My Beloved Fire Breather: A LaDs Circus AU [Featuring Rafayel]

My Beloved Fire Breather: A LaDs Circus AU [Featuring Rafayel]

Off the coast of Whitesand Bay 

There is a very long boardwalk 

Or so they say

It leads to dreams 

Of frights untold

Of fairykin

 And angels bold

Enter in

If you so dare

Entranced by 

Cirque Spectaculaire...

Just off the shores of Whitesand Bay, there is a long boardwalk that stretches across the sea...and leads to someplace magical. Over the many years since its inception, this magical someplace has become a staple of entertainment for islanders and tourists alike. Delightful, sweet and ethereal are all terms used to describe the wonders within. But it hasn't always been this way. 

Which brings us back in time to the 1800s. To a much darker tent, known as The Traveling Cirque Spectaculaire.

There was so much magic inside that Big Top for everyone who visited. But once the show was over, once the fire rings were doused with water and the happy music faded?The magic faded, too. When I was small, I felt the need to make myself even smaller in the presence of Laraeza, The RingMaster. She had many talents and many Showman Titles. Laraeza of The Thousand Knives, Leaping Laraeza, Lovely Laraeza, Diablo Laraeza. The last one was shared most commonly among the circus performers themselves. 
She would beat me if she made a mistake on the trapeze, if the clowns laughed a little too loud, if I looked at her the wrong way. More often than not there was no reason for hitting me at all. Hurting me just so happened to be her favorite form of stress relief. At some point our resident strongman, Geoffrey noticed this unwarranted abuse and began to stick by me like glue. There was peace for a few years until he died suddenly and mysteriously. I can't prove it, but a lot of Laraeza's expensive perfume bottles were empty to the bottom. Geoffrey was a coffee lover. Laraeza had suddenly started a morning ritual of serving breakfast to the cast. Everyone else got orange juice or lemonade. Geoffrey was the only one who was always served coffee. He told me in secret that it always tasted a little too bitter. But Geoffrey was a gentle giant and a people pleaser, who never refused a gesture of good will. After his untimely passing...no one was there to shield me anymore. 
The beatings and obvious hatred of me went on and on. And then there was a sudden bright spot. A tiny glimmer of hope that perhaps Laraeza was warming up to me. This was when I was fourteen years old. I had been playing on the webbing. I thought for sure that no one was around in the practice tent when I triumphantly declared to myself that I would grow up to become The World's Greatest Aerialist! My heart leapt out of my chest when her shadow loomed from the entryway. "Em. It's time you become a proper member of our troupe," she said firmly. There was such intensity and seriousness in her eyes that I had no reason not to believe her. And she'd just called me by name for the very first time in my life. My full name, Em Cee, was given out of malice by none other than Laraeza herself. It stood for Master of Ceremonies, Loved By None. She genuinely tried to write that on my adoption papers, but the more sane adults persuaded her to cut it down to something more reasonable. So Em Cee it was. Emmy was a kindness bestowed upon me by Geoffrey. But no one else dared to utter my name. I was always "Hey You" or "Stupid Girl" when called upon by the others. But here she was, my guardian and tormentor all in one, addressing me by my name. "What would you have me do, Mistress?" "I want you to be my Target Girl during my Thousand Knives Throwing Act tonight. All you have to is stand stock-still. Do not move a muscle no matter what happens, is that understood? Can you do that for me, Em?" There it was again. She blessed my ears twice. My heart hammered like a little hummingbird as I exclaimed my fervent obedience and cooperation to her. Was this her way of saying she loved me? Were we going to be a family now? Finally? At last? After fourteen years of yearning and longing to be loved? 
Of course not. There I stood. Through shock, blood and pain I was determined not to move a muscle. Determined to prove my misguided love and loyalty to my abuser. The Knife Throwing Act had gone awry. This was Laraeza's first miss in her entire career as a professional Knife Thrower. She was most famed for her perfect accuracy. She'd never missed a mark. And I do believe she hadn't missed her mark this time, either. In spite of what the papers said. I volunteered willingly to become her Target Girl. And too late had I realized my right eye was her intended target. What was a World Class Aerialist without the full use of her eyesight, hm? Nothing. And that's exactly what she'd expected me to amount to as I bled there that night. The doctors came. They could not save what had been cut clean in half. And so they removed my eye and embedded a hastily made ice rose, created by the Akso Head Surgeon's young son. Medical procedures were often crude and clunky in this era. But the boy had a very unique Ice Evol that quite literally saved my life. He'd used his skill to create an ice sculpted horse that galloped through the tent with ease. I would have bled to death, just standing there in a determined daze, had he not acted so quickly to clot the bleeding. His father, a normal man of no ethereal talents, did just as fine a job cleaning and stitching the gaping hole where my eye had previously been. I learned to appreciate the strange aesthetic of the large blooming ice rose now permanently affixed over my wound. I thought I'd never see that Akso boy again, but I would always be grateful for his work, his warmth and his kindness that night. 

