Chapter 20

Sauli ran through the city, heading north to try and find Adam. He looked down every alley, pushed through any crowd, and searched behind every corner, but it was like trying to find a single needle in a pile of millions of strands of hay. His heartbeat pounded in his ears and he ran, his heart and his mind determined on not giving up. He stopped to catch his breath in a darker part of town where he found less people than the rest of the city.

"I will never find him like this," mumbled Sauli to himself as he panted. "But if I give up..." Sauli sighed. "There is just too much at stake." He heard a door open behind him.

"I sense you're looking for something." An older woman wearing long jade beads, huge spectacles, and a mess of curly ginger hair appeared out from behind the door.

"Oh, um, yes," replied Sauli, "well...it is more of a someone that I am looking for. I have looked everywhere but-" The old woman chuckled to herself, confusing Sauli. "What is funny?"

"Perhaps you should not be looking with your eyes, my friend. If I were you, I'd be searching with my ears." Sauli was puzzled at first, but then his eyes widened as he realized what she meant. "Speaking of ears," said the old woman, "I heard a strange melodic sound coming from over there." The woman pointed her long skinny finger toward the park just outside the city. The same park Adam and Sauli had visited during their break.

"Thank you," said Sauli with a smile, "That helps very much!"

"Wait!" Called the woman before Sauli could run off. She tossed him a small ring with a strange cross on it.

"What's this?" Asked Sauli, staring at the ring.

"It will help you!" Called the old woman. "Now hurry! There's not much time!" Sauli looked at the ring, trying to see what was so special about it, then shrugged and shoved it back into his pocket.

"I don't see how-" He looked up and the door to the old woman's store was closed and she was gone. He shrugged once more and ran towards the park as fast as he could. As he got closer, he began to hear the melodic sound that the older woman spoke of. It sounded painful, yet beautiful. A sorrowful yet magical sound that made his eardrums moan with pleasure.

"There's no time for us...

There's no place for us...

What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us?"

Sauli recognized the voice immediately and followed the tragically beautiful melody as quick as he could.

"Who wants to live forever...

Who wants to live forever?"

Adam's singing lead him to the small park outside of the city. Adam was there, laying down, running his fingertips across the surface of the lake as he sang. The area around him was green and some dandelions were budding, but where his body touched, the grass had turned brown and flowers wilted. His demonic features were hidden, a sign that he must've fed again, and yet his body language seemed as tense and uncomfortable as if they were not.

"There's no chance for us...

It's all decided for us...

This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us..."

"Now that song I like." Adam turned around to glance at Sauli, his blue eyes twinkling in the light of the sunset. Their eyes met for a moment, then he turned away to look back at the water.

"Come to finish me off?" Asked Adam, twirling his right index finger in the water, causing tens of ripples to slowly form and expand. "You can certainly try. Hell, I'm even tempted to let you do it. I've had enough of you and the rest of these mortals." Sauli bit his bottom lip.

"What should I say?" He thought. "After everything that's happened, I don't know if there's anything I can bring up that won't upset him." The silence between them was deafening. Not even any sounds from the bustling city caught Sauli's ear.

"You know how he died?"

"...Jibade?" Asked Sauli, taking a step toward Adam. Adam was quiet for a moment, then he sighed and spoke again.

"It was five or four months after our..."Adam cringed at the memory, "separation...He was always such a kind and gentle Pharaoh, much less ruthless than the previous ones we had. The Council of the Gods felt that it was his kindness that made him weak, that he was unfit to rule over Egypt. So...naturally, when a guard approached them about the Pharaoh having a love affair with a male slave...they lept at the chance to execute him."

"Oh, Adam," said Sauli sympathetically, taking a seat beside Adam on the green grass, getting a glance at Adam's reflection. It was crystal clear, even though the water was not, and made his face shine like a blazing comet. Adam was quiet. He reached down and picked a dandelion off the ground, spinning slowly between his fingers.

"I was in the crowd the day of his execution," said Adam finally. He sighed and looked down at the flower sadly. "They made a huge spectacle out of it...put him up in front of what seemed like all of Egypt. As the councilmember read the charges, I felt my guilt consume me. 'It's your fault,' I kept telling myself, 'You did this to him. You can't let them kill him, not your Jibade.'"

"And?" Asked Sauli, curiously tilting his head to see Adam's face. "What happened?" Adam closed his eyes and he slowly closed his fist, crushing the dandelion within.

"Before I could say a word, another slave called out to Jibade, screaming things like, 'You can't die, my love! You can't!' The truth was slowly becoming clear to me, but I didn't believe it until Jibade spoke..." Adam threw the crumpled up dandelion into the lake, causing small ripples to form and expand across the entire lake.

"W-What did he say, Adam?" Asked Sauli, now more curious than ever. Adam opened his eyes and stared out into the distance, watching the sun reach the end of the horizon and the sky transition from a soft orange glow to a sea of violet.

"He said to him, 'It'll be alright, my desert flower...I'll always be with you.'" Sauli gasped lightly. He remembered Adam's face when he had first told him the story of the love between pharaoh and the slave that was strong enough to make a constellation. He had smiled bright when discussing the beauty and the romance of the two, of how the strength of the love was so apparent that they marked themselves to always remember it. It was the first time Sauli saw a different side to Adam, one that wasn't shallow and self-absorbed. Now, knowing the story was about Adam all along, Sauli felt tears build in his eyes as he watched someone he cared so much for look so defeated.

"I gave up everything for him," continued Adam as he ran his fingertips down his right cheek, staring at his reflection as he did so, "but...I was nothing to him..." Adam turned away from his reflection and from Sauli. He looked up at the starry sky longingly, keeping his eye on a single star near the center of the sky. "My love died that day...and so did I...I vowed to never let myself get hurt like that again. Keep myself cold and uncaring. The only man I would ever love would be myself, always."