Fractures of Eternity

After Loki scrambled my brains with his affection, we slid into the tub, which I hadn’t noticed Eli had filled with scents. Of course, it was the vanilla and cinnamon I had come to adore, leaving me over the moon as I lay my back on his chest. Instantly, he brushed his lips against my nape, while I snuggly in between his legs, allowing him to fondle my breasts too. The water reached my chest, obscuring his view of me.

“Vivi,” Loki murmured, nipping at my ear.

His call caused me to shiver a bit before gazing at him, as his lips quickly met mine. It caused me to turn to him, deepening the moment, ensuring his warmth wasn’t something I could pull away from. A soft smile formed on his lips when he grabbed me by the back of my wet hair, coiling his fingers into it when I drew away slightly, licking his lip.

Your flavor… No, everything about you. I want it.

Eli was slithering around my legs under the water, causing me to quiver a bit. The permanent mark on Loki’s chest had shifted from infinity, with branches coming from it, to one of a beautiful golden blooming flower—one I had never seen before. Unfortunately, my mind wasn’t connecting the dots, as I focused on the vampire instead.

“Do you want more of me, my love?” he hummed.

Instead of answering him, I smiled, leaning into him. A soft sigh left him when I brushed my lips against his neck, trailing my affection to his chest. There, I left a line of kiss marks on him as I went. Though when I was on his chest, I caressed and licked until he tugged me away by my chin and into his lips. Our tongues danced with one another until we took a break for fresh air.

“Hm… I could get addicted to this.” He chuckled.

The tenderness in his eyes was remarkable, making me wish it would always be aimed at me. The warm water soothed every ache I had, while his touch eased my heart.

This is a wonderful dream. Why is my head still throbbing?

Loki had healed my superficial injuries, but since they were only internal ones, he was more careful with them, especially if they had to do with the brain. Any little thing could go wrong, which meant if my life wasn’t in danger, he wouldn’t mess with those.

Huh… Pain in a dream… is that possible? Screw it. Don’t think and let it happen. Enjoy this moment, Vivian, because… this will never happen in reality.

“Shut it,” I mumbled, going to kiss him.

The only reason I stopped was when he gazed down, noticing something on my chest, prompting another soft smile to rise on his lips.

“Hey, you have an adorable flower on your left breast. Was that there before?” Loki leaned over and licked the spot he had mentioned, allowing my gaze to find it quickly.

Huh…?

There was another golden-blossomed flower on there, as his affection caused me to shiver. Leaving a kiss mark on it, he drew away to admire it.

“Adorable,” he chuckled, trailing his fingertips down my back and onto my bum.

“Hm… you have one too.” I hummed, touching where I had marked too.

He had been so into it that he didn’t notice it, even when I left so many bruises on his left pec.

“Huh?” He mumbled, touching it. “Wait, isn’t that where I had the mark linking us?”

His bewilderment caused me to come back to reality, successfully snapping me out of that dream-like trance. However, when I tugged away, I ended up noticing the biggest problem I had encountered to date, which prompted my eyes to twitch.

Eh?!

“Why is Eli… not black?!” I questioned, standing up from my comfort zone.

The snake tilted his head, blissfully unaware of his changes until I pointed them out. As he inspected his body soon after, his eyes widened at the change I had also noticed.

“What?! When did I change colors?” He yelped.

Oh… Oh… No… I… What have I done?

My world suddenly spun as I hopped out of the tub, grabbed a towel, and rushed outside to the room.

I need fresh air! This can’t be happening!

“Vivian!” Loki called out to me, but I ignored him as I put on my pajamas, without even drying myself.

The moment Eli came out of the bathroom with Loki, I felt a rush of anxiety, as the vampire had the usual black sweatpants while he chased after me, allowing me to see his chest on full display.

It’s… real… I… Wait… do your wings have gold tints to their feathers, too? Is… that new?!

Everything was swirling out of my control.

“No… No! This can’t be happening!” I mumbled, tearing my sight away from my lover, which was useless, since I soon began breathing unevenly.

Not only had I professed my love for him, but something had happened to our bond, and that was something I didn’t know if I could fix. The flower, even though I had never seen it, Papa had told me about the story of how divines used to marry one another.

If… It’s that then we’ll be connected even after death!

“Oi…” Loki went to touch me as I took a step back, prompting him to withdraw his attempt.

For how much longer will I be able to fight this? Is there any way out? No… There isn’t. If this is the bond of the divines, then it’s too powerful to undo it.

“This wasn’t a dream?” I barely voiced.

In response to my question, he shook his head slightly. “Of course not. What’s wrong? I mean…” Loki gazed at Eli, but quickly returned his gaze to me. “I’m sure everything will be alright, Vivi. So, don’t panic, please.”

Eh?! How can you say that?!

“You don’t understand!” I yelled, turning away from him.

“What?” He sighed.

I wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to self-soothe every emotion that was threatening to consume me.

You’re going to die! If it isn’t by Alistair, then it’ll be by… the god from my dreams!

Back when I lost control when I killed Jin, I screamed a name—one that was seared into my soul.

Yama…

“I… We’re…” I trailed off, voice trembling.

Eli floated in front of me as I shook my head.

Their death is…

“Eli is…” I felt the tears sting my eyes.

This is the worst! I’ve taken away your ability to live a normal life after I’m gone. If the living gods ever find me, you…

This recent change had made Loki the prime target to get me to bend to their will. They would torture him to hurt me and make me comply. That thought left my entire body trembling where I stood as everything turned cold.

“Vivi?” My vampire reached out to me again.

The moment he touched me, I turned all my emotions onto him. After all, he was the biggest one at fault.

You and your stupid desire to save me. I don’t need anything from you other than for you to stay alive!

“We’re so screwed!” I snapped.

Loki grabbed onto both my shoulders. “Oi, enough, calm down.”

Sadly, I was a loose cannon about to go off, unable to shake the dreams of where he died because of me, which drowned everything else.

I only want you to have a normal, happy mortal life. Damn it, I never intended for this to end like this! It would’ve been better if I had never fallen in love with you in the first place! But… Now I can’t take it back! It was a mistake to let you in!

Nothing was going right.