Page 88 of The Song of the Void

Air refused to flow into my lungs, and my stomach twisted into a thousand writhing knots.

“I’ll always be grateful…both of you loved me back.” His skin had already left its usual shut-in pale behind for a graying pallor. Colorless, lifeless. Even his lips had lost color, and his half-open eyes seemed dull. Still, he smiled. “I wish Rei was here…And I wish…the three of us could have been a family longer.”

Tears blurred my vision, but I found his hand and squeezed it. “Please, Ash. We’re still going to be a family, aren’t we? You wanted to be the godfather when Reiven and I have a baby, didn’t you? That’s a long way away, so you have to hang on.”

Ash tried to laugh, but it sounded more like a whimpering sob.

“You’re going to be fine,” I said, injecting every ounce of false certainty I had left in me into my words.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for…lyin’ to you.”

“Shh.” I cupped his cheeks and drew out the pain he was in, the same way I would with Reiven’s. But it felt as though his pain had begun to drain even before I took it away. I forced a smile. “You still have a lot to do, Timebreaker. You’re going to bring everyone together to work towards a beautiful, peaceful future, right? The sun will shine as children of all kinds laugh and play together, and—and⁠—”

The pain inside him was disappearing, but not because of me. My tears fell on his face, and I couldn’t keep pretending to smile and be confident anymore. I sobbed as my heart shattered.

Ash was taking all my strength with him, but he continued to smile. “Almost thought I wouldn’t get to…see it. That kind of future… But I do, right here.” It seemed like it took all his remaining energy to do so, but he raised one trembling hand to my face, brushing his fingers against my cheek. “You and Rei…will finish it for me…won’t you?”

I nodded and squeezed my eyes shut, but that didn’t stop the hot, painful tears from streaming down my cheeks. I caught his hand before it slipped away and screamed.

When I forced my eyes open again, he had gone so still, like a statue that had never once moved at all. His sweet, young face wasn’t supposed to be so empty of life. His pretty eyes shouldn’t blankly stare up at the ceiling, so I gently closed them with shaking hands.

He’s just a kid… just a boy that wanted to stop all the endless fighting…

Ash was meant to grow older until he was tall and had muscles like Reiven. In that world of harmony he’d create with his own hands, he could have found someone to love, like how I found Rei. Maybe he’d have a family of his own, or maybe he’d settle for being a godfather. But now he wouldn’t have that chance.

Someone’s presence drew closer as I lost myself in the whirlwind of what Ash's life could have been—what it was supposed to be. The world around me was a blur of nothingness. A vibration of sound reached my ears, but it was so muffled, I couldn't understand. I didn't even care to try.

When a hand reached out and gripped my shoulder, and I saw Reiven kneeling in front of me on the opposite side of Ash's body, everything cleared.

Rei said my name, worry etched across his features as his eyes darted down to Ash's body and back up to me. He said my name again, and this time I focused on him and his words to keep the static and blurry vision from returning.

“Zephra…Wh-what happened?”

I couldn’t find my voice. Vaetrik might as well have been squeezing my throat from his watery grave.

“Is Ash going to be okay?” Reiven’s voice was as hollow as the cavern we knelt in. He shook Ash’s lifeless body by the shoulder, like he somehow foolishly fell asleep in the depths of Hell.

“I’m…so sorry…”

“He’ll be fine, won’t he? Can’t you help him? Zephra, p-please, we have to help him!” Panic and anguish flooded his scarlet eyes as he touched Ash’s face—his surrogate little brother that he loved so dearly, that he had been willing to give his life to protect. “He’s still warm…”

I buried my face in my hands and wept. Anything. I would have given anything to have him back. My mind scrambled to return to the past, finding every weak moment I had in our encounter with Vaetrik that let this happen. “My fault…it’s my fault…”

“No,” Reiven said shakily. He came to my side and pulled me close so I could disintegrate into a puddle of weakness against him. “It isn’t your fault, Zephra.”

“Vaetrik…if it wasn’t for me…”

I glanced back at Vaetrik’s hat, floating in the bubbling pool, until Reiven pressed my face against his chest.

No revenge was worth this.

I dissolved into more tears and clung to him. We sat there in Hell and held each other, like nothing else in the world could ever matter more than the pain we shared with every shuddering breath.

After an eternity of grief, I whispered, “He…he asked that we finish what he started, Rei.”

No answer. Just a slow nod, like he was barely conscious.

The roiling pool behind us shot up towards the ceiling like a geyser, spraying us with scalding water. It took my attention away from Ash’s body and Reiven enough to notice the orange glow that filled the tunnel we had all come from. Magma crawled towards us through the shadows, accompanied by the sound of crunching glass and a blast of heat as it picked up into a steady flow inside the cavern.