A Bittersweet Love
Prologue
As the snow falls down, lightly dusting his shoulders, Ineritus cannot help but think that these surroundings were ones that he had seen before, yet he could not remember when.
He ventures forth to the shop opposite him, and enters it. Again, this place was familiar to him. As he stands there, scanning the shop, he knows he has been here before...
His gaze falls upon a brunette with green highlights, who's sitting in a window seat, and as she looks up to accept her order from the waitress, his heart lurches, for he recognises her.
"No, it cannot be..." he mutters in shock. "The spell was one to send me to the future...but here I am, back in the past."
His face pales, and he leaves, unnoticed by all but the girl, who meets his gaze for a split second, before looking away hastily.
As he steps out into the cold and snow covered streets, he increases his pace, unwilling to be stopped by anyone. The demon makes sure he is alone before teleporting to Hotel De'Amor which should still be here if his guess was correct.
Before he might have been able to tell himself that the girl he saw was just a descendant of the one he knew, but now, as the building loomed over him, he could no longer deny it.
He was in the past.
A Bittersweet Love
Chapter One
Pacing around in his hotel room, Ineritus could not help but wonder what had caused the spell to mess up. Perhaps that King messed up the pronunciation.
Sighing, he decides to have a shower, for it is getting late, and he is rather exhausted. While the hot water runs over his body, his mind drifts to her, and the fond memories of the past.
I must avoid her and not let her grow close to me. I cannot let it all happen again.
Turning the water off, he uses a spell to dry himself, and putting on a fresh set of clothes, leaves the bathroom and lays upon the bed.
With a click of his fingers, the lights are extinguished. Yawns escape his mouth, yet he finds himself unable to sleep.
Groaning, he gets out of bed and sits at the provided desk and chair. Getting a parchment and quill, Ineritus begins to draw to ease his mind, yet when he glances at what his hand has created, he curses himself, for it is a portrait of Lilith.
Her angelic face, forever captured in a smile that would be lost forever if he did not keep his distance.
I may think of her softly from time to time. But I'll cut off my hands before I ever reach for her again.
He stares at it in nostalgia, but forces himself to avert his gaze. I cannot have her, for she is not mine, and never will be again.
And although his very heart is pained by the action, he sets the drawing ablaze.
Ineritus awakens to find himself at the desk he had occupied the previous night, and with burnt pieces of paper stuck to his face.
Stretching, he gets up, his body slightly sore from the uncomfortable position, and makes his way to the bathroom to freshen up.
He remembers the circumstances he now found himself in, and as he dries his face, he realises that he could probably teleport himself back to the correct timeline. But did he want to go back after what he had done?
Having torn apart a young couple merely due to his jealousy, for he truly cared not about his father... and the Demon realm, which he had so carelessly abandoned...
No, he could not leave. But he didn't wish to stay here either. Perhaps the future is where I should travel to. It was, after all, where I was originally meant to go.
However, as he tried to do so...his magic failed. Just stopped working.
Farrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Ineritus was puzzled at this, for his magic had never sparked out before. He was one of the most powerful creatures- what had caused this?
Sighing, he tried again, but his efforts were in vain. Maybe I'm just exhausted from how much magic I used before.
Unwilling to remain cooped up in the room all day, he leaves, but not to any particular place.
Lilith glances in the mirror one last time, and then leaves her house. She walks to the Café De'Amor, reaching it quite quickly. She finds comfort in this place- its familiar scent of freshly brewed coffee easing the turmoil in her soul, and Lemon Hearts, the girl behind the counter, asks, as she goes up to order, "The usual?"
"Yes, thank you," replies Lilith, politely and after paying five pounds, takes her seat near the window, like she always did. She stares out into the distance, lost in a daze. If I suddenly disappeared, would anyone notice? Or would I remain invisible, like always? I have almost no social life, of course I'd be unnoticed...not missed by any.
Her thoughts turn to the man she saw last night whilst at this Café. For some reason, he feels...familiar. Like I know him, although that was the first time in my life that I saw him.
The waitress gives her coffee, and she picks the paper cup up, leaving the Café. She takes slow sips of the hot liquid, and the warmth resonating from the cup feels nice, especially with the way that the cold wind is seeping through the air.
Lost in her thoughts, she bumps into a hard chest, and looking up, her eyes meet with those of Ineritus'.
He seems to be frozen, hesitantly offering a hand to help her up. His rough, coarse palm wraps around her soft one, and he mutters, "Sorry," before leaving hastily.
"It's okay," she calls out, not knowing if he heard her or not.
His mind replays the moment he bumped into her over and over again. Her innocent smile, her soft, pink lips...He shakes his head. I need to stay away from her. For her safety, and my own. Why am I so cursed? To be taunted with that which was once mine, but now, is out of reach? I deserve it, do I not?
Ineritus stares into the bathroom mirror, deep into his crimson eyes. "The past cannot happen again. It must not."
She sits upon a mat which is spread across the floor of her balcony, reclining against a pillow which leans on the wall, as the wind dries her hair. Lilith gazes at the stars, shining ever so brightly against the almost pitch black canvas of the sky.
She's always enjoyed taking showers at night, for then all the stress from the day would melt off. She admires the galaxies, their beautiful designs and patterns.
Lilith's mind is at peace, her ears delighting in the melody of owls calling and crickets chirping. A gust of wind sweeps across the balcony, and she shivers momentarily, but silently wishes for more.
Goosebumps scatter all over her skin, but she does nothing to stop them, for to her, it is a pleasant feeling.
Her head is clear of all thoughts as she subconsciously traces her collarbones, frowning the tiniest bit when they are not as sharp as she wishes.
Lilith stands up, dusting her clothes, and returns to her room. A midnight run would be nice.
Author's Note
It took me a while to figure out exactly how this story would go. At first, it was going to be an enemies to lovers story, set in the EqG world, with Lilith being a blissfully unaware human whom Ineritus hates, but it was too complicated, especially if they were supposed to have a history with each other. There was also the challenge of making it not too boring, because Ineritus would be the type of guy that girls will fall head over heels for, and yeah...that would be too cliché. So I've come up with a different plan. If you enjoyed this, don't forget to vote/like, comment, favourite/heart, and share!