But life moves ever forward, and ten years went by in the blink...of an eye. I had become accustomed to being Laraeza's garbage by then. I had accepted my cruel fate and met every humiliation ritual with a face of stone. Since the night of the incident, I had made sure to never register any emotion on my face ever again. My voice never rose in joy, nor in defiance. I was a broken toy. And life was easier so long as I stayed that way. But there was something wonderful and secret that only I knew of. Since I was six, and able to learn how to read by Geoffrey's gentle teaching, the ocean had always found mysterious ways of bringing me literary gifts. Oceanic marvels from a civilization I was not meant to be privy to. Poetry, novellas, and even gorgeously painted picture books all pertaining to an ancient underwater wonderland known as Lemuria. These sweet secrets of the sea kept me going day after day. I almost got caught with one of my beloved watercolor picture books one day when Laraeza abruptly burst through the tent to announce a new member of our dwindling little circus family. I hastily hid my treasures in an old oil drum as she rambled on and on about this gloriously renowned architect of many talents who would also double as our first ever Fire Breather. We had never had anything as flashy as a Fire Breathing Act in our show. Had I not already been a part of our most dangerous stunt to date, I might have even been impressed enough to look up on my own. But I didn't want to. I didn't care who our new resident Fire Breather was. I was just thoroughly annoyed that his presence had inadvertantly interrupted my precious quiet time. But of course Laraeza snapped her fingers and whistled at me like a dog to come over and introduce myself. This was not a true introduction but a humiliation ritual for Laraeza's pleasure. 

