Chapter Text
The arctic was cold, brutally so. She shivered, fighting the wet sting gathering at the corner of her eyes. She stood there, eyes tearing, body shivering, staring desperately at the man wearing her friend's face. Was he even still her Zayne? She had followed him. From Linkon, to the arctic, to this unknowable place of fractals and books. Towering and ominous, it felt familiar in a way that made her brain itch, but none of that mattered. None of it even registered as she stared into blank hazel eyes. When had he become a stranger?
“Zayne…”
The man in question didn’t so much as flinch, his dark black coat swirling around him as he turned to face her, hands clenching. He breathed out roughly, eyes barely flickering to meet her own. They stood, silence yawning between them like a chasm. At last he broke the stalemate, voice soft. “You shouldn’t have followed me here. It’s too dangerous. You-”
She scoffed, interrupting him. “What else was I supposed to do?” That same desperate and nameless emotion welled in her chest, just as it had in the graveyard where they had last seen each other, aching more than the aether core ever had. She clutched her arms and stepped towards him, gently side stepping his “nephew” who had led her here, annoyance flaring as Zayne stepped back. “Your mother called me. Did you know that? She wanted to know where her son was!” Another step, another barely perceptible crack in the glacier that was his expression. “What about your patients? Your coworkers? All the people relying on you?” How could you have left? After everything…
His mouth compressed in response, one hand coming to rest at his throat lightly. “That’s not - “
Something akin to rage burbled in her chest. How dare he? She cut him off again, stepping forward into his space, backing him into one of the tall shelves. “Fine! Then what about me, Zayne?!”
Hazel eyes turned flinty, his body tensing. Already he seemed so far away. Gone, just like in her nightmares. Just like in the past when the only piece of him she’d had was a box of misshapen snow seals. “We already talked about this.” Cold, so cold, Zayne hadn’t been this cold in so long.
She snarled in response, heart beating frantically. Her hands slammed forward roughly, caging the taller man against the bookshelf with a bang. He jumped in surprise, the first genuine reaction she had gotten from him since she arrived at this godforsaken tower. “Don’t.” Her hands clenched, fingers shaking as she lifted them to clutch his jacket lapel. She shoved him, not hard, but firm, as if she could physically anchor him to her with nothing but sheer will. The bookshelf behind them swayed ominously but she ignored it, eyes boring into the man in front of her. “Don’t start that again. Zayne… you-”
The bookshelf lurched interrupting her as thick tomes surrendered to gravity, raining around them. “Look out!” His hands clutched hers, cold and rough as he tugged her into the shelter of his body firmly. At their feet a book spilled open, thick paper whirling in an unseen wind as the ink on it glowed, lighting the sterile tower in warm golden light. The air became heavy and the building shook almost violently, the air tingling and buzzing along her spine with all the comfort of nails raking across a chalkboard.
“Zayne… what’s happening!?”
He shook his head and tightened his grip, pulling her away from the whirling vortex of energy firmly.
It tugged at her in retaliation, firm and inevitable, dragging her from his arms as light filled the corners of her vision. In response his grip tightened painfully, all fragments of cold composure fled as his expression turned terrified. “Zayne?!” Wind, fragrant with the scent of jasmines, suddenly bellowed into the space, stealing the sound of his voice.
Her stomach swooped as the book spilled open on the floor suddenly let out one last blinding burst of light. Her final sight was of Zayne, reaching for her as she was pulled away into that luminous void.