Song for the Chapter - The Night We Met (Lord Huron)554Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIcsxfFggp
The sun peaked its’ way into Hadrian’s room, despite the overall darkness. Hadrian wakes up feeling very optimistic and hopeful, knowing he is to meet with Aurora in the coming hours. He sincerely hopes that she will recover more of her memories, that the curse will lift. Hadrian rolls out of bed, feeling relatively at peace for the first time in a long while. He quickly dresses in some appropriate training clothes, wanting to kill time mindlessly before going to meet Aurora. He leaves his home through the underground passage, heading towards the old main building in the heart of the gated community that was the centre of operations for the San Francisco Immortalise collective. Hadrian makes his way through the grand old building, reaching the large communal dining hall with haste. He quickly snags some pancakes before taking a seat with Sophronia and Felix.
“You look unusually cheerful today, Hadrian.” Felix remarks.
Sophronia looks away, knowing better than to provoke Hadrian over a lift in his mood, especially after all he had been through with Aurora and the curse.
“No reason,” Hadrian responds, looking down before consuming more pancakes.
Felix silently nods in response, taking the cue from Sophronia not to press him for details.
Before everyone leaves the communal dining hall, Hadrian attempts to inconspicuously exit breakfast, but Sophronia catches on, pulling him aside outside of the room.
“I think I can take a good guess of what you’re about to do, and I know it is most likely very daunting and really tough. I just want you to know that I’m here for you, no matter the outcome.” Sophronia begins, putting her hand on Hadrian’s shoulder in support.
“I really appreciate that. Thank you, Soph.” Hadrian replies, smiling softly before dashing off to train.
Hadrian goes to the training centre, picking up a set of knives, aligning himself with a target and throwing the knives with perfect accuracy. Running out of knives, he turns to a punching bag and works on his hand to hand combat accuracy. Felix enters the training centre, getting himself ready to train stick fighting with Hadrian. Both Hadrian and Felix are strong fighters, but Hadrian is ultimately more powerful, defeating Felix.
“Good session,” Felix says, pushing his dark chocolate hued hair off of his forehead.
Hadrian nods, glancing at his watch before rushing out of the training centre, taking one of the underground passages back to him home. He hastily showers, changing into more presentable clothing to go and meet Aurora. Hadrian goes to his closet, reaching into the safe, taking Aurora’s pocket watch and the letter she wrote with him. He holds the items close, her scent still lingering on them. He places them carefully in his coat pocket, next to his own pocket watch.
Hadrian leaves through his front door, avoiding the most direct route through the underground passages to the Old Main building and out of its front doors. He wants to go undetected; so he (as he did last night) takes the long passage above ground, navigating the quiet streets of the gated community where his leaving would go unnoticed. With limited time, Hadrian catches a taxi, which brings him to the outskirts of the university grounds. Hadrian checks the address, navigating himself to Aurora’s apartment block off-campus. He finds her door, pausing before daring to knock. Hadrian straightens himself out, smoothing his hair, unbuttoning his winter coat. He checks the time and finally knocks on the door. Aurora quickly jumps up and runs to answer the door. Hadrian’s heart races as he hears her footsteps get closer.
“Hadrian!” Aurora exclaims, opening the door, welcoming him inside. Hadrian smiles, taking in the surroundings of her apartment, taking in her cheery demeanour, rubbing off in some way on him. The cheeriness covers his intense nervousness. Aurora leads him into her living room, motioning for him to take a seat on one of her sofas. Her apartment is warm, leading Hadrian to take off his heavy winter coat.
“I brought something for you. I thought you might want it.” Hadrian begins, digging in his coat pocket and eventually grabbing Aurora’s pocket watch. Aurora’s eyes light up when she sees it.
“This is mine? I had one of these?” Aurora asks, earnestly.
“Yes, it is yours,” Hadrian answers, looking at the ground. Aurora opens her watch, tracing the engraving as she had done with his own.
“Immortalis… what does it do?” Aurora replies, her eyes affixed to the object in her hands. Hadrian sighs, not entirely knowing how to express what he wanted to say. It reminded him immensely of the first time he met Aurora; the first time he explained all of this to her.
“It’s okay; you can take your time.” Aurora continues, noting Hadrian’s silence.
“It’s just; this, it very much reminds me of when we first met,” Hadrian says with a pause, resting his head on his hands.
“You and I are Immortalis, people who are not bound by the mortality of average human lifespan, but there is a world of us out there. I first met you on your eighteenth birthday, when your father kidnapped your mother and set your home on fire when she wouldn’t allow him to take you. I rescued you from the burning house, and if it wasn’t for your Immortalis powers, you wouldn’t have survived. Your mother had gifted you that very pocket watch for your birthday - it is a possession of every Immortalis, the pin in the watch forged with your blood. That pin has the power to not only turn someone into an Immortalis but also to heal Immortalise. I used it to save you that day, then brought you back to the San Francisco Immortalis Collective, where you met my brother and sister.” Hadrian begins, attempting to explain everything, looking up at Aurora. Aurora sat in mild shock, befuddlement evident on her face.
