"No, of course not," she said, smiling shyly (shyly?) as she looked down. When she looked up again, her eyes were beautiful and luminous as she whispered, "I don't think I could ever be happier than I am at this moment," before she drew him closer for a passionate kiss, throwing her arms around his neck and closing the distance between their bodies.

The fact that her eyes changed colour to a darker green was merely an afterthought he did not bother with remembering.


A Great and Terrible Thing


Chapter 3: Loss


But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan


They returned in timely fashion. The Queen and her Consort were overjoyed when they saw that the Mage was unharmed, well, and healthy. However, when the Mage announced that she would be spending time away from court, they grew worried.

"That is quite unlike you, Mage. You, who have always thrown yourself into your work... I hope nothing is amiss?" Julian overheard the Queen ask.

"No, Your Majesty. You can say that my encounter with... well, you know who," (it seemed as if the Mage could not bring herself to say the other name) "Provided some real perspective." The Mage looked down. "She was my dear friend. She tried to persuade me, but much to her regret, I would never change my mind."

Her Majesty nodded. "I'm sorry, Mage. I understand how betrayed you must have felt. She was dear to all of us."

"It's all right. But I think now I'd like a taste of some normalcy." She turned, and her eyes seemed trained to Julian's hiding place where he was pretending that he was not eavesdropping. "Maybe marry, start a family..." she trailed off. "Goodbye, Your Majesties. I wish for happiness in the future."

"I didn't know that the Mage was permitted to marry," the Queen's consort whispered to her as the Mage walked away.

"Or that she was young enough to start a family!" The Queen added.

The Mage did not seem to hear them, even though Julian did. As the Mage approached him, she smiled brilliantly and gave him her hand. "Let's go, Julian."

He kissed her proffered hand, and he led her away from the Palace.


The ceremony was a quiet, simple one, in the most beautiful place he could think of: Megenzjan Falls. After all, that was the place where he had found her again: not the cold, aloof, detached, emotionless Mage, but a Mage who wasn't afraid of showing her emotions, who loved as freely and gave more than she received.

There were very few witnesses: just Vathek and his pregnant wife, and the minister himself. The Mage argued that the knowledge of their marriage would cause many problems that would impact her negatively, and for some reason, the conversation between the King and Queen on whether the Mage could marry and have a family replayed in his mind. It didn't matter, however; not now that they were to be married. She convinced him that even during the wedding ceremony that she ought to dress differently and in disguise as a simple Meridian maid, so that no one would suspect he would be marrying the Mage. She veiled herself, so that none would be able to see her face. If necessary, she would use the glamour she had cast back when she had tried to get his attention in the inn so long ago.

"I wish you all the happiness in the future, my friend. Perhaps one day our children will become fast friends, and will be able to play together," Vathek said, as he took him aside.

Julian nodded. "If we are blessed with children, perhaps. You forget that we are rather older than most parents."

"That is true," Vathek agreed, "but at least you love each other. If anything, you will have each other. Have you any idea what you will do?"

"I won't leave my post in the army, Vathek," Julian said. "I'll still train the younger soldiers."

"And the Mage? Will she resume whatever Mage-y duties she had before?"

"Well, she's said to the King and Queen that she will retire from her duties temporarily –"

"Can the Mage even do that?" Vathek sounded astounded.

"The King and Queen did give her permission. I wonder if she'll look for a successor and train her."

"The Mage is still young enough to continue her duties. Isn't that highly irresponsible of her?"

"The Mage," her voice interrupted their conversation, "does not have many duties in light of the peace that has ensued ever since Nerissa was condemned to imprisonment at Mount Thanos. Therefore, it is unnecessary for her to be confined to the Palace, and both of Their Majesties agree."

Both men turned to look at her. Julian gazed at her with obvious affection, whereas Vathek had the decency to look abashed, even if he still looked upon her with suspicion and worry. "That makes sense, Mage. I did not mean to cast any aspersions on your character." A small, genuine smile curved his lips. "You make my friend happy, and I honour you for doing so."

"Thank you, Vathek," the Mage answered graciously. She drew closer to Julian and embraced him. "Now husband of mine, what say you to slipping away?" She asked, her breath warm on his ears as she whispered her question. Vathek looked away, obviously trying to pretend he did not just hear what the amorous Mage had just whispered in public.

