I didn’t expect him to just vanish without a trace. Maybe I should have—I mean, really who would stay to watch two twisted people like us make out? Not me, not if I were Guy. But I can’t stop the panic from setting in. Guy was all I knew here, my connection to the world and a bit of my time at Sanctuary.
And now he was gone and it was all my fault. Great.
“Shit.” I murmured, heading towards the door.
One quick peak outside told me no one else was around but how long would that last? How long until someone comes across Wyatt's secret memory room? Guy had it hidden for years but that was before I came along and spit glass into his adoptive father.
“Stop. Breathe, you’re doing that thing where you overthink again.” I felt Wyatt’s arms encircle me, bringing me back down to earth.
“Kind of hard not to at this point. Besides, I need to figure out too many things at once and I can’t do it with just your help.” His arms dropped, I felt the cold once more as my husband stepped back.
“Right, because I’m just the diet version.”
I flinched, letting my shoulders droop.
“You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
But Wyatt shook his finger at me, he knew better.
“Nah. You say what you mean and mean what you say, Sapph. It’s why I’ve loved you for so long. Blunt and crude but my princess nonetheless.”
I smiled, rolling my eyes at him. It’s impossible to forget how easy it is to get lost in Wyatt's charm. That's what makes letting go so hard.
“I’m gonna head out and look for him.”
“And that means I’m coming too, by default unless you’re dropping me off again at daycare.” I could hear the smirk dripping off of him. My fingers caressed the choker as my tongue clicked against the roof of my mouth.
“Maybe. Don’t test me. Although, if evidence of your body was in here, wouldn't you be the one to find it?”
He appeared in front of me, arms crossed squinting up at me. He searched my soul for something that I couldn’t give. The tension returned, sucking the oxygen out of the room in the blink of an eye. Finally, his arms dropped and he turned back to the room.
“Toss the choker on the desk in the middle of the room, I’ll get a better vantage point while you go out looking for your boyfriend.”
If I still had feathers, they’d be ruffled. My fingers couldn’t reach up for the clasp fast enough.
“Boyfriend? Really?” Wyatt’s not a jealous man…at least he wasn’t before he dumped his mind.
“Just go.” He adjusted his glasses, turning towards a stack of cardboard boxes neatly piled up in a corner.
I left him where he asked, pouting and unsure of where to go. Stepping outside into Sunken Cyran…no, Swampy Cyran? Whatever name I picked, it certainly wasn’t my Cyran anymore. The streets were clear of people if nothing else, yet I always felt like I was being watched.
My feet were safely in my work boots as a million thoughts rolled over me like wind in a grassy valley. How are dragons here? They can’t be real ones, a drop of blood might make you a descendent but being able to transform isn’t something anyone can really do without ties to royalty. Why is there so much beef between the mushroom people–of which I’ve only seen two at this point—and the dragons? How bad was it that an entire wall had to be built?
And that was just the local stuff, I hadn’t gotten to the existential crisis yet like; why do I have a class system outside of Sanctuary? Why can I see Guys class? Does no one else have one?
“Ugh. I need a drink, a strong one.” Making flow charts and finding all the answers was usually Wyatt’s thing. It didn’t mean I was incapable…hopefully, but it did mean I had to stop thinking about who we were and start thinking about who we are.
I stopped sloshing about in the murky water and stretched my arms behind my back. Fiery orange light started rising in the sky, fading out the dark black-blue of the night.
Great. It’s fucking dawn already and I’ve gotten next to nothing in terms of answers or clues on what to do. And Guy is still missing.
While you go out looking for your boyfriend.
“He’s not my boyfriend.” No one heard that but me—at least I hope not—but I needed to say it. Right?
Wrinkling my nose, I spit into the water next to me. Who the hell does Wyatt think he is? More importantly, since when does he get jealous? Guess it makes sense when half your brain is missing, you start acting all kinds of fucked up.
Or he was always this way and I just never noticed.
A bitter laugh broke free from me as I headed inside another building—it wouldn’t surprise me if I’d let the rose-colored glasses and gray skies of our marriage cloud my judgment. Everyone has blind spots, Wyatt is just one of mine.
