where you go i go

Fifteen

Eighty-three years after the end of the war, and as Nayoko rapped her knuckles against hardwood, wondering if she's made a mistake. When a short, plump woman greets her and drops the mug she's holding in surprise, she knew she'd made a mistake.

"Why have you come?" The woman growls from inside the shadow of her small cottage.

"I hoped you'd have answers," Nayoko says, cringing at the edge in her own voice. Already drained from the long journey through the mountains bordering the Empire and Dawn; she had come too far and she needed answers.

"You have no reason to be here," The woman snaps, moving to slam the door.

Nayoko jams her boot in the opening. "Please, Aleina, at least let me stay the night."

Aleina's eyes narrow. "I know not who you are, nor why you call me the Muse of Song. You are but a stranger intruding into my home that is most unwelcome."

"I was Helena's apprentice, her successor. The former Head Archivist as well." She shows Aleina the Archivist's tattoo of a sun on her wrist. "I just have a few questions."

The gurgling of a nearby brook was the only sound as Aleina regards her with animosity and suspicion.

"Fine. One night."

The candlelit room hosted a cluttered mess of instruments and books: propped up against walls here lutes of different sizes and colours while flutes and lyres sat on shelves that bordered the room. Nayoko's eyes return to Aleina when she sees her cross her arms. Her hair strawberry blonde and gold eyes so familiar, she reminded her of a woman she had tried so hard to forget.

"Well? Ask your questions," the woman huffs.

"Where is Helena?"

A shadow falls over Aleina's face. "She's dead."

Nayoko staggers, "What do you mean?"

"That," Aleina jabs her finger at Nayoko's chest, "Is not yours. Your life is not yours. Helena is wise but even she can be prone to stupid decisions."

"What do you mean?" Nayoko asks, bewildered, "How do you know this?"

Aleina throws her hands up, incensed. "Muses, leave it to Helena not to tell you and Cirrha." She sinks into a chair, the plush cushions dipping under her weight. "She should've wasted her life on someone smarter."

Nayoko feels irritation rise again, her face heating up. "Stop being cryptic. Without my strategies and tactics in warfare neither of us would be alive right now."

Aleina's face falls, brows arching up in sympathy. "You truly don't know, do you?" She swirls her spoon around in her mug once, and then twice. "You are not Ornia, Muse of the Art and Strategy of War, nor are you her reincarnation." She places the mug on her table with a clink. "Who you are is Helena, Muse of Tragedy. When you were struck down in the capital during the capital during war you did die. You were only saved through divine intervention, Helena's intervention."

Her words hit Nayoko like a rushing bull.

"She saved your life by giving you hers," Aleina continues, "You already had the blessing of the Muses in you but it was asleep, untamed. When Helena breathed life back into you she woke up what was always there. It just wasn't Ornia; the only similarity was you looking like her."

Nayoko felt her knees grow weak as she sunk to the floor. Aleina does not rush to comfort her, only sitting there and waiting for the weight of her words to sink in. When Nayoko gets up her eyes are red, but she does not cry.

"Where is she now?"

Aleina lifts herself from her chair. "Her favourite place, her last wish."

She leads Nayoko out of the door and down a mossy path that crosses the gurgling brook and into a clearing. A stone pillar stands in the middle, casting a shadow onto the field of blooming wildflowers. When Nayoko walks closer she can make out the words carved into the face beneath the customary sun symbol.

Lady Helena of the Dawn

1238

Loving Daughter and Sister

"Daughter?"

She turns to see Aleina misty-eyed. "My daughter."

Nayoko left just as the sky grew bright, leaving only flowers on the grave and a promise on her lips.

I'll be back.