Topic: Lightfall

Knightfall

Date: 2013-11-06 21:33 EST
Lightfall

Flicker in the Long Night

~~~

"In Light there is Dark, and in Dark there is Light." ― Kami Garcia, Beautiful Darkness

~~~

The things needed for the most powerful of magics, are those which are always available to us if we are familiar with their use. Words, Blood, and Will. The boy in his arms had used all three in a last ditch effort to secure enough of a foothold within the Nexus that they could be pulled free, out of the Vacuole, and back to the navigable part of Horizon that would allow them to return...

Home.

The Autumn Lord walked, carrying the cold body the entire way, oblivious to the ache in his arms and legs, for it was further than he remembered, and he could summon no other transport - the effort to return had bled the three of them dry of the ability to further manifest.

Especially the boy, the Lantern Lord.

He sighed heavily, cloak pulled up to conceal him as he made his way towards his usual rendez-vous for that organization known only as The Company. The boys face was also covered, in a cloak of the First Sword. He hadn't truly been a part of them, but he'd earned the respect of most of them through his ability with his blades, and frank demeanor. Thinking back, perhaps he should have insisted the boy stayed instead of trying to return with them. Then at least he would still draw breath, or the equivalency for one of his kind, at least.

He couldn't stop trying to find a way to blame himself - though deep down, the boys desire for a speedy return had been echoed within himself. It was still his actions that had lead the boy to join with the Company in the first place; if it hadn't been Kaiden who had joined him on this last ill fated Mission....it was impossible for him to think of how they could have managed to return at all.

He adjusted his arms, cradling the body more fully against himself, and kept walking.

This night would be one of the longest in his life.

So many dead and gone, over the years. He'd shed a tear for them all, here and now, but they were all gone to dust years ago, he was certain. But this one was striking him harder than the others, he'd lost friends and family in countless wars, from the Fields of Duhra Presh, to the Siege at Extalyon; seen Nexus after Nexus riven and sundered, and all their inhabitants cast to the astral or deep umbral realms, perhaps to find succour in another Nexus or Prime...

....or in some cases, just drift....until they died, forgotten.

He was just one boy, to the Autumn Lord. But he represented something that had long been lost to himself, that which we all lose by living and experiencing, though it was perhaps a darker version in Kaiden than it is in most.

Innocence.

He stopped, and knelt. Drawing the cloak from the boy's face he looked down into the eyes, yet unclosed. And they were too familiar. In his regret, his gaze dropped and finally one thing did make him smile, a fond memory of an aggravation that had sometimes made him think of something other then the hell of being gone.

The earbud cords of an iPod hung loose out of the battered front pocket of the shirt the boy wore. With great hesitation, he reached down and took the device into his hand. He had little to no idea how to use it, and had been stubborn about Kaiden's 'lessons' on such matters. Incessant noise maker that it was...

At the time, the boy had made him feel old and worn out.

He should have taken more time to appreciate the company.

Gathering the body up again, he resumed walking.

~~~

"Love is a weapon of Light, and it has the power to eradicate all forms of darkness. That is the key. When we offer love even to our enemies, we destroy their darkness and hatred..." ― Yehuda Berg

~~~

Knightfall

Date: 2013-11-11 22:23 EST
~~~

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like." ― Lao Tzu

~~~ Maybe it was the fact that his presence was a contant reminder to him of all the things he used to be, that he couldn't quite seem to recapture.

The irony of that of course was that, without him, Kaiden never would have been able to become what he had either.

Their point of origin upon rentry, disoriented as he was, seemed to be fairly close to the Coven grounds. Familiar for some reason he couldn't place, at the moment. He was aware by the time they arrived, what his first duties would be.

Now they'd walked from the Coven grounds, almost to the Company headquarters - at least the point that he knew of as their headquarters. How long had they been walking" Five hours" Six"

In silence.

