Chapter 13

Titus

The Wishing God

Weaving the path

277 Years Prior

Nyx didn't speak to Titus for a year after he had made love to her. She tried to hide herself from him within the city, that was when they realized the thread they were bound by allowed him to see her. As she skipped through the city, or flew high in the sky above him, he watched her. He would reach out to her as she passed or try to catch her in the shadows for a moment to speak but she would never allow it.

It was then that he and Thera grew close. It was a natural bond, Thera was an outcast too. He could see those days in his mind. His flat, same as always except dark to block out the sun.

He imagined it Thera and her red eyes staring back at him.

"How old are you?" Thera had asked him in a drunken haze sitting on the two stairs leading up to the garden a few weeks after they first met.

"Twenty three." He took a a puff on his joint as he secured the black iron gate behind him. They were an odd pair, a half blood and Bloodborn elf.

"I'm younger than you?" She slurred, "That's a surprise." He pulled the bottle of honeyed brandy free from her firm grasp. She titled her head back in laughter as she took it then placed her hand down on the stone step.

"Well, I've only just turned twenty-three." He took a swig of the half empty bottle. "Besides, what's it to you. We're both children compared to the other elves. Most elves don't even leave their family homes till they're at least a century old." He shrugged and took another swig from the bottle.

"Yeah, but most elves aren't Halflings and Bloodborn."

Thera rose from where she sat and stomped her way up the stairs and through the muddied grass to his front door. "Hey!" He called after her, "Shoes!"

She tilted left and right and as she swayed kicked her shoes off and sent them spinning across the floor.

She was as different as he was and so they connected in ways he couldn't with any other. He blushed at the thought of it and wondered if the feeling was Nyx's creation. He has known Thera for a few years, they had served in the army together, though she in the Bloodborn squadrons.

He was smitten with her then, always catching her eyes and looking away quickly. He had been young and terrified of saying hello to her. Was it Nyx's red wish that granted him the courage?

Thera turned around and watched him from where she leaned against his kitchen counter. "I'm hungry." She petted Milo who purred as she scratched his chin.

He looked down at the clay tiled floor and then back up at her. Sometimes her eyes were intimidating to him, even with so much practice looking into them. "I think Anne gave me something..." He mumbled.

She jumped up and down, "Oh goodie, some of Anne's treats." He walked to his cupboards and bent low to fish out a small bag of nuts and a loaf of cinnamon bread. He pulled free a few slices and dished nuts into a bowl between them. "How do men live like this?" She laughed taking a seat at his table.

"Like what?" He joked looking around at the sparsely furnished flat.

"You have no utensils, you wouldn't eat if Annee didn't feed you, you have literally nothing except a bed and this table." She took a bite of the bread.

"Hey, that's not true, I have a bookshelf and end tables." He pulled free a seasoned nut and popped it into his mouth.

"Oh geez, sorry." She leaned over and petted Milo at her feet. She peered through the cracked curtains and then stood, "It's almost light, I should get going." She told him. "Thanks for the snack."

"Thera, I don't know if you're in any shape to walk home." He told her. She stumbled forward towards the door.

"I'm be fine." She waved a hand.

"Well, what if you get caught by the light?" He winced as he asked her, imagining the moment. The way she would return to the mist, and the Original Mother. She steadied herself on the wall.

She looked at his bed and then at him. "Are you sure?" She had already begun to head to his bed before he could reply. For a brief moment in their close proximity of the enclosed space silent fantasy played out in his mind but he kept far away from it. She was still a full elf and no matter how cast aside by society she was as Bloodborn it was forbidden for him to lay with her, even their friendship was in a gray area. Besides he had no friends except for her and Anne and he wouldn't jeopardize the little connections he did have in this world.

It was the first time in a year since Titus had let a woman into his bed. As Thera gathered blankets around her and her brown hair covered her face, he pictured Nyx there. He longed for her again. He craved her touch.

No one would ever be as completing as Nyx had been.

Titus walked past the bed and opened the door which overlooked the garden below. "Where are you going?" Thera reached out to him.

"I'm going to get us some vegetable for morning, don't worry." He smiled as he headed down the stairs and into the garden below.

The garden was his own private world. He had a small patch of vegetables which were planted and tended to by he and Anne, and in exchange for sharing his vegetables she baked loaves of bread for him. He drew from the well a large bucket of water and carried the bucket inside his home along with a platter of strawberries and cucumbers he had pulled from the patch of grass. The late spring air coursed past him and into the flat. He placed the wooden bucket in the kitchen sink and and began scooping out water to boil. He set the water into the kettle and sat in the kitchen waiting for it to come to a boil for tea.

Form his bed Thera thrashed around and watched him in the kitchen. "Can I have a strawberry now?" She asked him.

"Not in my bed." He laughed.

She sighed and threw a pillow at him. It missed, and narrowly hit Milo in the process.

"Are my curtains thick enough Thera?" He asked her.

She looked around the room, "Yes, but not the one in the bathroom. I'll burn in there." She sighed and pulled the covers tighter around her.

"They say we with the red eyes are blessed." She sat up and headed into the kitchen, wobbling the whole way. "But I think they're wrong. Are you going to secure the bathroom or am I?"

Titus watched her stumble down the hall before he could answer. She was like that, it was hard for her to ask for help. She had been independent her entire life just as he had been.

He listened to light clattering and something tumble before she shouted out, "I'm good. Nothing broke!" Titus leaned back in his chair and let his hand fall to pet Milo's head. He chuckled.

