Of Love and Death.

The Past Chapter 19: Of Love and Death Pt. 4

Some things only take a moment to happen.

Some things happen in a blur or a blink of an eye. Stars form. Stars die. A black hole consumes what feels like a galaxy's worth of matter and light. A conversation. The ground crumbling beneath you. The last heartbeat before you fall asleep. Your first kiss, forever changing how your life will go. The very beginning of the universe. The last breath a creature breathes.

A black knife stabbing you.

Mind ran into Fire at an angle. Every single ounce of force that he had he put into the motion. He dug his nails into the sun's arms, and felt a tiny wet trickle of blood. Their bodies tumbled around as he spun, one hundred and eighty degrees. Mind's head lodged into the crook of his boyfriend's chest, right between his side and his arm. It was hard and rough and hot as a furnace, scales pressed into his skin even underneath the pitiful vest/trenchoat Fire tried to call a shirt. 

Fire grabbed Mind as tightly as he could, wrapped his arms around the shadows shoulders. Around the shadow's neck. Pulling him closer and closer, he spun on one foot, like a top. His wings flared to help guide him in the turn, stop him before he went too far around. All he could see was the blue of the shadow's hair as he nestled his face between the two black horns. It was soft. Mind's hair was soft and silky, like a fine satin pillow. The tips of Mind's horns dug into Fire's cheekbones. Drawing a bit of blood. 

The sun Mind clung onto for dear life smelled like charcoal. Fire's sweat often smelled like charcoal. And right now, they both were more stressed than ever before in their lives. Charcoal was all Mind could understand as he shut his eyes tight enough that not even the light of the Sun's Orb would have been able to break through. It was both disgusting and amazing. It was Fire, but even that wasn't enough to keep him from crying. He didn't look up. He didn't want to look up. 

The Fire's blood mixed with dander and dried shampoo. Mind never had really or fully learned how to wash his hair. But he'd gotten better. And he'd kept trying and trying and trying. Fire wished that he'd had one more chance to try something. Maybe even finish that tapestry of Mind's he'd tried to make so many epochs ago. 

Mind couldn't look up. He'd seen it. For just a moment, he'd seen it. The statute, made of ice. Tucked behind Fire, mostly hidden by the sun's wings. The creature, effigy, that mirrored Cold's every movement. Every motion. Every throw. Down to the dagger in its hand, the dagger which was already slipping out of iced fingers. 

No. This can't be in vain, Fire begged something out there as he stared up in horror. There hadn't even been a way to avoid the throw. Even if he'd throw the shadow out of the way and down to the ground, the ice figure would have just adjusted her aim. That was why Fire had turned around. Why he'd decided to take the blow. Even without really deciding, Fire had twisted, so that Mind would survive. But now it was pointless.

That one glimpse had told Mind everything he needed to know. And he knew the ice figure now. As his heart beat inside of his chest, he saw its eyes. Nothing more than divots in its face. It had no knowledge. It didn't know the horror and terror it had cast onto him. Nor did it know what it was about to do. How it was about to wrench everything apart, destroy everything that Mind loved. 

Fire met Cold's eyes. He didn't cry. He didn't beg. Instead, he simply stared his sister down. He breathed in once, out once. The air moved through his system, musty and damp. You killed me Cold, he said with that unmoving gaze. But the reason my ghost will hate you till the end of time is because you killed my boyfriend.

One last message from Mind echoed out, cast into the world for anyone and everyone to hear. Because there was no time to be secret or selective. Cold would hear it. Everyone on the battlefield would hear it. Maybe even all those hunkered down back at the Orbs. And adrift throughout space, avoid the conflict, avoiding the death. One last message, heard by the whole Universe. Only for one person.

I love you, Fire.

And then, a message that could only have been heard by the one who was meant to hear it. Whispered in a few thoughts, that Mind had only a moment to catch. I love you, Mind. 

And then the dagger pierced his skin.