“Jimmy,” I say.
“Come!”
His request is a command. Some directive I am obliged to follow without question. An order I have no will or desire not to fulfill.
Or maybe his wish is just my wish.
And we spin faster, and faster, and faster until all the pink and gold gases mix together and we are not just witnessing the birth of a million suns—we are the suns.
I come.
We come.
And then we become stars.
Billions and trillions of stars.
Bright white specks across the deep dark background of space.
Lost in this newfound lust of a fresh beginning where there is no such thing as me or him.
Just us.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE – JIMMY
I don’t know how long we’re out in the woods, slumped at the base of that tree. It feels like years. Like millions of infinite eternities. And then we spend many more lifetimes inside the cabin eating the lunch spread out for us on the table. And after that it takes forever to ride the steed back to the bridge where we entered the forest.
But when we cross the bridge and enter the park, and finally make our way back into the stable where the ambassador is waiting with a frown, I feel like no time has passed.
“What’s wrong?” the ambassador asks.
“Nothing,” Delphi says, her response low and soft. Like she’s content and satiated. “Why?”
“Because you just left? Did you change your mind about the ride?”
“What do you mean?” Delphi asks. “We were gone forever.” Then she laughs. “I was starting to wonder if you guys would send a search party.”
At this the ambassador shoots me a confused look. “What?”
“We took the ride,” I say. “Sorry we were gone so long. And you were right about that meadow experience. That planet was something else. Is it… fake?” I don’t know why it’s hard to get that last word out. Maybe because I want it to be real so badly. I want to go there. I want to take Delphi there. But if it’s fake, I need to know now so I can just put it out of my head. Otherwise I have a feeling that that place will haunt me for the rest of my life.
“Planet?” the ambassador says. She squints her eyes at us, shaking her head. “What… planet? The meadow just shows you the outside of the station.”
“No,” Delphi says. “It took us on a trip. We went through a black hole and stopped on a planet. There were so many animals there. It was so cool.”
By now I’ve figured out that wasn’t the experience the ambassador was talking about before we set out on this little magical mystery tour.
I let out a long breath, still unsure if that place was fake or real, but relieved at the same time.
Because… it could be real.
We dismount the steed and leave the stables on shaky legs. And I don’t know how Delphi feels, but I feel like I just traveled the universe. Like I’ve been gone for decades and I’m exhausted.
And that sex we had? I’m still trying to figure out what that was.
It was like… we were the universe. Us. And we became… suns, or something.
But two weird things come back to me now.
One. I don’t think I came twice like I’m supposed to. I can’t say for sure, but I only remember the one climax. The whole day is kinda fuzzy and surreal.
And two. Did she glow? Isn’t she supposed to glow? Like a fucking sun going supernova?
It was dark, that’s all I know. So dark. Like we were the only things existing in the universe.
But Serpint told me a little bit about how it feels to be with Lyra. And almost all of it has to do with light. I mean, he used words like glowing, and shimmering, and sparkling.
That’s not what this was.
At all.
It was good. Hell, it was great. I loved it. And I want to do it again, just not now because I’m so fucking tired.
But… something isn’t right. The darkness. It bothers me. Cygnian princesses are supposed to be light, not dark.
“I’m so tired,” Delphi moans, leaning up against me as the lift bot carries us up to our penthouse room. I’m leaning too. Up against the railing of the lift, thankful there is a railing. Thankful this place is filled with stupid kids who could easily fall off a lift bot as it ascends and isn’t Harem where we assume everyone is an adult who knows how not to fall off a lift.
“I feel like I could sleep forever right now. Are you tired?”
I look down at her and nod. “Yeah. I am.”
She hums a little. Some satisfied, happy kind of hum that lets me know she’s content.
The lift angles into the docking section of our balcony and comes to a stop. My Palladium bot is back now too, hovering above my head. He showed up just as we left the stables and has been following us ever since.