The Devotion of The Sun

Chapter Thirteen

:!:Recap:!:

"Wait... Damien?" her eyes widened. "Are you Damien?"

"Truth be told, I was once Damien, but that's in the past, far past... my name is Milo now,"

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"You have to come with me, you have to come home Damien," based on her tone she's not giving him much of an option.

"I can't do that," he takes a step away from her, and she takes two steps towards him.

"You have to,"

"Do you see what I've become Bella? My place to stay is here, in the forest," he denies her. "I need to stay beside Lenore,"

"The temple can heal you, I'm sure of it Damien, please, just come with me to the town," she pleads.

"What if I don't wish to heal?" He asks her quietly. "Besides, I made a promise to Lenore that I'd never enter the town again,"

"Damien... tell me... what is that forest spirit to you?"

"She's..." he thinks about it for a moment... and it becomes quite clear to himself how he feels for Lenore. "She's very precious to me," 'we aren't lovers, but we kiss, hold each other tenderly, I'm not sure what we are,'

She scowls, a sour bitter taste on her tongue, "what have you become? I'll look for books on it, I'll fix you," hearing her words gives him a slight bitter taste in his mouth as well.

"Fixing would imply that there's something broken or wrong, besides, this isn't something that can be 'fixed', going from human to solar spirit then back to human doesn't sound like an easy task,"

"You're a solar spirit? Then we might not have to change you back then, the temple will accept you as you are," she tries to convince him.

"I doubt it, don't you remember that my father was a part of the temple? He's the one that abandoned me in the forest to die," she notices a figure approaching from behind him. "I need to remain here, in the forest, and you need to stay in the town where you'll be safe..."

"Damien," she reaches to grab his hand, but Lenore grabs his hand first. He notices her condition, the discoloration of her skin, the blackness of her veins, the blood that she's drenched in.

"Lenore," he turns to her, Bellas frozen in place.

'There's so much blood, red red blood,' Lenore's glaring directly at Bella.

He notices her thorned roots rise. "Hey, look at me Lenore," he gently cups the sides of her face. "It's ok, everythings ok, she isn't going to hurt anyone, she's just going home now," he tries to calm her. "Lenore, my Nora," 'she isn't registering my words, I've never seen her veins this inky before, they have even spread to her face,' he pulls her into his chest, holding her tight.

"Bella, run." He tells her, she hesitates, but the moment her eyes lock with the blood covered spirits violent gaze she nods and dashes towards the edge of town. The roots follow, "Lenore," she's like a predator watching her prey run away, 'how do I break her from this state,'

He makes her look him in his eyes, holding her face with his hands again. Her eyes meet his finally. "Lenore, let her escape," she makes no reaction to his words. He does something rash, he leans in kissing her blood covered lips, he makes her part her lips. Instantly her thorn covered roots all drop to the floor.

'Milo... Milo is kissing me, my Milo,' she kisses him back. 'His lips are so warm... his taste... my Milo...' he slowly pulls away from the kiss, his eyes gaze at her, analyzing her current condition. "Milo," she says his name softly. "You're still here, they didn't take you from me," she touches his face, gently feeling his warm skin.

Her breathing becomes uneven, shaky, her hands begin to tremble. 'I almost lost Milo, they almost took him, if I wasn't fast enough, I would have lost him forever, my Milo,' tears pour down her dull violet eyes, 'my sweet Milo,' "mi-Milo," she stammers his name.

"Deep breaths my angel, deep breaths..." he watches as tears flow down her face, he leans in, both his warm hands cup the sides of her face. "No ones going to hurt you, no one is mad at you, I'm still here, and I'm never leaving this place," his voice is hushed. 'What do I do to help with her sanity?' his eyes trail to the blackened veins on her face.

"Milo," she begins to calm again. he wipes her tears away and dries her wet face.

"Lets get home," he says quietly, she nods, "and... thank you for letting her live, my dearest Nora," he intertwined his hand with her sticky blood-covered hand. She holds his tight, extremely tight.

"I was good... wasn't I?" She desires his praise.

"You did very good," he begins to lead her back home. Each step on the icy ground melts under his foot.

"Then... Do I get a reward?" she asks, a clear hopeful tone.

"You do," he thinks for a moment. "You can have one thing, anything as long as it's in my ability to give,"

She lights up, and begins to ponder on what to ask. He continues to lead her all the way home, cluelessly passing by the gory warning she had left that was once a woman named Anna. "Come, I'll start up a shower, before the blood stains your clothes," 'if it hasn't stained already...' he brings her to the bathroom. "I'll be back with some fresh clothing for you,"

He rushes out and goes to their bedroom, where he rummages through their closet, he finds a comfortable tunic for her to wear, the wide leg soft pants he's recently made for her, and a soft nightgown, he brings all three just in case she wants to wear either.