LongNight had started, and Arialla was officially in Torchline for the duration. She'd found a place to stay, and everything had looked good until the moment the sun and stars vanished from the sky.
It had terrified her, at first, the absence of light -- and the celestial bodies meant more to her than just light. The sun was Apollo, the warm and welcoming god who'd watched over her and helped her in her past life, and even if she knew he could not see her here, the sun's presence was always a comfort. To have it disappear was horrifying. Even the absence of the stars bothered her, though not as much. Safrin had told Arialla that her influence waned during LongNight, but Arialla hadn't expected this -- and even if her feelings about the goddess were confused, she didn't like the idea of being left godless.
And this was the gentle version of LongNight, the one without the horrors that those left behind in the Hollowed Grounds would face, and were probably facing at this very moment.
To distract herself, she acted on the promise she'd made to Amalia, to seek out Samuel. It didn't take long for her to get word of where he was staying, and once she did, she took a lantern and went to knock on his door.
please don't take my sunshine away
