Epica!

It was a marvelous night. Ariel knew in the back of his mind that there would no other night in his life that could possibly compare. During his combined time in Salvo he had never eaten so much, or had been tended to so meticulously. While there with Mephisto, he never felt full, this was to allow him to eat everything he saw fit. No matter how much he danced with the beautiful women, he never felt tired. He was not worn down by the limitations of his body, and it was heaven.

But he did not wish to stay in that moment forever. Though it was a fine time wasted, it was not the true happiness he wished to achieve. Tired of feasting, Ariel had to retire and rest, though his body didn't call for it. He was led to the front door by a strange butler who didn't try to make any form of conversation.

When the heavy iron doors opened Ariel found that Mephisto's magnificent castle was hidden in depths of a forest Ariel had never seen. Ariel stared directly into the darkest forest he ever gazed upon. Dark not by lack of light but because it gave of a a sense that something lurking just beyond eyesight. Ariel hesitated but in the he heard in his head sense speaking to him, telling him he had a deal in place, one Mephisto would not break so quickly.

Ariel stepping out, and it was as if he was stepping back into a clouded world where all his senses were muted. He gazed onward and the dark forest was gone; replaced by the familiar pines outside Salvo covered with snow. Looking back; Mephisto's castle had disappeared and every trace of it eradicated. In that place with the castle and in the dark forest things were as they should be. Everything in this world was artificial.

There was a split second where Ariel questioned the authenticity of what had transpired. An angel coming to his rescue? Seemed unlikely. But it wasn't a dream. He was still dressed in the luxurious suit that still preserved his warmth in the snow. Had it been, he would have awoken back in apartment in Salvo, not in the forest on it's outskirts. He doubted he was a sleepwalker.

Ariel yawned, noticing a dull weariness overtake his body. He frowned, and headed back towards Salvo through the now thin layer of snow.

He arrived in Salvo and found the walkways already plowed and the snow already darkened from dirt. This only further reaffirmed that his absence had been longer than expected. The flames streetlights were barely lit.

Ariel had almost reached his apartment building when he heard a scuffle in one of the alleyways. Though he could see clearly into the ally the could tell a man was harassing a woman. Ariel looked on, white vapor escaping his lips. Though the suit kept him warm, his lips were slowly beginning to turn purple. He pondered the situation. Whatever was going on, it was not his business, he had learned that the hard way after being mugged when he first arrived. Normally he would simply walk on, but with an angel on his side he could do as he pleased.

"Hey!" He called down the ally as he picked up speed. The man had wrapped a heavy arm around her neck and she was putting up a fierce fight. "Are you really that pathetic that you only dare take purses?" In his mind he had imagined those words booming over the alley and resounding over everything. In the end it was still just his own.

The man shoved the woman aside and Ariel could hear a thud as she landed behind a table. It was too dark to determine her status. "Who could this be?!" The man shouted and Ariel noted his interference had been a mistake. He knew this man. This man was the very same who set up a makeshift gambling table in the ally. Sometimes he would allow hopeful addicts the glee of winning, only to take away their winnings are a later time. Only the most desperate came to him as he doubled as a loan shark, and by default he was as thick as a grizzly.

"Uh." was the only thing Ariel got to mutter before the man came charing at him like a bull. Surprisingly, the impact wasn't as hard as he expected it to be. Ariel wasn't much of a fighter, within moments this man had him pinned to the ground beating him mercilessly. Blows were directed at his abdomen but they felt like being hit through a pillow. Only those that somehow managed on his face through his sloppy punches stung.

Then the onslaught stopped. He could hear the man struggling with someone else. Ariel turned on his stomach and decided it wasn't worth it. He began to inch away slowly leaving whoever had distracted the bear man to themselves.

Then the sounds of the scuffle ceased and Ariel could hear footsteps behind slowly approaching him. He was struggled to make a decision between fight or flight - both of which seemed impossible at the moment - when he felt them above him when he stopped struggling, waiting to be rescued by an angel.

"You alright, down there?" He heard in a voice that wasn't the hustler's. One that reminded him of the trees of home and the brisk cool winds of summer. "Let me help you up." and the hands that touched him were small and almost fragile next to the ones that were just beating him. But they were strong; they lifted him to his feet effortlessly, then lightly dusted some of the muddy snow off Ariel's clothes. "There you are, right as rain."

Ariel couldn't move, the repercussions of the attack still ringing in his ears. Then the fact that he had been saved by the woman he intended to rescue caused a blush of embarrassment to rise on his face. "I am fine!" he snapped waving the woman off him.

"I'm sure."

