Coveted [New/Revised Version]

THE PRICE OF WHAT WE COVET

INSPIRATIONAL SONG: MY LOVE by SIA

Sky lay in his bed and closed his eyes. He felt silly doing this but soon consciousness was ebbing away from him and all his thoughts wound down as he slowly faded into blackness. At the sound of birds chirping joyously, Sky opened his eyes to the lush green, grassy meadow around him. A multihued field of flowers danced benevolently in the wind. Every now and then, a rabbit would peek up from the grass then quirk its leafy ears only to hop away instantly.

The skies above were cloudless and a rich blue. The sun's rays beamed down profoundly and breathed life to everything in the meadow. Something felt very familiar about this place. Sky spun to see the hillside villa just behind Nefarious.

He knew what this was.

In that second, he fractured into thousands of pieces. He seized her by the wrist and pulled her against him. Sky clutched Nefarious as though he could keep her there forever. It was foolish, he knew, but he couldn't help it. She circled her arms around him and they melted into one another. He shut his eyes to keep the unshed tears from falling, to hang on to what little resolve he had left.

Nothing else mattered but this amorous moment. There was only him and Nefarious as one. He committed this to memory—her body pressed so tightly against his that he couldn't tell where he ended and she began, their hearts matching the pace of the other's, their breathing synchronized, her heavenly sweet scent. His heart imploded at the thought that he'd never have the opportunity to do this in reality.

"I'm so sorry." Nefarious reluctantly pulled away.

Sky brushed a tear from her cheek with the pad of her thumb.

"Tell me where you are." He tried to plead with her. "I'll come to you. Just tell me—"

"No," she shook her head with a heartrending smile. "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

"No." Sky insisted. "You're only saying that because you don't think you have an out. You do Neff. You do. It's me. I can protect you."

"I know you'd go to the ends of the earth for me." She grinned but it didn't reach her shimmering eyes. "But I can't let you. I can't let you because it'll mean this is all in vain."

"Then why even come to me?" his voice cracked.

"I had to see you again. This isn't the way I would've preferred it but..." She sniffled. "I had to say goodbye."

Sky dropped to his knees. He'd known it the moment he set eyes on this scenery. It was their old villa in Italy. It was the one place where they had been truly happy. It was the place she told him she wanted to spend her last moments.

"Don't be that way love." She said lightly as she sank to her knees as well. Her hands stroked the soft skin of either side of his face then gingerly made him to look at her. They stayed like this for a prolonged period, eyes locked. "Lie with me?"

It was the simplest request but it meant the end of something vital in his life. He was raw all of a sudden. Every layer he'd spent years reinforcing ripped away. He was vulnerable to the inevitability of this instant. Tensely, he laid on his back next Nefarious on the plush pasture.

"Remember when I told you one day I'd tell you what I came to Westmyth to resolve?" she asked quietly.

Sky's mouth was dry so he only nodded.

"I came for you." She spoke softly. "I came because this is the year Zairian can restore his power. At first, it meant nothing to me. I'd hidden the talisman he needed years ago—given it to the one person I value more than my own life." She glanced at him. "But when I found out his vessel was here and you were too... I panicked. I knew he'd find you and when he did—"