Chapter Twelve – A Past which Plunders the Present

         The Emblem of the Star-Crossed Lovers (Interitus 1: Book X)

Chapter Twelve – A Past which Plunders the Present

 

“It was in the forest that I first learned I would find you, and I did not rest until the day that it became true. You saved me from the shadows like a lifelong lifeline; you saved me as you kept me across countless lifetimes. I have loved you a hundred times in a hundred past lives. I have killed for you countless times with countless swords and knives. It makes no difference that we are cursed and crossed by the stars, because it is in this life that the stars themselves are ours. We were once cursed to a piecewise love that lived only if you found me, but it is in this cycle that we shall set sail into eternity.”

Aeliana pressed her lips on mine in the moment I stopped speaking, but she struggled to respond, so she sat back onto the wet floor of our stolen boat. I stood upright on the back with my hands fastened firmly to the oars, but I infrequently pressed the paddles. Shortly after we had sailed away from the city where we met, an ocean current caught our catamaran and carried us from land. The glow of distant lava brightly illuminated the water with a fiery glow. The sea spray transformed into a shower of sparks, and every splash became a scattershot of shimmering scarlet. Even at a distance, the volcanoes transformed the ocean from water to fire. I could see every detail of our stolen ship in the fiery light. I could see our footprints on its deck, and I saw its edges covered in ash which was carried by the wind from the burning pier. But at this point, I could not see anything around us except the fiery ocean and the stars in the sky. Aeliana sat at a short distance. It had been a day since our departure, but she still struggled to recover from our skirmish on shore. Her injuries had sealed, but her heart had not healed.

I heard the words whisper from the girl who’s cursed by the stars above, “I don’t know what you mean. What is a piecewise love?”

I answered as I stared upon her perfect smile, “It’s a math thing I probably cannot use for a while. It’s like a trigger or a switch that discretizes day or night; it sets a condition that can decide left or right. It’s like if X equals a world where I never met you, then Y is a lifetime that is worthless through and through. But if X crossed over on the day I met you by the shore, then Y warps into a world where we are cursed to go to war. It’s a tiny thin line that stands between my emptiness and passion; it is a single event that stands to end this world in a fiery fashion. As if by poison we were pressed to play and plague a piecewise love, but all that pain was worth it for the one I’ve always dreamed of.”

Aeliana smiled sweetly and stumbled slowly across the deck. I pressed the oars just slightly to reorient our ship, and then I set my lips against hers. Even after all this time, I still felt stars turn into supernovae in my head every time I held her in my arms. Even while rowing between active volcanoes and the ocean they illuminated, she monopolized my reality and eclipsed everything else. All this worthless world was obsolescent in her presence.

Every wave sent a splashing motion through the world around us. It almost felt like the ocean itself could send us to sleep in a spiritual slumber, but I found myself instead transfixed by a glistening mass in the water. While it still shimmered scarlet from the fiery light, it did not dance in the darkness in between waves. It was a small rock island standing in the sea, formed long ago by an underwater volcano which had since abandoned it to live out its days at a distance from the mainland. But by a glimpse given by the starlight itself, I saw the silhouettes of trees standing on its rocky surface, swaying in the fiery glow of distant lava.

I asked Aeliana as her hair danced in the breeze, “Would you like to land on an island that is filled with trees? It isn’t very large, but at least it may have fruit.”

Aeliana smiled and answered with a tired breath, “A part of me feared that we might starve to death!”

I could sense a thin veil of overenthusiasm in her words, given that she had gone weeks without eating many times in her life. She had told me about the scarcity of food out in the badlands many times before, and I think in many ways it scarred the way in which sees this world. She had always jumped at the prospect of food in the past, almost like a feral animal unsure where it would find its next meal, but she also knew that she was far from approaching the edge of starvation. I suspected that she had said this to disguise an inexplicable truth; she hardly had any appetite even though she had not eaten in a long time.

Aeliana confirmed my suspicions when we reached the rocky shore of the forested island. Lava had dried at the edge of this island long ago to create a bay which shielded the shore from waves. We stepped together into the steaming sea and secured our ship safely onto shore. Despite the darkness of the open ocean, the fiery light of distant lava and swaying stars summoned a symphony of shimmers to illuminate the island. I could see every branch dance in the breeze, and I watched red and white fruit bounce in between the leaves.

Aeliana said as the wind swept through her hair, “I had a dream where someone tried to steal my air. She could breathe through me from a distance, but I couldn’t feel a thing. It was like I lived a life locked in a lie, forced to watch a wayward wanderer with a worn-out welcome. I could see myself as fragile in a way I’d never admit before.”

