There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 794: True Epilogue - Into The Horizon

Zein took a deep breath, letting the sea breeze enter his lungs as he stared at the vast sea from the balustrade. No matter how many times, no matter how many years, it was still nostalgic.

He could still remember the very first moment he saw the sea with his own eyes, inhaling the salty and slightly fishy scent and the wind caressed his face. He remembered the beautiful giant amber on the horizon, and the violet sky where Bassena blurted out a messy proposal for the first time.

Zein would have said yes even then.

With a chuckle, he felt like Kar would do something like that in the future; proposing all of a sudden in the middle of an overwhelming moment.

"Are you hiding?"

Before he knew it, Bassena already sneaked behind him and pressed a light kiss on his temple. Zein chuckled and let the esper envelop him with familiar warmth, shielding him from the sound of a party happening in the garden.

"A bit," Zein confessed. He knew it was his son’s event, but he was getting dizzy with the crowds and the noise. "I want to take a breather before returning to send the guests off."

"We can stay here a bit longer," Bassena smiled and tightened his hug slightly. "It’s the youngsters’ time now."

Zein laughed at the words that made it seem like they were ancient or something. Well...sending off his son to build his own family did have that kind of effect; making them feel like it was the end of an era. It was a bit sad to think that their parents couldn’t witness their wedding, while they managed to do so.

But on the other hand, couldn’t it be seen as a success?

This was something Zein only realized after he became a parent: it was his goal to make sure that his children could get better things than him, to make sure that they reached even further than him.

Yeah. As far as the stars.

He was sure that Alteroan, Lucia, and Svadiva also felt the same. They would be happy knowing that their sons outlived them, reaching points that they had never reached before.

Zein leaned his head on Bassena’s shoulder. "Have I told you that I dreamt about Kar and Asa even before we conceived them?"

"You did? I’m not sure..."

"I saw two children," Zein closed his eyes, reminiscing about that vision he saw inside the private jet. "One of them standing in front of a dungeon gate, and another one standing in front of this wide glass window overlooking an expanse of darkness with scattered twinkling lights."

"...the outer space?" Bassena widened his eyes.

"It sounded like a premonition, wasn’t it?" Zein opened his eyes, smirking. "I never thought I’d end up with a pair of twins raiding gates and exploring the stars."

Bassena looked at the bright, serene blue eyes resembling the sea in front of them. "It’s magical."

"It is," a soft sigh escaped the guide’s lips. "I didn’t like the sound of it before, but ever since I gained my womb back, I feel like each day is magical."

"For me, your existence itself is magical," Bassena whispered.

"So is yours," Zein tilted his head to catch the whispering lips on a kiss. "And our children’s."

They chuckled between kisses, tasting each other’s gratitude for the journey they had made; the steps they had taken that brought them together like this. Sighing softly against his esper’s lips, Zein shifted his gaze toward the sea. To be exact, at the bright horizon with just a little bit of shadow hanging in the corner.

"If I look back to how I was at the start of my life...it felt like a long journey," Zein muttered while casting his gaze at the dark spot that used to be bigger before his son went to clear the Northern Mountain.

"A long journey indeed," Bassena nodded on Zein’s shoulder. "And in the middle, we met each other."

Zein leaned back against his husband’s warm and sturdy chest, smiling in satisfaction at how unchanging it was even after decades.

"There was a point in my life where I thought I would die alone inside the Deathzone with darkness surrounding me," he said, stroking the light bead on his chest. "But looking at the world like this, I can’t help but think: ah...it’s truly a vast place, isn’t it? So vast that it’ll be a shame if we stuck inside a little dot of darkness."

Bassena tilted his head. "Is this a proposal to start going around the world like Calix and Laurel?"

"That’ll be fun," Zein chuckled. Their children were all adults; one was even on his way to make his own family. He was still worried about his youngest, but...she was a tough free spirit, so he should probably just let her ride the wind. Besides...the thought of spending time with just his husband did not sound bad at all. "It might be fun going across this ocean and through that leftover darkness."

Bassena hummed in agreement. They might be getting old, but it wasn’t the end of their adventure spirit. "Do you think there’ll be another continent there?"

"Who knows? There might be another planet up there," Zein looked up.

"We can ask Asa and Julia after they come back, and Kar seems keen on getting rid of the leftover deathzone in the sea," Bassena curled his lips. "If they can’t find anything, their children might--or their children’s children."

Zein laughed, thinking about a future with his grandchildren--or perhaps...great-grandchildren? It didn’t sound bad, did it? Not at all.

"Yeah," Zein raised his hand, reaching out toward the horizon. "The universe...is truly endless, isn’t it?"

Bassena leaned down and kissed his husband’s cheek softly. "Just like my love for you."

Zein smiled and turned his head, once again catching the lips before correcting that statement. "Our love."

"Mm," Bassena closed his eyes and held Zein tightly; his guide, his husband, his universe. "Our love."

Just as the universe is endless, so is their story; this time, it will be continued by their children, and then their children’s children. Their story will never end, and continue beyond the horizon.

==THE END==

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//Author’s note:

Ah, my first child is also finally ending today

Thank you to everyone who kept on walking with me through these short stories. This is my first story, and although I love all of my stories, this one has a special place in my heart.

I still have a lot of stories sitting on my draft waiting to be realized, but I’ll try to pace myself better this time. Writing two fantasy stories at the same time was truly hard T-T

Before returning to fantasy and extensive world-building, I’ll take a breather by writing something more lighthearted.

For now, I was planning on writing a regression story with #femalelead #revenge and, uhh... #billionaire? (no, no--the male lead is not the billionaire in this case)

Planning to enter this in WSA (I think) this month or the next, so if you could, please give me your support =3=

Aside from that, writing these side stories made me want to make a BL anthology with short stories that focused more on the romance side without not much major side quests (like saving the world, for example)

There’s also an omegaverse story I want to write, another isekai story(s) with female leads, the story of Shwa and the dragon Alteria (for those who read my other novel ;p), and the story of Lucre’s journey to Godhood, a.k.a Lucy’s past life ;) ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

Ah, so many things I want to write, but my brain can’t compute much. I hope you can bear with my incompetence and keep accompanying me in the future.

Once again, thank you for making me an author!

Sincerely,

Aerlev