ISLA
"Mmhm. A Longnight monster... got inside me." Averting her gaze and pulling a face, it isn't something Isla speaks about often if at all, but she still remembers the black suffocation, the way every circuit had jammed and screamed, even as an Ascended. "Your father tried to save me by striking a bargain with Ludo. In exchange for a favour that Ludo could call at any time, and I'd be brought back. And I was." Scoffing out a humourless laugh, she raises her glass to Flora as if in a cheers. "As a unicorn. I was your father's companion for a few years."
Pausing for a drink and a bite of sushi, Isla settles back in her seat and shakes her head. "Even now, it's so hard to describe it to people - even people with companions," she admits. "I was here, but I was so intrinsically a part of Remi that those two things became impossible to separate. It was like we shared a piece of the same soul. It goes beyond what people think about as the Attuned bond, or any magic. I could tell you what mood he'd woken up in, or when he needed to be alone or to find company, when his temper was about to boil over. All of it."
But, and because obviously there's a but, or there wouldn't be a story, of course things changed. "Over time, I lost more and more of myself. I think by the end, even Remi knew that he'd made a mistake. That's when Ludo called its favour, and Remi became its demigod. Your father killed me for the second time." Pausing, she hazards a glance at Flora. "I told you it was a long story. I'm only even halfway done."
Pausing for a drink and a bite of sushi, Isla settles back in her seat and shakes her head. "Even now, it's so hard to describe it to people - even people with companions," she admits. "I was here, but I was so intrinsically a part of Remi that those two things became impossible to separate. It was like we shared a piece of the same soul. It goes beyond what people think about as the Attuned bond, or any magic. I could tell you what mood he'd woken up in, or when he needed to be alone or to find company, when his temper was about to boil over. All of it."
But, and because obviously there's a but, or there wouldn't be a story, of course things changed. "Over time, I lost more and more of myself. I think by the end, even Remi knew that he'd made a mistake. That's when Ludo called its favour, and Remi became its demigod. Your father killed me for the second time." Pausing, she hazards a glance at Flora. "I told you it was a long story. I'm only even halfway done."
apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood
after me comes the flood