“You are not fragile now that you have me at your side; I possess an infinite power that leaves death defied. Just to protect you I would go to any length, and I can overcome anyone with my stolen strength. Nothing can stop us now that I have Elijah’s heart. No force in this world could dare to keep us apart. I wish I could have defended you even in your dream,” I said to her as we slowly stepped through the steam.

I offered Aeliana the first fruit I picked from a branch, and she delightfully sunk her teeth into its white flesh with a splash of juice. I reached for another fruit for myself, but I quickly realized that my appetite had outpaced hers. By the time I devoured three different fruit, she had only nibbled her way through half of her first. I set another in my mouth and picked a few more to carry with us. A part of me wanted to declare that we had already found our island hideaway where we would live out our days, but in reality, this small island could never support us. A quick mathematical extrapolation confirmed that every tree would be picked bare in four weeks’ time. Nevertheless, I pocketed another red fruit while Aeliana leaned against a tree for support.

When I searched for fruit of another color, I saw a fiery glow pierce the narrow space between the leaves and trees. Unlike the distant lava we had seen from our ship, this lava possessed a proximity that eclipsed the light of the stars. I stumbled through the forest toward the far end of this rocky island and saw that an active volcano had overtaken the southern sky. From an untold distance, I watched a gentle flow of lava pour into the ocean on a faraway island. The fiery light illuminated everything it touched; the southern side of every tree glistened in the glow. I could see every crack in the rocks as if a scarlet streetlight stood directly overhead. The dancing branches cast swaying shadows across the island. I saw the silhouettes of small shacks standing by the distant shore, shimmering in the light of lava.

We returned to our ship and set sail to the sea; we set out into the waves and rowed through the steaming water as fiery light set the ocean aflame with color. I pressed the oars with all my strength to guide us toward the nearest island, but Aeliana rested with her back on the floor and stared up at the sky. I couldn’t help but sense a dejection inscribed in her exhaustion, almost like we were wandering wayfarers with a warm welcome where we were once promised eternity but found in the end that it was all a dream borne of wishful thinking. I saw a listless stare in her hazel eyes as she stared up at the sky. She had suffered slashes in her battle with Elijah on shore, but her heart was injured in a way that would not simply heal on its own.

“May I ask what it is that has sullied your soul?” I asked Aeliana as I rowed toward our goal. Strong wind pressed us toward the island with a forceful pull, and just by shifting my feet I kept us under control.

But Aeliana answered as she slowly shook her head, “There were times in this life I thought I was better off dead. I once welcomed the end promised by the cycle that seemed to surround me out in the sands. We are all instruments of death and consumers of life until the day that we ourselves dance upon death’s door. And I know that we as living creatures are meant to defy that cycle and extend our own existence for reasons we don’t entirely understand. It’s a biological imperative that guides us to preserve our own lives and cut short someone else’s cycle. Even you and I now dare to defy the destiny set by death as a desperate daydream or a dreary fantasy. But when I lost my sister in the badlands, for no reason other than that her death facilitated her killer’s dream to defy his own, I wanted nothing more than for my own cycle to sever. I was alive but I had no reason. Not until I felt myself awaken from my emptiness into this dream where I dared to find you. A roaring ocean crossed on a quest I did not understand.”

I asked Aeliana as I stared into her eyes, “I know I have heard you mention your sister many times. She meant everything to you, didn’t she?”

Aeliana steadied her voice and spoke as if to seem strong, “My mother is the one who named me, but she did not stay long. I lost her so long ago that I truly cannot remember if she left by choice or if she were killed by man or monster. I asked Hakula a couple times when we were young, but she always answered that it made no difference. I think that in some ways she like you looked at this world through a tunnel, or at least to some extent. You fixate on a single outcome and dedicate everything to that ambition without any interest in the periphery. But she had no true goal because we lived in a life devoid of hope. We had no brighter future to which we could run. We had no concept of a better life or a better world. She instead sealed the tombs of her own past and hid her history as if it were powerless. I think that was her guiding principle. Don’t ever look down, and don’t ever look back.

“There was a time long ago when we lived in a beautiful canyon lit by the light of fireflies. The shadows in the crags concealed caverns in the canyon where we could finally live with some sense of safety. We had a couple books, we had some tools—practically anything we pilfered from the bodies we found. We had befriended other wanderers who chose to dwell in those same caverns. I traded to them some of my possessions and made Hakula a gift in the form of a stuffed doll which resembled her. I think it was in that cavern I came the closest to seeing her smile. But out in the badlands, nothing good ever truly lasts. If I ever tried to lament that reality, she would simply whisper that it’s the way of the world.

