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“Amadeo. Is it really you? Why are you here? No, don’t bother to answer my foolish questions. You have found me, I am happy that you have found me — but how?”
“If you must know, I was led here by an old friend to whom I have recently returned. But haven’t you heard, Marius? I’m Armand now.”
“Of course I’ve heard. You have tormented me for a century, soldier-boy.”
“Have I? I don’t think I believe you.”
“Believe me or don’t. Belief has no bearing on truth.”
“Then I won’t. Although maybe it’s worse to believe you, if it means that you have watched me for centuries from afar, witnessed my deepest sorrows, and not raised a finger in my favor. Knowing that you are all I have ever needed, Master.”
“Santino’s coven purged you when they took you. Plunged you into the austerity of your barren childhood, ripping away the heat of my palace. They made you cold. I was afraid that I would not know you.”
“You fear nothing.”
“That has never been true, Amadeo. You know this.”
“I suppose I do.”
“Now come this way. Sit here. No? That’s fine, too. Stand, then, and talk to me. Be with me. I want to know where you have been, my child, what sights the past decades have brought forth to your lovely eyes. Tell me about your paramours, if you feel so inclined, and I will bite my tongue to hear your… where are you going?”
“I don’t know how you sit here and pretend.”
“An ugly word, pretend. I am not putting forth pretense.”
“Well, I am.”
“Stop taunting me. “
“But it’s so fun.”
“You’ve grown past this, Amadeo.”
“Clearly I haven’t.”
“Do you want me to whip you? Is that what this is?”
“No. Have I said anything to make you think so?”
“I am trying to converse with you.”
“Remember Daphne, Marius?”
“What?”
“You showed her to me a long time ago. I remember the statue very well. She was beautiful, yes, as beautiful as I. But when I close my eyes and think about… about my youth, I always see the desperate Apollo instead. He reached after her too late. He didn’t love her enough.”
“A tale penned by those for whom the words too late hold meaning. Our days have no end beyond our choosing, Amadeo - as do our nights.”
“Very wise, Master.”
“Amadeo! Stop leaving. Come here.”
“I will if you catch me.”
“Where are you- no, come back at once! You’ll burn!”
“Will I? Please, Master, more of your wisdom!”
“This is madness, Amadeo.”
“Yes!”
“Don’t you feel it ripping into your flesh?”
“You say you loved Daphne? Then come catch her!”
“Wait— slow down—“
“You came after me.”
”Of course I did. I love you. Come, now, don’t be angry. Let’s go inside, away from the sun, and we can talk as I draw you a bath in my tub. Or we can be silent. Don’t you remember- what are you doing?”
”My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
“Amadeo, it’s beginning to- the sun- let’s go inside before—“
“Why are you so far from saving me—“
“You’ve grown strong since we last met!”
“…so far from my cries of anguish? I cry out by day, but you do not answer—“
“I am here now, Amadeo, let me—“
“But I am a beast and not a man—“
“Do you mean to kill me? How are you—“
“Scorned by everyone—“
“But I love you, I have always loved you.”
“All who see me mock me—“
“And you have loved me as no other ever has. You are my greatest fault, Amadeo. You were too young, and I—“
“They say… they say, ‘he trusts in—‘“
“I gave you an infinite existence, an eternal flame; and in doing so, I stole away your mortal lifespan.”
“He trusts in…”
“Shh. Rest. A transient life, by which you would have lived and died oblivious to the beautiful future. Having touched so little of the world that it could be called nothing.”
“Trusts in…”
“Oh, but I am wrong! Nothing but yourself! A merchant, a glassmaker, a painter. You could have sailed away into the horizon. My Amadeo who brimmed with life.”
“You are beginning to look very ugly, Master. I can see the muscle beneath your skin.”
“I know. I know. And you are more a husk than I will ever be — child, what have I done to you? Unblemished in the sunlight, and yet…”
“I am sorry, Master, please, I am so—“
“…yet you are charred and crackling. Nothing moves within you but the fear of a worse Hell. In whom do you trust?”
“Oh, I hate you for dooming me to this life. It hurts. It hurts so badly, that you are the one to burn.”
“What God would have you?”
“Be silent!”
“Hush. It’s fine to cry.”
“I’m sorry, I love you, I don’t want to see you go. I can’t bear to let go of you. I am sorry, Master. Please! I—“
“I wish that I could believe in anything other than love at this moment. My beautiful Amadeo.“
“I hate you more than I have ever loved you.“
“That’s alright. I forgive you.”
“I hate you!”
“Then hate me. Come now, rest. I will hold you.”