Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

Swept Away

The moment Quinn hit the river of ether, he knew he'd made a grave error. The hooks Eligos had somehow untangled from his soul burrowed their way back into him and dragged him under.

He had to stay aware. Had to keep his focus. Had to resist the pull of the ether as it whispered to him; a subliminal siren's song hidden amongst the raging torrent, but he recognised it for what it was. Whenever Quinn had called upon the ether in the past, he'd felt its interest in him. Its possessiveness. Its neediness. He knew it craved him, just as it craved all the others of his kind, trying to seduce him to stay.

Fuck that.

Madam Bucur; she wasn't far away. It wouldn't take much fight to reach her. Gritting his teeth, Quinn pushed on, orienting himself with suspiciously more ease than he remembered from the last time he'd been submerged in the ether. He used all his strength to make headway against the flow of time and knowledge, planting his feet on the solid floor. The ether gradually and subtly eroded his resolve, trying to invade his mind and take him over, but he knew what it was doing. Was prepared. Fought his way through it towards where he sensed the old human was.

The hold it had on him loosened, and Quinn took advantage. He pushed towards the place he thought he'd last seen Madam Bucur, and it paid off. A brush of skin against his arm and Quinn reacted with all the ghoul speed he could muster, snatching blindly and grabbing onto a slender arm. He held on, determined to keep her with him for as long as he could, and he dragged her towards him.

Images flashed through his mind as their skin touched. He knew they were the dying visions of a fading soul, and Quinn mourned her imminent loss. She was stubborn, though. She gripped his wrists with both hands and refused to let go. Good girl.

Suddenly she was there, an arm's length from his face. Her deep brown eyes widened with recognition and she pulled herself against the current, using him to anchor her as she screamed and thrashed and spat against the river of ether.

"Hold on!" Quinn yelled above the thunderous noise.

Madam Bucur screamed back at him, but no sound reached Quinn's ears from her. Every time he thought he could hear something above the noise, or that he could make out what she was trying to tell him, the ether silenced her. He felt her, though. Felt her rage and her frustration at being censored. Felt her fear and her sorrow at the unfairness of it all as she fought against her ultimate fate. An extraordinary life lived to its fullest; and then what? Dissolved and obliterated. Assimilated into the ether as if she'd never existed. Another soul claimed. Another child of Fate pared down to their very essence and discarded as if they hadn't impacted the universe at all. As if they'd only ever been fuel for the ether, and nothing more.

Quinn tried his best to hold on to her. To keep hold. He knew the ether had laid claim to her, but she wasn't ready to go just yet. She fought harder than Quinn had ever seen anyone fight, screaming at him the whole time. She was furious. Eyes burning. Teeth bared.

Despair blindsided Quinn and his blood ran cold as he came to a devastating realisation.

He'd sidestepped the ether. Had escaped its clutches. His fate was no longer the same as hers. When he died, Aion had told him, he was now destined for the Veil.

Amaya, though? Amaya faced the same fate as his precious Zaya had. The same fate Madam Bucur was about to face. The ether had fucked Quinn over his whole life, and it would continue torturing him when the time of his death came. It had already stolen one daughter from him, and when Amaya's time came, it would take another.

Quinn roared, angry at the universe. Angry at the Fates. Angry at himself, and he felt his strength waning.

It was getting harder and harder to focus. His shoulders and his arms ached from clinging onto Madam Bucur. The ether battered against the both of them; the currents swirling and trying to break them apart. Before Quinn's eyes, she changed from the vibrant young woman he'd seen when he'd touched the spirit board, to the wizened old lady she'd been when he first met her-smooth, radiant skin giving way to the weight of time and the ravages of age.