The Atonement of a Writer

Epilogue

It was a few weeks after everything had happened. Clovis was now the new king, and Colette was exiled for her crimes.

Julien was honored Lili had chosen to spend that night with him, though he knew it didn't mean anything. He was of the soundest mind, out of the three, and perhaps, to her he was the most real. Julien wasn't blind. He knew Lili had probably started out seeing them as characters, nothing more. He was lucky because they had met before--because of this, Julien was more real to her than the other two.

Yes, it didn't mean anything.

Or perhaps it did. In the end, what did it matter? What was done was done, and what was gone never came back.

No matter what she thought, to Julien, it was very real and sincere, but no amount of titles bestowed upon her would allow them to see each other again. It was too late.

Killian ignored the two beside him as he patted down the final mound of dirt with his bare hands. He had to do this on his own--as a form of closure, he supposed.

Finally done, he stood up. Something in him was relieved--the divine punishment that came out of nowhere wasn't aimed at him after all. It wasn't him who had ill intentions, it was the book. It wasn't the punishment that had saved Clovis, it was Jayr.

After staring at the earth in front of him for a few moments, Killian finally spoke. "What you told us still doesn't explain why she could see your cabin and I couldn't."

He turned around to look at the man with black hair and blue eyes. Julien took a few seconds to reply. He looked as blase as ever, so Killian could only guess the turmoil of emotions hidden beneath the mask of indifference. He was a great actor, and the only reason why Killian knew his emotions were there was because they were all feeling it. They had to be. "You can now. The both of you."

"Even so. We should move it." Clovis didn't meet their eyes. If there was a particular skill he possessed that neither of the two had, it was the ability to move on. He pushed down everything he felt, and lived for others. It was the only way he knew. "She belongs with her parents."

"Fine by me." With a shrug, Julien started off in the direction of his home, where a teacup was still left untouched. It was unspoken, but they all heard it.

There was no Lili left anyway.

~*~

"This is the Julien you had me look for before?" Lukas demanded. They were at dinner, and he waved the sequel she had just published in front of her face. "Are you kidding me?"

"What Julien?" Lili asked, annoyed by Lukas's antics. He was being so loud they were drawing attention from other customers.

Lukas gave his sister a disbelieving stare. "Remember? You gave me seventy five dollars to look for a person who only exists in your little fantasy world."

"Did I?" Lili asked mildly, not really concerned. Then, she visibly paused as his words sunk in. "Wait. Seventy five?"

He blinked at her reaction. "You...don't remember?"

"I think I would've remembered being swindled by you."

He clutched his wallet protectively. "Well, you're not getting it back. But you really forgot about it? I remember you being all panicked and everything."

"Was I?" Lili frowned. She really didn't remember doing anything of the sort. "Maybe...I was checking to see if I could use the name? Make sure I didn't know any Julien Baudhuin's?"

"That...makes no sense."

"Doesn't make any less sense than the seventy five."

Lukas sighed. It wasn't like her to forget--and she didn't seem to be messing with him. But it had definitely happened, right?

"Oh well. A toast then," he raised his glass, "to your sequel, and to Julien, the fictional dude you don't remember making me look for."

The clink of glasses vibrated in the air, shooting right into his ear like an arrow meeting its target. It was abnormally loud, and had a ring of finalty in it, a small but significant moment that would only come to light later.

But that was probably just Lukas's imagination.