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The North landscape remained as white and immaculate as ever except for a spot of fire ahead, a spot of fire where Fin's house was. The half-elf ran but came across something frightening that left him incredulous: The fire had consumed almost everything, there was nothing left, the house was on the ground just like him, on his knees, with orange flames in his hands and tears in his eyes, no knew if was going to scream, if was going to cry, if was going to burn even more than already was. It was a mix of feelings that made his throat knot.
Alex watched right behind, hands behind his back, a neutral expression, even empathetic perhaps. Those people welcomed him when he was a simple Spawn and had no fear or prejudice. It's a shame that the fire has probably already consumed them. Well, life isn't fair and that was the Lord's thinking. He stopped next to Fin, standing, letting him vent all his emotions. He didn't move, he didn't provide support, he didn't massage his back. He just stood there, watching the last remnants of flames as the half-elf's flames melted the snow around him.
Taking advantage of the fact that the fire is almost out, Fin enters the house, searching for survivors or anything that has survived. After a few minutes, the half-elf leaves the house with a body on his shoulders: Was Meidhreach.
He placed the inert body in the snow. Half of the right side was burned but could still recognize that face and that lilac hair. Fin held him by the neck and placed him on his lap, uttering words in his own language. He hugged his brother's inert body while the tears could no longer be contained, they were flowing, screaming, washing all the wounds that existed.
Alex started to go into the house and see if there were any more bodies, but Fin just grabbed his ankle tightly and looked at him with the most angry and animalistic expression possible "Be careful, I don't want to lose parts of them." Alex frowned as he shook his foot to free himself from the grip he had on his ankle.
After a few minutes, Alex comes out with the inert body of a woman. Upon turning his head and recognizing who she was, Fin gets up hurriedly, taking her body from Alex's arms and hugging close to him. Demetria's body was a little less burned, but nothing that would have kept her alive.
While Fin cried under the found bodies, Alex brought the other 3 that he himself recognized. He wasn't quite sure why he was helping, he wasn't feeling many emotions at the moment, but perhaps there were still bits and pieces of Spawn's life that they internally swore they would delete forever.
All the bodies were there, gathered, inert, some more burned than others, all of whom were extremely kind while Alex was just a Spawn, who never judged him for who he was or for his red eyes or his lack of reflection or, for not being able to see the light of day. It was strange to feel a certain melancholy as he looked at all those familiar faces that would never return. Alex had his hands behind him, watching Fin look inertly at his entire family, killed by flames that he didn't even know where it came from. Everything was lost: family, home, books, studies. Everything turned to ash and death.
"Help me bury them... please."
There was pleading in Fin's voice, but also anger, sadness, frustration, disbelief, and even a certain apathy. There were so many painful emotions, all sounding like a funeral symphony. He lifted his head and looked at Alex, and it was the first time the Lord had seen the half-elf's eyes, which looked like a storm instead of an icy glow.
"But of course, little love. Where are we going to bury them?"
Fin got up with difficulty, his whole body begging him to collapse and stay there, sluggish, waiting for everything to go away, but he had to be stronger than that desire, he had to get up and do the right thing. He asked Alex to accompany him about 30 meters away, and so the Lord did. They arrived at a small mausoleum, quite ornate, which caught Alex's attention.
"I didn't expect this to be used so soon..."
Fin's voice was choked by the pain of the loss, of not having arrived in time to avoid it, by the various feelings that made his head even more confused and lost, trembling hands searching for the first body to be buried, his mother's body to be exact. If he was sad because he didn't have any decent clothes to bury her in, nothing with which to perform the ritual properly, other than his own faith in the Silver Lady and Alex's handkerchief, which he used to wipe the soot from her face and body.
He leaned his head against his mother's limp head and said a prayer in his language, tears streaming down his face and several sobs as he finished his words and closed the lid. Alex helped him place the coffin in a compartment that had already been designated. The Lord didn't know what was happening to him, but he suddenly felt the urge to cry with his pet and to call him "My Moon" instead of the arrogant nicknames he used to. His fist clenched in anger at not understanding what was happening and a sudden urge to scream came to the middle of his throat and then returned.
Fin stood in shock, looking at the compartment where his mother's body lay, the tears didn't stop falling, there was no respite, it was just the deepest and most painful grief. Alex gave in to whatever was screaming inside her and hugged Fin from behind, making him jump a little, while his eyes were wide open in disbelief, not knowing how to react to his lover's attitude.