She wandered back out of the restroom and to the kitchen where she plucked a fresh strawberry from the wooden bowl in the center of the table. As she took a bite she said with a full mouth, "Can I eat this?" And pulled the bowl of fresh fruit and vegetables to herself.

"Be my guest." He laughed.

"Why would you say that? What you said before?" He leaned back in his chair so two of its feet were off the ground and his feet steadied it on the floor.

"Because we are cursed, by Quill. Didn't your little goddess tell you that?" He winced, He regretted ever telling Thera about Nyx in these moments.

Titus glared at Thera, "Don't be a mean drunk." He pushed the tea cup towards her. "Drink." He said.

"Well for starters," Thera chewed on cucumber.

"Do you want me to cut that for you?" Titus asked.

"No, well for starters," She repeated, "We're not able leave the house in the day which is a really stupid trade off for being able to smell things or see better at night. We're only good for the army because they use us to be night stalkers, we find people sure but what about what we want? And for a people so useful they sure do make a lot of fun of the Bloodborn." Titus's mind wandered to Nyx, she had shared a similar sentiment with Thera and he pondered the concept that those used as tools often had no agency in their use. What about Thera, what about Nyx, what about Titus? Were they all just pawns in the game of those who reigned above them? Thera gestured at Titus with a strawberry, "We're treated like dirt you and me. Ssssecond class," She slurred, "citizens you and me. From the moment we're born our parents give sup and we're expected to be natural born killers."

Titus interjected, "You're special Thera,"

"No! We're not. We're a joke! Another mischievous play by the con God. Just a prank on his father to ruin his perfect creation!"

"You don't think all of your amazing senses are a gift though? Look at your speed, your height. People wish they had what you have."

"You know what I wish for?" She trained her eyes on him. "I wish when I looked at children they didn't burst into tears because they're afraid of my eyes. I wish they didn't hate me because of my existence. I wish the sun didn't burn me when I went outside. I wish I could swim in a warm lake during the daytime and see the clear water exposed by the sun. Instead, from the moment I was born my fate was sealed into the Tapestry."

Titus looked down in shame, "I'm sorry Thera. I didn't mean to suggest..."

She put her cup of tea down, "I'm drunk. I'm sorry... Don't listen to me."

"I understand it Thera." She couldn't fully comprehend just how well her understood the resentment of having your fate sealed. "We should close the curtains. The sun is coming up."

"You know I think about it sometimes." She looked at Titus as he drew the curtains closed and tied them together to secure them.

"Think about what?" He turned back to her and said.

"Letting myself burn, just walking outside and letting it take me."

"It's be excruciating." He walked to the door and secured the lock. "Besides, wouldn't you want your bestie to take you out first?" He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to be at eye level. "Seriously though, you would't really Thera... Would you?" He asked.

A tear shown in her eyes as he guided her tot he bed. Milo came to sit beside them on the foot of the bed as she spoke and she pet him. "I don't know..." She whispered. She turned to him and burst into tears in her chest. She pulled him tightly by the waist as she hugged him and he held her there as she cried. "It just seems like such a waste of my life to live in the darkness."

"It's not a waste. And if ever you wish for death, don't pick a slow one Thera. The light would blind you first, then burn your flesh..."

"I know what would happen." She pulled away from him tear marks on her cheeks. "But it would take me home to the Original Mother." She spoke softly. "I could use a hug." Her voice cracked as she laid on his bed. He came to lay beside her.

"Have you met any Bloodborn in the city who you can connect with?" He asked her.

"There's a few, but they're all strange."

"Strange how?" He asked her.

She shook her head, "It's hard to describe." He looked into her bright red eyes, getting lost in them. "I can't be Nyx to you." She whispered and looked down. "But maybe I could be something?" She asked him.

He kissed her cheek, "Thera, you're drunk. Let's talk about it in the evening." He said pulling the covers over her shoulder.

She sat up, "That's a non answer." She looked down at her hands.

"My non answer, is this is a question for when you're sober. Now let's go to sleep." He pulled Thera back down and into his arms where he held her. When he knew she had fallen asleep he turned away and looked at the floor around him. In his minds eye he could still see the coiling threads snaking the floor. He picked one up, examining it. Without Chaos here, they made less sense to him. He watched the green one that connected between he and Thera's chest and thought of his red with that Nyx had granted the year before.

He sighed and then closed his eyes, wishing to sleep to take him. It was more complicated than just loving Thera. He was trapped in a prison of personal torment. She could never be Nyx. Besides they were partners at work, they patrolled the streets at night. It would become awkward if they were to start a romantic relationship.

Flashes of the red light entered his mind. Nyx at his legs picking up the chord that originated at his navel and sending her Essence into it. He felt a sharp tug there and touched his stomach.

In a few hours he would wake and explain his fears to Thera. Perhaps he would wander to the wishing well before their shift together, and listen to the bells toll at the Temple or the fountain hum with desire. It was there he would watch Nyx flit through the city and ignore him. She would look his way and then gather the wind around her and soar high into the sky to fly beside the birds. Titus couldn't sleep, he turned to watch Thera peacefully snore beside him in small rasps.

It would be a few weeks before his resolve faltered and he would make love to Thera in the darkness beside Nyx's fountain. He wondered now, if he had done it selfishly, to force Nyx to see him. After that he and Thera had been inseparable for a shirt while. Then Nyx had returned to him, and told him it was time.

He had to make a decision.

Nyx or Thera. The world, or life with her.

He chose Nyx, the girl, the Tapestry, the prophecy he wasn't sure was real. And he hoped it had been the right decision.