned to the mirrors he was drawn to and I carefully assessed the scenes. They were supposed to teach him something…

But he wasn't getting it.

He didn't fully understand the true meaning of love. He was confusing it with a toxic obsession and lust… and loneliness…

And this was why Azarel could keep him here.

Sorrow flowed through my heart as it tightened. I loved Orion. I wanted to help him…

It wasn't his fault that he didn't know how to love. He was just a victim of a system that left him on the wanting side…

And somehow, he thought true love was supposed to be selfish—

The thoughts suddenly froze as it struck me. If his emotional flaw was what Azarel was using as a key to keep him here, maybe I could break him out by making him see the light!

Quickly, my eyes dashed around me searching for something… anything.

I knew from watching the other mirrors that breaking the mirror completely meant the image and reflection would vanish.

In other words, it was a risk for me. Because I could end up breaking the only access I had to him.

But I had to try to at least crack it. Or something.

My eyes landed on a piece of stone behind me and I hurriedly grabbed it.

With careful precision, I hit the centre of the mirror, hard.

“Orion!”

At first nothing happened. But a small hum suddenly filled my side of the mirror and then, it cracked.

As the crack and hum grew in momentum, it caught his attention and he turned towards me.

“Dahlia?” He whispered, his tone wavering through emotions as he slowly walked towards me.

“Orion, you have to listen to me—” I moved so close to the mirror, holding it close. “I am not your reward. I am not an object that you can possess…”

Tears streamed down his battered face as pain flashed through him. “But… I love you… the goddess sent you for me, so I wouldn't be alone again… how can you not be my reward?”

A lump formed in my throat at the pain in his voice. But I knew I had to remain firm.

“Orion, love is not supposed to be an obsession! It's something you are supposed to sacrifice for… not claim and hide away for yourself alone!”

“But… if I don't have you, what will I have?”

“Orion, you will always have my love but first you need to understand that you are more than my love!”

His tears increased and so did mine. But I didn't stop talking…

“—You are strong. You are good. You can make friends and have a good life!”

My throat closed around my words as even the atmosphere shifted into a tense cold as Orion’s tears became remorseful…

“—You don't have to be a prince, an heir or my mate alone for you to have something! Because you have you!”

His knees buckled and he dropped to the ground holding his face.

“I have done so much evil to have you for myself Dahlia… I have hurt my brothers… I have collaborated with darkness…”

“Orion, I don't blame you for what you did… please forget all that and just wake up from this prison…”

The hum around the mirror started intensifying and panic surged through me.

“Maybe it will be better if I stay here…” Orion let out in a whimper and I felt my heart stop.

“No, Orion, don't say that! None of it is real. You need to wake up!”

A sad scoff escaped his lips as he finally raised his tear stained eyes to meet mine.

“I don't think I can break free from this place, Dahlia…”

“No, you can! And you will!” I snapped with burning pain. “You just have to let me go. Stop holding on to me. Set your Dahlia free!”

His wet eyes dilated into confusion as he shook his head at me. “I can't…”

“Orion, please… you can.”

“I understand all that you have said. But Dahlia, If I let you go, I will be back to a world of loneliness…”

“Orion…”

He raised his hands to me and laughed sadly. “Without you, I am only a writer and a poet. So if I let you go, who will I write for? Who will read my poems?”

“Orion, I was never yours alone to own… there will always be people out there that will want to read your beautiful work…”

“I don't want that,” he let out in a small broken voice.

At this point, the hum had gotten so strong that the mirror was shaking with such intense power, I knew I was losing him.

My tears started flowing freely as something inside of me began to die.

Our reflections started glitching and I knew it was over.

But just before everything could die out, Orion got to his feet and roared;

“Dahlia, I set you free!” 

And then, he smashed the mirror!