You see, since the incident, Mistress had deemed me too pitiably ugly to ever be anything more than a clown for laughs. She taught me how to apply thick makeup for my performances. There was nothing funny about my appearance. I was garish and scary looking. And the costume she adorned me with did no favors, either. She always grabbed my face after every performance and forced me to look at myself. It was incredibly hard not to cry every time. I bit my lip so hard it drew blood a few times. Anything to stop my lips from quivering. Anything to keep my weakness at bay.
Regrettably, my lip quivered so hard when I made eye contact with this new man that he surely saw. But, to my surprise, he only smiled warmly and gently took my hand in his own for a handshake. He even said it was nice to meet me. And his voice was so warm and sincere I almost believed it, too. But Laraeza's "kindness" ten years ago had taught me better. I guarded my heart as hard as I guarded my Lemurian library. I gave no response. I showed no emotion. I only looked to Laraeza for guidance on what to do next. "Shoo, you~ We have much to discuss and you're being rude by taking up Mr. Rafayel's valuable time. Now, run along." I lowered my head and walked out of the tent, wandering far from the winding boardwalk, way up above the beach onto a craggy cliff. I screamed my heart out. I cried and I cursed until my throat was raw and void of emotion. I had to keep my feelings from bubbling up to the surface in front of her. This cliff was my only refuge, my only release. Laraeza would not get a rise out of me. Not now. Not ever. The grass stirred. A twig snapped. I startled and turned toward the source of the sound.
Standing majestically with the wind at his back was our newest member. I rushed to wipe my tears away. But it was a waste. He'd already seen me. He'd already heard me. "I'm not weak, Mr. Rafayel. P-p-please d-don't tell my Mistress Laraeza--" I could hardly get the words out through sobs. I was a sputtering, shaky mess. I thought for sure he was going to laugh at me and leave me be. But he didn't. He swooped in and hugged me so tightly it almost hurt. "L-let me go, Sir." He pulled back to look at me. He used his thumbs to gently wipe away my tears. "I can't. I won't. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He hugged me again, more softly this time. Something small pelted against my shoulder, then another and another before falling to the ground. I leaned down, half to get out of his embrace and half out of curiosity to see what had fallen. But just then, we heard hollering off in the distance. The show was over for the night. Everyone had to be accounted for before Lights Out. "She'll punish us both if we don't get back." "Ok. Ok. I understand. Are you afraid of heights?" "I'll have you know I have every plan to become The World's Greatest Aerialist someda--" before I could finish, he'd lifted me up into his arms and jumped all the way to the bottom of the cliff as if it were nothing. By now, the performers had turned away from my cliff of anguish and solice and were searching for other members elsewhere. We made our way back to the Big Top, where Laraeza and everyone else had gathered for the nightly headcount. Rafayel urged me to join first and he waited for a few minutes, letting a few others walk through before coming in last. "Ah, our newest star. Get a good night's rest, Lad. I'll be showing you my architectural vision bright and early tomorrow. Chances are you'll be working til dusk on material gathering alone." "I'll do my best, Mistress." He bowed his head in such an elegant way that anyone would believe he was truly gracious and indebted to Laraeza for giving him work. Who was he but a starving artist looking for steady pay? But I saw it. The fire of contempt in his lilac eyes turning dark violet. He and I were different but also very much the same. 
Many days came and went. And every night, Rafayel would try to find me. It was clear he wanted to tell me more about himself. In hopes I'd open up to him, perhaps. But whatever connection or bond he'd hoped to develop...meant nothing to me in the end. At this point in my life, I'd learned not to hope for better days or dream of happy things. I was all but waiting to die and be done with this cursed circus life I was born into. So I avoided him like the plague. I looked at him with disgust whenever our eyes met. And I ran to Laraeza when they did, so that he definitely could not communicate with me. Until one night, when the unicyclist and his juggling twin brother got a little too drunk before showtime and decided to throw ice cold water on me as I stood in the center ring just trying to smile and wave for the crowd. I ran away in tears. All my defenses had finally broken down. I could no longer keep up this Act within an Act. I ran to the makeup chair and collapsed into it. I didn't have time to secure the curtains so no one would interrupt my pity party. And then I heard it. That soft voice as warm as the fire he breathed, just behind me.
"Makeup is not supposed to make the wearer feel humiliation, you know?" I quickly wiped my tears, my whole body was burning with the very humiliation he was speaking of just now. The thick clown makeup was smeared and smudged and even uglier than ever before. "Here to laugh at me like everyone else in the troupe? Like all those strangers in the stands? I know I'm deformed. I'm aware that I'm ugly. You don't have to show up everywhere just to remind me with that oh so radiant smile of yours. "I'm not smiling, Em. I would never smile at your pain." I froze like a deer in headlights. What was this man's game? Did he enjoy making me so frazzled and flustered all the time? Before I even realized it, Rafayel had sat on the stool beside me and started wiping my face clean. "Laraeza will be furious. She wants me to wear this for the rest of the night. She caught me on the tightrope playing with her favorite parasol this morning. I almost tried on her best dress, too. Out of spite. I'm glad I didn’t. She might've murdered me if I had. But instead she did the ugliest makeup I've ever worn in my entire life. I'm grotesque. You should just leave me alone. I'm not one of your art projects, you know? You might fancy yourself an architect, yeah? But I can't be rebuilt, ok? So stop already." I motioned to swat him away, but he gingerly grabbed my wrist with one hand and continued cleaning my face with the other. "Hold still, Em. Just enjoy the quiet while I work, ok?" "What are you planning to d--" "Shhh." he placed his thumb on my lower lip, lifting my chin slightly as he did so, "Just trust me. Please..." He leaned in and kissed me so gently I almost thought I might be imagining the whole thing. I was stunned, but mustered enough poise to say, "I trust you." And from then on, I sat as still as a stone while he made up my face with soft brushes and sweet caresses that were nothing like Laraeza's cruel, intense brush strokes. After a long while, he leaned back on his wooden stool to sit up straight and get a full view of his work. There it was again. That gorgeous smile. Bigger and brighter than I'd ever seen before. His ears were red. Hell, my whole face had to have been scarlet. I expected him to comment, but he leaned in just long enough to breathe into my ear.
"No one likes a sad clown," he whispered before gracefully getting up and leaving the tent. I turned to the bright lights of the mirror, expecting to see my usual hideous visage. But the woman staring back gasped with pouty red lips, and glittering eyes. I looked like a Lemurian legend had just leapt from the pages of one of my old tomes. Dazzling light reflected off my face no matter which way I moved. It was as though he were my fairy godsend and he'd cast a spell upon me with angels dust from the heavens. "Is this how Rafayel sees me?" I muttered to myself, unable to resist touching the sides of my face. "RingMaster Laraeza won't like this one bit." I was afraid of her, but something in my chest fluttered. A spark of rebellion. I wanted her to look at me. To know she may have broken me as a child, but a talented artiste had come to piece me back together and paint me anew.
"If I ever catch you out of your usual clown makeup a slap won't be nearly enough. Young women go missing every day. Don't test me." A surge of heat spread through my chest at the sound of Laraeza's voice. This was nothing like the blooming blush Rafayel always seemed to cause me to feel. No. This was pure rage. I was done backing down. I whirled 'round on her so fast she could not suppress the shock. Her poker face was gone and so was mine. 

