Clasping her hands together, she began to speak.
"I..."
Her voice wavered. Unsteady, but she composed herself.
"I give up."
Cassie revealed.
"I'm done."
And with that, as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders, her posture relaxed. Her tightly clasped hands loosened. And she took a deep breath.
A small smile formed onto her face.
But Aldric did not share her apparent elation. He was utterly confused. Hearing a remark like that come from the young woman was one of the last things that he expected.
'What does she mean?'
"What are you talking about?"
He voiced to the blind seer when she didn't explain herself.
An air of uncertainty and mystery lingered around her next words.
Taking a deep breath, she began.
"Song of the Fallen. My true name. Do you know what it means Aldric?"
Looking back at her, he responded.
"I haven't ever given it much thought, to be honest. A seer who remember the stories of the fallen?"
Aldric ventured.
Raising her hand to meet her face, Cassie released a small giggle. Her eyes lit up at the remark. With the remnants of her laughter turning into a smile, she continued.
"Very close. Like a true seer, I am to witness and tell the songs of those that have fallen and those yet to come. But on a deeper level, I am a herald of fate."
"It flows and crashes like a terrible storm, with no one able to predict its behaviour. And I'm only a lighthouse, observing and withstanding its onslaught. With no power to change its course. And that's all I am. A lone observer burdened with the curse of knowledge."
Cassie began to unravel what her place in this world was.
"I've only had this power for less than two years, yet I've seen so much. My parents' deaths and, dear god... even a vision of what could have been my own."
And she too unraveled before him. Her body reflecting just how much this meant to her.
"Hazes of pasts and futures invade my mind constantly. Itching at me to manipulate if they work in my favour and attempt to work around them if they don't."
She let out a deep, tired breath.
"And we remember what happened last time I did that..."
As she began to spiral, a calm voice interrupted.
"Cassie, what are you trying to say?"
The artificial voice from the obsidian doll interrupted a fair share of dark memories. Ejecting her from her own mind and into the present.
"Do you know how suffocating it is to be able to see the future, completely set in stone without the ability to change it? To think that you are helping your friends by telling them the future when you could be sealing their fate?"
She shouted and poured her heart out. Cassie did not have the chance to speak to anyone about her mental state. The Fire Keepers saw her as their leader and backbone; any weakness would reflect poorly on her and subsequently on Nephis. While she trusted Kai and Effie with her life, she did not want to burden them with unnecessary knowledge. As for Sunny, after what she did, the less said, the better.
"That cursed name! Stripping my autonomy from me and my ignorance of how fate truly works."
Before she carried on, Aldric latched onto what she just said. Not willing to miss this moment to learn more about the elusive power of fate.
"And... How does fate truly work?"
He asked in a calm tone, not betraying any agendas or intentions.
Her glossy black eyes focused on him intently. A shallow smile forming on her face.
"Fate is... Fate is the very fabric of reality. It's not a loose force that can be changed with enough willpower or belief like those stories. It is not a force that favours or bends."
"It is the beginning, the end, the push, the pull, the how, the why, and the reason. The reason behind the past and the driver of the future."
She took a moment to calm her shallow breathing, inhaling deeply.
"But, to me..."
The next words that came out of Cassie's mouth were spoken with so much vitriol that it shocked Aldric to his core.
"Fate is my enemy."
Her eyes glazed over with a pale light, noticeable to nobody.
But this was all within Aldric's expectations. It would make sense for a person to feel so strongly about something that they fought so hard to break. The manipulations, the sacrifice and the self-control.
"And where do I come into all of this? The last time we had a conversation similar to this one, you promised to keep me in the loop. What changed?"
Her face did not change as she listened to his blunt yet truthful words. She answered, conveniently brushing past what he said.
"We spoke about your [Destined] attribute before, but ever since your journey to the Phantom Verge, things haven't been the same."
"From my point of view, you changed. Before, you were a small whirlpool in the storm of fate. Capable of making small localised changes while disrupting those around you. With each change bringing negative feedback. But now..."
