Just as a quick note, what follows below the cut is a bit canon, and a bit ‘what-if’. Anything after the timeskip is the “what-if” scenario, and as such, don’t martyr me for injecting some of my own ideas into a possible future for Azeroth. Special thanks to @pyra-mugetsu for providing the inspiration, and the blessing for me to write this.
When I saw him there, in the prison, I told myself I would never let him know pain, fear, nor sadness ever again. I knew we would find each other again, and I would never, ever let him know a moment of suffering for the rest of his days.
Shade never knew what suffering was until he found himself wrapped around the only person in his life that ever mattered. It was not his suffering, but that of Jeimie who had been spending most of her days and nights curled in a blanket on a chaise that faced a window to the desert around their home. Darkness had beset upon her words, her eyes, and now her skin was marred with a stain. It twisted along her back and shoulder, almost visible upon her neck, though she did her best to hide it. No amount of magic could remove it, and time did not ease the pain.
When Shade inquired to the mark, he did not expect a full explanation. Jei had twisted time to save them both from a fate of misery, just as Sehrgei had been promised. She carried on that knowledge, fully knowing the extent of her misdoings and everything that would come to risk with her life and career. It was not the potential loss of a legacy that would destroy her, but losing her own flesh and blood. Sehrgei’s curse carried over still, one of which there was no escaping. She could not fathom the thought of losing Shade in the midst of that, too. She explained to him, as simply as she could, that moment which was to be the arrival of their daughter, would never come to exist. And that time itself, as it was then and as it was now, had to be altered to avoid the inevitable.
Often he laid besides her, offering her small amounts of food and drink in hopes of keeping her healthy. He tried silly jokes to make her smile, but she barely spoke, let alone laughed. It saddened him to see her like this, as his beautiful wife was always so full of life and happiness. It was robbed from them both, but he would try for her sake.
Inwardly, his mind screamed, a cacophony of noise and destruction that demanded justice. But from what? From who? Even Zeitnehmer and Verlustzeit sat in silence, the only ones Jeimie could call upon as friends. The silence was deafening, but Jeimie’s whimpers and sobs were more torturous on his heart. It was not her fault, and he would never blame her. He promised to be there with her for eternity, no matter what. The fabric of time be damned.
Just because two people aren’t romantically involved doesn’t mean they can’t be super important to one another.
Just because two people are super important to one another doesn’t mean they have to be romantically involved.
It is okay to love people deeply without wanting to be with them romantically and people should not make your friendship uncomfortable by consistently nagging you to date.
Let’s appreciate and support friendships and stop demanding people to have feelings they don’t have.
Hey there to my future self,
If you forget how to smile,
I have this to tell you,
Remember it once in awhile,
Ten year ago youк past self,
Prayed for your happiness,
Please don't, lose hope,
Oh, oh what a pair me and you,
Put here to feel joy, not be blue,
Sad times, bad times, see them through,
Soon we will know, if it's for real what we both feel,
You could never go forward. To do so would be to alter your present and your future. All things happen for a reason; you must never alter the course of your destiny.
A side room to the oasis home served as a private chamber for the Timewalker to conduct a series of spells in an effort to help analyze the timeline better. Often she would sit in there for hours, the dry heat playing no part in her efforts to train herself
Jeimie slipped her hands into two large bowls of swirling sands that stood upon pedestals, one to each side of her. In front of the Timewalker, the bronze custodian, Zeitnehmer, chirped with disappointment, but did as instructed. Reluctantly, it opened the center container of its chest and began to funnel the time-locked archives towards the time-twisting elf. Memories and moments, all recorded in personal annals - some of the past and some of the future. All the individual strands now wove together in a rotating image, glimmering from the magical images casted in front of her.
She knew something felt wrong. Something felt off. She felt it her entire life -- his life. It was a plaguing curse that Sehrgei strived to forget, a consequence in the choices he made. Nothing, no matter how hard he tried, would ever go right or succeed. Despite the outcome of his circumstance, even now, Jeimie could feel the lingering presence of something sinister waiting. At the height of every achievement, the momentum turned into a hard crash at rock bottom. Despite her efforts to twist the fates in her favor, something always went wrong, something was always amiss. It was so hard to be disappointed when Sehrgei was disappointed all his life -- he never expected anything because he felt he always knew. She knew how well he hid it from the others, masking it with flamboyance and pompous posture. He never wanted the others to know. Neither did she.