"I never knew I could feel this beautiful, or even look this way. Did you?"

"Wash it off. Now."

"I bet the constable will think it's beautiful too, no? While I'm sitting with him describing all the pain and abuse you've caused me. How do you think he'll deal with you when he finds out you purposely threw that knife at me ten years ago? How I lost half my vision due to petty jealousy on your part?"
Out of nowhere, Laraeza's eyes softened. She looked so motherly that I couldn't help but to be taken aback. Even her voice had completely lost it's edge when she spoke.  

"You know, Rafayel has been working diligently on the project I hired him for. It's been over half a year now since he's started working here. I get the feeling you're quite fond of him. And judging by the way he dolled you up tonight, he's very fond of you as well, no?"

"Get to the point." I said through gritted teeth.

"If you tell anyone beyond the Big Top about me, Rafayel might just go missing before you do. Do you understand me?"

At this, I faltered. The silent struggle between me and my guardian had absolutely nothing to do with Rafayel. And after all the kindness he'd shown me thus far, I had no choice but to back down for now. After all, in my eyes, his life was worth far more than mine. And so, with just one little threat, my goal shifted from standing up to Laraeza to finding a way to escape this wretched place with Rafayel's life and my own fully intact.

Months passed, and our feelings rose like the tide with each day we spent together. I told him to be careful of her, but Rafayel seemed to know her intentions better than I.

I told him my most honest truths and my darkest fears. Things I'd held close to my aching heart my entire life. Laraeza was once my greatest adversary. But now it was the thought of being abandoned by the man I loved more than anyone that was my greatest nightmare. He promised me, assured me many times over that he would protect and cherish me for all time. But my insecurities were greater than his love. On a day when he was flush with fever and acting all together strange, I walked with him to the the bathing and laundering tent. This area was nothing quite so fancy as several large oil drums filled with warm water usually heated by Rafayel himself, mishapen soap bars strewn about the grassy ground, several washboards and a few threadbare wash cloths. A ways over from the laundry vats was a fancy old sofa adorned with one long cushion of pink and cherry wood legs at the base, slightly worn with time and lovingly used by all troupe members to rest their weary bones after particularly tedious performances. 

I rested him down onto the couch and went to fetch a dampened wash cloth to ease his fever. He kept mumbling incoherent protests of delirium and panic. I thought little of it, knowing he was genuinely shy and particularly private when it came to these quarters. But I didn't care much for propriety and etiquette in this moment. I dabbed his forehead with the cloth. He weakly tried to swat me away. His fevered state seemed only to worsen and in a moment of sincerity and vulnerability, I touched his face and begged Rafayel to stay with me forever, inadvertantly causing the activation of an ancient oath. His seal glowed red, but he concealed it in pain. "I love you just as you are. Stay with me," I pleaded, "Don't hide anything from me, please. Reveal your true self to me, the way I have shown my whole heart to you." He winced again as the Red Fish Bond took hold of his entire body to obey the accidental command, "Reveal your true self to me." 