Julian gave an awkward, apologetic smile to his friend, and was about to open his mouth when Vathek shook his head. "I'll see you another time, Julian. You will want to spend time with your new wife. Have fun!" Vathek blurted out the last bit, and then when he realized what he had just said, the look on his face was truly comical.

"Goodbye Vathek," the Mage smiled at him. Julian would have said it was a devious smile, and was about to tell her so, when she kissed him passionately. All thoughts fled his mind at that moment, and when she drew away from him, she took one of his hands in hers, and led him away from the site of the ceremony and festivities, towards the tent they had set up as their bridal chamber.

By the time they reached the tent near the falls, it was sundown. She excused herself to bathe and perform the rest of her toilette, much as she used to do back when he had first brought her to camp.

"Come with me," she whispered in his ears. "We're married now, you can't have any objections."

He could not say anything in response, but he allowed her to lead him out towards the waters. This time, he did not look away as she undressed slowly before his eyes and when she kissed him after she divulged herself of her clothing, he did not turn away. Instead, he drew her closer, and did not let her go.

He didn't think he would ever be able to. Not after that night.


Their life together passed happily enough for a few months. Every day, he seemed to fall more and more in love with her. Their home was a haven of marital bliss. He wished all this – falling in love and marrying the Mage – had happened sooner, but he was not about to start complaining now. Each day began bright and hopeful, with him wishing he never had to leave his wife's side. It was a miracle that he still managed to complete his duties satisfactorily, given how frequently his mind strayed to his wife, and how he longed to be with her yet again.

He returned home one day to find the Mage not by the door, which was a strange thing. She used to stand by the door to greet him with a kiss. Yes, she had been sick recently, throwing up and looking pale, especially early in the day, but she never failed to greet him.

He shouldn't have to panic. The Mage was a powerful being. She would not disappear without a fight... And then it hit him; what if she hadn't fought? What if she simply left him and disappeared?

He raced upstairs to their bedroom, almost in despair, but on opening the door, he was relieved to see her sitting by the window, staring outside. She was still in her nightgown, which showed off her shoulders and skimmed her figure, ending at the floor, and which was made of some sort of floaty, gauzy, translucent white material. For her not to have changed probably meant that she had not left the bedroom the whole day... What was wrong?

He crossed the room towards her, and took both her hands which were lying on her lap in his. "You're home," she murmured, and turned to look at him. A wan smile played on her lips.

He kissed her hands and knelt on the floor beside her. "Reese, my love, what's wrong?" He asked her.

Again she looked away from him and faced the window. Her eyes looked far away into the distance, and her voice, when she spoke, was distant from his as well. It seemed like an eternity before she spoke.

"I'm... afraid, Julian. I'm frightened that all of a sudden I'll wake up from this and realize that this was all a beautiful, if impossible, dream. Or maybe that you'll wake up one day and also realize that this life we're living is but a beautiful lie, and that this moment of happiness would merely be fleeting."

"Then if that's the case, we don't have to wake up, Reese. But what has brought this about? Why not enjoy our lives, the way it is? I love you, Reese; that will never change. This past few months with you may have been like a beautiful dream; I have never been as happy in my life as I am now, with you by my side. You won't ever have to worry that I will cease loving you; that will never happen."

Her smile was still faint, as she returned her gaze to him. She caressed his cheek, and leaned down towards him. "Kiss me, Julian. Kiss me, and hold me as if you'll never let me go."

He complied with her request, pulling her down so that she, too, knelt by the floor in front of him. He crushed her lithe figure to his as he kissed her passionately, trying to convey to her that if it were up to him, they would be together forever. Somewhere at the back of his mind it registered that her hands had wrapped themselves around his waist.

Eventually, she pulled away, breathless, and hid her face in his chest. "I have not had my moon-cycle for nearly two months, and I've been sick nearly every morning," she whispered, agitated. "It is not that I have reached the end of my childbearing years," she continued, frantically, before Julian could suggest it. Instead, she said the most life-changing words he thought he would hear in his life:

"Julian, you're going to be a father."


The news of the Mage's pregnancy did not spread far. In fact, Vathek was the only one Julian told, and he received quiet congratulations; Julian did not think he had to tell everyone anyway. If the Mage told anyone, he did not know.

