Kingdom of Life and Death (The Fifth Element Chronicles)

Chapter 22: Feel [part 2]

I felt all the air rushing back into me.

The cold stone floor welcomed me into the room where a few minutes ago I had done the unforgivable.

Everything was dark, the night making its presence known.

I stood up carefully, and for a second, I thought I was the only person there.

'She's back!' I heard a scream behind me and I didn't even try to see who it was. I just knew it wasn't anyone I knew.

The light came back, the flames of the fire igniting the place.

I turned around and the wreckage I had left behind became visible. The broken windows, the cracked floors. This had been my fault, my responsibility. I would have been lost in such thoughts, had it not been for their presence.

One by one, they began to get there, to see me, to sense me. How long had I been gone this time? I wasn't sure.

I was still vibrating, trembling, the new power coursing through me with the promise that very soon, it would end me.

Their gazes didn't change me from the numb state I was in. No gaze could, until his blue eyes appeared.

There he was, as beautiful as ever.

He looked agitated, as if he had run to get there before everyone else, but he hadn't made it.

I thought I would change in his eyes, that he would look at me with fear, with dread for what he had seen me do. But on the contrary, in his eyes I still looked like the girl I had once been.

So when he walked over to me and locked me in his arms, I could only sink my head on his shoulder and shed a few much-needed tears.

I was exhausted. And yet this wasn't over, there was still so much to do and I was simply dreading the thought of it.

He rubbed my back, as if he could read my mind, and that was probably the case, as I didn't know how to control him, but he didn't say anything, he just focused on holding me and that was what I needed. His arms made me feel safe, loved, away from all the danger.

He made me feel.

He kissed my shoulder, very carefully, as if he feared I would collapse at any faster movement.

'You're alive,' Phoenix commented from behind me.

Caelus seemed wary of letting go, but I nodded at him, signalling that it was time to go back to being who we were supposed to be, not who we wanted to be.

'Barely,' I said, not wanting to hide anything, I didn't know how much longer I had left, considering the power I now held was probably what would end me.

'We thought Ventus had taken you to torture you or... well, kill you,' Julyana commented, not wanting to sugarcoat it.

'It's good to see you,' Muvina told me, trying to be softer.

Polar, Aurora and Rayn were beside them, my sister was nowhere to be seen, nor was Galaga.

'Ventus gave me his power,' I told them and I noticed the instant surprise those words had on their faces.

'Are you serious?' Julyana asked me, keeping a suspicious distance.

'Yes, he thinks I earned it for some reason. That what I did,' I stopped myself from thinking about it again, the guilt waiting to make itself felt again, 'that it was a display of great power.'

I also didn't want to think about what he had warned me about, the possibility of this power consuming me. Because if it did, Caelus would know.

'Then all that remains is for you to have the sign of...' Muvina began.