Exitium

🌙 t w e n t y e i g h t

🌙 t w e n t y  e i g h t

♚

"I've come to bring you home Selene."

The quiet cathedral felt heavy all of a sudden. They said the place was holy but right now all Aidoneus could think of was to do something so impious his soul would be alight with hell fire then and there.

"No." It wasn't Aiyana that spoke. It was him and it was then that Damia's eyes went to him as if she finally recognized his presence.

She smiled, for a Mother the smile was anything but Motherly as she fixed her eyes on him as if she owned Aiyana, as if she owned his world, and it was then that Aidoneus knew what she was going to say next. "But we had a deal Lord Nicolaou."

"A d-deal?" Aiyana spoke, her eyes drifting towards her Mother and her lover.

"He didn't tell you?" Damia feigned shock and turned to her daughter, grasping her face in her hands. "My dear, today will be the last day that you'll ever be together."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Aidoneus could swear his heart stopped.

Last day. Together.

Those were the words that registered in his brain. Repeatedly, coldly as she had said it, it made him want to... end someone.

There was an ugly silence that followed, an ugly impregnable silence. The looming statues of the saints seemed to look down on them, seemingly anticipating the drama that would certainly ensue. Aidoneus felt choked, he was burning. He wanted to set something alight.

"What deal?" Aiyana spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Freeing Aidoneus from his silent battle to combust but also letting him drown from the insurmountable guilt he felt at the moment.

"He really haven't told you?" Damia's eyes lit in amusement and mockery before saying, "You weren't going to be together in the beginning because he sold you off to me."

As if someone had inflict physical pain on her, Aiyana flinched at the words. But one glance at him made her resolute and certain. "That's not true." She defended, her eyes a burning azure, as if someone set the coldest fires into a vast ocean.

"I know you would defend this man." Her Mother spoke calmly before fixing her gaze into Aidoneus. She stared at him coldly, "Would you like to explain Lord Nicolaou?" The tone was absolute mockery but Aidoneus held himself back and turned to Aiyana instead, focusing on her, staring at her.

"Love..."

"I'll only believe you." The utter trust in her words and voice conjured a guilt so monstrous even he couldn't take. And then she spoke, the question so bare and damned at the same time. "Is it true? Did you made a deal with my Mother?"

The silence that followed confirmed her questions. Aidoneus knew it, because the love and trust she had in her eyes wavered, but still she continued. "I wouldn't believe anyone unless you tell me yourself. I trust you." Her demeanor was calm but he knew better, her eyes were screaming and begging and pleading and... hurting. Two people she loved dearly are making her choose between them.

She wanted him to be honest, despite the pain that it would cost. Aidoneus understood that so he said, "I did." The way he said it, the confirmation, the finality, along with the guilt, caused her to take a step back from him, her eyes on the floor, hands trembling.

"Love..." He tried to speak, his hands reaching out for her and perhaps that was how a broken heart felt like when she pulled away, staring at him with a plethora of emotions his heart could not keep up with. "Listen to me---"