Love Can Save {An Aphmau Fanfiction}

Aphmau

As Zoey and I sat in Emmalyn's library with books spread across the table in front of us, the sun slowly rising over the mountains on the Capital Island, I couldn't help but remember sitting up six weeks ago doing this exact same thing. Zoey yawned, glancing out the window before balking when she realized the time.

"Irene..." she muttered, rubbing her eyes and not even catching the word she had just said. "I thought we were going to leave before the moon went down." I chuckled wearily, running a hand through the tangle of my hair.

"You aren't setting a very good example, Zoey. I mean, you can't tell me to not stay up all night and then you do the very same thing." Zoey laughed along with me, rubbing her eyes once more. I sighed, closing the heavy volume in front of me shut, knowing that whatever I had been reading was absolutely useless. "Come on, let's head back home, Zoey."

She nodded, pushing herself up from the table and beginning to slide the multitude of books into piles, I joined her, leaving the piles of books on the table, knowing that we would be back by the end of day to dig through the old texts again.

After our trip to the Yggdrasil Forest was a complete bust, Zoey and I had been spending all of our free time here in Emmalyn's library on the Capital Island, looking through all of the old books and volumes for something that could help us. We knew that we probably wouldn't find anything here if we hadn't found anything in the ancient libraries of the elves, but we had to hope for something. After so long... I just couldn't give up on getting him back.

I paused as I glanced at the title of the last book in my hands, squinting through the early morning light to read the words. The words clanged through my mind, and I pulled the closest chair over so I could sit. Skimming through the chapter titles, I tried to pinpoint why the name of this book stuck with me so much. The Divine Six and the Powers They Wielded.

Zoey glanced over, stopping in the process of piling the books to look over at me. I gave her a quick look before continuing to flip through pages, not knowing what I was looking for but knowing that I was closing in on something.

"What is it, Aphmau?" She crossed the room, weariness falling away with each step. I lifted a hand, intent on the pages before me. After a few tense minutes, I finally found the page my head, or, perhaps the relic, was telling me to find. My hand moved without my control, landing on a paragraph in the middle of the page. Zoey leaned forward to read over my shadow, her shadow kept away by the light of a nearby candle.

Lady Irene was believed to have a separate dimension, commonly known as the Irene Dimension, that she retreated to when the world was not in need of a hero. Not much is known about this dimension, except that even the Matron herself sometimes struggled to open the portal. It is rumored that Irene would use a certain flower nicknamed the moonflower to aid her in this process; the moonflower is said to be the remnants of Lady Irene opening a portal, shreds of her power that are solely comprised of her ability to open portals. Found only in places where ancient magick power is great, no one has ever seen the moonflower before, but that does not yet mean it does not exist.

Zoey and I sat in silence for several long moments, not quite believing the words we had just read. The words started swimming off the pages, blurring before my eyes as I tried to comprehend it. Zoey was the first to break the silence, seating herself in the nearest empty seat with a sigh.

"Could it really be that simple?" She mused, rubbing her eyes once more. I shook my head, scanning the rest of the chapter for any other reference to this moonflower. There was nothing. Only that one short paragraph that really offered nothing about this miracle that could be our chance of actually opening the portal after so many weeks and months spent looking for something, anything. "Just one flower?"

"Yes, but it says nothing about what it looks like, or where we can find it." I hated to sound so pessimistic, but after so long, I couldn't stand to get my hopes up for nothing. Zoey looked over in sympathy before taking the book from my hands.

"It says it can be found in places where "ancient magick power is great." That has to be somewhere here on the Island, right? We found the ruins on the other side of the Island, and I am sure that there are other ruins somewhere else in the forest. If it's going to be anywhere, Aphmau, it's going to be here. Maybe that's what drew us to this island those years ago. Maybe part of you knew deep down, someday you would need to be here."

I looked at Zoey, feeling that dangerous emotion beginning to once more course through my veins. I pulled my hair over my shoulder, braiding the strands halfheartedly as I thought about what this discovery could mean for Aaron. I hadn't shared another dream with him since that first time, but I knew it was more than my imagination at work. If I tried hard enough, I could still feel his arms around me, the kiss we had shared under that tree. The last words he had said to me still rang through my mind. I love you, Aphmau. If that wasn't enough to keep fighting for him, who knew what.

My mind drifted to the two little girls back at the house, hopefully fast asleep. Lilith hadn't seen her father in two and a half years, and Alina had never even met him. Everyday, as my two daughters grew up without Aaron, I was reminded of the cruel hand Fate had dealt us. And even if it was a wild goose hunt and it took us many more years to find this moonflower, I would never give up on finding it. Already the relic deep inside of me, the power of Irene had pushed me towards so many choices that had helped me on this path; I had to believe that the woman I used to be would help me again to find the only thing that can help me see the love of my life again.