over and over again

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." "That's..! not what I meant" she began to protest, but the rest came out in a tired grumble without any real conviction. Damn, this guy was hellbent on taking everything the wrong way, wasn't he? And she did not have the energy to argue. Maea was tired, like she hadn't slept at all in the year she'd been gone. It had settled like an ache in her body, bone deep and throbbing, in a way she hadn't felt since she was a small child and constantly on the verge of succumbing to another illness. Whatever tolls the unnatural event had taken on her, she wanted nothing so much as to eat, drink and lay down on something that wasn't snow. Sleep, and sleep, and forget everything for a while. "Think whatever you want. I can't seem to say the right thing anyway." It shouldn't matter if she offended him, if he didn't believe her. They weren't friends, had no connections, nothing in common if their conversation was anything to go by. She shouldn't care... but she did. Maea hesitated before the portal, even when Amun warned that it was the only way home. She had seen a person leap into one such light before, and they had not come back out again. She couldn't recall if they'd survived, if she had ever heard what became of them. Could it really be true? It would take her back home, to everything that was well known and familiar? To faces she recognized, and all the things she used to know? There was no other choice but to find out. So Maea followed the ascended into the light. Stepped in through the mirror...

my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,

for it is infinite.

Pausing in his steady march ahead, Amun turned to smirk at Maea. "You could say, 'I'm sorry for treating you like you were a monster when you were just trying to help, Amun! I'll keep an open mind about the Ascended in the future!" Although his tone was teasing, his eyes were still dark. "See icy? It's easy. If you actually mean it." With that he started moving forwards again.

It wasn't long before he hit the light of the portal. One step took him into the world of the fog. Another to the sign for the Hollowed Grounds. The third, back to the Spire, and he stalked outside without a backwards glance.

-FINISHED for Amun

by being moved I exert my empire,

making the dreams of night real

AMUN

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." Now, she could have just repeated his words. Done as she was told, like a good girl. Like a mockingbird, mirroring whatever was thrown at her. But thing is, she would have to mean it. And much as she wanted to be forgiven, anything she said right now would be a lie. Because she was still afraid, reasons or no, and that... made pretending she wasn't into a lie. Maea might be many things, but a liar was not one of them. So in the end, once the light faded into a strange between-world of signposts and roads, she just sighed and bowed her head, and let Amun stay unhappy. Perhaps she would be given a chance to prove herself better at some other time. Or not. "I will try" was the only thing she said at his disappearing back. Then she followed, in the direction she assumed would lead her to the Grounds - she couldn't quite read the words on the signpost - and again she stepped ----- Maea out. <3