It occurred instantly. Those two words triggering memories of a world he had thought he put behind him long ago. She had sounded exactly like the faded memory of his departure from the ark. Those two words reeling him back in time to the shelter of arks and adorations of the many people around him where he was oh so ignorant, yet blissfully content.

"Helena?" he asked to cast out any doubts in his head and assure that he was still awake and not in some induced dream. To make sure that he was not mistaken, that the reason he found it difficult to breathe was not from the pain of his mangled body. How could it be possible that she, of all people, had crossed his way so unexpectedly?

She stared silently for a moment and in a flash it had occurred to her, "Ariel?" she asked dubiously straining to see in the darkness. It was his name that came out of her lips that had proved it. This is was his Helena that appeared out of the shadows of his deepest memories. He didn't hesitate, he wrapped her in a tight embrace holding her close as if he feared she would evaporate into the air like his breath.

Helena recoiled intially. She had learned that the people of Salvo were not exactly the most honorable. Yet, in the dark, feeling was the only confirmation. The man holding her was much thinner than what she remembered, almost underfed. She could see, even in the darkness, that he had allowed his unkept blond hair to grow long and unruly. He had gone pale, like most of the people of Salvo; the sun refused to shine in such a forsaken place.

Yet, as she being held so closely, every fiber of her being told her this was the very same Ariel that had left years ago. It was the way held himself, still passive as ever; the pattern of his breaths that she hadn't noticed had been burned into the back of her mind. Most of all, it was the pounding of his heart beating almost painfully in her ear that screamed at her, "I am here!" and she wrapped her arms as tightly as she could around him. It was her Ariel that she had searched long and far for.

The Ariel from her past and the one standing before her seemed like two completely different people. The one before her was an older, more rugged man, one she wouldn't have recognized on first glance. She had expected foolishly to find the same man who had left a long time ago, yet what she found now was much, much better. She had been lucky he had recognized her before she had walked off the opposite direction.

Ariel held her close, but his suit stifled her warmth like it held the cold snow at bay. It was an overcoming sensation to be able to feel her next to him without any between them. It was something he felt he had denied himself in the past by his selfishness. But no longer, he felt he could do anything now, achieve any and every height of being.

Finally, he had to pull her back. He had to look at her. In the dark, he could see her eyes shinning like the winter ice and he couldn't help but smile. He couldn't speak. It seemed like she hadn't aged a bit. Words were in his throat. Sweet words that refused to be spoken out of shock and surprise. How could she find him here? Helena, of all people, to have crossed his way; From where?

"Ariel...." she said with a sad smile. She wouldn't evaporate into vapor like his breaths, she was real. His Helena. A trickle of a dark liquid ran down her temple.

"Oh, you're bleeding!" Ariel noticing a dark substance on her check; the moment suddenly ruined by the traitorous liquid. Helena dismissively reached up and wiped it away.

"No worries," she said beaming. "It's not my blood." There were shouts around the corner of the alley. The hustler's debtors no doubt, who would do anything to get on his good side. "Lets go!"

It might have been that his brain had yet to recover functionality, but it took him a moment to realize what she said. "Come with me." he finally said and slinked away in the opposite direction. He took her to the only place he could think of; his apartment. Somehow, taking her to Mephisto's castle didn't seem right.

Upon entering his cramped apartment he found the inside completely changed. The cement floor was now layered with a hardwood floor, the chipped walls were freshly painted red, and the cracked windows were now so clear there was no indication that there was a sheet of glass between his apartment and the snowy world outside. They were draped with thick golden curtains that matched the covers on the bed. The walls of the room itself seemed to stretch out wider and longer so there was a lot more space. An inexplicable chimney that had appeared was lit in front of a white pelt of some kind of monster sized feline that lay at the foot of a sofa.

Ariel paused at the door looking in. He had to look back at the number on the door to confirm that it was in fact his apartment. He noticed there was a new counter table by the door. Right by the edge there was as a paper folded into a neat triangle. He lifted it up and saw a dozen white pills and three vials laying on the oak table. From a friend the paper read.

"Quite place you've got here." Helena said as she ignored Ariel's shock and went inside not knowing any better. For the first time, Ariel was ashamed that he had been so dependent on those small white tablets.

"It sometimes surprises me as well." He said as he opened the small compartment on the table and pushed the somma inside. He couldn't let her see his shame.

The fire burned unnaturally and the warmth spread out evenly at every point in the room. It illuminated differently from real fire, much brighter. Helena bathed in it's light and Ariel didn't like it. She didn't fit in in this artificial place.

