The Triton

Chapter 22: Vivien

I woke, but not truly.

I found myself standing on an arching bridge, suspended over a chasm of infinite darkness. The bridge formed from a swirling mix of black and gold, white and purple, the stone beneath my feet seemed almost alive, pulsating with a faint, otherworldly light.

The air around me was thick, the edges of the bridge blurring and stretching into eternity. The nothingness surrounding it was so profound, so perfectly dark, it felt as if it could consume the light of the bridge at any moment. I took a hesitant step forward, the stone cool beneath my bare feet, and felt the subtle, almost imperceptible pull on the recesses of my consciousness.

I knew this bridge. I had stood on it once before. I had felt that pull before, too.

Without hesitation, the tug on the back of my mind snapped into place. I felt its presence burrow, a thread woven through the back of my mind. A tendril of connection stretched across the chasm, linking me to something—or someone—on the other side.

And then I saw him.

The Beast stood at the opposite end of the bridge, his form seeming to pull itself out of the darkness. His black scales glistened with a dark luster, absorbing the faint light from the bridge. His eyes, those pulsating amethyst orbs, locked onto mine with an intensity that seemed to pierce through the very fabric of this reality.

For a moment, we simply stared at each other, the space between us filled with a tension that was both palpable and confusing. I felt the pull in my mind strengthen, the thread connecting us vibrating with a strange, resonant energy. It was a link that I couldn't fully understand, but one that I could no longer deny.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Vivien," his voice echoed across the bridge, a deep, resonant sound that seemed to carry both familiarity and menace. Specter's eyes narrowed. "I have felt this connection for a while," he said slowly, his gaze never leaving mine.

"I have, too," I said truthfully. The bridge seemed to hum with the tension between us, the stone beneath my feet vibrating with a subtle energy. I took another step forward, the distance between us shrinking slightly. "Sad to see me?" I asked.

"What?"

"Those were your monsters sent to kill me, and they nearly did."

"I did no such thing."

"Do not lie to me."

"I do not lie."

"So people keep telling me. You're the one who killed my grandmother."

"I killed Mera, yes."

"Do you not feel bad? Do you not feel at all?"

"I do not."

Another step forward. "Then you truly are a beast. You do not feel for those whose lives you take, do you not care about ?"

"I care deeply."

"Seems to me you talk in riddles and murder without thought. That doesn't make you special, that makes you a psychopath."

He only watched me, pausing for half a moment too long. "You freed me, Vivien."

"More riddles?"

"The strength of this connection was enough to undo two decades worth of exploitation and torture by your mother. It broke the chains that bound me to her. So we are connected, and not just by petty spite."

"You lie again."

"I do not."

"Do not look at me and think that we are the same. I do not see a hero, I do not see a savior, I see an idiot with a pointy spear, killing because it's all he's good at. You try to deceive me, think I'm some weakling, so you can and kill me. Do you work for Viscount Trevill?"

"Are you a hero and a savior?" he asked dryly.

"I fight for my people and my family."

"I do the same."

"You have a family?"

"I have a brother."

"I had a sister. Did you kill her, too?"

He shook his head. "No."

"I do not fear you."

"Then you are a fool."

"I will never let you hurt my people."

"Not if I don't kill you first. You are prideful, as your mother and grandmother before you."

I felt the world slipping, and the bridge began to fade, light slowly dissipating.

"Watch your back," I said.

"Empty threats, Vivien. Be impeccable with your word."

"Fuck you."

Then the bridge was gone.