A wave of nervousness engulfed Elise. She shot up from the bed.
"Me too… having… good time."
Elise asked herself: What the fuck are you doing? Why are you fucking this up?
She had no answer to her inner beratement.
Gwyn bit her lip and smiled.
"There is one more thing I wanted to talk about, but it may kill the mood."
Elise wasn't sure if she could handle the mood any longer.
"You can tell me anything."
Gwyn was afraid of this answer.
"Earlier, your father said something that I wanted to clarify."
Elise's jaw tensed.
"What was it?"
"Something about how a Chosen One killed your mother."
That indeed killed the mood.
"That is, unfortunately... accurate."
"Then why are you here with me? Why don't you despise me like the others? Is this some long con to get revenge?"
Gwyn's words were delivered in a joking manner, but she was earnest.
It was an excellent question. Elise let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.
"It has been ninety years since my mother's death. It has been a difficult thing for me to process. She was the one who supported me in my condition, but when she was gone…"
Gwyn put her hand on Elise's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry."
Elise wiped a tear from her eye.
"It's fine. It makes me wonder, 'what if,' you know? What if we never summoned the twenty-fourth? What if he wasn't a murderous warlord?"
"I find myself wondering the same thing about myself." Gwyn put her arms around Elise, who was leaning into her shoulder. "Will hearing my tragic backstory make you feel better, or will it make everything worse?"
Elise dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief and chuckled.
"No, no. You can tell me. Let's lay it all out!"
The elf made a significant gesture, which made Gwyn smile.
It was suddenly very hard for Gwyn to speak. This was something she didn't often discuss. Every time she did it, it usually led to fake consoling and people searching for a way out of the conversation. She looked at her mother's wedding ring on her finger.
"My family… except my dad, is dead."
"What?!"
"Yes… I was young and couldn't process it all. Years of therapy. Years of trying to adjust to the new normal, which never felt normal."
Elise stopped herself from saying "sorry" and instead said.
"So you want to go home?"
Gwyn nodded.
"I can't leave my father alone. Although it's easier pretending my family never existed just to ease the pain, but... knowing he's out there by himself. It's difficult."
The young woman was pretty sure she wouldn't cry. She has rehearsed this hundreds of times, but this time felt different. Gwyn wept.
Elise now consoled her. They looked up at one another, and Elise's makeup was smeared all over her face.
"Artero was right... You do sort of look like a clown now."
"Oh, do I?" A weak laugh. "We're just a bunch of crybabies, huh?"
"Yeah, but together, we'll let go."
Elise suddenly had an idea that seemed brilliant. She shot up.
Gwyn's confusion must have been obvious because then Elise said.
"Believe it or not, Gwynevere. There is precedent for this situation."
Elise looked in one drawer, moving to another, then another.
"Are you… Looking for something?"
"No, I thought I would suddenly do some spring cleaning."
She said sarcastically, throwing a currently useless magical item over her shoulder.
"What are you looking for?"
Gwyn wiped her eyes. Now standing from the bed they'd both been sitting on.
"This."
Elise held a small vial whose glass patterns swirled in gold and silver.
"What is it?"
Gwyn stepped closer, looking at the tiny vial. Thousands of little words or runes seemed inscribed on the twisted gold-and-silver patterning.
"Don't worry what it's called." Elise unscrewed the blackened top. "Give me your hand."
"You're not going to… take my blood, are you?"
Gwyn cautiously held out her hand to the elf.
A smirk crossed Elise's face.
"No. Gold or silver?"
"Pardon?"
Elise repeated more slowly.
"Do you want gold or silver?"
"Gold, I guess."
"What was your promise again?" Elise asked, her hand resting atop Gwyn's, the vial between their palms.
She pondered for a moment.
"Together, we let go. We will become the best versions of ourselves that we can be."
"Together, we let go."
Elise repeated solemnly.
