How many times had he told himself to stop twiddling his fingers over the course of his conversation with Denara? Nyxis lost count hours ago. The nymph glanced at the rays of the rising sun creeping into the cave. "So a throne connects each and every soul to the Arbotro," she cocked her head to the side. "What are Cardovia and Synketros collecting them for?"

The memory of that conversation surfaced in his mind. "Xanthy only told me they need the thrones to get into Parkane."

Denara's face clouded at the mention of the Arbotro's abode but it vanished before Nyxis could form a question regarding it. She sighed. "What do you need me for?"

"We need all the help we can get, Denara," Nyxis said, taking everything in him to look at the Nymph in her orange eyes. He found them searching his as their gazes locked. "That, and I cannot just leave you here. I did promise to get you out."

"I remember," Denara bit her lip. "I thought it was the medicine talking."

Nyxis snorted and touched his chest. "Ouch."

Denara elbowed him playfully. "I am joking," the sparkle in her eyes was replaced with urgency almost as if the former didn't exist. "What can I even do up there? It is not like I am a whole army."

"You are, in a way," Nyxis said. "Plus, I have seen you control water better than any water sprite could. You can take on a trained air sprite and win. That is someone we need right now."

"Air sprites?" Denara frowned when Nyxis confirmed it with a curt nod. "Are you expecting me to fight creatures I am not familiar with? That would be a disaster. In battle, it is best if we know who we are fighting so we can devise the best way to neutralize them."

The way Denara said neutralize made Nyxis glad he had more chances in winning Denara to their side and not as their enemy. He masked his discomfort with a slight chuckle. "Look at you, giving war advice already," he teased.

"It is the simplest rule in the tome," she rolled her eyes. "Besides, I am not a commander. If I am to go with you aboveground, I will be a one-woman machine and I am bound to get tired."

Nyxis pursed his lips. He decided to take on a different route with this discussion. He channeled his inner politics tutor and fixed his face to not show he was desperate. "Look, Denara, I know you wanted to avoid this battle at all costs and I would too considering you have a nice cave right here," he began. Sympathy and flattery, check. "But the world above you is dying, literally," Nyxis spread his hands. Guilt, check. Now, the facts. Bring it closer to home. "Have you felt as if nature is dying? Because it is. The Heiress and the Sovereign are doing something to rob the whole island of its natural and magical resources. Even if you do not fight, the fight will go to you. You would not survive without nature...and magic."

The lines in Denara's face deepened as she stared at nothing. She was thinking. Now, when was he able to read Denara this well? Hmm. How about never? Nyxis didn't need to add to his argument but they both knew what would happen when the island drains completely of magic. Nothing would survive. Umazure would turn into a barren wasteland which the other races could occupy and fight about.

Eerily similar to what happened to Cardina. People liked fighting over things they thought they needed. Where would the fairies be when that happens? Nowhere. Perhaps Pidmena would welcome them with open arms.

Denara didn't speak for a long while. Her eyes darted around the cave with no specific pattern. Let her have time to think. He sat beside her on the slab of stone which once had been his bed. A small smile crept into his lips at the notion. It wasn't even that long but to him, what happened here felt like ages ago.

Was that how Denara felt whenever she sent the people she helped above ground? Nyxis certainly felt that way. It was hard for him to settle back into the chaos of the world above when he got back. He longed for the cave's quiet and the aimless routine he enjoyed with Denara. After going a long way from here, Nyxis could say this cave healed him, in more aspects than one.

Would he really want to plunge Denara into the chaos he longed to escape? To make her fight in a war that wasn't hers in the first place, would it be fine if she was hurt? Sure, Denara might be selfless enough to help him but would she see it through the end?

Nyxis didn't have enough leverage on Denara besides keeping her company when he was here. Why would Denara help him again? Nyxis didn't exactly treat her right the first time around.

Perhaps that's why Nyxis had been nervous when he thought of escaping with the sirtya. He knew that Denara wouldn't want to help him because she has a life here. What did Nyxis want Denara aboveground for? Just so he could prove to the world that he brought a warrior? Or was it so that he could prove he could help her?

Perhaps, it was neither. Perhaps, Denara wouldn't even want to and his motives would not even need exposing. Denara certainly took her time. Nyxis amused himself by staring at the blue walls of this particular cave. The stone where he and Denara sat was full of memories Nyxis hadn't anticipated. His hand automatically crept to his scar. He caught Denara looking so he quickly brought it down.

"It suits you," Denara turned to the blue walls with soft eyes. "Scars have a way of reminding us that we are not indestructible."

Nyxis heaved a breath and propped his elbows on his thighs. "They also remind us of the grim days and of the things we do not want to remember."

"What matters is we have the choice to deal with those bad memories," she countered. "Will we move forward or will we revel in its influence and wither? Which do you think you should choose?"

Nyxis found himself looking anywhere other than Denara's eyes. Shame bubbled from his gut and into a lump in his throat. Denara seemed to know everything about him but he hardly knew anything about her. Denara could pick him apart in a matter of seconds while he couldn't even figure Denara out even if he had his entire lifetime to do so.

He almost jumped out of his skin when Denara reached out and laid a hand atop his. The heat from her palm almost scalded his skin. Or maybe that's just his face. Nyxis swallowed and stared at his and Denara's hands atop the stone. It looked almost...natural. Nyxis shook his head. He shouldn't be getting these thoughts. Not right now.

