Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 73: Learn to Let Go

One week.

It had been that long since the night that Tiffany told the twins the "truth" about their father. Rocket quickly bounced back from whatever devastation it had brought him. He was back to his normal loud, boisterous self again, running wild through the house and constantly causing some kind of mischief. It was certain that Orion must have noticed by now that he was suddenly gravitating heavily to Tiffany, and for once, she didn't seem to mind.

But Meteor was different.

The wounds to his heart were still fresh. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about it. He'd always loved Orion more than anyone or anything in the world, and to hear from his mother's own mouth that the person he thought he loved didn't even exist, that the father he loved so much was truly just cold and callous... he wasn't convinced those were wounds that could ever heal. He only came out of his room when he had to, now, and his grades in school were already suffering. His misery was a constant distraction, and he spent almost all of his time holed up in his room, wishing that somehow, some way, he'd wake up from this nightmare. Yet he always realized that this was no dream, so he'd curl up in a chair and cry his heart out alone when no one was watching. Today, however, he wasn't as alone as he thought.

He looked up, quickly drying his tears as his father entered the room without even knocking.

"Meteor," Orion began softly, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

"A-About what?" Meteor's voice quivered slightly. It hurt too much even just to make eye contact. 

Orion carefully began to approach. "It's just... I noticed you haven't been yourself lately. You seem really upset about something." He sat on the floor by his son's chair and patted the empty spot on the rug beside him. "You know you can talk to me about anything that's bothering you, right?"

Hesitantly, Meteor slid out of his chair and down onto the floor. The two sat in silence for a moment. "...I'm fine," he finally whispered, but it wasn't very convincing. 

"I know you're not." Orion sighed. He didn't understand what had been going on the past several days, but it was starting to get him concerned. The kids were avoiding him, Tiffany suddenly seemed far more enthusiastic to spend time with them... something was off. "Please talk to me. I'm just worried about you."

'Like you care,' Meteor thought and met his father's gaze, searching so desperately for any honesty evident in his eyes, yet he still couldn't believe him even when he found it. "...I-I'm just... a little overwhelmed with some stuff. Y-You know, like school, and..."

Orion nodded and tried to give him a reassuring smile. He still wasn't convinced he was getting the whole story, but he was going to offer the best support he could. "Hey... I know life can be upsetting and overwhelming sometimes. But I'll always be here for you, okay? No matter what. I love you..."

He wrapped an arm around Meteor and tenderly kissed the top of his head, hoping that what he said would at least offer some kind of comfort.

Meteor's eyes watered when Orion pulled him into the hug, blissfully unaware that no amount of words could fix his son's problem. "...Yeah, I know. Thanks, dad..."

---

"Should you ever be in a situation in which you need quick access to the Realm of Magic, all you have to do is hold this crystal -- a Glimmerstone -- in your hand and activate it with the words: 'magus crystallus.' It will teleport you immediately there, and it can also send you back to where you came from with the same command. If you need to teleport someone else along with you, hold onto their hand while using the crystal. I am giving you several, and I want you to make sure that any fellow supernaturals you know have one of their own. The world is only getting more dangerous for us, and no one ever knows when they may need a quick escape... however, it is also for your convenience to come and go as you please without the limitations of distance."

Those were Caleb's words when he dropped by the house completely unannounced to give Onyx and Amelia a handful of tiny, mysterious crystals, which had been recently invented by the Sages. Of course, after he left, they were eager to try their hands at a little magic...

"I-It really worked!" Amelia gasped, realizing that she and Onyx had both materialized in the magic realm. "That was the weirdest thing I've ever felt, though..."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Onyx chuckled lightly. "I suppose this will come in handy. Now we can come here as much as we want."

"True, although I guess we don't have that much of a reason to..." she sighed. "Regardless, this is an important safety measure, so I'm glad Caleb dropped by to give these to us. I'll make sure Alexander gets one. Oh, and Tiffany and Orion, of course."

He nodded. "Of course. But while we're here... we should do something before we go home. It would feel like a waste of a trip if we headed straight back."

Amelia shoved the crystal into her pocket and smirked. "You're right, we should. And I think I have the perfect idea of what we could do..."

