Cursed: Immortal

Chapter 15: Happy Endings

The dawn broke ahead of us as Ian and I walked into the forest, in the direction of the lakeside. We'd left the council muttering amongst themselves with Hades completely livid, if under arrest. My parents, when I turned to look at them, seemed completely calm, holding hands.

We walked quietly through the trees, holding hands and occasionally brushing up against one another, smiling and then distancing ourselves. After a few minutes, I pull Ian against a tree and kissed him again, enjoying the freedom of being able to do so without worrying about anything.

Eventually we reach the break in the trees and stop to marvel at the beauty of it.

The lakeside is lit up in a thousand shades of gold, while the ground is covered with snow as deep as my ankles. My hand feels suddenly cold as I let go of Ian to summon a blanket from my rooms. When it lies neatly on the ground, I sit down, motioning for him to do the same.

I stretch out, exhaustion creeping over me, remembering suddenly that my heart is still frozen. Sitting up again, I unhook the gemstone from its silver chain around my neck and hold it tightly in my hand. Ian is watching, me quizzically, as if trying to understand what I'm doing.

Ignoring him, I hold the obsidian out to the light of the dawn and whisper, "In the name of her Imperial Highness, Scarlet Helena Mithra of Etherea and the Empire of Elements, I bid thee open!" The stone begins to glow and Ian gasps as the magic flows around me, crawling under my skin.

The last of my magic was bound to this stone, the same gem Sapphira had tried to steal from me a few thousand years ago. Retrieving it had been easy, but her attempts to get it to open for her had cracked it, trapping the magic for all time.

Nonetheless now it filled me with a sense of happiness I had never known, for the most part. While my powers replenished, my eyes were closed, and my hand had gone limp in Ian's. Opening them slowly, I met his gaze and blinked.

He was surrounded by a white light, his aura was completely pure. Smiling, I fling my arms around his neck and push him over onto his back. "You are mine, Adrian," I whisper in his ear, feeling his smile against my neck. My mouth finds his and, for a few moments, I sink into a world of bright colours and warm tingling.

Coming up for air, I roll off him, onto the red tartan blanket, sighing happily. He moves onto his side, resting those beautiful brown curls against his hand. I mirror him, matching his stare with my own. After a while, though, I feel a yawn coming on and put my hand in front of my face.

"Sleep, Scarlet, you need it," he looks so sincere, so I nod and turn onto my back. He lifts my head onto his chest and wraps an arm around me, his right hand running through my hair.

"Happy birthday..." I whisper, listening to the sound of him chuckling through his chest. And for the first time since I met him, I sleep peacefully and dreamlessly, while he watches over me.

When I woke up, it was late afternoon and he was asleep, curled around me protectively. Instead of waking him up, I just lie there and stare at him. A breeze runs through the trees, and the forest around us is generally teeming with the everyday lives of the animals.

He suddenly blinks and opens his eyes, the colour seeming brighter than I've ever seen them. He looks like a toddler; his hair all messed up while he rubs his eyes sleepily. How can one person be so adorable? "...Scarlet?" I suddenly realise he's been speaking to me while I was distracted by his wonderful stomach muscles.

"Hmmm?" I look at his face, still marvelling at his physique as he stretches. My hands run through my own hair, attempting to rid myself of a few knots. "What did you just say, I'm a bit distracted..." suddenly I'm the one yawning.