"Oh my, Ardwyn!"

"Is something wrong mother? I'm going to be late for school." His slightly querulous voice replied, not bothering to raise his eyebrows.

"Didn't you see? You've got your mark!" There was something in the juvenile's mother's tone that made him face her. Registering the meaning of her words, he began groping about his neck, eagerly.

"What is it mother, what is it?" Only a sad sigh sounded in response to his excited tone, and the boy's keenness faded instantaneously. "Is it too low, mother?"

Another soft sorrowful sigh sounded, and she responded gravely, shaking her head slightly, "It's...it's the exact opposite honey. It's...it's infinity."

The boy's face lit up again, the shine obviously less bright, "That should be great, right mother?"

"Oh honey..."

~~~160 years later~~~

"This must hurriedly be taken to master Ardwyn, he wouldn't want to be disturbed tomorrow morning, evening is a safe time to break the news."

"I doubt so, Natalia, his emotions would consume his night."

"Well, Sophie, the reaction is inevitable."

"Honestly, being immortal is not such a blessing."

"It never was." His deep voice boomed through the hallway where the two maids stood, seemingly after finishing their day shift, as the said master appeared at the top of the stairway. He further asked, striding down the staircase, the clack of his shoes accentuating his movement. "What is that you wanted to give me, girls?"

Hastily shoving a quite crumpled up envelope to the man, the girls looked down. Anyone who moderately knew Ardwyn could doubtlessly anticipate his reaction to the letter's contents.

The grave smile that danced upon the man's lips vanished the moment he read the letter's first sentence and was replaced by an expression portraying a myriad of emotions.

"A-another funeral?" He managed to choke out.

The girls merely looked down, unable to form words themselves. They had anticipated this ahead of time. Yet, it was so very perturbing to watch Ardwyn's composure shrivel up in front of their eyes.

"Master..."

"It's alright Natalia, I'm heading to my room now, I need a bit of space..."

Words remained unsaid between the girls and the immortal, they couldn't fill the hole of his heart now, could they?

The door of his room closed softly, tears threatening to spill down his soft cheeks. "What did I do wrong to be cursed with this...?"

He slumped down the wall, his head in his hands. Thoughts blurred his head like tears blurred his vision.

'I was destined to get hurt...what else have I seen in life?'

That was one long night.

~~~~~

"She will be missed so much..."

"She was a darling..." 

The words still echoed in Ardwyn's mind, his conscience still in disbelief. Quinn was one of his closest friends, how could he ever cope up with this loss?

Perhaps how he had coped up with all others, his mind whispered. How many funerals was this? He had simply lost track. In an average life of 70 years, one gets to witness multiple funerals, Google says it could be about 20-40, which is quite a lot if you think of it. Funnily, I myself have probably only attended 3 or 4. Now add about 100 more years to that average. That's how many funerals he had attended. At least 40-80.

Some were close, some were not-so-close, but loss is always hard to experience. Imagine losing your toys, one by one, some you like a lot, some not so much. No, I don't mean to say people are your toys.

Ardwyn's mind was racing. It was slightly drizzling as if the heavens were crying over the loss too. I seriously don't get how all funerals end up having rain somehow, but I guess that's how melancholy rain can be.

The ceremony was shifting inside, for it to continue. There was a huge commotion, everything was being carried inside in a rush. One figure stood aloof from this commotion, Ardwyn, of course. He did not even bother finding an umbrella to prevent himself from getting drenched, he just stood there, motionless, lifeless.

Perhaps the weight of the loss was too heavy to carry on his shoulders. A broken toy causes tears anyway.

But Ardwyn didn't cry. The tears didn't dare spill out. It was more of a silent scream his soul cried. Silent on the outside, his mind crying inside.

The rain was pelting down hard now, soaking Ardwyn to his skin, just like his thoughts drowned him. It really wasn't fair, was it?

But life isn't fair.

Suddenly, the rain stopped. No, it was still pouring, it just stopped pelting down on Ardwyn, and he was quick to notice the black umbrella held overhead.

