Chapter Text
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: Cy, you really need to not pick on people.
Cy🌅: But I wasn’t.
Cy🌅: I was seriously worried for him.
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: And you made him so scared he passed out!
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: That is considered bullying.
Cy🌅: I was asked to teach him.
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: THE BASICS.
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: Phai even SHOWED ME the messages!
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: Also, they’re too damn cute.
Cy🌅: Stop.
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: You are SO LUCKY.
Cy🌅: Don’t you fucking dare.
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: Because 10/10 WOULD.
Cy🌅: HYACINTHIA.
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: Both of them.
Cy🌅: ᕙ( ᗒᗣᗕ )ᕗ
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: AT ONCE.
Cy🌅: That is not the image I wanted in my head.
Cy🌅: ⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: ৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻)
Cy🌅: ಠ_ಠ
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: Let’s fuck.
Cy🌅: You and I both know that you don’t mean that. So you need to shut up right now or I will permanently delete your contact information and burn down your family’s hospital without mercy.
Cy🌅: Your home will be reduced to ash and your school records will be deleted and your existence removed from this world SO FAST.
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: ‘Kay~
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: Love you bae~
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: (づ๑•ᴗ•๑)づ~~♡
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: Give my regards to Aithos when you see him, ‘kay?
Cy🌅: That’s none of your business.
𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine: Awwwwwwww
(𓆩♡𓆪~Hyacine is typing)
Cyrene rubbed her temples and muted the conversation. She was not sure why she remained friends with Hyacine half of the time- most of their interactions resulted in Cyrene having images forced into her brain that she would need to slam her face into a wall or drink until she blacked out to forget them.
Hyacine knew things about Cyrene that she hadn’t divulged to anyone. Things that even Cipher didn’t know. Most of them were things that made her not want to live in the bookstore, since ghosts couldn’t keep secrets worth a damn if they encountered someone who would listen.
She managed to keep her secrets hidden from Phainon for the two years she had to house Phainon at her apartment while their parents occupied the single-room home at the top of the store’s building, and she wasn’t quite sure how she had managed it.
Her secret was her crush on an actor that she had been in correspondence with. It was actually him, too. He would call her when he felt like shit and Phainon had been at school or out with friends. It started as a chance friendship, and he had laughed and gotten her number from the encounter.
She had been out shopping. She thought she had seen Phainon in the crowd, despite it being the middle of the school day, so she rushed up to him and grabbed him by the wrist and chastised him with “You’re supposed to be in school, Phainon,” before she saw his face or heard his voice.
“I’m pretty sure I graduated, little rabbit.” He peered over his sunglasses at her. The man’s eyes were violet, and his hair had the faintest shimmer of lilac. He otherwise looked exactly like her brother, if not older. A black moon tattoo decorated his neck. His voice was lower, and seemed to be filled with sadness despite the light way he spoke.
“Oh, I-” Cyrene stared at his eyes. They felt painfully familiar. “I thought you were my brother.”
“Your brother makes you blush like that?” The man brushed her cheek with the hand she wasn’t holding on to. He smiled as she felt her face heat up from the embarrassment.
“N-no. I- I’m sorry I just got confused- I didn’t mean to-” She was normally able to compose herself. It was odd for her to be so flustered.
“Perfect timing though, I needed an excuse to get away from my manager.” The man's smile was slight as he pulled out his teleslate and dialed a number. “Hey, yeah. Something came up. It’s really important. No. I’m not telling you. No. You can’t have that information. Fuck off Haphestion.” He ended the call while Cyrene could still hear yelling from the other end. “Let’s go on a date, you and me. How about it?” He leaned over close to her face, making her realize that the man was also taller than Phainon by just enough that she should have noticed.
She swallowed and nodded. “Y-yeah.”
“Fantastic!” He stood back up straight and pushed his sunglasses back up to cover his eyes. “We can do introductions later, first, where would you like to eat? I’m paying and you can choose whatever you want because I’m not a picky eater.” He looked at her, the smile was warm and familiar.
“I already ate though.”
“Desert then?” He casually leaned back down, hand in his pocket. “Like I said, it’s my treat.” He laughed lightly, it was a rough sound with that voice, like he hadn’t laughed for real in a million years but wanted to find a reason.
“S-sure.” She nodded. “Crepes?”
“Okay. Let go of my wrist and I’ll get you the most amazing crepes this city has to offer!” He gestured grandly.
Cyrene hadn’t noticed that she had even been tightening her grip during the interaction, she let go while looking at her hand in shock. “I-”
He slid that hand casually into hers. “I’ve had worse, trust me.”
The man brought her to a very fancy restaurant that overlooked the entire city, and she wondered how high up they actually were. The restaurant was called “The Aurous Perch’’.
