The dark night softened around her, banishing anything that might have seemed eerie or frightening. She had not expected to be answered, not really, yet the presence of Death filled the clearing all the same and Maea bowed her head in awe, her breath catching mid sob. He addressed her with such familiarity, and something like a memory, or the half-forgotten remembrance of a dream, suggested to her that perhaps it was not the first time they had met. An odd sense of recognition, that gave her the courage to look up and gaze at Mort's warm, devastatingly gentle face.
"I would," she replied quickly, without hesitation. "If they too wished it, I would." It felt like a statement that required explanation, and she tried to, hoping that it would make sense. "Your halls... they are without compare, and if Shii would prefer to stay with you I will honor their wishes. I've.. for a long time I too longed to return, because I couldn't adjust to life when it had become so different to what I had known." Trapped in the ascended body that was so limited despite its vast potential, unable and unwilling to fully embrace the Voice - it wasn't until Dygra plucked her out of that fabricated shell and restored her to a world of physical sensation that she had begun to take an interest again. "But now... I've realized how sweet it is to live. And I can't dishonor the sacrifices of those who pulled me back this last time - I want to be worthy of their kindness and friendship and hold on for as long as I can. And –" she sucked in a deep breath, wiping tears off her cheeks and smudging a streak of dirt over the pale skin, " – and just as my friends gave me the chance, the choice to come back... so I want to offer one to Shii. I love them; I miss them. If I can do anything at all to reunite with them on this side, I will."
Alys and her quest for Sasha had offered her hope, and the suggestion that Maea was actually allowed to linger in life had put cracks in the barrier around her mind that used to rule out any possibility of a reunion. Unworthy, she had thought. Pointless, since in her subconscious mind she wasn't staying long anyway. But now... the possibility of long years and plentiful experiences no longer seemed so daunting or dreadful. And she could think of nothing better than to share that time with the being that had been, and would always be closest to her heart.
"I would," she replied quickly, without hesitation. "If they too wished it, I would." It felt like a statement that required explanation, and she tried to, hoping that it would make sense. "Your halls... they are without compare, and if Shii would prefer to stay with you I will honor their wishes. I've.. for a long time I too longed to return, because I couldn't adjust to life when it had become so different to what I had known." Trapped in the ascended body that was so limited despite its vast potential, unable and unwilling to fully embrace the Voice - it wasn't until Dygra plucked her out of that fabricated shell and restored her to a world of physical sensation that she had begun to take an interest again. "But now... I've realized how sweet it is to live. And I can't dishonor the sacrifices of those who pulled me back this last time - I want to be worthy of their kindness and friendship and hold on for as long as I can. And –" she sucked in a deep breath, wiping tears off her cheeks and smudging a streak of dirt over the pale skin, " – and just as my friends gave me the chance, the choice to come back... so I want to offer one to Shii. I love them; I miss them. If I can do anything at all to reunite with them on this side, I will."
Alys and her quest for Sasha had offered her hope, and the suggestion that Maea was actually allowed to linger in life had put cracks in the barrier around her mind that used to rule out any possibility of a reunion. Unworthy, she had thought. Pointless, since in her subconscious mind she wasn't staying long anyway. But now... the possibility of long years and plentiful experiences no longer seemed so daunting or dreadful. And she could think of nothing better than to share that time with the being that had been, and would always be closest to her heart.
Maea
These words are my own, from my heart flown