Kristoph glanced down at the iPod, laying across Kaiden's chest. He didn't really understand much about it himself, other than the fact it had been important to Kaiden. Music, he had claimed, was one of the things that had helped to keep him sane, keep him who he was. It had been his first time, so Kristph sympathized, wishing he had had some foci when he had been younger. His first interplanar travel had been....turbulent, to say the least.

Again, the silence.

Footfalls on cobbles or concrete rang hollow.

That machine had been on for over a year. He wasn't sure how. According to Kaiden it should have been done months upon months ago. Until he'd found someone to charge the ....battery' The Autumn Lord was unsure of the term; he was familiar with the term 'spell battery', as a metaphysical object inherent in some facets of spellcraft. But not familiar with this....'tech battery'. It all seemed....odd. Or maybe he was simply dated.

Just Let Go...

What did that mean" He was so certain, months ago, of the boys foolishness. Just let go" Of what"

You couldn't just let go of things; you had to fight to keep what was yours....didn't you?

Kaiden's voice answered in Kristoph's mind, imagined as it must have been, "Keep telling yourself that, and I'll keep telling you you're an Old Fool..."

The Autumn Lord wasn't fazed by that in the least, as he'd taken to imagine Kaiden talking to him since the boy had lapsed into....well, Kristoph had hoped he hadn't been conscious for those last days within the Vacuole, though the honest truth was that he couldn't tell.

But he hoped that the boy wasn't....it would have meant terrible agony.

He tried not to dwell on that.

Then what? You never explained yourself boy, ever, you just expect people to listen to you and heed the wisdom of your words because you're you"

Again, the imagined answer, "I don't expect anyone to listen to what I say at all, I never did; people have to make mistakes in order to grow. I did. So do you....if you can bear to let yourself."

The Autumn Lord's facial expressions changed as he listened to Kaiden's words, and a moment of grief seized him and he came to a momentary stop. The grief was from his own failing. Kaiden's voice was beginning to fade, replaced by Kristoph's own. It hadn't been so long....and already, he couldn't remember the boys voice. He was....ashamed.

If anyone could hear his thoughts, it could appear to be madness as the two voices - edging ever closer to one another - argued within the depths of his mind,

I knew it. You're going senile, losing it all...

Quiet, child. I'm not that much older than you are...

Oh, really. That's not the story you've stuck to up to this point, are you certain"

The Autumn Lord smiled, despite himself. Was he letting the boy win, now" Maybe he had won all along, and Kristoph had been to thick headed to concede. That certainly wouldn't be a first.

Just let go means....You have to let things be as they will be, and embrace what?s given to you. Don't chase unicorns and dragons, you'll waste your life doing that. The harder you squeeze to keep a hold of the things you're chasing, the more runs through your fingers. Just....Let go.

Don't kill yourself trying to live a life that isn't yours.

Just....live.

Kristoph was very quiet, standing stark still, staring down at the iPod.

They were at the threshold of the entrance to the Company.

Time for one final goodbye.

~~~

"To say goodbye is to die a little." ― Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye

~~~

Knightfall

Date: 2015-03-20 01:03 EST
~~~

Company, always on the run Destiny is the rising sun - Bad Company

~~~

Pengallen Biotech Solutions.

The Autumn Lord mounted the steps slowly, his arms aching from the journey, though that ache was something more imposed on him by his heart and mind than any actual physical exertion. A package was cradled carefully against his chest, not that much true harm could come to it. That had already been done, after all. Kaiden was dead. Past the white stone columns, and turning so that his hip caught the glass doors and pushed them apart he strode inside and walked to the center of the foyer, several feet from the large reception desk. He glanced upward to the open air walkway that hugged the walks 15 feet up, where the consultation offices were.

Somewhere up there was a hallway that lead to the back offices where the administration would be. Two more hallways opened behind the reception desk, leading back to a series of labs of increasingly high security. Kristoph watched the woman talking to the receptionist, his face softening for a moment. She looked so much like her mother, it was slightly unnerving. Almost none of her father's looks, that's for certain, though his ability to aggravate was strong within her. For now, he watched, and waited. She was preoccupied, but one by one security officers seemed to melt from the shadows, all drawn by one obvious thing - the immense hilt of a sword which Kristoph bore diagonally across his back.

