#tholindis

He dashed towards the lighthouse and grabbed Dain by the throat, slamming him against the wall, “Why should I listen to anything you say? You took her!”

“H-her,” Dain gasped, “Tholindis is—,”

So he does know! “Where is she!” Rerir demanded as his claws dug into the other man’s neck.

“She’s with —,”

Then, a loud, piercing sound filled the air — and Rerir turned to glaring over his shoulder, snarling when he saw —

What?

It was a Kuuhenki, a creature made of pure moon light — and this one had a mix of white, blue and gold, with sparks and embers of pale red. He had seen Kuuhenkis from afar, for the Abyss harmed them and they knew better to stay away from him. Even so he knew that they never looked like this, with such a myriad of colours. Still, what was such a creature doing — daring to approach him?

The darkened fog was clearly burning it, but still it floated through — as if pushing against a tidal wave — pushing towards him. Dainsleif continued to struggle in his grasp, but Rerir only tightened his grip.

The little creature squeaked, almost insistently, and Rerir turned his attention back towards it. He watched as the ends of the Kuuhenki’s long ‘ears’ darkened with the Abyss, as if burning away into ash. What was it doing? Why was it not running away? Then, the creature glowed a little brighter and squeaked again.

(Rerir!)

Her voice struck him.

Tholindis.

But how —

[…]

The Kuuhenki approached cautiously, giving a worried coo. He blinked and looked at the little creature — how kindly it sounded, as if it was trying to comfort him — and knew for certain that it was Tholindis.

She was alive … but …

When he reached out to hold her, the Kuuvahki at the top of her head began to shift and burn, just a little bit. She gave a slight sound, and Rerir drew his hand away.

He was hurting her. How could he be hurting the person he loved so much …? Was he such a horrible monster?

It was then did Vedrfolnir approach the two — raising a hand to the back of his younger self’s neck. Rerir spotted a dark mist emerge from his palm, like little thorned tendrils reaching to wrap around his throat and crown —

“Stop — What the fuck are you doing?”

The Visionary smiled faintly, “The past and the future are one and the same, Rerir. What will happen has already happened, and I am simply ensuring that it will,”

Rerir rushed forward to pull the Visionary away from his younger self, throwing him back against the wall, “Fuck you. What the fuck did you just do to me?”

Vedrfolnir’s smile turned into a laugh, and it was both a gleeful and broken sound. He has *never* seen him laugh like this, “Oh, Rerir … don’t you understand …? This is what we have to do to break free of Fate’s yoke,”

[…]

He was speaking in riddles, as always, and Rerir scoffed in response, “This is all a game to you, a chess board, and you the master of all the pieces. Ever since the start, you have been stringing me along to fall into the Abyss. Spare me your pity and your thinly veiled poison, I don’t need it,”

In that moment, Rerir noticed a strange look cross the Visionary’s face, who seemed stunned into silence. His lips were pressed together and his jaw was tight — and a beat passed before Vedrfolnir exhaled sharply, “You may hate me, but I am always on your side, Rerir,”

“You keep saying that. Why?”

Vedrfolnir stepped closer, so close that Rerir felt his breath on his skin, “Are you so broken that you cannot accept aid?”

“Any aid you have given me has only caused more harm and grief, to be used as leverage against me,” Rerir growled, “You gave Tholindis and I the life we always wanted, but only as an experiment, and for hundreds of years that pain has only deepened. Is it really so surprising that I do not trust you?”

She found her voice trembling as she continued to speak, imagining all the blood on her beloved’s hands — everything he has done for her, everything he forced himself to believe. She wanted so desperately to reach for him and to save him, “Remember me, remember how I would stay by your side through every night you gazed at the moon. Every time you felt lost and alone, I was right there, right by your side, calling your name. I was always with you, my love. Always,”

Her vision had blurred completely but when she looked up, she saw that Rerir’s island was closer now than it had been. There. She could see him, curled up against a stone wall. Her tears rolled down her cheeks, as the emotion in her chest began to swell.

“Rerir— Always remember that I love you,” She whispered, “Despite everything you’ve done … I will always love you. I have always loved you,”

She was close enough now that she could clearly see his face. The sight of him shocked her — his beautiful brown curls were completely white now, and his skin was pale as a corpse. And he was covered in black bandages, as if it was the only thing holding his body together, and from the Abyss overtaking his form.

But his face… that was her Rerir. His eyes were closed, and his features were calm and at peace.

In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to call out for him — but she stopped herself. She could not bear to distrub his sleep, as she knew that he must be exhausted. He was never one to sleep easily, or to stay asleep. She remembered how his nights were oft haunted by nightmares, anxiety or paranoia.

But that one, single night — the night that she suspected he freed Frithr and the other children — was when she saw him sleep through to the morning. He looked so happy and at peace.

And here … he almost had that same expression.

Tholindis carefully pushed herself onto her feet, and took one careful step forward — then another, and another. She then paused, waiting for the ‘reset’ but it did not come. She made it — she was now on Rerir’s island, in the future.

“Hah —,” Relief threatened to renew the tears in her eyes, but she brushed them away and she hurried towards the ruins — towards Rerir.

“So we were just an experiment for you and Rhinedottir,” Rerir’s could feel his entire form tense as he stalked closer to the shattered glass parting him from Vedrfolnir. Yes, he could not remember much of his time with his family, and even now, his children’s faces and names were concealed from him. But he knew one thing for a fact — that he loved Tholindis and the family they built together, and he knew that he had known peace and happiness with them. Now that void in his chest seethed with rage, “You used us, to prove you could surpass the Heavens — only to allow it to be destroyed once you were bored with it. We were a test run, before you could resurrect Khaenri’ah, weren’t we?”

“We could not have achieved it without your power. You sought happiness so desperately that it was you who shaped the story. We were only the catalysts,” Vedrfolnir’s empty eyes bled, and deep violet streaked down his cheeks, “Rerir, I did not know that they would find you,”

Rerir slammed his claws into the glass barrier, igniting darkened flames from his palm and up his arm, “Lies! You used me!” The cracks grew deeper and he struck the barrier again, trying to tear and rip through the glass, “I was never anything more than a pawn to you, strung along like a puppet — Fuck you! It was your voice! It was always your voice!”

At his final strike, the barrier shattered but did not break — as if holding onto one last hope. Vedrfolnir seemed closer now, his dark eyes becoming a thousand in the cracks and reflections. And when he spoke, his mouth moved and Rerir could hear the rattling of crystal and blood, “But you do want them back don’t you? You want to return to that home and be left alone by a warm fire. You want to marry Tholindis, raise your children and grow old together. And right now, you want to tear through the censors of this World and remember your own children’s names and to make them real,”

Rerir growled and gave a final strike through the barrier — and grabbed Vedrfolnir by the throat. The Visionary gave a sharp gasp, which twisted into a grating laugh.