So when she told Shade about their child, in the height of his excitement, something felt … completed destroyed.
She had to see for herself.
The Tesseract Timepiece slowly churned along her wrist, stabilizing the power that echoed in the glowing runes of her arms. She twisted her hands into the sand, forcing the image of her future to come. Eight months in, it all came to a crumbling halt. Her life, her purpose, her means and memories -- eight months of bliss and happiness only for it to dissolve in the breath of a moment.
When she saw it, she almost collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks while she let out a miserable wail. The connection between Zeitnehmer, the Tesseract and her own power waned, nearly breaking from the weight of her discovery.
A stillborn. Girl. To be named after Sehrgei’s best friend. They would name her Alexis.
Shade retreated to the shadows, slipping back into a world of madness that not even he himself could comprehend. He drew himself distant, distraught, leaving Jeimie to fight for her own state of mind, a heinous cacophony of death that lingered around her. What happiness she had in her home, in her life, and in her hopes and dreams now carried Sehrgei’s cursed legacy.
The image faded in and out before she had fallen to the ground, the tendrils of glowing sand cascaded to the floor when her. The Tesseract stopped rotating. Zeitnehmer was locked in suspended animation with its case still open. The Timewalker curled into a ball, her arms going over her head as she wept for what felt like an eternity.
“Children? I love them. I want four or five of them. I’ll adopt them if I have to. To have my own little family? That would be fantastic. Little chubby elflings just running all over the place. Stuffing their faces with muffins and cupcakes? Glittery toys everywhere, you know? I think I would make a great father!”
Inside the bronze construct, small patches of blackened sand was growing. It knew before she even moved off the floor. She was going back to alter her past, one last ditch effort to alter her future and spare her and Shade the torment. If her life was to remain corrupted, so too would her own timeline.
After she had finally settled in, the evening grew near. Shade had taken his cooking to a new level and presented a well rounded dinner for the two of them. Among his hobbies, she did not expect him to take up the culinary arts, but it was a good surprise and the meals were always delicious. Inwardly, she was glad he did not mind staying home to take care of himself and their desert retreat. This evening, however, she would not speak a word of what would have happened, what transpired, and what would never come to pass.
Their table was small enough that she would not have to reach far to take her husband’s hand in his own. Her touch was a momentary distraction from the plate of sweetened pork and sticky rice he was digging into.
“Hm?” He raised his eyes to meet the gaze of the elf opposite to him. “Something wrong with dinner?”
Jei chuckled warmly, shaking her head, the glimmer of golden jewelry swayed with her movements. “No, Sha’deh. I … wanted to ask you what … what you’d like to do tomorrow?”
A sandstone house on the edges of Mar’at was quietly nestled among the oasis thicket, greenery dotted the decorative fencing that marked the boundaries of a large stone garden. Amidst the smooth, flat rocks was the occasional terra cotta pot that played host to large teal ferns. Beyond the curved arches of windows, billowing curtains took idle flight in the desert breeze that rolled through the home. The scent of burning sandalwood was tumbling throughout the open rooms and walkways, finally catching up to the occupants embracing near the furthest end of the den.
Shade wrapped his arms around the Timewalker, picking her up and twirling her about with an overjoyed laugh. Though her usual visits were only for moments at a time -- largely to check on Shade and their home -- for once, she declared, she would take a much needed vacation. Especially with certain news on the arrival.
For Jeimie, it was nice to come home and feel loved. That regardless of her job, regardless of her journey, someone was there waiting for her. Shade never questioned her lengthy departures nor her tasks for he knew she was someone of some importance and played an important role beyond his own understanding. And she would have to answer the call. Dangers lingered upon every corner on Azeroth, and no doubt would he miss her again, but for now, he had her. And she had him.
Still, she worried for the last two months. Something new had happened, something unexpected. In the last two weeks, however, a new threat had presented itself. Shade and the Timewalker had spoken about it at length, what it would mean for the future of Azeroth, and how it might change their future.
“This one is not concerned over demons - we have fought demons before, and won. We will win again,” the shadowdancer declared with confidence, stepping away from his wife to make jabs at the air with his fists. “No one will take home and wifey away from Shade, no one.”
