238. FINAL SACRIFICE

238. FINAL SACRIFICE


~ODETTE

Everything inside of me shattered as I watched in horror what Cassius had done to himself.

Time stopped and it felt like each of us were stuck in our own little box of denial.

Orion was shaking. Camille's eyes were wide with shock... And Vladimir, he still kept fighting the invisible hold around him so he could attack Azarel or stop Cassius... who was already dead...

And this hit me even harder...

How could he do this? How could he dare kill himself? Who gave him the right to sacrifice himself when I was here?

"I was going to fix this... Cassius didn't have to—" the words stumbling out of me suddenly stopped as a blinding pain shut through me.

It erupted from deep within my core and life essence. And I screamed...

But so did Azarel.

We both dropped to our knees and through my own pain, I saw his increase...

"No... No... NO!" He roared as his skin started glowing with what could only be an inner explosion.

Then I felt it. From deep within me... where our connection was rooted, I felt it snap.

Then like a dream come true, his consciousness started fading from mine.

His hold on me began to erase and the world started glowing with light as his darkness faded away...

But as it slowly disappeared, the edges began to pull me away too.

Everything was happening so fast that one minute I was there, on my knees, watching Azarel's consciousness fade away...

And the next, I was pulled violently into the empty void... where I locked Dahlia.

In a blink, I was standing at a crossroad and she was before me— all fierce and bold.

The naive little mortal I had chosen as my vessel, looked stronger than any god or goddess I have faced...

And in that moment, I realized how much I had disrupted her life... How terribly my presence had affected everything she held dear...

How my pride blinded me to what she was capable of...

It was clear that her aura, her vulnerability, her strength and everything else in-between that I had underestimated, were the reasons we won this battle—

They were the reason that, she won this battle against Azarel...

"Dahlia," I whispered, my emotions pouring through my voice.

Her shoulders squared, but rather than look at me with anger— all she had in those warm eyes was understanding...

And this broke me even more.

"I am sorry, Dahlia..." I whispered.

Her expression only softened before a bright light suddenly filled the space. And just then, her consciousness forcefully rose.

The wave hit me hard, throwing me to the ground as she rose with a power so fierce, I felt my whole existence fading.

And I couldn't even fight it. Because it was clear that, my time was over.

Dahlia had to take over. She deserved it.



~DAHLIA

My eyes snapped open and so did Lyon.

His eyes were no longer glowing with darkness. He no longer had the aura of darkness oozing around him... And I didn't need to check twice.

It was clear. Azarel was gone.

He slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, as he stared at the world around us.

Then his eyes widened in shock— almost like he had finally seen what we were watching from within in the physical.

And it was then, it struck me too.

Cassius!

My head snapped to where he laid and my heart fell. It wasn't just another twisted torture, Cassius really did kill himself!

"No!" I hissed, scrambling to my feet. I ran to where he was.

My legs were shaking and the ground didn't seem stable anymore— but all that didn't matter.

It was Cassius' pale body that drove me forward.

By the time I reached him, I dropped to my knees and grabbed his body.

The sharp cold tripped off whatever protection I had on my emotions. Because it was then it became clear.

This wasn't a dream. I was no longer in my head or in Azarel's head... This wasn't a drill nor a test...

This wasn't some type of dark prison...

This was the real world. And Cassius was... dead?

"No, Cassius," I whispered, shaking his lifeless body. "You can't do this."

My tears didn't even need permission as they flooded my face with feverish tremors.

"Cassius, you have to wake up! How can you do this to me?"

My blurred vision landed on the dagger still buried in his chest and my throat turned bitter.

Before I could even process, I yanked it out of him and pressed hard— even if there was no longer blood flowing. Because some part of me still believed his body might remember how to heal.

"Cassius, please... I can't do this wouldn't you— you have to wake up!"

I felt my mother's warm hands around my shoulders. And I already knew what she wanted to say, but I just couldn't accept it.

How could I just come back and the first thing was to find Cassius dead?

Who was I going to argue with on cold nights? Who would take me to the library?

Who would crack weird intelligent jokes that made perfect sense, yet still felt funny?

Who— who would protect and defend Orion? Who would calm Vladimir when he acted out?

I couldn't do this on my own! No!

"Dahlia, my poor child, you need to be strong..." My mother whimpered above me. "He is gone—"

"No!" I cried out, turning to glare at her. "He is not gone! How can he go without telling me goodbye? I wasn't even here and he just left?"

She turned her tears-filled eyes away from me and shook her head. "Vladimir please try to make her understand... Orion please... You guys should say something..."

My chest tightened as I turned to them. 

But just like her, they couldn't face me. Orion wrapped his arms around himself, crying his eyes out and Vladimir was too broken to even speak.

And Cassius still didn't wake up...

My pain started rising to my head and my heart felt like it would explode.

I held Cassius close and screamed with so much pain, the cave cried along with me.

"This isn't fair... Cassius, please..."

After everything we had been through. After all those fights in Azarel's prison...

My very soul was starting to cave in, when Lyon suddenly dragged himself to his feet.

"Dahlia," he began in a low broken voice. "I think I have done enough wrong in this world— especially to you..."

I swallowed back my sniffles and stared at him with confusion.

"I have taken so much from you, Dahlia..." He took another step back. "It's time for me to give you something in return..."

My broken heart along with all my crashing emotions paused.

Then he smiled. "There is a gift that I can give you that I am sure you will appreciate the most... More than anything else..."

Something stirred deep within me and fear settled in my gut. "L—Lyon, what are you talking about?"

The smile on his face stretched. 

"Dahlia, you are the only woman that I have ever loved."

He took yet another step backward... to the blazing white flames.

"Long before I even met you, I loved you... And will always love you."

My heart started pounding and for a second, I let go of Cassius' lifeless hand.

But Lyon only continued smiling. "I am so glad that I finally got to meet you and spend time with you... And now, I am the happiest man to get to give my life for your happiness..."

Every nerve in my body rang with alarm and my throat went dry. "Lyon— what are you—"

Before the sentence could finish forming, Lyon suddenly yelled to the Flame;

"I give my LIFE in exchange for Cassius'!"

With that, he let himself fall into the white blazing flames— without breaking eye contact!

The fire instantly swallowed him and like it was never there, it went out.

I instantly froze in shock, unable to even process.

My heart ached in a different way and my tears were just on the verge of resuming their flow when a loud gasp suddenly echoed through the cave walls.

"Cassius!" Orion cried out.

And true to his words, the man in my arms suddenly stirred awake...

My body didn't even know how to react as I cried and smiled all at once.

"Dahlia, hey... Don't cry..." He whispered in that charming voice I thought I would never hear.

"Cassius..." I called back as he smiled at me— a proof that Lyon really just sacrificed himself...

For me...

For us.