flora
Flora shakes her head quickly, fingers tightening reflexively around her knees. "No, not Mateo," she says, her voice thick with relief that at least her brother had somehow managed to dodge this particular disaster. "It's Ronin."
The name catches painfully in her throat, and she grits her teeth against a sudden wave of helpless frustration, anger burning sharply behind her eyes. "And now the springs are gone, and..." she mutters, dragging her fingers through tangled curls, eyes flashing briefly with exasperation before threatening to well up with tears again. "Torchline is literally the only region completely protected against the Void—like, we did everything we were supposed to do. But we've already had two people murdered, Ronin got his rapier stolen, and now he's infected anyway."
Her voice grows tighter, harsher with each word, the emotions bubbling dangerously close to the surface again. "I just—" she breaks off, shaking her head fiercely, feeling impossibly young and small as she looks away.
The name catches painfully in her throat, and she grits her teeth against a sudden wave of helpless frustration, anger burning sharply behind her eyes. "And now the springs are gone, and..." she mutters, dragging her fingers through tangled curls, eyes flashing briefly with exasperation before threatening to well up with tears again. "Torchline is literally the only region completely protected against the Void—like, we did everything we were supposed to do. But we've already had two people murdered, Ronin got his rapier stolen, and now he's infected anyway."
Her voice grows tighter, harsher with each word, the emotions bubbling dangerously close to the surface again. "I just—" she breaks off, shaking her head fiercely, feeling impossibly young and small as she looks away.
How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?
Will you still want me when I'm nothing new?
Will you still want me when I'm nothing new?







