Chapter 116: You are back.
~ Raphael's POV~
Darkness. Cold. Endless. It was endless. I couldn't breathe. My teeth were chattering. Shaking together.
The ocean was everywhere. Stretching out into deep darkness that I couldn't see the end of. No shore. No light. Just pure emptiness.
There was no form or depth. All I felt was this death-cold stillness that wrapped around me like swamp vines snuffing life out of me.
My fingers had long gone numb. My lips cracked with the sting of frost. Every breath scratched my lungs like glass pieces, but there was no air. Just water. Black water swallowing me whole.
I wanted to scream, but even that had been stolen from me. It felt like I was drowning. Dying even. And a part of me welcomed it.
But then, a voice came. Calling to me.
"Raphael…"
My name. Barely a whisper. Soft and familiar. I wanted to hear more of that voice. I forced myself to concentrate. To wait on it.
"Raphael… hold on…"
Ava. My Ava?
Her voice was like fire on frozen skin. A flame came up in the void. It shined through the darkness and woke something in me, something I hadn't felt in a long, long time.
"Come back to me… please."
My chest tightened. My body jerked. It hurt, goddess, it hurt but I moved. Slowly, with my trembling limbs, I started swimming toward her voice.
The waters fought me, dragging me deeper into the ocean, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. My mate needed me.
"I need you," she whispered. "I miss you. I can't do this without you… come back to me."
The cold didn't go away, but the darkness started to. The little flame broke through the black sea above me. Gold. Soft. Growing stronger the closer I moved to her.
I followed it. Even when my arms ached, even when my lungs burned, I swam harder.
Then I saw her. Just for a second.
Attired in white flowy linen. Glowing. Her hand reached for me.
"Come, my love."
"Ava!" I cried.
I reached out, but she vanished.
"No...no, wait! Don't leave me."
I pushed through the water, my heart pounding like thunder. The ocean began to sink beneath me, dissolving into mist. The world changed into a barren, broken land, but still, it was beautiful.
I saw her again. Far ahead.
Running. Barefoot. Silver hair streamed behind her like the moon above.
I ran after her, I wanted to hold her. Let her be my salvation because I knew within my soul, she was the only one that could save me in this deserted land.
Yet again she vanished. I searched for her. Turning around, sand blew on me, almost sinking me and making me one of them.
I searched for her and found her. I chased again.
Each time she disappeared and I couldn't get a hold of her, it broke something inside me. Is she angry with me? Does she hate me? Is that why she runs? Those thoughts tormented me until finally… I saw a door far away from where I was standing.
It was white with specks of gold all over it... It had drawings of old the language that I couldn't read.
I pushed it open. When I went inside… I was greeted with silence and vast emptiness. Well, not emptiness. Because he was there.
My beast. He stood in the centre of the space like a living storm. Smoke of shadow and ash spread wide behind him, his eyes glowing the same colour as mine.
No. Not mine. Ours. A mixture of gray and black.
"I am Grey," he said. The sound wasn't spoken, it happened. "And you are my vessel." His statement would have made me laugh if I wasn't in such a bad mood already.
"I know who you are. No need to introduce yourself," I snarled out.
"Hmm..." He hums... He moved towards me, and I took a step back. I wasn't scared or frightened. I was worried, he would do something I would regret later. Ava is already scared of me. I don't want her to be more worried.
"You…" I shook my head, taking another step backwards. "You made me into a monster."
"We became one," he answered. "I did not force you. We chose each other."
"You don't get to twist this!" I growled. "You never told me, you were a sacred beast. You chose me. I didn't choose you." I replied back. Breathing heavily with emotions that felt stuck in my throat.
"We've killed people! Innocents ones. And now… now our mate is back and I don't even know if I deserve her." I choked out. "She hates us now. And I can't blame her. I would hate myself too if I were her."
"Mate..." he murmured. "Mate hates us because of me..." his massive form folded into itself. "I remember the way she looked at us… before she went away. She hates us now because of me."
He sounded… regretful. All-powerful Grey was trembling and curling into a foetus position at the thought of Ava's hatred.
"I will fix it. I will try," he silently promised. "I will make sure she does not hate us." he kept mumbling I will fix it.
The sharp words I wanted to say got stuck in my throat seeing how miserable he looked. My hands clenched. I didn't believe him. But I wanted to.
As I still contemplated on whether to believe his words. His chest split open with light; blinding rays of golden light springing from his body like fire.
He screamed. I staggered back, clutching my head.
The light came out of me too. Burned me from the inside. Every part of me convulsed, screaming, I thought I was breaking apart.
"STOP!" I roared.
The light didn't stop. It kept tearing through me. Through him. Through us.
And I screamed nonstop.
I woke up with a gasp.
My chest moved up and down in fright. My throat was raw. I looked around and I found out I was in my chamber.
I was back. In my bed. So, it had all been a dream. Ava running away from me was a dream. Ava.
I sat up sharply, drenched in sweat. My heart still pounding with the force of the dream, no, the vision. It was too vivid to be just a dream.
Then I saw it blink softly. A small lantern glowed beside the bed. Floating gently. It felt like it was watching me. I don't know if it was my mind that was playing games with me.
I moved closer to be sure.
"You're back," it said softly.
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