Five minutes later Mike and Rose were carrying the heavy Angel through the empty office to the meeting room. When Mike asked what happened she explained her short interaction with Xar. Once their work was done they stood there waiting. However, a few hours later Locious had still not regained consciousness. She was alone because it had been getting late so she told Mike to leave and promised to let him know if anything happened.
As time passed and Locious still didn't make a single move, Rose started to feel uneasy. At first she just watched him sleep but then, her hands trembled by his stillness. In her eyes he was looking more and more like a statue and not like the man she knew. When she couldn't take it anymore, she decided to call Crale but just as she reached for her phone Locious opened his eyes. He jumped to a sitting position and scanned through the room frantically, his eyes blurred, almost as if he was on the verge of madness.
When he finally noticed her in the corner, he sighed relieved and laid back on the couch with his hand on his forehead. He looked tired and anxious, his pinky scratching his brow. She had been feeling so confident and determined to tell him how she felt minutes ago. Now, she was doubtful. His posture was ambiguous, she wasn't sure if he sighed relieved because he missed her as much as she missed him or because he really wanted to tell her they should stay only as friends. Or maybe, give her some silly excuse as to why they shouldn't see each other anymore.
"Rose, can we talk?" He looked at her, his eyes regained focus but his hair was so disheveled and his hands were shaking so much that he almost looked as if he was about to drop the worst news ever. However, she was no coward so she nodded and he took her to the rooftop. She thought he was going to deliver the bad news right there but instead he opened his golden wings wide and offered her his hand.
She looked at his slender fingers and his shiny wings framed by the darkness of the night. She could just tell him to say whatever he wanted to say right there but there was something alluring about the scene. So magical that she thought she couldn't miss the chance she was being offered.
If this is our last time together, if he decides he doesn't want me here anymore, at least I can keep this picture as a treasure to remember when I'm far away, she thought and she gritted her teeth to keep the tears from falling. She wasn't going to fall apart. There were people who fell in love and stayed together, like her parents and grandparents. Sometimes, love was not reciprocated. But no one died from love so she knew she was going to go through it, even if now her world felt as shattering.
She placed her hand on his and he grabbed her tight from the waist. He took off with her in his arms. She was anxious and sad so she couldn't appreciate the sight but she knew it was heartbreaking. She could see the whole city from a distance and the street lights were like a kaleidoscope illuminating the dark night. After a while and when civilization vanished on the horizon, she felt salty air hit her face.
They were near the sea, she could hear the waves hitting a distant shore and the typical cold from the big masses of water but it was so dark that she couldn't be sure of their location. She looked at him and her heart pounded in her chest. There was only one truth at that moment: after the time they spent apart and all the episodes she had been having, being with him like this, with their faces millimeters apart from one another. So close she could grab him from the neck and touch his lips with her, her heart knew that it was where it belonged.
Even if she knew that it may be the last time they spent together, she couldn't deny it. She was completely and deeply in love with him. She was finally able to be one hundred percent honest with herself. She was attracted to him at first but then, she got to know him. Every talk, every drink, every piece of advice, every laugh they shared, he made her love him. But she hid her feelings, or actually, she tied them down. She convinced herself her love would never be reciprocated. After all, she didn't even know at that time if she was going to pass the tests and keep her memories.
Now she knew that the Angel Aura had only been a trigger for her feelings. Even if it had affected her behavior and made her behave like an obsessed person, the love that it awakened and the feelings she had for him, were hers. Not because of an Aura, not because he was an Angel, not because of a drug or because he was her boss. It was him and it was her. Two people, two hearts exposed and an intense love that may connect them forever or separate them to never be talked about again.
They flew for some time until he landed and set her on her feet. She looked around. There was a single dim light that illuminated the structure where they were standing. She looked up and saw they were in a light house. The bulb illuminated the sea behind them but they were still surrounded by darkness. It looked like a scenery taken out from one of Kiizary's favourite movies but also dreary, as if the stage were prepared for something beautiful and something terrible at the same time.
She saw Locious take a deep breath and grab the railing with strength. The piece of metal groaned and he let it go quickly when he realized he was about to break it. The only sounds that could be heard were the water hitting the rocks under them and his quick breathing. She waited there and a few seconds, maybe minutes later, after another quick deep breath, he finally started talking.