He scooped me into his arms with a frighteningly sudden renewed fervor and ran with me into the large laundry vats he'd been cautiously using since he came here. His scales and almost immaculately perfect tail, save for a strange scar, were fully on display now. His usual soft lilac eyes a cold and icy blue as we stared at one another, time seemingly frozen. 

The moment he came to his senses, Rafayel remembered me telling him early on that I could not swim. He held me tightly in his arms, promising to not let go as the vat he'd landed in was particularly large and deep compared to the others. Once he'd leapt back out and onto the ground, he apologized profusely for hiding himself from me. He apologized for everything. His tail thrashed back and forth in panic as he tried to explain. "This is why I stayed at a distance," he said through ragged breaths, "This is why we couldn't be together for so long. It's...too--" 

"Dangerous?" Laraeza cut him off with a smirk. "You lovebirds want to stay together forever, is that right? Don't worry, that can certainly be arranged." After that, Rafayel was dragged away by those hateful twins into Laraeza's secret construction zone and chained mercilessly to the bottom of a giant tank with weighted anchors. This was the covered stained glass "artwork" Rafayel had been hired to work on wherein the moment water touched the glass, it became a two-way mirror. He'd unkowingly created his own prison. A crowd pleasing spectacle that would spell his demise.

I was knocked unconscious and dragged along as well, an unwilling witness to my lover's ultimate fate.

I awoke with a painful ache at the base of my skull, the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears and the terrible sight of Laraeza berating Rafayel as he suffered, muzzled, meek and silent within the waters of a large glass cage. His hair was longer than I'd ever seen before. Every part of him was more refined and regal than any human man could ever hope to be. Even in this terrible predicament, I could not help but be in awe of his majesty. But then Laraeza's voice sliced through my adoration like a rusty throwing knife.

"My sister was, is, my greatest treasure in this world. Laerytza was obsessed with the sea, just as you always have been. But she was swept away by a cruel tide in the form of an inhuman man. Ceric, a knight of the Lemurian Order, wooed my sister with sweet words and gentle promises upon the shores and beneath the waves. Just like your Fire Breather here," she gestured wildly toward Rafayel before continuing on, "My sister aimed to bridge the gap of understanding between our kind and theirs. Ceric brought her to the King and Queen, this sad sap's parents. Before them she vowed to bring peace between two cultures in exchange for a marital blessing. And at the time, I was truly happy for her. But Ceric was abusive. He hurt her, beat her. We never understood why. He could never give a decent answer. Only ever silence. But I know that's not what love is. The familial bond I shared with my little sister. That was real love. And so when she succumbed to his fistful bruises, I vowed to make you suffer the same way. She'd left you to me with a letter in a glass bottle, begging me to give you to His and Her Highness. But I wanted, I needed, to see you hurt the way she did. You, your father's daughter with defiant eyes and a face just like his. You sicken me now just as you sickened me the day I found you swaddled in sea kelp. And that despicable tune you always hum. I heard it that day, as well. And now I know. It was Rafayel, Royal Prince and heir to the Sea God's throne, who sang it to you in your infancy. He was all but four years old then. But he tried to take you from me. That's where the scar on his tail came from. That's where I learned I was one hell of a knife wielder. I would have sliced him gill to gill had his aunt Talia not forced him back into the sea." 

It dawned on me then that all my seaside tomes, all my gloriously coveted treasures that I'd found, kept and relished over these many years were given to me in secret by Rafayel. Sweet man, kind boy. My guardian angel since birth. My heart swelled to bursting, tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I looked at him struggling to break free from his caged prison. He hadn't come here on a whim. He'd always been watching over and protecting me. I vowed in that moment to save him. I kept my expressions calm and stoic. Laraeza would not get to revel in my tears. "In exchange for your continued obedience, Em, I've decided to reward you with your own Aerial Act tonight. You and he will be the stars of the show. And at the end, you will climb down from those heights and stay by my side like you always have. I'll even let you say goodbye to him before I gut him like a fish and send him off to the highest bidder. There are many curious organizations out there begging to disect the real deal."

