There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 618 - 612. At the side of the Cliff

Chapter 618: Chapter 612. At the side of the Cliff

"Ah, this place is even better than I initially thought," Zein shaded his eyes with his hands, staring into the horizon.

"The sun does make everything look better," Bassena agreed.

The sky far away was still dark, but the sea was sparkling beautifully under the bright sun. The Sea Serpent had returned to the sea and swam happily. It looked a bit lonely before, but perhaps its mood became better after meeting Zein in the lake. Cute. Zein recalled the soul nuzzling him before; a child soul that had just been reborn.

"A kid...wouldn’t that mean the Sea Serpent will grow even bigger?"

"That would be a spectacle," Bassena chuckled. "It’ll be better if more sea creatures are there to keep it company. Hmm...should we try moving some from the Southern Sea?"

"Can we do that?"

"We’ll have to consult an expert first, but I think it’s possible."

Zein nodded and smiled widely, walking along the cliff and waving his hand as the Sea Serpent raised its head to let out a cheerful shriek as a greeting. Bassena pressed his twitching lips; he had no idea if he wanted to smile or shed tears, but he was extremely, extremely happy.

Just seeing that smile, coming easily to Zein now, was like a blissful dream come true. He smiled as much as other people who had been living in a green-zone all their lives; casual, easy, unforced. He used to only smile and laugh at something that truly made him happy, but now...even just looking at splashing water and rustling leaves curled his lips upward.

Bassena cleared his throat slightly. "Do you like this place?"

Zein stopped and looked around. It was still a raw field, with haphazardly grown grass and plants, and uneven trees all over the hill. The only flowers were of the wild grasses, and there were several bald patches as well as boulders spreading unevenly all over the ground.

His lips curled. "Isn’t it obvious?"

"Good, since I take this place as my reward," Bassena nodded in satisfaction.

As promised in the contract, the members of the operation could choose between a sum of money or a piece of undeveloped land in the former Deathzone. The amount of money and land was proportional to their contribution during the operation, and as the Field Commander, Bassena had enough points to ask for a whole cliff as his reward.

Zein smiled. "I thought as much," he chuckled. How couldn’t he, when Bassena had been hinting about it so much? He looked around and smirked, pointing at the path where they came from. "Then, should I take the hill? We’ll have a whole estate that way."

The cliff was just that--the cliff. But it was located on top of the hill with a forest surrounding it. Bassena could just buy the hill on top of the reward, but he didn’t have to if they used Zein’s points. Bassena might be the Commander, and someone who drove the end to the Fallen Star. But as the one who got rid of the whole miasma, Zein had an even higher contribution point than him.

Bassena pressed his slightly trembling lips. Did Zein realize what that sounded like? Having a whole estate together? It wasn’t like the lakeside house, which Zein inherited from his parents. And it wasn’t like Bassena’s penthouse, which he inherited from his mother.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Bassena muttered quietly, fiddling with his coat pocket.

"What are you going to do with this place?" Zein asked while walking slightly away from the edge, toward the historical flat boulder.

Bassena turned to look at the sea. "I’m going to turn my dream into reality."

Dream...Zein hummed as he recalled the content of Bassena’s dream. Blue sky, emerald sea, and...

"About the house?"

"Yeah..."

Zein took a seat on top of the flat boulder and looked at the esper, whose amber eyes seemed as warm as the approaching twilight. It felt good; the warmth of the sun, the presence of his lover...Zein leaned back, propping himself with his arm. "Tell me more about the house."

Bassena chuckled and closed his eyes, drawing the picture that became clearer and clearer each day. A house with two stories up and an attic, with white paint and blue roofs. A big balcony with a small garden and a cozy patio where they could watch the sea while lounging with a cup of tea. It didn’t have to be big, enough for the two of them and their family. Maybe for Zein’s twelve siblings to visit.

"Should we have a boat too?" Bassena tilted his head after his short presentation ended. "A small yacht."

"Seems good," Zein would never reject any kind of water transportation. He secretly wanted to have that floating fortress still docked on the ruin of the port city, but...something for leisure seemed to be more fitting for a safer zone like this. "That kid will be happy."

Bassena laughed as they watched the Sea Serpent swim away, perhaps toward the port city where more attraction could be seen; ship, watchtower, assessment crew...

As the laughter died down, Bassena took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if to gain courage. "Initially, I’d like to bring you here once the house is already built."

"...why?"

"Because I want to give it to you as a gift," Bassena smiled. "The house and the land."

"That’s mighty generous of you," Zein tilted his head. He didn’t sound displeased, unlike before. Bassena wanted to laugh at how difficult it was to give the man just a single gift in the past, calling it a waste.

Ah, how much things had changed. "I need to spend that much if I want to take your hand."

Zein raised his brow, but he didn’t say anything. Bassena, after pausing for a second, let out a big, heavy sigh.

"Haa...I had this big plan, you know," Bassena pursed his lips, as if whining, and spread his arms. "I’d build this house and clear the yard, make a nice garden and comfortable patio where we could look at the sea," he paused, laughing softly while pointing at a relatively clean spot. "I’d scatter flower petals, set up strings of lights, prepare a candle-lit dinner, and make a firework show--the whole thing, you know, like in those movies."

Zein wanted to say that he didn’t really watch those kinds of movies, but he reckoned it wasn’t the right thing to say for the occasion--so he just smiled. That smile contained a subtle blush that reflected the tingle in his heart, but Bassena was busy looking at the horizon to witness it.

