What if Kenric never died in the Everblaze?
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Your fellow Fandom girl,
RoKnows
Synopsis
When the man you love says he love you, the world seams to change and sizzle into a happier, better world.
But when he dies before you can say goodbye, everything melts into sobs.
Oralie doesn’t feel anything but sorrow. When Kenric disappeared within the Everblaze, seemingly dead, her heart tore itself away, and she finds herself in a sea of unending sobs.
This is how it ends. With Kenric going without a kiss farewell, leaving the woman he loves empty.
But what if Kenric survived?
What if the fire didn’t swallow him up?
After all, Kenric made a promise to Oralie—One month, and then we’ll be together.
Kenric died two days before the deadline.
But Kenric is a man of his word.
Chapter One
Oralie
11 hours after the Everblaze.
The tears never stopped coming.
Oralie’s face was wet and red, her body trembling and sobbing, as the scene replayed in her mind, over and over.
The inferno of yellow Everblaze that devoured everything.
The building, fissuring under the unearthly blaze’s wrath.
The panic that lodged in her throat—clawing, tearing up every ounce of hope.
But none of that was as terrible as the words. The words that determined everything…
He’s gone.
No matter where Oralie looked, his was there. His slightly tanned face, warm smile, flaming red hair, and gentle embrace. He would always be there. Reminding her of what she lost. Haunting her with the fact that he’d never come back.
He’ll never come back.
Sobs racked Oralie’s body as she shriveled into her soft pink carpet. Why did it have to be this way? Why did Kenric have to die?
Oralie’s posture crumpled as the memory she had tried to forget since her love’s death punctured her heart… Kenric’s promise.
Flashback to 26 days and 7 hours before the Everblaze.
Oralie found herself smiling dopily. She didn’t know what was wrong with her—she never smiled dopily! But her breath was husky, her heart was fluttery, and her chest felt like it’d implode. But, she realized as the memory that made her so exhilarated reran in mind, she didn’t know what right with her.
She had just been leaving the meeting with all the Councillors, her forehead frowning because of the grave discussions, when Kenric had caught up with her, his thick, red hair waving in the air.
She stopped, surprised, and her heart racing with excitement.
If her brain had eyes, it would have rolled them. Pick yourself up, Oralie, she chided herself. Get over it already.
“Hey Oralie,” Kenric said, smiling wide.
“Um…hi,” Oralie replied, nearly tripping over her own feet. She could already feel her cheeks blossom in pink, even though she had been in front of Kenric countless times.
His eyes suddenly darted to the floor, his hands fidgeting nervously and his teeth gnawing his lip. “I—um, well, you see…” He sucked in a breath, and slowly met Oralie’s azure-colored eyes. “Could I come over to your house tomorrow afternoon? That is, if you’re available—of course.”
Oralie had managed to stop herself from blurting out ABSOLUTELY and instead substituted it for a mellow, “Um, sure.”
Now, as she sat on her bright rose-colored sofa, she scolded herself for grinning so wildly and thinking her hopeful, fairy tale dreams. Her life wasn’t a fairy tale, as hard as she tried it to think it was. Life couldn’t magically turn pink and cheery and happy, unlike furniture.
Kenric was probably just meeting with her to discuss… Councillor stuff. Of course it was Councillor stuff. It was always Councillor stuff.
The doorbell ringed, scattering Oralie’s thoughts. Her traitorous heart fluttered against her will as she peered through the window to glimpse a smiling face and unmistakably red hair.
Kenric.
She allowed herself a cleansing breath before turning her front door’s knob, unable to stop her hands from trembling.
It’s just Councillor stuff. It’s just Councillor stuff.
“Hey Oralie,” Kenric said so sweetly, so honestly, her heart beat faster. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him, and declare to him that she had loved him since the day she laid eyes on his kind, laughing face.
Oralie didn’t trust her voice to reply, not sure if she’d burst into tears or do something much worse, so she motioned to the seating room.
Kenric didn’t help by smiling widely and gracefully taking a seat on her plush sofa. His beautiful eyes scanned her castle. “I really love how everything’s pink,” he complemented nicely.
