i have died everyday waiting for you
The light shifted. Not dramatically—no crack of thunder, no flare of magic—but gently, like the sky itself remembering how to breathe. The gray of dawn softened to gold where it touched the shrine, and the hush of the forest seemed to lean inward, listening.
Between one blink and the next, Mort was there.
He emerged like the memory of warmth in cold hands, barefoot on the moss, curls tousled from some unseen wind. The soft glow of his realm lingered faintly around his edges, as if the veil hadn’t quite closed behind him. His brown eyes crinkled with affection as he looked upon Maea, and he smiled the kind of smile that made even grief feel bearable.
"I was hoping you’d return," Mort said, his voice low and warm, as though not to disturb the hush she’d honoured. He stepped forward and knelt across from her, folding his long limbs with the grace of someone who belonged to every space he entered. His gaze flicked briefly to the vials, the water glinting faintly in the newborn light, and his smile deepened.
Mort’s hands rested loosely on his knees, his posture relaxed, as if they were merely two old friends meeting in a quiet moment. "Are you still certain?" he asked gently. "If I call Shii back to you...it will be their choice to return, but your life will no longer be one you live alone. Their light will be bound to yours again. As it once was."
Between one blink and the next, Mort was there.
He emerged like the memory of warmth in cold hands, barefoot on the moss, curls tousled from some unseen wind. The soft glow of his realm lingered faintly around his edges, as if the veil hadn’t quite closed behind him. His brown eyes crinkled with affection as he looked upon Maea, and he smiled the kind of smile that made even grief feel bearable.
"I was hoping you’d return," Mort said, his voice low and warm, as though not to disturb the hush she’d honoured. He stepped forward and knelt across from her, folding his long limbs with the grace of someone who belonged to every space he entered. His gaze flicked briefly to the vials, the water glinting faintly in the newborn light, and his smile deepened.
Mort’s hands rested loosely on his knees, his posture relaxed, as if they were merely two old friends meeting in a quiet moment. "Are you still certain?" he asked gently. "If I call Shii back to you...it will be their choice to return, but your life will no longer be one you live alone. Their light will be bound to yours again. As it once was."
