He told himself it was because of Vesperin, the way she had been growing sick right before his eyes.
The meadow was silent as he breached the tree line.
Was she not here yet?
He stared at the crater as he passed, a shiver suffusing his frame. It reminded him of the agony of his fall every time he looked at it. The anguish of his banishment from the Stars—for loving humans so much, he had been condemned to walk among them.
It had been the worst pain, but never for an instant had he endured it alone. From the moment his eyes had first opened, she had been there, before him.
He walked up the hill, and that was when he saw—her.
"No." The word was ripped from him like he had been ripped away from his home.
It was a blur as he ran to her, fell to his knees, and took her in his arms.
She was limp. Cold. A dagger embedded in her chest, blood on her beautiful gown, on her skin. It got on his hands as he ripped the blade free. Red ran sluggishly from the hole in her chest.
He held her to him, screaming. There was screaming. Was it coming from him?
"Vesperin? Wake up. Do not do this. No—no.Vesperin!"
His voice broke.
Her head fell limply against his shoulder, eyes closed, mouth still shaped around a final breath.
"Why?" the Celestial sobbed.
The only answer was the willow’s weeping leaves, brushing against the ground.
"It was the only way." A melodic voice spoke.
Atlas grew rigid, gathering Vesperin in his arms.
"You—you did this?" He stared wildly at the meadow and the base of the tree until he found the shadow near the bark.
The shadow wavered. "It had to come to pass. She carried your babe."
Atlas fell against the tree, Vesperin still in his arms. His eyes dropped to her stomach—flat, unmoving, with not even a breath. She was so cold.
"Pregnant?" Atlas breathed.
"Now you know why we could not allow her to live."
He placed his shaking hand on her stomach, trying to feel for her Soul—she was empty, an echo of her and something small and delicate in her womb.
"No."
"She and the Soul of her babe have already been reaped. The babe will stay with us. We cannot allow a being like that into the galaxy."
"What—what about Vesperin?" Atlas demanded, pressing his brow against her cold cheek.
"She will be reborn, but her Soul will be hidden from you. This is your punishment for loving humans more than the Stars. The Stars await you. Do not wander in grief any longer. Come home," said the shadow.
Atlas shook his head, unable to speak.
"Very well,Atlas." The shadow drew out the sound of the name Vesperin had given him, then left.
The sound of that name was what made him break. Nova seeped from his body into her cold form, as if to cling to whatever vestiges of her Soul remained.