She had never heard of it before, but that was probably because it was not anywhere near what she could even conceptualize as affordable. Each table was distant enough that no conversations could be overheard, and it was a place where people could dine in relative privacy while enjoying the view.
When they got to their table, he didn’t even look at their menu, he just rested his elbows on the table and his chin on folded hands. “What’s your name, dearest little rabbit?” His sunglasses had fallen enough so she could see his eyes again. He seemed genuinely curious. He didn’t even acknowledge the waiter as they were brought waters that were in glass bottles and crystal glasses with ice in them.
“M-my name is Cyrene.” She was still stammering… and staring. Why was he so familiar? It wasn’t that he looked like her brother, because he only barely did the more she looked at him, there were black tattoos that crawled from under his clothes making him look like shattered porcelain, a contrast to his build.
“And I am Aithos.” He reached out his right hand across the table. “Pleased to meet you, little rabbit, Cyrene.”
She took his hand, “pleased to meet you too, Aithos.”
He lifted her hand to kiss it gently, closing his eyes while doing so.
She marveled at his long eyelashes that matched his hair. They glittered in the sunlight.
“Now,” he picked up the menu in his left hand, and looked it over, not letting go of the soft grip he held on Cyrene’s hand. He was able to flick through the pages without use of his right hand, too. “What flavours were you looking for?” He started absentmindedly rubbing his thumb in circles on her hand as if he had known her for an eternity.
And she didn’t mind at all. “I honestly don’t have a preference of flavour,” she had to flip through the menu while it sat on the table to find the flavours. There were no prices. She would be panicking, but she decided that now would not be the time for that. Her eyes scanned the flavors, there were so many she hadn’t ever tried. “I’ve never had lavender before,” she could only think of purple right then.
“Would you like the lavender silk one, then?” Aithos’ rough voice asked, a knowing smile on his lips.
“Yeah, I’d like that. It’s always good to try new things.”
“I absolutely agree with you on that one.” He ordered them their desserts and poured Cyrene some water, still not letting go of her hand.
‘Just how ambidextrous is this man?’ was the thought that rolled around in Cyrene’s head.
“I’m just impressed you don’t know who I am. That alone made me interested.” He took a sip of the water from her glass, knowingly teasing her.
“Well, you’re a very tall man who is named Aithos and can afford to take a random girl to a fancy, no-prices-on-the-menu-restaurant. I can only take what you give me at face value.” She took a sip of her water. Same glass. He hadn’t even poured one for himself, his ice had been melting while they sat there. “I’m a person who runs a haunted bookshop that may-or-may-not be owned by a quasi-immortal cat. So I’m no less weird than you.”
Aithos’ eyebrow raised at that. “I honestly think that’s far more interesting than what I do.”
“What is it that you do then?”
“I’m an actor.” He said, “I’ve been in a lot of films for the last few years. They even had me come in to do a screen test for Kephale’s Heir for the movie they’re set to start filming later this year.” He said it softly. “They want to dress me in all white, and I really don’t look good in white, so they have to do a lot of design changes before we can really start.”
“You-” Cyrene blinked. “Wait. What?”
“Yeah, I’m that Aithos.” He sighed. “Honestly, it’s nice to have run into someone who didn’t recognise me or my voice right away. But yes, Aithos Reaver, I’m proud to say.” He reached out his left hand to stroke her cheek. “I feel like I’ve met you before though, and I can’t quite pin down why.” His thumb lingered by her ear. “But a haunted bookstore sounds much more interesting than a life like mine.” He laughed, this one feeling less forced than the one from before.
“I assure you, it’s much more irritating than it sounds.” She replied, but didn’t get the chance to follow that up before an ornate dish with vibrant purple crepes filled with a velvety chocolate creme and boysenberries, drizzled with a tart citrus syrup and garnished with a sprig of rosemary and more berries. “Wow.” Her eyes widened at the dish in front of her. It smelled heavenly.
Aithos hummed in approval. “Here,” He took a photo of her food, “This way you can remember it.” He looked at her curious expression, ‘adorable’, “I’ll send it to you, and I want to ask if I can post this to my socials, they like to see my preferences.”
Cyrene gave her number and waited for the buzz of the notification. It was an unlisted number. The message contained a photo that had her plate in it, but with their hands off to the side, barely in the frame. “Y-heah, go for it.”
“I will after you try it. Then I’ll give you my number for real. I’m unlisted for reasons you probably understand.” He let go of her hand and watched her eat, casually holding conversation with her. She was entirely too interesting. Not to mention the feeling that he knew her. Her hand in his, he just wanted to continue holding it forever.
He had the feeling when she first spoke to him, too.
He was sure of it. This was the same girl.
He wondered if she would remember him, but he had no desire to press the topic. He just didn’t want to let go of her.