The next few months passed in a strange daze. It was fascinating to see his wife grow heavy with their child. Once the morning sickness had passed, the Mage glowed. Perhaps it was the knowledge that she was pregnant with their child, but Julian thought she had never been more beautiful in her happiness.

He had never quite thought the Mage to be a maternal creature. In fact, he had pretty much thought that in marrying the Mage, he would be giving up fatherhood. She was fairly advanced in age for childbearing, after all. The fact that they were about to have a child was a miracle in itself.

While he now knew that he was going to be a father, occasionally that realization would hit him again, like waves crashing onto the rocks by a beach. My wife is pregnant and we are going to have a child. Boy or girl, it did not matter to him. He was just too much in awe that their love could give rise to such a miracle.

"How many children would you want to have? We never really discussed that," she asked him one day. They had made a trip to Megenzjan Falls for a short retreat from the world as they knew it. The sun was setting, and they ought to be leaving, he knew, but they were both so comfortable. He was lying down, his head on her lap, and she was caressing his face as they both sought shade under a willowy tree.

He smiled at her question and looked at her face. "As many as I am blessed with, I suppose. Numbers don't matter, nor whether they are girls or boys, as long as they are hale and healthy. Although it may be nice to have a daughter who looks as beautiful as her mother," he said, taking her hand and kissing it.

He did not understand why a stricken look passed over her face and she looked despondent, when he said that to bring a smile to her face, but he kissed her hand again. "What about you? Do you think we'll have a daughter as our firstborn?"

She shook her head and smiled at him with glistening eyes. Why was she sad? He wondered, but before he could ask that question, she answered him.

"No, I think we'll have a son, and I hope he grows up to be a man as handsome as his father, and as honourable and kind-hearted as he is. He'll be a filial, loyal son. I can see it already: our son is destined for greatness."

As she leaned down to kiss him, he choked on the surge of emotion that rose within him.


The midwife was summoned, and Julian found himself on the outside of the bedroom. "A birth is strictly women's domain," the midwife said sternly, before she strong-armed him out of the room and shut the door in his face, much to his chagrin. It had been nearly eight hours since the midwife had been summoned, and it was agony for him as he heard his wife's screams of pain from outside the door.

"They say women can die in childbirth," Vathek told him. He had been the one to summon the midwife when Julian turned up at his house, anxious and out of breath, asking him who the best midwife in town was; the baby was coming slightly earlier than expected and Julian had not had the time to investigate who was the best. Vathek decided to stay with Julian to support him and his wife through this harrowing time. After all, Julian was half-insane from all the worrying and anticipation. Vathek suspected that if Julian did not cease his incessant pacing, he too would go insane as well.

At any rate, Julian shot his friend a dirty look upon hearing his friend's reply, but Vathek did not seem perturbed in the least. "When my son was born, I was worried, of course. It was a difficult birth. There are risks, but more often than not, there is a beautiful newborn which somehow makes the parents forget about just how much pain and terror they endured, and all they can think about is bearing yet another."

"That's very interesting," Julian said in a tone that suggested he thought otherwise. "I wonder how much longer this will last."

"Up to two days, I've heard."

"What?" Julian exclaimed. It was at this moment that a particularly long scream was heard from the door, followed by a heavy thump, and then the sound of a baby wailing.

It was the most beautiful sound he'd heard up to this point. He threw open the doors, and saw the midwife standing over the Mage, who held the newborn to her breast. The midwife silently exited from the room, as Julian slowly made his way towards the Mage. She smiled at him.

"He's beautiful, isn't he?" She asked him, never taking her eyes off of the newborn.

"A son?"

The Mage looked up at him with a radiant smile. "I was right. As always."

Julian laughed and kissed her forehead. "You look beautiful."

"Me, beautiful?" She asked, wryly. "I look like a mess." She nodded her head to emphasize that; he platinum blonde hair was splayed out, tangle and sticky with sweat. "I'm pretty sure I smell as well. I need a bath."

"You're still beautiful," he whispered and sat on the edge of the back next to her. He threw an arm around her and looked at the newborn. "So what should we call him?"

"Caleb," she said absently.

He looked curiously at her. "That's an unusual name, Reese. Why Caleb?"

Her eyes widened and she looked nervous. "I – well, I like the name. It means whole-hearted, like, well..." she paused, before sniffing and turning her nose up at him. "Oh, it doesn't matter! Unless, well... Do you have any objections against it?" She added defiantly.

