I'd woken up early planning to talk to Medein, to apologize for how I had behaved during his tale, as well as for leaving him so quickly last night. I hadn't even given him a chance to say anything before closing the door, having ignored the look in his eyes as I left him alone. I had been no less cruel than whoever had left him alone on that island in the first place and now it might be too late to fix things and make them right.

It hadn't even occurred to me last night that he wouldn't be there in the morning, that he might leave. That I had done something so horrible as to make him want to leave me. But it seems I had and so he did.

So it was that I had spent most of the morning searching the town for him, even asking Stelios if he had seen the man in the picture I showed him from my camera, ignoring the slight curve of his lips as he shook his head. With a pat on the shoulder, he told me to keep searching until I found the young man who had caught my eye, chuckling at the blush that tinted my cheeks.

Luckily, I managed to leave before the involuntary blush totally faded, replaced by quivering lips as I fought not to cry at the reminder of what I may have lost due to my own thoughtless actions.

I would have searched until the sun had hidden beneath the horizon if not for the phone call I got partway through the day, the worried voice of my mom seeming to echo within my head as she asked me to hurry home. It was with a heavy heart that I turned and walked back to the hotel in a daze, conflicted between my desire to find Medein and my need to be there for my parents while my father was in the hospital.

"Medein... Don't make me leave without getting to at least say goodbye,"I spokes softly to myself before, with one last look towards the sun glinting upon the water between me and the island that seemed to taunt me with happier memories, I turned and walked inside the building.

I felt like my heart was breaking all over again and I couldn't help but feel that, this time, I deserved every bit of the ache that throbbed in my chest. After all, I'd done something that obviously caused Medein enough heartache to want to leave me. But maybe, if I gave him enough time away from me, he would let me at least apologize for how I had treated him.

Maybe he would even forgive me enough to give me another chance at being in his life. Even if only ever as a friend and nothing more. If he did, it would be more than I felt I deserved right now.

~~~~~~~~

He'd lost track of time, wandering the town and the surrounding areas, seeing how far the humans had advanced in the centuries he'd been stuck on that island. It was truly amazing how many things had changed, yet some things would seemingly always remain the same. The clothing might be different, but the mothers still chased after their children as the little ones ran and laughed in delight, reminding him of his thoughts not so long ago.

Even now he could almost envision watching (y/n) as she chased after a small child, mayhap a daughter with eyes that matched the ones he always longed to lose himself within, her hair dark like his own with streaks of green. Hopefully without the snakes, but if they were there, he would teach her how to control them and keep those around her safe from their fangs. Ahh, but maybe it would be a son who would grow up strong like Medein himself was, with (y/n) beautiful hair color to frame a face that held his own golden-green eyes. And if he had Medein's snakes, then he would teach the boy how to use them to protect those who he held close to his heart.

A smile graced his lips as he allowed himself to imagine a lifetime spent with (y/n) at his side, watching their children grow up and leave to find their own place in the world as he and his beloved stayed together as the centuries passed. Time would mean nothing to them as immortal beings, since he would ensure that she joined him in his timeless existence. The only thing that would matter was that they would spend their forever together.

With that thought, he looked up and realized the sun was high in the sky, realizing that he should return to her side after having spent so many hours away from her as he'd thought upon what he could do to help her understand his world better. Although, he would admit happily that he had gotten sidetracked by thoughts of their future instead.

With a smile, he began heading back towards the building that she had taken him to last night, the hotel as she had claimed it to be called.

~~~~~~~~

I walked through the door, giving a shaky smile as I saw my mom sitting on the bed next to where my father lay sleeping, the steady beeping of the heart monitor a welcome sound within the room. There had been a few tense moments where they had nearly lost him, but he'd pulled through, fighting to survive and not leave my mom behind.

Seeing the tears that gathered in the corners of my eyes, my mom stood and hurried to me, pulling me into her arms as she gave me the silent support I needed, knowing that the questions could wait until later. Right now, just as I was here now for them, she was equally here for me. I just needed a few moments of comfort in her arms before I could be strong enough to stand on my own again.

"It hurts so much, mom!" I sobbed out, feeling her arms tighten as she began to hum a familiar tune from my childhood.

I could be weak now and strong afterwards. At least, until I had to face everything I'd left behind in Greece, with little more than the hope that I could return and find Medein again. I didn't dare hope that he would still feel the same for me, because I knew I wouldn't be able to face the world if I held that hope and watched it crumble before his denial.

