Chapter 41 A Fairy's Determination
Suneia found Angus staring out at the Spasio cityscape, his tiny wings beating a frantic rhythm against the cool night air. The city lights, usually a source of fascination for him, seemed to hold no appeal tonight.
“Angus,” Suneia began, her voice tight, a tremor she couldn’t quite control.
He turned, his face etched with an uncharacteristic solemnity. “Suneia. How is he?”
“He’s… calmer,” she replied, the words tasting like ash. “The headache has subsided. He’s sleeping now.”
Angus nodded, but his gaze remained distant. “Good.”
Suneia walked closer, her hands clenched at her sides. “This isn’t right, Angus.”
He turned fully to her, his grey eyes narrowing. “What isn’t right, Suneia? We saved him. He was losing himself. The blight was consuming him. He was willing to die for her.”
“But he’s forgotten her,” Suneia countered, her voice rising. “He looked at her like she was a stranger. Like she was nothing.”
Angus’s face hardened. “That was the point, wasn’t it? To break the connection. To free him.”
“Not like this!” Suneia stepped forward, her voice cracking. “He loved her, Angus. I saw it. I felt it. Even with the curse, even with the danger, he loved her. And we took that from him.”
“He was suffering,” Angus insisted, his voice unwavering. “You saw it too. The pain in his eyes every time he looked at her, knowing she was slowly killing him. He deserved peace.”
“He deserved a choice!” Suneia cried, a tear escaping the corner of her eye. “He deserved to know what he was sacrificing. We made that choice for him. We stripped him of his memories, of his feelings. He’s hollow, Angus. A shell. He’s not the Yeseus we know.”
Angus let out a humorless laugh. “And what was Klishei’s choice? To leave him to die? To let him waste away for a human who was meant to be nothing more than a vessel?"
“She was more than that to him!” Suneia retorted, her anger flaring. “And he was more than just a mission to her. Didn’t you see the way she looked at him? The way she fought for him?”
“Sentimentality, Suneia,” Angus dismissed, waving a hand. “It clouds judgment. Yeseus is an Alpha, the last of his kind, cursed to immortality. His purpose is greater than a fleeting human romance. The Cosmos itself is unbalanced. We need him clear-headed, strong. Not distracted by a girl who carries a goddess inside her.”
“And what about my purpose?” Suneia demanded, her voice trembling. “To be his fake lover? To lie to him, to pretend to comfort him while his heart aches for someone he can’t remember? Every touch, every word feels like a betrayal. I can’t do this, Angus. I can’t live this lie.”
Angus’s eyes glinted, a spark of something cold and calculating. “You made a promise, Suneia. To save him. This is the path. You said you would bear any consequence.”
“I meant for myself!” she spat. “Not for him to lose his soul! Not for me to become a pawn in your… your grand scheme!”
“My grand scheme?” Angus chuckled, a dry, rustling sound. “We saved him. We saved his life. And in doing so, we ensured the stability of this sanctuary. The werewolves are still out there, Suneia. Daevar’s pack. They will come again. Yeseus needs to be ready. He needs to be focused.”
“He was focused on her!” Suneia’s voice broke. “He was happy with her! He was fighting for a future with her, even if it meant his own end. That was his choice. And we stole it from him.”
Angus stepped closer, his small frame seeming to loom over her. “And what kind of future would that be, Suneia? A slow, agonizing death? A life of constant pain, watching her fade away, knowing he was the cause? Is that the happiness you wish for him?”
Suneia flinched, the words striking a raw nerve. The blight. The pain. The idea that Yeseus would watch Klishei wither because of his curse. It had been her fear, her justification.
“The potion was powerful, Suneia,” Angus continued, his voice softer, almost persuasive. “It didn’t just erase her from his mind. It severed the emotional connection that was killing him. He’s free now. Free from the blight, free from the pain. He’s strong again.”
“But at what cost?” Suneia whispered, tears finally streaming down her face. “He lost a part of himself. And I… I became a part of that. I’m living a lie, Angus. And I can’t do it anymore.”
She turned away from him, clutching her arms, seeking warmth that wasn’t there. “I won’t pretend to be her. I won’t let him believe I’m the one he cares for. It’s cruel. To both of them.”
Angus watched her, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. He remained silent for a long moment, the only sound the distant hum of the city.
“You don’t have to pretend, Suneia,” Angus finally said, his voice deceptively gentle. “Just be there. Be the sister he remembers. His memories of her are gone, but his need for companionship, for loyalty remains You are family. That’s enough.”
Suneia shook her head, tears blurring the city lights. “No. It’s not. Not when I know what he’s lost. Not when I know what I helped do.”
“Then what will you do?” Angus asked, a subtle edge to his voice. “Abandon him now, after all we’ve done? After you swore you’d do anything to save him?”
Suneia closed her eyes, the weight of her decision pressing down on her. The image of Yeseus’s blank stare, the pain in Klishei’s eyes, the cold calculation in Angus’s. She was trapped.
“I’ll tell him,” she finally said, her voice barely a whisper. “I’ll tell him the truth.”
Angus’s wings stilled. A silence fell between them, heavy and ominous. “You will do no such thing,” he said, his voice devoid of its usual lightness, now sharp as a honed blade. “You made a choice, Suneia. You chose his life over her memory. You chose the stability of this sanctuary over fleeting human emotions. You will honor that choice. For his sake. For the sake of us all.”
Suneia turned to face him, defiance burning in her eyes, even as fear coiled in her gut. “You don’t understand, Angus. I can’t live with this. It’s eating me alive.”
“Then let it eat you,” Angus replied, his eyes glowing with an unnatural, malevolent green light. The same light she had seen in the reanimated figures in his grotto, though she didn’t know it then. “But you will not undo what has been done. The Phoenix Bride has played her part. Now, her tears will fuel a new dawn. A dawn where we, the forgotten, will rise. And Yeseus… Yeseus will lead us.”
Suneia gasped, stepping back, a sudden, chilling realization dawning on her. This wasn’t about saving Yeseus. It was about something far darker, far more sinister.
“What have you done?” she whispered, her voice laced with horror.
Angus smiled, a cold, predatory baring of teeth that mirrored Daevar’s. “I’ve merely ensured our survival, Suneia. A new dynasty. And soon, the Phoenix will weep again.”