“You see, I have these fragments of memories, but I don’t have a roadmap to patch them back together;” Aurora says, reaching her hand out to Hadrian’s, placing it on top of his for reassurance, despite her own immense confusion. A wave of shock comes over her, causing her to shut her eyes. A flood of memories begins to return to her in shambles. Her eighteenth birthday; Hadrian rescuing her; meeting Sophronia and Julius; finding out her best friend Felix was also an Immortalis; her mother missing. She shudders, her eyes flashing open.
“My memories…” Aurora begins, utterly bewildered. Hadrian is silent, not sure of what has transpired.
“My memories started coming back…” Aurora continues, confused. Hadrian looks at Aurora, hope glowing from his eyes.
“You saved me… more than once. Thank you.” Aurora continues, looking into Hadrian’s hope-filled eyes, bewilderment still apparent in her voice.
“You’re welcome…” Hadrian responds, apprehensively, full of uncertainty.
“The pocket watch… magic; that’s why you have the central heterochromia. I don’t have it anymore?” Aurora begins staring into Hadrian’s eyes. Aurora is mesmerised by their icy grey-blue colour with gold flecks, bordered by a deep blue outer rim.
“There was a curse. You wrote me a letter before you left, just over a year ago.” Hadrian replies, digging in his coat pocket again for the letter. He produces her message, handing it to her. Aurora is baffled while reading the letter; she had saved everyone from something truly terrible, yet she was being punished; she was forced to leave the world that had been defended by her. Aurora had her friends and everyone she loved and who loved her taken away from her. Tears gather in Aurora’s eyes, knowing that she wrote this from her handwriting and signature, but having no recollection of writing it, despite having fragments of memories returned to her. Hadrian observes her changing facial expressions from disbelief, to befuddlement, to sadness.
“We have special blood?” Aurora asks, Hadrian tentatively silent as she processes the contents of the letter.
“Yes. Your father gave our mothers the same elixir made from the blood of the Aeterna before we were born, and it affected us in the same way while we were still developing.” Hadrian begins, hesitantly.
“Does it make us related?” Aurora questions, wondering what that would mean after reading the letter she wrote.
“No, no. Thank the heavens no.” Hadrian says, reassuringly. Aurora stands up, Hadrian following her cues.
“May I?” Aurora inquires softly, motioning to embrace Hadrian.
“Of course,” Hadrian answers swiftly, enveloping Aurora tenderly in his arms. Their slight height difference was more prominent; Hadrian had to resist the urge to kiss the top of Aurora’s head. Aurora shudders slightly, more of her early memories of the Immortalise returning, Hadrian’s embrace comforting and reassuring her. Before Aurora wants him to, Hadrian releases his embrace, stepping back slightly.
“Do you think I can come back to the Collective, to, visit everyone?” Aurora requests, shyly.
“I think that’s possible; I will just send a quick message to Sophronia and let her know,” Hadrian responds, slightly surprised at Aurora’s willingness to return despite not having all of her memories back, quickly messaging Sophronia.
“Soph, I’m with Aurora right now. Somehow, she has gotten some memories back. She remembers us, and she wants to visit. I am going to bring her around to my place and dodge the front door. Meet me?”
“Definitely. I will keep it under wraps, we don’t want widespread madness. Felix will come too.”
“We got the all-clear,” Hadrian says with a wide smile.
“Thank you. Give me a moment, and we can head out.” Aurora answers eagerly, rushing around, putting a few things into a small bag.
They leave the apartment together, Aurora locking the door while Hadrian hails a taxi.
The taxi ride is rather silent, neither Immortalis daring enough to discuss in earshot of the taxi driver. Aurora reaches for Hadrian’s hand, comfortingly.
Before they know it, they have reached the entrance to the gated community of the San Francisco Immortalise Collective.
“Welcome back.” Hadrian quietly whispers to Aurora, smiling softly. Aurora quickly realises that they are walking around the old main building instead of through it and the tunnels.
“I just want you to know that a few things have changed since you were last here. Julius and Phineas married, and Julius was instated on the council of the elders. They moved to headquarters in the UK. Sophronia and Felix are still together, and Sophronia has become the head of the Collective here since Julius moved up. Felix is still ambassador to the integrated Immortalise,” Hadrian states, quietly.
They reach Hadrian’s condo, quickly entering the front door and shutting swiftly behind them. Aurora vaguely recognises Hadrian’s home, turning around fastidiously when a door that she would assume leads to a garage is knocked on. Hadrian quickly opens it, Sophronia and Felix emerging before rapidly closing the door that opens to the underground tunnels.
Sophronia gets to Aurora first. Aurora instantly recognising her best friend and embracing her warmly and tightly.
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, Rory.” Sophronia begins, tears welling up in her dark eyes. Aurora’s own soft emerald eyes fill with tears, threatening to spill over at any moment. Felix tentatively approaches Hadrian.
