Dragon Quest VIII (Hero/Angelo)
Title: Paradise
Author/Artist: queenoftheskies
Rating: PG
Warnings: m/m kiss
Word count: 1,472
Summary: Angelo professes his undying love and loyalty to Eight when Eight leaves to save the world from an all-consuming darkness.
Prompt: #14. Dragon Quest VIII, Hero/Angelo: Submission - lyric: "close your eyes, pay the price for your paradise"
A/N: I'm very sorry I'm late posting this.
Paradise
I never thought it would be quick and painless, but I did think it would be easier on all involved if I left during the night while they were asleep. I didn’t need questions or tears or to have to explain myself. I was doing what I felt was right and I knew that even if they agreed with me, they’d never let me go.
So I left in the wee hours of the morning. I don’t remember what day it was. I don’t even remember all the details any more. I hope...sigh...some days, I’m not even sure I remember my life there. Not in clarity. Each day I spend here, I lose more of my former self and become more like these people, these Dragovians, who cast me out and wiped my memories clean as a child.
What price have I paid for the return of those memories? What have I given up in order that I might have a chance to save the world outside this village?
If only they remember me when I return. If only my return doesn’t come too late.
#
It was still dark when I crept from bed and dressed, taking great care not to wake Jessica and Angelo. I’d placed a sleep stone beneath each of their pillows to ensure a sleep from which it would be difficult for either to awaken. I was immune to the effects of these miraculous rocks and had discovered them quite by accident one day as I’d prowled around an antiquities shop.
Nothing could match the guilt I felt at using magic artifacts against the two people most dear to me. Nothing except for the grief I felt at abandoning them without so much as a good-bye.
My stomach twisted into knots as I slipped into my coat, picked up my boomerang, and stole from our house like a thief into the night. I kept to the alleys, avoiding puddles of moonlight, to make my way out of town. It wouldn’t do to be stopped; time was of the essence.
The world had grown dark as the chill of death had tinged the air. Each day the sun rose later. Each night it set sooner than the night before. It was only a matter of time, the priests told us, until our world was done for and the Goddess would destroy us for the evil we had done.
Angelo didn’t believe it and he’d been a soldier of the church long enough that I trusted him with all matters of religion, something I’d never been particularly interested in myself. Jessica said she could feel a dark energy inside the chill that settled over the world when night fell, not some supernatural power wielded by the Goddess.
I’d watched it happen, feeling sad and helpless until I realized: I was the one person who might be able to stop what was happening. My people-I shuddered to think of them as so for I was as much human as I was of their blood-had lived for eons, hidden within the safety of the dimension that protected them from the ills that befell our world. I was as sure that they had the knowledge, the answer to what was happening, as I was of my love for Angelo and Jessica.
And, so I set out to find them, to plead with them, if necessary, and in the end, to give up myself as an offering for the knowledge necessary to heal our broken world. Without the godbird and with only a horse, the trek took longer than I anticipated. I was weary and worn and heartbroken after too many hours in the saddle with time to think of my beloveds left behind.
I reached the mountain on which the portal to the Dragovian Sanctuary stood near sundown and slid from the back of my horse. I freed him, hoping someone would find him and give him a good home. Then, making my boomerang secure, I began the long, hard climb.
It was past moonrise when I set foot on the flat, rocky top and laid eyes on the portal itself. There was no time to lose, no time to rest, so I took a deep breath and climbed the steps toward the obelisk that would take me from this world to the one beyond.
“Wait!”
The voice froze me in place. Torn between fleeing without so much as a backward glance and staying for one last good-bye, I took too long in making my decision and Angelo was on me before I could escape.
Arms wrapped around me, he held me, then shook me, demanding, “By the Goddess, what the holy hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Saving the world?”
The anger in his eyes eased though the pain did not. I searched the foot of the steps for Jessica, but she wasn’t with him.
He must have seen the question in my eyes, for he replied, “I didn’t wake her. I…wanted to see what you were up to with my own eyes.”
“You weren’t supposed to know,” I whispered, my voice choked with sorrow. “I thought…”
“It was easier to lose you this way than to the end of the world?” His expression darkened; his hands dropped to his side. “At least we would have died together.”
“But what about everyone else?” I reasoned. “What about those who don’t want to die at all?”
“We’ve saved the world once. What makes it your responsibility to save it again?” His voice filled with disgust as his eyes regarded my means to entering the Sanctuary. “And what makes you think they have the answer, anyway?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, feeling very foolish. “It’s just something…Angelo…” I took his hands in mine. “Something I feel inside.”
