and the only solution was to stand and fight
The contrast in the atmosphere loomed momentarily – from jokes about cotton candy and impending sugar rushes – to the hush and lull of the crowd. Familiar with the taut listlessness, the way the air stilled in expectation, he presumed the light of his lanterns to fade, as they had each time. He would cast his sights upon the rest of the crowd, peering over the tops of frames, discern who and where, and remain in silence. Eventually, his parents’ echoes dimmed, then Adam and Peter’s, and then, finally –
His brows furrowed as he watched Rexanna’s stay bright and vivid, luminescent above all others, glow and flicker until the being it represented was right there, in front of him. At first it was a stark clarity brushing over the surface of his features – heart racing, rapid and beating in his chest – before the wonder and the melancholy threatened to take over. Would she berate and condemn, as he so justly deserved? Would she rage against his actions, in those days where he’d tried so desperately to guard them during LongNight, that it sent her to her grave?
He nearly shied away, surmising the worst and not being able to face her reviling him. He’d take it all, as he always did, but gods the self-torment would never be as reprehensible as her own –
And then her arms were around him, nearly tangible, words of congratulations instead of damnation. His eyes were already filled with tears well before her hands pressed against his cheeks or words flew; the desperate finality of things he’d always wanted to say rushing through. “I am so sorry,” for everything, because even if she hadn’t blamed him, he’d certainly held all that weight across his shoulders, down his spine, and along his soul for years. He could hear Erebos gurgle and giggle to the ghost somewhere in the periphery, and the Sword tried to encircle the Penumbra as best he could before she broke away to look at him.
And maybe it was all a release, to varnish and lacquer away the guilt that had consumed him for so long. But gods knew he’d have to hear her say the exact words, rather than anyone else. Her pledge, vow, and assurance, for all those actions, were the ones that mattered. “I will try,” he answered with such a watery grumble, he couldn’t help but laugh afterwards. “Thank you for coming. I miss you.”
His brows furrowed as he watched Rexanna’s stay bright and vivid, luminescent above all others, glow and flicker until the being it represented was right there, in front of him. At first it was a stark clarity brushing over the surface of his features – heart racing, rapid and beating in his chest – before the wonder and the melancholy threatened to take over. Would she berate and condemn, as he so justly deserved? Would she rage against his actions, in those days where he’d tried so desperately to guard them during LongNight, that it sent her to her grave?
He nearly shied away, surmising the worst and not being able to face her reviling him. He’d take it all, as he always did, but gods the self-torment would never be as reprehensible as her own –
And then her arms were around him, nearly tangible, words of congratulations instead of damnation. His eyes were already filled with tears well before her hands pressed against his cheeks or words flew; the desperate finality of things he’d always wanted to say rushing through. “I am so sorry,” for everything, because even if she hadn’t blamed him, he’d certainly held all that weight across his shoulders, down his spine, and along his soul for years. He could hear Erebos gurgle and giggle to the ghost somewhere in the periphery, and the Sword tried to encircle the Penumbra as best he could before she broke away to look at him.
And maybe it was all a release, to varnish and lacquer away the guilt that had consumed him for so long. But gods knew he’d have to hear her say the exact words, rather than anyone else. Her pledge, vow, and assurance, for all those actions, were the ones that mattered. “I will try,” he answered with such a watery grumble, he couldn’t help but laugh afterwards. “Thank you for coming. I miss you.”
DEIMOS
