Ephemeral Reverie #1 - The Silence Between

Chapter Two - Reunion

Her brain hurt.

Marianne's journals were stuffed to bursting with entries, drawings, pressings, and even clippings from pages that looked to be handwritten on old parchment. Detailed notes were crammed into the sidelines—properties of gemstones, levels of magic, the various demons and shadows, herbs and their uses, and so much more. She absorbed the information like a natural, but the books that left Charlie reaching for the painkillers were the business ledgers.

It's not like she wasn't able to comprehend them. No, they were all meticulously detailed and laid out in easy-to-understand terminology. It was more like she finally realized just how out of her league she was.

Going beyond that, the various creatures that had to be fended off tugged more at Charlie's curiosity than anything else. Nestled within the handwriting sat sketches of bizarre creatures she hoped would only ever stay in her darkest nightmares, but she knew full well they were all too real.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and, with great effort, Charlie tore her eyes from the notebooks. It was a message from Tal, asking if she wanted to join them at the saloon later that night. With how he so casually dropped the fact his son and both of Lori's kids would be there—along with 'everyone' else—she got the impression she couldn't just hole herself up like she wanted to.

She groaned, remembering her promise to go to town today. It wasn't that she was against meeting everyone. On the contrary, she was actually excited about seeing how the town's dynamics had changed. She just didn't know if she was emotionally ready to build any meaningful relationships yet. Or if she was even able to anymore.

One thing she always tried to do was smile on the outside, even if she was falling apart within. But being home again—the last place she truly felt like her smile was genuine—she didn't want to act anymore. She wanted it to be real. It was her chance at a fresh start in a place she knew was 'home'. She wanted—no, she needed—to form some kind of real human connection here. She, Griff, and Ignis were always together; playing through the trees, making up adventures and acting them out. Charlie couldn't count the times the three of them got into trouble and stood with heads bowed as Marianne reprimanded them.

Charlie slowly tapped out her reply, asking what time.

But with real connection there came the unavoidable chance of experiencing real pain. Miner's Cove was so far from the pain of the concrete jungle, its songs nothing like the pretty lies that built only to destroy. All she had to do was break from the big city fear of boredom and rejection and get out there and just be herself. Maybe her old friends would help ease her back into the town she'd become a stranger to over the years.

Or maybe a quick walk to the beach would help.

It would be a strange night for sure, she told herself as she walked to the bathroom. She could gather her courage on the walk, and then nurse her nerves later with a drink or two to get back into the swing of things. A win/win, right?

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Wind gently moved the rope barricade, and the waves rolled to their own steady rhythm. Seagulls flew in from all across the South Feather Sea, hovering on the breeze and pecking at little pebbles and shells that spotted the glittering sands. The familiar, almost whimsical tune of the waters helped steady Charlie's anxious mind and she let herself sway in time with it, eyes closed as she stood at the far end of the docks.

If she listened hard enough, she could make out the voices of the few townsfolk who joined her by the water—Jason, the muscle head grandson of the elderly Hanscombs. Hannah, the same prim and prissy glamour girl she'd been during childhood. She also heard a voice she didn't recognize—an older man who'd claimed the ramshackle cabin on the beach as his home.