An ocean of glimmering sapphire.

Glimmering in the distance, Aelem gazed upon the crystal reflection of the morning sunlight. While the rivers had frozen over, she stared at wintertime water that moved far too quickly to chill, in massive waves that crashed against the cliff bank below.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Omen laughed softly as he placed a hand upon Aelem’s ruffled head.

“In that blanket of blue, there’s a whole world none of us know of?” She asked of him with wondrous eyes.

Omen nodded simply in response.

“Fantastical forests of colour, waving grasses, and countless fish swimming about… a surface that glimmers like jewels, and a floor of slippery sand and mud with countless treasures buried within…” He started to speak, “A world like that, one full of mystery and intrigue… it’s fun to think about, isn’t it?”

“A world like that… do you think I could live freely there…?”

Omen laughed once more, standing straight up as he drew a line over the horizon, as if to mark clearly in his eyes where the sun would set, bathing the water in a fine glow of fantastical cream-orange.

“Perhaps, but then you might be a fish. Wouldn’t you rather be a woman?”

“I would.” She nodded.

“Then, I’ll make this world one you can live freely within. Do you think you could bear to wait much longer?”

“If it is something you’re promising, I will wait as long as I need to.” Aelem smiled softly.

Suddenly, she turned toward him once more with slightly furrowed, annoyed eyes.

“Despite having asked you to, you have not referred to me by my name.” Aelem pondered softly. “Is it too appalling to do so?”

“Not at all. It’s just that every time I think I’ve worked up the nerve to do so- to move past my own built-up mannerism, you call me your ‘lover’ and I lose all bearing.” Omen shook his head with a smile.

“Would you rather I not? Then, is that not what we are?”

“I am your protector, and you are my vassal.” He spoke in turn.

“So do you not think of me in this way?” She asked of him. “When we’re close, does your heart not beat quick? Do your cheeks not grow hot and red, and your nerves tense?”

“If they did, what would that really mean?” He spoke softly, his smile having disappeared; his expression was as blank as a doll’s in that regard. “Love, liking, fancy, and courtship… what is the purpose anyway…?”

“I don’t know about any of that,” She shook her head in response, “But, if you feel all of those things, then you are just like me, and I think that is wonderful. It means I’m human, or you’re less of one than I perceived.”

She turned towards him, looking sharply upwards to meet his marionette expression with a softened smile.

“Human, monster, person or woman… I am just happy that there is someone I feel alike to.” She beamed. “To me, you are a treasure in the sand, which has made this world much more enthralling.”

His cheeks had grown hot and red against her words- his heart fluttering, and his nerves tense. He knelt down upon the ground in an attempt to hide his face between his knees, muttering as he did so.

“How can I act brooding and mysterious when you speak like that?” He spoke softly, his head turning to the side to look at her, his lips pursed and his eyebrows furrowed.

He stood up once more, and placed a hand on Aelem’s head.

“Romance, relationships… something like that, pertaining to me, is something I don’t think I can offer you.” He shook his head. 

“So you would rather not put a name to something we’re doing already?” She asked of him. “Then, what is the point of doing so?”

“I don’t know. It just makes it more palatable.”

She turned away from him with a mischievous smile, as if a loophole had already weaved its way into her mind.

‘Then, I am your vassal, and you are my protector.” She grinned.

“Already, you’ve assigned titles to it by warping how our relationship is supposed to be…” He sighed, resigning himself to dealing with the taunts of the vermilion woman.

Suddenly, Aelem felt eyes resting on her person. Turning to look behind her, she saw a figure in the gentle mist, its gaze piercing her being from afar.

“It’s okay. This person is a friend.” Omen smiled softly as he waved towards the figure.

Across the cliff they had been standing on, hanging underneath a lighthouse, was an elderly man with frizzled cloud-white hair, and a matted white beard that stretched down the entirety of his torso. He approached the two slowly, step by step. With each stride, he seemed to move forward an inch at a time, his hand pressed against his back as if to hold his spine upward as he hobbled.

Aelem had pulled the hood of her cloak over her head in an instant, if only out of instinct. It was some sort of abject fear that had not been cleared of her heart, even amidst the one person who had chosen to treat her as a person before a monster. Bashfully, she refused it of herself to greet the man in turn, glancing away

“Good afternoon, Mr. La’am.” Omen spoke in turn, extending his hand to greet the elderly man, who took it in turn with a smile.

“It’s always a pleasure to greet you, Paragon of the Veil.”

The elderly man turned towards Aelem, and bowed respectfully without speaking a word, as if not to poke at her shyness. Simply, he held a smile on his face towards her. His eyes were gentle, like the waves of the ocean that crashed softly against the bank behind him.

“He knows of you already.” Omen spoke in turn. “I’m sorry if this is something you didn’t want known, but this man has agreed to let us stay within the lighthouse for the night.”

Mr. La’am nodded in turn.

“It gets quite cold out here at night. There’s a fireplace within that I hope will keep you away from the winter chill.”

As they bade him goodbye with a wave, they watched as he hobbled away, before slipping through the door into the lighthouse.

A fireplace crackled in the corner, filling the air with a quiet warmth she was happy to slip into. The walls were filled with books upon shelves, which seemed to stretch high towards the ceiling that had a staircase spiraling up towards it. Small windows upon the wall let the setting sun burst through, filling the lighthouse with sunbeams that contrasted the dancing of candleflame.

In a corner, the two had curled up underneath a blanket, nestled into a pile of sheets that had been thrown to the wayside. Omen had held her close, wrapping his arm around her as if afraid to let her wander off. She could feel his heartbeat against her skin, and his gentle, hot breaths that fell against the air.

“Then, is holding me close also the duty of a protector?” Aelem spoke sheepishly, looking upwards towards his doll-like expression.

“It is.”

“Then, would placing your lips on mine also be your duty?” She smiled.

“If that is what you wish.”

So, she pulled his face close to hers, and offered him the gentleness of a kiss that carried the full of her aching heart.

Aelem couldn’t understand the name of their relationship for even a moment, which was confusing to her- a person who knew nothing of normalcy. So, for the moment, she let her heart be happy that ‘protector’ and ‘vassal’ meant that they could be so close to each other.