The Time It Takes To Fall

Hues of Red

USA, 2019 A.D.

Nothing existed anymore— the world had ceased to be. There were no stars in the heavens or rain falling from the sky. There were no tears to fall down one's cheeks. All that existed was the great nothingness within Kai's chest as he heard her words ringing through his ears like a second heartbeat.

Explosive emptiness tore at his heart, consuming his entire being. It was like watching a retelling of Romeo and Juliet— he wished, longed for the pair to have a happy ending. He convinced himself that they would get a finale that was not death. But Kai had been around since the beginning of that fateful tale, and in the hundreds of years since its origin he had never gotten anything other than death from the legend of the two lovers.

After losing her ten times, he should have known that it was ultimately out of his hands to change the ending— he did not have the power to rewrite their tragic love story. He was bound to always find Selene; he was bound to always lose her. There was no way for him to change his fate.

"Don't fret, dear Princeling," the Blue Koi trilled, placing a dark hand upon his wet cheek. "The pain will not be much."

Kai jerked back from her, blinking rapidly as he listened to her words. He was having one of those odd moments where he was there, but not actually. Physically he stood before death in the rain, but his mind had traveled back to 1615, just minutes before Selene had passed into a world that he had never been.

"Don't fret, the pain is not much," Rikan sneered at Kaito, his eyes the same as the Blue Koi's. Of course the eyes of his father had been coppery brown like Kai's rather than gold, but there was that same dangerous look within them.

His arms were bound, and all he could see was his father, and Selene's form upon the ground, slowly burning from the insides as the poison within her took its toll. She was dying right in front of him and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

But no— his arms were not bound, but free. Selene was not there, but somewhere else. He could save her if he found her in time; all he had to do was get away from the Blue Koi and her golden eyes of horror.

"What are you going to do to her?" Kai asked, trying to formulate a plan. Cinder would only live if Kai could get to her in time—he needed to find out where she was and escape to her. The Blue Koi was cunning, but Kai was heartbroken; after centuries of longing and anguish, he had nothing more to lose— and sometimes that outweighed everything else.

A horrible grin spread across the Blue Koi's features, making her look inhuman. Of course she had the body of a woman, but the look within her eyes was something other. She was a creature unknown to man— prepared to take him down.

"She is readying herself to board a train," the Blue Koi said, her expression still beyond creepy. "But there's the issue of this terrible storm, and the tracks that have somehow... disappeared."

Kai's heart dropped like a stone into the ocean. He felt cold all over despite the fact that he shouldn't have been able to feel anything other than nothing. But somehow all his senses were suddenly alive for the first time in centuries.

"Why are you doing this?" Kai asked, trying to buy himself some time. He knew what she wanted from him— looking back, he had known it all along. He had simply been too terrified to admit that she wanted him.

"Oh Kaito, love," she hummed.

Kai seethed, taking a step back from her. "Do not ever call me that," he snarled. "Never allow for those words to pass your lips or else I shall–"