A Heavy Price

“Shit it’s dark.” Obi groused, the grime already seeping through his pants, leaching itself to his skin. He would need  two showers when this ordeal was over.  

“Well it’s a cave.” The voice that replied sounded too far away He tilted his head and used his shoulder to push the wandering earpiece back into his ear. “Hope you wore waterproof pants. That’s bat guano.”

Three showers, he mentally amended.

This job, while dirty in the literal sense, was far from the worst he had been tasked with , so he counted himself lucky. Go in, find the diadem, go home, give it to the rich folks. Definitely a cushy project. While he did not relish the filth, he’d take guano over blood any day.

“You should be comin up on the entrance. Tunnel looks tight. Might need to crawl.”

Obi cursed. He liked this shirt.

“Fine.” He adjusted his headlamp and looked for the tunnel.

A chorus of profanity trailed behind him as he inched his way through the tunnel. Roberts’ laughter informed him he was far too pleased with the situation, and Obi made a mental note to get back at him at the earliest possible convenience

Upon reaching a larger opening, it was just enough to squeeze his upper body into, allowing him freedom to get up onto his knees. He saw a soft blue glow from a hollow a few feet above.

If he were to reach enough he might be able to–

“Roberts. Any thoughts on a glow in here? Maybe bioluminescent fungus or something?” Obi vaguely recalled that something like that existed in the world, although if pressed he wouldn’t have known the location.

“Nanaki, you need a vacation.”

Drawn to the glow by some unspeakable force, his fingers twitched against his will.

“You’re right. The Alps maybe. I hear there’s nice spas.” He scarcely heard his own absent reply, his heart thrumming in his ears.

He stretched, feeling wary but curious. Wasn’t the diadem blue? Maybe some pocket of light was casting a reflection?

Maybe it would be better if he took a look? Carefully he slid to his feet, body crumpling inwards to make himself fit, chin digging into his own chest.

Obi let out a low whistle.  It was worth it. Somehow the ancient jewelry that sat before him was totally pristine. It shone with an ethereal light and without a second thought, one glove was already off his hand.

“Roberts I think we struck Diadem.” He said, knowing somewhere in his mind that he needed to report the status.

“Oooo, put it on princess I want to see how pretty you’ll be.” Came the mocking reply.

“Don’t be jealous that you don’t have the figure for heels.” He quipped back playfully, eyes locked in a hypnotic trance on the gem. He wanted to touch it, the draw was stronger than he had felt before. He wasn’t really the type to be drawn to intense luxury.

As soon as his fingers brushed the stone the whole area began to light up. Too bright. It burned his eyes and he squinted to get a look to no avail.

The light overtook him, enveloping him. It was warm. Soothing. Obi felt calm and at home. When was the last time he felt calm and at home?

—

“The diadem has a price, and the price is your soul?”

Lashes fluttered over green eyes, a little red stained her cheeks as she looked away.

“Yes.”

“You’ve been trapped in that thing, alone, for centuries?” A nod in reply. “And the only way to get you out is to split your soul or bond it to another.” Another nod, this one more hesitant.

There could be worse things than being bonded to a supernatural being

On the list of positives, he would probably get to quit that awful job.

“There’s no undoing it. It won’t lengthen your life or shorten mine.” Her voice was soft when she finally spoke. He would have guessed regret, but he didn’t have to, he felt it.

Her loneliness, the darkness, the boredom. An inquisitive mind like hers, trapped away in a crystal in pretty jewelry. Like a prize. It disgusted him. She didn’t deserve it.

Seeing a need for levity, Obi smirked at her.

“Fair enough. So how do we earn your freedom? Do I get three wishes if I rub you, and then I can wish you free?”

“Don’t tease me, I have been in there a long time.” Her pout was even cuter. The light that hit her horns cast a shadow over one side of her face, doing nothing to disguise her ever reddening cheeks.

“I’m not, well okay, a little, but not about freeing you. Look. I’ve got no family, no goals, no home. This job is all I have and sooner or later it’ll kill me. So let’s be teammates. After my lifespan ends you get sucked back in.” He couldn’t resist leaning in, taking in her scent, so foreign to him, so exciting. “Far be it from me to leave a lady in distress.”

Who would have thought that a creature from the underworld would be so damn cute and shy?

He extended a hand to her. “Partners?”

—

“For the record, I think this is a poor decision.”

Obi turned to Shirayuki with a smile. “Come on. When do I make poor decisions.”

Her pointed tail flicked out irritably, lip pursing in distaste. Obi wondered for the thousandth time how they would taste if he–Nope. 

 “Do you want me to itemize the list, or alphabetize it? And how much time do we have to waste because this might take a while.”

He loved it when she was cheeky.  He flashed her his most dazzling smile before extending his hand to her. The same way he did the day they met. Five years and dozens of missions exactly like this ago.

She turned away from his hand, but her tail still wrapped around his waist, allowing him to descend into the pit safely.

Her small stature didn’t betray her raw power. Likely because she was a daemon and her power wasn’t exactly mortal.

“The temple of Azrael. The temple of Baachut. The shrine of Caedus.”

“I get it, you don’t need to keep going.” He called back.

“Already? There‘s still 23 letters to go, and some have duplicates!”

He sighed. Finding the Diadem’s twin would not only prove tricky, but as the years went on, he wanted it less and less.

He hadn’t lost his drive to rescue her from her loneliness. It just began to dawn on him that the intimacy they shared was something he treasured.

He treasured her.

The differing flicks of her tail indicating different emotions. Her kindness. Her smile. The way her fingertips brushed his own.

A foreboding feeling took up residency in his gut. Something told him that today would be the day…

—

Her fingers grasped the necklace, the other piece of the set. It was as lovely as the diadem. “If we do this-” Obi began. He was watching her, he was always watching her. She knew some of his thoughts when they were especially loud. Could feel the comfort in touching each other that came from the threads of their souls being entwined. Was she ready to lose that?

She tucked the necklace into a separate box than the diadem. Placing both back in the lock box they owned.

“Let’s go home.” She said.

Obi looked like he might choke on his own tongue.

“But your freedom.” For once there wasn’t a single joke to hide behind, something he tried regardless of her ability to see through it.

“I’m free enough, for now. When the time comes, I’ll be able to break the spell.”

Obi sputtered. “What are we going to do now?”

“I hear the Alps are nice.” Shirayuki smiled. He didn’t move, so she wondered if he caught her intention.

She didn’t have to wonder long, as she was dipped backwards, lips pressed against his, brand new fireworks exploding behind her eyes.

They had never… This was…

Home. This was home. Obi’s lips, his smile, his skin.

Chance had bonded them. Choice had kept them together, a fact neither of them took for granted.