A Love That Destroyed Time

by Melanie Ray

  He got up and headed toward the necklace. The ring stared back up at him, almost in a mocking manner. He bent down to the ground with his teeth, trying to grab it while keeping his mouth clean. Shame filled him, he didn't want to treat it with such disregard.

  Chapter 77

  REPAIR ME

  He looked toward his hands. They were folded tight, and it hurt to open them. What was keeping them down? It didn't feel like metal, or bone. It reminded him more of a rubber band. His back, he couldn't change that, but his hands?

  He could learn to leap up on enemies, but he needed hands at the very least. He looked over toward Guy, sleeping. He moved over toward him, causing him to wake up. "I need a favor?"

  "From me?" Guy asked with uncertainty. "What can I do, Sire?"

  Yed ignored Guy's words again. Technically, he was royalty now, but he didn't want to be called it. Yet, it was hard not to treat royalty with their honorable namesake when one was around them. Guy must have been close to Fayu, he had a hard time breaking free from his subservient role, even if he didn't remember who he'd been.

  Yed moved close to the wall, and tried to raise himself high enough to get his hands on it. It was that dedication he was counting on. "If anything bad happens, I place no fault on you." He gestured to his hand. "I am going to open it as far as I possibly can. When I give the signal, take your foot and crush it." He wasn't surprised by the shock on Guy's face. "I know what I'm saying."

  "I could crush it. I don't know what happened to it." Guy was edgy, but Yed couldn't let him get away.

  "I need my hands. My back may be screwed, but I need these hands. If there is something that is flexible like a rubber band, then a crush might break it. I'll have mobility in it again."

  "If not, you'll lose all chance for it," Guy said, reminding him of that fact. "It would be even harder to walk in your state."

  "It's worth it. Look, Zaria is busy with Muiny, and I am not bugging Ezra about this. Just smash my hand with your foot when I say so. Please. As a favor to your king." Yed added an extra degree, hoping that would seal the deal. Seeing that Guy was willing with a nod, Yed began to move his fingers slowly outwards from the wall. Like a rubber band, he felt the tension in it, making him more sure of this drastic action.

  Finally, his fingers were spread apart as much as possible. Yed bit back the pain he felt, knowing it would be increasing. After this, his hand would be free. "Okay, Guy, now."

  Guy reared his foot back, before crushing Yed's hand against the wall. A snap was heard inside, but Yed couldn't bite back the piercing scream. He dropped to the ground and looked at his hand. Blood formed in the middle, and he knew bones may have been fractured inside.

  The tension had disappeared. He had his hand back. He ignored Muin and Zaria's questioning look as he bent down and picked the necklace back up. With it tightly in his bleeding grasp, he made his way to Ezra.

  He found her lying down on the ground. She hadn't gone far, only past the corner so she didn't have to see him. Her eyes were filled with tears, but they were closed. He approached closer, knowing she couldn't be asleep after his scream.

  "No, not this tonight," she revealed herself. "I left to avoid this. Don't do this."

  "I have to." Yed moved over toward her. "I've confused you so much that you can't even seek comfort in me. You're brother died."

  "Yours did too," Ezra said softly. "He lived a happy long life in your time. I remember that."

  "Yeah, he did." Yed's confidence was beginning to wane. He remembered the charred remains of Io. What if he was one too? "You're the only one who knows my grief because of that time, and I don't know how to act around you for comfort. Protectors don't seek comfort." He looked away a second, then back at her, but not fully toward the eyes. "The ring is for you. I bought it the day the war started. I had been chosen by King Sheward to go into the Waryes Kingdom." His voice lowered. "I wanted to get my mom and sister out. The thought presented future choices, and as slim as it was, I wanted to be ready. If I could get them out, I wanted to give it to you."

  Ezra didn't say anything.

  "The ring isn't marriage." Yed moved closer, opening his bleeding hand and revealed the necklace. He wanted to make sure the purpose was clear. "It was a signal that when a warno's protecting duties were over, they wanted to be with the one wearing the ring. The world is a mess, getting darker every day. I don't know the future, but I know my mom and sister are okay. The time, though, with everything that I've gone through? Love, just..." Did he honestly have to say it? He didn't want to, but to get past this, it needed to be done. It needed to be done. "I love you against my will."

