Final Phenomenon: E-Lunar, Route A (4) (MANUSCRIPT)

10 - The End, Part 1

          "Sometimes, this all seems like a bad dream." Picking at his long orange hair, the deity of apples made eye contact with Adalhelm, emerald eyes glowing. "Queen Medv thwarting my multi-faceted plans, the Wild Hunt forcing us to be quiet, and the distance I have with Danu now. I... love her. Danu makes me feel complete. And yet, I think she's the only reason why I haven't tried to wake up from this bad dream. Seeing her again excites me- No. More than that! I'm captivated by the thought of being in her... arms. I don't think I'd wanna wake up if it meant departing from Danu. Does that make sense? If it meant that Danu and I were never real, then I don't want to be woken up from this chaotic and hectic dream." 
         Adalhelm flicked the back of his hair with his right hand. "Oh my, Abellio. I've never seen you ruminate on such romantic thoughts before. Tell me, would you say that this crew of pirates is also symptomatic of a nightmare?" 
         "Yes." 
         "And why's that?" 
         "Because the Larkon family is something fierce." 
        "Fiercely weird, I presume?" 
        "Fiercely suspicious. I don't trust Cecilia Larkon." 
        "You don't think she's in league with Medv, do you?" 
        "Oh no, probably something more chaotic." 
        "More chaotic?" 
         Bel sat back over some dirty earth, his elbows digging into grass. "I just get the feeling, you know? This odd feeling like that woman isn't completely who she says she is." 

________

        Belenus looked down at his red robe and played with the blonde ends of his hair. "Oh my, I'm getting split ends, it would seem. Time for a good trim. You know, Danu always used to love cutting Abellio's hair. I wonder if she'd ever trim mine." 
        "That's real cute and all, but. aren't we gonna go find Mylas now?" 
        "I believe he's already found us, my dear love." Belenus looked out over a dark prairie, the moonlight of the Tir Na Mabi sprinkling over every little bit of nature. 
       "Belenus. Help me! I can't make it stop!" Mylas coughed into his elbow, then screamed as his bones cracked and voice grew higher. 
       "Dear fucking lord!" Chloe shielded her eyes. When she opened them, a woman with spiky green hair waved. 
        "Hello, I'm Cecilia Larkon." The woman sighed. 
       "And you died a long time ago," Belenus crossed his arms. "but your husband wanted to keep you alive. In him. For his desires and for your son."
        "So you knew." Cecelia put a hand to her cheek, her big purple eyes filling with water. "I saw Mylas talking to you earlier. You've always been a good friend to him." 
        Belenus nodded, his eyes darting to the corner of his vision. "Yeah, so I have. He's an interesting fellow. All the other sons and daughters of Aine don't travel as much as he does. He's quite the wanderer. I assume that's how he met you." 
        Cecelia shook her head, a smile twitching on her face. "He stumbled upon me on accident. In the Herbstwald. It was during a time when he was thinking of quitting his life of travels. He wanted to stop wandering all around the Tir Na Mabi and either visit the dimension of Earth, or settle down. He hadn't seen every single little speck of this place either, but he claimed to have been bored with it all the same. With the environments. The big scope he had seen of them. He wanted to get to know the creatures of the environments more. Hang out with people like me." 
      Chloe cried. "This Mylas man sounds like a gentleman." 
      Belenus rolled his eyes. "Oh dear. I might start crying now." His nostrils flared. 

      "I guess I was just his type because he couldn't stop hanging around me," Ceceilia put a hand to her arm. "and I loved his company. And we had Taneur. That was that." 
        Chloe's lips quivered as she bit her bottom lip. "You guys h- had a happy life together?" 
       Cecelia nodded. "He was so kind and... communicable." 
       "'Communicable' is indeed a funny word. I remember seeing you a few times around the Herbstwald, Cecelia. You were a mere elf woman. Yet you caught the eye of demi-god. Impressive." 
         "I never thought I was that beautiful until he came around," Cecelia cried more. "and he picked me off my feet and showed me a life of wonder!" 
         Belenus nodded, his face lacking any kind of expression to it. "But one day, being a mortal elf woman, you came down with a sickness of some sort." 
         "Sicknesses don't exist in the Tir Na Mabi." Cecilia shook her head, her right fist rounding. "I suffered a mortal wound. A huge storm came through the forest one day. A tree branch hit me in my vital spots. I was never the same again. Bed-ridden and agitated, Mylas could only watch as I faded away. He hated himself for it. Wanted to improve. Wanted to be better, so when I passed away, he looked for spells that could help people not die from mortal wounds. Though he stumbled upon one better, or so he thought-" Suddenly, Cecelia's form cracked and contorted back into Mylas. "NO!" Mylas put a hand to his right eye. "You will not discuss what happened. What I did. It was to protect you, Cecelia! I loved you so, and Taneur missed you. We couldn't live without you!" 
        Belenus crossed his arms, his feet digging into the grass. "You used a spell that requires a lot of mana to cast and to hold. To keep in place. To return Cecelia's spirit back to your body from the Elysium. But you've been running out of mana for quite some time-" 
         "SHUT UP!" Mylas threw his arm out. 
         "And so the spell has been... malfunctioning. Cecelia and you cannot share a body. And so, she's been taking you over and you've been taking her over at random times. Like a glitch in the system." Belenus shook his head and walked over to Mylas, putting his hand on the sorcerer's forehead. 
         "What are you doing?" Mylas glared, his legs wobbling. 
        "Belenus!" Chloe put her hands up to her chin. 
        "The only thing I should be doing. I'm sorry. The only cure is that I burn you from the inside out. Not your insides. No. But your souls. Burn Cecelia's soul out of your body so she returns to the Elysium. Does that sound good? Cecelia was meant to stay as an Elysian spirit. Don't try and suffocate her from resting in peace." 
       "NO!" Mylas grabbed at Belenus's leg while falling to his own knees. 
        "Which spirit do you want gone? Do you want to pass on, Mylas? Or do you want Cecelia to stay?" Belenus raised his voice and pushed this thumb harder against Mylas's forehead. 
       "I," Mylas cried onto the grassy prairie, his gray coat flopping in the wind. "want Cecelia to stay." 
      Belenus swallowed. "V- Very well. G- Goodbye, old friend." 
      "Whoa! What's happening?" Chloe stepped back, watching as a vapor of energy vanished behind Mylas's body.
      However, with a closer look and squint of the eyes, Chloe could see that it was now Cecelia's body which was pulling away at grassy weeds and crying. 
       "No! You were supposed to live on!" Cecelia cried. "I can't raise Taneur by myself! B- Being a s- single parent is unnatural!" 
       Belenus simply stood there, his arms hidden beneath his ruby robe. His lips managed to curl into a frown as he stared down at Cecelia. 
       He gulped. "When you're done mourning and grieving, as shall I start to do as well, you should be thankful. He... gave the ultimate sacrifice for you."