A gleeful look formed on her alabaster-white skin. Forming a dimple on her beautiful face. Her voice took on a louder and wider tone, as if she were presenting something.
"But now, you are like the moon. Pulling and pushing the storm with a powerful yet unseen force. Creating unpredictable changes and tides."
Her voice now reached a crescendo, with her body moving even closer to him. Her legs now pressed against his own while she looked down at him with eyes of wonder. The black silk gown she wore loosely blocked the cold touch of his doll body while it transferred her natural body heat to him.
Their positions left much to interpretation, but Cassie seemingly did not care.
"Do you know why I went to the Night Temple? Why I freed Mordret from his prison knowing what he could do? Why I've made countless decisions with a particular goal in mind?"
A nightmarish desert came to his mind as she spoke, connecting to what she was referring to.
"I wanted to create a weapon against fate. Whatever it took, I would have done. Manipulate my friends into thousands of years of suffering within a single nightmare. You might not understand what I'm referring to but that is fine. And I was fine with that. Until I had a sudden thought."
Aldric remained silent in her talk. He had never seen Cassie speak so much before. It was often measured words hidden with meaning that came out of her. But now she spoke without a filter.
"What if this is all part of fate's plan? What if by actively rebelling against it, I am actually helping it maintain its control over reality?"
Cassie whispered to Aldric. Her hand reached to cup the side of his neck.
"And it was the anomaly of your existence that solidified this thought. With your new evolved [Null], you are the embodiment of a weapon against fate. Unbound by its pull, free from its control. Yet, fate is still not broken. I can still see the future, as could the many other seers in the world."
Grasping her hand in a tight grip, Aldric spoke out coldly as he looked up at her with blood-red eyes.
"You are telling me all of this, but you have not said what you want from me?"
Standing out of his seat, the large difference between their height was already more pronounced in their now different forms. Aldric did not shy from getting in her personal space just as she did his own.
Now was the moment. The moment that this entire night had built up to. The choice that Cassie made in the face of fate's omnipotence.
And it was here that Cassie stripped away all her masks. Leaving behind her raw and unfiltered desires. Insanity dripped from her face. Eyes wide with madness and unadulterated want. A horrific concoction of love, obsession and desire.
And as the sole recipient of this desire, Aldric bore all of its brunt.
"I want to be your guide. I want to be beside you as you change the world, as you change fate. I want to be by your side."
Her figure naturally shrank as her breath left her. Metaphorically symbolising her position within their new dynamic. A dynamic of her own making that Aldric had yet to accept.
As her head inclined downwards to his feet, perhaps in an act of submission or something else, Aldric gently raised her chin and asked her a simple question.
"Between now and that day, besides Nephis' pod, what changed? Why did you not swear to be by my side right then and there?"
A question that spoke more than a thousand words about Aldric's character. A blatant arrogance of 'What took you so long?' however, there was also a probe for information lodged within it.
"I gave it a lot of thought. How did the dark sea birth that nightmare creature when it was not in my visions? Back then, I believed that fate would act against you. Putting numerous obstacles to stop you from disrupting anything, but that changed. The moment you evolved, there was no punishment from causality. After all, you were capable of killing Mordret without any consequences."
Cassie spoke out freely. She did not raise her hand to brush away Aldric's.
Her last remark did not surprise Aldric. For a blind woman, all she could do was see the future. While his own fate did not exist, the fates of those that he affected would still be visible to any capable seer.
"You killing Mordret made it a simple choice. I can be free from the burden of this knowledge. I don't have to manipulate my closest friends for my own benefit. I can just be me again."
Listening to this confession, Aldric remained objective.
"And Nephis? How does your loyalty to her make sense with what you are saying?"
Cassie's eyes shifted as she heard the blatant contradiction.
"I... When she returns, we will reach a compromise. I want to help her achieve her goals and be her right hand, like how you would want your friend to succeed. She saved me when no one else did. However, I want to be beside you in a different way."
'A different way?'
Seeing that she would not elaborate. A rough idea formed in his mind. Her voice was charged with a particular energy that Aldric instinctually understood. An energy that any man would understand.
