3 Thousand Years Good Night

chapter 37: after all this time

Angeal's tears flowed on his cheeks. He inhaled deeply in an attempt to hold back his whimperings. He sighed and forced a smile of sadness and gave a solemn glance at Theon.

"So, you see, i am like you; a being forged from a spell, a creature of great potential cursed to sleep for all time."

"Angeal, do you know who I am?" Asked Theon, eyes glistening. Suddenly, the room was embraced in a familial omen.

"The immortal that Vienna decided to create, who slept for three thousand years." Answered Angeal, wiping his tears. "You have my sympathies. I know what it's like to be stuck and unable to fend for yourself."

"The child of Elizabeth. Do you know what happened to him?" Asked Theon intently.

Arlene and Mel remained solemn, all the while knowing the two boys' connection to one another.

"As i said, i could not go back to the kingdom for i was stuck here for 30 centuries." Sighed Angeal. "But, i would be most delighted to have meet my darling nephew that my sister tried so hard to protect. I hope he led a good life with his father." Angeal smiled at the thought.

Angeal continued. "I hope he knows not the torments of darkness that is Vienna, i hope he only knew the light of protection that the kingdom had to offer. I hope he had a long fruitful life, with a loving wife and several baby princes and princesses."

Theon's eyes watered at the words of his uncle. His body was shaking at the possibility of having the life his uncle speak of, the life of a normal royalty of which he was terribly robbed of.

Angeal continued. "I heard that he was named after me," Angeal laughed delightedly. "Little Angeal the second."

"No, a good name as that is, he was named differently." Said Theon, trying to hold off his own whimperings with little success.

"You seem like you know my nephew." Said Angeal. "Please. please. PLEASE, tell me he had a good life, away from the danger of this world, despite not having a loving mother and a disastrously clown-like uncle there to protect him." Another stream of tears came flowing down from Angeal's eyes. "Or at least a name, what was my precious nephews name?"

Arlene looked at Theon who was watering with his own tears, she found herself sheding a tear herself. This was a reunion that was long over dued for three thousand years.

Theon answered, stuttering. "He was named after the sword of his mother on which her brother gave her as an early coronation gift, it symbolizes that the child would remain strong and sharp like its blade and willful and conpassionate as its the wielder."

Angeal smiled tearfully. "Ah, 'Theon', that's the name of the sword i gave my sister, strong and dependable sword Theon. Elizabeth was so fond of that name, no wonder he named her child after it." Angeal looked up at Theon. "I guess, he has the exact same name as you?"

Theon's tears flowed like the river in the falls, clear raindrops that revealed his soul. Angeal studied his face and eventually, he knew what that meant. He knew who this person before him really is; the nephew he tried so hard to protect, his sister's son whom he loved so much before they even met.

"Theon." Whispered Angeal, his heart pumping with joy and shock. "Theon." He repeated.

Theon nodded. "Angeal, it is I, the prince of Nether Isles, son of King Solomon and Queen Elizabeth.... Your kindred."

"It had been three thousand years, and here you are..." Angeal smiled as another crystal clear drop if liquid fell from his eyes. "My sister's child. MY nephew."

Angeal approached Theon slowly but meaningfully. The uncle placed both his hands at Theon's shoulders and the two family members hugged like it never had been 3 millenia that had seperated them. They understood the pain of one another; both had been helpless as they slumbered, both had awakened with no knowledge of those they loved, both had been stuck in their current form in the bitter part of thirty centuries, and both were reunited at last.

Arlene and Mel stood there as they witnessed the unbreakable bond of family and this scene also served as a reminder that family is strength.

One thing that made Arlene depressed was the fact that her mother was cursed to cancer and that her future husband would also be subjected to this illness, all because of Vienna, the same witch who torned Angeal and Theon from one another for three thousand years. Her cruelty knows no bounds and Arlene is even more determined to end the wicked witch's reign once and for all, with Angeal's help. No more families broken, promised Arlene to herself. No more.

"All these years," said Angeal, recomposing himself. "She made you sleep for an unfathomable time, tortured with nightmares. I should have been there for you, if only i wasn't bound in this place here."

"But," said Arlene finally. "What made you stuck in a certain location, anyway? Isn't there a loophole?"

"It's one of nature's consequences for cheating death. In exchange for escaping my faith of dying of age, there must be a balance. Among those balance was to be eternally bounded to where my body is laid, and to remain a child for all time as I am alive."
Explained Angeal. "No one can truly defy nature, no one can truly defy death." Continued Angeal.

"I can and i had, though i wish i couldn't." Wisphered Theon. "I have survived the test of time, a stab at the chest, twice, a lightning bolt," Theon looked at Mel, who tilted her head in an apology. "And the power of a hundred witches."

Angeal shook his head. "No, no one can be truly immortal, not even you." Angeal continued. "There is one thing that can kill any immortal creature, may it be a vampire, a werewolf or a pure immortal such as yourself."

Mel frowned her brows at Angeal's words. "Impossible."

"It is possible, indeed." Said Angeal. "It has been decreed in the law's of nature, what gave you life in the first place could also bring your destruction."

Mel and Theon's eyes widened. Arlene still couldn't speak 'witch language' so she merely frowned in confusion and curiously asked what does it all mean.

"It means," said Mel solemnly. "Vienna is the only person that can kill Theon."