NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51: Live For Something More
The hearth crackled low, casting gold-orange shadows that danced along the stone walls of Kairos Castle. Outside the high arched windows, there was no moon. No stars. Only the endless stillness of the timeless sky. But within the hearth's glow, there was warmth. And in that warmth, Lukas sat, a mug of something sweet and strong in hand, his other arm wrapped loosely around the woman beside him. Or should he say Goddess.
Styx. She had curled into him sometime after their second drink. Now her head rested against his chest, one arm lazily slung across his torso, her breath slow and steady like waves on a calm shore. Lukas didn't mind. He didn't understand it fully—not the feelings, not the comfort, not the peace—but he didn't fight them either. For once in his life...or to be more specific for once in his two lives, he let himself enjoy it.
"You're quiet tonight," Styx remarked, voice soft and velvet-smooth.
He looked down at her. "Yeah."
"You want to talk about it?"
He stared at the fire. Then, after a long pause: "Not really." But the way he said it meant the exact opposite.
Styx didn't press. She only shifted slightly, settling more comfortably against him. She waited. Because Styx knew that was all she needed to do. And after another moment of silence, he began.
"When I was a kid," Lukas spoke softly, "I was told my dad died at sea." He said it like a simple statement. Just the truth. Because it was. "I was… eight? Maybe nine. I didn't even get to say goodbye. He was…gone. Just like that."
Styx was quiet. Listening to his every word.
"I used to sit at the docks every night for a year." Lukas continued, his voice quieter now, distant, "waiting for a sign. Anything that told me that I'd see him again one day."
A breath escaped him—half sigh, half laugh.
"I waited for years. Even when people said he was dead, I didn't believe them. I couldn't. Because if I did, I'd have to accept that he was truly gone."
Styx gently curled her fingers into his shirt, grounding him.
"My mom left me. Couldn't take the pain of losing my father. I was left to fend for myself. And I was just angry. Angry at the cards I'd been dealt with in life. So I started fighting. And fighting in the ring helped me forget all of it. Even if it was just for a moment. I spent my whole life running away from the past. So I thought dying would be the end of it. I thought that I could finally put the past behind me." he told her. "But it wasn't."
He finally looked at Styx, meeting her eyes. "Because the man who killed Rodan, the Hero From Another World…is my father. He was from my world. And it seems that they summoned him to this world when he died. Like father, like son." But there was no humour in his jest.
Styx's eyes softened. She didn't gasp at the revelation. She simply reached for his hand and held it tight in her own.
Lukas swallowed hard. "I'm scared, Styx." His voice broke then. Just slightly. But enough for Styx to comprehend the magnitude of emotions that seemed to be running through him. "I don't know if I can fight him. It's not even a matter of strength. I don't know if I can look him in the eye and—" He shook his head. "It terrifies me. It terrifies me to think that when the time comes, I won't be able to protect them."
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He was afraid he would not be able to protect the people who truly mattered to him now.
Styx was quiet for a moment. Then, her hand reached up to his cheek. Warm. Steady. And Lukas leaned into her touch.
"You're strong," she whispered tenderly. "Strong enough to carry pain that would have broken others long ago. Strong enough to tell the truth—even now. And you are stronger than you know."
They sat by the hearth, the flames crackling gently.
Lukas spoke when he was ready. "Thank you."
Styx didn't answer. Not right away. Her fingers toyed absently with the hem of her sleeve. Something was turning behind her eyes, some thought chewing at the edges of her calm. But Lukas didn't say a word. Didn't prod. Didn't push. Just waited. Just like she had for him.
The silence stretched, not awkward—but full. Like something was trying to be born from it. Eventually, she sat up just a little. Her eyes were on the fire, distant and uncertain.
Lukas didn't speak. Just turned toward her slightly. A small nod, just to tell her that he was listening to every word she had to say.
"My father…I loved him. I loved him more than anything in the world. He was there for me whenever I needed him." Her voice faltered.
She glanced at Lukas—but he nodded slowly, giving her hand a small squeeze of reassurance.
"He used to be great. People respected him. They adored him." A bitter smile ghosted across her lips. "But time passed. And he cared about what he used to be more than anything else. He wanted the rest of them to remember his glory. His power. Everything he had lost."
Her voice lowered. "And we—his children—were just reminders. Shadows of a life that he used to have."
Lukas's eyes softened. But still, he said nothing.
Styx took a breath, shaky now. "He lost himself. He let the past swallow him, and he didn't even notice he was drowning." She blinked rapidly, then looked down at her hands.
"I hated it," she whispered. "Watching him vanish before my eyes. Losing someone who was still alive. I…spent years trying to bring him back. But there was nothing I could do. Do not allow yourself to live in the past, Lukas. Not when there is so much to look forward to. We are not defined by who they are."
A breath of silence before she continued, barely audible now. "I live for myself now. You should too. And some day, I'd like to live…for someone else." She risked a glance at the man whose arms she lay in. And the look in Lukas' eyes told Styx everything she needed to know. After a moment, a small smile tugged at the corner of Lukas' mouth.
"I've been waiting to hear you say something like that," he murmured quietly.
Styx exhaled, not quite a laugh, but close. "Only took us a hundred years."
"It was worth the wait." Lukas' voice was barely a whisper now. "To hear those words, I'd wait for a hundred more."
Styx leaned into him again, her head gently finding his shoulder, more at ease now. At ease knowing that he was right here where she needed him to be. The Dragon and the Goddess sat like that for a while. No words. No pressure. Just the rhythm of shared silence and flickering firelight.
Then, without lifting her head, Styx added with a teasing note, "Since you're being all patient and kind…you can do the dishes again tonight."
Lukas glanced down at her, eyes playful. "Only if you do them with me."
The smile she gave him in response was quiet, but it was full: he kind of smile that didn't just touch the lips but reached into the soul. There was something in her expression—a flicker of hope, of trust, of something tender she hadn't let herself feel in a very, very long time. And for the first time in a long, long time—for both of them—the past didn't feel so heavy anymore.
Not when the future had begun to look a little brighter. Not when they were finally starting to live for something more.