“Uhh…you d-do?” she stuttered, surprised. But then again, Kenric had always liked everything she liked. And he always complemented everything she owned… But not in the way it sounded of course.
Even though she wished it was.
“Yes, of course!” Kenric confirmed, his mouth twitching into a smile. Creases spread from his eyes when he laughed.
A bout of shyness overcame Oralie, so she looked down as her face flushed the color of her furniture and pretended to be fascinated with her toes, which were painted a bright fuchsia.
Councillor Kenric cleared his throat, a ghost of a smile still on his face. “But… that’s not what I’m here for today, Oralie. I mean, I’d love to keep complementing your house and all, but…”
“I suppose you’re here to talk about yesterday’s Councillor meeting, then,” Oralie muttered, her coyness evaporating as she struggled to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
Kenric’s face softened. “No, I’m actually not.”
Oralie blinked slowly and her heart beat faster. “Then why…”
He suddenly stood up from the pink-clad sofa and strode regally and confidently towards her, never losing eye contact.
Oralie’s heart was now beating, hard, rapidly, and uncontrollably. Her chest quivered as Kenric approached closer, until he was very close.
“Why did I come, Councillor? Why did I come today?”
Oralie knees swayed at the fierceness of his gaze. “I—I don’t know.”
“You don’t?” Kenric gave her a small, toothless smile. “It’s because I’m here to tell you something I should have a long time ago. Years ago. Something I’ve been too afraid to tell you, until it came to desperate measures. I know we’ve been friends, but I—” He caught himself. “I’ll quit stalling now.” He reached down and brushed his hand across Oralie’s cheek, making her face redden and tingle. His emotions blasted up as excited, sweet, and… compassionate. Kenric tucked a strand of Oralie’s blonde hair behind her ear. Her chest felt ready to explode, but nothing was compared to the words he spoke.
“I love you, Oralie.”
Chapter Two
Oralie
A blast of emotions hit her all at once. Oralie’s knees wobbled, her chest heaved, and her vision blurred.
The man she loved had just said that he loved her.
Nothing mattered more to Oralie. That may be selfish, considering the conflicts that were threatening their world, but it was true. Honest. And all she wanted.
She voice, frayed and trembling, could barely whisper a reply. “I…” she squeaked.
“I know.” Kenric gently combed her hair, his brilliant eyes softened and sincere. “I know you…feel the same way. I notice things…at least when it comes to you.” After a moment, his face flooded red. “Notin the weird way of course.”
Everything seamed too unreal… like her fairy tale had finally happened. But another question bit her throat.
“How long?” she murmured softly, her voice struggling to stay afloat.
Kenric looked down, chewing his lip again. “Since forever… I couldn’t… I felt like I’d be leaving my duty as a Councillor. Love is banned in the Council, so…”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Oralie snorted. “But what change your mind? It is still banned…”
Kenric looked up, and when he met her eyes, he smiled—managing to make it look both sweet and straightforward. “The world’s changing. It wasn’t the peaceful place we wanted it be. It’s…chaos. And I’m not sure how long we’ll stay in the world. There’s been so many close calls…” He tenderly cupped her cheek. “Oralie, I want to be with you before it’s too late. Before one of us doesn’t make it.”
She melted into his hand, tears of unspeakably joy welling in her eyes, and breathed, “Me too, Kenric… more than anything else in the world.”
His lips curved into another gentle smile at her words.
“But how long must we wait?” Oralie asked faintly, half afraid of the answer.
He kissed her forehead. “I’d wait the world for you, Oralie. I have been waiting. But I think we should wait just a month. Just a month to organize things, and allow time to prepare two new Councillors. And then…”
“I’ll be yours,” Oralie finished, her heart swelling with love for him.
“Yes,” Kenric promised. “In just a month. But I’ll visit.” He gave her one last embrace, kissed her hand like a true gentleman, and then his beaming face left.
And he was gone.
Back to the present, 10 hours and 54 minutes after the Everblaze.
Just a month, he had said. Just a month until her life would had been full. Happy.
