Seraph Hunter 3 Chapter 22: Miss Fallon
Before the second sun
“It feels different, doesn’t it?” Brenzel said, as Fallon sat with Derek at the center of the amphitheater, watching members of Fey trickle it. They’d come, before the second sunrise, not knowing what to expect. Fallon seemed troubled that morning, getting up at the last minute, having slept alongside Derek the night before. It wasn’t that they were fighting, Brenzel surmised, just that she seemed muted, downhearted in some way.
“There are fewer than I thought there’d be,” Fallon noted. So far, as the second sun rose in the orange tinted morning, only about a 100 people had shown up, mostly women. Still dressed in her Seraph Hunter outfit, Fallon twirled a blue flower in her fingers as Derek sat quietly. The big scout looked serene, happy, glad to be with his woman. In fact, he didn’t seem like he had a care in the world.
Looking at Derek the realization dawned on Bren, “He’s not leaving.”
I can’t say I feel your pain
Glancing at Fallon, Brenzel wondered if she knew or if Derek had said anything to her, or perhaps she just sensed it intuitively like Bren did. Thinking back to the previous day and this morning, Derek’s speech was still strange, no S’s anywhere. But Fey promised to release her people to make their own choice, give them plenty of room to decide to leave if they wanted to. Those gathering here, this morning, proved that she had honored her word, at least to some extent.
Reaching over, finding Fallon’s hand, she held it. Immediately it was plain from the way her young friend gripped her, that her heart was troubled, too.
After it appeared that all who were going to come had arrived, Brenzel stood and said, “Friends, I can’t say that I know your pain like Fey does, for each of you carries your own burdens now. But I can say, from my own experience, that our pain is part of what makes us who we are. Like you, I have gone through some very rough things in my life, but little by little, I am finding, with help from my friends, a way forward. I hope today, as we all journey with each other, you will find your way, too.”
Heart beating fast, she turned to Derek and Fallon, saying, “Are you ready?” hoping that she’d been wrong and they’d both say yes.
Are you ready to go?
Fallon stood up and looked up at Derek as he also rose. She asked meekly, “Are you ready to go?”
Derek, smiling, looked at her kindly, saying, “I think you know the answer to that. Do I have to say it?”
Shoulders slumping slightly, Fallon said, “I thought I was your girl, that you wanted me around.”
Derek, becoming serious, replied, “I do, Fallon, I want you to stay with me, here – with Fey.”
Brenzel saw Fallon look over at her, pleading in her eyes for support. Brenzel could see her heart breaking. She wanted to intervene, tip Derek’s hat, but she didn’t think it was Fey speaking through Derek now; it seemed the big man was speaking his heart.
Fallon looked over at the women of Fey that came up beside Derek. Her face sank, like she felt outclassed and helpless. They didn’t act unkind, just present, as if stating the obvious. I hate it when girls do that, Brenzel thought, wishing they’d at least had enough sense to keep back as her friend and Derek said goodbye.
Fallon said, “Derek, I am your girl, but I don’t belong with Fey or in this world. I thought. . . .I thought we were meant to be together. I can’t share you with these Fey ladies. I can’t, and I don’t want to.” She paused, sniffing a little. “I need to feel the earth beneath my feet when I walk, see the sunrise in a blue sky, my own world, not here. Please, don’t make me choose between you and my home.”
Derek, looking conflicted, said, “I knows what you say is true for you, and I don’t blames you for leaving with Brenzel, but this is the first time I’ve know peace for a long, long time. I don’t wake up anymore in a cold sweat thinking about the bad things I’s done, or’s the bad things peoples done to me. I feels likes I’s respected here. ”
The S’s Brenzel thought.
Fallon, shaking a little, began to cry. “Don’t you know? I respect you.”
Fight for him
Come on girl, don’t cry, fight for him, you’ve got nothing to lose.
Fallon looked down at the ground for a few moments, then looked up, walked over to her man and, taking hold of Derek’s shirt, pulled him down and kissed him, sweetly, lingering. Touching his cheek with her fingers, she looked into his eyes, saying, “I’ve been wantin’ to do that for a long time, mister.”
Brenzel smiled, nodding, “That’s my girl.”
Fallon finished with, “I will always love you, Derek. You’re the only man for me, and there’ll never been another. If you ever wants to be with me, I’ll be waitin’ for you.” Then she stood tall, trying hard not to cry.
Brenzel held her breath. There wasn’t a sound in the entire coliseum. None of the Fey moved or made a sound.
Fallon started to turn away, shaking again, when Derek reached out and, picking her up off her feet, kissed her passionately, deeply, as she threw her arms around him. The Fey murmured with approval then broke into clapping and cheering seeing the two and their strong love for each other.
Hearing and feeling their support, Brenzel said to Fey in her mind, Thank you.
After he set her down, the big scout tipped his hat and said, “I’s rides through hell for you, Miss Fallon.”