[Location: Seraphim Temple]
The embers of the bonfire danced in the dimness of the shed as we settled in. Lynsithea, Leo, Jade, and I sat loosely in a circle, our faces lit by the flames. Kira stood a little apart, her bird-like features silhouetted against the light, watching us with a look both curious and concerned.
"What now?" Leo asked, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. "We're being hunted on Steam Cloud and this is not going to change anytime soon."
Jade was tapping at her screen on her Nova Watch. "I am trying to call Sasha, Parveen, and Alektos, and the signal is jammed. We might lose touch with them for a little while."
I rubbed the nape of my neck, feeling the tension coil inside me. "We have to find a way to stop Wei and get to the Seraphim's Tear. It seems like everything centers around that gem."
Lynsithea nodded, furrowing her brow with thought. "And the Elthernium. What does Wei want with it?"
Kira shifted slightly, the ruffling of her feathers causing her to catch the last part of our conversation. "Did you say? Elthernium?" Her voice was a mixture of shock and alarm.
I looked at her, catching the sharp intensity in her eyes. "Yeah, it's a rarest gem. Wei declared a contest for it in the city, but something's tied to it with the Seraphim's Tear."
Kira shook her head, her face a mixture of shock and disbelief. "The Elthernium is dangerous enough in the wrong hands, especially those who would seek to use it with the Tear," she said. "It could tip the balance of power in this world."
"What do you mean?" Leo pressed forward, his voice eager with curiosity.
Kira gulped and let a quiet intensity creep over her features as she contemplated her words. "Legends say the Elthernium can amplify the abilities of its bearer. With the Tear in conjunction, it could allow someone to harness the very essence of the gods themselves an unimaginable power."
I felt a chill race down my spine. "So if Wei gets his hands on both."
"He may just be made a god among the unmade," Kira finished, her words firm with an underlayment of desperation. "We can't let that happen."
Jade looked at me, her resolve burning in her eyes. "We need to make a plan. If we can somehow get both Seraphim's Tear and Elthernium, then we might stand a chance against Wei."
"But how do we do this without getting caught? The city is crawling with guards and I don't know what to do else." Lynsithea said.
I leaned forward, and looked around at the others, my heart going stupid against my chest as the weight of all of it fell onto my shoulders. "We will have to be smart about this. We cannot just charge in blind. We need information and a plan that would work to our advantage."
Kira's eyes gleamed in the firelight as if with magic, blazing with an inner fire. "I know the ruins well. I can help guide you through the city, but we must move quietly. The longer we stay in one place, the more likely we'll be found."
I nodded my head, furiously thinking over possibilities. "Then let's regroup, figure out what to do next. We have to do this for Aerathis, and for all those who have suffered because of Wei."
When the crackling of the bonfire filled the air, I turned to Jade, my mind reeling from what Kira just revealed. "Who is Dimitri, anyway?" I asked, trying to make sense of the pieces Leo just gave me. "You said he's Iris's son? That can't be, can it?"
Jade regarded me, her brow furrowing slightly. "Yeah, it's true. Dimitri is the son of IRIS Corp. He's been bred for power since he was a child, and his mother, well, let's just say she has ambitions that go far beyond just business."
"What plans?" I pressed, my interest growing.
Leo agreed right away, his face so solemn. "I heard, naturally, that Dimitri is going to end up running IRIS Corp lock, stock, and barrel. He's not some precious plaything, after all, but impacts; besides he knows the shady stuff his family does. This is why we have to be so careful around him."
I shook my head, trying to comprehend the whole thing. "So we're dealing with a guy who has an entire corporation at his disposal, and he is Iris's son? That's a huge risk."
Jade nodded her head, a calmly steady voice. "He may be dangerous enough, but he is, after all, conflicted. He does not wholly follow his mother's plan or method. Therefore, we need to determine if we can move him on our side or at least prevent his standing against us."
Kira was listening intently, her eyes darting between us, as if to suck in all the information poured out. "If he has any connection with the Elthernium or the Tear, we might just use that to our advantage. But we must tread very carefully. Trust is something we cannot afford now."
