Chapter 220 – Icarus, Helen, and Death

Icarus:

The world was dark for me. I drifted in and out of moments of clarity, slipping between a void of dreamless sleep and a suffocating consciousness. My mind would simply go dark, like I was fading away. In the few lucid moments when I managed to open my eyes, I saw Helen tending to me. Every time I caught a glimpse of her, she was crying.

“Drink… please!” she whispered, bringing a cup close to my lips. I could barely part my mouth to accept the liquid.

“Don’t leave me,” she murmured, cradling my head in her lap.

It had been days like this, days of unbearable pain coursing through every nerve in my body. Even though I had thrown up the berries, part of the poison had already seeped in, taking hold. These were the worst days of my life. The pain was all-consuming, each breath was a battle, each exhale an impossible feat. My vision was fractured; sometimes I could only make out faint shapes or blurred contours.

“Icarus, please… don’t leave me. I can’t lose you,” Helen pleaded, spooning water into my mouth with trembling hands. It took a moment for me to understand her desperate intent—she was trying to keep me hydrated. She had prepared tea, stolen milk, and even scavenged gardens for medicinal leaves.

She was doing everything she could to keep me alive.

“You said you wanted to stay with me forever… was that a lie?” she asked, her voice thick with tears.

With what little strength I had left, I shook my head, hoping she’d understand my answer.

“Stay with me, Icarus,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

Outside, I could hear the storm raging and rain pounding against the world above. In that cramped hideout, Helen kept fighting to save me, pouring all her energy into keeping me from slipping away.

“Helen…” I whispered. The sound of her name clawed through my throat, the pain like fire. “Let me… die…”

She wept even harder, her despair raw and unguarded.

“It hurts… it hurts so much…” I murmured, the words barely audible, drowned in the pain.

“Icarus, we made a promise. Don’t leave me here… I have no one else. Please,” she begged, still trying to spoon water into my mouth.

She clung to me, trying to cool my fever with a damp cloth, pressing it against my burning skin. I was freezing on the outside, but my body felt like it was aflame with fever.

Tears slid from my eyes, each drop tearing its way out, intensifying the pain as they fell.

“I was happy…” I murmured. “Don’t worry…”

I closed my eyes, surrendering to the darkness that consumed me once again, pulling me into a sleep without dreams. A sleep from which I wasn’t sure I’d wake.

“Icarus, stay with me!” Helen screamed, but I was already drifting away into the void.

I found myself in a sea of darkness. This was where my mind took me, where I would slowly disappear. Soon, I’d be part of this black ocean, gone.

I don’t know how much time passed, but when I opened my eyes again, it must have been another day. Helen looked worn, utterly exhausted. Her eyes were swollen and red, and her hair was tangled and unkempt. I watched her, silently crying as she wrung out a cloth.

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She soaked it in water and came closer. I lay shirtless, my body frail and weak.

My eyes barely open, I could only watch through slits, unnoticed as Helen continued to cleanse me with the damp cloth, silent tears streaming down her face.

“I won’t leave you,” she whispered, her voice cracking as she took care of me.

And as I slipped back into darkness, I closed my eyes, hoping I’d find her there when I woke again.

"Please, Icarus. Don’t give up! You’re all I have." Helen buried her face in her hands, her tears flowing silently as she sat beside me.

My vision blurred once again, and I was swallowed by the vast sea of darkness that had become my reality.

I lingered in that shadowy abyss for what felt like an eternity. Even as I drifted in and out of unconsciousness, moments of clarity came, and with them, the painful awareness—I was slipping away.

"Icarus..." a voice echoed, pulling me back from the void.

I found myself cradled in Helen’s arms, her embrace trembling yet tender.

"I love you," she whispered.

I tried to open my eyes, but my body betrayed me. The darkness tugged at me with relentless force, threatening to consume what little was left of me.

"Come back to me," she pleaded, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.

Helen continued to hold me, wrapping me tightly in a blanket as if her warmth alone could banish the cold creeping through my body. Her fingers ran through my hair, soothing, even as I heard her quiet sobs echo in the suffocating silence.

Amid the oppressive shadows, I summoned what strength I had left, forcing my eyes open, knowing it might be the last time.

"I’m sorry..." I whispered weakly, my voice cracking under the weight of my pain. "It... hurts..."

"Don’t leave me," she said, her forehead pressed against mine. "Stay with me. I want to grow up with you, to keep sharing this cramped little space, but together. Without you, there’s no reason for me to go on. If you die, I’ll go with you."

Helen’s tears flowed freely now, her words heavy with desperation. I wanted to stay by her side, but the agony was unbearable, and I yearned for release. Every breath felt like knives slicing through my lungs, and I often found myself gasping, unable to draw air.

"Will you marry me, Icarus?" she asked, her voice cracking as tears streamed down her face. "We’ve never had anyone else, but we can be each other’s family. Will you?"

"Yes..." I whispered, the word barely audible.

"Then we’ll stay together until the end," she vowed, her voice firm even as I saw her reach for one of the poisonous berries, ready to bring it to her lips.

"Stop..." I rasped, mustering all my will to beg her not to do it.

She kissed my forehead again, her lips warm against my feverish skin.

"Without my sun, there’s no reason to live," she murmured.

Fatigue overwhelmed me once more, and I felt the pull of sleep dragging me under.

"I’ll save you," she said as she rose to her feet. "Don’t worry."

"I won’t give up on you," Helen declared, her voice filled with unwavering determination as she ran out of the room, leaving me behind.

I closed my eyes, surrendering to the restless sleep that felt more like drowning than rest. The familiar darkness welcomed me back, but this time it was different. It was alive, hungrier, as if it sought to devour every fragment of my being. A suffocating weight pressed against me, making it impossible to breathe.

When I opened my eyes again, I had no sense of time. The void around me was vast and silent, its emptiness pressing against my thoughts. Helen was gone. She was somewhere out there, fighting for me... far away. But I wasn’t alone.

A figure stood nearby, watching me. Its presence was heavy, almost tangible, as if it were a part of the very darkness that surrounded me. Cloaked in black, its entire form was obscured by the flowing fabric. The shadows of its hood concealed its face, yet I felt the weight of its gaze pierce through me, reaching into my soul.

I turned my head with great effort, my body stiff and unyielding, and locked eyes—or what should have been eyes—with the black-clad figure that seemed to scrutinize my every breath.

"Can you see me, little one?" the figure asked, its voice echoing from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

I tried to respond, but my throat was dry, sealed shut by exhaustion. I couldn’t speak. I could only stare, my gaze fixed on the figure whose presence was both distant and oppressively close.

"Ah, I see. My apologies." He took a step forward, his movements so light it seemed as though he was floating. "You’re in bad shape. It must be difficult for you to even move."

He leaned in slightly, and a soft chuckle, almost casual, escaped his lips.

"You’re not afraid of me? How peculiar. Most people soil themselves at the sight of me." His laugh echoed again, this time carrying a hint of dark amusement.

Without hesitation, he sat down beside my bed. The black cloak draped around him like an extension of the surrounding shadows, blending seamlessly into the darkness.

He stared at me for a moment, and though his face remained hidden, the intensity of his unseen gaze made me feel as though he was reading every part of me—my thoughts, my fears, even the secrets I kept buried deep.

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Charon," he said, his voice low, yet imbued with an inescapable weight. "But you mortals... you know me as Death."