On their final night, the small secluded clearing at the edge of the local woods crackled with faint, violet sparks of spatial distortion.
Lucien stood at the center of the glow.
His modern wear was now replaced once more by his restored dark leather armor that had been folded carefully for three months.
His broad shoulders were rigid, his bluish-violet eyes dark with a heartbreaking, agonizing sorrow of having to leave such peace behind.
If it were up to him, he would rather choose to settle on Earth with Kagen forever. But the universe just had other plans.
The spatial rift pulsed with a low, violent hum at the edge of the quiet clearing. The air smelled of ozone and scorched grass as the tear between worlds shrank with every passing second.
Lucien reached out, grabbing Kagen's hand to pull him through the glowing doorway.
"Finally, it is time for us to go."
"Yes...let us go, the Edrath family awaits us."
Kagen smiled looking up at Lucien. At least now, he was leaving Earth willingly and his family had given him blessings to leave with the man he loved. Although they had only thought that he was merely going abroad.
Kagen adjusted the backpack on his shoulders, it was full of belongings that would remind him of Earth. Including photo frames of his family and photos taken during the time he spent together with Lucien on Earth. His heart was at ease.
*BANG!*
Kagen stumbled backward, his brows creased inward from confusion.
A hard, invisible barrier slammed into his chest, repelling him backward and he stumbled across the damp grass, hitting the ground hard as the energy rippled through the air like a heavy shockwave.
Both of them stared at the glowing portal in complete shock.
"What's going on!" Lucien yelled over the roaring hum of the rift, rushing back toward him.
"Kagen!"
Kagen pushed himself up from the ground, staring at his glowing, trembling hands as the barrier pushed against him every time he tried to lean forward. Then he slowly turned his head around to look at Lucien.
"Lucien... it seems like it is not my time to go back with you."
"What? No!... You—"
"Listen, there is no time!" Kagen shouted, his voice cracking with sudden desperation as the edges of the portal began to spark and collapse.
"In fifteen months, Mellisa will find a way for me to leave, just like how I traveled to Edrath the first time! When you get to Edrath, just wait for me. Please!"
"Sweetheart, you—!"
"Lucien, just promise me!"
"But–... fifteen months here is fifteen years there!" Lucien screamed, his bluish-violet eyes wide with raw, agony-filled disbelief.
"How can I leave you behind just when I've just found you?.... How the hell will I survive that long without you?!"
Kagen's eyes welled with tears, but he forced his voice to remain steady, taking a step as close as the invisible wall would allow.
"Be patient, please! Endure just a little more so that we can be together again! And I promise that I will go back to Edrath."
"But what if you don't find your way back?!" Lucien's voice trembled, a sound Kagen had never heard from the proud knight before and then he softly smiled trying to reassure him.
"I will definitely find my way back," Kagen promised fiercely, wiping a tear from his cheek.
"I will make sure of it, so please don't worry too much, Lucien. And just wait for me there."
Lucien swallowed hard, his throat tight with unshed tears. He walked right up to the edge of the barrier, pulled Kagen into his arms across the threshold, and kissed him deeply—a painful, desperate kiss filled with the weight of an unexpected decade and a half of waiting looming just around the corner.
"You better come back!" Lucien whispered against his lips, holding him as tightly as the magic permitted. Not intending to let go.
"I will," Kagen choked out. "Trust me, I truly will."
With a final, lingering look of pure heartbreak, Lucien turned and stepped backward into the tear of light.
Slowly his figure disappeared into the rift and eventually the rift snapped shut with a deafening crack, leaving only the quiet wind rustling through the trees.
Kagen remained behind, standing alone in the silent clearing. His heart felt as though it had sunken straight to his ribs, heavy and hollow.
When he dragged his feet back home, the house was quiet. Mrs. Walker and Mellisa were sitting in the living room, watching TV.
And when they both looked up, they gasped surprised to see him walk through the front door... entirely alone, sad and carrying his backpack just like how he left earlier.
"Kagen, you—" Mrs. Walker started, rising from the couch.
And Kagen shrugged, hiding his face deep inside his baggy hood that covered the entirety of his head.
"In the end–... I couldn't leave," Kagen whispered, his voice shaky.
Mrs. Walker stopped in her tracks, searching for his eyes.
"But you seemed so happy to leave with him and start over your life?"
Kagen's eyes remained glued to the floor. The heavy silence stretched across the entryway before his tears finally gave him away as they fell off his eyes, dripping steadily onto the wooden floorboards.
Mrs. Walker let out a soft, aching sigh. Swallowing back all of her questions, she walked across the room and wrapped her arms tightly around her son, pulling his head down onto her shoulder.
And when she finally saw his face, his eyes were bloodshot, his face stained with tears as if he had been crying for hours.
"You poor boy... come here," she murmured gently, stroking his hair as Kagen let out a wail on her shoulder.
"Everything is going to be okay. If it's truly meant to be, then you two will eventually find your way to each other again."
"So please, don't cry so much."
*****