---
Cassie POV
"Stay by her. I don't need someone stuck between two masters. You've already dug yourself a hole with Clan Valour. We have the rest of this nightmare to see exactly what you are talking about."
His low voice vibrated in her ears, passing through her with intent and power. Sending a jolt through her body.
Cassie almost laughed at the ridiculous nature of that remark, conveniently ignoring everything else he said.
'Just how much belief does he have in himself to use a second nightmare for a different purpose than to conquer it?'
But isn't that why she was here.
Her mind could not exactly define what Aldric was to her. A comrade, a friend, an anomaly, amongst many other things.
Aldric was a unique combination of her friends. He had the strength, the ambition and the potential of Nephis. The intuition, the grit and the intelligence, just like Sunny. The social acumen of Kai and the self-assuredness of Effie. Unlike her, he did not play in manipulations or deceit. He had the strength to make change and the freedom to decide his own fate.
He was everything that she wanted.
The unique nature of Aldric gave him a special allure in her own eyes. From the day that they met at the gate of the outer settlement, she was intrigued. In their expedition, she was nothing but curious. In the siege, she was hopeful that he would change what she saw. Through shrewd manipulation, she attempted to confirm that change. But how could you manipulate a singularity?
It was not just what he could do for her. Cassie herself was at the age where she was interested in love and romance. With the clear bond forming between Nephis and Sunny, she often imagined what was waiting for her.
She had many visions. Seeing when her parents would die, amongst many things; however, ones regarding her love life were always strangely missing. One would assume it was simply because of her own future self deciding against one; however, when you had a young man beside you whose future you also could not see, the mind could only make connections.
Back before she had lost her sight, back when she was just another girl, Cassie fantasised about love and romance. Indulging herself in literature and stories about princes and soulmates. Their strange relationship and the contrasting nature of her being a seer and Aldric being the only person outside of fate was something reminiscent of a romance story.
And to her, it strangely made sense. The only partner worthy of an anomaly like Aldric would be herself. The herald of fate and its enemy.
Once the idea took form in her mind, it would not leave. Slowly twisting and forming into a deep-rooted obsession.
She had spent a traumatising month at the mercy of a deranged psychopath. In the darkness of a temple, she bet her life against the fate that she saw. Putting both herself and Sunny in danger. Putting all of humanity in danger by releasing a soul-devouring parasite that was extremely difficult to kill. All for Aldric to shatter her plan in a single move. All that effort and anguish were meaningless to him.
That was what broke her.
Subconsciously, Cassie had afforded Aldric the highest respect for doing something that she herself could not accomplish in a thousand lifetimes. Putting him beside Nephis in her heart.
Unknown to Cassie, though, her strange obsession was not that hidden. With how meticulous the young woman was about her actions, it was blatant to those paying attention when she acted strangely interested in Aldric. From the bouts of staring and especially her behaviour when he was around other women. Though, besides a certain glutton, no one knew.
But all of her fantasies and desires would hinge on what he wanted. She knew that Aldric was not a man content enough that he would accept any woman who threw themselves at him. She knew that there were many other women in his life at Event Horizon. From his right hand, Iris and his healer, Marielyn, who were each beautiful women who did not attempt to manipulate him.
All she could do was submit. To show him that she was not a danger to him or his ambitions. That she would wholeheartedly support him.
She had already sacrificed so much to fight against fate, and now to fight for something that she wanted, the act of submission was nothing.
It would take a while. To make up for what she did, to gain his trust and perhaps even more.
'Long-term plans are something that I'm used to, in all honesty.'
And with that, Cassie had made her choice.
---
Aldric POV
"Stay by her. I don't need someone stuck between two masters. You've already dug yourself a hole with Clan Valour. We have the rest of this nightmare to see exactly what you are talking about."
His low voice vibrated in her ears, passing through her with intent and power.
Aldric was absolutely shocked that Cassie had chosen this moment to reveal her feelings and to have said it in such a direct way.
He had thought that she would continue to play her strange games until much later on. At the very least until Nephis returned. But something changed that.