"I… don't even know how to tell you this. I'm so good with words but right now, I have no idea what to say or where to start. " As if he couldn't keep his hands steady, he grabbed a pole that had been discarded on the floor and started playing with it in his hands. Rose watched him twirl it as if it was a piece of paper but let him do whatever he needed to. She was finally about to learn the truth, and didn't want anything to stop him from doing so. Not even her own distracted thoughts.
"We Angels… are not supposed to love anyone, romantically. If we do fail at it and decide to be with someone, there is a Law that gets activated called The Eternal Anchor. This Law is imbued in our whole being and our souls get , we could say, marked with the name of the person we love. To be brief this Law doesn't change anything unless the person we were with leaves us. "He turned around and looked at her. His eyes were like a pool of feeling. She could see everything he was telling and everything he wasn't, clearly as day and she just wanted to run to him and hold him in her arms.
"Let's say that the Eternal Anchor comes with a parasite that remains dormant but if the soul registers that our partner is not there anymore, the parasite spreads like an illness. That is called the Absum Inanis, or what we call The Void.It is like what you experienced when the demons drugged you but for us it is eternal condemnation. It can't be cured or reversed. We lose our minds and we are never able to function normally again" the anger in his words were tangible and she was sure he knew someone who went through it, if not he wouldn't have been so scared of it.
However, Rose felt as if she had been thrown into a pool of icy water. Suddenly, all the missing pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Why Kiizary and Crale talked about being Eternal Anchors, Lucious fears and most important, his sacrifice. To save her life, he gave her his whole future and risked his own sanity. He said he wanted to do it and she stopped doubting his words long ago. Maybe it was bound to happen but still, they kept her in the dark with something as life-changing as that.
"However, there is something wrong with it. I know it was activated when we did it for the first time but since then I have been going nuts. I just can't be away from you. I feel jealous, anxious, and empty when I can't see you. I had never heard of anyone noticing the Eternal Anchor like this. Usually, Angels feel the change in our souls but then it just stays there as a shadow. I don't know why it's behaving like this " his knuckles turned white and he moved his hands around in exasperation. She took a step closer to comfort him but his next words froze her on the spot.
"I just… I didn't want to tell you any of this because I know you would stay out of duty. That's just who you are. But I can't let you tie yourself to a broken Angel like me, someone who may end up unable to love, who has no idea what he is doing, who is too scared of seeing the past repeat itself." His shoulders dropped along with his head and he stood there for several minutes. Not noticing her clenched fists and her red and angered face until she snapped at him.
**
"Are you stupid or what?" she snapped, tears flooding her throat. He turned around, his eyes stinging, due to the unshed tears, opened wide.
Did she just call him stupid? He stared at her surprised by the response. Her anger was understandable, he had just told her he got tied up to her and there was nothing they could do about it. But to insult him after he poured his heart into his words? It felt like a low blow. He had been trapped in a sea of darkness and when he opened his eyes his first instinct was to kill Greed, which he knew would be a massive problem later. However, when he looked around the room, he realized he was back at the office and the only person there was Rose.
Nothing else mattered at that moment, all the rabid energy that had been fueling him in the Atherium Umbra was absorbed by a sea of calm. The only thing that mattered was her presence, her fresh energy and her sweet essence that seemed to cover him like a blanket, breaking down his despair and filling him like a balsam.
"What?" he asked knowing it was a silly question but he was speechless. Her reaction was so unexpected, and seeing her walking to him with tears falling from her eyes made his heart throb. She pushed him against the railing and he let her do as she wanted. His limbs, not cooperating with him, didn't showcase any of his Angelic skills. He was too stunned by her attitude and her violent but sad outburst. She used to say she hated violence but now, she trapped him and used her fists to keep him contained.
"What the hell was that? If it was a love confession, it sucked. How could you confess like that?" She shoved his shoulders; it didn't hurt but she was fired up. He wasn't sure why but he knew something he said hurt her.
Have I not been clear enough? After everything I said, she must know I love her. I felt her since the very first moment I saw her but I fell in love with her over time without even realizing and she had to know, right ? It was too obvious, he thought, pondering if maybe he hadn't been clear enough about his feelings. But, she must have seen it. He placed everything he was, his whole existence in her hands for her to do as she wished, even if it meant disappearing from this world. And he had not a regret about it.
"You know what hurts the most? That you really think I would stay with you out of duty. Haven't you realized that I love you? I've loved you since training camp. I was scared of you at first and then I hated you for your attitude but you became my friend and I saw your heart. I've loved you ever since. Every little thing I learnt from you made me see how beautiful you are on the inside and on the outside."