"You've got it all wrong, Laraeza!" Rafayel yelled as the water surged in. "Ceric was not Laerytza's abuser. He saved her from her human lover. He fought him off when he saw them tussling on the beach one day. That was the day Laerytza became enamored with the Lemurian way of life. Ceric rushed to her rescue so fast that he hadn't thought to transform himself to a human likeness. He'd made a grave mistake by revealing himself to two humans and had no choice but to return with them both to Whalefall City. The Queen used her own special concoctions to erase the hateful man's memories. But Laerytza begged to stay and become a part of the Royal Court. She and Ceric fell in love slowly. She succumbed to injuries incurred by that human man. But the marks and bruises had yet to fade when you made your assumptions about who and what Ceric was. He was a noble man. He was her protector and her lover and you killed him in a fit of sheer ignorance. You have always been that and nothing more, Laraeza. Rage-filled and ignorant. The message you found was written by Ceric before ending his own life. He could not face life without his wife. He had pinned all his hopes upon you, that you would raise your niece with love and respect among the Lemurian Court. Alongside my parents, not opposed to them. Did you even know they were wed, your sister and he, before you went and decided their newborn child was to become an instrument of torture and revenge for you? Your search for Ceric was and always has been a fool's errand. Now that you know the truth, release me!" 

In the time they'd spent arguing, I'd managed to climb the webbing as discreetly as possible through my poisoned haze and position myself far above them both near the highest point of the tent. I only found out later that while I was out cold, Laraeza had painted my face with poisonous makeup made from ground Lemurian scales, hastily ripped from Rafayel, that causes the wearer to fall into a dream-like haze. Reality shifted in and out of focus like a kaleidoscope. Was the Merman below merely a hallucination? "I'm flying," I thought, "He's dying," my subconscious replied. "Flying...dying...diving...saving..." 

"O, Sea God. I summon thee. Break the chains that bind." I whispered low. And just like that, I let myself drop to the bottom of the sheer cloth and leapt into the cage, holding tight to the webbing with my left hand as water flooded all my senses. The impact should have broken every bone in my body, and would have, too, had it not been for my half-Lemurian lineage and a sweet gift from Rafayel. Something touched my lips. And then somehow, I was able to open my eyes just as quickly as I'd splashed in with no stinging or pain. Better yet, I was breathing with no impact to my lungs. A poem came to mind...

A love that's 

Oh so

Bittersweet

A wanton

Soulful

Lively affair

Yearning oh so

 Indiscreet 

Yields great suffering 

Beyond compare

The Bride

Will appear to Him 

Broken and torn

Ripped asunder by 

Human scorn

Tears fall like rain

Fate's path diverted

Bathed in pain

Crisis yet averted

May they fight and live

To forever reign

And lie in peace

Reborn again

Within Ocean's Embrace

Not one moment lost

From memory's trace

For too heavy a cost

She would be far too remiss

To forget the

Overwhelming strength 

Of a Lemurian kiss

-Tome of the Sea God, 1809 Excavation Site: Whitesand Bay

 

When I finally focused, I could see endless streams of pearls falling from Rafayel's eyes. They were piling up rapidly, higher and higher. He was essentially drowning in his own tears. But my invocation seemed to have worked as he raised his arms and burst through the chains that had been weighing him down. The seismic waves of power he emitted shattered the glass walls surrounding us. He covered me protectively. Rafayel grew near invincible. He swept me up into a tight embrace and leapt into the air. Grabbing hold of the webbing, we spun as if in a dream, staring wordlessly at one another just long enough for his Lemurian tail to dry completely and morph back into the powerful human legs he used to kick onto the stagehand's ladder. 

He jumped down, still holding me tightly in his arms. Rafayel cleverly wrapped the webbing around himself before running to freedom. His coven completed, he'd gone right back to his weakened state, he had no choice but to leave Laraeza to face the authorities whenever they decided to arrive and investigate the broken circus. 

