For all she knows, this is a world that has ended.
She’s long stopped running. She's too tired to continue, and there’s no way she would find anything new about this grey, crumbled city anyways.
She keeps asking herself, “Who am I?” Then she thinks of that letter, “C”. Wonders what it means to her.
Name: A word given to someone to distinguish themselves from others.
That information comes straight into her head. But how? She shakes her head, deciding it doesn't matter right now.
She walks farther down the empty street before turning into a building whose window had been completely destroyed. She walks on the glass but it doesn't hurt. There’s not even blood when she looks down.
At last she sees something. In the grey of this world, she sees something of a darker, different color sitting amongst the rubble. She moves some of the concrete to get at the thing, then picks it up before brushing off the dust. It’s a wooden box with an ornate design on the lid. Why is it here? Was she supposed to find it? Something tells her that she has to keep it. Protect it.
She opens the box's lid to see glass shards within. She wonders what they are, but knows that she has to do something with them.
For all she knows, this was a world that has ended.
For all she knows, this was a world that has begun.
He’s exhausted and cursing the very existence of midterms as he trudges away from the library. Maybe he should pop over to a nearby coffee shop for a cup before going home? The last time he’d done an all-nighter he’d fallen asleep on the train only to wake up outside of the city.
Just as he’s about to drag himself to the lighthouse that is the café, he’s stopped by a small-ish figure in a dark cloak, their entire body covered besides the cat-like smirk stretching on their face.
He’s stopped from his attempt to side-step them when they grab his arm and his chest starts to hurt. The pain grows, strengthens to such that he’s never felt before. When a light glows in his peripheral vision, he looks down to see the light coming from both his chest and one of the figure’s hands.
He nearly vomits as the light intensifies, gathering in the figure’s hand. His vision swims as he collapses to the ground.
It is a truth universally recognized that Elen is an oddball. Even after moving to Gaia, there have been many who have given her strange looks because of her very skeptical and unsociable personality. The result of growing up in a cult and her desire to know absolutely everything before making any final decisions instead of just putting blind faith in anything. Elen isn’t even quite sure if she believes in any deity or not, so “agnostic” is probably the best description for her spiritual beliefs.
Hearing the story of how she, Salacia, and now Áine are angels who reincarnated as humans to fight an ultimate evil for the third time still sounds unrealistic. Even with all her powers and fighting multiple beasts, Elen still can’t believe that this story is the truth.
‘What’s missing from this story? It’s not as if they found the wrong people.’ She sighs while watching David places a hand on Áine.
“Thy name is ‘Apostle Ignis’.” The ball of light enters Áine and her Mark, an equilateral triangle with the point up, glows until it’s tattooed on her sternum.
As soon as the ceremony is over, Salacia starts to bounce around like the poodle puppy she is, smiling her Jack-o’-Lantern smile. “This is awesome! We have three members! Now we just need to find the other two and the group will be complete!”
“So long as anything unexpected doesn’t happen, we should be able to find them relatively soon,” Mystia responds. She looks towards Elen, who simply looks back with narrowed eyes. “Or as long as Elen doesn’t keep trying to scare people off with her sour face.”
“Excuse me? You’re the one who hasn’t even cracked a smile since I’ve met you and keep picking fights with Rick every time you’re in the same room. Why don't you change your own attitude before criticizing mine?”
Mystia pokes Elen’s forehead who glowers. “I’m not that much older than you, but I’m still your elder. You should really listen to me.”
Elen bats Mystia’s hand away. “Respect is earned, not given. You’re not being respectful right now, so why should I give you any?”
As if they were a powder keg, the two explode into a shouting match and that nearly deafens everyone in the room. Some words do come through, such as “immature” or “disrespectful”, but the rest are so unintelligible nobody can really make them out. Fredrick tries to get in between them in an attempt to de-escalate the fight, but is immediately ejected by Mystia and Elen screaming at him to stay out of it. Fredrick tucks his tail and retreats, while David simply stares at the group from his seat at the table.
“They’re a rowdy bunch, but they’re good people,” Salacia tells Áine, who’s standing around amazed by the pandemonium she’s witnessing. She hears Áine giggle and looks up to see her covering her mouth. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, it’s nothing really. It's just that my house is usually quiet. So this is a nice change of pace.”
Salacia’s face warms seeing Áine’s smiling face. It’s a lovely sight. One that makes her stomach twist and a spark travel up her spine.