I turned to Lynsithea, whose furrowed brow showed she was lost in thought, and then back to Jade. "So, how do we find out what Dimitri knows without throwing ourselves at the mercy of his guards and loyalists?"
Leo shrugged. "Not gonna be simple. He's always surrounded by minions and sycophants. But if Sasha can get him's attention, maybe that'll give us a window to get some information. Just don't let your guard down-he's still a danger"
As the flames danced and cast flickering shadows on our faces, Lynsithea tilted her head, her features lighting up with curiosity. "But why Sasha, of all people?" she asked, her brow furrowing a little. "Isn't that a bit? dangerous?"
Leo grinned, and his eyes crackled with laughter. "Let's just say that the last time I saw him, he was totally in love with her. Like, puppy-dog-in-love kind of in love."
Lynsithea and Jade looked at each other, surprise and disbelief crossing their faces. "Wait, seriously?"
Jade asked incredulously in her tone. "Dimitri? The son of Iris? In love with Sasha? That's unexpected!"
"Yeah," Lynsithea chimed in with amusement in her voice. "I can't picture him being all lovey-dovey. He seems. I don't know, more focused on power and all that."
Leo nodded, grinning; he was trying to keep a straight face and failed. "That's precisely why this is so amazing; maybe he'd be involved in his mother's schemes, but if Sasha can get into Sasha's circle of friends, she might uncover much information. And who knows? Maybe a little charm could work in our favor."
Jade snorted, shaking her head. "Betting on a crush? That's really broadening the strategy. What if he just shuts down or worse, warns his mom?"
"We will cross that when the time comes," Leo replied with a shrug. "For now, let's focus on our next moves. But yeah, let's not forget that Sasha could charm the scales of a serpent if she tried."
The earlier tension Lynsithea could now barely contain begins to ease, though; she giggles. "I just hope she doesn't get in over her head. We can't afford any mistakes right now."
"Agreed," I say, shouldering the weight of the world once more. "Let's just make sure we're ready for whatever comes next, love triangles included."
With that, we settled back into our planning knowing the path ahead was uncertain but ready to face it together.
As I sat by the crackling flames, staring into flickering flames, something seemed to click in my mind. I leaned forward, gripping my realization. "Wait… Why would Wei announce the next Air Racing competition and make the grand prize the Elthernium gem?" I asked aloud, my voice bursting through the murmurs of the group.
Leo's head jerked upwards, and I could see the wheels turning in his mind almost like mine. "Yeah," he muttered thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin through his whiskers.
"Dimitri. He's an Air Racer here in Aerathis, right? What if...." His eyes went wide with the jolt of the idea, then he looked straight at me. "What if Wei's real plan is to make Dimitri a god?"
The air seemed to grow still around us for a moment as we all processed what that might mean. Lynsithea had been looking at Leo with a tense expression.
"A god?" she echoed, her voice barely above a whisper.
And then Kira's whole body stiffened like she had just plunged her hand into ice. Her eyes flicked between us, shock and something like fear scrabbling across her birdlike features. "Or worse," she whispered, her voice low and grave. "What if whoever wins this contest, will become a god."
Something inside of me, solid and heavy, hit the floor like a punch. "You mean. it's not just Dimitri? It can be anyone who gets their hands on that gem?"
She nodded, and her eyes were like a razor-locking onto mine. "As I said, Whoever wields it could ascend to unimaginable power power to reshape this entire world and more so, of course. And if someone like Wei is behind such machinations."
And so I clenched my fists. My heart could pound out the implications: "So the Air Race isn't just a competition. It is the way to crown a god. Whoever wins that gem holds in their hands the fate of this world."
Leo caught his breath as he stood up and started walking. "If Dimitri wins and Iris is pulling the strings, they could control everything. But what if some other racer wins? We have no way of knowing." The crackling fire filled the awkward silence among us as we all stared at the enormity of the task before us.
---
Dimitri led Sasha through the crowded streets of Aerathis, its neon lights reflecting warm colors off the polished quartz beneath their feet. Vendors shouted their wares and street food filled the air - spices and sugary smells that roiled Sasha's stomach into hunger.