"You think you do not know me," Denara repeated his thoughts to him. Damn, was this woman a thyminka? "Do not look at me like that," she chuckled when Nyxis did, in fact, look at her like she grew horns. "When you live as long as I do, you will find that most people are, in their core, people. In our core, we are all but the same."

Nyxis blinked. "Does it ever get tiring?"

"Sometimes," Denara ducked her head to look at her hands still resting atop Nyxis's. "But this is my lot, you know? I cannot abandon it. This, in a way, is my scar—a constant reminder that a long time ago, I have had my chance and I did not do it right."

"Have you served that punishment enough, Denara?" Nyxis inclined his head to see the nymph's face better. "Do you think it is time to move forward?"

Denara smiled. "Now you are getting it," she said. "I think it is time to move forward so I must do this. Will you have regrets?"

In everything else other than this, Nyxis would have waved his arms and said, Psh. Regrets? What are regrets? But this time, he found himself thinking about that question thoroughly.

Regret. It's such a terrifying word. It signaled something might go wrong and Nyxis wouldn't like it. To fear, to think of the future, to look back and see where he was wasn't exactly what he imagined. What did he want out of this? Usually, it's the motive which plays a big role in determining if he would have regrets or not. Why was he doing this?

To help Denara move forward. To offer her a choice to redeem herself and live the best of her life instead of wasting away like this. To show her a world she would not miss this time. To give her something she needed, she craved, and she was deserving of.

Nyxis wanted to give Denara a second chance at her life. If this was the only way to do it, then he would gladly give it. He would help someone who wasted no time in thinking of helping him. He would heal someone because that someone healed more of him.

Perhaps, this was exactly what Xanthy was thinking when she wanted to drop everything and heal June. For someone people loved, sometimes, they didn't even have to think twice to help them.

Love...

Was that what he felt for Denara? He didn't know. Perhaps he was too young to think about such things. What did it mean to love someone?

He glanced at Denara and their gazes locked once again. It hadn't been too long when Nyxis had looked into those eyes and found nothing but contempt in them. When has that changed into something like this? He wasn't seeing anger or hatred in Denara's eyes. Not anymore. Somehow, he found himself reflected in them. He didn't flinch when Denara's other hand crept up to his face.

"Well, will you have regrets?" Denara asked him again.

His lips curled into a smile. "No," he said. For once, he knew what truth felt like. "Will you?"

Denara breathed with amusement. "Gods, you look just like him," she whispered. "But that is not why I am doing this."

Nyxis leaned into Denara's hand and relished in its warmth. "Then why are you doing this...with me?" The last addition took everything in him to blurt out.

"I wanted to see the world. You wanted me to fight in your war," Denara said. "But more than that, I have seen you grow. I have seen you break and I want to see you be whole again."

Nyxis knitted his eyebrows. "So it is duty?"

"Duty and something else," she tilted her head to one side. "I believe this is what love is supposed to feel like?"

Nyxis's eyes widened. "Y-you...? Why? How?"

Denara laughed at that. "Does loving someone require a reason?" she leaned closer and took Nyxis's breath away with it. "I know enough to realize that what I feel towards you is something I have not felt in such a long time. I want to do it again, but this time, better and with you."

Nyxis was pretty sure he was red as a noprary fruit right now. Denara caressed his cheek with her thumb. "So, are you ready?" she asked. "Will you spend eternity with me?"

"Every second," Nyxis smiled over the beat of his heart crowding in his ears. It felt so natural as the words rolled off his tongue. "Will you?"

"With every breath."

Denara brought her face closer to his, so much he could see the faint, crisscrossing scars marring her face. She must have suffered a lot throughout her long life yet here she was, smiling. At him. Because of him. His hand atop the stone twined its fingers with Denara's while his other hand found itself resting at the crook of her neck. When did that happen?

"That is enough, right?" his voice was nothing but a whisper now.

"More than," she chuckled then brought her lips to his.

In that single moment, everything faded around them. The air crackled with energy as their souls reached for each other. Heat rose off in waves before being devoured by their own magic—swirling, shrieking for something beyond their reach.

Their souls long marred with the sins of their pasts broke free from their cages and sped towards the unexplored surface full of promises and chances. This was it. This was the freedom they had been looking for, for the longest time. Salvation. It was what they had been living for, all those years.

Denara's fingers tangled in Nyxis's hair as their kiss deepened. Their magic quivered in the unseen dimension of their souls. Sparks of pure, unhindered energy filled their hearts, spread across their systems and took over their senses. Denara tasted of the sea. Her lips were soft and gentle against his.

They fell closer. Magic welled up in their bodies, spewing over in a show of light and energy. It shook the cave and probably made the ocean move away as well. A huge swirl of ice, fire, water, and air exploded from Nyxis and Denara.

Their locked synnavaimis broke free after centuries of begging to be let out. In one mighty hurricane, the cave froze over only to be melted by Denara's raging fire. Steaming water was calmed by the ocean waves that somehow made it inside the cave. The earth shook underneath them in a hidden magic lost to living souls.

Just as their bond came close to being melded, Cyrdel chose that time to pop up and say, "I have found the throne—"

Before he could finish, a blast of something incomprehensible hit him straight in the face. Nyxis and Denara were too busy with each other to care.