Chương 8: Thalia

Kealix looked at me with an unusual expression, at least, unusual for him. He didn't look shocked, not quite; it was more like surprise. His eyes had widened slightly. I suppose he hadn't expected me to allow him to see his wife so soon. After all, it's nearly impossible to slip past their notice without my permission.

"You're allowing me to see her immediately?" Kealix asked, his eyes still widening with disbelief. I nodded slightly, continuing to speak in my usual calm tone.

"Of course. You deserve to see her after all this time. You've been sealed away for quite a while now." My expression barely changed, only a faint curve of my lips, the beginning of a smile. In that very moment, the space around us shifted. I didn't have to lift a single finger. The pale, empty plane, devoid of color or form, transformed into a vast, glimmering cave. Crystals of every hue adorned the walls, casting shifting lights across the chamber.

The floor bloomed with countless orange flowers, the favorite color of Kealix's wife. Kealix stood still for a long moment, taking it all in. He had returned to the place of her sealing. There she lay, Thalia, encased in a pure crystal coffin, her beauty preserved in still perfection. The coffin shimmered faintly in the glow of the cave, a sight so radiant it could inspire envy even in the wealthiest of kings and queens. Thalia's hair was a deep shade of orange, glowing softly in the dim light.

Her eyes were closed, and her sleep had the stillness of a goddess resting, serene, divine, untouchable. She was beautiful, his wife, probably the only match for Kealix himself.

"Hey, writer," Kealix said suddenly. His voice was steady but carried a quiet tremor. He paused, making it clear that what he was about to say held importance.

"Thank you… could you… leave us alone for a moment?" It wasn't really a request, more a statement. He already knew what my answer would be. I let out a small sigh and met his gaze. Or at least, I tried to. We no longer existed on the same plane, so our eyes could never truly meet, though both of us made the effort regardless.

"Very well," I said, my tone softening as a faint, cocky smile tugged at my lips.

"Take your time. I won't write down a single thing." Kealix's expression shifted, the faintest glimmer of happiness appeared in his eyes.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"I'll gladly train your boy, after this. It's the least I can do. Without your help, they would have noticed… and that must be avoided, at any cost." His voice carried both gratitude and the weight of old, distant memories. I lingered for just a heartbeat longer, watching as he stepped toward the crystal coffin. He reached out, his hand trembling slightly as it hovered above the smooth surface, and then he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Hello, Thalia… it's been a while, hasn't it, my love?" And with that, I left, just as I had promised. The soft echo of his words followed me as the space faded from my awareness. After all, who was I to intrude upon their reunion, after so many long, silent years apart? After some long, heartfelt moments, Kealix's reunion came to an end. He had placed his mask upon Thalia's crystal coffin, a simple gesture, yet one filled with meaning and love, at least in his eyes.

"I would leave my, or rather, your.... mask with you here, my love," Kealix murmured, his voice soft.

"But sadly, I cannot. I must keep it for the task ahead. This gift you gave me must remain mine just a little longer." Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. He gazed down at her, his eyes filled with a deep and genuine affection that words could never quite capture. Then, with a quiet breath, he straightened himself. He looked at Thalia one last time, unsure if he would ever see her again. The thought made him bite his lip slightly, his composure wavering for just a moment.

His eyes wandered toward the flowers scattered across the cave floor, once vibrant, now withering. Yet even in their fading state, they still stood resilient, as though refusing to die. They had to. He had bound their lives to his own. As Kealix watched, a subtle shift began to ripple through the cave. Though most of his power had long been sealed away, a faint glow stirred within him. The flowers responded, their colors returning in slow waves of orange light.

Petals unfurled, stems straightened, and new blossoms emerged, countless and radiant. Within moments, the entire cave bloomed anew, overflowing with life and color. Flowers, eternal and untouched by time, filled every corner of the chamber. All of it, every petal, every shimmer, for a single woman.

"Alright. I'm done. Can you return me so I can properly train this boy?" Kealix said, looking straight at me. Indifference threaded his tone like a thin wire.

"Already? I didn't expect you to be finished so quickly," I replied, faking surprise. I hadn't imagined Kealix would cut his reunion short so soon, not with Thalia still before him. He said nothing. He ignored me, as I'd half-expected; his eyes never left the crystal coffin, his face a mask of calm that hid whatever storm was underneath. I hesitated only a beat, weighing the polite thing against the necessary, then chose the latter.

"I'll return you to White Space first, then send you back to your realm," I said, and the cave dissolved around us. Color bled away; the crystals and orange blooms evaporated like mist. We reassembled in the pale, featureless plane I called White Space, a place where the inhabitants' color was the only defiance against the void. Kealix let out a long, low sigh as he surveyed the emptiness.

I'd changed my outfit while he'd been with Thalia, a small shift in fabric and cut that, for me, marked the hours I'd spent elsewhere.

"Different day?" he asked, lifting one brow with a bored flick.

"Yeah. I was busy yesterday," I said, meeting his gaze. There was a smirk in my voice I didn't bother to hide. His hand closed around the obsidian mask, the cool stone dark against his palm. I could feel the chill of his anger from across the blankness, a quiet, dangerous thing. I knew why he hated them. I'd written the history he bore; I'd placed the burdens on him. That knowledge sat between us like an unspoken wound.

"Don't worry," I told him, my tone even.

"You'll have your chance to kill them… eventually." The words were not a threat so much as a promise, slow and patient, like fate itself. He didn't answer, only tightened his grip on the mask and turned away. For a heartbeat, he looked smaller somehow, the weight of duty settling back onto his shoulders like an old, familiar burden. Then, with a motion as deliberate as any ritual, I closed the gap between us and sent him on his way, back to the realm where he belonged, and to the boy waiting to be trained.

In an instant, Kealix was back. The mask returned to his face, and the chains rewrapped themselves around his wrists, arms, and legs, clinking faintly as they settled. It was as if he had never left, and in a sense, that was true. The only part of him that had left this eternal prison was his consciousness, the fragment of self that could traverse the boundaries between fiction and reality. The moment he returned, I had already sent the boy his way.

Vale stood in that vast and dreadful realm, gazing around with awe and unease. Jagged mountains of black obsidian loomed over him, their sharp peaks reflecting the faint glow of the twin suns, darkened orbs that bled dim red light through the choking air. Below them spread an endless crimson sea, its waves thick as blood, reflecting a sky filled with shadows.

"So that's his name, huh? Vale?" Kealix said, his voice echoing faintly as he hung from the chains. There was curiosity there, but also something else, something sharp, probing.

"But why… can't I sense him?" He tugged lightly at the restraints, frustration slipping into his tone. The question hung in the air, but I didn't answer. I couldn't. The truth was simple, Vale had been written in a way that made him untouchable, invisible even to beings like Kealix. Not even an omnipotent creature such as himself could perceive the boy's true nature. Kealix's eyes narrowed behind the mask as realization slowly dawned.

His gaze drifted toward Vale's metallic arm, faint light pulsing beneath its surface like a heartbeat. His expression hardened, disbelief seeping into his voice.

"Wait a second…" he muttered, his focus sharpening. Then his voice broke into something between anger and incredulity.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." He paused, breathing shallowly, as the truth sank in.

"You seriously gave that kid… Zellion?"