He shook his head. "No, of course not. I was just wondering."

She nodded. A moment of silence passed, and it was the Mage who broke the silence by whispering, "This cannot last forever, can it? I'm living on borrowed time in a borrowed life."

He recognized this mood, and it always worried him when she got all contemplative and philosophical. He tried to assuage her fears whenever she tended to become melancholic and fatalistic, but he was never sure of whether it was enough. For now, however, he only responded with a kiss to her forehead, and said, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, my love. Why should you not deserve this happiness with me?" You do not know how happy I am with the way everything is, were the words he left unsaid.

She did not say anything in response, but the expression on her face grew more troubled. He was even more concerned at that point, but she seemed unwilling to talk, and so they sat in silence next to each other, as she nursed their newborn baby while he desperately willed for this happiness to last forever.


Baby Caleb seemed to grow fast and strong, much to Julian's pride and the Mage's delight. It seemed as if motherhood agreed with the Mage. It helped that Caleb had been a very well-behaved baby.

"You haven't been secretly giving him potions, have you, love?" Julian teased her one day.

She laughed in response. "My spawn is simply superior to all others. He knows how to behave. It's not my fault that other babies have such poor behaviour. My Caleb is intelligent and strong and deserves the world; it's his birthright. He will grow up, and make a fine leader in the midst of chaos."

"Your Caleb?" He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Yes," she sniffed as she picked Caleb up from the floor, where he was crawling around on all fours. "My Caleb. And you are my Julian."

"I like the sound of that," he replied, and leaned in to kiss her, with baby Caleb in between, gurgling with laughter.


When Caleb was not yet three, interesting news came about. "The Queen and her Consort are expecting another child," Vathek said. "How surprising! Who could have guessed that the Queen was still fertile?"

Julian shook his head. "Really, Vathek, some people might consider what you are saying to be impertinent. At any rate, I would prefer not to talk about Their Majesties' nightly activities. I truly hope that their child is born safely. They have lost so many babies already; it would be horrible to lose this one too."

"I bet Prince Phobos is throwing a royal tantrum right now, though," Vathek sniggered. "If the baby is a girl, she might outrank him in the inheritance of the throne, especially if she turns out to be the Heart of Meridian."

"That would be better, I would think. A gentle princess at any time would be preferable when compared to a tyrannical prince."


The whole of Meridian was plunged into chaos when the news broke. In truly mysterious circumstances, the Queen of Meridian and her Consort had died, and Prince Phobos ascended the throne. No one knew what happened to the child the Queen had been pregnant with; some say that Prince Phobos had his sister killed, some say that the Queen died before the babe could have been delivered. It seemed that the only thing that all these reports had in common was a firm belief that the Prince's sibling would have been a female, and therefore was the rightful heir to the throne. That explained why the baby mysteriously disappeared, and also explained why Prince Phobos had seized the throne immediately, rather than wait for a proper coronation as tradition dictated.

Many people asked how the young Prince was able to seize the throne. In reality, although Prince Phobos had been very young, he was also – despite his youth – very powerful. Too powerful, even if he did not possess the Heart of Meridian. Furthermore, his parents' death had thrown Meridian into a state of tumult, making it easier for him to strong-arm his way into power and subvert the constitution. Under him, Meridian became an absolute monarchy. He proved to be as psychopathic as everyone believed him to be. He allowed the monsters to freely roam Meridian as long as they swore fealty and obeyed him as their master, resulting in total chaos in the villages and settlements.

"We must do something," Julian said firmly to the Mage one night, as they rested by the living room in the evening after their supper, near the fire. The Mage was quiet as she rocked Caleb to sleep in her arms whilst her eyes remained fixated on the flames in the fireplace. They had been lucky, but their neighbours had not. "Monsters must not be allowed to roam Meridian freely. Prince Phobos cannot run Meridian the way he is doing now; he'll destroy us all if we do that." He laid a hand over hers as he stood over her shoulder, and she looked up at him. "Do you think you could do anything to stop him?"

"Against Phobos?" She laughed, but it was a harsh, angry sound. "Phobos is a fool. He will not stand, and in time, he will be overthrown."

"But who will fight against him? Can you?" Julian beseeched.

