Song for the Chapter: Mystery of Love (Sufjan Stevens)
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Eroque Tecum: kindred
Hadrian wakes up the next morning feeling refreshed; the first night of undisturbed sleep he had achieved in over a year. It was later than he would typically rise, forgetting to set his alarm the night before in the buzz that his mind was after taking Aurora home. Hadrian decides to get up, dress and have a peaceful morning, having no plans to attend. Avoiding the hustle and bustle of the dining hall, Hadrian stays home. With a mechanical super-automatic whirr, his coffee machine powers up and produces a quality black coffee. Reaching into his small silver fridge, he pulls out a bottle of milk and adds a little splash to his coffee, resulting in a vibrant caramel colour. Pondering on a breakfast option, he opens the freezer drawer attached at the bottom of his fridge, grabbing the sourdough fruit toast that was a staple in his freezer. He pops two slices in the toaster, allowing them to toast to perfection while reaching for a plate and the butter. By the time Hadrian has buttered his fruit toast, his coffee has cooled to the perfect sip-able temperature. Taking a seat at his dining room table, he alternates between enjoying his coffee and fruit toast while scrolling through his phone. Peaceful, mundane mornings like this were the peak of relaxation to Hadrian.
A notification from Julius pops up on his phone screen, instantly grabbing Hadrian’s attention. He almost immediately gets a phone call from Julius and picks up.
“Good morning Hadrian,” Julius starts, audibly sipping his cocktail.
“Good evening to you, Julius,” Hadrian answers with a chuckle, relaxing in his chair. The opposing time zones and hence opposite beverage consumption patterns was a running joke between the brothers.
“Oh, don’t judge me, it is six o’clock at night here after all,” Julius responds, giving Hadrian his typical answer in jest.
“How is everything at the home base?” Hadrian inquires after a pause.
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Although, I was calling intending to check in on the Collective. The message you sent me earlier,” Julius begins, inquiring with curiosity.
“Oh. Yes. Well, I figured that you would quickly realise what I was implying. You know me pretty well at this point.” Hadrian replies, candidly.
“So would I be right to assume that the curse has lifted?” Julius asks, his continuing cocktail-sipping discernible over the phone.
“Sort of. I would probably describe it more as in the process of lifting rather than lifted.” Hadrian answers, hesitantly, taking a long sip of his now rapidly cooling coffee.
“How so?” Julius responds, tentatively, knowing that it is something that cuts close to the bone for Hadrian.
“Aurora knows me, she knows Soph and Felix, and I know she remembers you and Finn. But all the other memories, it’s like she can access pieces of them and they come back in slow trickles, scrambled.” Hadrian begins, calmly.
Julius is silent, processing Hadrian’s beleaguered words.
“I’m sorry. I know it must be heartbreaking to see; to have Aurora back, but to not have her back.” Julius articulates, unsure of how to console his dearest friend.
“I’ll be alright. I just hold onto the memories I have, the happy ones, and hope that one day she can remember them too. But even if she never recovers them, if she can never remember the memories we made then, I will still be by her side if she allows me.” Hadrian says, sentimentally. Hadrian stares up at his ceiling, the words he just uttered hitting a level of feeling he was not previously sure that he was capable of.
“I know you love her; so what happens if she does want you by her side?” Julius asks, timidly.
“Then I will be there, no matter what. There is no-one else for me.” Hadrian replies, with gently evident conviction.
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Julius says, happily, lifting the tension of their heavy conversation.
“What do you mean?” Hadrian asks with a chuckle.
“Four years ago, if someone had told you that you would say you were committed to one girl and prepared to do anything to keep her, you would have laughed in that person’s face.” Julius starts, lightheartedly.
“I would attempt to protest except I know that you’re right,” Hadrian responds, laughing joyfully at the anecdote.
∞∞∞
Aurora woke rather late, rising to the sound of her blaring alarm. Sitting up in her bed, she quickly realises that she has slept in again. I’m going to be much later than I intended, Aurora thinks, rushing to her bathroom, throwing her long fiery waves into a messy high bun. Washing her face, she attempts to wake herself up faster; sighing, she knows only coffee will do that for her. Aurora throws open the drawers of her dresser, grabbing the nearest long sleeve shirt and jeans. Navy blue and black; what a fashion statement, she thinks, quickly dressing. Aurora pulls on her winter boots, grabs her winter coat and stuffs her iPad Pro and accessories, pocket watch and letter along with her other assorted necessities into her black leather satchel. Bustling out of her bedroom, she cautiously places the belongings piled high in her arms on the kitchen table.
Glancing at her phone, Aurora realises that she has a few extra minutes than anticipated and turns on her coffee maker, brewing herself a cup of awake-ness. She gulps it down quickly, avoiding overthinking the flavour; the coffee she made at her apartment never was as good as the coffee she thought of when coffee came to mind.
