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I want this to end.
How much longer will this execution on the universe persist?
The ground shuddered beneath my feet, heaven fell apart, and a cry of terror echoed through my ears
The end had come.
Terminus had awakened.
The screeches of the Aeons melded with life into a single, mournful melody. The amber had shattered, Immortality had withered, Silence had fallen, darkened suns crumbled into ashes, and the Tavern lay buried in dust.
Even destruction itself could not escape the fate of destruction.
Yet there I knelt, embracing the one I had sworn to protect, the one who had become the foundation of my very existence.
Child of the Finality, do you wish to change the decree of fate?.
Child of the Finality, was this really the end you sought?.
Child of the Finality, what causes your heart to soften?.
I raised my head in despair and gazed upon the being who stood above all things: the wielder of the wheel of time, the one from whom I was born, the one who had brought about the Finality itself, Terminus.
THEY too had wished to change the end.
Yet THEY never succeeded.
No one ever did.
Not even me.
“Ely?” A gentle voice reached me through the ruins of the world, soft as a blessing amidst the end.
“Ely, wake up.” My eyes flew open.
For a moment, terror still gripped my chest until my gaze settled upon him, warm and alive beside me. The remnants of the dream slowly loosened their hold, though the ache it left behind remained.
I pushed myself upright and rubbed my face with trembling hands. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head gently before cupping my cheek, his thumb brushing against my skin in quiet reassurance.
“A bad dream?” I nodded, “Did I wake you?”
“You were talking in your sleep.”
My chest tightened slightly. “What did I say?”
His expression softened. “You kept saying ‘stay' and ‘don’t leave.’, I was worried, so I decided to wake you up"
I stayed silent; this was the fourth time it had happened and I didn’t know how to stop it. I’d tried many things, yet not one seemed to work.
“It was only a dream,” he whispered. “I’m here.”
For now.
The thought lingered within me like a wound that refused to heal. One day, destiny would take him from me just as it had taken everything else.
And I would once again be powerless to stop it.
A quiet sigh escaped my lips as I moved closer, my arms slowly wrapping around him. “May I?”
A small laugh left him. “You never need to ask.”
Despite everything, a faint smile found its way onto my face. I pulled him gently toward me and rested my forehead against his shoulder.
The moment I did, he flinched. I lifted my gaze, only to find him hiding his flushed face behind his wings.
And suddenly, I understood.
“Did you think I was going to kiss you, birdie?" My voice carried the slightest trace of amusement. He only grew redder.
Aeons above, he was adorable.
“Well, no— I mean… yes.”
“i dont believe you” I murmured softly.
“It’s because you always look at me like you want to kiss me,” he protested weakly. “And you always ask beforehand, so obviously I thought—”
Before he could finish, I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips against his.
Time seemed to stand still as if the burden of fate had somehow disappeared. After all, in the end, even fate’s strongest warrior is powerless against the one they love.
His lips remained pressed against mine for a short while before he eventually pulled away, his forehead resting against mine, so close that I could feel his breath against my skin.
Warm and full of life.
Something I wished I could hold onto forever.
It was so easy to get lost in the warmth of his breath against my skin that I didn’t notice his golden eyes observing me, searching for something I myself couldn’t quite put into words.
“Ely.” He ran his fingers through my hair, his gaze full of concern, and just then I realised I’d been lost in thought once more.
“Yes, what is it, Birdie? Is something wrong?”
He fell silent. “You’re doing it again.”
I blinked. “Doing what again?"
“You’re looking at me as if you’re going to lose me in a matter of seconds.”
His words pierced straight through my heart to a frightening accuracy, my breath caught in my throat as I quickly sat up straight.
He was right.
I had no way of denying it
Every day, every minute felt like a ticking time bomb. I couldn’t seem to help myself; every night I’d wake up in the dead of night just to make sure he was still there with me, alive and safe by my side.
At times I caught myself counting the moments, the rise and fall of his breath, the warmth of his body and the softness of his voice when he called my name.
Always telling myself I am prepared for the most dire outcome, yet in reality, at the end of it all, I always find myself at the depths of despair, paralysed, incapable of doing anything.
His hand reached for mine slowly.
“You’re tired, you’re stressed, and you keep refusing to take a break.” He sighed. “That might be why you keep having those nightmares.”
I lowered my gaze. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologise. Tell me, what have you been dreaming about?"
I shook my head. “They’re not important.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
A weak chuckle escaped my lips, surprised by the boldness of his words; he wasn’t speaking to me with fear nor uncertainty, he spoke to me as if I were just Elio and not the son of the Finality,
One that saw the end play out over and over again.
I had watched worlds die so many times that the sound of screaming no longer frightened me. Yet losing him did.
Those fractured memories, I remember everything.
“Ely?” Once again, his voice pulls me back before those memories can consume me completely, "You got lost for a moment."
"I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself." I looked away, not daring to meet his gaze, not even when he looked at me with such concern.
"You apologized again. And that’s the tenth time you’ve apologized today."
A small smile appeared on my lips, although it didn't linger long. He shifted closer, leaning his head on my shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"
I said nothing.
Truth sat at the back of my throat, heavy and impossible to explain
How could I possibly explain these dreams if I can’t tell a soul about the predetermined ending? All I can do is give them a glimpse of what lies ahead on their path, never how the world is predestined to end.
I shook my head, an unspoken 'no' hanging in the air.
“Is it really that bad?”
A quiet laugh escaped my lips. “You’ve no idea.”
Silence fell upon us once more, it wasn’t uncomfortable, just there with him leaning against me, leaving me to breathe at my own pace rather than forcing an answer out of me.
This is just how he is.
Patient.
Warm.
And dangerously easy to love.
“Elio.” He called my name in a whisper so soft that you would miss it if you weren’t paying attention. “For someone who’s always so calm, you panic easily when it comes to me.”
“I know.” I responded after a while. “If even the most powerful Aeon has a weakness, then so do I.”
I raised his hand to my lips and pressed a lingering kiss to his knuckles, my eyes closing at the fragile warmth beneath my touch.
"And my weakness is you, my sun."
Listening to those words come from my mouth, a tender smile carved itself upon his lips. Then, slowly and carefully, he took me into his embrace.
For despite what has happened.
Despite those memories, despite fate itself, despite the thousands of endings etched into my soul, despite being part of THEM.
I found myself leaning into his embrace like a dying man seeking the last star in a crumbling universe.
Never wanting this to end.