BXBX NOVEL Chapter 176: Mine alone.
"We will be sharing a different room tonight." Dina spoke up gaining a nod of agreement from Arla, but Ikaris rejected the idea with a shake of her head.
"Nonsense!" The goddess denied them. "How could I call you two mine if I do not share in my happiness with you?" She asked, and Eris chuckled and took a few steps back.
"You lot have fun, we will prepare a breakfast akin to a royal feast in the morning so come with your appetites, for now though I will retire to my abode!" She waved at them and then turned and left before anyone else could say anything.
"Does this mean... As we did on our first night, all together?" Arla looked at Sol and Ikaris as he began ushering his bride up the stairs.
"Well, not really." Sol replied, losing much of the smile he had been wearing since the wedding as he walked, and as his tone went serious, Ikaris in his arms went still, and the two following them felt her uneasiness.
"I was right after all; something happened." Ikaris looked at him as he pushed their door open with his foot and walked in, allowing Dina the chance to close it as she entered last.
"It\'s weighed on my mind all this time and I honestly didn\'t want to say anything, but this... I don\'t think it\'s something we can necessarily avoid, so it\'s paramount that I at least say something now when we have the peace to decide together." Sol sat on the bed and placed Ikaris to sit next to himself. "Ikaris, I\'m sorry that I brought this up on your special night, but it honestly scares me."
"You said it was unavoidable?" Ikaris asked, watching his hair go golden and his pupils dilate and then turn golden as well. "Sol?"
"Light, your father objected to our marriage." He stared at her seriously, and as he did Dina and Arla took seats in two chairs opposite of them and drew closer.
"What do you mean he objected?" Ikaris had an expression of appall as she was delivered this news. "If anything, he should be the one most happy for me, I... I have been begging him to see me all this time, praying for his blessings, asking day after day for his wisdom!"
"Wait." Sol held her hand when her eyes began turning violet in transition to crimson.
"It\'s not like that."
"Then what is it?" She asked, any semblance of the happiness she had previously held had been erased by clear hostility to her creator. "How dare he-"
"He wanted to dissolve you into himself." Sol lowered his forehead onto his fingers and started massaging it. "He, approached me for the sole purpose of killing you." He spoke, and as he did he felt her grip on his hand loosen and felt a numb shock through their connection as she stopped breathing for a few seconds before slowly gasping and slumping.
"After all this time, he...?" Ikaris\'s eyes registered emotional death and she closed her fist on his hand again, taking a deep calming breath and staring at him. "Okay...
Okay, you have my attention, dear, tell me, what happened?" She asked of him, and so Sol recalled the entire encounter word for word and actions for action, leaving out nothing as he was sure she might have had more knowledge of what was happening than himself.
"But, your status shows no such curse -what is the meaning of this?" Arla spoke up first, shaking her head in denial. "What could any of that mean, the things that have happened were not-
"Predetermined?" Sol looked from Ikaris to her. "What if they were, what exactly is fate, aren\'t you listening to me?" He asked and she went silent and bit her lips in frustration.
"Him above All froze you all in your tracks, and attempted to take Ikaris, if I didn\'t have these powers, if I wasn\'t Godslayer I would have been frozen like the rest of you, and he would have taken her without any resistance, is not a matter of him being unable to, it\'s simply because I don\'t reside within the light or the dark that I was able to deter him." He stared at her.
"But what did he mean by her being cursed then?" Dina asked. "Ikaris?" She looked to her.
"I have no idea, I have never been told or accused of this... But, the evidence against me is quite clear, whenever I show any closeness or care for others, they end up dead." She looked up at Sol tearing up.
"That\'s not-"
"My siblings, our first child, Atla-"
"I already told you none of those prove what he\'s claiming." Sol shook his head and held her hands.
"But they do not disprove them either, death follows me, I have always known this." She shook Sol\'s hands desperately trying to make him see her point, but he pulled her into a hug instead and held her tightly.
"Absolutely not, not under my watch, you won\'t suffer like you have in the past... I... I won\'t allow it to happen." Sol declared, and as he did Dina joined their hug, comforting her and then Arla afterwards. "I contemplated telling you after tonight, but it was eating at me, it didn\'t seem like something I should hide from you when youre the one being targeted."
"No, I understand, you are looking out for my best interests, and being equipped with the knowledge means that I will have a means to protect myself, if even a little." She countered and Sol nodded against her and then hugged her tighter.
"After hearing all of that, I\'m kind of eager to leave, honestly." Dina admitted, and Ikaris chuckled and looked around at her.
"Me too."
"A world with no elves and no magic..." Arla mused, thinking of Zola prime but also understanding that the two worlds were significantly different in a lot of areas.
"I\'m dragging you into what might turn out to be a bad experience, sorry." Sol looked at them each and then closed his eyes and sighed against her lips when Ikaris reached for him and kissed him softly.
"There is nowhere in the infinite realms where being with you is a bad thing, Love." Ikaris smiled against his lips and then began kissing him again, and while she did, Dina and Arla slowly retreated, eventually leaving them both alone when they began to focus on each other.
"At a time like this..."
"I would have it no other way, husband." She smiled at him when she heard the door lock behind her. "You saved me without me even knowing, prevented a fate I was incapable of avoiding without you; you are my hero and my peace..." She straddled his waist and began undoing his uniform while he reached behind her and began loosening her corset.
"I no longer want to talk about that topic, instead, I am feeling quite depressed because of it, I need the comfort of my husband to ease my burdened heart." Ikaris forced Sol onto his back as he undressed her on top of himself.
"As long as I am with you; by your side, in your service and care, it does not matter if the world around me is on fire, I will be happy."
Sol watched amazed as her joy flourished bit by bit and the treasure of a smile she was holding grew along with it, feeling guilt at almost ruining that smile completely with his bad news.
"Then I will cherish and protect your happiness, Ikaris." Sol raised his hand at her request and firmly cupped her breasts just as they sprung from her dress, relieving her of their weight as she moaned above him and leaned into his touch when his thumbs circulated her nipples.
"I love you, Sol." She leaned over his head, causing her hair to pool around their faces as their golden and azure eyes locked onto each others\' under her shadow. "I do not care what any fate holds, nor what my father has dictated, as long as you are by my side I am blessed to be alive."
"I\'ll never leave you, I won\'t ever forsake you, Ikaris." Sol cupped her cheeks just as she did his while leaning onto his chest. "From now till forever more." He pulled her down as she began grinding on top of him, kissing her slowly, enjoying her taste which he had been missing since their separation.
"You\'re mine alone to have."