In their palms, the heat began to grow. A magical force from within the two women drained into the tiny vial. The heat built until it was almost too hot to touch. Then, a golden light flashed towards Gwyn, while a silvery light flashed towards Elise. The heat slowly dissipated. Gwyn couldn't keep her eyes off where the vial was, and Elise couldn't keep her eyes off Gwyn.
"Is that it?"
Gwyn asked after she thought the ritual was over.
"That's it."
She lifted her hand, and two vials sat in Gwyn's palm: one gold, the other silver. With a slow and steady hand, Gwyn reached for the golden vial. Elise reached for the silvery one.
"Read it."
Gwyn pulled the vial up to her eyes; on the surface, it repeated over and over, "Together, we let go."
"Open it."
Gwyn put her fingers on the vial's tiny cap.
"Put it up to your ear."
Gwyn nodded and raised the small vial to her ear. She opened it.
"Together, we let go."
It was Elise's voice, soft and illustrious. It said the same thing once Gwyn closed the vial and opened it again.
"Together, we let go."
It had a slightly different inflection, as if it weren't a recording. But it was Elise herself reminding Gwyn of their new promise.
"Thank you. I... I don't know what to say."
Elise pulled her silvery vial down from her ear and closed it.
There is always a moment. Sometimes it's brief, sometimes it's extended over several years of your life, unseen by the naked eye. This, however, was a brief moment—a moment where an opportunity could be seized. That opportunity could be taken by the horns and squashed beneath all feelings of inferiority.
However, a faltering of confidence, followed by a dash of self-doubt, and a brief recollection of past events, is always the perfect cocktail for a missed opportunity.
"Relive recent moments mostly tethered together."
An alternating alteration spell. Made up on the spot.
Elise stepped closer to Gwyn. The electricity between them was nearly unbearable. Elise reached out her hand and touched the Chosen One's arm.
Methodically, she had her fingers crawl up her skin, tracing along the freckles. Gwyn had removed her damaged robe hours ago and was now wearing a nightgown Elise had lent to her.
Gwyn made eye contact with the elf, then with her fingers, then back to the elf. Sweat poured out of every surface on the young woman's body.
Elise's fingers reached Gwyn's neck, slipping behind her hair. She had a firm but gentle grip on her. The anticipation was flooding them with emotion and desire.
Elise's other hand was placed on Gwyn's back, slowly moving down, down, down. Until it reached just above her ass, Elise stared at Gwyn, looking for approval.
A mix of terror and excitement. Her body ached. She leaned in closer to Elise, their eyes never breaking. Elise's hand slid lower and had a handful of Gwyn, who smiled delightedly. Gwyn then did the same, pushing themselves into one another. A brief kiss of exploration led to a long, slow one.
The slow kiss turned into a deep, devouring one. Their tongues were playing with one another. Their hands slide in and out of their clothes. Feeling whatever they wanted. A moan from either party and a tempestuous desire that was all-consuming. They pulled away from one another for a brief moment.
"I like having fun with you, Gwynevere."
~
Meanwhile, Artero stood in front of his sink, hair dripping wet from his shower. Several survivors of the explosion heavily accosted Artero after his ex-girlfriend left with his date. The survivors bombarded him with questions about Gwyn.
They asked him things like, "What was she like?" and "Did she cause this attack?" He assured them that the new Chosen One had nothing to do with this attack and hadn't been here long enough to plan such a gruesome event.
Something lingered within him.
Betrayal.
His heart ached; the Chosen One was like a singular rose in a field of nothing. Standing out as the wind brushed against her beautiful petals. He wanted Gwyn. He wanted her entirely. He desired her more than the elves longed for the night to end and the sun to rise again.
He dried his dark hair. He stared deeply into the mirror. Exhaustion was gnawing at his psyche. Yet, he had worked restlessly since the moment they left.
Artero didn't care who the new Chosen One dated as long as it wasn't Elise. He would do Gwyn a service and prevent her from that inevitable heartbreak.
"It has to be me. I will save you from her, Gwynevere Grim."