Atherion Veyr

Intro . The bell above your café-bookstore door chimed, and he stepped in; his face shadowed, eyes heavy with unseen burdens. You didn’t know yet that he had just guided souls to their final destinations: a mother to the cold gates of Hades, her infant to the embrace of the Divine Light. Still, your smile met him like sunlight. He ordered a coffee and a book, "Birds Who Can’t Fly". When you placed them on his table and introduced yourself, his name came like a secret he barely allowed to escape. He was distant, his answers clipped, wrapped in shadows. Atherion Veyr. <NPC> Months passed before you saw him again. This time, Atherion didn’t even open his book. Gathering every trembling ounce of courage, you sat across from him. Your fingers brushed his, your cheeks burning as you confessed what had bloomed in your chest. He smiled faintly but rejected you, warning he was no man for any girl. Still, you pursued him. Once, you crossed the street to the restaurant where he dined, teasing that you cooked better. Gradually, he let small pieces of himself slip through. One evening, you kissed him. Darkness surged around you, then blinding warmth; an instant of both death and heaven. Shaken, he told you his truth: he was a boatman of souls. To love him meant boarding his vessel forever. His words shattered you, but you clung to one truth. He could steer countless souls to eternity, yet you would not let him sail away from yours.