--------

It hadn't even been a week since I left Greece and already I could feel my nerves fraying, the need to return growing with every hour that passed. My knees would start bouncing or my fingers tapping whenever I got lost in thought. If I didn't remain focused on what was going on around me, I would find myself thinking about the island, about him... Medein was the only constant thought in my mind, memories of being together with him filling my mind at any given moment.

It was both amazing that someone had become so important to me so soon after meeting him and yet tragic at the same time. Because, no matter how much I loved him, it hadn't been enough to make me truly appreciate what I had with him. Not until he was gone from my life, even quicker than he'd entered it. And I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to find him again.

What if I went back and he had not just left the town, but had left the island as well? How would i find him if he had moved on to another town, maybe even another country? Without knowing where he was going, it would be impossible to find him with nothing more than his first name and a picture. I was struck dumb at that thought.

He'd never even told me his last name... I loved him and I didn't even know anything about who he was beyond his first name. No last name, no family, no name of his home town. I knew almost nothing about him and yet my heart both beat and broke for him.

For a moment, I was frightened of my feelings, before the exhilaration of loving someone for who they are rather than where they came from overpowered the fear. I loved Medein, not for his name or his home or his money, but for the person he was. I loved him for his kindness, his compassion and for the secret world that he'd shared with me, opening my eyes to things I would never have noticed before meeting him. He'd shared an innocence with me that I hadn't experienced since childhood.

How could I have let it all slip through my hands so easily?

~~~~~~~~

She'd left him. Just like Percia, she had left him behind. Sure, he wasn't imprisoned on the island this time, but was it really so much better? Did it really matter where he was, when he was still left alone? Medein hadn't even cared when the bracelet finally stopped working, curled up in a cave not too far from the town she'd left him in. The only thing keeping him from remaining confined to the cave was the need to eat, slipping out at night and swiping food where he could find it.

He cared not for the statues he created when he was spotted at times, smashing them and scattering the pieces without a second thought to the lives lost. They were not her so what did it matter to him if the person's family grieved over the loved one who vanished without a trace? What did their loss matter when compared to his own, a grief that would last centuries as his heart broke again and again with every moment she passed through his mind?

With every day that passed, his scales dulled and his snakes grew more listless, eventually simply dangling down against his shoulders with barely more than the occasional twitch to show they still lived.

After the second week of her absence, he removed the bracelet, dropping it in the sand outside the cave one night as he returned from scavenging for food. It wasn't like it did anything without being charged and he refused to return to the island to do so. He drowned in enough memories of his time with (y/n), he didn't need to be confronted by even more by passing through all the places he spent time with her.

His heart wouldn't be able to take it if he did. It was broken enough already.

~~~~~~~~

I could feel my stomach drop as I took my first step out of the cab, seeing the shocking amount of people mourning in the streets. It was like walking into a completely different world than the one I had seen just a few weeks ago. Sorrowful wailing filled the air, men and women crying out in sorrow as children sobbed at their sides.

From higher up in the town, I could hear bells ring out as people began slowly moving up the roads and pathways towards the church that sat at the highest point of land the town had to offer. Even through their tears and choking sobs, I could hear the people begin to sing hymns. Even if I couldn't understand the words, I recognized the vague melody from my grandmother's funeral held just a few years ago.

But who was it that had died, for so many people to be in mourning?

Turning away from the stream of people, I froze when I saw a familiar face walk past me from the docks, Stelios not even seeming to notice me as he held a photo within his trembling hands.

Beside him walked a grieving woman, tears flowing from her face as she wailed out a familiar name. One I had heard one night when Stelios introduced me to the young lady who had served him dinner that night. His niece?

--------

I walked to the hotel after the funeral, an empty casket slowly being filled with flowers left by those who knew her. There hadn't been a body for them to bury, nothing to give them that true sense of finality, of closure to allow their grief to eventually ease. No, they would always be left wondering 'What if?' in the years that followed. This kind of loss was one of the cruelest kind to suffer, because no matter how many times you tell yourself the person is gone, you are left wondering if maybe you didn't give up too soon.

There hadn't been a body found, just an empty basket dropped to the ground, a few pieces of food scattered about, and her purse laying untouched near the entrance to an alleyway. The only thing that gave them the idea she was actually dead, had been the broken watch that they had found further away laying amongst some scattered rubble, the glass face stained with blood confirmed to be hers.

That was horrifying enough, but I'd found out quickly that she hadn't been the first to vanish in the time since I had left. No, she was only the most recent of the disappearances and the first to be given a funeral, even without a body to bury.

After entering my room, I sat my bag down next to my bed, not even bothering to unpack before setting down on the corner of the mattress. My body was soon wracked with sobs as I curled forward, pressing my knees against my chest as I recalled the broken look in Stelios' eyes as they buried a coffin with nothing but flowers and a picture inside of it. How cruel was life that such a kind man would have to suffer that kind of loss?