"Lay down your arms!" was the greeting he received as black clad figures swarmed down the steps and drew their weapons on him. This, finally, garnered the attention of the woman with the receptionist who turned in a flash with the barrels of two handguns leveled at him - which was complete overkill given the automatic weapons surrounding him in almost a complete circle, and his chest and face highlighted with red dots.

Layla

Date: 2015-03-20 01:16 EST
"Ah, Ms. Tolliver." A gentle and somewhat unnerving smile formed on Kristoph's lips. "You'll want to tell Ms. Tolmay I'm here to see here. I have something I think she'll find to be of mutual interest." To a degree, everyone in the Company wore their own type of mask. He was no different, though his mask might be much harder to pierce - no matter the pain it concealed.

Layla didn't know this man, but he seemed to know her. The fact that he would stroll into a Company building with some huge sword on his back proved he was either stupidly suicidal or that he was high enough in power or prestige that he could do such a brazen thing. She glared at him a moment. Although she kept her face as free from her thoughts and emotions as she could, the slight panic in her eyes gave her away.

She kept trying to figure out how he knew her name. She couldn't place it, but there was something familiar about him. Maybe they had worked together before in some once-off mission. She vaguely remembered something from years ago' or maybe he looked like someone else. She gave up. Even though she pulled her guns on instinct, she glanced around for a moment and realized how stupid she looked among the other arms locked on him. She lowered her own weapons, putting them back in their holsters, and raised her chin up as if to look down on him. Not only did he know her name, but he called out someone else. She wasn't familiar with the name. There were many people here. She only came to set up details for her next mission. Her eyes had turned from panic to cool and collected. Acting in her own brazen way, she nodded to him and then turned her back to him in order to face the receptionist. She said calmly to her, "You heard the man."

~~~

Oh, I was born 6-gun in my hand Behind the gun I'll make my final stand. - Bad Company

~~~

Knightfall

Date: 2015-03-21 23:37 EST
~~~

Rebel souls, deserters we are called Chose a gun, and threw away the Son - Bad Company

~~~

Pengallen. Executive Administration Office.

By the time the guards escorted him into the office, they were being much nicer to him than when they first took him into custody. Though his ankles and wrists were shackled with heavy chains, there was enough length to them to allow him to walk and to continue to hold the burden that he bore. When the guards had tried to relieve him of it initially, he'd flatly refused to yield it. When they tried to take it from him by force, he'd addressed each of them in turn by name - and then recited their addresses, spouse's names, and children. Even beloved pets.

While there had been no menace in his voice, the mere fact he knew the facts that he did that readily, coupled with his quiet, matter of fact demeanor, and the way he seemed completely confident they would do what he told them was to say the least - off putting. Two guards lead the way into the room ahead of him, with two more behind. As soon as he was in and they'd acknowledged Leta, they backed out of the room - clearly skittish and wanting no part of whatever was about to transpire; they wouldn't have been any happier with implied threats being leveled at them by the devil they knew.

To say nothing of the fact they didn't want to discuss the matter of the man's sword being left in the foyer. He'd relieved himself of it, but when the guardsmen had attempted to lift it, the task proved impossible.

"The spirit is strong, but the flesh was weak." Kristoph spoke as soon as they'd closed the door, facing the figure behind the broad mahogany desk. His tone was matter of fact, and largely without emotion - at least not any that he wouldn't want her to see. He'd had a long time to prepare for this encounter, after all. All the time in the void space. And long had he known the woman he was addressing now, even if she didn't realize it.

