Jordan disengaged himself from Elaine long enough to set the camera to record the eclipse, making sure the telescope was still in focus. He peered into the scope, excited by the visual that greeted him.
“This is so wild, dude, check it out!”
Hawk and Hero got up, as did Elaine, and all four of them took turns watching as the moon began to swallow the sun. As totality neared, Hawk and Hero stepped away and let the other two take turns with the telescope.
They sat back down, this time a little farther back and directly in line with the eclipse. Hero resumed his place in Hawk’s lap, Hawk wrapping himself around Hero as he held Hero’s hands, crossing his arms over Hero’s chest.
“Ready for this?” Hawk asked, resting the side of his face against Hero’s.
Hero nodded. “Conscious and in the Veil,” he said quietly. “How hard can that be?”
“This is going to be a real test of our control,” Hawk said. “All we have is ten seconds.”
“Doesn’t seem like very long.”
“No, and in that time, we have to completely upgrade our Veil while sharing energy through our cores and not getting lost in the process.”
“While our souls are literally hovering outside our bodies like ghosts,” Hero shrugged, sinking into Hawk’s body. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Yeah, not difficult at all.”
“We do this at the same time,” Hawk said, counting their heartbeats as they began to feel the energy shift begin to take effect. “Twenty seconds,” he breathed in Hero’s ear. “Focus on your breathing. Think about the Veil and our place within it. Whatever you do, don’t close your eyes.”
“Why not?” Hero said, his voice becoming dreamy under Hawk’s hypnotic tones. He could already start to feel his energy begin to surge.
“Because you’ll pass out,” Hawk said. “I’ll count us down. Stay with me here and in there and don’t let go of my hands.”
Hero shook his head slowly. “I won’t,” he mumbled.
“Ten seconds…” Hawk’s core began to hum, a tendril of energy beginning to extend out and into Hero’s own developing core. Hero focused and saw his own energy tendril branch out to meet Hawk’s, twisting around in tighter and tighter spirals.
“Five seconds…” Their bodies grew warmer as their skin began to glow. They felt, as well as saw the Veil open up around them, their souls rising gently from their bodies but staying firmly in place.
“Three…two…one…”
Totality was reached.
The instant the corona lit the sky, the tendrils connected and the Veil closed in around them, their souls like iridescent gloves around their bodies as they sent their energy out into the space around and inside them, watching and feeling, yet somehow above the change taking place.
Their cores spun together as one, their energy exuding out in multicolored ropes and chains. They shot out into the Veil, lighting up the large space with sharp, vibrant colors like fireworks painting walls that weren’t there. They could feel the connection become more solid, flexible, yet sturdy. Their eyes began to glow as their senses within their link became sharper, more acute. The waves became less fuzzy and more defined as the Veil itself seemed to expand.
Their heartbeats remained in perfect synchronicity as the energy flowed back and forth between them, finding and filling any cracks or spaces that had been formed or missed over the past months since their journey had begun within this ethereal space. Their bodies tingled, vibrating with their life forces as it balanced out, becoming perfectly matched, becoming a singular force.
If you die, I die.
Forever is as long as we want it to be.
I love you…for all eternity.
You are my everything, and I am yours.
The Veil around them glowed brighter, becoming stronger as their hearts and souls whispered their vows and secret promises.
My soul, my true soul, belongs to you, Hero.
My soul, my true soul, belongs to you, Hawk.
They felt the energy ring they typically made around their wrists separate and wrap around their ring fingers on their left hands and permeate into their skin, radiating through their arms and down into their cores, taking in each others energy and power and returning it in a continuous cycle, as though it were their souls blood, and they were the heart through which it all passed.
An orb of energy appeared around them, one similar to the one created during their first soul connection ritual, and began to furiously spin, drawing out and bringing in energy from within and without, and dispersing it back into their bodies and souls.
Their cores began to flood with the newly evolved power that had been created, Hero’s becoming larger and more defined. When it had finally taken in all that was being given, a blue orb formed around it, holding in the energy and keeping it stable. Hawk’s own core was not only more evolved, but a great deal of the dark demon energy had been removed, further stabilizing it. He watched with amazement as that energy dispersed, becoming nothing as the Veil consumed it all.
At last, the orb around them began to slow and shrink in on itself, melding in with the Veil and unifying with their souls. The Veil itself began to recede from the living world, and their souls sank back into their bodies, refreshed and stronger than before. The light that had covered their bodies faded, along with the glow in their eyes.
The entire crossover took less than eight seconds to complete.
Hawk closed his eyes and lowered his head to Hero’s shoulder, Hero’s shaking hands pulling Hawk’s arms tighter around him. Silent tears rolled down both their faces as they sat together, the world around them silent and forgotten.
Later, Jordan would tell Hawk he wasn’t sure which was more incredible to watch; the total solar eclipse, or two souls literally becoming one right before his eyes.
-*-
A lone figure stood on the edge of the mountain several miles away, facing the campsite, the orange glow of the sun darkening his sharp features as he stared at the four people who populated the area. He didn’t particularly care for the two standing by the telescope with viewing boxes dangling in their hands, it was the couple curled around each other on the ground that held his interest.
Specifically the man with the blood-red hair and bright amber eyes.
“Hm,” he said to himself, “I thought that was you. I could smell your stench from the next town over. I’m amazed you’ve not noticed me at all. Perhaps it has something to do with that boy you’re so smitten with.”
He chuckled, shaking his head, his violet eyes glaring down through the strange light at the man he hated most. “How strange it is to see you this way, Blood King. Once so ruthless and vile, now tender and kind. Has that black heart of yours finally learned to love after all this time?” He sat on the ground, crossing his legs and propping an elbow on his knee, his chin resting on his fist. “Ah, such a tragic thing it is, loving someone. It only makes the pain of losing that person so much more…maddening.”
His lips broke into a wide, mirthless grin. “I’m excited to see you lose to that madness, Your Majesty. I’m interested in just what you will do when that moment comes. Hmm, but not quite yet. I’ll play with you and your lover just a little longer before I tear out your heart and make you eat it.” His grin became a snarl, his eyes blazing with pure loathing. “Just as you did to me.”
He floated back to his feet, his wings expanding six feet on either side. “Or perhaps,” he said with sudden inspiration, “I will tear out his heart and force you to watch me eat it.” He laughed and raised his arms to his sides. “Which will hurt you more, I wonder? Watching your husband die in front of you? Or spending the rest of eternity lost to your madness, knowing you could never have saved him, and that your suffering for that loss will never, ever end?”
Ciel’s wings beat the air as he rose above the trees, his gaze affixed to the soul-bound couple, his own heart burning with rage. “Enjoy these next six months, Blood King. They will be the last you will ever know of sanity.”
-*-
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