“One day, a ruthless Astrodeus attacked the canyon and struck the caverns. We barely had time to escape with our lives. I begged Hakula to go back so we could somehow save our friends, but she said that they were already gone and nothing could ever change that. They were burned with black fire. I begged her to let me grab the present I made her, but again she said that it was already gone. We ran away from the only home we ever knew, and she would not let me look back. She said there’s nothing back there for us. It wasn’t worth dying over. Don’t look down, and don’t look back. Just run forward and never stop running.”

Our wayward ship drifted upon a current toward the stream of lava, so I set down my oars and wrapped my arms around Aeliana. I could feel her warm skin as her body trembled in my arms. Steam lifted from the splashing waves and swirled all around us, shrouding us from the world which had dealt her this sadness. She smiled at me and gently pressed her lips against mine, but then with a subtle nudge she reassured me that I could continue to steer our stolen ship. She took a moment to gather her thoughts and steady her breaths.

Aeliana continued as if she could think of nothing else, “After I lost her, I tried to rebuild her in myself. My sister lived life like the past would plunder the present but only if you let it. She would not talk about our mother or anyone else we knew and lost. As I say it aloud, I fear it almost paints her in an unfair light, but the truth is that she would hate knowing that I wasted any energy reliving the past even if that is the only way to pretend that her influence did not die with her. She only ever cared about preserving my life at any costs, even to the extent that she resolved to sacrifice herself for me even before we learned that her killer had the same intention. Whenever I tried to ask her why, she insisted that I had some great destiny that transcends the cycle of life and death; she said that my life unlike hers would warp the course of history.

“But after I lost her, I doubted the existence of this alleged fate. I not only doubted and denied this destiny; I detested and deferred this destiny. I blamed it for taking her from me when I was so certain that I would die in the dirt like anyone else. I hated myself because I missed her so much. She died to defend me when I was worth nothing. She meant everything to me. Everything I had in this world I had because of her.”

I said as the splashing sea surrounded us in steam, “I think that I may know exactly what you mean. We lose a part of ourselves when we lose someone else.”

“I think I nearly let myself starve just to ponder the reasons, but I know in the end that life changes like the seasons. She lived her life like she was already dead, and in that way it was autumn in my head. When I lost her it then turned to winter in my heart—a permanent winter as we are forever apart. But I drove myself to find you and turned winter into spring; it was a rebirth of myself because you are my favorite thing. We stand now on the cusp of summer with hand in bloody hand. We will summon the summer and smash all this world to sand.”

I smiled and prepared some words with which to reassure her of our love or console her for the history she suffered, but then I realized that her words had practically drained her of the little energy she had left. The sweat on her skin shimmered in the fiery light of the approaching lava, but I recognized then that her skin was stained only with dried blood. Her gashes had healed long ago, but I had never seen her so exhausted in my life. Aeliana, who had swum in the steaming sea for several days, could now hardly mutter a few sentences without losing her breath. She stared out at the island with her hand over her mouth, and she winced while watching the lava pour into the ocean. The fiery glow set every strand of her hair alight. I opened my mouth to reply as I pushed our ship through the waves, but then I saw a tall silhouette standing on the shore. A towering woman waited for us with a long weapon held limply in her hands. She stood just a short distance from the flowing lava, and sparks danced beside her in the darkness.

“If we find ourselves in battle, I want you to stand back,” I whispered to Aeliana as I prepared to go on the attack.

But even when we closed in on the steaming shore of the volcanic island, the towering woman did not make a move. I had steadied myself to draw my sword and summon the strength I stole from Elijah, but the island’s protector showed no interest in repelling us. Even after our ship scraped upon the rocky shore of the lava-lit land, the spearwoman merely walked calmly to the place where we had docked. I disembarked from the ship with a splash which sent shimmering droplets into the steamy air. Aeliana hesitated for a moment, but eventually she climbed into the rocky shallows with my assistance. Together we pulled the small ship onto shore and stared toward the spear-wielding guard as she made her gradual approach.

The towering woman said to us with a smirk on her face, “I heard your whole conversation, though I know it isn’t my place. You came to the right island if you want a place to hide away and prepare your next move… though I advise against starting an onslaught against the kind people who live here. This is a quiet island that offers refuge to people who are otherwise unwelcomed in the lands they left behind. The people here work together against the volcano itself instead of fighting with another. It’s a nice waystation for monsters like us to wait out our next move.”

Aeliana then asked her with a spark of curiosity, “Is this the island where you achieved your own monstrosity?”

