Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Elarión manifested in the room and saw Augustine sleeping soundly, standing there just contemplating her for a long time—a human whose anomaly had unexpectedly changed his destiny.
Of course he knew her, as he had not only watched her grow over the past year but had also encountered her in many other lives, since it wasn’t the first time her path had crossed with Ana’s.
Had he noticed anything strange about her before?
Not really. She had always seemed to him just like any other human, one among the many he had seen live and die before, but tonight, he saw her in a different light.
A human capable of perceiving the Silver Threads?
Of seeing the A’aruin and hearing their voices?
It was a profound anomaly, grim enough to report to the High Council, however, something new awakened in him today: curiosity.
So he decided that such an unusual phenomenon deserved to be observed closely.
Alderian watched him in silence, aware of how strange the situation must seem to Elarión. “Let’s talk in A’aru,” he said, with a territorial instinct that demanded he keep Elarión away from Augustine.
Elarión gave a slight shake of his head and looked him directly in the eyes. “How long has this been going on?” he demanded.
“Barely a few days… and no one else knows about it, except you,” Alderian replied.
Elarión walked slowly through the room until he stopped in front of Augustine, while Alderian followed him with his gaze, uneasy.
In his eyes, Alderian recognized the same eagerness and reverence he had seen earlier, when Elarión made his oath.
Precisely because of that sacred act, almost forgotten in time, Alderian felt especially unsettled, wondering why he would bow to a human.
“Did you hear about Lina?” Elarión asked.
“What about her?”
Elarión took a deep breath. “She was returned to Lethe a few days ago. Apparently, the Guardian of the Threads discovered she had a relationship with another A’aruin. It is not known who he was, or if he was returned to Lethe as well,” Elarión said, assuming Alderian would want to know.
After all, Lina’s human had been involved with Augustine in a past life, and they surely had shared much during that time. Alderian was shaken, so he did not press further.
* * *
“Herald, wake up.” Elarión’s voice resonated with a deep vibration in her ears.
She sat up sleepily, but as soon as she realized who had awakened her, she snapped wide awake. “Where’s Ana? Is everything okay?” she asked, alarmed.
The angel calmed her with a serene gesture of his hand before responding.
“Ana is sleeping with her sister now. It was not a simple conversation for either of them, but they had unspoken issues for a long time and now Ana’s Thread has notably diminished the intensity of its red color.
Tomorrow they will go together to seek support at a health center, as Ana’s sister does not want to risk this situation getting any worse.
I would say this is the best result we could’ve ever hoped for. ”
His voice still conveyed pain, and her heart ached full of compassion.
“I’m sure this has been a difficult time for you too,” she said. “The A’aruin are condemned to watch helplessly without intervening, even as their world is destroyed. I’m so sorry you had to go through all this.”
Elarión tilted his majestic head to one side, looking at her with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity.
“Condemned, you say? I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but now that I see how you can communicate with Alderian, it makes sense.
We are doomed. Why can I not also speak with Ana, as Alderian does with you? It feels unfair.”
Augustine didn’t know how to answer, starting as Elarión drew closer and stopped just a few feet away. He crouched down to meet her gaze from below, his grey eyes piercing through her.
“Who are you to defy the laws of A’aru? I see nothing special about you to cause such an anomaly,” Elarión observed.
“Hey, watch it,” Alderian warned, a veiled threat in his words. “I allowed you to wake her only because I knew we wouldn’t have another moment to talk, and I know Augustine is worried about Ana, but do not dare to belittle her.”
“Forgive me, Herald… I believe my words sounded rude and that was not my intention,” Elarión said. “But I want to look at you more. I want to watch you closely… intently.”
“I’m confused. Can you look so closely at a human who isn’t the one tied to them?” she asked, surprised.
“If I haven’t done it before, it’s not because I couldn’t, but because I wasn’t interested. But now… I am,” Elarión said enigmatically, his insistent gaze fixed on her.
Alderian placed his hand in front of Augustine’s eyes, interrupting the intense meeting of their gazes. “Careful, Elarión,” he said, his voice carrying the underlying fury of a waking volcano.
“You be careful,” Elarión replied, standing up.
Side by side, he was imposing, being taller and more heavily built than Alderian.
“With everything that is happening right now, what do you intend to do? You know it would be safer for the Herald if you presented the anomaly to the High Council voluntarily. Not doing so looks too much like an act of treason.”
A heavy silence fell between them.
“Will you betray us?” Alderian finally asked coldly.
Elarión shook his head. “My loyalty to the Herald will endure through this life and those to come, because she has saved us from imminent danger, from a cascade of suffering that would have been difficult to escape for the following centuries. I will not risk her for any reason and I will protect her however I can.”
“Honestly, I don’t know if your words relieve me or infuriate me,” Alderian huffed, irritated. “Augustine is mine; I am hers. Do not dare to get between the two of us under the guise of protecting her Lights.”
“That thought is dangerous, Alderian. Stop it,” Elarión warned gravely.
He turned his back on them for a moment, pacing the room in deep thought.
“Despite everything, something in this situation fills me with hope. If, as the Herald said, we are condemned to only half a life while we watch helplessly, it means that perhaps a place or a reality exists where we are free, and not mute witnesses to the life of a human whose destiny is intertwined with our own. Watching you two makes me think it is not impossible. So, Herald, I will stay close: I will be your staff, your arm, and your support whenever you need me. I want to see how far you go.”
With that said, he vanished from the room.
“How intense,” Alderian grumbled. “Don’t take him too seriously; you don’t have to prove anything to anyone.”
“But he’s somewhat right, after all. Me and you being like this, maybe it means there’s another way for a human and their A’aruin to live. A way in which we exist for each other. Perhaps in the past things were different, or has it always been this way?” Augustine asked.
Alderian frowned, searching his memory. “Even we A’aruin have been subjected to Oblivion,” he said with bitterness.
“I don’t feel like I’ve lost any memories, but I’m also not able to answer your question.
All I can remember is being joined to you, and you to me.
I remember all your past lives, just as you surely remember all of mine when you become my A’aruin, but there is a ‘before’ that I cannot evoke.
Who was I before I was with you? Were we always together? I don’t know—”
Augustine weighed his words while she massaged her temples with her fingers, her head throbbing.
“Let’s drop this subject for now,” Alderian gently interrupted. “It’s four in the morning. You need to sleep. It’s not the time to understand the mysteries of this universe.”
“I’ll sleep, but Alderian… tonight, could you stay by my side?”
“I won’t leave. Sleep now, my sweet Augustine.”