After downing a second cup, Aurora grimaces and makes the same mental note that she has for the past year: get a better coffee maker. Putting on her coat, Aurora picks up her bag and leaves her apartment, locking it up. The thought of when she might return does creep into her stream of consciousness, but she tries to put it to the back of her mind.
Quickly hailing a taxi, Aurora gives the driver an address close to the entry of the gated community of the Collective. She is silent the whole drive, only taking out her iPad briefly to glance over the work she had concocted the night before. This world is coming back to me, one piece at a time, she thinks, before quickly tucking her iPad back into her bag.
Before she knows it, the driver has pulled up at the address she gave. She quickly pays before leaving the taxi and walking through the gates of the Collective.
Walking into the Collective on her own brings a strange sense of nostalgia and surprisingly, déjà vu. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise; I’m still navigating the whole ‘return of memories I did not know I had lost’ thing, she thinks, smiling to herself. Aurora walks up to the grand old building that she knows is the Old Main building. Walking up to the large front doors, she rings the doorbell. She hears it ring inside from where she stands like an old church style bell. Feet scurry behind the door, seeming to move away until a more precise footstep sounds of a high heel wearer approaching.
The door opens, revealing a lone Sophronia.
“Aurora! Do come in.” Sophronia begins, warmly inviting Aurora inside, embracing her.
The marble floor of the foyer echoes their footsteps, Sophronia leading Aurora to a large office that Aurora deduces must now belong to Sophronia. Peculiar waves of nostalgia flow over her, reflecting on the memories of this place that she could only access as of late again. They pass through the main operation and command centre, the Immortalise working there buried in their work at the monitors, not taking even a second to look up at her and Sophronia.
Sophronia’s office is vast and clean, a large desk placed in the middle of the open room.
Sophronia takes a seat in her plush chair, motioning for Aurora to sit on the other side of the desk. Aurora relaxes in the chair.
“It is nice to see you again. I was hoping you would come back today.” Sophronia starts, taking in the face of the best friend that she had lost.
“I had a question that I hoped you or Hadrian could answer for me, from my memory fragments.” Aurora begins, curiosity quietly peaking in her tone.
“Well, you have me. Ask away.” Sophronia responds, affectionately smiling.
“I remember that Hadrian and Julius were really close; like closer than best friends or brothers. These two Latin words, Eroque Tecum, kept coming to mind when I thought about it, trying to figure it out, placing it in my memory fragments.” Aurora begins, perplexed. Sophronia’s dark eyes well up with tears, the mere thought of the concept of Eroque Tecum bringing immense nostalgia, let alone Aurora remembering it. She is silent, not entirely sure how to give Aurora the answer without becoming overly emotional herself.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to-“ Aurora continues, mildly bewildered by Sophronia’s response.
“It’s nothing. I just never thought I would hear you say that again.” Sophronia answers swiftly, wiping the tears from her eyes. Aurora reaches her hand across the desk, squeezing Sophronia’s hand in comfort and support. Aurora pauses, sensing that Sophronia will continue and explain.
“Eroque Tecum is a rather human aspect of our Immortalise lives; the best translation I can think of is kindred spirits. It’s not something that can be made or chosen, it is something that just happens. You train with people, grow with people, and sometimes you find a bond that is so pure and special. It is not romantic, just the closest friendship bond you could ever imagine. Eroque Tecum Immortalise can read each other’s feelings very well, almost feel them themselves; almost read the mind of the other but not quite; pretty much communicate without talking.” Sophronia begins hesitantly, trying to gauge Aurora’s digestion of this information.
“So, Julius and Hadrian are Eroque Tecum?” Aurora asks, carefully.
“Julius and Hadrian are. It’s almost a magical connection, but somehow there is no magic involved, just what we have left of our human origins. For them, they grew up together, and it just happened.” Sophronia answers, judiciously. Aurora pauses, pondering the information she has been provided.
“Do you have a kindred spirit?” Aurora asks curiously, out of the blue.
“I did. At least, I think I did.” Sophronia begins, softly, wistfulness laced through her tone.
“Who was it?” Aurora cautiously inquires, feeling Sophronia’s apprehension and wistfulness.
“That’s not important; I’m just glad to see you here and that you’re getting some of your memories back,” Sophronia replies, sweeping her long, dark straight hair back over her shoulder while rather obviously obfuscating.
Aurora pauses for a moment, considering Sophronia’s response, tucking wisps of her fiery waves that had escaped her hairdo behind her ears. A deep-seated feeling of heartache takes over her chest, filling her with dread — possibly the premonition of an inevitable answer that she did not want to know.
“Was it me?” Aurora asks, looking sadly into Sophronia’s dark and golden eyes that no longer had the spark that she remembered them with.
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