"Phobos has unimaginable powers, Julian, especially if he is the possessor of the Heart of Meridian. It would be folly for me to rush off into war with him! He would annihilate all of us. We need to wait and plan..."

"While people are dying?"Julian exclaimed, aghast.

"It's for the greater good!" the Mage cried. "Julian, listen, we have to think about the bigger picture here! I have it all in place, you have to trust me! All we need is time and patience, and –"

"I have to go. We're organizing forces against Phobos. He'll either abdicate, or we'll start up a resistance against him."

"No, Julian, don't be a –"

"A fool?" The words sounded hollow, bitter in his mouth. "Perhaps it is foolish of me, Mage," he continued, "But I would rather fight for a cause I believe in, than pretend everything is all right. It is not. It may never be so. I'll have to leave; our best chance of stopping Phobos relies on the hope that it will be easier to do so in this turmoil. If he establishes himself as the monarch, we'll all be doomed."

The Mage ran to the door and blocked it with her body. "Julian, trust me, I have it all planned out. You just need to see things my way – I have seen it, the new world we'll create; you and I, as leaders of Meridian. All we need is to wait; Caleb will grow up and he will then –"

"Caleb grow up in the middle of this chaos? That is the last thing I want, Mage!" He laughed mirthlessly. "I would rather die than watch my people – my son – suffering as a result of Prince Phobos' villainy. He thought he'd be King, and probably thought his mother was pregnant with another son, and when a daughter was born, he decided to slaughter his entire family. He'll destroy Meridian's people, and then he'll destroy Meridian." He shook his head. "And anyway, I don't want to rule Meridian, I want it to be free. Free from tyranny, and free for the people. Free for us. It's not like I want to, Reese," He said softly, almost tenderly, as he reached for the door. "It's my duty."

"Please, Julian, if you go we many never see each other, not for a long time at least!"

She had grabbed one of his arms and looked to him, pleading. Her eyes – forest green and striking with emotion – stared up at him. They were glistening with unshed tears, and desperation was clearly etched in her face.

He kissed her, a chaste kiss, and left the house. In the distance, he heard a woman screaming (in anger? In despair?), and tried to pretend that he didn't know it was her.


Prince Phobos managed to suppress the growing resistance that day in the most cowardly of fashions: he attacked the rebels during a peace process. There was no honour in that, only sheer brutality. The resistance was overcome, and Julian found himself – for the first time in his life – on the wrong side of a prison cell. Many fine Meridians had been killed, maimed or imprisoned; few, if any, managed to escape. It was a clear message to the rest of the Meridians who were being tyrannized under Phobos' rule; if they dared to defy him, they would face the consequences.

A part of Julian was grateful to still be alive, but the other part – the part that worried about Reese and his son – was in despair. There was no way in which he could let her know that he was still alive. He hoped that she had managed to evade Phobos' forces; he dared not hope that their home would still be standing when he returned, if he returned.

He shook his head. That was no way to think. He needed to return. He needed to see Reese and Caleb again.

He decided to wait and plan. After all, Phobos' monster guards were not all intelligent; most of them relied on brute force. It should not be too difficult to outwit them.


He sometimes tried to imagine, as he waited for the perfect opportunity to escape, what it would be like when he returned. He tried to imagine the look on Reese's face, her surprise at seeing her clean-shaven husband with a beard and moustache. It had been so long, nearly six months, since his capture. Caleb probably was running now, chattering away, playing with toy swords and growing up without him.

He had memorized the guard's schedules. Phobos was a new ruler; he was probably not aware that with the changes he had implemented to Palace security, he had left a lot of security breaches. Foolish boy, he had thought to himself, but he had to take advantage of the opportunity. If Phobos found out, he'd be the wiser for it, and it would not be as easy to escape next time.

Vathek, to his dismay, had sworn allegiance to Phobos. He could not understand how his best friend could come to such a terrible conclusion, but he could use it to his advantage. Vathek's weapons tended to be powerful and strong, but that came at the price of being heavy and cumbersome. He could counter it by being fleet-footed and quick.

The cells were like normal prison cells as well, made of stone and poorly lit, shadowed in perpetual darkness, enough to make even the most level-headed man go insane. He'd have to guard his mind against the psychological factor of being imprisoned, and ensure that he had sufficient strength to build an underground tunnel out of the cell. One thing Phobos had forgotten was how the dungeons had been constructed hundreds of years ago, and how they could be easily dug out from with perseverance... Lots of perseverance.

