What had Aeris seen to make her pull away from him? The second part of Geryon's own vision had filled him with so much joy—something he had never experienced—and wanted to share it with her as soon as they were done in the Visionary Room, but her pale face had given him pause. She had seen something horrifying, and he didn't feel it appropriate to share his good news, so he thought to give her time to recover.

But she still hadn't by the time morning came; as soon as they boarded the ferry for Asardia, she slipped away from him. He had walked the entire ship three times and still hadn't found her. The boat wasn't extremely large, so Aeris intentionally avoided him. There weren't many places she could hide and not be seen by someone, and they were on the ferry for a full day, so he would just wait her out and she would eventually show up.

But his patience breached annoyance. He wanted to talk to her, discuss what had scared her so badly together so he could banish that fear in her eyes. He hated seeing her silver eyes overcast; he had become used to seeing them clear like a summer day—he loved seeing her so carefree as she sang for Pica.

He was hurt; not disappointed, like Pica when Aeris refused to sing. His very soul felt like it was being stretched. Did she not trust him enough to share what troubled her? Did she not think he could help her overcome it? He would do anything to help her, even cast aside the future he had seen; without her, it couldn't happen, anyway.

After his third failed trip around the ferry, Geryon propped up against the deckhouse in the shade. The last time he did this flashed through his mind, but he ignored it—if Fangril attacked them again, he'd be sure to get away from the structure behind him. He had started to receive looks from the passengers as he patrolled the ferry, heat rising around him as his irritation grew. So, to spare everyone's discomfort, he moved to the shade to hopefully calm down.

Geryon had been propped up against the deckhouse close to half an hour—not noticing the sweltering heat surrounding him—when Tegen suddenly showed up. The foreboding aura didn't bother him as he willingly inserted himself into the broiling temperature and leaned against the structure beside him.

Neither of them said a thing for a long time.

"I assume Aeris still has not made herself approachable..." Tegen began.

His temper raised its infuriating head. "Would I be out here alone if she had?"

"No; I suppose not."

He looked at the Kemiji; guilt stung him when he noticed the beads of sweat on the green beast's head and torso. Geryon focused on lowering the heat around them. "Have you seen her?"

"Yes."

"Has she improved?"

"No."

He faced straight again with an inhalation of angry air; he felt the temperature begin to spike, so he let it out through a long sigh—he had to spare Tegen by reining in his temper. Letting her try to face this alone wasn't working, but she wasn't giving anyone a chance to come in and help. He couldn't go searching for her and demand that she tell him what she saw, but neither could he just sit back and watch her suffer.

"I want her to just tell me; it'll be easier on her knowing she's not alone. She knows I can try to help."

"Maybe she is afraid that you will not be able to, and she is trying to spare you the disappointment of knowing, but not being able to help," Tegen suggested. "Fear is a powerful emotion."

"That I know too well." Sometimes stronger than love, Geryon thought. His last view of a bleeding and in pain Zarn reaching out to him as Fangril's demons advancing to finish them before he turned and fled, flashed in his head.

He forced himself to focus on the future he saw to get his mind off that painful reminder of his cowardice. The first part hurt, but it wasn't surprising—he had trouble believing Ilona had lasted this long; he looked forward to the second part—a life shared with Aeris.

"You will find her when she wants you to." With that said, Tegen pushed off the deckhouse and walked away.

***

Geryon emerged topside to look for Aeris; she hadn't been at dinner, and she wasn't anywhere in the lower levels, so she had to be up here somewhere. The clear night showcased the millions and millions of stars emanating enough light one could see on the open waters. Nothing hazardous lay in their path to Asardia, so the ferry maintained its easy pace through the calm waters.

Even though being surrounded by water was discomforting because of their opposing elements, the cool and quiet night made the ride peaceful to Geryon. Finding Aeris would make it better, though.

So, he focused on looking for her on the dark and vacant deck; he couldn't find her on the main deck, so he headed up the stairs to check the top deck hanging over the captain's quarters. On his ascent, the air grew clearer, and a breeze brought in crisp mountainous air, not the saltiness of the sea—he had finally found Aeris.

He made the landing and stopped; the viewing had benches lining the railings and a large umbrella in the middle to provide shade—closed with the coming of night. Aeris sat on one of the benches and looked defeated: body slumped, head down and eyes staring at the floor. The breeze gently played with her hair, but she ignored it; she didn't even react to his presence.

Geryon walked over and sat beside her on the bench. He wanted to drape an arm over her shoulders and pull her into him, but he kept his hands clasped before him—he wasn't sure how she would respond to his touch after intentionally avoiding him.

"I'm sorry for dodging you today and my mood yesterday," she began. "I thought doing so would make it easier..." Her chin quivered.

Geryon looked at her, worried by the way her eyes misted. "What do you have to do?"

Aeris didn't immediately answer; she instead looked at him. "What were you shown? I want to know."

She wasn't ready to open up to him, so he would oblige by going first. "I was shown two parts: one good and one I guess you can consider bad." He paused long enough to reconsider his thought on explaining the reason why he thought so, but he remained decided—it was time she knew.

"The first part was of my sister, Ilona, taking her life." Aeris gasped, but he kept going. "The reason why she took her life is that I'm the cause of her husband's death. Zarn and I were in the 73rd Infantry, known as the Black Ash—an elite unit trained solely to annihilate Fangril's demons from within. We discover where their main hives are, infiltrate them, and wipe them out.