As they passed by a stall piled high with glittering trinkets, Sasha turned to him, her eyes gleaming with questions. "So how did you end up meeting Wei?" she asked, "And why live in this such a place?"
Dimitri paused, his gaze moving towards the horizon, where the sky merges into the towering edifices of the city. "It's complicated," he began, his low voice.
"My mother, was always tangled up in her own ambitions. When I was young, she would take me to her meetings, introducing me to all sorts of powerful people. Wei was one of them. He had a vision for Aerathis, and my mother saw potential in aligning with him."
Sasha saw a flicker of something in his expression, a mix of resentment and longing. "And you?" she prodded gently. "Do you share that vision?"
Dimitri sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Not really. I have always felt like a pawn in her game. She's so focused on her objectives that I am merely a tool to her a way to gain more power. Living here. it chokes sometimes. I wish I could break free from everything."
She could see the burden of expectation laid over him, struggling to live up to his mother's ambitions; it was a battle she knew all about, having shouldered the burden of her own family's legacy. "It sounds like you're fighting between wanting to carve out your own trail and trying to fulfill hers," she said quietly.
"Exactly," Dimitri said, then looked up, their eyes crossing for a moment before he glanced back at the floor. "I want to carve out my own identity but it just feels impossible with her looming over me all the time, being around Wei… like stepping into a world that isn't mine."
Sasha nodded her head, feeling the depth of his conflict. Wish she could help him clear up some of this, but all she could do was listen.
Sasha tilted her head curiously. "What's your mother's name?"
Dimitri's eyes narrowed, his gaze tilting that bit to the side. "Why do you care?"
"I just, want to learn more about you," she said softly, though her stomach rolled nervously.
"Her name is Iris Venyamin Vanya." he said.
And then there was the name, Iris Venyamin Vanya. A name that snatched at Sasha's attention like a late-night epiphany for it was one of the notorious whispers Sasha had heard about the woman-she ruled different dimensions with an iron fist and led IRIS Corp. Misconceptions swirled around her in the form of dark shapes, stories of unyielding ambition and scheme-filled manipulation. A woman who could stop at little to attain her ends and had no scruple about stepping on whomever got in her way.
"Oh, she's big," Sasha gulped, suddenly feeling a little apprehensive. "I didn't know."
Dimitri caught the reaction, a knowing smirk creeping onto his face. "You've heard of her?"
"Yeah," Sasha agreed, racing thoughts tumbling through her head. She'd always heard the name whispered around in hushed tones, often connected with power plays and danger. "She's… well, she's very influential, isn't she?"
"Influential? That's one way to say it," Dimitri replied, with a bitterness in his words. "More like she's got the city wrapped around her finger. But it's not all it seems. I mean, she's my mother and sometimes wonder if she ever really does see me as being anything of real substance besides a tool for her plans."
Sasha could hear the tension in his voice, equal parts pride and resentment. "I get it," she said softly, her thoughts racing through what it meant to be related to someone like Iris. "But you don't have to follow in her footsteps, right?"
Dimitri shrugged. His eyes were heavy with the weight of expectation. "Easier said than done."
"Why do you say that?" Sasha pressed.
Dimitri let out a deep sigh, his gaze drifting out the window to the spread expanse of Aerathis below. "Because she's not just a powerful figure; she's my mother. Expectations weight heavily on me. People see me as her son first, and everything else second. I can't just walk away from that."
"What do you mean?" Sasha asked, intrigued.
"I mean, everything I do is under the shadow of her reputation," he said with frustration seeping into his voice. "If I screw it up, both of us get judged. I have to think about how anything I do reflects on her."
Sasha nodded slowly, understanding dawning. "So you feel trapped?"
"Exactly," he said, the corners of his mouth twitching into a wry smile. "It's like being in a gilded cage. Everyone expects me to be the perfect son, the perfect heir, but no one really knows what I want."
She felt a pang of empathy for him. "That must be hard."
"It is. Sometimes I wish I could just be anyone but her son." He softened, almost vulnerability showing through him. "But here I am, caught in this mess with her and whatever schemes she's planning."