Blood Sister

Date: 2015-03-21 23:54 EST
One of the first level guards had called to report to her about the incident in the lobby. From then on, she tracked the man on the various video monitors behind her desk. She got further reports to the fact that one guard saw that he carried what looked like a body under the cover. She could see him talking to the men as they escorted him up to her. She couldn't hear, but she could tell by the looks on their faces that he was making them uncomfortable. She watched the screens until they got to the door, then she turned around to face the door, waiting for her guest.

When security brought him in, she stared at them for a moment, trying to assess who they feared more " him' or her. She didn't like how they backed away without looking at either of them. It mattered little to her what their perceptions were; he was in her house now. Leta stared at him, sitting comfortably in her chair behind her desk. She intended to stare at him blankly, but the subtle aggravation on over her face would be was all too apparent for him. She initially heard his statement and thought it was some insult against her, as if he was trying to make her as uncomfortable as the men. She took a breath and reevaluated before speaking. The weak flesh was more likely the dead body he was holding. She said vacantly, "You have a gift for me?"

He mused openly, "What you took from what I said was "weak flesh", wasn't it?" He shook his head, an almost sad smile appearing on his lips. "People always make that mistake. A gift' Do I look like a delivery man?" his eyebrows rose for a moment in more genuine amusement. "No," he continued more somberly, "Not a gift. Simply fulfilling Company protocol." He continued to stand there with the body in his arms; although they burned, he was more than reluctant to yield it. "I'm glad to see you in my chair," he seemed to venture completely away from business at hand, "I was worried it might be plagued by some heavier fellow," he shrugged, seeming to peer more at the chair now than her - as if it was more interesting, "I'd hate to see the casters ruined, it was custom made."

Knightfall

Date: 2015-03-22 00:10 EST
She listened closely as he spoke; trying to find some subtle clue he might give. She felt as though he was giving her hints, but they were all to answers she didn't care about. All she cared about was who he is, and who was the person under the cover. It could easily be one of her staff. Someone this lunatic was mistaken enough to assume she cared about just because he worked for her. When he spoke of her being in his chair, her eyes started to go wide but she stopped them, resulting in a slight flash of her eyes. She again calmed herself before speaking. This was just a space for rent and use by the Company. It may have been one of the Company's headquarters, but it wasn't hers. He was still no threat to her. She said confidently, "You seem to know a lot about this office, the staff, my name. Yet I don't seem to be as familiar with you, Mr?"

"Lord," he cleared his throat tersely, "My most recent call sign with the Company is, was, Autumn Lord; more commonly known as Kristoph, Lord Knightfall, within these Nexii."

He nodded down to the body still in his arms, "This is Kaiden Altiem." He'd almost added 'Knightfall', almost, though he wasn't yet certain why....yet. He'd watched her the entire time that she spoke, he didn't need big clues to her direction of thought, and he was ready to watch for particular cues.

"Obviously, this didn't go quite as smoothly as the last Company incursion into Alluvius. How -is- Solomon, by the way?" Kristoph's head canted to one side, examining her as he spoke, his eyes hard and penetrating even if the tone of his voice was casual to the point of aloof. "If I recall correctly, it took almost 3 liters of fey blood before he could Project himself into Alluvius; I don't suppose you've found any potent substitutes, yet' The Fae always seem so wary about giving their vitae to the Hollow Toothed..." he trailed off, as if reminiscing.

Blood Sister

Date: 2015-03-22 01:15 EST
She did allow her eyes to go wide as he said his aliases. Knightfall. It was a name she swore to never forget. She lost an operative over a year ago. He wasn't important to her, but he was important to one of the few people who she held dear. He was the one who ordered the mission, and it led to the death of? No. He held Kaiden in his arms. She didn't' know whether to be happy to have his body to bring closer to those who lost him, or to hate this man for having the nerve to bring him here like this, and now, a year later.

She stood up when he said Kaiden's name. She started to clear of her desk with a quick swipe of her arm, but paused as he mentioned Solomon. She took the arm that was supposed to clear the desk and instead placed it on the table, vaulting over it. She stood in front of him, staring him down. She would have tried to kill him, but again, she tested her self control, remembering he held Kaiden in his arms.