"My... my moon, we must bury the others. It hurts, but they can't wait any longer than they already have." He laid his head on Fionntán's back, swallowed dryly and then let go, turning quickly, Fin’s pleading eyes begging him to stay a little longer, his pleading eyes begging him to, but Alex had already returned to his stance from before, neutral and cold, his hands behind his back.
One by one, the bodies were buried and the mausoleum closed. Fin knelt in front of the great silver cellar, where the image of Selûne was carved in stone, and screamed, a scream of pain, a scream of horror, of despair, a scream of guilt, a scream of loss, a scream that echoed across the landscape white, causing the birds to emerge from their greyhounds and take flight.
“I have nothing left... nothing, not even my research, not even a piece of paper... everything is ashes and rubble where once was the stage for everything I am today.”
He clenched his fists and pounded the snow around him with another scream of pain, a wild and animal howl that turned into screaming tears, with sobs and words that Alex knew exactly what they meant because he had studied that language, a language that he had always found melodious and sweet.
"I have nothing left but you... you are my only family now... and I don't want to think if I lose you too..."
He raised his head with eyes of sadness and pleading and Alex's face changed expression, with wide eyes and a furrowed brow. He had not expected to hear this from the half-elf, especially since he had already offered him eternity and refused it, saying it would be a curse, and now he was practically begging for it without words. Alex approached him, kneeling in the snow and putting a hand under his face, looking deep into his winter eyes.
"You..."
"Yes, Alex."
Carefully, Alex held the huge black veil around Fin's neck and, without any ceremony, sank his fangs into his throat, pinning him to his own body.
At first, Fin felt excruciating pain, he wanted to run, escape, scream, kill Alex for making him suffer like this, but then he felt an ecstasy take over his body until he was completely dizzy, as if his head was out of orbit. He felt his body grow weaker and weaker, he felt the kiss of death approaching, hugging him tightly, calling him sweetly, and in his last breath of life he could only utter a few words, an apology to those who had always guided him: "Silver Lady, I'm sorry I'm not strong. I couldn't lose him too." His eyes closed after this small plea and his body, inert, lay on top of Alex who, seeing that the ritual was complete, tore open his own fist with his fangs and let the blood drip onto Fin's lips, making him drink the blood and creating a bond that would never be broken.
He took his Consort on his lap as if he were a bride and began to walk towards the horizon, not completely aimless but he needed to get out of this environment, he needed to let Fin breathe the new life that had just been offered to him. The moon was full and the sky was full of stars, it was the night that Fin had loved the most as far as Alex could remember, and a small smile formed on his lips because he had given his little love eternal life on a night with a full moon.
After walking for a while, he felt Fin's body want to move and soon he opened his eyes: Red. No longer the bright winter that burned into ice and fire just by looking at it, now it was a dark, intense ruby that radiated something that not even Alex knew what it was.
"Where are we?"
"Coming home, my Consort."
Fin did not have the strength to reply, he just looked up at the sky, and a faint smile formed on his lips as he saw the pale full moon, a sign that his goddess was smiling at him, in the end, he felt happy that she had not punished him for what he had just done.
"My eyes..."
"Ruby, my Consort. Like warm summer nights."
Fin knew that if he ever became a vampire, he would lose the glow of the winter look he loved so much, and he would never be able to see his reflection in the mirror again. He knew all these conditions so well that he refused to be transformed at the time, thinking it was all a curse. The irony is that today he has come to see it as a blessing because he will be able to spend eternity next to the only man he loved and still loves, and he will never again have to feel alone because of the loss of his beloved family.
"I will be your mirror, I will be your guide and I tell you: you are still as beautiful as the first time I saw you."
Fin threw his arms around Alex's neck and closed his eyes, leaning back against his chest. Alex looked at the blue-black Horizon, warm eyes with a mix of feelings, all tearing at his flesh at the same time, but happy to have the love of his life beside him, to be his forever, to be a part of what he had become. And with that thought, he took a teleport scroll from his pocket (something that was rare to achieve, but extremely possible with the right influence), drew the symbols on the ice with some difficulty, holding Fin in his lap, and stepped out of the circle into the middle as a dark light led them back to the Palace.