“She remembers us?” Felix asks in a low voice, crossing his arms.
“Yes.” Hadrian replies, covertly.
“You’re head of the Collective now?” Aurora asks through sniffles, her face lighting up, covertly using a finger to swipe away the tears she had accumulated.
“Yes.” Sophronia replies, with a warm yet teary smile.
“Julius is now on the council of the elders, I believe.” Aurora begins.
“He is one of the current diplomats on the council living at headquarters.” Felix responds quickly. Aurora nods, acknowledging Felix.
“We kept your home here if you would like to see it.” Hadrian starts, quietly, motioning to the tunnels. They all quickly go through the underground passage, walking back to the junction where one can turn off into Sophronia’s, Hadrian’s or Aurora’s condos.
Sophronia pulls out a key and unlocks the door to Aurora’s former home, untouched.
Aurora instantly recognises her old home. She goes up to her room, over to her dresser and sees all of her old makeup left out.
“Was there a special occasion?” Aurora asks, Hadrian coming over to stand next to her.
“There was an engagement celebration.” Hadrian replies tenderly.
“Who?” Aurora asks, still having no memory of that experience.
“Julius and Phineas. They have since formally gotten married.” Hadrian answers, bowing his head. Aurora reaches for Hadrian’s hand and suddenly the fragments of memories of the party return to her.
“There is something strange; every time I touch you, more of my memories come back, in pieces.” Aurora starts, looking Hadrian in the eyes. Hadrian feels what can only be described as a rush of infinite relief and invigorating hope. Sophronia and Felix quietly leave the room to give Aurora and Hadrian some space.
“I know in my heart that you can help me get all of my memories back.” Aurora starts, reassuringly, looking up at Hadrian.
“I don’t want this to be overwhelming for you; I just want you to be okay.” Hadrian replies, tenderly.
∞∞∞
At the headquarters, Julius feels a buzz in his pocket. Julius glances at his phone, seeing Hadrian’s name and the message “I have some good news”. He knew that very few things could mean good news to Hadrian. Julius surmises that Hadrian must have Aurora again and that the curse must be ending. Julius smiled to himself, noting that he needed to take a day off at his earliest convenience and go and visit everyone at the San Francisco Collective. Julius inevitably knew that his concentration would waver throughout the day with this knowledge plaguing the back of his mind.
After a long day in his job as a diplomat, Julius makes his way home to Phineas. Julius opens the door and is greeted by Phineas holding cocktails.
“How was your day?” Phineas begins, Julius gingerly sipping on the cocktail.
“Fairly ordinary Finn, except for one thing.” Julius started between sips.
“Mhm… Do tell, Juli.” Phineas replies coyly.
“I’m pretty sure that Hadrian has Aurora and that she’s remembering things again.” Julius says. Phineas nearly spits out his cocktail in shock.
“What…?” He replies in disbelief.
“He sent me a message earlier, and it could really only mean one thing. I’ll call him later to confirm.” Julius responds, nonchalantly pushing his short, straight dark hair back.
“I guess the curse of an unknown benevolent god cannot last forever.” Phineas replies, still astonished, clinking his glass with Julius’ in celebration.
∞∞∞
Hadrian insisted on accompanying Aurora home that night. Neither Sophronia, Felix or Hadrian wanted to pressure Aurora into staying at the Collective. Hadrian walks Aurora to her door, Aurora embracing Hadrian tightly, resting her head on his shoulder, feeling the familiar shudder of more memories returning to her. By now, she had become accustomed to the strange sensation.
“I’ll come back tomorrow. I still have questions to ask and more memories to recover.” Aurora says to Hadrian, reassuring him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Hadrian smiles.
“Goodnight.” Hadrian says, not moving away from Aurora.
“I will see you in the morning.” Aurora responds, tenderly, opening her apartment. Hadrian watches as Aurora enters her apartment and slowly shuts the door. He walks back to the road, hailing another taxi back to the Collective, hopeful for what the next day might bring.
∞∞∞
Aurora flops down on her sofa. Disbelief was the only way that Aurora could describe finding out that her memories had been taken by a curse; it was as if her life as an Immortalis had been put to sleep and meeting Hadrian had suddenly woken her up again. Somehow, deep within herself, Aurora knows that it is true, no matter that it might be easier to contemplate it now as crazy or invented. Thinking of the possibilities and of what had transpired that day, her mind remains racing. Fed up with her internal monologue, Aurora decides to chill out. Getting out her iPad Pro and Apple pencil, Aurora finds herself drawn to some of the more greyscale colours within her original image art. As she plugs in her headphones and begins to draw what she feels, her hazy, dreamy work develops a prominent clarity that had not been there in the past year. She zooms out, looking at the overall work and finds that she has subconsciously drawn a pocket watch in the centre of the work.
After working on the piece for a while, Aurora finds herself growing exceedingly tired. Climbing into bed, she knew her eyes would shut as soon as her head hit the pillow. Her dreams bring forward memories of her adventures as an Immortalis and of her search for her mother.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
