12-04-2018, 03:45 PM
And in the darkened underpass I thought,
"Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"
"Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"
Valdis, unknowingly, holds her breath to hear about her mother and brother. Although she herself is infected, her gut churns fearfully for her family. To see them suffer would be an obstacle of her own – powerlessly watch them as they succumbed to the disease. It’s only a matter of time until she exhibits symptoms, too. A periodic cough is enough of a telltale sign, and the frequent nights that she shivers feverishly alone. She is sick, but also afraid to admit it to Solace who peers down at her with concern furrowing her brows. ”Ummm…” she is reduced to a child in the face of her mother, ”Maybe?” By having lied and wandered off the path, Valdis was infected. If she had been a good girl – a perfect daughter – she would have fled with the others and could have been safe within the Cove.
But curiosity won.
It led her astray and into harm’s way.
But it hurts too much to say it aloud, to tell her mother that she was wrong.
Valdis glances her eyes away from Solace’s worried gaze, and she searches the rolling hills and wilted grass for a distraction. There is so little left here, however, but it takes just a single name to pull her back from her wandering thoughts. ”Castile?” She echoes with a lifted brow. ”You mean dad?” Although an absent part in her childhood, he at least found them eventually. There’s of course a lingering bitterness when she considers everything he missed, but he could’ve avoided them for the rest of their lives. He could have fled and never met them. Surely it would be better to remain on cordial terms with him than nothing at all. ”You’re so formal around him and uptight,” it hadn’t escaped her notice during their meeting, and even their brief reunion when the contagion initially penetrated Beqanna.
It was a reminder of what once was and what will never be.
Questions bubble and she almost asks for more. Her mouth is agape, but it closes with further consideration. ”I’ve been here,” she confesses without a second thought, ”First the forest with Rhaegor, then here.” The reason remains an unspoken thing. Could she even provide one if prompted? Doubtful. It had been a chaotic mixture of curiosity, rebellion, and independence. As much as her family loves her, accepts her, it was a surprisingly easy choice to step off the path of expectation and forge her own way. It had consequences (a cough breaks the brief silence), but it has thus far been undoubtedly worth it. A soft grin settles across her pretty face when she meets her mother’s apprehensiveness. ”I know. I’m okay,” perhaps not entirely safe, but mostly. At least her fire has returned after placing an icicle at the faeries’ feet in the Mountain. At least she isn’t powerless. ”I made it back with the icicle,” a brief reflection seems adequate to determine her survivability, ”but the faeries are still deciding what to do with me. They liked someone else’s method more than mine and Santana’s.” Her competitive nature growled when it happened. ”But, we made it.”
That makes her an adult now, right? A formidable individual?
”And I seemingly made a friend.” Santana, obviously. Little does she know how close they actually are, how the blood that boils in their veins is similar.
But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask.
@[Solace]
An obnoxiously fast reply from me hahaha you're welcome xD