embers
I formulated this with a good friend of mine (or rather, I asked for a suggestion and he gave me one), so here it is. The game (nor the ending, from what I have heard) really gives no details into Camus' past, and I figured that it must be something pretty cool... thus, we have this short(?) fic.
Timeline-wise, this one takes place anytime after Camus joins the party.
Elayne died today, ten years ago.
I was seventeen then. So different was I then from how I am now.
Anger was my greatest weapon. I did not care what others thought. I am surprised even now that Miklotov managed to become my friend back then.
It surprises me that Elayne could have ever loved someone as dark as myself.
She was like water to my flames. Somehow, I would never let my rage totally consume me with her at my side.
Her smile... it was so perfect, so angelic. It was my own heaven.
I remember her laughter as though it was yesterday. Her voice... it echoes within my heart.
She had always told me never to lose my temper, that one day someone I cared about would get hurt because of it.
I never listened to her.
I should have listened to her.
But I was a fool.
Elayne died in my arms today, ten years ago. She died by my own sword.
A fellow knight had insulted me. I remember not how, but he had. He had insulted me, and he had insulted Elayne.
She had tried to stop me from raising my blade. In my terrible anger, I heard nothing, not even her voice.
Through a blurred red mist in my eyes, I watched as I rammed Uriah through her chest.
So my anger had killed her in the end after all.
Elayne smiled up at me today, ten years ago. It was the last smile to ever touch her lips again.
Her last words... how they sting me, even now.
She still loved me, even if I had killed her. She forgave me, even as her lifeblood flowed away from her suddenly sluggish heart.
I can never forgive myself.
With her dying breath, she killed the fire from within me, embedding it into my sword. I can be angry no more.
Instead, I am numb. I am cold.
I can love no more. I can love none but her.
Elayne said farewell to me, ten years ago. A farewell that would last an eternity.
And I live on.
***
The rasping sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath broke the stillness of the morning. Camus found himself staring into his reflection from the mirror-like surface of Uriah's blade from where he stood alone upon Vorpalik Castle's battlements.
Now that he was alone, Camus was not smiling.
The Rage Crystal flashed a crimson light from Uriah's crown, flashing it's own strange brilliance to Camus. It reminded the former Red Knight of flames...
It reminded Camus of the anger that had once burned through his soul.
"I... will always... love... you..."
Wordlessly, Camus sheathed his blade. With suddenly weary eyes, he gazed off towards the sunrise. Within it, he saw Elayne's beautiful smile.
A wan smile graced his own lips. A wistful smile.
Until forever, my love.