Sasha listened intently, and her heart tightened for Dimitri. She couldn't help but think of how complicated family ties could be. Here was a guy bearing the weight of his mother's ambitions and still all she was trying to do was understand him better.
What must it be like to be related to someone so powerful? she thought. The idea was both captivating and scary. She could hardly fathom living with all that attention.
As Dimitri kept talking, Sasha felt a sense of respect and pity. At least he has a chance to break free from her influence, she thought. But how?
She had remembered how bad she had been at dealing with the struggle of what the family wanted, the pressure to become better, to fit in. Except Dimitri had it not. Could I go against what everybody expects of me to be bold?
Sasha couldn't help but think that understanding Dimitri somehow might unlock some information about his mother, too—maybe even the answer to untangling the knotty IRIS Corp. If he's fighting against her, maybe he'd come to our side.
She looked at him, and a glimmer of hope fizzed. "Perhaps there is a way to free you up from that, Dimitri. Not because you are her son, doesn't mean you have to fit into what she wants for you."
His eyes locked onto hers, and in that moment, she felt a spark of determination. Maybe he was more than just IRIS's heir. Perhaps he could be his own person, a real ally in this fight. Dimitri furrowed his brow in response to Sasha's sudden outburst of enthusiasm, confusion evident on his face.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked. "It's not so easy just to walk away from my mother's influence. She is powerful, and her shadow looms over everything I do."
Sasha leaned forward, her voice even. "I understand what it's like to live with the expectations of others looming over you. In my clan, being a leader automatically requires a commitment to keeping in line with tradition and making decisions that are very possibly not in one's best interest. Real leadership, I have learned, has nothing to do with following one's predecessors, but forging one's own path."
Dima listens attentively, flickering intrigue in his eyes. "So, you think I should throw everything over the board? What if I can't?"
She took a sharp breath into her body recalling her own battles with the clan and the burden of leadership. "It is not about negating everything. It is finding one's own voice in all the noise. I needed to fight for my decisions and to gain the clan's respect without losing myself. You have the opportunity to do it as well."
"Easier said than done," Dimitri said with a light edge of skepticism in his voice.
Sasha's face was like a flower opening in springtime. "I know. But think about it — if you want to be a leader, then you need to lead for yourself, not for somebody else's agenda. You have the opportunity to redefine what it means to be you, liberated from the expectations of IRIS and your mother. It starts with believing that you can."
Dimitri went silent, his eyes dropping to the floor. The flicker of something, resolving doubt, passed through his eyes, too quick to catch. Sasha caught it, though, and for a fleeting moment, let herself believe he might find a way to be more than Iris Venyamin Vanya's son.
He shifted his weight, running a hand back through his hair, fingers tangling as if to pull something loose. His mouth opened, and then shut. His eyes remained distant, locked on the ground as if he stood at the edge of some precipice.
"It sounds simple when you say it," he muttered. He dropped his hand to his side, his fingers curling into a fist. The tension in his posture spoke louder than his words. He seemed like a coiled spring, taut, ready to snap. "But breaking free… "
The voice trailed off, shocked down the dry throat. His fists shook ever so slightly before he stuffed them into his pockets, concealing the weakness, a muscle in his jaw twitching.
Sasha breathed slowly to see the battle unfold in the tiny twitches of his body rising off his shoulders, the flicker of his eyes towards the door, as if making one final assault for freedom. His mother's shadow loomed: invisible but heavy, pressing him back. He didn't need to say it for her to feel it.
"I know," she said gently, moving closer still. "But you don't have to carry her with you."
Dimitri's lips drew inward until all but a line existed, he arched his head back in a tilt that seemed aimed straight at the ceiling and began to stare up there as though the answer lay written up there. His breath was caught, arrested, almost inaudible. "What if—". His voice cracked; he took an audible swallow. "What if when I let go, there's nothing left?"
For a second he looked at her, his vulnerability full to view there for a flash of a second; then he looked away. But the truth remained between them, dense, searing.
Sasha's heart narrowed. She reached out, and touched the soft underside of his elbow with a grazing pass of her fingertips. "You won't know till you try, " she whispered. "You have to give yourself a chance."
