The kiss was heavy, intense, and filled with a desperate, crushing strength that tasted faintly of salt and spirituality.
"Alaric," Julian called as his lips brushed against Alaric’s, but through the haze of his tears, he saw a faint shadow just next to Alaric’s face. Another Alaric but with black hair—Theo.
This created a light pulse in his heart, one he suspected resonated to the god of light who was sharing a space in his subconscious.
"Do not apologize," Alaric growled softly against his lips, his jaw setting into that stubborn, lethal line. "For what it’s worth, you did your best." He whispered, pressing their foreheads together. "Now, tell me the rest. What happened next?"
Julian pulled back just a fraction, his voice dropping into a quiet whisper as he delivered the final truth.
"To keep the remaining two souls safe, Alias opened an illegal channel directly into the world’s reincarnation cycle where Norx couldn’t see. He sent you and Kael down, hoping you could find each other and be father and son again, promising to find you. But Norx vowed he would hunt your reincarnations forever, making you love and lose over and over."
Julian took a deep, steadying breath, his blue eyes turning completely to steel as the heavy weight of his identity fully landed in the room.
"Alias knew he couldn’t protect you from the heavens, but he couldn’t stay on Earth without turning the entire structure upside down by making the administrator of the world absent. So, he drove his hand into his own chest and split his core. He locked half of his soul in the highest sphere of the heavens to maintain the grand design and listen to the prayers... and he threw the other half into the channel to follow you into reincarnation." Julian looked straight into Alaric’s eyes. "I am that split soul, Lucien. I am half the being this entire Holy Empire desperately prays to. And you... you are Theo."
Alaric stayed still, watching Julian’s vibrant blue eyes. He didn’t look shocked or afraid.
"I suspected as much," Alaric said, his deep voice incredibly quiet in the dim room. He ran his thumb over Julian’s cheekbone, and brushed it lightly. "You made it so obvious with your emotions pouring out. A god and his mortal lover... it was quite obvious who the god was."
"How?" Julian asked with a quiet voice.
"You are so pure, filled with so much kindness, so much philosophy, so much... love. It’s no wonder their mirror expressed you with so much purity. It’s no wonder you cannot turn a blind eye on a dying child even to save your own skin. It is no wonder..." he leaned closer and kissed Julian’s lips again. "That you would fall for a man like me. Only a god could be so benevolent."
Julian’s heart swelled with warmth. This man... This lover of his... He always knows how to say the right things at the right time.
Alaric pressed their foreheads together, his jaw setting into that stubborn, lethal line.
"Bur that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you ascend to heaven or whatever." He added. "Like I told you before, I am not letting a god define my fate. And my fate is with you. If a god wrote a scroll saying I am meant to wither and die before I can show you the extent of my love, then I will tear that written scroll apart."
Julian let out a little, breathless laugh, his heart performing a lighter rhythm against his ribs. He leaned in and kissed Alaric again, realizing this man had always been exactly like this, unyielding and fierce, no matter the lifetime.
A tiny, bare foot scraped softly against the floorboards near the corner cot.
"Master?" a gentle, sleepy voice called out.
Julian immediately turned his head.
Lucius was standing a few paces away, rubbing his eyes, his small, tanned frame shivering slightly in his nightshirt. The boy looked anxious, his blue eyes wide as he looked at them.
Julian opened his arms. Lucius didn’t wait; he walked right over and tumbled into Julian’s lap, burying his face in his shirt. Julian wrapped his arms tightly around the little boy, his chin resting on the top of Lucius’s wild curls.
"Oh, Lucius," Julian muttered, sniffing as he held the child close to chase away the chill. "Sorry if I worried you. I’m fine now. I’m right here."
He squeezed the child tighter, feeling the small, steady heartbeat against his chest, the final piece of the family safely back in their arms.
And then, without even realizing it, Julian whispered into the dark hair, "Mummy’s here."
Lucius’ sleepy eyes widened for a second and then they softened, glistening with tears as he hugged Julian back, sobbing silently.
"Mummy," he whispered.
Alaric’s chest heaved with a heavy, silent breath, his massive hand coming down to cover both Julian and the boy, locking them together in the quiet room.
Feeling the small, warm body clinging to him and Alaric’s heavy palm anchoring them both, a fierce determination bloomed inside Julian’s chest. He looked over the boy’s blonde curls at his lover.
This time, he had the memories, he had the baseline connection to his true power, and he had the Duke’s knights standing ready. Even if their weapons did not work on Demons, he would make it work.
He would not let Norx turn this lifetime into another tragedy. He would protect this family and end the fallen god’s schemes once and for all.
Grumbleeee.
The intense, solemn atmosphere in the room shattered instantly as an incredibly loud, deep growl erupted straight from Julian’s stomach.
Julian froze, his cheeks instantly flushing a bright crimson.
Lucius poked his head up from Julian’s shirt, his teary eyes blinking in surprise before he let out a bright, giggling laugh. Even Alaric couldn’t hold back, a low, rumbling chuckle shaking his chest as he shook his head.
"I guess the God of Light still needs to eat," Alaric teased, his blue eyes dancing with amusement.
"Don’t laugh," Julian muttered, hiding his embarrassed face slightly against Lucius’s hair. He cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure as he looked up at Alaric. "How long have I even been asleep anyway?"
"For a whole day," Alaric said, his expression softening as he reached out to smooth down a stray lock of Julian’s black hair. "You fell asleep yesterday morning. This is the morning after."
Julian blinked in genuine surprise. A whole day. He had watched the entire history of his first love story, the creation of the oasis, and the tragic confrontation with Norx in the span of just twenty-four hours.
Time in the subconscious was truly a mystery.
As if on cue, breaking through the remaining warmth of their small family reunion, a sharp, rhythmic knock came on the heavy wooden door of the bedchamber.