  That made Ezra turn her gaze into his direction.

  "I don't deserve and I can't have you. With the worlds of time between us, what I know and you know? It's impossible to have a normal relationship with me." His voice hardened. "I am the overbearing friend, who wants to be more than a friend, but can't. That is what I am, and it's who I have to be." He wished it could be different, nicer words coming from his mouth. "To say 'yes, I want you' will ruin your innocence, your true spirit so completely. I am messed up inside, you don't want me. I am a Protector, not a lover."

  "Don't say that." Ezra almost hissed the words. "There's nothing you can say, that I don't know. You can't be with me, I get that. But don't cuddle next to me when you need me, it hurts too much! And I can't even be near your embrace, not after Xiam and Iri. Not after this."

  "I know." He inched a little closer. "I won't dupe you into anything, I just..." He tried to hold his hand out, but he stopped. It was wrong. She couldn't live a double life of friendship and love. He watched her eyes, just as confused and bothered as he had been.

  The feelings between them, it was more than a crush, maybe even more than love. He was worse than any predator. He didn't capture her body against her will, but he had captured her heart. "Sorry you fell for the wrong guy."

  Ezra pulled her front feet forward, almost in a shrug. "Sorry you fell for anyone, Protector."

  Protector. She was still keeping herself at a distance, but her tone seemed to accept the words. He was back to the relationship he felt comfortable with. This was right. He moved toward her, giving her a hug. A gentle hug. It couldn't have been more perfect. Just close enough to grieve, and no closer. That was healthy for the time.

  "Say it."

  "What?"

  "Say 'yes, I want you tonight'."

  Yed almost moved away. She didn't get it. "Ezra, you don't-"

  "You said it would ruin me, but look at us? We're already ruined. Living in books, stuck walking like primal animals, losing our world, our possessions, and even the ones we loved." She met him, square in the eyes. "Ruin me. One night, no awkwardness. We'll repair anything damaged tomorrow."

  Oh, geez. Yed didn't know what to do, how should he respond to that? "One night, no worrying about anything." One night. He moved closer, and tried to put his arm around her. She moved downward, and he followed her lead. Unquestioned affection. No awkwardness. This didn't lead to a kiss, or anything else. It lead to what they both needed. To grieve without worry. To touch without worry, talk without worry, and hold without worry. They both retreated back to their bedding, crying silently in each other's arms, like they had that night they found each other after the war. Accepting the inevitable, and accepting each other. They swapped stories about Xiam, personal stories neither of them knew. Ezra wanted to know so much about the future time with him, and Yed was rewarded with details about the time after he left.

  It had taken more than a pair of flowers to get Iri. Ezra told him how many times he had been spying behind the trees, or crawling along the ground just to try and see her.

  "One time, her father caught him in the grass." Ezra sniffled, but laughed at the same time. "He couldn't escape in time, but her father didn't want to fight him. He turned the water on, and Xiam was in the middle. He came out completely soaked, but at the house, Iri said she had laughed. It was the first time she considere
d giving the big lug a chance."

  "The flower didn't do it then? I was wrong." Yed gave her an extra tight hug. "They were perfect together. Xiam was in a lot of pain when he wasn't with her."

  "At least they went together." Ezra nuzzled up to him. "Living on without each other. Muin almost had to do that."

  "Yeah, at least they went together." Yed kept up the lie, for her own sake. "Get some sleep. I'll be here in the morning." The truce would be over tomorrow.

  "I don't want it to come. I don't want the days to keep going like this." Ezra sniffled and looked toward the children. "How will they survive this apocalypse?"

  "Just, have faith that it'll be okay. That's all anyone can do."

  "I'm out of faith."

  Chapter 78:

  OUT OF FAITH

  Those words hurt Yed worse than any attack he'd ever experienced. His throat grew dry and he stared like a lost child at Ezraponia. Her brother had hit her hard. "Don’t say that, don't ever say that."

  "I won't lie. This world isn't worth fighting to go on in. The waryes won. They took everything. There's nothing left to cling onto."