The woman laughed and answered as she shook her head, “On the island I come from, everyone else is dead. They died by my spear or in a burst of black fire. I sailed once to the mainland, but I quickly found myself outclassed. I didn’t have the strength I needed to recommence my onslaught, so I came here instead to hone my skills.”

I couldn’t help but find myself befuddled by her unguarded admission. She had practically confessed that she dreamed to create carnage and commit indiscriminate murder, but then I realized that we could not even possibly pretend to play the role of morally superior. She had overheard us speak of our plans to crush the people of this world and use them as ingredients for our perfect future. We were two villains passing in the night, uninterested in impeding the other in their goal. Aeliana, on the other hand, seemed to find our interloper fascinating.

Aeliana covered her face with her hand and asked, “Are you killing them all for some specific task?”

But the woman answered with a breath that came deep from her chest, “I suppose you could say I have no reason for this quest. I consider carnage as intrinsic to my being as flight is to a bird. You can ask a fish why it spends its whole life swimming, but you cannot change that it does. It’s the same for me. I am a warlord before anything else, even without my own army to lead. I am Panasoria, the sole survivor of Sadina. I am the warlord who will one day conquer the mainland under my name.”

“That’s a fascinating goal, but what is it for?” Aeliana asked as she envisioned her war.

Panasoria rolled her eyes and tried to explain, “Some would say to themselves that it’s a quest without gain. I aim to become the most powerful warlord in this world, and one day I will infect other worlds with this same campaign. Some would call it murder just for murder’s sake, but we both know that the reasoning of the weak makes no difference in reality. From what I can gather, we are both strong, and therefore we decide the boundary between right and wrong. This will remain true unless someone even stronger than us comes along and decides differently.”

“Why do you think it is that we’re compelled to derive our power from other worlds?” I asked Panasoria as she spun her spear through six twirls.

“Everyone knows this world is worthless and wasting away,” answered Panasoria as if she were counting down the days.

I heard a clamor that sounded at first like Aeliana wanted to answer, but when I glanced at her I saw that she had fallen to her knees. The fall had torn the fabric from her pants and scraped her knees upon the rocks. I sheathed my sword and ran over to her side, but when I touched her skin, I realized that she felt hotter than ever before. Whenever I had felt her skin in the past, she felt colder to the touch than anyone else I had ever known. But now as her fever swelled in my hands, I realized the true reason why she had succumbed to exhaustion ever since we left shore. She shook as she struggled to take a breath, but then she coughed four times before sealing her lips with her hand.

“Aeliana! Are you alright?” I asked as my whole body fell victim to fright.

But Aeliana shook her head slowly and confessed, “I think this is a sickness I could not keep suppressed. I am so sorry, Asivario. I truly wanted to defeat it without causing any concern. We had so many obstacles to escape in Bones City, and… I couldn’t admit to myself that there was another. I can feel it in my muscles; I can feel it in my bones. I’m so sorry! I can fight my way through it, but I need more time. Between Hayatama and this, it seems… that we truly have been cursed by the stars.”

I wrapped Aeliana in my arms and asked the woman with the spear, “Do you know if there is a doctor anywhere near here?”

Panasoria could sense the urgency in my voice. For reasons I did not entirely understand, she nodded and sheathed her spear. She then took off running toward the glimmers of light emanating from distant houses elsewhere on the volcano. Perhaps it was because Aeliana had shown her a curious courtesy when we first met. Perhaps Panasoria simply felt a camaraderie as we were warlike villains set to slaughter cities and empower ourselves. Perhaps it was because on some level, Aeliana and I were the only people who could understand her without judgment or reproach. Regardless of the reason, she ran toward the village with her head over her shoulder. I nodded and lifted Aeliana into the air. Since it was my only hope to keep pace with Panasoria, I activated the power I had stolen from Elijah.

In that moment, my strength practically doubled, so I effortlessly carried Aeliana in my arms. At the same time, my speed doubled, so I raced across the land lit by the light of lava. Even my eyes doubled their acuity, so I navigated effortlessly through shadowed crevices and dashed over obstacles until I caught up with Panasoria. We raced along the edge of the volcano as it spewed scarlet sparks into the sky. Fiery light flashed upon our feet as we raced toward the distant homes, but I silently reassured Aeliana as I held her in my arms. I had promised her forever, but our forever had turned finite. I could hear her deliriously whisper that I could take my time, that she would somehow survive this sickness, but I could think of nothing other than the moment when I found Alyssa’s half-eaten corpse in the desert sand. We were crossed by the stars to keep us apart, but even the Bones City plague could not stand between us. If this doctor could not help her, I had already resolved that I would kill everyone I could find and steal their souls until I could pilfer a power which would save her.