Last Born Of The Desdemona Chapter 259: Lean On Me

Chapter 259 – Lean On Me

Cassius didn’t stay long after the burial. His mind was slowly shutting down on its own, and his body was exhausted.

Functioning the way he had all day, with all his power still sealed, had proven far harder than he’d initially believed.

Still, Cassius wasn’t plaining. He was getting better at using his strength and controlling his body.

So with slow steps, he walked away from the grave under the heavy rain.

The moment he was gone, however, a woman with a hood over her head stepped into view.

In her right hand was an open bottle of wine, half emptied. She turned her head and looked at the makeshift grave Cassius had made, arching an eyebrow.

"Another death..." Cassandra muttered under her breath, her tone pletely indifferent.

She lifted the wine bottle to her colorless lips and took a few sips, then lowered it, wine dripping from her lips.

Cassandra glanced one last time toward where Cassius had disappeared, and tilted her head, "He’s Lucian’s brother." She concluded, recalling his face, "and Isolde’s husband. I see. Cassius, right? I see. Did he kill this..."

She looked at the name on the grave.

"...Coco Jones?"

She shrugged carelessly, not really caring about the answer either way. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had.

Without wasting much time, she walked to another part of the graveyard, even more secluded and shadowed.

There stood one lone grave, surrounded by cups still full of wine.

Cassandra sat on the wet, muddy ground, unbothered by the mess, the rain still pounding, and pulled another cup from her space ring.

"I’m sorry, I’m late today." She whispered, pulling down her hood to reveal a bright tattoo on her neck depicting two hands — one male, one female — tied together with a ring between them.

She filled the cup with wine and set it on the grave.

"The wine will taste more like water today." Cassandra smiled, though her eyes were dead, "I hope you won’t blame me. I’m still not strong enough to stop the rain from falling. But I’ll keep trying."

Next she pulled something else from her space ring. A book. A novel.

A novel titled: Still Alive.

"Hm," she mused, "where did I leave off yesterday? Page 33, I think. Yes. Let’s continue."

She lifted her head, looking at the name on the tombstone. Then she smiled, and cried silently.

"I hope you’ll like it, Noah."

...

Back in the Hades Building, Cassius finally reached his room, and his precious bed.

But first, he dragged himself to the bathroom for a much-needed bath, washing away the mud, sweat, and salty smell clinging to him.

Unsurprisingly, he used ice-cold water, hoping to cool his mind and calm his heartbeat.

It barely worked.

He seemed to have adapted to that level of cold. Soon enough, he figured, he’d need to go to the Pit of Permafrost for an actual ice bath.

’Swimming with monsters in a frozen lake.’ He thought dryly, ’I wouldn’t mind that, honestly.’

Once he was done, he collapsed onto his bed, staring absentmindedly at the ceiling. He closed his eyes next, seeking the dream realm.

But after a long while, no dream came.

Despite being undeniably exhausted, Cassius found himself unable to sleep.

"e on." He whispered, eyes still closed, "I have training tomorrow at 5am. It’s already 1am, damn it."

Still, nothing came.

He groaned in deep frustration, hurling his pillow at the wall, then snapped his eyes open.

"Queen, can you make me sleep?" Cassius asked, a distinct note of helplessness in his voice.

[I can, Cassius.] she said, [But it’s dangerous. You might get used to it, then be unable to sleep without it.]

"I’ll only ask this once."

[That’s how addiction starts.]

"Queen, please, I’ve had a terrible day and an equally terrible headache, like my skull is an anvil being pounded by an overexcited blacksmith." Cassius said, closing his eyes, "I just want to sleep, okay? I’m tired."

Ananke watched her Blessed with a troubled expression. Today’s events must have taken a deep toll on Cassius’s psyche.

She sighed, about to give in, when Cassius’s phone suddenly rang.

Cassius narrowed his eyes, wondering who in the Queen’s name was calling this late.

The answer came to him quickly, and he couldn’t help but smile.

He picked up immediately.

"I can’t sleep, Cassius." Isolde Amaris said right away, her voice more soothing to him than the cold bath had been.

