Light of Stars [2]

Chapter Two

♕ Silent Grave ♕

The crashing sound of waves blended with the whistling wind in a seemingly never-ending loop. Although it never showed itself the same way twice, Aubrette had spent so many hours now listening to its rhythm that she had become a master in recognizing the ways both sounds blended together. The water of the Silent Grave Sea had life of its own, that much she'd come to learn. It was a strange sort of comfort, knowing she could rely on unpredictability. At least it meant she never got bored now. And on the days when the sea was not enough, when its sound was not loud enough to fill in the void of silence that her mind drowned her in, she could concentrate on the creaking of wood above her head. The sound of Mason and Zander running from one side of their world to the other.

She counted their steps.

All of their steps.

Izabella's. Sybilla's. Zander's. But most of all Mason's. She wondered if some day she would stop hearing them. If one miraculous day he would simply stop, give up.

Stop training.

Stop running.

Stop acting normal.

Stop trying.

But she knew him too well to know that was unlikely to ever happen, not when the unknown was so close from them, and he had always wanted to feel in control. Mason liked to have something to move forward too. She could not remember a time where he was just standing still.

Aubrette wondered if she had once been like that too. Not that long ago. She wondered if there had been a time where she had been able to look towards the future and wonder what was waiting for her there.

Nowadays she found herself wishing she could make her heart stop. She pretended she could freeze time, slow it down, bend it to her will like he had. It seemed however that it had only been a him thing. Not hers.

Maybe that was a good thing. No, she knew it was a good thing. Better than dealing with having more of him, more to make her remember what they all had lost. What they were running away from.

Mason jumped, and dirt fell through the cracks of the wood above her to her bed. She had grown used to it now, grown used to most things, all things except perhaps the most important, her new protector, ally. The one thing she was supposed to be able to turn to for help, the one thing kind enough to offer her a blessing, however forced that transition had been.

On a good day, being near the sun was bearable. It allowed her to fill her hair with color. One that she still refused to see, even when the others tried to hide it, she could tell by the look in their eyes she looked more like a stranger than her own self.

On a good day, she just felt the heat, warmth. Felt every single ray as it made contact with her skin, burning its way through her veins, uncontrollable and unpredictable. Pure unmeasurable light.

Most days on the other hand ... most days the simple sight of the faintest of lights hurt to look at, hurt to think of, hurt to be near to.

It was easy to fall back into the arms of the shadows. It was after all what she knew best, even if they too made her feel lost. Every time she felt herself turning to the sky, the faintest of moons drawn behind the endless train of clouds that covered the Grave reminded her that Luna could no longer listen to her prayers. She was no longer moon blessed, the very essence of herself had been ripped from her heart and tossed into the fire. She was a vessel of someone else's magic now. A thief. A protector. And the only person who might have understood why she could not allow herself to use it, was gone.