🖋 The Midnight Ledger. Cursed by Love, Bound by Time

🖋 The Midnight Ledger

A Short Story from the World of 4EverMore, where the shadows hold more than just secrets - sometimes, they whisper back.. Location: Somewhere deep within the City of Eclipsora or The Red City depending on their mood. Immortal Storytellers: (Sonia Bloodthorn, Cordillera, Lysander, and Rook Nightwind).
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Cursed by Love, Bound by Time

💔 The Hollow Heart of Darius Nighthawk

The studio was quiet tonight - too quiet, almost as if the shadows themselves were waiting for something. The heavy velvet curtains, drawn tightly against the darkening night, seemed to hold their breath. Sonia Bloodthorn sat at the head of the grand oak table, her quill tapping rhythmically against her parchment as if she were trying to summon the words from the air itself.

"Alright, listen up," Sonia’s voice sliced through the silence like a blade. "Tonight's story isn't your typical run-of-the-mill dark fairy tale. Oh no, no, no, this one’s got layers - like a perfectly baked pastry. It starts with a curse, but not just any curse. A curse made by a fool who thought he was smarter than the gods."

Cordillera, drifting lazily above the table, her glowing eyes glinting in the dim light, let out a soft chuckle. "A fool who thought he could outsmart a god? Classic mistake."

Lysander, ever the brooding elf, leaned forward, one eyebrow cocked. "And who, pray tell, was this foolish soul?"

Sonia’s lips curved into a wicked smile, her voice lowering to a near whisper. "A man named Darius Nighthawk. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Strong name, fits the story - until you find out he was a nobleman with a very ugly secret."

Rook Nightwind, still new to the studio but ever eager to learn, leaned in closer, his curiosity piqued. "A nobleman with a secret? You have my attention."

"Good," Sonia said, tapping her quill on the paper once more. "Now, let’s get to the juicy bits. Darius was no ordinary man. He was cursed from the moment he took his first breath. You see, his mother - a powerful witch - made a deal. She didn’t want him to grow old, to feel the weight of time like everyone else. So, she made a pact with an ancient being, a creature from beyond the veil who promised her son eternal youth."

Cordillera snorted. "Of course. What could go wrong with a deal like that?"

Sonia threw her hands up. "Exactly! Like I said, a fool." She looked around the room. "But what she didn’t know was that the creature didn’t give gifts, it took them. The deal wasn’t about immortality - it was about sacrifice. Her life would be the price for his unending youth."

Lysander’s expression darkened. "She sacrificed herself for him?"

Sonia nodded. "Oh, but it gets better. The curse didn’t just keep him young - it kept his heart frozen. He never knew love, never felt the warmth of another’s touch. His body didn’t age, but his soul… well, that was a different story. He was empty, a hollow shell, unable to experience the things that make immortality worthwhile."

"How charming," Cordillera said dryly, floating to the other side of the room. "Sounds like a right bundle of joy to hang out with."

Sonia smirked. "He was a nightmare, I’ll tell you that. And the worst part? He could never escape it. The creature’s curse didn’t just trap him in youth, it bound him to his own misery. No matter how much he sought companionship, no matter how hard he tried, no one could ever love him. He was a man who couldn’t love, not truly, because his heart was frozen in time, just like his body."

Rook’s expression grew pensive. "So, he was cursed to live forever, but alone?"

"Exactly," Sonia replied, her eyes gleaming in the candlelight. "He wandered for centuries, a shadow of a man, cursed to watch the world change around him while he remained forever the same. And the worst part? He thought the curse would lift if he found true love, but he was wrong. It was never meant to be broken that way."

Cordillera's voice floated in from across the room. "So, let me guess - he fell for someone anyway. Hilarity ensued, right?"

Sonia sighed dramatically. "Yes. He found someone - a woman named Seraphine. She was a brave soul, a mortal woman who had a taste for adventure and a fierce heart. She didn’t know about his curse, of course. She saw him as he was - a charming young man, vibrant and full of life."

Lysander raised an eyebrow. "And of course, she fell for him."

Sonia nodded, her smile sly. "Naturally. They had a whirlwind romance, everything seemed perfect. But then… the curse reared its ugly head."

Rook leaned forward, hanging on to every word. "What happened?"

Sonia’s expression turned grim. "As Darius grew closer to Seraphine, he started to feel things he hadn’t felt in centuries - love, yearning, desire… and for the first time in his life, he felt the weight of time. He realized what he’d lost. He realized the curse wasn’t just something that kept him young—it kept him empty."

"And did it work?" Cordillera asked, her tone mocking. "Did the curse finally break?"

Sonia shook her head, her voice quiet. "No. It never did. The curse was never about love. It was about the price of immortality, the price of wanting something too much. Seraphine tried to save him.

She even offered herself in exchange, but the creature - well, it had no interest in her. It wanted Darius to understand that the cost of immortality is always more than you bargain for."

Lysander stood and walked toward the window, staring out into the City of Shadows. "Sounds like he got what he deserved."

Sonia didn’t answer right away, her eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight. Finally, she spoke. "Maybe. But you know, even a man cursed for eternity is just looking for one thing - a reason to keep going. He never found it. The curse took it all from him. And in the end, he wandered the world, as hollow as the moment his mother made that deal."

Rook’s voice cut through the quiet. "So, he lived forever alone?"

Sonia nodded solemnly. "Yes. And sometimes, that’s the worst curse of all."