Red Princess

78. For the Future that I'll Never See

I was never meant to be born.

"We are losing her!"

"Where's the husband?"

"Aurora! Aurora, you cannot die on me!"

My mother was weak. She had been weak since she was born. My father tried everything to save her, but he couldn't. She died on the day I was born.

"We are sorry, Mr Ford. She's barely got a few hours."

"I will not accept this!"

Her last moments were spent waiting for her beloved, who wasn't prepared to let her go. Instead, someone else was there beside her.

"Sirius... I want you to change this world... I want you to make it better..."

I still remember that man. He looked me in the eye. I had merely spent a few hours in this world, but I saw my entire life flash before my eyes when I stared at him. I knew exactly what he was thinking, what he would do to this world. To us. To everyone.

I couldn't let it happen. I had to stop him.

"Lily! Get the hell out of there, right now!"

My brother's admonishing voice fell upon my ear, but I ignored him and ran forward. I had the ability to look into the future, but the visions were always random. Every time I missed a calamity, I would beat myself up over it. I hated being helpless. My clairvoyance made me rely too much on it.

"A kid's stuck inside! I cannot leave him!" I didn't see the break-out of the fire, but as soon as I reached the scene, the kid appeared before my eyes. He was suffocating and dying, and I knew if I didn't do something, the vision would come out to be true.

Everything I ever saw had a reason. It was always connected. I was meant to meet him back then.

"Help, please, somebody help me..."

I heard the child's wailing and sprinted up the stairs. My brother was looking on the opposite end. I coughed as I made my way through the roaring flames and the rising smoke, the heat fading away my sight. Tiny drops of sweat trickled down my head, and the salt burned my eyes.

"I have got you, kid!" As I saw in my vision, the child was hiding below his bed. I offered him my hand, and he hesitantly took it before crawling out and clinging to my waist. His fragile body was trembling, and his eyes and nose were dripping because of the smoke he had inhaled.

I heard something shatter above us. My head instinctively craned up, and I froze as I watched the wooden frame on fire descend on us.

Am I going to die? Right here?

My legs gave away, and I shut my eyes and tightly held on to the kid, hoping to survive the impact. I waited, and when the pain I anticipated never hit, I snapped my eyes open.

"Out, right now!" A man dressed in black held the frame back with his hand. His mere touch made the wood turn to ashes. His face was covered in a mask, but I knew enough to recognise him.

The second son of the Crosses. He was Eldon Cross. The Black God. The man who could turn one thing into another. The man with the kindest heart among those barbarians. The man I would eventually come to love and cause the downfall of.