Drifting Destiny: Chapter 8, Part 2
"My name is not important to you. All you need to know is I'm the gatekeeper of this time period. If you wish to leave the Palace, you must leave through me. I don't know if I'm inclined to let you go just yet. You do not belong here, and yet you are willing to fetch the one you love. Van, is it?" My mouth goes dry at her sudden interrogation. If she were to change into someone else entirely, I could not be surprised.
"Why are you holding me here? I am no use to you as another entity," I whisper feverently as I begin sliding across the walls. My hands make quick work behind me as I search for any nook, crack, or crevice. There has to be another way out of this room. I cannot possibly go back the way I came, and I fear she wishes to keep my here for all of her sadistic purposes. I must leave before she can make up her twisted mind.
"You are here because I have never seen anyone such as yourself in this realm. Your human mind interests me for what it is, as innocent as you think you are. Did you realize you are binding your beloved here by being here yourself?" She asked me in a casual manner. I could feel her judging eyes scanning over me as I stilled my movements. Maybe Van wasn't in this realm. Maybe, he didn't leave me at all.
"Let me go, and I shall never step foot here again," I say coldly as I approach the keeper. She does not cower before my stalking approach, and I do not cower before her. Our eyes meet, my earthy green eyes challenging her icy blue ones. Her staff glows softly, and she steps forward. I remind myself of the stasis of Van and do not retreat to her towering form. At last, she stops.
"I will give you three choices, none one of which will be easy for you. You can either leave without Van and never return to see him again. I would not even permit you to stand upon these grounds. He would of course suffer the same fate as all the guests here. He would not realize he was, and his soul would be forever tortured by not knowing it's past identity. This is a common thing, you see."
I growled under my breath as I held myself back. The keeper looked almost cheerful at the prospect at receiving and locking another soul behind the high walls of the inaccessible prison. "That is not an option. Why do you enjoy other's suffering? Are we so amusing to you?" I asked hoarsely. Either the keeper didn't hear me or chose to ignore me. I sighed in bemusement before the keeper continued on.
"The second option is for you both to stay here." My ears picked up at the prospect. Great safety, good food… "He of course would be tortured to the brink of being broken, and you would have front row seats." Maybe not. "Eventually, he would nothing but eternal pain, and it would be all your fault. The guilt would eat through you until there was nothing left of you."
Of course, the keeper had to put it that way. I had nearly cried the one and only time I had seen Van tortured. The thought the snake eating my had not been as bad as watching Van being whipped before so many men. I could remember the near flushed look of embarrassment as he held back the tide of anger. I would never put him through that again if I could help it. Van deserved so much better than what I could offer.
"Third offer is much more boring. I even call it cliché, but it's nevertheless a very good trade. You stay here in his place, and I let him go free. There's no extra charge on your part, and he lives on in your world without the suffering of torture. You would be tortured, but it's still a small price to see a loved one live on in euphemism. What do you say?" she asked as her bored mannerism was a little betrayed by the excited gleam in her eyes.
On one hand, Van would be tortured. On another hand, Van would be tortured. On the third hand, I would be tortured. To be tortured or not to be tortured, that was the question. I had made up as soon as she said the last choice, but it would still be hard. I hoped beyond hope this was just another part of the trials before opening my mouth to reply. "I'll stay here. You can let Van go," I whispered.
Expecting to be transferred somewhere dreary, I am surprised to find myself back in the council chamber before the Atlanteans. The keeper smiles at me from the far right, and I realize it was only her job. Van steps before me. "Why? How could you give up your life for me?" Oh, Van. If only you knew how much my love for had accumulated. Living without you wouldn't have been a life at all.
"Would you rather I had left you there to be tortured, Van. A part of me would die any of the ways without you. I couldn't bear knowing you would be hurt all the time," I whisper, and a lone tear slides down my cheek. It is not like me to cry in front of people, but it had all caught up to me. What if I had chosen wrong? What if we were taken apart by the rest of the Atlanteans?
Van engulfed me in his arms, and I couldn't hold back the flood of emotion. I was ruining the shirt he was wearing, but it didn't seem to matter. He was here in front of me, and I trusted him to hold me up. If I fell once more, he would catch me. I caught Varie's gentle smile over Van's shoulder, and I smiled in embarrassment. I wouldn't let Van go; not this time. I placed a soft kiss to the base of his neck before closing my eyes in contentment.
The murmuring around me is lulling me to rest, but I fight against it. To fall asleep in Van's arms at the moment is more than I could've asked for, but there is still more to be done. "Did I pass?" I ask as I fight back a yawn. Van's arms tighten around me securely, and it suddenly becomes harder to stay awake. Varie smiles again and nods in my direction. I'm reassured everything will be alright from this moment on.
"Sleep, child. You are no good to this cause if you are falling asleep on us," the keeper murmurs, and I give in to the temptation. Van tucks his face into my neck, and I breathe in the scent of him. A husky smell of salt water lingers on his skin, and I know it wasn't just a dream. I gave him my energy, and he gave me his total trust. We'll fight through this no matter what.
Important Note: I'm going to give you guys a choice. I have a work of work this semester, and it'll be hard for me to writ every weekend. So, I can continue on as I am with the sparse updates, or one of you guys can volunteer to be a cowriter to this story. Updates will be quicker if I have a cowriter to this, but the style might vary slightly. So, I'll leave it up to ya'll.
Oh, by the way, my wisdom teeth surgery went well, but I developed a dry socket afterwards. I went without decent food for way too long…