"Wele to the club." Cassius whispered, smiling, "I can’t sleep either."

"It must be your fault, then. I’m not usually up this late. But today," she paused, then continued after a brief silence, "I feel strange. I have a bad feeling. Are you okay?"

There was a long, sharp silence at the question. A silence that Isolde, named Soundless herself, could tell was nothing good.

"So something did happen." She confirmed, both her bad feeling and her sleeplessness making sense now, "Want to tell me about it?"

"Of course I do." Cassius replied, closing his eyes, "But shouldn’t you be sleeping? Aren’t you close to the Damned Village now?"

"I’ll get there in another day. But I’m fine. Missing one night’s sleep won’t kill me. And I don’t think I could sleep with you like this anyway."

"Don’t blame me if you end up getting your ass beaten by the monsters there."

"You want your wife getting beaten by monsters now? You’ve changed, Cassius. Whatever happened to my sweet husband who couldn’t stand a scratch on me?"

"Still here."

"Liar." Isolde said, clearly sarcastic, "but I’ll forgive you today. So?"

"Someone died today."

Isolde paused briefly, then, "Someone you knew? Someone you cared about?"

"Yes."

"Did you kill the one responsible?"

"Death felt like mercy for her."

"I can understand that. How do you feel, after that person’s death?"

"Lost, at first." Cassius replied honestly, taking a deep breath, "Lost, in a way that kept making me ask myself...who am I, really? Not that I don’t know, but fuck, Isolde, sometimes everything is just so confusing. Too much. I don’t know what my family truly wants from me. I don’t know if what I’m doing right now, standing against the main characters, amounts to anything in the grand scheme of things. It’s exhausting, Isolde."

Cassius paused, jaw clenching.

"It’s exhausting. I always have to stay on guard, always have to plan, always have to manipulate. Every day I wake up, the first thing on my mind is how many obstacles I’ll need to get through. I’m tired."

His eyes blurred. Ananke bit down hard on her lower lip, her body trembling.

"Then lean on me." Isolde said, her voice cracking, pained at seeing her husband like this, "You can lean on me, Cassius. I told you, didn’t I? You don’t just have a wife. You have a partner. I’m with you, even when I’m not physically with you. You don’t have to carry all of this alone."

"I know...I know..." he whispered, then shook his head, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, "I’m sorry. It’s just, today I’m—!"

"Who are you apologizing to?" Isolde cut in, "Never to me, husband. Never to me."

He nodded, taking a breath to steady himself, "It’s a strange night tonight." He said suddenly, "A starless night."

"Yes. Even here, there are no stars." Isolde replied gently, "But it’s just one night. It’ll pass, and the sun will rise."

"And I have to rise with it."

"Aye, husband. But you don’t have to do it alone."

"I have you with me." Cassius nodded, gripping the necklace she’d given him, "I’ll be okay. I’ll wake up and keep doing what I’m doing."

"Because you want to save your family." Isolde reminded him of his goal, "and because you want to live happily with me after all of this. Right, husband? Don’t you dare abandon me."

"Hm...let me picture our future family, with little Isolde acting cute to ask me for something. I’m sure that’ll give me strength."

"Let me guess, you’ll give her everything?"

"Everything. I might just build her an Eden of her own."

"Don’t spoil her too much. What man will want to marry her, then?"

"That man will just have to spoil her better than I do."

"In other words, no one?"

"No one."

The two kept talking. And the more they did, the more Cassius steadied himself, his heart and mind calmed by his wife’s voice and presence.

Eventually, sleep came for him, pulling him toward the dream realm.

His voice began to grow groggy. Isolde noticed immediately.

She smiled, growing sleepy herself now.

"Don’t forget, Cassius." She said in a soothing voice, "No matter what happens, no matter what you go through, remember one thing, if everything else fades under exhaustion and pain."

"...one thing?" He whispered, barely awake.

"Yes." She said, "Remember that you are my precious, loving, beautiful husband, and also..."

Cassius’s mind shut down.

"...the Last Born of the Desdemona."

—End of Chapter 259—