i sailed seas of emotions to wander a forest of scars
i am a dance of light and darkness
Amalia is upstairs when the pair arrive, lying face up on her bed. The room is barer than in the past: slowly she has begun moving things to Deimos' house, her scant belongings easy to transport, a reminder of how little she really has. Now the bedroom is little more than a blanketed bed and a ceiling of stars, with remnants of a long ago childhood scattered haphazardly around. Better times, happier times.
It feels strange, to be leaving them behind.
She hears them coming, hears the door open and the footsteps far below, and for a moment she considers ignoring their presence and letting them believe she is somewhere else. To be left alone to brood and fester, to wrap herself in her own nostalgia- essentially, to hide. Perhaps if she goes to sleep now she will wake up all those years ago, the last ten years nothing more than a nightmare, a series of ever more bewildering dreams. Closing her eyes, Amalia exhales.
Then she rises to her feet.
The Amalia who walks to them down the stairs is a tired one, eyes dark and lines drawn where once her face was smooth. Still, the smile on her lips is genuine, affection and relief brightening her expression as she slips around the counter to scoop Kiada into a hug, glancing at Deimos over the girl's shoulder. "That is good news," the baker agrees, stepping back only far enough to check the Harpy for any wounds, lingering signs of blight and illness, anything, anything, anything at all. "Are you sure it wasn't poisoned?" Behind them Jyoti trills a song of happiness, joining Auni's little dance with her own sprinkling spray of stars.
Everything else the Shield feels drowns quickly beneath her swell of happiness, the relief that floods her, the adoration for this pair. The girl who cuddled with her grandmother in the attic is laid to rest among dusty toys. Amalia may yearn for her past, but for now she has a future to tend to: new family, new loved ones, a new place in the world.
It feels strange, to be leaving them behind.
She hears them coming, hears the door open and the footsteps far below, and for a moment she considers ignoring their presence and letting them believe she is somewhere else. To be left alone to brood and fester, to wrap herself in her own nostalgia- essentially, to hide. Perhaps if she goes to sleep now she will wake up all those years ago, the last ten years nothing more than a nightmare, a series of ever more bewildering dreams. Closing her eyes, Amalia exhales.
Then she rises to her feet.
The Amalia who walks to them down the stairs is a tired one, eyes dark and lines drawn where once her face was smooth. Still, the smile on her lips is genuine, affection and relief brightening her expression as she slips around the counter to scoop Kiada into a hug, glancing at Deimos over the girl's shoulder. "That is good news," the baker agrees, stepping back only far enough to check the Harpy for any wounds, lingering signs of blight and illness, anything, anything, anything at all. "Are you sure it wasn't poisoned?" Behind them Jyoti trills a song of happiness, joining Auni's little dance with her own sprinkling spray of stars.
Everything else the Shield feels drowns quickly beneath her swell of happiness, the relief that floods her, the adoration for this pair. The girl who cuddled with her grandmother in the attic is laid to rest among dusty toys. Amalia may yearn for her past, but for now she has a future to tend to: new family, new loved ones, a new place in the world.
a galaxy of shadow and stars
AMALIA