The wooden floorboards beneath me shocked me. Not rotted or worn down but they’d been sanded down, like someone had been caring for them for years. Then a scent hit me in the nose hard enough to make me cry. Slapdown Beer. The lowest grade of blackberry based alcohol you could get in Cyran City but tasty enough people kept coming back to buy it. Only one place served it, the same place I’d had my first date with Wyatt and our wedding.
I was in Ernie's Tavern.
Nostalgia hit me like a freight train. Every table used to be full of college kids and gamblers, drunkards and old sailors. Everyone had a story to tell and at Ernie's there was always someone willing to listen. You could walk in from the other side of the world and you’d be treated as a neighbor until you fucked up bad enough.
My hands traced the walls and my cheeks ached with a smile I never thought I’d get back. My heart never stood a chance walking in here. I was so distracted that I didn’t hear him until he cleared his throat—the man I’d been searching for.
“Sapph? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Wyatt?”
I stopped in my tracks, turning to Guy. He was shining a glass behind the counter.
Deep breaths, don’t ruin this by being weird.
“Guy, what are you doing here? This place is…older than both of us.”
“Yeah, I know.” He wouldn’t look up from the glass, still shining it like there was a stubborn spot that just wouldn’t vanish. He was mad, of course he was mad. I was rude.
“Guy, look, I’m sorry about all that back in the room.”
His jaw tightened, “why? He’s your husband. You had every right. I was the interloper.”
He said that a little too personally for me. Wyatt was right about me, I was crude and blunt when I needed to be and now was as good a time as any.
“Guy, is there something you need to tell me?” I asked in a slow measured tone which,admittedly he might have found insulting in hindsight.
At least he finally put the glass down and looked at me.
“Of course there is. There’s always something I need to say to you but I can’t figure out what it is. It’s like…” he stepped away from the counter, a few steps to me. He stopped just shy enough to give me room to breathe.
I gulped, noticing the temperature rising the closer he got near me.
“It’s like what?”
“Like I’ve known you for years…but I’ve just met you today. Right?”
Oh, Guy.
“Right.” That’s not what I should be telling him. He clearly remembers or feels our time in Sanctuary which should be impossible but it's not.
“You’re gonna think I’m crazy, Sapph.” He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Try me. You’ve read about some of my life. I can deal with crazy, with the impossible.”
I have a headache.
“I know you have it’s what I love about you, I—” he caught himself, blushing heavily. “I mean, what I admire about you. Your strong will, you never give up even when things are impossible.”
“Yep, hehe, that’s me. I’m as stubborn as an ox.” Why was I nervously laughing? Where did that come from? My headache just got worse.
Guy continued on, eyeing the floor though his whole chest was out with what he said next.
“I keep thinking back to the way I moved when we stood up to Rupert. I didn’t feel like I was the weak little dragon anymore.” He raised his head…and then his body floated a few feet off the ground and his class title popped up over his head.
[CLASS: SUPERHERO]
“Sapph, I feel like I can take on the world when you’re by my side. Like every problem has a solution that we can solve. Is that crazy? I mean look at me! I’m flying like you did!”
Like you did.
Yeah…I used to fly.
My tail stroked the planes of my shoulders, right where my wings would be out. Instead, they’re stuck behind class powers that I have no clue how to unlock. Wyatt—the only person who could tell me about it only has half a fucking brain and I’m so sick of everyone else having fractions of answers but me. I have a void…fitting.
My face must have shown how I felt because he dropped to his feet and frowned.
“Hey, no. I’m sorry that wasn’t—”
“Have you ever heard of Sanctuary?” I blurt out. I’m so done beating around the bush.
“Sanctuary…like a safe haven?” He was confused, no more of that. It’s time for a fucking earful and no more emotional rollercoasters.
I went through a whole mental journey of accepting and choosing to be a janitor…only to have this slapped in my face. Not just this, the statue, the room with all Wyatt’s memories…I’m done. The pressure has bubbled over, goddammit.
“No, Sanctuary. As in the place where we’ve met before and you all but followed me around like a fucking puppy.” There was venom in my words that I would probably regret later.
Can’t put the genie back in the bottle now.
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