But he could see her clearly now. Her ebony hair was just past her shoulders and the fire burning in her blue eyes. She was not as pale as she had remembered her, long days in the sun perhaps. She wore tan breeches and black laced up boots. What he had mistaken for a short dress before, he now realized was a faded green coat with a long tail and golden buttons.

"How did you find me? Here of all places?" Ariel asked befuddled by circumstance as he shut the door behind him. Surely there had to be higher forces controlling his amount of good fortune. First there was his angelic friend, and now she came out of the darkness to save his life twice over. But he didn't care. He couldn't question anything that had brought Helena to him.

"There was a storm." she said her back turned to him. Ariel slowly stepped closer, lured in by her voice. He had her alone, here in his room. He wondered; Does her hair smell like flowers and her skin as soft as I had imagined? And he was overcome with desire.

He wanted her more than anything he had ever wanted anything. He was close now, edging closer and closer. His craving for her was stronger than the one created forcefully by Somma. If somma had proved anything was that he was but utterly helpless with addiction. He could reach up and touch her now. But he was stopped himself. His rational mind began overcome his instinctual mind. What if she doesn't want you like you want her? Disastrous.

"It came out of nowhere. Took us unawares." Helena continued and turned. Her gaze made him freeze were he stood. He was helpless before her. He had her there, and he didn't know what to do. Yet, Helena knew exactly what to do. She answered all his doubts by stepping closer just like he had done while she was facing away, only her eyes bore directly into his. "We had to stop for repairs. We heard they'll be a gathering of merchants here that might sell the supplies we need."

Every word after that was inaudible in his ears. All he could hear was his heart beating wildly in his ears, maybe it was hers, he couldn't tell. Her lips - perfect and full - were moving, uttering sweet words he could not hear. She never looked away, so sure of what to do. Her eyes. Her eyes so cold they burned away the artificial fire. Her breath on his face.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone was knocking on the door. He flinched feeling the vibrations and Helena looked down disappointed. Bang! Bang!. Ariel's back was against the door, he realized. He had backed away when she approached, intimidated. He had crumpled the paper from a friend into a tight ball in his hand.

Helena backed away giving Ariel enough space to answer the door. He didn't move until the knocking came again from behind him. He turned and hastily opened the door. "What?!" he asked irritated that someone had come in the most inopportune moment.

Dead eyed Hanna stood there running her thumbs over over her fingers. She tried to rush in but Ariel blocked her by placing the bulk of his body on the other side of the door. "Please. . ." she begged.

Ariel looked back at Helena who stood close to the fire staring at pictures of foreign animals on the mantle. Then he saw Hanna standing in front of him. She didn't even compare. "Wait." He told her and shut the door.

"Who was that?" Helena asked.

"The neighbor." Ariel lied. She could not know. He had to get Hanna to leave as quickly as he could.

Bang! Bang! Bang!. "Do you have a privy I could use?" Ariel wasn't sure if his old restroom had remained that through the change. He directed her in that direction where it had been none the less. Once Helena was out of sight Ariel ripped open the counter and gathered as many of the tablets as he could.

When he opened the door Hanna was still there. One look at what he held in his hand and Hanna's dead eyes lit up with a hint of the life she used to have. He hesitated. With everything in his apartment replaced he would not be able to make any more if he ever felt the urge. Confident that he would never use somma again, he tossed them all out the door. They scattered, some bouncing and others rolling on the floor. When he shut the door Hanna had already began to collect them.

"I took the liberty of serving us some wine." Helena said coming out of the doorway with two glass goblets filled to the brim with a dark red liquid. He noticed that she had removed her coat somewhere beyond that doorway. His old apartment didn't have a kitchen, so where the wine came from would remain a mystery at the moment.

"Now, Helena tell me of all the years we've been apart." he said taking a cup from her. She took a seat on the sofa and Ariel followed her, sitting an awkward distance from her. The fur pelt under his feet looked very soft and he wanted to remove his shoes and run his toes through it.

"Has it really been years?" Helena asked staring at the liquid in her cup. "It doesn't feel like it."

"They do seem to have a tendency to blur together." he said wondering how long he had been in Salvo alone. It was always winter in Salvo.

"I've traveled. Like you Ariel. Time goes by fast when you're traveling."

"Where to?"

"All over the world really." She finished by taking a swing of her wine. She gagged and began to cough. "This. . " she coughed "is strong." She set it aside after that.

"Have you heard any news from back home." Ariel asked. Their home like many other towns that housed Arks had relied heavily on the ingenuity of it's scientists, Ariel in particular, and their ability to develop profitable technologies.