He was already dead, it wouldn't matter if he was dropped in the scuffle" No. He was too important, even dead. She wouldn't risk him. Besides, if Knightfall knew of Solomon, he had to be powerful. She could try to kill him, but she doubted she might be able to. She said between gritted teeth, "Put the boy on the desk, and then tell me what you know." She took a step to the side, and cleared off most of the things on her desk, letting them fall to the floor.

"Brend told me you were feisty," his head canted to the other side, "but I have to say, you're showing remarkable control." He didn't give her time to react immediately and launched into the main context of why he was there, "Now. Are you going to undo these chains, and be civil" I think I've lost more here than you have.? His gaze was still hard, steely, determined and confident. He rolled his shoulders, easing the ache from carrying his burden - the body, the artefacts that accompanied it, and the deep personal loss that was beginning to wash over him - that in a way also provided relief. Now that he was back in the Nexus, Memoria touched him again more directly, and somehow....through that ancient power....he knew who Kaiden was. It might have seemed that no further grief could possibly plague the Autumn Lord....then it did.

Knightfall

Date: 2015-03-22 08:32 EST
"Unchain me. Let me look at my boy, before you take him." He was still quietly confident and sounded assured, but now at the same time, somehow broken.

Offended, she gasped at the mention of Brend. She had been thrown off enough by all of his statements to begin to bite back a retort, but he thankfully interrupted before she said something she would regret. It was then when something shifted in him. She could see it, see something hitting him. He wasn't just trying to toy with her like, well, like she normally did to others. She decided to accept his request. She pulled out the key from her pants pocket and unchained him, letting them fall to the floor with the other things from her desk. She didn't really know what was going on, but she knew it didn't really involve her anymore. She took another few steps back, leaning back slightly against the wall.

He paused a moment after the chains fell to the floor, as everything continued to sink in, his face becoming a tight, lined, mask. Eventually, he laid Kaiden across her desk, and drew the cloak from his face. His eyes were still open, dull and lifeless, but his body preserved other than that, from its time in void space. "I did this," Kristoph said quietly after looking into Kaiden's lifeless eyes, "I'm sorry, Kaiden." A storm of words went through his head, things he wanted to say; things he should have said while Kaiden had still been alive, had he fully realized their connection. Dy'Hauc's counter measure when Kaiden had first left Alluvius - when he was a baby - had shielded the memory from them, all of them - Kristoph, Fiona, and Kaiden.

Until Kaiden had died, and then the geas laid on them began to unravel.

Too late. There was nothing he could tell him, now. It would only be later, that he would think back on their campaign to rescue Kaius and realize why the relationship that had formed between them, very much akin to father and son, had felt so natural. He looked away from his son's face, and absently fiddled with assorted adornments that he'd gleaned from Kaiden's body during their time in the void.

Blood Sister

Date: 2015-03-23 04:06 EST
Kristoph could tell by the way some of his things were used, or the way that he'd seen them handled during their time together in Alluvius, which items had been important to Kaiden. One was his pair of blades, their hilts worn and familiar from his constant practice, and their edges almost unnecessarily sharp; another was the music device that Kristoph himself now wore, the one he had used during his long imprisonment in the void, the one that had somehow continued without cease to work that entire time.

The ear buds remained hanging around Kristoph's neck, now, and he recalled being teased by Kaiden for having difficulty in figuring out how to use it. He smiled, and a tear stung the corner of his eyes as he looked up and away, at neither Leta nor the body.

"Know this, I leave him here....conditionally. You will not, under any circumstances, do anything I would consider a desecration of his body." His eyes found hers, despite her having moved out of the way. "While I'm....aware....of the work that is done here, I do not agree with all of it." His eyes were deadpan and bereft of humor now. "Some of the things even considered by Pengallen's....parent Company....are monstrous." As he spoke, it was if all heat simply left the room, literally. His breath plumed into the suddenly frigid air, "Kaiden is unique. Understood?" Emotions raged across his features for a moment, and then were heeled under iron control.