Dimitri neither retreated nor stepped forward. He remained firmly between two worlds, one foot still within the shadow of his mother and the other teetering on the edge of the unknown.
She looked into his face for answers, in vain. The air between them grew heavy with things unsaid. Finally, she said to him after such a long silence, "What do you want to be?"
Dimitri froze, his words dangling in the air like a challenge. His eyebrows knit together, and for a moment he didn't respond. He seemed almost taken aback as if no one had ever asked him that before.
His lips parted but nothing issued from them. His eyes fled wildly, unfocused as if he scoured the horizon for something, and it didn't matter what, that would provide an answer. The silence between them dragged out like some slowly accumulating weight in the air.
"I…" His voice was low, hesitant. He swallowed, his shoulders stiffening, as if he were somehow straining under the idea of making his own choices. His hands disappeared into his pockets, holding the shiver down. "I don't know."
She didn't push, but stepped forward, eyes not moving from his. "Not what she wants," she said, nodding toward the always-present shadow of his mother looming in the back of his mind. "What do you want, Dimitri?"
His eyes flinched at the question and his jaw snapped shut. The groove in his brow deepened as he shifted from one foot to the other, still unable to meet her eyes. The question had struck a chord in him, buried so deep beneath the weight of his mother's expectations that it never had been given the chance to surface.
"What I want…." he whispered, his words more to himself than to her. His breathing hitched as he exhaled slowly, almost as if the weight of the words was too much for him. "I don't even know what that looks like."
He looked up searching for answers in a room he knew didn't hold them. His posture dropped, bearing the weight of realization by just a little. Shallow rising and falling of his chest marked the breathing of one curled fingers into palms, as if wrestling the enormity of the question.
Sasha watched him strain, heart aching for him. Now she saw the conflict written in every line of his body, the years of molding and manipulation that had stripped him bare of his desires. He'd never been allowed to want for himself.
"It's not something you need to know now," she said softly, her voice the only lifeline. "But it's something you should find out. Not for her. But for you."
Dimitri blinked. His eyes met hers for a moment before he let them drop once more. He pressed his lips together as if the very thought of wanting something for himself was too fragile, too dangerous to speak.
"I don't know if I can," he whispered to her. "What if I am not anything else?"
Dimitri just stood there, taking her words in with shallow breaths. Sasha watched him closely, her heart-stirring over the uncomfortable mix of hope and uncertainty. She had seen that hesitance before. That is how he always stood at the brink of something but never leaped over. This time was different. The silence wasn't an escape; it was something else, as if he weighed the unknown, trying to decide whether or not it was worth stepping into.
She reached out, fingers brushing his forearm with deliberate care. Her skin was cool, cooler than most were used to, and she could see him stiffen at the contact. The coldness, she knew, often surprised people Borealis blood carried the chill of northern winds-but Dimitri didn't pull away. Most would recoil but not him.
A flicker of something passed over his face, a hesitation not caused by her cool touch but by the intimacy of the moment. Sasha left her hand where it lay, feeling the quiet resistance in his body slowly give as he looked up and met her gaze. For a moment she saw the storm behind his eyes, a quiet chaos he barely contained. She'd heard it a thousand times before, but now, close-up, she could feel it: a deep well of fear and longing he'd never permitted himself to explore.
"You can," she whispered, the words not quite more than a breath.
She didn't know who she was persuading, him or herself, but the truth was that she wanted to believe in him—to believe that he was strong enough to break free of his mother's hold over him, to shatter the weight of expectations always hanging over him. She could feel the tension in his muscles, the quiet tremor in his pulse beneath her fingertips.
Her hand slid down his arm, warm skin meeting the cold of hers. It was a sensation she'd grown accustomed to being a Sylph from Borealis meant she carried with her the frost of her homeland in every touch, every breath. She had learned it only served to separate her all the more: a constant reminder of the world between them. But with Dimitri, distance seemed to close in on him as if he did not mind the cold or needed it somehow.