  "There is," Yed gritted his teeth at her. "Them." He pointed toward Tiger and Carressella, both sleeping. "We go on for them. We go on for friends, and for family. We go on for those that don't get to go on." She hit a sore spot that he'd tried to ignore.

  "You're wrong." Ezra gestured back to the children. "This isn't life. They'll grow up in a future, with what? The best place to be was where we were. Fala, being animals. Even here, were stuck in this form like animals. Maybe we should just be put out of our misery like animals."

  "Ezraponia." Yed grabbed the nearest Chronicle, trying to hold onto his strength. He'd gone through so much. Losing his children, his mind, his family, and most of his hope. The last shred he had was placed in Ezraponia Cattral.

  He remember the words AnoNymous had said.

  “Someone you hold a special place for, but she will fall.”

  Ezra was falling from her faith. "Are you aware of what you are saying?"

  "What?" Ezra rolled her eyes and plopped her body to the ground like she had run out of energy. "After all this, you still think I am innocent and naive enough to believe we'll all be fine? Are we going to live day to day, hiding in this stupid book shack? I just, I can't believe anymore that it will be okay. I'm sorry, but that's the truth. The only reason we even keep going is for the children. Maybe if we survive long enough, you can get them to that world you grew up in, in that other time. But, I don't want to." She banged her fists to the ground "This is my home, and that will never change! I don't want to go on in this kind of world."

  Yed nuzzled her cheek as she broke down, defeated. "There's still a chance."

  Ezra looked at him, confused with her heart hurting. "What do you mean? Some nonsense rhyme?"

  "We're going to complete that rhyme. Written down and predicted by our own daughter, we owe it to her."

  Ezra trembled in his arms. "I just think that...the valley below here is so pretty. If I have to go, that's how I'd want to do it. On my own terms."

  Yed gripped the necklace in his hand tighter. Those desperate words from her had taken everything to a whole new level. He pulled the necklace back out toward her. "Take it."

  "No, that's not fair." Ezra moved away. "I know we said no repercussions after tonight, but you can't present that to me."

  "Don't give me 'no repercussions' crap with the way you are talking!" Yed placed the necklace back around the neck. "It's yours and it always has been."

  "You can't." Ezra looked away. "What is this for?"

  "I won't see you on a cliff alone." He thought back to Xiam and Iri. History had repeated itself, breaking them apart. It wouldn't happen for him, not this time. "That ring is a promise to be together in the end. If the rhyme doesn't save anything, then we'll come back to that spot in the valley that you think is beautiful, and we'll jump together."

  "No. I mean, the babies-" Ezra tried to fidget the necklace off, but Yed stopped her.

  "That isn't a choice. There's no request." Yed looked at the necklace. "You can request when the time comes, whether we do or not. That's it." He watched her carefully, noting any level of intensity or fright. Like he thought, the fright was there, but not as much as he'd wanted.

  "If I say no?" Ezra questioned him. "If I can't do it when the time comes, then what?"

  "Then..." Yed touched her necklace slightly. "I guess we'll start with a date."

  "A date? Suicide pact or a date?" Ezra seemed to have trouble telling if he were serious. "Yed."

  "I am not going to open my eyes and find you gone one day. I won't." Yed looked toward the outside. "I lost my entire true timeline, and everyone I loved in it was hurt. I have nothing to lose."

  Ezra looked toward his hand. "Was it worth it? The pain of your hand, just to be able to open it again?"

  "Completely. I need to do the other one later, but this needs to heal." Yed smiled, a genuine smile. A smile that he hadn't given since before he remembered who he had been. In that second, something happened to the both of them. Whether they jumped or had their first date, there was a purpose to the madness, and an ending. An ending that, either way, he would not be alone in.

  "I can't leave the children."

  "We'll deal with that if it comes to it."

  "Okay." Ezra looked toward him, and also smiled. A blazing smile he hadn't seen since the last day he left from the house.

  Yed felt his heart beat and his hope rise. Everything looked worse than ever, but he couldn't feel down. That rhyme, there was something to it. This would be the last time he put hope into anything, and if it didn't work out, then that was it. Either way, an ending to this pain was coming. "We've got to rename Wye back to Tigeravich."