All the levity he'd evidenced earlier was just a covering; like the surface of a calm ocean, pleasant, but underneath deep, powerful, and deadly; like the sun, bright, nurturing, while at the same time, somehow merciless when its attention is too narrowly focused. "Payment." He stated simply, reaching into an inner pocket and producing two vials of viscous, dark red, liquid. "As promised.? And he was just as merciless towards himself, not allowing himself a moments respite before trying to draw their business to a close, for today. His respite would come later, at home, with his wife.

Leta looked at him calmly. She knew he was right; she could understand his condition. She just really hated to lose her options, though. Listening very closely to his instruction, she tried to see if she could bypass anything with a few loopholes. In the end, she decided not to play a game of semantics with him.

Knightfall

Date: 2015-03-23 10:39 EST
She nodded and said with a slight tone of remorse, "Yes. I understand." She knew she made the right decision as she felt the temperature of the room drop. She suspected him to be as powerful as she imagined him after all. She took the vials from him and said softly, "You are free to go." She waved one hand towards the door, looking down away from him. It wasn't a sign of disrespect. She wanted to prove he was free to go, without her constant prying eyes.

When Leta had found out the name of the man who ordered Kaiden to his last mission before disappearing, she vowed to kill him if she ever saw him, to make him suffer for what he had done. She wanted to kill him a couple of times for a variety of reasons tonight. As a mother, she felt sympathy for his loss now. Still looking at the body, she knew if what he had said about Kaiden being his son was true, he had suffered enough.

He smiled, in spite of himself, and the lines around his eyes softened. "I'm a hypocrite. To make demands, about his body." Warmth had already begun to filter back into the room through overhead vents. "I know the protocols, and," he hesitantly added, "What you do here. In my grief, I forgot what little wisdom I found in this tragedy, the first words I spoke to you when I entered. Do you remember them?" His question was, apparently, rhetorical, as he looked once more toward the body of his son.

He added, his voice once soft yet stable. "I wish no harm upon you. My words were....a father's grief. Nothing more. Goodbye, Ms. Tolmay." He glanced at her, now silent, and their conversation was over. He walked out the door, and casually found his own way out as though he'd come and gone a thousand times.

The guards kept a wide berth of him, and none challenged him when he casually stopped in the foyer/lobby to take up his sword and resheath it on his back. As he began, he stepped back out into the streets of Rhy'din on foot, and began to walk silently home. The snow fell about him in a sudden blanket of white, but he paid it no mind; his mind was far away.

Music played on, heard only by the man wearing the ear buds.

~~~

Bad company And I can't deny Bad company Til' the day I die - Bad Company

~~~

Layla

Date: 2015-04-05 02:59 EST
~~~

"Death is in the goodbye." - Anne Sexton

~~~

Pengallen Biotech Solutions.

Layla waited in a cheap plastic chair in some back hallway of one of The Company's bio-buildings. From the front, the building seemed to be like any other office and medical studies based business. Behind the elegant lobby, the rest of the building held more sinister intents. Neuroscience offices experimented with combining physiological and psychological torture techniques. Disease research wings played with biological warfare agents. Even reproduction studies were not immune from The Company's twisted reach. Those were just the few that Layla knew about.

Laying back with her head resting on the low chair back, she was sitting on the edge of the seat, legs extended out and crossed at the ankles. It was painfully obvious from her folded arms and reclining posture that she had been waiting for quite some time. Considering how anxious she was, it made the casual pose that much harsher in contrast.

The wide hallway was open and empty in the middle of the night, but there was tightness inside her. She didn't want to be there. She was told she had to identify the body. She had to. She had to get the mission from her superiors. She had to carry out the orders. She had to send him alone. Justifications and excuses played in a loop in her head ever since she got the phone call earlier that night. He had been missing a year after going on the mission. Then he came back to her, like this. It was her fault.

