After the End (Julian and MC)

3

Julian stares at me for a long moment, his eyes searching mine as I smile sadly. My eyes gloss over the feathers around his face, and I gently stroke them as I sigh. The feathers remind me of the masquerade, how handsome he looked all dressed up. I blink away tears at the thought, closing my eyes and kissing his forehead.

It was a lifetime ago that we were there, desperately trying to stop Lucio from returning and bringing the plague with him. It wasn't Lucio we should've worried about, it was the damn Devil. I push the unpleasant memories of the masquerade away, forcing myself to remember the better moments of that night.

We danced, I remember that. I remember how happy Julian was, I remember how happy I was. And then... And then what? Oh, that's right, we chased Lucio into the maze. And after that? Hmm... Julian and I found Nadia, and...

"Julian? Do you remember the night of the masquerade? When we had a bath together?" I ask with a smile, meeting his eyes as I move back to look at him.

Julian's cheeks flush scarlet as he nods, smiling and swallowing hard as he stares at me. "Y-yes, I remember." He answers, hesitantly running his hands along my outline. He smiles anxiously as his eyes drift down to my neck, and he gingerly rests his hands on my hips.

"And... Do you remember being in the Arcana realms? Remember how happy you were when you saw those jellyfish in the Star's realm?" I wonder, smiling sweetly as I fondly recall the memory.

He nods and smiles, breathing a content sigh as he relaxes in his chair. "I remember." He repeats himself, gently moving his thumbs back and forth on my hips. After a brief silence his smile fades, and he glances up to meet my eyes. "I've been thinking," Julian frowns, swallowing hard as he looks down at my neck again. "I know it's not like you to just give up, and I know you want to try fighting again..." He trails off, his voice dropping to a whisper as if he's afraid the Devil will hear.

I press a finger to his lips and shake my head, sighing sadly and frowning as I meet his eyes. "I know you're only saying that for me, I know you don't really want to fight the Devil. And what happens if we fail? We won't end up back here, we'll end up dead, or worse." I remind him, lightly pressing my lips to his forehead as I slide my hands along his body to rest them on his shoulders.

"Nothing's worse than this. I look like a monster, we're both miserable... Maybe... Maybe there's something after death, maybe we'd be together there, if we failed." Julian offers hopefully, smiling at me as he rests his hands on my hips.

"Or maybe there's nothing." I reply bluntly, shaking my head. "We were close last time, the Devil knew we could beat him, so he tricked us into giving him what he wanted. I... If we were to try to find the others, and we somehow managed to find the Devil... What if he didn't kill us? What if he let us live, but we were apart again? I couldn't bear that, Julian. I'd rather be miserable here with you, than miserable and alone."

Julian lowers his eyes and swallows hard, his brow knitting in determination. "We have to try. Like you kept telling me, remember? We don't know until we try." He replies, slowly lifting his hands to cup my face. "Unbind me, please." Julian begs, his voice breaking as his eyes water.

I stare at him for a long moment, frowning as I look into his eyes. He wants to try again, for me, I can see that, but... But if we lose again, I don't even want to think about what might happen. We might do it, if we find Asra and Nadia and Portia and everyone else, but what if we don't?

All we can do is try.

Slowly, I reach behind Julian and grab the invisible chains that bind him. I do my best to hide the pain as I struggle to break them, gritting my teeth and closing my eyes as I rest my head on Julian's shoulder. "Stop resisting." I instruct him, his reluctance making it more painful to break the chains. The pain lessens as he tries, but quickly returns when he's unable to banish his apprehension. I manage to prevent myself from screaming, instead groaning from the white-hot burn. I find it hard to breathe with the blinding pain, but when the chains snap free from Julian, the pain recedes.