Lucian brought her up to his lap, her legs on either side of him, holding her close to his chest. He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, but when it came to her lips, she panicked.
"I shouldn't...no..." Her hands covered her lips, getting off his lap. She ran to the cave's pond and splashed water on her face.
Lucian stared at his empty arms, expecting the afterglow to fade from his body, but it lingered like a hook caught in his heart. Her reluctance to return his kisses carried a different weight.
Playing dead unlocked a part of Celine she tried to bury, a part that he had been yearning to come out. As tragic as it was to see, he couldn't help but be selfish enough to want to keep her like this. Obsesed beyond return.
He buttoned his pants, 'Could the idea of my death really affect her this much?'
Knowing her ability to lock away her heart, he didn't think so. What was it that fed her obsession so much?
"Wake up...wake...UP!" she submerged her face again, as if wanting to escape this heaven she had created, "Snap out of it. He's not here. He's dead. He's...dead..."
Only the price to have her fully for himself was his own life.
'She always swore to kill me,' and he knew she could and would, 'I just had to make sure she couldn't live without me before it happened.'
Celine coughed on the water she swallowed, spitting it out before dipping her head again. They both succeeded, yet the miserable look on their faces didn't match their victory.
The lanterns' light on the walls only amplified the shadows that clawed at their backs. Enticing them to fall into the darkness and let it consume them. Come, come, they would beckon, only by devouring each other could they be one.
Lucian could see himself getting used to the new her. She was still beautiful, a bit broken but nevertheless captivating. The though barely crossed his mind when Celine decided to cross it even further, breaking the bubble Lucian had just put himself in.
"Not enough..." Her gaze fell on the sharp blade next to the pile of dirty clothes, next to the blood stained outfit she had changed out of. No. Lucian jumped. That blade was not going anywhere near her.
She was agile enough to avoid his grab, and kick him back with her foot. She snatched it and brought it to her wrist,"I have to go back to him...I have to..."
Jumping back up again, he hit her hand, making her drop the blade on the stone floor. "Celine!" he shook her by the shoulders.
"Get off!" She pushed him away, her arms swinging at him. "You're not real! You're not him! Let go! I need to wake up!"
Her feet kicked, and he caught them. "Enough! I said enough!" he raised his voice, pinning her to the floor, his hands holding hers above her head.
He threw the dagger away, out of her reach, "I am real! Stop trying to kill yourself!"
"He's waiting for me!" she thrashed in his arms, "I need to finish what I started! You can't stop me! He's waiting! I have to..."
She sank her teeth in his shoulder, making him grunt in pain. Her eyes were manic, refusing to look at him properly. She kept trying to headbutt his face, pulling her hands out of his grip.
Lucian tilted his head, meeting her face halfway. His lips crashed onto hers, his teeth digging into her bottom lip, making her bleed. "This is not a dream. You are not dreaming. Look at me."
She refused to wake up, tears fell down her eyes, her lips unresponsive. His heart broke at the sight, making him cup her face, "This is not a dream. I'm alive, Celine."
She refused to obey, her head turned to the side, staring at her injured hand. It throbbed from his hit, yet she couldn't feel the pain. She wiped her tears with her sleeves, looking around for the dagger, as if it was the only way to wake up from her 'dream'.
"Stop looking for it. It's gone," Lucian grabbed her hand when she didn't answer him, his fingers intertwining with hers.
She should be able to separate lucid dreams from reality. Lucian was not a figment of her imagination, he was real. He didn't know what made her think otherwise.
'I thought she would never recover,' were Edmund's words, which he revealed to Lucian after her grandfather's passed away (ch. 2.25), 'What did he mean by never recovering?'
Lucian stood up, pulling her up as well, and walked toward the stone slab to lay on it with his hands folded over his chest, "If you want me to be dead, I can play dead. But don't hurt yourself, alright?"
She walked around him, checking for his pulse, his breathing, and his temperature. She looked around the cave one more time, her eyes stopping at the place Lucian threw the dagger.
He couldn't read her thoughts, but she didn't seem surprised that his traces remained even after his 'death'. She acted like she had staged his presence while in her delusional state, moving things around to make her hallucination believable.
This was not the first time this happened to her. Was this the side effect of her heartlock? Losing control of the reality around her?
Only after she made sure she was back in her 'reality' did she return to being the pragmatic, calculating woman he was used to.
She picked up the bags and brought them closer to the slab, and started going through them. She took out an old parchment paper, along with a fountain pen, and an ink pad.
'What in the world...?'
She sat on the slab by his legs, and began filling the form.
'Celine Rochefort & Lucian Arclight'
A marriage contract. She was filling in a marriage contract.
'Spring, 1st of the month of flowers, year 4212.'
'Both parties agree to be united in the holy bond of marriage. By signing this contract, they swear their vows to each other and the Gods. May their love be eternal, and their bond unbreakable...'
Celine pressed her thumb on the red ink pad, and then on the paper next to her name. She took Lucian's thumb and did the same for him.
With the contract signed, she kissed him, her lips trembling against his, pouring all her emotions into it. It was a desperate kiss, a goodbye kiss, a kiss that said she loved him more than anything.