Now he looked at her, truly looked at her, his eyes tracing the curves of her face as if he were seeing her for the first time. She saw the questions in his gaze—hesitation, fear, longing. And, finally, for the first time, she wondered if he'd ever bothered to think about what he wanted, not what his mother wanted, or what everyone expected him to want, but what he wanted.
Slow and hesitant, it reached toward her wrist, his hand moving. Sasha's breath caught in her throat as his fingers grazed her skin, the warmth of his touch a shocking contrast to the cold. All her life, contrast had been like a barrier with others. Here, with Dimitri, it felt. different. His hand didn't flinch away. Instead, it lingered there, his fingers tracing the delicate frost beneath her skin.
Then she felt a tug toward him: it is the only word that can convey the nature of his quiet magnetism, wholly unlooked for. She had kept very far from him, body and soul. It was safer that way; better really.
Now, inches from his face, her pulse accelerated. She could feel the vulnerability in him, the tentative move he was making to open himself up where fear was still gnawing at his throat. And something in her reached out, yearning to touch him, to be the one to drag him out of the darkness.
Low and rough, Dimitri's voice cut through to her, barely above a whisper and a little louder than the tension vibrating around them.
"What if I fail?" He glanced between her eyes and their entwined hands, his thumb lightly tracing her wrist as if testing the fragility of the moment.
Sasha felt her chest constrict. She heard the doubt in the way he spoke, the uncertainty that trembled in his fingers against her skin. She knew his fear. She'd had it herself, in different ways. The fear of stepping out into the unknown, of risking everything and finding nothing. And she had learned that sometimes the only way to live was to step into the unknown, into fear.
Her fingers closed a little tighter; her icy cold touched his in return, a mute confirmation. "Then try again," she murmured, her tone husky but positive.
She wasn't even sure where the positivity had come from—perhaps it was because she saw something in him that he wouldn't yet. The strength he didn't believe in himself, the potential he shunned. Her contact lingered, her skin cool against his, but there was warmth in the silent connection passing between them.
He doesn't even realize it, she thought. He's stronger than he knows. He just needs someone to remind him.
Their hands remained clinging to each other, a silent agreement about trust and vulnerability, and Sasha felt the fragile shift in the space between them. For once, she let herself believe that maybe just maybe Dimitri would find his way.
And there, before them began to grow vague to sight, the even and its quiet hum, softly breathing of leaves in the gentle stream of the evening wind. The moon floated in the air high overhead, casting a silver shadow over all below that everywhere surrounded them with an otherworldly glow.
It was as if the moon was shining down just for the blue hair, its glinting fresh like falling snow under starlight. Sasha's presence transfixed by an otherworldly quality breathed life into Dimitri. In the instant of it, all the time of significant pressure and anticipation and a looming shadow from his mother other things were set aside so that she stood alone in it.
Soft light illuminated her hair. She looked like a chimera, a wonderful being. He felt himself becoming enticed by her. The tenseness in the air embraced them as their eyes met. The warmth in her look, the trust, lit up like a ray that pierced through his darkness. And for that brief time, everything was possible, and the fears he daily clutched at became somewhat suppressed.
The moonlight danced graciously across Sasha's features as she smiled softly. Dimitri couldn't help but smile back; his heart beat wildly with him suddenly aware of the closeness in which they were standing. Her skin was no longer just cold compared to his warmth; he knew it was much more intimate. A rippling feeling shot down his spine.
"Do you see that?" she whispered, her voice barely above a breath, breaking the magic. She pointed up at the stars twinkling against the black of night. "The North Star Borealis. Always navigates its way home."
Dimitri's gaze followed her finger. Her words, however, captured his thoughts the twinkle in her eyes, as if they had a light of their own, as bright as if reflected from the stars in the heavens. He felt the warmth blooming in his chest, an emotion he had tried to stuff away but now felt was impossible to deny.
A crush? Maybe more.
There was something profound in the way she understood him, something which felt like a haven amidst the chaos of his life.
"It's beautiful," he replied in barely more than a murmur. "Just like you."