*CLAP!*
They nearly jump out of their skin as they whirl around to see Elen with her hands clapped together, effectively shutting the room up. “Y’know what? I have better things to do than bicker with a supposedly grown adult. I’m out of here.” She storms out of the room and they hear the front door slam shut, some decorations rattling.
There’s an awkward silence in the room in the wake of Elen leaving. Several seconds later, they all give Mystia the side-eye who shrugs. “What?”
Fredrick answers, “Why do you always have to start these kinds of arguments? I can handle it, but Elen is the leader of the Apostles. And you know how she is.”
“So I’m supposed to walk on eggshells because she’s sensitive?”
“No. You’re supposed to act like an adult and treat people with respect. Like Elen said, respect is earned and not given.”
Mystia crosses her arms and sulks away. Fredrick sighs defeatedly as he takes an absentminded David’s shoulders to guide him away and out of the room. After sharing a quick look, Salacia and Áine also leave. They see Mystia in the kitchen, taking out a tea set and pouring boiled water in the pot. She glances up, then sets out three cups and a plate of cookies at the bar counter. Áine and Salacia take seats at the kitchen bar and Mystia joins them.
It’s after several minutes of tense silence that Mystia says, “I shouldn't have started that. I didn't have parents or anyone to teach me how to act, and I know I have to do better. It’s hard.”
“Then you should apologize to Elen,” Áine responds while nibbling on a cookie. “Neither of you are innocent in this, but you did start it.”
Mystia pouts. Salacia shivers from the pressure in the air and wonders just how anyone can stand this. Her parents are usually very open about talking out their problems and instilled that in her and her brother.
She coughs in an attempt to break the tension. “So… I’ve noticed that David’s a bit slow. Is there a story behind that?”
Áine nearly chokes on her tea before bumping Salacia’s leg under the counter with narrowing her eyes. Salacia winces and shrugs in a way that asks, “What'd I do?”
Mystia also gives a little glare, but closes her eyes and turns away. “Rick told me that David had once gone into a particularly deep trance during his training. It was apparently more complicated than that, but that’s the basic gist of it. I didn’t ask for any more details and it’s not my story to tell.”
‘So she can be considerate.’ Áine sips the last of her tea and sets it on the saucer. “I should go home.” She takes out her phone and offers it to Salacia. “Let’s exchange numbers.”
Salacia quickly takes out her own phone, nearly dropping it and touches the sensor to Áine’s. After a few seconds, Áine’s phone number and photo appear on the screen. Salacia stares at the contact information, the warmth in her chest growing again that stays even after they exchange farewells and Áine exits the apartment.
It leaves Mystia with her face buried in her hands and Salacia looking at her phone as if she’d been given some treasure. Mystia breathes in, breathes out, then refreshes her and Salacia’s tea.
“I…”
Mystia looks up from her teacup to see Salacia twirling a lock of hair around her finger. She sets it down and twists in her chair to give her full attention. “What is it?”
Salacia stays quiet for a long moment. Long enough that Mystia almost thinks that she’s going to drop whatever thought she had until she begins, “I know that we can sense that another person is an Apostle because our souls respond to each other.” Mystia nods. “Elen was able to tell that Áine is one right away, even though I didn’t. Is that because… because Elen’s element is the soul and mine is water?”
Mystia stands with her now empty teacup and grabs Áine’s as well. “All of you knew each other in your past life,” she explains as she walks to the sink. “As such, your souls will always respond to one another.”
“Elen said that when she met Áine, that it felt like it was a brand on her chest. For me, it felt like…” Salacia stops, gripping the handle tightly. “It was like the feeling I get when it’s Yule. When I see all the candles and my family is around me. It’s different from when I’d met Elen. It was gentle and safe.”
“I see.” Mystia puts the freshly washed teacups and saucers on the drying rack. “I couldn’t tell you what that means. We just know about how you guys were fighting and reincarnated. Whatever other aspects of your past lives, such as your relationships…” She shrugs again. “Maybe when we gain more of our past memories, we’ll know for sure.”
“I thought you already remembered your past life?”
“I don’t have specific memories. I have my powers and I know I was a faerie, but I only vaguely remember what had happened before I’d reincarnated. My memories might have been sealed or I’m just unconsciously trying not to remember. You guys might be in the same boat.”
Salacia looks down at the rest of her tea, seeing the dregs of the rose petals and orange rinds at the bottom. Maybe if she spends more time with them, it’ll unlock something? Or is there some magick that could help?
Not knowing the answer, Salacia hands the cup back to Mystia before going home herself.
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