"But if I waited for the so-called perfect moment, it would take months and...I couldn’t do that anymore," Bassena clenched the hands in his pockets.

Not after he saw Zein lying on his last breath while feeling all helpless. Not after feeling his whole world crashing down in purgatory.

"As you said before, things rarely go the way we planned, and I realized that...a perfect moment is not something we planned, but something we create through action, so..."

He turned around and looked at Zein; his nervous smile shaded from the lowering sun behind his back. "I’m done planning things," he said, walking toward the guide. "It doesn’t matter anymore if it’s not perfect. All that matters is I have the perfect person."

Zein raised his head, watching all kinds of emotions flickering across the esper’s face; anxiety, self-doubt, nervousness, but also...excitement and anticipation.

"You said to me before, that you want to live with me for a long time," Bassena lowered himself and put his knee on the ground. His eyes, unwavering despite the tension in his face, were staring straight into the pair of blue. "Let’s do it. Let’s live together for the rest of our lives. Take everything of me and make it yours."

He pulled out his fiddling hand from his coat pocket; a familiar velvet box Zein had once seen in the esper’s treasure box.

"Luzein Ishtera," Bassena opened the box, carefully preserved for twenty years. A pair of exquisitely carved palladium rings laid against black velvet. "Would you let me use your name?"

Zein stared at the rings. He had held back from asking about it ever since he saw the box in the treasure box. He held back from talking about it except for that one time before Ron and Agni’s wedding.

Naturally, Zein already knew this event was coming. He already knew for years, and he had agreed to wait. He thought it wouldn’t affect him much when the day came, especially after living together and imprinting on each other.

And yet, his heart still beating hard--although perhaps not as hard as Bassena’s, who kept gulping during the several seconds of silence following the proposal.

"It’s weird," Zein muttered.

Bassena froze, feeling his heart stop beating and his spine run cold as the blue eyes squinted.

"Bassena Ishtera sounds weird," Zein frowned. "But I guess..." he took the smaller ring and slipped it on his finger. "We just need to get used to it."

As Bassena blinked slowly in a daze, Zein calmly took the box and the other ring, slipping it on the esper’s finger. "Took you long enough," he smirked and gently kissed his bewildered fiance. "I’m going to beat your head if you wait until the house is done."

Bassena blinked once more, before laughing against the guide’s lips and whispered. "No domestic violence."

"I don’t even have mana anymore," Zein scoffed.

"What about my heart?" Bassena pursed his lips.

"What about mine?" Zein arched his brow. "You’d really make me wait for years?"

Bassena flinched and muttered defensively. "...it’d just be several months at best."

"With your perfectionism?"

"W-well, that’s why I’m not doing it now, okay?!"

Pfft--Zein chuckled and stroked the esper’s cheeks. "Still cute."

"Nggh..." Bassena whined and pressed his forehead at his guide’s shoulder, his fiance, who always managed to tease him so much. He sighed and looked up, gazing at the pair of blue with everything his heart could give. "I love you."

"Yeah," there was no longer hesitation in Zein’s heart. "I love you too, baby."

Bassena pressed his lips and laid his head on Zein’s shoulder, embracing the guide by the waist. Savoring the caressing hand on his hair, Bassena tilted his head to ask. "Do you think...you still can’t fall in love in the Deathzone?"

"Naturally," Zein raised his arm and held his hand against the violet hue spreading across the sky. "You can put this ring on my finger because we get rid of it."

"Pfft--I can never beat you."

"You have a lifetime to try," Zein smirked, before leaning forward to capture the esper’s laughing lips.

There was no Deathzone at the edge of the cliff where they drew their future together, for it was their blooming love, which got rid of the darkness.

~end of main story~

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=Author’s note=

Hello, it’s Aerlev >_<

Thank you so much for reading this story until the end, although...well, it’s not really the end, hehe

When I first started this story, I thought it would be done in 200--at most, 300 Chapters. But it goes slightly over 600, and it feels amazing to have readers who follow my story this far.

As this is my first original novel, it means a whole lot to me; I learned so much from the advice you gave me along the way, and every comment made me feel giddy. I’m sorry that I rarely make a reply--honestly, I’m quite bad at online interaction (this stupid me still doesn’t have a Discord account)--but I’m thankful for all of them, which moved my fingers to type even when my brain is stuck in the mud.

Next, as I said before, this is not the end! I’m going to write some side stories about the future and the relationship between the other characters. Since some of you might not have any interest in certain characters, I will give you the prompts for the side stories below, so you don’t have to use your coins to unlock the stories you don’t want to read.

Here they are:

# Side Story 1. The Twilight Zone --> It will tell the story of the immediate future, mainly around Zein and Bassena. I mean, we haven’t even seen the new house, right?

# Side Story 2. A Dance of Flame and Shadow --> This is for those who have been waiting for Ron and Agni’s story. It will start from how they met and what they are up to after the Deathzone is no more.

# Side Story 3. Stellar Blossom --> Radia and Joon still have some stories left to tell

# Side Story 4. Endless Journey --> Will Setnath ever get reborn? Who knows

I don’t how many Chapters each would take, but it wouldn’t be just one or two. I will take a week off to have some rest and finalize the side stories’ plot, so see you next week everyone.

Y-you’ll still be here, right? ;;;

Once again, thank you very much for staying with me until the end, despite the many mistakes I still make @_@

See you in the side stories!

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