It was hours later, after having fallen asleep crying, that I woke up with a vague desire to walk to the docks. I wanted to see the sea, so dark at night that it looked like the sky had melted into the water as it reflected the stars shining overhead.

I felt my heart break a little more as I recalled that the last time I had seen it like that, Medein had been sitting beside me.

~~~~~~~~

The moon shone golden in the sky above, the air growing cold as the seasons changed. The year was slowly drawing to a close, the colder months arriving as they always did. And once more, he would spend the time alone. He was so tired of being alone...

He'd had a glimpse of what it would be like to have a companion at his side, to have someone to hold close and share his life with. What a fleeting thing it had been, passing almost as quickly as it had begun, just a handful of weeks and it was over. Some might ask how a handful of weeks could compare to the centuries he'd already lived. All he could think was, how could the centuries alone even try to compare to those precious weeks he'd gotten to spend with (y/n)? And how could he even hope to move forward without her?

Slithering forward in the sand, Medein made his way towards the now familiar town, barely noticing the scales that he shed with each movement he made. Heartbreak had taken its tole on his body, his skin as dull as his scales, his snakes silent and still as he barely paid attention to the sights around him.

Something that had almost cost him, remembering the female that he'd run into a few nights ago, her scarf falling to cover her eyes as he'd grabbed her basket of food. She had almost gotten away from him before he managed to grab onto her wrist, her other arm flung back to smash against the nearby wall. He'd seen something fly off into the darkness but had been too focused on pulling the scarf away from her face to bother looking for whatever it was.

That and tired. He was so endlessly tired these days, far too much to be concerned for some unimportant item belonging to a human who failed to be (y/n). Nothing and nobody mattered other than (y/n) and without her, he felt himself falling further and further into a despair that he couldn't be concerned with climbing out of anymore.

He was so far gone, he didn't even realize he'd made his way to the docks until he felt the wood under his scaled tail, his eyes lifted to look at the moon floating overhead. Still, he made his way forward, not noticing the sitting figure until he was towering over them from behind, his gaze finally dropping to stare down at the reflection below.

Wide eyes stared up at him, the familiar color surrounded by reddened flesh from the tears that slowly made their way down her cheeks. Sinking lower, he slowly wrapped his arms around her when he noticed the trembling of her body, the fingers of one hand slowly combing through her wind tangled hair.

"Medein?" He heard her whisper, her eyes never moving from the reflection below as she raised a single hand up to rest against his cheek, the chill of her fingers making him worry for her even as he slowly turned his face so he could press his lips against her skin.

"Yes. Yes, I'm here. Is this really you, (y/n)? Or do the gods taunt me with your image? Are they punishing me for daring to have any hope left within me? Are you really here in my arms?" He wondered if his voice sounded as weak to her as it did to him, his words choking him as his heart thumped within his chest, the beat erratic after so many days without a reason to keep going.

He watched as she slowly nodded, her eyes clenching closed for a moment before they opened and met his reflection's gaze once more. Her hand slowly trailed up again, her fingertips barely brushing against the curve of his ear before they touched the now roughened scales of one of the snakes hanging limply from his head. He felt the shiver that ran down her spine, his breath catching for a moment before he drew in a shuddering breath.

"Do you fear me?" He asked, his eyes closing as he awaited her answer, ready to release her as soon as the words he knew were coming would leave her lips.

"Yes. But I can face that fear. What I can't face, is the thought of losing you forever," she spoke, her voice barely rising above the sound of the waves that gently lapped against the nearby shore.

Before he could even open his eyes, he felt her lips pressed against his own, her body twisted within his grasp. His heart thrilled at the sensation, his eyes opening to gaze down at her in wonder, darting forward quickly for another kiss as he felt her arms wrap around him.

The wonder, however, quickly vanished as he felt her stiffen within his grasp, her lips slowly growing firm against his own as she gave one last breathless whisper. "I love you."

Feeling the heat of his tears running down his face, he slowly turned his gaze back to the water below, meeting his own gaze as he prayed to the gods to let him join his beloved rather than remain alone and alive on this cursed planet for even one more night.

The following morning, Stelios gazed in horror upon the statue of a familiar woman, her lips pressed against those of a monster as his hand cupped her cheek. Stains ran down his cheeks in place of the tears that had dried up during the night, but anyone with eyes could see the sorrow that filled the face of the male creature.

He watched as the statues slowly crumbled, the pieces dropping together into the water below, vanishing slowly until only the faces remained to forever gaze upon each other at the bottom of the sea.