He looked at me for a minute and all emotion drained from his face. He started to turn away, probably to keep me from seeing how he felt, but I grabbed his shoulder and stopped him, sliding my hand down his arm and into his hand. He acquiesced and turned slowly to wrap me in an embrace.
“Come back to us,” he begged.
“You know I will,” I promised, “if I can.”
“If there is any sacrifice to be made, we will make it together. Swear?”
I didn’t want them in any danger. I didn’t even want them near it, but we had faced worse than the darkness together and overcome, so I nodded. “I swear.”
His lips tasted like honey and sweet red wine and I loved how they lingered as if we had all the time in the world. His eyes said that he wished there was time for more--one last joining before I passed beyond-but in the end, he stepped back and dropped to his knees, my hands still clasped in his.
“I swear to you, my dearest Eight, that I will love you beyond time and I will wait for you just as long.”
“And, if I don’t return, you’ll take care of Jessica?”
“As long as we both shall live.”
“Be well, Angelo, and fight this darkness with your last breath.”
“Be well, Eight, and return to us.” He rose and we parted, eyes locked for a brief moment more.
I stepped through the portal without looking back, but I can still see him in my mind-the tears that filled his eyes-and hear the voice filled with sorrow, as if we had never parted.
#
I found it on the second day of my second week among them, among old scrolls in an even older underground vault. They’d reluctantly restored my memories, warning me that it could be an exchange-this world of theirs for the world I’d left behind-but that they thought I would remember my task long enough to complete it and had given me access to the writings at their disposal. As much as they hated the people from which I had sprung, they were not murders and surprised me with their hint of compassion.
I took the old text to the Dragovian Lord who concurred that my finding might be the answer I needed to save the outside world. He bade me commit the words of the spell and the manner in which it must be delivered to memory, warning me that I might remember nothing else when he teleported me outside.
It was worth that-whether forgetting meant death or starting all over-as long as I could save those I loved, as long as I could save my world.
He took the book from me and closed it, regarded me with eyes in which flickered a hint of respect. Close your eyes, his voice boomed inside my head. Pay the price for your paradise.
And I did.
Author/Artist: queenoftheskies
Rating: PG
Warnings: m/m kiss
Word count: 1,472
Summary: Angelo professes his undying love and loyalty to Eight when Eight leaves to save the world from an all-consuming darkness.
Prompt: #14. Dragon Quest VIII, Hero/Angelo: Submission - lyric: "close your eyes, pay the price for your paradise"
A/N: I'm very sorry I'm late posting this.
Paradise
I never thought it would be quick and painless, but I did think it would be easier on all involved if I left during the night while they were asleep. I didn’t need questions or tears or to have to explain myself. I was doing what I felt was right and I knew that even if they agreed with me, they’d never let me go.
So I left in the wee hours of the morning. I don’t remember what day it was. I don’t even remember all the details any more. I hope...sigh...some days, I’m not even sure I remember my life there. Not in clarity. Each day I spend here, I lose more of my former self and become more like these people, these Dragovians, who cast me out and wiped my memories clean as a child.
What price have I paid for the return of those memories? What have I given up in order that I might have a chance to save the world outside this village?
If only they remember me when I return. If only my return doesn’t come too late.
#
It was still dark when I crept from bed and dressed, taking great care not to wake Jessica and Angelo. I’d placed a sleep stone beneath each of their pillows to ensure a sleep from which it would be difficult for either to awaken. I was immune to the effects of these miraculous rocks and had discovered them quite by accident one day as I’d prowled around an antiquities shop.
Nothing could match the guilt I felt at using magic artifacts against the two people most dear to me. Nothing except for the grief I felt at abandoning them without so much as a good-bye.
My stomach twisted into knots as I slipped into my coat, picked up my boomerang, and stole from our house like a thief into the night. I kept to the alleys, avoiding puddles of moonlight, to make my way out of town. It wouldn’t do to be stopped; time was of the essence.
The world had grown dark as the chill of death had tinged the air. Each day the sun rose later. Each night it set sooner than the night before. It was only a matter of time, the priests told us, until our world was done for and the Goddess would destroy us for the evil we had done.
Angelo didn’t believe it and he’d been a soldier of the church long enough that I trusted him with all matters of religion, something I’d never been particularly interested in myself. Jessica said she could feel a dark energy inside the chill that settled over the world when night fell, not some supernatural power wielded by the Goddess.