“How was it?” He asked, “I have to let my obsessive fans know or else they’ll go ballistic that I didn’t describe it.”
“I can… I can just type it out if you want.” She was avoiding his eyes all of a sudden.
“Sure, if that’s easier.” He held out the teleslate to her, the app open with the post all ready to go. “I’ll do the tags and stuff, so don’t worry about that part.”
She quickly typed a description out and handed it back to him, and when he read it, he was shocked at how well it fit his voice. He added the appropriate tags and set it to post the next day. “You are good with your words, you know that?”
She laughed, the sound like an angel’s to his ears. “It must be all the books and ghosts I’m around all the time, I really can’t get away from them.”
“Cyrene I-”
That moment her phone started ringing. “Oh shit, I gotta take this,” she stood up and walked off to find somewhere she could take the call.
‘Figures.’ He sighed, he held up his left hand and rubbed his index finger and thumb together, summoning the waiter with the silent gesture, to whom he gave a card without anything written on it. He whispered “full” so only the waiter could hear. He nodded when the waiter raised an eyebrow. A one hundred percent tip was worth it, this girl was worth it, his manager could yell at him later.
When the girl returned, she looked panicked, and his immediate reaction was to stand up and reach out to her, “Is everything okay, Cyrene?”
The darkness caved in.
The black flames burned the world.
His skin burned.
The girl with pink hair was crying as the darkness consumed her.
Aithos blinked the fragmented memory away. ‘It’s only a scene from the next movie.’ He swallowed hard. ‘Right?’
“I-” her voice faltered. “My grandfather is in the hospital, My mother needs to have me run the shop right now so she can make sure things are okay.” She seemed on the verge of tears. “I also need to pick my brother up from school so he doesn’t have a breakdown on campus.”
The girl was smiling as she called the name-
His name-
As her body disintegrated.
Over, and over again.
“Do you need a ride?” Aithos stepped towards her but hesitated to touch her.
“N-no.” She shook her head. “I definitely shouldn’t let you near a high school if you're such a famous actor.” She smiled as she said his name, tears were in her eyes,. “I’m truly sorry, Aithos Reaver.”
And he watched as she ran, he could only reach out after her.
It was as if she was disintegrating again.
Lost to The Black Tide.
And his breath caught in his throat.
He felt his fragile shell break further, the tendrils moved a fraction of an inch further down his arm. He forced himself to regain his composure.
‘I wish it was just the script.’ He moved to leave, the weather returned his card without him noticing, it seemed.
He rushed up the service stairs to the roof, where he pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and watched as pieces of his body turned to dust, the void where the part of his arm had once been solid still held the shape of an arm when touched by anything but his own hands and those with Golden Blood.
He wanted to cry, but his own curse wouldn’t let him. It tasted like ash, just like any food he tried to eat, any liquid he tried to drink- he was forbidden to find pleasure in this world, and he was cursed to play the role of Hero when he’s the one who destroyed the world in the first place. He wasn't worthy of living in this world.
And he was drawn to the girl whose life he had taken so very long ago that he had managed to force himself to forget.
She was the very concept of Memory. The exact thing he was running from is everything her existence embodies. He knew he could never meet her brother. Never see him face-to-face.
He stared at the lack of flesh on his arm, barely four inches across, touched it slowly and felt the inferno within his body, and winced as a physical ember touched his face.
If he met this Phainon-
If he ever went to that bookstore-
He knew the world would begin to end again.
But he couldn’t help himself, so he pulled out his teleslate.
Unlisted: If you ever wanna talk about it or need to vent, I’m right here, little rabbit.
Unlisted: I will always make time for you.
Unlisted: Just-
Unlisted: Don’t tell your brother about me…
Unlisted: I’m too used to over-protective brothers ending up making girls stop talking to me.
Unlisted: Also, sorry I did get a picture of your smile.
Unlisted: [photo]
Unlisted: This one I’m not sharing online.
Unlisted: Let me know that you get home okay or if you need anything at all.
Unlisted: I promise, little rabbit, I will put my world on hold for you.
Unlisted: I wonder what name I’ll be under in your contacts?
Unlisted: Have a good night, my little rabbit.
Unlisted: I hope to see you again soon, Cyrene.
He locked his teleslate before he could get a response. He didn’t want one yet…
He pulled out the other teleslate [it was identical but had a different passkey] and called his manager. “Can you come get me?” He grunted an affirmation and looked at his arm again. “Cerydra will understand when I explain it to her,” he looked out at the city, the memory of Kephale and the Dawn Device always superimposed over the skyline when he looked at the world from high up. It was breathtaking. Seeing something that the world had forgotten when the Heirs finally succeeded in their quest, bringing forth this absurd Era Nova where time didn’t reset, but he had to kill them all anyway.
“Fuck.”