They did not feed the prisoners enough food. Some had already died of starvation. Julian could feel his strength being sapped away, but he could not allow himself to give up hope.


The escape had gone without a hitch, and if he had calculated everything correctly, Phobos would not realize they had escaped until the next day. He had no plans to go back to his cell, and so decided to make his way down towards the grounds held by the underground resistance. It would be safer there; he could not afford to go home and risk being seen. He was welcomed with open arms, and was introduced to the Infinite City, whose history and origins had been lost many years ago and was now shrouded in myth. Julian had never realized that the Infinite City was actually a real place, since he had only ever heard stories about it. The resistance decided to use the Infinite City as a headquarters of sorts. It was hardly ideal; crops grew poorly down underground, so if they were sealed within the rebels would have been doomed. Luckily, Phobos did not know that, or the fact that the Infinite City was real for that matter, and that the rebels were hiding there.

To his surprise, Vathek was there among the resistance forces. Anger overcame Julian when he saw his friend – former friend, he reminded himself – and attacked him. To his surprise, the rebels held him back. He struggled in vain to escape his holders, but realized that there was no way he could break free from their clutches unless he hurt them, and even then, his body had been weakened by starvation and imprisonment.

"What are you doing? Why is he here? He's allied with Phobos!" Julian struggled.

"We know," the other rebels said calmly. "He's our spy."

"Spy?" Julian berated himself for not thinking that and assuming the worst.

"Yes," Vathek said glumly, picking himself up and dusting himself off. "Someone needed to do it, and why not me? I was not aligned to the Army at that point of time, and was the best weapon-smith in Meridian. Phobos would have been a fool not to recruit me. It was ideal for me to be the spy; this way, I could sabotage the weapons and keep an eye out for any news that could help our cause. It's not like I can ever be reunited with my family, now that they're..." He paused and approached Julian, his head downcast. "I'm sorry, Julian, I could not help you, though I wish I could. I did not want to run the risk of revealing my true allegiances."

"It's my fault, Vathek," Julian shook his head. "I should not have believed the worst of you."

Vathek nodded. "There is someone that you ought to see now, Julian... Someone who I am sure you would like to see."

Reese, Julian thought, and his heart lifted as he followed his friend through the Infinite City. It seemed as if they were walking forever, in his weakened state, but he suddenly stopped at one building and knocked on the door. The door opened.

Julian caught his breath as a woman's outline came into view, but when she stepped into the light, he saw that it was not who he was hoping for; it was not Reese. He had never met the woman before, with her insignificant features and plain appearance. She held a candle in her other hand and pressed a finger to her lips.

"The children are sleeping," she whispered, as she led them inside through the corridor. She looked him up and down. "You must be Caleb's father. Caleb looks so much like you."

Julian could only nod mutely upon hearing these words. It wasn't until Vathek nudged him that he made his way, behind the lady, to see his sleeping son.


Caleb grew like a reed, strong and fast. If Meridian had been as it used to be in days of yore, he would have been taught more than just the rudimentary letters and numbers, but these were dark days of war between the Rebels and Prince Phobos' forces. Instead, after mastering the basics of language and mathematics, he had been drafted into the resistance. Caleb took to combat early on. He wanted to help, he had said to Julian, after they were reunited. Julian had been appointed as one of the leaders of the rebellion after his arrival, to his great chagrin and reluctance; he had, after all, been a distinguished member of the Meridian army before Phobos' coup.

To a boy like Caleb, who was adventurous and dreamt of being in the outdoors as he was wont to do as a child, the prospect of war was appealed to him, for it meant freedom from the confines of the Infinite City. Caleb dreamt of fighting alongside his father to liberate the city and find his mother. Caleb had not known what happened to his mother; the morning their home was attacked, Reese had taken him to a lady who minded children for a living, saying that she would be back. The attacks came, and the lady and all the children she was minding at the time were evacuated together; after all, it wasn't as if they had the luxury of waiting for each child's parents so that they could all be evacuated together, she argued. Since then, no one had seen Reese, either in her Mage form or her glamour.

