Villain Retirement
chapter-1006

"You've had time to mature — and I know you're definitely not the same person you were 600 years ago, Riley."

"I did not experience the 600 years like all of you did, Katherine."

"Even so, you've experienced enough — you have 5 children, for fuck's sake. So, I am asking you now, Riley…

…what am I to you?"

"You…"

Just a single word and Katherine's heart thumped in a way that it hasn't for the last 600 years. She had truly thought that Riley's hold on her had disappeared already — after all, she had been told several times by all the people in her life that what she felt for Riley was nothing but an illusion, an escape — that she had Stockholm syndrome.

Of course, she thought so too. After all, despite being naive in life back then, she was still intellectual and intelligent enough to become a professor at Mega Academy. And throughout the 600 years, she started believing it too, that what she felt for Riley was nothing but a momentary lapse of judgment, a fucked up mistake that caused her life to spiral in the most twisted way possible.

And now, almost as if time had once again stopped for her, she waited for whatever was coming out of Riley's mouth.

"..."

"..."

No, something did stop — Riley did not continue his words and just looked away.

"I'm… what?" Katherine walked to where Riley was looking.

"I am thinking about it, Katherine," Riley breathed out.

"Then… while you are thinking…" Katherine then took in a very long and deep breath, "...I'll tell you what you are to me."

"Hm?"

"Riley, you…" Katherine slightly hesitated as another heavy breath escaped her lips. But with the sun shining behind him and drawing her silhouette, the shadow on her face made the growing smile softly shaping her lips subtle; subtle, but it was there, and it is persisting,

"...You saved me."

"I ruined your life, Katherine."

"No, you literally saved me," Katherine closed her eyes, "I've always wondered what my life was in the other universes. But everyone we've really ever come across is connected to the Ross family, so I didn't really get a chance at first to check my variants… because without you, I'm not connected to the Ross at all, Riley. And when I finally had the chance to roam the multiverse, I found out that my variants were either dead already or just wasting my life away. My life…

…my life was only exciting because of you."

"It does not change the fact that what you felt was indeed Stockholm syndrome, Katherine."

"At first, yes – I can't deny that," Katherine's breaths started to become frustrated as she nodded and let out a forced laugh, "But after a while it just… I was having fun — being trapped in a situation shouldn't be fun, Riley. I wasn't even pretending. You were… you were like a drug to me."

"Drugs are bad, Katherine — that means I am bad for you."

"Yes, thank you for the wonderful incite," Katherine groaned sarcastically; tucking her slightly short silver hair to the back of her ear as she looked away from Riley; letting the blue horizon reflect on her slightly moist eyes,

"If what I feel for you is an illusion. Then why… why after 600 years, why is it that even though you can just be considered a speck in the life that I have lived…

…why are you still making my heart beat so fast, Riley?"

"Because you're nervous?"

"No," Katherine once again groaned in frustration; this time raising her voice as she once again turned to Riley and looked him in the eyes, "Because I do, Riley…

…I do love you."

"..."

"And when… when I heard all those stories about you from Katrina. How you just stopped being Darkday altogether, how you suddenly just stopped killing innocent people for the sake of your children. It… it made me think that maybe you and I…

…we have a chance together."

"I think you and I know that is not possible, Katherine," Riley shook his head, "And even if it was — you should do yourself a favor and not get attached to me as you have in the past. You said so yourself — I am a drug to you. Do not relapse."

"Oh…" Katherine covered her face as she heard Riley's words, "...Do you hear yourself? Do you actually hear it? I'm not delusional, and I am not coping — but Riley, you care for me."

"Of course, I do," Riley blinked a couple of times as he tilted his head to the side, "We have a child together, Katherine — I always have cared for you."

"No, you didn't," Katherine shook her head, "I was a pawn in your game. A… subordinate. It's really only now that you're actually showing it. Do you remember what you told me before, Riley?"

"You have told me many things, Katherine."

"When I asked you about having a child, and you told me that you wouldn't want that kind of fate for someone else — I knew that was real, I felt it, that wasn't fake," Katherine started shaking her head, "You are an evil person, Riley — but somewhere in there is a man filled with compassion,

"I have always been compassionate, Katherine. That is why I enjoy the things I do, because I know it is wrong and that the people I hurt are truly hurting and desperate."

"I'm not talking about that."

"You should."

"I'm talking about how much you care for the people closest to you!" Katherine raised her voice as she placed her finger on Riley's chest, "Don't you realize it!? Now that you have children, children that you've actually raised yourself, you're trying to be the man they deserve because you don't want them to suffer the fate of being with the old Riley Ross!"

"Yes, I think we have already established that, Katherine."

"So… what am I to you?" And after shortly pouring her heart out, Katherine composed herself and asked her question again, "What do you see when you look at me?"

"I see…" Riley let out a small sigh as he very gently placed his palm on Katherine's cheek, "...a silver moon."

"..." And as Katherine heard that, the only thing she could really do is close her eyes and look away. As soon as she did so, however, Riley forcefully but gently made her face him again.

"A woman who already holds the moon in her hands," Riley then whispered as he looked Katherine in the eyes,

"And in her eyes, I see the reflection of a man that will only continue to corrupt her — a man she doesn't need at all."

"Riley…" Katherine was slightly confused; the memories of the first time they became completely intimate with each other, rushing back to her like a billion wild wildebeests. The cold touch on her cheek, slowly becoming warmer, hotter as she remembered the feeling of Riley inside him.

"You do not need me, Katherine," Riley then let out another sigh as he let go of Katherine, "Live, you are free from me. I am relieving you of your duty, my First Subordinate…

…my Silver Moon."

"No."

Before Riley could fully retract his hand, however, Katherine suddenly grabbed it and placed it back on her cheek; fully resting her head on it as tears started to trail from her eyes,

"I don't want to be free from you, Riley. This is a cage I have and am willingly walking into," Katherine then said; her voice weak but incredibly clear, "The 600 years just made it even clearer, because I didn't just live my life for centuries…

…I lived it waiting for you."

"..."

"I am the only one who waited for you," Katherine looked Riley in the eyes, "For all of you, not just what you have become."

"You do not need me, Katherine," Riley shook his head, "You already have everything you need."

"Then I want you," Katherine then let go of Riley's hand before just throwing herself to him; wrapping her arms around his neck as she rested her head on his chest, "Then at least let me want you, Riley."

"I… can't stop you from doing that," Riley blinked a couple of times; not knowing where to place his hands.

"And don't stop me either."

And with those words, Katherine stood on her toes and quickly placed her lips upon Riley's,

"...Because I won't stop, no matter what."

***

"Joao is also missing?"

Inside a castle somewhere in New Theran, several shadows were gathered in a throne room; their silhouettes, barely visible even with the fiery candles dancing wildly on the walls. There were several people lined up on each side of the aisle; all of them seated on their own throne.

There was, however, at the end of this aisle, a throne that towered the rest.

"He said he was going to check the mortals, that he found something."

"Two of us are missing now, and it has not even been a century…

…perhaps it is time for us to descend and show ourselves to the mortals again."