She took a shaky breath. "I know you thought the Angel Aura was affecting me but I think it just made me open my eyes and admit what I was afraid of. I will stay with you today, tomorrow, and every day to come. Not to help you and not because a mystical law tied me down, but because I love you. The whole you. You are my boss, my friend, my partner and my Angel. I love you as all of them and also, as the person who you are behind all those labels. I love you for who you are and I hope you love me just the same. Not because I'm your Eternal Anchor or because I'm your underling. But because of me, Rose"
She touched his cheek and smiled at him, her heart in her eyes and he felt his heart break into a million pieces only to be fused back together by her tenderness. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her with all his might. He lifted her chin and poured the river of yearning into a kiss. . He wanted her to feel every ounce of love in his soul. She was his best friend, his partner, his Anchor, and the owner of his heart.
They held each other for a long time until her phone rang, startling them both. He was about to tell her not to answer when he saw Kiizary's name on the screen. She would never call unless it was something urgent. She usually let Crale take care of the news dropping so he nodded and Rose answered her call.
"Hello? Um… yes we are. Okay give me a sec. You're on speaker now," Rose said, holding the phone between them.
"Hi Locious! Well I told Rose to call me when you were together but she must have forgotten. You're lucky I have ways of finding you. Anyway, have you told her about the Eternal Anchor?" Kiizary asked and Locious knitted his brows. The question came out of the blue and it didn't seem to be as important as to interrupt them in the middle of such a moment.
"And I assume you worked it out right? You're still together so I bet you did. That's so beautiful! And so sad at the same time because we will have to be careful—"
"Kiiz stay in the here and now please. You're making me feel uneasy. What is this about?" Locious asked, nearly losing his patience. He wanted to take Rose home and cherish every inch of her, not entertain Kiizary with her scattered thoughts. That was Crale's job, not his.
"Oh right. Sorry. Okay we found out something about the tracking skill. We didn't want to say anything until you talked about the Anchor. You asked Crale about the Void and the anxiety you'd been feeling. So after examining both your samples, we discovered that there is something affecting the link. We are sure that when you two activated the vow her skill started to synthesize it. The Eternal Anchor is a neutral energy so she doesn't affect it but the Absum Inanis is a negative trail the vow carries so Rose's skill is synthesizing the Void little by little even while you're away…"
Locious's heart stopped. His eyes filled with tears and his throat constricted. He thought he was the one that had given her his all but after all, she was the one that had saved him. The one that had destroyed the biggest fear in his life just by existing and loving him. He was an Angel but she was the one who carried the saviour title attached to his name and the owner of his freedom.
"Does it mean even if I were to go away he won't have to go through the Void?" she asked in a low voice and he looked at her. They had confessed their love but the "what if" would have always haunted them. What if she stayed just to save him? What if she got tired after a few years. Human love could run deep one day and disappear the next day. What if she thought he only stayed with her out of fear for the Void? But now, all those what ifs and fears had vanished.
"Exactly. Whatever decision you make—stay together or break apart—there are no consequences. It will be your own freedom of choice," Kiizary said with a chuckle. Her words were an irony but so accurate. They spent their whole lives protecting the freedom of choice for humans but it was the first time he felt he really had a choice. He felt as if right now, he was a normal human being free to love another person.
The sound of the phone call being disconnected brought him back from his daze and he said the words he wanted with an open and vulnerable heart.
"I will still love you, Anchor or not. Fear of the Void or not. My heart has your name tattooed on every vein. If you decide to go away, I will still love you. If you come back in many years my heart will still be yours. Stay with me if you want but know that even if you leave my soul is forever yours," he said, his face wet with tears that were finally able to be shed.
She smiled through her own tears and tumbled him to the floor. "I'm not going anywhere. I love you too. I choose to stay out of love and selfishness. I want you by my side for as long as you want me by yours. And beyond that too. Consequences or not. I am madly in love with you, Boss-Angel Locious."
They laughed and hugged watching the infinity of the sea meeting the night sky. With light hearts free of duty and fear, they loved each other under the moonlight. The breeze could not turn off the heat of their bodies and the rough floor could not stop their frantic, tender movements. Their bodies, souls, and hearts were connected, certain they would never be apart again. After all, they were destined partners.