The Shadows of a Supernova

by N P Hector

  Romulus stared in shock as the fallen walls of the dome revealed the forest surrounding them. Joan and Cullum were standing beside Gideon, and they rushed towards the center of the dome.

  He snapped back to reality and immediately searched for Selene. She was curled up on her side as if she were asleep. The chain that had kept her underwater had been broken in half by the force of the blast. The cuff remained on her ankle. Her dark eyelashes were stark against her pale skin. Her lips were blue, and her heart was quiet.

  He pulled her to him immediately and began caressing her face. “Selene! Selene, you need to wake up. Come on baby, it isn’t over. It can’t be over.” He tore the now mundane ankle cuff from her leg and turned her over. His hands hovered over her heart as he tried desperately to restart it.

  Joan collapsed beside them and began to cry. “Oh my god, she must have matured into her powers and tried to free herself. Is she--?”

  “No.” Rom snarled out. “She’s not. She can’t be. I won’t allow it.”

  Joan added her energy and tried her best to restart Selene’s heart. Her lip began to quiver when several seconds passed and Selene remained unchanged.

  Cullum and Gideon appeared beside them. Rom stood abruptly and grabbed Gideon by the lapels. “Listen here, Fae. You can fix it. I need you to fix it now. Do you hear me?” The Fae did not respond. Romulus threw him onto the ground and stood above him. He was nearly shaking with anger and his eyes were pure silver. “You can’t let her die! Don’t you dare let her die!”

  Gideon stood and dusted himself off. “The death of a soulmate cannot be undone. No matter how much it hurts.”

  Everyone froze. Rom’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Soulmate?” He stalked closer to the Fae. His voice wavered and cracked with emotion. “You mean to tell me…” his voice was hoarse, “that Selene is my soulmate?”

  Gideon ran a hand through his hair. “When you called me to the Order’s Estate she asked me if she was Sorcha. I answered that she was not.”

  Cullum stormed over. “Stop speaking in riddles, man! We need a miracle!”

  Gideon continued, “Selene should have asked if you two were soulmates. But she didn’t. She asked if she was Sorcha, which she wasn’t. But you two are soulmates.”

  Romulus let out a roar of anguish so severe that everyone else felt it all the way to their souls. It was the sound of a man in unbelievable pain. He scooped Selene up in his arms. He brought her to Gideon. “I don’t even care how that’s possible. You fixed this once before, you can right fate again. I will give you anything you ask for.”

  He rocked Selene back and forth. Joan was sobbing into her hands now. She tried to plead with Romulus, “Rom, she’s gone. We tried.” Rom scoffed at that and pulled Selene closer to his chest. “No, she can’t be. I just found her.” His voice was muffled and tears streamed down his angled face. “I just found her.”

  Gideon looked down at Selene. “Rom, do you remember what I told Adrian?”

  Romulus glared at the Fae but recited the words he had seen repeated so many times in the pool.

  “you will need to ensure that what happens here is not repeated.”

  Gideon motioned with his hand, “go on. There was more.”

  “What we are trying to prevent is Sorcha’s sacrifice, which will soon result in your deaths. In the next life, you must prevent her sacrifice, thus preventing your own deaths again. Nature demands that balance be restored. Sorcha sacrificed herself for love. In the next life, you must ensure that you make that mortal sacrifice instead of Sorcha”

  Romulus looked down at Selene. “You’re not Sorcha, yet you’re my soulmate. How can that be?”

  Gideon clapped his hands together and smiled. “Exactly! Don’t you see?”

  Joan was inconsolable and sat back on her heels. Seeing his fated so upset and his leader so devastated, Cullum marched up to Gideon. He shoved the Fae back with the heel of his hand. “That’s enough from you! Begone!”

  “But it’s just about to get cool, trust me.” Cullum’s nostrils flared at the dismissal of his leader’s pain. He was just about to forcefully escort the Fae away when a glow cast a shadow over Gideon. He turned around to find Romulus holding a very still, very luminescent Selene.

  Gideon nudged a very shocked Cullum. “I’ve never seen one of these before, but I’ve been told that it’s amazing to watch.”