Onyx wasn't sure if he should be curious or terrified. Usually, her ideas were worthy of both. "...What's your idea?"

---

The training grounds in the Real of Magic hovered in what felt like the middle of the night sky. It was a wide open area, the perfect place to brush up on a little training with a friendly spar. Both vampires stood in their dark forms, poised to attack at any moment. 

"Don't go easy on me, Onyx. I'm stronger than you think," Amelia said, taking a few steps forward toward him. "I'm going to beat you this time."

"I have no doubts about your strength." Onyx hovered slightly above the ground, suspended by the black smoke surrounding him. "...but I'd like to see you try." 

 Perhaps to humans, the idea of what was practically a magical wrestling match wasn't the best activity to do with your spouse, but they always had fun with playful competition.

Amelia was the first to move, black smoke forming around her arms as she quickly raised them higher. It caught Onyx off guard as he realized she was pulling him higher into the air, holding him tightly in a vice grip without having to lay so much as a finger on him. Despite the deep feeling of restriction, he was able to twist his hand just enough to guide black smoke to jostle her around a little, but she remained determined to keep her hold on him.

"Is that all you've got?" she taunted before sending him flying to the ground.

Onyx didn't hit the ground as hard as he expected to and realized Amelia controlled the intensity of her powers to break his landing, but before he could manage to scramble back to his feet, she perched herself triumphantly on top of him.

"Well, you've seen me try," Amelia grinned. "I really think you should surrender. You don't stand a chance."

"You think I'm giving up already?" Onyx's eyes met hers. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

---

"Hi..."

"...Hi."

It was that time again. The time when Aurora and Alexander met up, here in the same spot as they always did, but there was an unusual silence between them after their greeting. The soft chirping of crickets was soothing to Alexander's nerves, though he still couldn't even look her in the eyes in fear that she would notice how much he was hurting.

"...are you okay?" Aurora frowned and stepped closer to him. "I can... kind of already tell that you're sad for some reason, so you don't need to try to hide it from me."

"Sad? No, no, I just..." He sighed. "It's complicated."

"Complicated?" She paused. "Hmm, let me guess. Problems with your wife?"

"Yeah..." Alexander gave her a quick glance. "How did you know?"

"Women have intuition like that," Aurora tried to shoot him a playful smile as she sat down in the grass. "Okay, spill it. What's going on?"

He sat down beside of her, trying to figure out where to even start. Aurora leaned against him, patiently waiting for him to open up to her. She knew he would if she gave him the time to.

"...I realize I don't even talk about my wife to you that much, do I?" Alexander looked away. 

"Nope." She frowned. "Your problems must be pretty bad."

"It's not like that, it's just... the thing is... she isn't a vampire and I'm having a hard time coming to terms with her decision to stay that way."

Aurora nodded slightly. "Oh. I understand... you don't want to lose her."

"Of course not. And it really hurts that she can't understand that. ...I don't mean to scare you or anything, but I'm so upset that the thought has honestly crossed my mind to just turn her by force..."

"Don't." Aurora's voice was suddenly stern. "The worst thing you could do is ruin the time you still have with her by attempting, and if you succeed... who's to say she won't leave you for doing something like that?"

"...you have a point, but I--"

"Listen to me, Alexander," she interrupted. "If there's anything life taught me, it's that nothing ever truly lasts forever, and the worst thing you can do is allow yourself to become too attached. People who are immortal like us tend to think of eternity as something that's possible, but it's not. Everything is destined to die eventually, one way or another. There's going to be a time when everything you have now is lost. You must have known what you were getting into, messing around with mortals..." 

"...I did. I thought I was okay with it then, but..." Alexander couldn't hold back his frustration. "I just don't understand. Even if you're right, even if we're all destined to die someday anyway, whether it's tomorrow or in a thousand years from now... why doesn't she want to keep being here as long as she can?"

Aurora sighed. "Because people are selfish. It's just our nature. When we were granted immortality, whether by choice or by birth, we were granted a burden on our shoulders for a life full of loss. I know it hurts, but... you have to learn to let go."

You have to learn to let go.

The words resonated with him and he looked away from her, taking in a deep, shaky breath. In his heart, he knew she was right.