He did.
With Cassie mentioning Mordret, the change was obvious. Though, he did not expect such energy from the seer.
It was here that Aldric's impression of Cassie began to shift slowly. His first impression of Cassie was from the perspective of Sunny. With all of its negativity and manipulation. This created a subconscious filter that saw every action that Cassie did as having an agenda. It was only when she poured out her desires that Aldric could see her differently.
That was not to say that he would forget anything.
But it birthed the idea that perhaps he should be flexible with the impressions he had of people. His inferiority complex surrounding his friends began to wane. The shrewd manipulator revealed herself to be an obsessed woman in love in front of him. These are the changes that his presence brought.
A Cassie who would no longer do anything to break fate.
And it made him wonder, what else could he change?
With his hand still lifting her chin, their eyes were locked in a heated exchange. With how close they were, there was no question about her desires. Her eyes subtly shifted downwards and back to his eyes to display her intent. Seemingly wanting something physical to christen this moment.
However, in this moment, the thing that he wanted the most was certainty.
Just as she began to close the small gap between them with her eyes closed, Aldric met her halfway. Peering down at her ruby red lips that contrasted naturally against her pale skin.
Only to tilt his head slightly, his lips seemingly missing their mark and resting beside her ear. In a whisper he spoke.
"Earn it."
In turn, the look of obsession in Cassie's eyes reached a disturbing high. A high that only she could experience or understand.
And with that, the strange relationship between Aldric and Cassie began. One that would change so much.
---
The next morning, Aldric woke up. Black ancient silk wrapped around his form. His new form did not need anything to protect himself from the cold, but it was the little comforts that mattered. Looking beside him,
There was nobody.
Aldric had been alone ever since he had sent Cassie on her way. He had yet to unpack the rollercoaster of thoughts that developed from that conversation. And it would have to wait. After all, there was something much more important to discuss.
A conversation with a particular Lady.
Spending the next hour going through a basic training routine, he numbed his thoughts with exertion. Though, his strange physiology failed to exert him enough.
Now done with that, Aldric began to ready himself before a...
KNOCK
KNOCK
Opening the door, the same seer that he pushed to the back of his mind revealed herself.
Analysing her body language, there was a stark change.
The kind that reminded him of Iris. The way in which she would support and stand by him. Though in a much less professional way than she did and more in a natural way. As if she had truly resolved herself to a change.
In her hand was a wide spread of breakfast foods dated to the current period. A large loaf of bread with an assortment of fruits and a thick slice of meat. It looked to be fresh venison, likely hunted today.
"Good morning, Aldric. Here's your breakfast. We have to meet Lady Alana within the next hour. She usually wakes up a bit late."
She walked inside and placed the wooden tray down as she spoke in an upbeat voice. Strangely happy after the conclusion of last night.
Turning to leave, she hesitated near the door. Clearly wanting to say something, but she held herself back.
And to Aldric, this was cute. A side of the seer that he had never seen.
"You can stay until she's ready."
The pair spent the remaining time in quiet silence and idle talk. Neither wanting to speak about what happened the night before for varying reasons.
---
"So, Singularity... It's about time we have a chat, don't you think?"
The ethereal voice of Alana spoke out from her relaxed position. Now in the day, darkness still drowned the temple. Yet, to Aldric and everybody else, it was not an issue.
It was time to finally solve the mystery of how she knew who he was and who Cassie was.
"Yes. I agree."
Their talk had begun.
*********
Thanks for reading.
Hey everyone. Sorry for the break. That time of the year again: exam season. Had to lock in for real. Dreadful stuff to be honest.
I hope everyone is doing well.
How did you find the chapter? Genuinely my most difficult one to write. Romance in shadow slave is hard enough to write but there is something about Cassie that amplifies it. Your boy Aldric stood on business though. I hope this development didn't come out of nowhere, it's been in the works for a while.
I plan to upload more. So look out for that.
Thanks to those that read the first chapter of my side story and a call to action for those that didn't. I will be uploading there as well.
It's good to be back. See you in the next one.