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Arionus' last wish was left unfulfilled. An invitation remained unextended, lighthouses shining over the evernight sea instead of the sun. But once upon a time, when they didn’t dare be so bold, there had been another wish.
Woozy on golden mushrooms, Hephaes’ worried face above them, wings around them for steady support- they had let it slip.
Before lighthouses and hopes of any sort of future beyond the abyss they came from, Arionus' single wish had been to not die alone. In the arms of their beloved, far away from the land where their existence brings curses and corruption.
To protect Miraland and to hold Hephaes so close that the light blinds them isn’t as conflicting as it may sound, even when that means dragging their beloved down into the abyss which they came from. Arionus will always warn them of the dangers, always push them away lightly with gentle arms, always secretly love how they listen to their concerns but then follow anyway. When the thunderstorms ease up and the sun comes back over the horizon, Arionus wants Hephaes to have a safe source spring to rest by. Wants their people to bask in the sun in their stead.
But Hephaes, pure and always fussing, sees it as a stretch. Such a future is far off for them. Fire and water don’t have to be enemies, they will work together to protect this land and each other, so there is no need to worry. And from Hephaes absolute conviction that there is a peaceful end to this, Arionus almost believes it. Starts to, as the seasons pass and the raging tides of the abyss turn into a gentler, lulling flow.
Hephaes has a wish too, after all. Arionus, free from pain, safe by their side as a gentle sun turns the evernight sea golden. It is a wish that they carry long before Arionus dares to, for they know the depths of the abyss, but they also know the pure heart of their friend. Arionus will never falter, but Hephaes will brave anything to protect them all the same.
(anything)
—----
Hephaes never expected to see them again. Least of all not like this.
Arionus is here, and Hephaes wants to call them back into their arms. Arionus is here, and they're looking at Hephaes with scorn. Arionus is here, and people think they're enemies. Hephaes might be the only one who doesn't, at this point.
It’s difficult to get people to see reason when reason is buried beneath millenia past and the cloudy gaze of the abyss, sinking everything into chaos and destruction. When the person who Hephaes has always believed in is attacking the very people they once gave their all to protect. Hephaes knows that they look like a fool. But they will not let their belief waver.
The scepter that freed the sea. The melodic voice that’s sweetest when happy. The water that would sprinkle like the rain when they were laughing. Hephaes focuses on these little details of their friend, as the only one who knows to look for them. They wish everyone else could see them like that. Even though there are also things they would like to keep for themself. Want everyone to hear their beautiful laughter. Want to be the one to make them laugh. Want them to be happy and content and safe and close. But Arionus is hurting, and what the abyss has twisted them into is so contradictory to who they are at their core that it makes Hephaes sick.
Of all the things the power from the depths has told them, the driving force is apparently that that day by the source spring was a betrayal. Hephaes wants to think Arionus wouldn’t believe that. Had been prepared to lay down their life, if it had to come to it. They still are. Hephaes will never betray Arionus by letting them continue like this, aggressive, lost and far away from home.
They used to see it as a simple matter. They were strong, they had each other, they would find a solution together to repress the abyss and the sun would shine over the evernight sea and never again would the shadows of pain fall over the eyes of their beloved. And wherever Arionus would go, Hephaes would follow. All of that would eventually be true in retrospect. But never as imagined.
It was so obvious. Everyone else was so caught up in prejudice, while Hephaes, looking at that pure, determined face, never saw anything but goodness. Arionus was more just than any of the other elves. Maybe more than Hephaes, who would never turn on them for a second even if the world burns down and they are holding the torch.
"Leave the fighting to me", they had said. But no one else has ever fought for Arionus. Not that night, crouched defensively like a wounded animal in front of a body that wasn’t responding. Not now.
So Hephaes will give all that they have, and hope that it's enough.
Somehow, it is. Arionus is here. The world is burning but they are here and Hephaes loves them. There's not enough time for everything they want to say, but there wouldn't have been even in better circumstances. Their emotions are heavier than Miraland itself, and there are no words to convey their depth.
Words have never been needed. Arionus is here and close as they should be and they didn't get to see the future they dreamed of but they are locking eyes with mutual clarity and Arionus' gaze says enough.
Hephaes is the lighthouse that calls Arionus back home, and their arms that are Arionus’ final resting place. They would've fought to protect the world they loved, but the world is here, right now. The situation in Pigeon is settled. And the evernight sea...
Arionus did it, and Hephaes knows just from the lightness of their shoulders, the little spark of pride in their eyes. It doesn’t hurt that they never doubted them for a second. Hephaes is proud, and knows that it is just as visible in turn. They have always been easy to read, and find relief in the knowledge that Arionus can surely tell just how much they are cherished.
It's time to rest. But they will keep existing in this world as the light that encompasses everything, even the murkiest corners. Not as light and dark, but the sun and the stars. The future they want will exist, one day. They will not be there to see it. But Hephaes sees everything they need to, right now. The sun shines on the evernight sea in Arionus' eyes, as the fishing boats led astray by the storms are called home.
—----
Arionus isn’t scared. Arionus isn’t alone. Even the jellyfish have their sun in the day, and their lighthouse in the night.
As they were fighting against the dark tides, the strange god of nature said that Arionus is fated for the depths. They were called “scum of the abyss” but Arionus has defied fate again and again, creating their own light of protection in the depths of the evernight sea, awakening once again to rest with their beloved.
The abyss was supposed to be their final destination. Yet Hephaes claimed their fate for themselves, even though it defied the words of a god. Such a thing being possible probably means a lot for Miraland as a whole, but it is beyond them to mull it over.
There is little time to talk as they fade away together. They never got to tell Hephaes about the little sparks of light still fighting to protect the evernight sea, but they get the feeling that they already understand. Arionus finds their way back home and in their last moments their head is quiet, cleared of the pain that has always haunted them.
In the end, they did get to live out their dream. The one that wasn’t born of optimism, but a sense of knowing that they couldn’t ask too much of the world. The light repressing the darkness of the abyss and the wings safely around them is just like they had imagined it, and as their bodies fade away, their souls are lulled into eternal peaceful dreams.
maybe, in another life…
Everything is circular in this world. One day a long overdue invitation will be extended, and their arms will feel like home.
—----
A single butterfly kisses the tip of their nose, before shattering into dust.
—----
The light created by Arionus fulfills their dream in their absence. A pink haired girl fights to defy the words of that scornful god. Blasphemy is alive, amongst love and twisting memory fragments of what once was.
On this stage of dead gods, nothing is ever completely buried. Styling and nature send down their children, resentment lurks in the depths, and a teardrop is drawn to flame like it hasn’t been millenia but perhaps only a second. Stripped of everything but their core essence, a cherished hope burns bright. It is not a second chance - Arionus and Hephaes are dead. But the sun sets upon the evernight sea in the end, painting the sky a gentle pink.
The peace of Miraland is a fickle thing. All is destined to sink and be forgotten. But the sun would not shine upon the sea without their love, and the warmth on the face of a water elf is the kiss of a long lost butterfly.
Warmth may one day overturn the tides of the new world.