And as with full-fledged lies, the words slipped out before he could catch them, his cheeks flushing and giving away their embarrassment, yet it seemed not to matter; for Sasha's eyes had widened slightly and in that moment something electric snapped with undeniable sharpness through the air.
Moonlight tinted the contours of her face, minute features on a heart-shaped pout; now a faint flush was blooming on the exposed hills of cheeks for him to mirror. She bit her lower lip. At the base of a shy smile, the moment suspended in time lingered and awaited resolution.
His heart started pounding as he took one step forward as if held by an invisible thread that seemed to attach them. He felt the warmth coming from her not through her touch but through the sincerity in her eyes. He would want to reach out, close the distance, and pull her into a space that was only theirs.
"What do you want, Sasha?" he asked abruptly, suddenly bold in the question sliding off his lips as he met her gaze. "What do you want for yourself?"
The question hung in the air between them, heavy with unspoken possibilities. He could see the wheels turning in her mind, the quiet strength she carried wrapped in layers of uncertainty. But there was something else there, too aroma of hope, of dreams not yet realized.
She drew in a breath, and her chest rose slightly as the moonlight poured over her like a portrait of pure intent.
"I want to find my place," she said softly, her eyes unwavering. "To be more than just a Sylph from Borealis. To help other people to see the beauty in themselves, just as you are beginning to in yourself."
Hard to hear her words. Sylph. He almost could have expected that sort of disgust in her voice from his mother Iris many times before. To her, they were nothing but tools of magic, fragile creatures hardly worthy of mention outside of their strengths. But Sasha … she was different.
She was gorgeous, moonlight-drenched; her silvery blue hair reflected the trickle of aurora effects, her skin softly glowing in the silver light, and the stars danced in her eyes. And then she was not a Sylph anymore, but something from deep down in nature, a thing of beauty and strength that made him doubt everything he had been taught.
He fell in love with the way she stood there, so exposed in one sense yet strong in another, and just the way she was filling with this Borealis nature in her. Here was a person who wasn't scared to dream beyond what society kept laying her path as expectations, and he felt such a level of urge to protect this light - to be part of her journey.
The moonlight hid everything around, and the space between them narrowed with his step closer. He felt her breath cool yet steady mingle with the warmth of his. All that was outside their little bubble faded the worries, the fears, the expectations.
It was then that Dimitri's heart slammed inside his chest as he edged closer, taking a chance. "Can I…?" He stuttered over the words struggling to get off his lips. He wanted to touch her, to bridge in completely; he wanted to feel the coolness of her skin against his as if it was going to melt all his doubts away.
She had given her consent with the barest nod of her pale head, shining under the moon like two blue stones; he looked at Sasha and came home.
"Please," she breathed.
He laid his hand, light on her cheek, and his fingers tingled as they were brushed against the coldness, and a flame surged through him, and he felt this was coming home.
All that lies ahead of them blur softly into a kind of manageable haze as they lean forward to meet, their breaths entwining across the cool night air. Just when lips might touch, Sasha's quantum link bracelet flared wildly on her wrist to break the spell.
She snatched her hand right back, opened her eyes wide with shock, and looked down at the glowing device. A chill ran through her as names flickered on the screen.
[Parveen and Alektos]
"I'm sorry," she whispered breathlessly, her heart racing uncontrollably. "I have to take this."
Dimitri's brow furrowed with concern crossing his face. "What is it?" he asked precariously in his voice.
For a moment, Sasha hesitated, the urgency in the voice on the phone competing with the heat mounting inside as she gazed at Dimitri.
"It's. it's nothing," she said, but the inflection wasn't there. She can see the worry etched in his face, and her heart squeezed. "I'm sorry. I have to go."
"Will we meet again?" Dimitri asked desperation threading through his words.
She pressed her lips, feeling her chest tighten knowing this might be the last moment. "Yes," she promised, soft with determination. "I'll find you."
With one final glancing look, she activated her bracelet, the glow spreading around her as she prepared to leave. The night air was heavy as the connection between them strained, but Sasha knew she had to go.
What Dimitri saw was a disappearance into the light, his own heart snared by a kind of hope mixed with uncertainty. In that silent emptiness, the weight of her promise echoed.