When he woke up, the stench of fish entered his nostrils. Eren shot up as the dimly lit surroundings came into focus. “Lilith, Ahri!”

A whisper pierced his ear from the right. “Shut up. The crew isn’t deaf.”

He turned to see Lilith’s slender face and long white hair. He could see the tips of her hair were now stained with grime from their journey. Ahri was huddled behind her. “Did we make it?”

“Of course we did. We would be dead right now if we didn’t. You didn’t make it easy. Collapsing on the gangway like that. It took both me and Ahri just to drag you onto the ship.”

Eren shifted his body and felt aches down his torso and legs. He touched his right leg and winced when he found a few bruises. “What did you two do to me?”

“We had to get you down here somehow,” Lilith responded.

Ahri came closer and frowned at Eren’s injuries. “I’m sorry it was my fault. I panicked and dropped you down the stairs.”

Eren smiled and then broke into laughter. Ahri’s face went flush with embarrassment. “What’s so funny? I’m apologizing!”

Eren ignored the pain and embraced them both. “I’m just glad we’re all safe.” He let his arms drape across their shoulders as he savored this moment of peace. It was a moment he wanted to last for eternity. The sounds of guards chasing them, the stress of wondering if they would be alive tomorrow, the animosity that was felt throughout Obsidius; it all began to seem like a distant memory. One that he would be grateful to forget.

Lilith nudged his arm off her shoulder, and Eren let what was left of his other arm slide off Ahri's shoulder. She scrunched her face as the scent from his wrapped stub drifted away. Lilith frowned at his bandages. “We get it you’re glad to see us, but after the abuse your body has endured, you shouldn’t be doing anything other than lying down.”

“One more thing. Did you find the prince?”

Ahri peeked over the barrels surrounding them as Lilith answered his question. “Would have been a shame if didn’t. But yes, he’s right over there.” She pointed behind to where Ahri’s gaze rested.

“I need to talk to him.”

Lilith flared her nostrils at his stubbornness. “Did you forget what I just told you?”

Eren arched forward and glared into Lilith’s eyes. “Just one question. I need to know if he knows what happened to Orion.”

She sighed and glanced back at Ahri, who nodded. Ahri pushed two barrels out and to the side, revealing a metal cage with a candle and a man inside. Physically, the prince did not look much different, but his posture was sunken. The light that had previously been in his eyes had all but gone. Those dead eyes remained fixed on his hands until Ahri bent down next to the cage.

“My prince,” she gently whispered.

“I asked you not to call me that. I am no prince, just Calder. Calder will do,” he responded dully.

She gripped the bars as if she wanted to reach through and console him. “Eren is awake, and he wants to speak to you.”

“Oh, he is. That is a relief. I don’t need any more blood on my hands.” His hands trembled as he spoke those words.

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Lilith supported Eren as he slowly limped his way towards the cage. As he neared the edge of the candlelight he let Lilith lower him gently. Calder met Eren's bruised smile with his shabby one.

“Looks like you’ve been through a lot,” Eren said.

“You look like you’ve been through more,” Calder replied in kind. “All this to chase after me. Why?”

“Because you saved us. You treated us like humans when no one else would.”

“I never sacrificed much for you. It was simply a way to honor my mother. It was what she wanted. My resolve is nothing like hers.” Calder clasped his hands over his eyes as he held back tears. “And now you’ve lost an arm because of my foolish kindness.”

“It was not foolish. Your kindness gave us hope for our future. You sacrificed your kingdom for us. That is more than any of us expected from you.”

“I was not exiled for protecting you. My father never found out. I was exiled for my weakness.”

Eren considered the information carefully. The candlelight flickered across his face, casting a prison of shadows. “If he never found out about us, does that mean Orion is . . . safe?”

Calder froze at the name and buried his face deeper into his hands. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Eren grabbed onto the bars and lugged himself toward Calder. He rested his face against the cold metal as he let the realization sink in. All he could feel was numbness. So much had happened, and so much had been lost that he felt he no longer had the capacity to cry. He was just tired.

“I couldn’t stop it.” Calder continued. “They treated him like an animal. Strung up like . . . like a trophy.”

A cruel image flashed into Eren's mind, and he let out a pained whimper through his dry lips. His emotions mixed like blood in filthy mud. Ahri collapsed beside him and let it all out. She muffled her sobs in her cloak as Lilith took her in her arms. Calder turned away from Eren, his arched back telling him that was all that could be said.

Eren’s thoughts wandered as the sounds around him sharpened in the silence. That cruel nation had to sallow everything. Its madness leaves scars on those who try to leave it. We’re nothing but shells carved out by Obsidius’s atrocities. The kingdom couldn’t even spare its prince. So, why do we still live? The ship suddenly rocked and jolted him back from the cage. He lay on the floor and stared up at the wooden ceiling. Why do I live? I carry a curse whether I’m in Obsidius or not. That voice from so long ago. That cruel voice from the dark had imprinted its hollow echoes on his mind. The specific words were lost on him now, but the voice had spoken about the curses that would follow him. With effort, Eren raised his head to see Calder’s back. Yet that voice did not mention the blessings he would find. The blessings that would drown out the malice. Even now, those blessings appeared in forms he could have never predicted. “For all the cruelty I have experienced, you have been a light brighter than any star. You know the cruse of misfortune the Stellapuer carry, yet that never stopped you. You never acknowledged our curse because that would make us feel subhuman. Even now, when you're at your lowest, you don’t blame your misfortune on us. Simply following your mother would not have developed a conviction that strong. You know for yourself why you’ve seen us as nothing less.” Eren took a deep breath as his pain began to become trivial. “You have offered us so much.”

Calder straightened his back at Eren’s words. “What do you think I have to offer other than kind words?

“You are the one man I believe can free us from this curse. To you, it's just an obstacle that must be overcome.”

“And you would burden me with that wish also.” Calder steadied his hands beside himself. The flame of the candle began to burn brighter in his eyes.

“I know it’s selfish of me. Asking you to hold our futures in your hands, but you won’t be alone. Your ambitions, hardships, joy, and sorrow, we will bear it with you. We will bear it all until our curse becomes nothing more than a distant memory.”

Calder turned to face Eren and gripped onto the bars. Ahri’s sobs fell quiet at the sight of the prince’s eyes. A spark had begun to flicker. “It is a burden I would gladly take. Now I ask you, is it a burden you’re willing to take.”

Eren grinned and rigidly rose. “I hope you don’t underestimate how much we can bear.”

Calder raised his hands. They were no longer shaking. Faralanther had taken the fate of mankind into his hands and shaped the future for centuries to come. Looking at these children he knew what he had to do. The future of the Stellapuer was in his hands. A future that was brighter than the stars that had cursed them.