Grace for The Fallen

Thank you

Ariston Nox

   I had thought that nothing Tay could ever do or say could surprise me. I knew her better than I knew myself. Guess I was wrong. I thought as I gaped in utter disbelief at my best friend before me.

   “When… how…” I stuttered, trying to say something, anything. But I couldn’t get my mouth to form the words. Probably because my brain was not in the program. My head felt fuzzy, and the only thought running through my mind was, Um…WHAT?

   “Tony,” a small voice whispered in front of me. I saw Tay reaching out a pleading hand to me, and the gesture, along with the tone in her voice, broke my heart. Her normally clear eyes were dark with unshed tears and despair. She was looking at me like I was her last lifeline. And it was slipping out of her fingers.

   “Tony, I’m sorry,” she breathed, “I’m sorry.” I frowned in confusion, and my mouth managed to form one word.

   “Sorry?”

   “I’m sorry that you had to be the one,” she explained, “I never wanted it to be you. But I don’t blame you. We can’t both die. Your family can’t lose you. So you have to turn me in. I don’t care. I didn’t want it to be you. But it is. And in the end, I’m glad it was.” She nodded and smiled in what I’m sure she thought was a reassuring way, but I saw through it. Just like I saw through the façade she had ever put up. And I couldn’t bear to see her pain underneath. I couldn’t bear to see that, behind her brave words, she was the most terrified she had been in her life. But she knew that she had to be strong. She wanted to go down fighting. And I loved her for it.

   “My family hates me,” I deadpanned. Despite the situation, I couldn’t resist trying to make her smile just one more time, “You know that.” She smiled softly, and my heart ached at the resignation in it.

   “So it doesn’t matter,” I rushed on, “Because if I did die, you would be the only one who would miss me. You’re my best friend. The person I love most in the world. I will not turn you in. Because to kill you would be to kill me. So what does it matter if we die together? If you died, I would be dead inside anyway. And I find that a worse fate than death,” she opened her mouth to speak but I ploughed on, trying to make her see, understand, “So no, I won’t turn you in. And you’re not going to turn yourself in either. I’ve always said that I would die for you, and that wasn’t just talk. I’m going to stay with you until we figure this out. Then we’ll both be alive, and if they find out and kill us… then I’d be glad to die with and for you, knowing that I did everything that I could to help my best friend.” I finished my rant, breathing heavily. Sometime during my tirade, I had risen to my feet and I glared across the room at her, daring her to object. But I needn’t have worried.

   The tears that had been threatening to fall throughout our conversation finally spilled over her cheeks, and she let out a broken sob before flinging herself onto me. I almost lost my balance, but managed to stay upright as she burrowed her head into my chest.

   “Thank you,” she kept sobbing out, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

   “Of course,” I murmured, “You would do the same for me.”

   We stayed like that for a while, just soaking in the other’s presence, until Tay finally stopped sniffing and pulled away, looked up at me, and smiled. I smiled back. Even sleep deprived and red-eyed from crying, Daetheia was the most beautiful girl I knew. I had never looked at her romantically, but even I knew when a girl was pretty or not. And Tay was definitely the most attractive girl her age. But she was completely oblivious to the fact. She never seemed to notice when boys turned around to stare at her after she walked by, or when girls gaped at her in jealousy when she was wearing even the most unflattering of outfits. And that was one of the things I liked most about her. She didn’t care whether the sweater she was wearing complemented her eyes, or if the girl she was hanging out with that day was pretty or not.

   No, the only thing that mattered to Daetheia wasn’t outer beauty, but inner beauty. Though she seemed to have been blessed with an abundance of both. I guess her ethereal beauty was explained now, what with her being an Elf and all… Whoa. That was a weird, scary thought. But cool. Even though I know I shouldn't have, I had always respected The Fallen. I couldn't even pinpoint why I felt that way. I just always had.

   I guess it explained her eyes as well. Most people assumed, as she told them, that they were just gold. But, as with everything else, she was trying to downplay them. They were so much more than just gold. Sure, from far away they seemed to be one solid colour, but if you looked closer, you could see all the different colours woven into the gold. There were small specks of purple and light blue in a ring around her pupil, and on the outer edge of her iris, there was a loop of subtle red and orange interwoven with the gold. Here and there in the middle of her iris were bright yellow and very light gold spots among the darker gold, making it seem as if there were tiny stars floating in a sea of molten gold.

   The colours seemed so prominent up close, though when you stepped away just a little bit, they seemed completely gold. So nobody had ever asked her about her strange eyes, though gold was still a very unusual eye-colour. I was interrupted from my thoughts by a delicate, long-fingered hand gripping mine.

   “I don’t know what I could have ever done to deserve a friend like you,” Tay whispered, her smile still in place. I grinned in response and winked at her.

   “Oh please, nobody could ever do enough to deserve me,” I joked. She groaned in response.

   “I was trying to pay you a compliment, Tony,” she acted annoyed, but there was humour dancing in her eyes that she couldn’t quite hide, “Guess I just won’t say anything nice to you anymore, then,” she teased, her voice exaggeratedly thoughtful, “Only degrading comments from now on,” she grinned wickedly.

   “But Tayyyy,” I moaned, “You can’t hurt my ego like that. It may never recover!” I replied over-dramatically.

   “Good,” she sounded smug, “Your ego could do with being taken down a few notches,” I gasped and grabbed at my chest.

   “You can’t mean that!” I protested.

   “Oh, but I do,” she deadpanned. Then burst out into giggles a moment later. I laughed and shook my head at her antics.

   “Sorry, Tony,” she apologized.

   “Oh, no need to apologize to me, madam,” I bowed low, with one arm extended before me, “I am delighted to be an object of your amusement,” she burst out laughing again, and I joined her soon after.

   The rest of the day continued like that, with us making jokes and with nothing of particular importance happening. We didn't really find anything regarding her, uh, situation, but were both in a strangely jolly mood. Her parents and brother came home at different times throughout the evening, and I warded them off if it looked like they wanted to get too close to Tay. We ate dinner in her room, and her parents invited me to stay the night. I happily agreed. What I had said earlier to Tay was true; my family really didn’t like me too much. It hurt more than I would care to admit.

   We fell asleep like we used to for comfort when we were small, with arms around each other and legs intertwined. Many people may have found this awkward, but not us. We had known each other virtually our whole lives, and we were closer than siblings. I stayed awake for the first part of the night, worried that Deatheia may have nightmares. But she didn’t, and eventually, I fell asleep.

   I slept peacefully, which was odd for me, until I woke up suddenly. I don’t know what caused it, but suddenly I was wide awake. Suddenly, I felt a sharp prick in the side of my neck, and a warm hand smelling of earth and wild things smothered my yells of surprise. I thrashed frantically, but couldn’t seem to dislodge the strong arms holding me down. And soon enough, my struggles got weaker and weaker until I ceased fighting altogether. Elf-killers, was the last thought that went through my head before I slowly sank into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

-Rebecca Underwood