"O, Sea God. I grant thee the strength to climb the cliff overlooking Spectaulaire." His ragged breathing slowed, he regained his strength yet again and carried me to what once was my loneliest sanctuary. Since meeting him, it had become our favorite rendezvous point. It was from this vantage point that we watched the unfolding of a very satisfying conclusion. The constable and his men came like a cavalry riding in on ice horses the likes of which I hadn't seen in ages. The doctor from ten years ago encased Laraeza's hands in spikes of ice so that if she even tried to escape she would inflict instant damage to herself. Sensing our presence as he pushed her out of the tent and into the cover of the night, he looked up at Rafayel and I, nodded and smiled. Whether he could see us well enough or not, we nodded and smiled back. It seemed he'd been hoping for my liberation for as long as I had. Once they'd all rode away, Rafayel and I collapsed onto a heap of flowers. We held each other in restful silence until the sun came up. And when it did, he reiterated everything I'd learned about my true origins. And for a time, I did indeed return to Whalefall City to dance with my beloved's people in Lemurian celebrations. We were even wed before Rafayel's mother and father, Their Royal Majesties. And blessed by Natasha the Sanctarch of The Tide.

Many wonderful years passed between us. But after so many attacks from Laraeza's newly formed Assassins Guild, I made the crushing decision to say goodbye to my beloved and bade Rafayel farewell. We never wanted to part, but knew that staying together would result in the imminent damnation of both races. War would be waged and the world would ultimately be plunged into chaos. 

And so time marched on. I never loved another. But I did indeed relish my role as Master of Ceremonies in my own traveling Circus troupe, Cirque du Sea, an all-ages underwater show featuring mermaids of the human variety. Every act was created to honor my beloved Fire Breather. At the beginning of every performance I gave a gentle reminder to my audience...

O, Traveler 

Beyond the sea

Listen well

I beseech thee

If ever you cross paths

With an aquatic soul

Be it by sunlit breeze

Or moonlit glow

Release his tail

And let him go

It is not the Fate

Of this one's kind 

To live a life

Bound and confined

But to love as though

Love is blind

At the dawning of the twilight of my life, darkness fell over my remaining eye. Fully blind now, I felt my way to the shores of Whitesand Bay and lay down in hopes that the waves would carry me to Whalefall City. My heart's true home. But before my final breath, I heard a sweet Lemurian melody and felt a tender warmth caress my face. "Still as beautiful as ever, Em." I smiled, my wrinkled hands reaching up to feel and remember. "You, too. Handsome and bright. You haven't aged a day." 

I gently patted his hand in feigned anger, "You could've at least gotten a wrinkle or two for me. But I'm sure your Queen is pleased with you..." "Em, you know you're the only woman I've ever loved. I love everything about you. Do you want to listen to my heartbeat?" He placed my weathered old hands on his chest. His heart was beating so fast it would put even a hummingbird's wings to shame. "Do you have your answer now? I really do love everything about you. I'm telling the truth." "I don't need my eyesight to feel the warmth of your love for me, like gentle moonlight caressing the sea. I'll always remember the way we looked at each other when your eyes met mine time and time again. You are my truth. You are my life. You are my everything."

 The weary Sea God leaned forward and with one gentle kiss upon her forehead, Em closed her eyes and let go. A massive pearlescent seashell emerged from the ocean's depths. A mournful whalesong could be heard in the distance. A procession of merfolk surfaced in two respectful straight lines and bowed their heads as their beloved King gingerly placed his Queen's body upon the shell and pushed forward, into the Afterlands of his people.

It was only a matter of days before the Lumerian Sea God died of a broken heart. His mother and father continued on in his stead, always on guard against Laraeza's nameless group of hateful hunters. 

The Queen Mother created a field filled with beautiful wisteria flowers. Each Spring she prayed for her son to find them in his next life, to delight in them with his bonded beloved. As for Laraeza, the King spat a curse upon her that she stay ever out of reach of his kin. 

And so the curtains close upon our tragic love story of yore. Yet here, in present day, Spring has arrived in Linkon City. Hope, love and the sweet scent of wisteria fill the air.

~Fin~

Written By SlyKitsune