  "Why?" Ezra asked. "Do you want your name back?"

  "Wye was my Earth name. I'll remember, but I can't live in the past. Besides, Tigeravich was the name I came up with, and he will make use of that avich at the end, Ezzy." He wrapped his hand around her palm. "I wish we had a yo-yo right now."

  "Fresh out of yo-yo's." Ezra laughed and shouldered him. "It's getting late, we should probably get some rest."

  "Then get some rest." Yed stretched, wagging his colorful tail. "I've got something to do." He headed toward Guy and shook him. He seemed to be on edge about something all night. He'd been pretending to rest on Xiam's pillow, but something was bothering him. He didn't even know Xiam so it wasn't hiding his grief.

  Guy finally turned around to look at Yed. "Yes, Sire?"

  "You, something's wrong. I know you're safe, you've spent a week with my family. Yet, I don't like the way you're over here, as far away as can be." Yed patted his shoulder. "Sup, bud? I don't get it."

  "Sup, bud?" Guy fidgeted, of course not knowing the expression. "Well, um...Zaria."

  "Zaria?" Yed turned and looked toward Zaria. "What's wrong?" He was grieving, just like Muin and the rest. Currently resting, he didn't feel anything wrong.

  "Something about him, I don't like it. When I get near him, I get...e-edgy." Guy shook his head. "It's probably in my head, but he doesn't feel good to me, Sire."

  "Zaria is good." Smart, funny, and damn courageous to deal with Yed. He hadn't been himself because of the grief. Before that, he didn't like being a pet. He complained about it constantly from his cage. Kind of bitterly, even though his only other choice would be dying in a war.

  Zaria and Muin thought the other option was dying in a war, so how could he be that depressed? Zaria was boisterous but sweet. In fact, had he made a simple joke of any kind? Yed moved closer to Zaria. Had Guy's time as a waryes made him aware of something he hadn't been? Yed tapped on Zaria's shoulder.

  Zaria woke up slightly, but didn't move much. He was still decent enough not to interrupt Muin's sleep. "What is it, Yed?"

  "Did anything happen back on Fala that you haven't told anyone?" Yed asked, trying to figure out what could be wrong.

  "Hm?" Zaria reache
d into his toga. He had tied a knot into it. "I don't know how you knew, I practically forgot about it." He tried to take his teeth to the knot, but it took too much struggle not to wake Muin up.

  Yed reached down and undid the knot. From it, a red inhibitor fell out.

  "I'd never seen red inhibitor before. I managed to escape one day, and I grabbed that tiny piece. Take it if you want."

  "Red inhibitor." Yed picked it up, and looked toward Guy. Guy involuntarily shivered.

  "Bad dreams," Guy whispered. "Please don't bring it over here, Majesty."

  Pink. Yed watched Zaria fall back to sleep, but held the red inhibitor. He didn't feel anything from it, but the longer he held it, the more Guy fidgeted. He moved closer.

  "No, don't." Guy scooted all the way across the back.

  "You're seeing something, feeling something?" Yed tried to be careful, he didn't want to turn him into a waryes again. "Guy?"

  "Massacre, evil, blood, I can't-" Guy broke down and started to cry. "Rage, anger, please don't!"

  Yed stopped, and scooted back. Were the legends false? What he had believed, had it all been false? The true essence of being a waryes wasn't with the green inhibitor, or the distance of it.

  Had the children of legend only found green inhibitor and broke it off, or had they found more? More layers beneath the green? Yed looked back toward the red inhibitor If green meant peace and serenity, what did red and pink mean? Could each color actually be the cause of the waryes creation?

  Yed held the red inhibitor tightly, ran out of Golden Wood, and chucked it into the night sky. No way would he keep that around his family. Red was dangerous, and he bet pink was even more dangerous. He began to trot home, when he noticed something in the distance.

  Pink. He headed over slowly, seeing the pink shine even through the night. Only inhibitor could do that. Pink inhibitor? Not far from where they were. As he felt the rain begin to fall down, he spotted traces of green on top. "Oh no."

  Oh no. Pink and red were the underlayers of green inhibitor. Like waryes, they could stand to survive, but the acid rain? It was taking down the green! The green?!