Turning around, he saw a small frame, perched on her heels for her short height, drenched in the rain.

Ardwyn grabbed the umbrella and pulled this woman, who wore a dark hooded dress, closer to him, shielding both of them from the rain, before asking, "Who are you?"

"That isn't our biggest concern, you need to get out of the rain, you can't just stand outside when it's simply pouring!" Her voice was melodious. Ardwyn almost hummed in response until his brain processed the words rather than the voice.

"You too. We should get going inside, shouldn't we?"

~~~~~

Ardwyn found himself lost in the silence once again as he sat listening to the ceremonial speeches made for Quinn. Silent tears rolled down once more, his expression lifeless.

It was the cold stage of grief at this point. I feel bad for Ardwyn, nobody deserves to be hurt so brutally. Perhaps the gods thought he would love this blessing, never being able to die. Or perhaps they were just in a bad mood when they were filling his basket of blessings that they added immortality to it. We shall never really know the reason.

His mind suddenly switched back to the woman who offered him the umbrella. How did she even get in his mind, in the middle of sadness? He didn't know.

There was another thing he didn't know. Her name.

She seemed like an Olivia to him. He didn't know why, but his mind pictured her being Olivia.

He sighed, he couldn't even thank her amidst the bustle once he got inside and hurried to dry off. Yet, he didn't even know her name to find her.

Ardwyn found himself leaving the funeral early, his hands in his pockets, head held down, walking down the pavement. The sky was still covered with clouds, not raining yet.

He didn't pay much attention ahead on the road, which, as you might have guessed, was not a good idea. He ran straight into a stranger on the road, who yelped as she collided with him.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry Miss, I wasn't looking and­­­ oh, it's you!"

"I'm sorry too, Mister...?"

"Ardwyn, and you?"

"Arcane." Guess Ardwyn was wrong, she wasn't an Olivia after all.

"You were the one who gave me the umbrella?" It came out as more of a question than what Ardwyn had intended, and he mentally facepalmed at the same.

"Yeah, you were soaked to your bones, I couldn't just stand there doing nothing!"

"I just want to thank you for that." A soft smile was exchanged.

"You left the funeral early too?" She timidly asked, not wanting to trigger any sadness.

"Yeah, it felt too dreary..."

"Trust me, that is how they all are, had one too many funerals to attend myself..." Ardwyn looked into her light green eyes, understanding her completely, as his gaze moved down. Ardwyn's eyes landed on her neck, at her age mark, his breath hitched in his throat.

"Your mark...it's...it's impossible!"

Her face suddenly went pale, and she shivered as she replied, "Oh...yeah, it's infinite, I've lived about 165 years now...I know it's hard to believe, but it really isn't a lie."

"No, I know!" He proceeded to uncover his own mark from his hoodie, causing a very similar reaction to his.

"But...I thought...I thought I was the only one! This is unbelievable..."

"I'm...I'm honestly happy I'm not alone, you know."

She smiled up at him, a raindrop falling on his nose, followed by a couple more.

"So am I, Ardwyn, I'm happy I met you."

She opened her umbrella at once, handing it to him. He pulled her closer, searching her eyes for consent before wrapping an arm around her.

"Let me take you to my place, Arcane."

She only smiled gladly in response, that was more than enough for Ardwyn to know it was alright. He didn't know why, she didn't know why. Why it felt so natural to be this way. Almost as if they had known each other.

Perhaps they had, and it was merely the magic of the rain that brought them together.

~~Bonus, one year later~~

"No, but seriously. It took me so long to figure out how the hell a smartphone works!"

"I know right! It was so much easier back in the 1870s!" She laughed along with him, feeling a bliss she never knew. It felt unmatchable to be so well understood.

"You know, Arcane..."

"Mhm?"

"I'm so glad we met. I now have a someone to call my forever."

A/N: Heavily inspired by Chris Barnett, on his socials.