But then—the fire. Then the roaring, angry Everblaze swallowed up his life like it meant nothing. She could still see Fintan’s smile, beaming pride and arrogance as he took the person that mattered to Oralie most in the entire world.
Since forever, he had said. She had loved him since forever too. If only they had found out earlier. If only they realized that healing Fintan was idiotic. If only Kenric hadn’t been the chosen telepath to monitor Sophie and Fitz. If only. If only.
Oralie let out another sob and let her bones scrunch and slouch into the cold, uncaring floor.
But then arms wrapped around Oralie, brought her back to a sitting position, and urged cleansing water down her throat, against her will.
The bronzed face of Councillor Liora slowly cleared to focus, kind, but stern and heavily concerned. When Liora caught Oralie’s eye, she wrapped her into a warm, gentle hug.
“Oh Oralie, I’m so sorry…” she comforted. “It wasn’t supposed to end like this.”
Oralie wept into her friend’s shoulder, pain etching her every action.
Everything hurt.
Everything was wrong.
Kenric was dead. And that made Oralie realize just how much he meant to her—and just how little everything else was compared.
Chapter Three
Kenric
7 hours and 12 minutes after the Everblaze.
Everything hurt as Kenric slowly peeled back his eyelids to stare at the cruel, blurry world.
His legs were buried under tons of rubble, and Kenric felt nausea curl in his chest when he realized they were probably broken.
But he was alive.
Barely.
But he was alive.
Kenric closed his eyes against the racking, excruciating pain that exploded under every fraction of a movement. But once his eyelids thumped over his eyeballs again, the nightmares flared to life.
The Everblaze, unafraid to tear him limb to limb.
Fintan’s brutal face as his power lunged for victims.
And the realization, which was somehow calming, that Kenric would have to sacrifice his body in order to save everyone else. He wouldn’t have done it any more enthusiastically if he knew he would survive. But… that definitely was a nice surprise.
Well… once pain stopped.
And once he pulled himself out of his rocky conflict, which was evidently going to hurt.
But Kenric tried. He stabled himself with his burnt arms and tried to tug his legs away. When that hurt too much, he tried to lift the wreckage off, but that was harder, especially in his position.
It took an hour for Kenric to manage to pull out his legs, and by then, his forehead was slick with murky sweat, his backbone ached, and he wanted nothing more than to curl himself into a ball and sleep.
But first, he needed to do some much-needed self-care. With shaky hands, he ripped a piece of his garment and used it as a bandage to pressurize his chest, which was bleeding under the work he put himself through. Then, using the surrounding rocks to stand himself up, Kenric tested to see if his legs really were broken.
It was a dumb idea. Of course his legs hurt, but that didn’t tell him much. However, his left leg he was sort-of-able to balance on, so Kenric took that as a hint the bones weren’t severely damaged. His right leg, though, was so weak he toppled face-flat into the ground, and in doing so, also scraped his hands from the rocks.
Kenric let out a rickety sigh through gritted teeth. How on earth was he supposed to walk around?
Like an answer to his prayers, voices sounded north of him, barking hasty commands. Craning his neck, he could just barely hear their loud conversations.
“Search all parts of Eternalia. Find any hints on where that murderercould be now. And…” The male voice wavered. “See if you can find the body of…Councillor Kenric.”
At first, Kenric was relieved. They would find him. And they would heal him. And then…
A realization hit him.
Once they found him, everything would go crazy. THE MAN WHO SURVIVED THE EVERBLAZE! COUNCILLOR KENRIC—THE ONE WE THOUGHT WAS DEAD! And then… he’d never get a chance to do the thing he needed to do the most. The thing that was most important, above his health and everything else.
Keep his promise.
Kenric was a man of his word. And he wasn’t going to break the most important promise he ever made.
With that pep-talk in mind, Councillor Kenric heaved himself up and hurriedly limped away, unsure how he’d manage to reach his destination without anyone finding him, but determined.
Determined to say goodbye to the woman he loved.
Yes, I really just ended it like this! But don't worry—I'm working on the next chapter as we speak! Thank you so much for viewing, I hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned!
-RoKnows