I wanted so badly to tell her, but wasn’t it too soon? I watched as she walked off to tend to the animals. She was perfect in every way. I sighed happily. I was so lucky.
Orion came running over to me. “Marco! Did you hear I’m going to the beach next week?”
I crouched down. “I did! What are you going to do there?”
“Daddy said there are boats! And if we’re lucky, we might see a mermaid! I’ll build lots of sand castles, and I’ll swim all day and night! I’ll never sleep!”
I laughed softly. “That sounds like a great time.”
“I’ll bring you a sand castle!” He exclaimed.
“I can’t wait to see it,” I smiled as he hugged me. He was really such a sweet boy. So kind and gentle. Innocent. I really wished I could see that and be happy. But whenever I thought about how innocent he was, my mind immediately said “for now”.
But it was just a legend, right? I kept telling myself that legends weren’t real. After all, there was a legend about Jade and I that I couldn’t fathom either. I shuttered.
“Hey, buddy. I think Mommy needs some help with the chickens.”
“Oh! Coming Mommy!” He bounded away happily.
I stood up and walked inside, sighing. My head was starting to hurt. I still got chronic headaches, and some of them were really bad. Most of the time they were manageable.
After a little while, Jade and Orion came back in.
Okay, I think we’re ready,” she said. “I called Lizzy, and she will be over soon.”
We were heading back to our apartment in San My. Orion only had a week of school until his break, and Jade was missing the city. We headed back quickly and set our stuff down. After the trip, night time was approaching. Jade made dinner and fed Orion, bathed him and put him to bed.
She flopped down on the couch next to me with a content sigh.
“Ahhhh,” she smiled and closed her eyes. “The sights and sounds of the city.”
I smiled. “My city girl.”
She laughed and cuddled close to me. I kissed her forehead.
“I love it when you do that,” she said quietly. “It’s so sweet.”
I rested my head on hers. Should I say it now? No. Too soon. I had to stop pressuring myself. It would happen when it happened.
“You okay?” She asked quietly.
“Yeah,” I smiled as I held her.
“You seem like you have something on your mind.”
I didn’t know what to say. “I’m planning our free week,” I fibbed. But now that I was thinking about it…
“Oh? What do you have in mind?”
“Nice dinners, some drinks, nightlife. Or, peaceful nights under the stars together. Or both.”
“Mmm,” she smiled, closing her eyes. “That all sounds amazing.”
It really did, didn’t it? We could have official dates. A whole week of them.
“You’re really good with him.”
“Orion?”
“Yeah. He loves you.”
I smiled. Never imagined myself being good with kids or animals. Or even love. But here I was.
Here we were.
“I love him too.” I stroked her hair. ‘And you.’ – No. I stopped that thought quickly.
We went to bed a couple hours later, after a movie. We fell asleep quickly, wrapped in each other’s arms.
Perfection.
When I awoke, Jade was already up, getting Orion ready for school. I threw on a shirt and came out.
Jade was frustrated. “Orion, please, stop bouncing! I can’t get your backpack on.”
“I can’t help it, Mama! I’m excited!” He continued bouncing.
Jade threw her hands up and stood up. I grinned and crouched down. “Hey, let’s play a game. Whoever can sit still the longest wins a prize, okay?”
He nodded and stopped moving. Jade quickly pulled the strap over his arm.
“Sometimes I hate you,” she said to me.
I laughed. “No you don’t.”
Orion and I sat still for a few minutes, and I started to act like I couldn’t anymore. “Oh no! My body wants to move!” I yelled dramatically. “I think I’m gonna lose!” I fell onto my back with an “oof.” Orion laughed and jumped on me.
“You’re silly, Marco!”
I grinned. “What do you want as your prize?”
He moved back. “Pizza!”
I sat up and smiled. “Pizza it is.”
Jade folded her arms with a smile, watching our interactions. I stood up and kissed her on the cheek. “You’re welcome.”
She laughed.
They went down and took the train to go to school. I hopped in the shower and changed. I had plans to go to the realm, but I figured I would wait to see if Jade wanted to come as well. I gazed at myself in the mirror. I felt a strange sense of dread. Something was coming. Not again. We needed a break.
I was startled by the apartment door closing and stepped out of the bathroom.
“Oooh,” Jade grinned. “Don’t you look spiffy?” She ran her hands down the red jacket I was wearing over a black turtleneck. “I recognize this.”
“It’s kind of the untamed sage standard,” I laughed. “Morgyn has one too.”