Jeimie couldn’t help but smile at the elf’s enthusiasm. In truth, it was refreshing. Compare to the dull hostilities that were running rampant in Dalaran, a moment of peace and quiet was greatly welcomed. She always gave him the most recent news, especially those of her own adventures which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy the most. She made sure to make them especially elaborate and riddled with gaudy prose to make them all the more exciting. The truth was that it had become a boring chore watching the Legion’s ships come in and out of existence. Often, she wondered when someone would be brave enough to commandeer a ship and fly it away forever in the dark reaches of the sky.
After she had finally settled in, the evening grew near. Shade had taken his cooking to a new level and presented a well rounded dinner for the two of them. Among his hobbies, she did not expect him to take up the culinary arts, but it was a good surprise and the meals were always delicious. Inwardly, she was glad he did not mind staying home to take care of himself and their desert retreat. This evening, however, she would layer another bit of news for him as the events of what transpired two months ago was finally being to settle with her.
Their table was small enough that she would not have to reach far to take her husband’s hand in his own. Her touch was a momentary distraction from the plate of sweetened pork and sticky rice he was digging into.
“Hm?” He raised his eyes to meet the gaze of the elf opposite to him. “Something wrong with dinner?”
Jei chuckled warmly, shaking her head, the glimmer of golden jewelry swayed with her movements. “No, Sha’deh. I … wanted to ask you about your thoughts on a family.”
“Families are nice,” he replied between bites of food. “Sometimes too big, though. Like the wedding? Much too big family. Too many people. Shade felt unsettled.” He had been referring the wedding they attended weeks prior, for his nephew Himmell and his new husband, Malice. The Brightwinds and Blackmourns were large enough, and intimidating, without having to speak a word to anyone.
“What about a little family? A small, quiet one?” she asked this time, a light smirk playing upon her lips. She pinched her thumb and forefinger together, making a small gap.
He brushed a hand through his black hair, still streaked with the teal markings that matched the color of his bright eyes. His brow furrowed as he gave thought to her question. “Small families? Much better size. Babies, though, babies cry a lot. Not all babies. Why do you ask? Is a baby visiting us?”
The Timewalker bit down on her bottom lip, trying to hold back a worried if nervous chuckle. “Yes, I suppose there would be one visiting us.”
“When? Whose baby?” he asked, stuffing his cheeks with rice this time, his wide and curious eyes watching his wife.
“Ours.”
Shade let out a gurgling cough and choke before he turned his head to the side and spat out the sticky rice.
OOC: I’ve got about ten days left on my sub. Funds are tight atm so I probably won’t be hitting the subscribe button for a while. I’m open to RP over Discord, but it’ll probably be limited to a few people.
Jeimie lifted her head up from the pillow and rolled over to look at the elf besides her. Shade’s eyes were barely visible in the dark room of their chambers, but she could tell he was awake. They both had been for some time though an unsettling silence had came between them since arriving home from the Blackmourns’ wedding.
With a gentle hand, she reached out to her own husband and frowned deeply. “I’m sorry, Shadeling. But … I’m still here, in a way.”
“No,” he returned, shaking his head in a slow rock against the pillow. “You are different. Whatever happened, it changed you. There is no more Magey, only the Timelady. Magey felt different, he had a different smell, he had a different smile. It is like Magey died and he left me with you.” Shade paused and shifted his eyes towards the Timewalker, offering to take her hand. “It is not that I do not love you, because this one does love you. You are much stronger, more confident -- you do not need saving. But Magey, he was struggling. I could see it. He wanted help, to be saved. I thought it would be me.”
The mage lowered her eyes, her fingers laced with the elf’s besides her. Her heart was breaking inside. She knew what he meant. Sehrgei wasn’t gone, but he would never be the same anymore. He changed and evolved into something more, something better than he could have hoped for. He never wished to change himself, it was forced upon him, and he could not fix it. Though Shade had taken a liking to Jeimie completely, even the Timewalker had to admit that something felt … off.
“Magey set me free to go and find myself in the world, but also to find him. And I did. But I also lost him.” Shade let out a long sigh, trying to ease the hesitance in his voice. “This one is so confused.”
Jeimie frowned. She knew what he meant. “I’m sorry, Sha’deh. You know I tried to change time to fix it, but... I don’t like to talk as though he is gone forever. I still have all his memories, I still am him. But you’re right, he deserves something more than just this. Would you feel better if we had a memorial for him?”
“I do not know. I want him to come back, but this one does not wish to lose wifey, either.” Shade turned onto his side and buried his face into the nook of the woman’s neck, breathing in deeply. “This one did not think it would be so hard, to lose someone so special. Why does life have to be so complicated?”
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