At the Edge of the Sunset


Love is madness. I know that from experience.

I stare at the rubble before me, the remains of buildings that once housed people and their worldly possessions. The air is dark and acrid from the raging fires, and the putrid smoke is heavy. It's hard to breathe, but I continue exploring the aftermath of the destruction. The crumbled stone walls of houses make an uneven road, and I have to be careful not to trip.

Or worse, slip on the remains of the residents.

Dark blood stains the ground as well as severed limbs and unidentifiable masses of tissue. I can see someone's upturned hand feebly twitching as the owner, crushed by rubble, struggles to breathe. I can taste the scent of burning flesh and singed hair.

I ignore all of it.

Nearby, a woman screams for help and a man screams in horror, but both sounds are cut short.

This is all that is left of your beloved Fahrmann.

I can see you in the distance, standing still. You turn to look at me with your red eye, the same shade as the setting sun in the background, as the blood you have spilled in your insanity. Your stare has lost its familiar warmth, and all I can see is a cold expression in your eye. The rest of your face is in shadow, darkened, but I'm sure your golden eye has the same look.

Do you remember our promise? I remember it, that I would be yours and you would be mine, until the inevitable end.

And I am still yours, but you are no longer mine. You are not my beloved Ara, who risked her soul to save her comrades, to save her brother.

No, you belong to Eun. A stranger with my love's face. I silently watch as your lips, the ones that I have kissed thousands, perhaps millions, of times, turn upward into a feral snarl. A low growl resonates from your throat, no doubt also Eun and its desire for revenge for being sealed. There is nothing left of you that I knew but the shell of your body.

You crouch into all fours, ready for a fight. And I, too, am ready.

Love is madness. Madness is love. But we never made it to the perfect point where madness and love intersect to form passion. Am I mad for chasing you all this way, across oceans and continents and worlds?

Maybe.

I grip my weapon tighter and aim, readying myself to strike. I can see you do the same. This is the—no, our—inevitable end.


A/N: Happy belated Valentine's Day. Wasn't that such a romantic drabble? Such fluff, much romance. This is primarily a test for future multi-chapter story with dark themes. I just wanted to see how first person present tense would work with darker themes. If there is enough interest, I do have a small idea for a story about Asura and her deal with Eun.

Anyways, thanks for reading!