“No. I recognize yours,” she said sadly. She was referring to the day I was killed in a duel after I had held the realm hostage. The person who defeated me, and therefore killed me, was her.
I kissed her cheek. “Don’t think about that. A lot has changed since then.”
She nodded. “Are you leaving?”
“I’m going to the realm. Want to come along?”
She nodded. “Sure.”
We teleported there together and headed into HQ. She walked over to talk to Morgyn and I set off to find Aidoneus.
I found him near a cauldron. It made sense because he had taken over as the sage of alchemy when Jade forfeited the role. She was still considered as a stand-in for sage of untamed magic and alchemy. I was also an untamed stand-in. However, Jade was first in line, so that didn’t happen often.
“Hey Marco!” Aidoneus greeted me happily. “How’s farm life?”
I laughed. “Well, we balance between that and city life. We have escapes.”
“How’s life with Jade?”
I smiled. “If you think I’m going to spill the beans to you, I absolutely won’t.”
“I already know,” he grinned. “When are you going to tell her?”
I glanced around. “Is it that obvious?”
He nodded. “Yeah. At least to me.”
I sighed. “When I think we are both ready.” I changed the subject. “Hey, I’ve been really bothered by this legend. I’m starting to have this feeling of dread and my headaches are getting worse again. What does this mean?”
He shook his head. “I don’t really know. You all deserve peace, so I really hope nothing is coming.”
“I might be overthinking it,” I agreed. “I just can’t get it out of my head. The darkness was released from Jade and I. Surely we can’t be the couple the legend claims.”
“That darkness was unexpected,” he said quietly. “It could be just as unexpected later.”
I leaned against the cauldron and put my head down. “I want you to promise me something, Aidoneus.”
“I can’t fully promise, but what is it?”
I looked up at him. “If that darkness ever consumes me again, I want you to kill me. Hide my urn. Don’t let anyone revive me.”
He looked away. “No, Marco. I won’t do that.”
“I don’t want to be him again, okay?”
“I understand, but I refuse to let you give up like that.”
I sighed. “I can’t be him. I’ll do anything to make sure I’m not.”
“Marco, I hate to say it, but darkness or no darkness, that’s who you are. Yes, you’ve changed, and you’ve made great strides. But you and I both know, deep down, you are the dark sage. It wouldn’t take much to flip that switch.” He shrugged. “The best you can do is fight it. And keep fighting. If you want to be good, you will be good.”
I recalled the last time the darkness took over, despite my attempts otherwise. “That’s not true.”
“You pushed it out of you with simple words.”
“I was cornered.”
“And you’d likely be cornered again.” He smiled. “Don’t stress it. Come to me if you feel the darkness again. I will help you.”
I nodded. “And Orion? How does he become the destroyer with no one to teach him? He’s surrounded by good. Jade, Caleb, Morgyn, Ruby, you, me. We are all good. What changes him?”
He sighed. “There’s a page missing from the book. I don’t know what causes his darkness, so I can’t stop it.”
“Is there another place to find the legend?”
“Not that I know of.”
I put my head down. “Dammit.”
He put his hand on my shoulder. “You don’t need to worry about that for a long time, Marco. Enjoy these years. He’s innocent and pure. Stop worrying about what he may or may not become, alright?”
I nodded solemnly. “Yeah.”
We spent the day at the realm. I fingered through books to see if I could find anything else. I knew I should let this go, but I couldn’t. I wanted to stop it before I just couldn’t stop it anymore.
Jade came up to me. “I’m heading home. Orion will be back soon.”
I smiled and put the book I was holding back. “I’ll go too.”
We headed back and sat on the couch. I was quiet. She glanced at me a few times, then quickly pounced on me, straddling me and gazing into my eyes.
“Okay, spill it. What’s wrong?”
I grinned. “Nothing. I’m just thinking.”
“About?”
I caressed her cheek. “You.”
She giggled as I kissed her softly. “Alright, if you say so.”
I smiled. “Let’s go outside. We can sit on the balcony.”
She nodded. “I love it out there.”
I knew that. We sat silently, just listening to the sounds of the city.
After awhile, we went back in, and Jade went down to wait for Orion to come home. As they came back up and sat at the table, Orion started musing over a new friend.
“His name is Danny! He said he wants to come over and play.”
Jade smiled. “Well, he’s welcome any time. Just get his parents’ phone numbers and I’ll call them.”
Orion bound off to his room. “I will, Mama!”
She laughed and shook her head.
“Little ball of energy,” I laughed with her.
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