Layla remembered when he came in to work for her as one of her new set of lackeys in her crew. She could tell he was much better, more skilled, than the other disposable hires. She took an interest in him, working more closely with him. The more they worked together, the more their skills seemed to compliment each other. She was na've, no, stupid. She allowed herself to get involved with him and worse, develop feelings for him. She knew interdepartmental relationships were discouraged within The Company and even punishable, by death. She was his superior. If it came down to which one of them would be "punished", it would be him. His position would have been the easiest to fill, but not to her.

Up until now, she had disillusioned herself into believing he could still be out there, alive. She hoped maybe the Company simply relocated him. Once she got the call, she knew better. She prayed it wasn't him, but eventually it set in. They had purposefully called her in to identify him. She wasn't stupid; she knew their game. They gave her a year of false hope, thinking he could still be alive. Then they wanted to rub it in her face, like a dog that had made a mess on the carpet.

Layla turned her head when she heard the door closest to her open. A man dressed in medical scrubs and a white lab coat walked out. Without saying a word, he held the door open for her. Springing up quickly, untangling her crossed legs caused her to scuff the floor with her heels. The sound was overwhelming in the quiet space. Walking with her head held high, ignoring her embarrassment, she walked inside and he shut the door behind her.

Layla

Date: 2015-04-05 03:09 EST
It was a dim medical examiner's room. Lying flat and face up, his body was on the examining table with a lone light overhead. The brightness of the light almost illuminated his skin and clothes, but its shine dissipated, causing the room to be dark in stark contrast of him. The darkness of the room eased her. Even though no one else was there, she didn't want anyone to see her. She didn't want him to see her.

His eyes were still open.

She wished his eyes were as vacant as the countless other dead bodies she had seen. She might have been able to handle it better. Instead, she only could see him and it killed her. She needed to close his eyelids, but she couldn't bring herself to touch him. Touching him would acknowledge that this was real, a tangible truth. She couldn't.

She reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out his sunglasses. Did she give them to him on their first mission' She hated herself for not being able to remember. He continued to wear them just to spite her. She hated him for it but, for some reason, he seemed to love her. At least that is what she thought. It had been so long ago. Maybe she had fooled herself about them and whatever they had. None of it mattered now. She would do her best to talk herself out of whatever she thought, whatever she felt.

Gently placing the sunglasses over his eyes, she was careful to lay them over his face without touching him. She then quickly went for the door, opening it rapidly, needing to just get out of there. The man in the lab coat was standing just outside the door, waiting for her.

Layla tried to remain stoic throughout the ordeal, but her voice turned harsh as she said bluntly, "It's him." She began to walk down the corridor to leave, but the man interrupted her.

"He came in with this. I was instructed to give it to you."

Layla stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked back as the man held up a piece of clothing. He extended it out to offer it to her, but his eyes made it clear that her accepting it was not optional. Of course the Company would make her accept it whether she wanted to or not. They loved rubbing salt into their wounds.

She took the few steps back to him and grabbed it from his outstretched hand. She held it up and looked at it; it was a cloak. She didn't know what the arms emblazoned on it meant, but she didn't care either. It wouldn't change anything; it wouldn't bring him back. But it was his, and she wanted it. It wasn't much, but it was all she had left now. She looked at the man briefly, then turned and left, clutching the cloak. She would leave it in her desk drawer in her office.

Many nights, when she was alone in her office, she would get out the cloak and hold it, needing to feel every inch of it slowly gliding between her fingertips. She would breathe in it, slowly taking in the scent of him that still lingered on it. As weeks passed, she grew worried about its wear. If it began to fray and eventually disintegrate, then she truly would have nothing left of him. She couldn't bear that. She then locked it away, only opening the drawer to look at it when she needed him. That too passed with time. For the next year, she wouldn't even allow herself to open it. Although she tried to hide the cloak, and the pain, she never forgot; she never stopped blaming herself.

If only she hadn't loved him.

~~~

"Guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death." ― Coco Chanel

~~~