40 - TRUTH IS A RELATIVE CONCEPT

40 - TRUTH IS A RELATIVE CONCEPT
TRUTH IS A RELATIVE CONCEPT

Meridian Water.

The moon was high, illuminating with a thin glow that seemed to reflect the state of my mind, while the shadows tried to take hold of me. Everything was getting more and more intense. I wish I could have chosen to be in my room. But I was forced to go down to the counting moon. The little boy, Eden, had already been talking at the top of his lungs about what the celebration was like, and I was so tired that I just let him talk and pretend to be interested. Maybe he'd tell me how to escape.

My head was spinning with so much information, and when I was finally able to breathe. I found myself leaning against a rock, and if I wasn't mistaken. I caught a glimpse of Renan sitting on it earlier, with Lauren. He had disappeared.

I took a deep breath, trying to maintain my posture and control. Not to give in.

Don't give in.

Don't give in.

“There's no point in fighting the inevitable, Meridian.” I muttered to myself, feeling the weight of those words settle in my chest.

Something inside me refused to accept it. Renan's words still echoed: “If you hurt one of my people again, I won't hesitate.” There was so much hatred there, but also a pain that he couldn't hide.

“You're still fighting, even if you don't want to admit it.” His voice made me turn abruptly.

He was leaning against the cell, watching me with a look that mixed curiosity with coldness. Without even respecting my space, he placed himself next to me.

“What do you want?” I asked, trying to remain indifferent. My dry tone didn't intimidate him. He invaded my space, placing himself next to the stone.

“I want to understand.” He said, crossing his arms and staring at the movement in front of me. “Your mind is trying to make you survive between two worlds, but the reality is that, even if you fight, one day you'll have to accept what's trapped inside.”

I laughed, but there was no humor in my voice.

“Let's assume that all this is true… What took you so long to rescue me? Why now?” I stared at him, my eyes penetrating his.

“Firstly, because we didn't even know you were alive.” He sighed, and a flash of pain flashed across his eyes. “Secondly, because you know very well that life isn't a fairy tale, you can't just wish you were here, and in the blink of an eye you'll appear.”

“I wasn't in a golden cell.” I smiled gruffly. “I was out there, loose, free. Because, unlike you, they didn't imprison me. I was out there; I wasn't the prince's protector for so long, and look how funny it is, when I was lost, like a renegade, out there hunting demons, you couldn't rescue me… when I became the prince's protector, like the blink of an eye, I showed up here.” I mocked.

“It's much easier to see what you want to see. I'll say it a thousand times, and it'll look the same to you.” He snorted. He snorted. “I'm not going to stand here like everyone else, trying to make you see the truth by force; one day you'll see it for yourself, and it'll be too late.”

“Truth is a relative concept.” I muttered.

“Maybe it is, but you can't run away from it all your life.”

I was about to reply, but something in his tone made me stop.

I was in the forest. Blue eyes scanned me, but the wolf didn't attack me; it just backed away and followed. I took a deep breath, closing and opening my eyes.

“It was you.” I accused him.

“Me what?” He arched an eyebrow.

“That you saw me once in the forest and didn't attack me.” I accused him again.

He didn't answer, but something in his eyes changed. For a moment, I saw the person he was trying to hide—the feeling he was swallowing and disguising in anger.

“I could have killed you.” I hissed.

“You wouldn't.” He clucked his tongue in disdain.

“And how can you be so sure?” I stared at him, narrowing my eyes.

“Because you may not remember it, but you feel it.” His eyes penetrated mine. “You feel it, and run away from the memories all you want; there's no running away from what's inside.”

Before I could say anything back, a rush of adrenaline seized my body in response to his proximity.

“The counting moon is about to begin.” He said and headed off to where everyone else was, leaving me alone with his words.

I closed my eyes, trying to shake off the rush, but instead I was greeted by fragments of broken memories. The forest, the blue eyes, my name being called, and a ringing in my ear.

“Meridian!” A scream.

The same cry I heard every time I dreamed, and then I remembered that voice.

Eden.

That voice shouting my name was Eden's.

It was Eden's voice that had kept the only thing I had left for two years.

Blurred shadows took over my vision, as if they were dancing towards me, coming towards me, and I was trying to push them away.

“Eden!” I shouted, in a feeble attempt not to lose myself in that memory, to try to understand what it was from. The context was not to let the shadows take away the only fragment of my identity that I had just discovered.

The buzzing got louder.

I blacked out.