  Romulus looked at Selene in his arms. A bewildered expression was painted on his face. His confusion turned to shock when her still body floated gently from his arms. Unable to let go completely, he continued to hold her hand.

  “What in the name of the angels...” Joan gasped and made her way over to Cullum.

  Romulus feared that she would fly right up to the clouds. But she hovered at chest height. Her eyes were still closed and she was still frighteningly pale, but she looked as if she were peaceful -- asleep.

  There was another blast of energy, this one similar to the one that destroyed the dome, that burst forth from Selene. The clearing was eerily quiet. Not even the birds chirped. It was dead silent when Selene’s eyes flashed open and she inhaled loudly. She gasped for breath and clutched at her heart. When she realized that someone was holding her hand, she turned to face Rom.

  Her eyes widened and then watered. Immediately, she stopped hovering and crashed towards the ground. Romulus was still so shocked that he almost let her fall, but he was able to recover quickly enough to catch her in his arms.

  “Rom? Is this heaven? Are we--?”

  Rom looked towards Gideon. Gideon shook his head.

  “No, love. We’re together on earth. I love you and I never want you to scare me like that again.” He kissed her soundly and she crossed her arms around his neck.

  Joan moved towards Selene. “How is this...how is this possible? You were dead. I saw you. You drowned.”

  Selene flinched and Romulus rubbed her back. Cullum watched the two and a thought suddenly occurred to him.

  “Wait. So, you’re soulmates?”

  Rom nodded and explained to Selene. “When you asked Gideon if you were Sorcha, he said no. We should have asked him if we were soulmates.”

  Gideon popped in. “You are, by the way.”

  Selene laughed and kissed Rom’s jaw. “I told you!”

  Cullum continued. “But you’re not Sorcha.”

  Selene shook her head. She had known that, too.”

  Cullum was quiet for a moment before asking very quietly, “so, is it possible that maybe Selene is the reincarnation of Adrian and that Romulus is Sorcha reincarnated?”

  Rom was about to scoff at the idea but Joan interrupted. “Rom, why did you feel that you were Adrian?”

  Rom indicated his muscled figure. “Well, aside from the obvious, when the Order found me they showed me the pool and explained that I was Adrian.”

  Selene began to laugh. “That explains why I didn’t feel any familiar connection with Sorcha! You had me so focused on trying to see if I was Sorcha that I didn’t even think to ask myself why Adrian seemed so familiar.” She put her head in her hands. “If we had just listened to what we knew to be true in our heart and in our soul, then this whole mess could have been avoided. We shouldn’t have focused on what a fated couple looks like and paid more attention to how we made the other feel.”

  Romulus still looked unconvinced, but Selene expanded on her thought, “remember that story you told me about how you earned the name Romulus the Relentless?”

  Romulus’s brow furrowed. “Yes?”

  Selene hugged him tightly. “You told me that souls are not bound to the physical world. Souls find each other regardless of the bodies they inhabit. They are not bound to physical forms. So why couldn’t I have Adrian’s soul, then?”

  There was shocked silence before Joan spoke up. “It doesn’t happen often, but I do remember hearing a rumor about this centuries ago at court. I thought it was a myth.”

  Gideon clapped slowly. “It took you long enough. Do you know h
ow hard it was to watch you wander through this blind?”

  Selene craned her head back to look at Rom. “Is what you said true?”

  Rom kissed her soundly. “Which part?”

  “The part where you said that you loved me.”

  “I wanted to tell you long before you were taken. I’ll always regret that you heard that after the attack and not before. I love you. I loved you even before I knew that you were my fated.” He took a deep breath. “Selene, my love. I’ve been a fool. Will you forgive me?”

  Selene smiled and returned a deep kiss. She traced the edge of his jaw. “Rom, will you bond with me? I don’t want to be separated again.”

  He hugged her tight and whispered into her ear “there is nothing that would make me happier.”

  “But not because fate told you too - but because you love me?”

  “Selene, if loving you has taught me anything it’s that I wouldn’t care if fate had other plans. Even fate negotiates.” He kissed her deeply and whispered against her lips. “It was always you.”