Helena remained silent. His fears had been confirmed. Home had not been strong enough to support itself without the Ark. He assumed, since he was one of three scientists at the Ark, that the Ark would shut down when he left; the two other remaining scientists transferred to other still operating Arks.

"When you left, things just went to hell." Just as he suspected. "Many people just didn't understand that importing goods was too costly, many more were too lazy to farm for themselves. Things became worse yet before I left. I haven't looked back since."

Ariel gulped down his wine. It wasn't bad, somma liquid was twice as strong, and burned the whole way down instead of just on his throat. It had a thick consistency with a lingering after taste; fruity yet spicy at the same time. It was the same wine from the feast.

"Did you ever look back Ariel?" Helena sadly asked. Ariel put his glass goblet down, a warm fuzziness in the pit of his stomach. "Did you ever think of the people you left behind?"

"I had to go."

"Why?!" Helena snapped. Ariel gulped suddenly desperately thirsty and reached down for his cup again. Helena grabbed his hand before he even came close. It was a different warmth that spread through his body. Unlike the false fire, Helena's heat was real.

Her hands were not soft as he had imagined. They were hard, calloused. Working hands. Ariel was disappointed to find that Helena had no choice but hard labor after he left. Her life was supposed to be easy. He should have stayed and taken care of her. Made sure her beautiful hands never had to lift a thing heavier than a spade. But it didn't happen that way. Up until recently, he could not even take care of himself. Even now, there were others who were watching over him.

"I just had to go." he said

Helena removed her hands and placed them on her lap. She stared intently into the fire as if trying to make it as real as she was. "All this time. Did you ever think of me, Ariel?"

Suddenly emboldened he placed his hand under her chin, his thumb brushing the edge of her lips, then made her turn towards him. Helena didn't resist. She was sad, her eyes were wet but no tears managed to escape. They brimmed on on the edges of her eyes but Helena would not cry. "Say no more, you found me here tonight. On the coldest winter night. This moment is our right," He said and he kissed her lightly at first.

Helena's initial shock wore off and she kissed him back. Fiercely and full of longing. Years and years of waiting, now come true. Helena was first to move forcing herself on top of him so they were laying on the sofa. Her hair washed over him like smoke and gunpowder. Ariel put his hands on her lower back and felt the smooth skin under her shirt. He began to run his hands over her back pulling her shirt up and over her head with them. Helena moved her hands to breeches and hastily began undoing them.

Ariel sat up, and removed his own shirt. Helena ran her hands down his chest and kissed him where a scar had healed. Instead of going for her lips Ariel placed sweet kisses on her neck a sigh escaped her heavy breaths. Ariel undid her belt and tossed it aside. Then Helena stopped momentarily to yank off her boots. When she pulled off the second one she fell off the sofa and landed on the soft pelt.

Ariel, already almost naked, lay right over her. He stopped for a moment just to look at her. His Helena in every way. She looked at him and smiled, a beautiful smile that made Ariel kiss those lips once again. Then began kissing every inch of her velvety skin, moving slowly down her breasts. She ran her hands through his hair, pulling occasionally. "Ariel." Helena gasped. He returned to her lips, so soft and perfectly shaped for his. He could feel her tugging desperately at his breeches. He pulled away, to got to his knees and undid his breeches himself. Helena followed. When they were past her thighs Ariel took it upon himself to remove them completely.

She was the most beautiful creature he had ever had to pleasure to have laid eyes upon. His hands trembled. Now there was nothing holding them back. Years and years of waiting, all of it leading to this, their true reunion. He pushed in and she moaned as her back arched involuntarily. She wrapped her legs around his thighs keeping him as close as possible. Her nails cut deep into his shoulders, as he pulled out then back in. She whimpered in pleasure and nibbled on his ear and on the spot that made his whole body quiver. "Helena." she heard him whisper softly in her ear in the dead of night.

It was a long night that ran until the sun peaked over the mountains. In the wee morning hours Ariel's chest still heaved - small beads of sweat trickled down his chest - and Helena huddled close to him her eyes closed ready for sleep with Ariel's arm securely around her. His thumb rubbed her shoulder gently. Together they lay in the stillness tangled in the white fur pelt. He stared accusingly at the still burning fire.

"Have you found your truth yet, Ariel?" Helena asked back so solemnly it shocked him. "I've found mine." She pressed her forehead against his chest and pressed her lips over the spot were his heart was beating in rhythm with hers. "We could find yours together." Ariel buried his face in her hair; smoke and gunpowder. "Stay with me Ariel, I love you."

The cut on his finger throbbed. May the life I knew be gone. . . He had said, but now he wanted it back more than ever.