you bleed just to know you're alive

Love, let's talk about love

Smiling into Hotaru's shoulder, Seren accepted the gratitude without saying more. Action would have to follow upon all these promises, to make them real. She realized as much, and though she had faith that everything would work out somehow, it was a thorny path that lay before them.

Seren had no idea how much her world was about to tremble, over one woman's simple desire to keep her child.

At the question, she looked up. Tilted her head, and gazing off into the darkness while some complicated calculations went on behind those blue eyes. "Mh, slightly less than five hours? Enough for a nap, but not a full night's sleep." She had never measured the time perfectly, and this was the closest approximation she had to offer. How much of that time had passed was hard to say, but "I'm not feeling any strain yet. We can stay as long as you like. Or go back; it's up to you."

Sitting up, so she could reach out and place a hand on Atlas' lifeless form, Seren sighed faintly. "What would you like to do, with him?" she asked. "I could make a pyre, or let him sink into the sea, or..." Or his bones could be allowed to linger here. Buried deep, out of sight; the weight of his presence would be heavy, though. It was for Hotaru to decide; she would try to carry the burden if she had to.

Is it anything and everything you hoped for?

SEREN

my darling can you hear it? something's lurking in the leaves
I can feel its preying eyes on us from somewhere in the trees

A nap? For Hotaru that would be a full night’s sleep. Though that likely said more about her than it did Seren. Sleep refused to come even before Atlas died, the bed too empty and cold without Nate and Sunjata there to warm it. Now, instead of being unable to sleep deeply, she merely had nightmares. So a soft hum of acknowledgment is all she allows herself as her eyes follow Seren’s hand to Atlas’ still form. It still feels wrong to call it a body, not when his horn is in her hand, still pulsing with magic.

“I don’t know if we can carry him out of here,” but it’s clear she’d like to by virtue of bringing it up at all. “Neither of us has the magic to bury him as I’d like. But no - no burning.” Not again. She can’t bear to see it a second time. “Perhaps the ocean then.” Whether that is here in this paradise or the cold ice floes where she had first found him.

my dear don't let it catch you - all that's left to do is run

Hotaru

Love, let's talk about love

Seren looked back at Hotaru, sensing the worries behind the tentative answers. "We don't have to do it now," she said softly. "You can choose a time and a place, where we can do it properly. The path back will open wherever I choose to enter from. So if you want some specific location, we can go there."

In not too long, she might even be able to do more; but that was not important right now. What mattered was that Hotaru should be allowed to bury her dearest friend however she saw fit. Limitations on magic and buildings had no importance here.
The entirety of Caido lay open to them. And perhaps there were others the Valkyrie might wish to have present.

"I brought Deimos here, earlier. He knows Atlas is... would you want him to be involved, somehow?" Creation could carve headstones and monuments, a proper memorial to return to - if that was her wish.

Is it anything and everything you hoped for?

SEREN

my darling can you hear it? something's lurking in the leaves
I can feel its preying eyes on us from somewhere in the trees

It’s a relief to have the delay be a possibility. It feels wrong to burden the girl with such a thing, but Hotaru is selfish, and Atlas means too much to not give him the proper send off he deserves. “If it’s not too much for you,” she concedes, letting Seren pick her own boundaries but aware of the morbidity of it all.

Mention of her best friend is certainly unexpected but not at all unwelcome. “I would,” she agrees, relieved. “His magic would help us bury him. Though he doesn’t know I’m pregnant; I’ll have to tell him, or he’ll be furious he didn’t know first.” Laughing softly at the imagery of her grumpy brother trying not to show how disgruntled he is at being the last to know. “Let’s go back.” It takes her last remaining strength to make the choice. Leaving Atlas behind is difficult, but he is already gone in the way that matters. Now, they both need a bath, and Ru still needs to try her best to eat.

my dear don't let it catch you - all that's left to do is run

Hotaru

Love, let's talk about love

Seren smiled and shook her head. Whether it was too much or not was unimportant right now. That there was an end in sight made any burdens easier to bear, and seeing Hotaru's relief was all the confirmation she needed that it had been the right thing to say.

"It's not. Just send me word when you are ready, and I will come to you." Easing herself away out of the embrace, Seren got to her feet and extended a hand to help Hotaru rise. Maintaining the grasp on the woman, she opened the way back, and led them back into the inn.

It was all but deserted now. Only a barkeep and a few lingering customers by the bar saw them step out of thin air, though Seren was sure rumors would be flying all over the Citadel in the coming days. Portals and teleportation was not so common that people wouldn't raise eyebrows.

"Take care of yourself, Hotaru," she said with a smile, and stepped back. Weary to the bones, longing desperately to snuggle into her bed beside the sleeping dragon. "Thank you for talking to me."

- FIN

Is it anything and everything you hoped for?

SEREN