That was all Julian could find out. The lack of information frustrated him, and he realized that she was lost to him forever. It was as if she had never existed; as a matter of fact; if it weren't for the fact that Caleb existed, he might have wondered whether the time he spent with her had been but a dream. However, Caleb did not look much like her at all; like Reese had predicted, he grew up to be almost a copy of Julian, except his eyes. Even so, his eyes did not look like Reese's; the green of his eyes were deeper, instead of the pale jadeite colour that her eyes were.

He never spoke of her again, not even to Caleb, and Caleb learnt to stop asking about her. In time, Caleb himself began to forget about his mother; her loving gaze, sound of her voice, the safety of her embrace... Julian considered this to be a blessing, for – unlike Caleb – he could not escape the great happiness and terrible melancholy that threatened to overcome him each time he thought about her.


When we lose one we love, our bitterest tears are called forth by the memory of hours when we loved not enough.

- Maurice Maeterlinck, Wisdom and Destiny


A/N: Maurice Maeterlinck speaks the truth.

Here I also referenced Kubla Khan. I think I adored W.I.T.C.H. even more in Season 2, especially when Taranee quoted Kubla Khan in X is for Xanadu. I had not seen Season 2 until I watched it on YouTube a few days ago (which is what inspired this story). I had enjoyed Season 2 so immensely and seeing X is for Xanadu reminded me of when I was much younger and sitting for my IGCSEs (Kubla Khan was written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and we had to study all his works for our English Literature syllabus). Coincidentally, I discovered W.I.T.C.H. around the time I was sitting for my IGCSEs, that's a long time ago!

Caleb is a Hebrew name. In most baby name sites, it means 'dog', but I came across this interesting thread that suggested it means, 'whole-hearted': behind the name dot com slash bb slash fact slash 175266. (Just remove the spaces and replace the dot and slash.) Given how much we know about Nerissa's obsession with the Hearts, if we took this interpretation of the name, this would indeed be a moment of Fridge Brilliance. And that's the interpretation I want to take.

Julian oh Julian, if you didn't cut off Nerissa, she would have told you all about her diabolical plans. If anyone is wondering why is Nerissa such a pansy in this one, remember that for all she's magnificent in plotting and scheming, her emotions are always her downfall. She does show emotions towards Caleb and Julian even in the series (mostly anger in 'O', and I'd like to think there was a time when she was not afraid to be vulnerable towards Julian. She probably justifies it as keeping up her act). Her vulnerability is why I've made her such a pansy (case in point: the flashback to Cassidy's death has her running away in tears). Also, I managed to insert some references to the series: In 'O', she talks about Caleb's birthright as well.

One of the reviewers I had left me a nice long message (thank you) but pointed out some headscratchers:

1) Season 1 Little Girl Weira having red hair cannot possibly be Season 2 Queen Weira. I know what you mean! I almost dismissed it and had a long roundabout story to explain the ages (which involved both Weiras being cousins, which would fit with both of them being heirs to the throne, much like how both Princes William and Harry are heirs to the throne), but then I stumbled on the wiki and found out that in the comics, Elyon's mother Weira has red hair. So I decided to make it simpler and have the red haired Weira and Queen Weira be the same person. I just decided that Season 2 Queen Weira was colored wrongly, or she dyed her hair, or – and this is a bit of Fridge Brilliance – Season 2 Queen Weira was a false image in a false memory that Trill!Nerissa was feeding Elyon; therefore being blonde was a sign that the memory was fake! (Or it could just be hair dye.)

2) The volcano thing. I always assumed that the volcano erupted and then the lava (with the Stone of Threbe) cooled and became rock so it didn't necessarily take ages to mine out.

3) The Mage's age. It's one of the show's anachronism stews, since the Mage in Season 2 in Julian's flashback is really young! Although to be fair, she's in her late 60s-early 70s, the way I wrote her. I can't remember if it's said how long the Mage has lived in the Infinite City though, but is it okay if I handwave it and say that the Mage hasn't always lived in the Infinite City but made her home there when she was really young? That being said, if my theories still don't make sense, please feel free to tell me why (so I correct my time frame) or reject it entirely: this is fanon speculation, and we'll leave the tough questions (like how old the mage really is) to canon; it's why I've avoided giving the Mage an exact age!

4) And yes, I did accidentally type air instead of water in Chapter 1. Thanks for pointing that out!

To all my reviewers, thank you so much for taking the time to review; it makes my day.

Thank you for reading.