I’d watched it happen, feeling sad and helpless until I realized: I was the one person who might be able to stop what was happening. My people-I shuddered to think of them as so for I was as much human as I was of their blood-had lived for eons, hidden within the safety of the dimension that protected them from the ills that befell our world. I was as sure that they had the knowledge, the answer to what was happening, as I was of my love for Angelo and Jessica.
And, so I set out to find them, to plead with them, if necessary, and in the end, to give up myself as an offering for the knowledge necessary to heal our broken world. Without the godbird and with only a horse, the trek took longer than I anticipated. I was weary and worn and heartbroken after too many hours in the saddle with time to think of my beloveds left behind.
I reached the mountain on which the portal to the Dragovian Sanctuary stood near sundown and slid from the back of my horse. I freed him, hoping someone would find him and give him a good home. Then, making my boomerang secure, I began the long, hard climb.
It was past moonrise when I set foot on the flat, rocky top and laid eyes on the portal itself. There was no time to lose, no time to rest, so I took a deep breath and climbed the steps toward the obelisk that would take me from this world to the one beyond.
“Wait!”
The voice froze me in place. Torn between fleeing without so much as a backward glance and staying for one last good-bye, I took too long in making my decision and Angelo was on me before I could escape.
Arms wrapped around me, he held me, then shook me, demanding, “By the Goddess, what the holy hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Saving the world?”
The anger in his eyes eased though the pain did not. I searched the foot of the steps for Jessica, but she wasn’t with him.
He must have seen the question in my eyes, for he replied, “I didn’t wake her. I…wanted to see what you were up to with my own eyes.”
“You weren’t supposed to know,” I whispered, my voice choked with sorrow. “I thought…”
“It was easier to lose you this way than to the end of the world?” His expression darkened; his hands dropped to his side. “At least we would have died together.”
“But what about everyone else?” I reasoned. “What about those who don’t want to die at all?”
“We’ve saved the world once. What makes it your responsibility to save it again?” His voice filled with disgust as his eyes regarded my means to entering the Sanctuary. “And what makes you think they have the answer, anyway?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, feeling very foolish. “It’s just something…Angelo…” I took his hands in mine. “Something I feel inside.”
He looked at me for a minute and all emotion drained from his face. He started to turn away, probably to keep me from seeing how he felt, but I grabbed his shoulder and stopped him, sliding my hand down his arm and into his hand. He acquiesced and turned slowly to wrap me in an embrace.
“Come back to us,” he begged.
“You know I will,” I promised, “if I can.”
“If there is any sacrifice to be made, we will make it together. Swear?”
I didn’t want them in any danger. I didn’t even want them near it, but we had faced worse than the darkness together and overcome, so I nodded. “I swear.”
His lips tasted like honey and sweet red wine and I loved how they lingered as if we had all the time in the world. His eyes said that he wished there was time for more--one last joining before I passed beyond-but in the end, he stepped back and dropped to his knees, my hands still clasped in his.
“I swear to you, my dearest Eight, that I will love you beyond time and I will wait for you just as long.”
“And, if I don’t return, you’ll take care of Jessica?”
“As long as we both shall live.”
“Be well, Angelo, and fight this darkness with your last breath.”
“Be well, Eight, and return to us.” He rose and we parted, eyes locked for a brief moment more.
I stepped through the portal without looking back, but I can still see him in my mind-the tears that filled his eyes-and hear the voice filled with sorrow, as if we had never parted.
#
I found it on the second day of my second week among them, among old scrolls in an even older underground vault. They’d reluctantly restored my memories, warning me that it could be an exchange-this world of theirs for the world I’d left behind-but that they thought I would remember my task long enough to complete it and had given me access to the writings at their disposal. As much as they hated the people from which I had sprung, they were not murders and surprised me with their hint of compassion.
I took the old text to the Dragovian Lord who concurred that my finding might be the answer I needed to save the outside world. He bade me commit the words of the spell and the manner in which it must be delivered to memory, warning me that I might remember nothing else when he teleported me outside.
It was worth that-whether forgetting meant death or starting all over-as long as I could save those I loved, as long as I could save my world.
He took the book from me and closed it, regarded me with eyes in which flickered a hint of respect. Close your eyes, his voice boomed inside my head. Pay the price for your paradise.
And I did.