Moonsong

She didn’t hear the padding of his walking stick, drowned out by the running of he water and her own small movements through the pond. She remembered the dip she had with Remi in the Garden before coming to this place. She remembered warming them by the fire that she made hover in the air. She remembered the conversation with Acheron, however broken it was. The thoughts brought a sentimental smile to her face. His voice, however... The voice that haunted her dreams, gave her light in the darkness that surrounded it... Celosia stopped moving, practically frozen where she was, listening, just listening to him speak and praying she wasn’t imagining it. The absence of sire, while it was freedom for him, brought a pain she didn’t expect. He had been here this whole time... This whole time... His sire had controlled him, so liberating was correct for him. Hers hadn’t. Hers loved her, and she him, so his absence was painful. But he wasn’t absent, not anymore. Cel turned her head over her shoulder, thumb mindlessly touching the ring she wore which held no power anymore, her eyes gentle and matching the tame smile she wore as she looked at him. She stepped out of the water and started approaching him, glancing at the ground briefly. ”Liberating for some,” she said, shrugging lightly, ”oppressive for others. I would caution you to believe our hosts completely ignorant, lest you find yourself unprepared.” The red-haired girl gave him a tight lipped smile and would wrap her arms around him, uncaring of the possibility of leering eyes. She squeezed her own closed, not wanting to let go of him, fearing he might up and vanish if she did. It was a valid fear, as he had a habit of doing such a thing, then reappearing when it suited him. A strange way to live, but freeing nonetheless. That’s what he strived for, anyway... Freedom. And he had it finally. ”I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered, looking up at him again. celosia Bride of Darkness