Our Present

Trickling Sands

Key:
"Thoughts"
Emphasis/important
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*~~~ignore me, I'm a wave~~~*
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If the night is meant to bring us rest, endless dreams spilling into our subconscious, then what would bloom with the dawn?

✧.*ೃ༄

"Why are you asking that?" Wounded. Helpless. Despairing.

It was a replica of the expression that he had worn before, but Athanasia wouldn't know that. She had never seen him with this tsunami of emotions, the one that overcame him when he held her resting form in his arms.

So, her lips curved upwards, a tender smile blooming upon her face. It reflected off of her cup of tea, Rosen lips tinted the hue of dirt, and it made her companion fume. More so when she spoke. "It's a fair question, isn't it?"

"The cycle has already ended." His voice quivered, lava boiling in his eyes. Lucas clenched his hands into fists, his silken cloak crumpled in its grasp, but his eyes could only stare at his lover and wife.

He pleaded for her to never die again.

"Yes, the cycle has ended, but that does not make us immortal," Athanasia's eyes glanced over him, taking note of his trembling figure and opening her arms. She knew enough that he needed her, turning around on her seat so that he could rest his head on her lap.

Delicate fingers carded through his dark hair, and she said, "for, though we will live longer as magicians, death will greet us in the end. And when he does, what will happen?"

Lucas clung to her hands from his spot by her side, his knees bent and his head raised to meet those precious ocean eyes. Once more, she smiled, twisting her wrist to interlace their fingers. And, as warmth gathered between their hands, she asked her question again. "So, my love, please answer my question. If we were to be reborn without our memories and meet each other as nothing more than strangers, what do you think would happen?"

Athanasia flinched when those ruby eyes blazed, firm in its passion for her. She felt guilty for breaching a topic that had become taboo between her family. Death. Reincarnation. The cycle that they had barely escaped.

But, she could not deny feeling curious and mildly afraid. Her hands clasped his tighter, her smile becoming strained.

"Athanasia." His whisper caught her attention, laced with a love that could burn for a million years. He held her gaze with a devotion so firm that hers quivered for a moment. The empress' smile faltered again, trembling with the weight of her love for him as she listened to his words, the one that her soul would carry with it.

"My wife, my friend, and my empress... I adore you not with this body but with this soul. Should we ever meet and you cannot remember me, I will simply shower you again with love. Again and again, I will offer my devotion to you, my magic, my time, and my very being, until I can get closer to you, and until my love touches you."

"Lucas..." Athanasia whispered, holding his face. It did not matter that her lips and fingers were quivering, not even that her vision was blurry with tears. All that she held in her mind was the warmth of his presence and the promise in his words.

She bowed her back, resting their foreheads together, and she closed her eyes with her own promise. "We shall meet again in our next lives and, unlike our past, we will both be mirthful and free of strife. Should you keep your promise, then I shall keep mine, that I will love only you, in accordance with our marriage vows.

I have placed upon thee my unending claim, Lucas of the Tower, so that thou art mine to have, mine to hold, mine to protect, mine to love. My beloved bonded, I have vowed to protect thy heart, which is mine own truest treasure.

May this vow be our promise of eternity, our promise to meet again."

Lucas laughed, a song of mirth which traveled with the wind to the realm of the gods. "Yes, may our vow be our promise that death cannot tear us apart. You are mine as I am yours; I love you, Athanasia."

"I love you too, Lucas." The dusk was a witness to their kiss, the magic of their vow tingling upon their lips. And, when they parted, laughter accompanied them, a song of comfort that they would never part.

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Lucas blinked awake, shadows filling his room in a blanket of darkness. As he lifted himself, groaning and stretching his limbs, he couldn't help but feel as if he was forgetting something. A rosen garden and a woman with golden silk for hair, or even a pair of the most vivid sapphire eyes. Images, blurry and faint, flashed before his eyes.

By the time that he had completed his morning routine, the dream was long forgotten.

But a single name rolled upon his tongue, a heavy weight, an itch that he couldn't calm. As he looked at himself in the mirror, dark hair with even darker eyes, both gleaming beneath the harsh glare of his LED lights, Lucas called upon a name that he had never heard before in his life. "Athanasia."

✧.*ೃ༄

The dawn will bring to fruit the promise made in the land of dreams, of a time long forgotten, of a love long parted.

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Athanasia gasped, taking a step back. She could distinctly remember falling asleep on her large bed, safe in the thought that she was in her house with her parents closeby. So what was this? How could it have happened?

She had opened her eyes to a rose gold sea and a horizon where light spilled from the sun like a waterfall of golden sands. The air felt hot, sweat clinging to her skin, and it smelled of salt, thick against her nostrils. Maybe, that's what made her so confused. The sand which was warm enough to burn her soles, or the sea droplets dusting her feet, cold and quick to dry against the summer heat. The dream was far too vivid to be a mere dream.

"It's the beach!" Athanasia spun around to face the source of the voice, only to flinch when she caught sight of the person. Blonde hair the color of gold and eyes that mirrored the calm sea, the woman was clearly an older version of Athanasia. Why? How? What was going on?

Then, the older maiden laughed, running to the water with bare feet. Athanasia's eyes widened, entranced by the laughter filling the beach, and she couldn't help but admire the beauty of her older companion. "Is that really me?"

"Athanasia! Be careful!" Thick and velvety akin to melted chocolates. It was how she knew that this older maiden was supposed to be her. It was a voice dripping with honey, alluring in every single way, and it was nothing compared to when Athanasia turned around to face him. Her eyes widened, sparkling beneath the setting sun, and she openly gawked as she wondered, "who is he?"

But, when her older self wrapped her arms around his neck, calling his name before kissing him on the lips, Athanasia screamed. Pillows and blankets flew across her peripheral, falling with a thud on her floor, and she could only sit upon her bed with an expression of disbelief. Once again, her eyes sparkled, this time beneath the glorious dawn, and she called upon the name that she had heard. "Lucas."

It felt familiar, but she had never seen him before.

✧.*ೃ༄

It didn't feel fair to be publishing HSLTL when I haven't published this yet. Also, for the same reasons as I'm publishing HSLTL, I'm publishing chapters for this story as I write them.

Uhm, for those who noticed, the art cover does not match the title. I actually haven't finished the cover yet💀 soon, I will have the proper one soon. I'll also have it on my Tumblr and Twitter once I have it done (for those who'd like a better look)

Ps. The next chapter is half done💛