"We had infiltrated one of their keeps in the northern-most part of Durus; we had vastly misjudged the numbers and were quickly overwhelmed. It didn't take long before Zarn and I were the last of the twenty-five; we had both been injured but Zarn had been hurt in the legs—he couldn't walk."

Geryon tried to shut out the memory of his dying and pleading for help brother-in-law, but he never could get the image out of his head or the guilt out of his heart. "There have been so many Black Ash units because they don't survive long from inserting ourselves into the demons' hives—our motto is 'Death earns honor; life mocks survivors.' I had never been afraid to die, but seeing it before me in Zarn clinging to life and the demons hungry to devour us, I panicked; I fled, hearing my brother-in-law screaming in death behind me."

He closed his eyes in an attempt to compose himself—only he, Ilona, and probably her son knew what a coward he was, and now Aeris.

He couldn't stop his tale now. "When I returned home, alone, Ilona knew what had happened: I deserted my brothers and her husband for life instead of dying with them in honor. I left nine years ago, so seeing her just now giving up was a surprise. It may be harsh, but I see it as her finally finding peace."

Aeris wrapped her hands around his bicep and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Geryon... I'm so sorry."

He laid his head on hers; even though the guilt still weighed heavily on his soul, he felt lighter letting her in. "You needed to know what kind of man you've fallen in love with."

Aeris lifted her head to look at him. "You're not that man, Geryon. You do everything in your power to protect others; that's not a coward but a hero." Her eyes watered as a hand cupped his face. "I am proud to have fallen in love with you, Geryon. You are a strong, heroic, respectable man."

She tried to compose her declining mood. "Now, what's this other vision you saw? You said it was better..."

He smiled and caressed her face, seeing the image vividly; she smiled in response to his own—it mimicked how he had seen her in the vision except for the odd sadness in her eyes. This was what he had wanted to tell her. "We were alone on some island. You were smiling and laughing; there was so much light in your eyes. You were at peace." His vision played in his mind again: her laughing in his arms as his gaze went down with his hand to feel of her swollen belly, cradling the life within. "And I saw you pregnant with our child."

Aeris jerked back from him like something had struck her in the face; pain was even on her face, along with horror.

"You were shown that?" Her voice shook.

He was stunned at her reaction; was she not happy to hear their future? Did she not want to start a family? He had been ecstatic at seeing the woman he loved bearing his child.

She got up and walked away from him, a hand covering her mouth.

"Do you not want children, is that it?" he asked.

"No, I would love to have children."

"Then I don't understand; what's wrong?"

Her form shuddered with emotion. She kept her back to him. "The explosion: it not only took my arm, leg, and some of my waist, but it... it took everything from me: my life, my friends, my body, my identity, my future." She turned to face him; cheeks wet with tears. "I can't have children, Geryon."

He stared at her in disbelief. He had expected her to be overjoyed at his news, not devastated. But her own revelation had his heart stop beating; all air had left his lungs. She couldn't bear his flesh and blood. They couldn't start a family.

They still could... His heart started beating again; if they wanted a family, they could adopt. It would hurt knowing the children weren't their own, but they would be theirs. They could get past it; they were strong.

He got up to go settle her down; he would explain that it wasn't the end for them. "It's okay; we can get past this."

She shook her head. "Why would you be shown what cannot possibly happen?"

He didn't know; he would think about it later when she wasn't distraught. He reached out for her, but she pulled away, hugging herself for comfort like she didn't want him to touch her.

"And we won't be together on that island like you saw."

His brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Why not?"

Aeris hiccupped as she tried to draw in even breaths. "I was shown a fork in some road; the left was a lonely path and the right... the right was dark and" —she looked at him, tears flowing and eyes shaking with the vision she had seen— "you were dead on it, Geryon; all of you were—Zelenia, Renuo, Pica—everyone! If I don't leave and take that left path, I'll bring death to you all. I'm not going to be the cause of more of my friends dying. There won't be a future for us if I stay; there won't be a future for anyone."

Geryon couldn't say anything; death wasn't frightening anymore because of all the times it almost had him, but hearing Aeris' decision to prevent her vision scared him. Nothing meant more to him than the woman before him. Even if it meant his life, he couldn't let her go.

He moved to grab her arms, glad she let him touch her this time. "You can't leave me."

She was sobbing fully now. "You'll die if I stay."

"I'll die if you go."

Aeris lifted her head to look at him.

"I can't say that we'll survive this quest or not, but I do know that I won't live without you. You are the reason I breathe, Aeris. Don't take away my air." He placed his forehead against hers. "I don't want a future without you."

She struggled with her emotions on whether to find comfort in his words or deny him. "But I can't give you the future you saw."

He shook his head. "Having children would be nice, but I don't need them like you. Before, when I was trying to think of what troubled you, I was ready to throw away the future I saw to keep you—I haven't changed my mind. As long as you stay with me, that's the only future I want."

"How can I forget what I saw? I see your dead face every time I close my eyes." Aeris shuddered.

"Then open your eyes and see that I'm alive." He kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you, Aeris; don't go."

He pulled her into his chest to envelop her entirely, making her feel secured and safe from the unknown ahead of them; she just cried.