We All Still Die

13| The White Rose is a Dove

Viktor, Sarah, Lyra, Sage at the Cottage

When Sage went back inside, Lyra had asked Viktor about Rose. This intrigued Sage as well. She sat down, and had pulled her journal out to write about her, then held back. 'Later,' she told herself. She didn't want to seem rude. She listened to the story, watching a pained yet happy expression from on his face. 

Viktor took a breath, thinking about Rose was hard. 

"She was very brave. She would get in the way of my training because she didn't want her big brother hurt..." He smiled. "She enjoyed picking blueberries... we had a -um- garden by the castle where we'd go...

"She loved keeping her hair long, said it made her look like Rapunzel...." He was just randomly mentioning smalls facts. As he went on, it became less difficult. "I remember when we went to a graveyard. She would pick white roses earlier in the day and lay one for ever grave we past, if they didn't have any flowers. She told me that all of them deserved to feel cared for." He took a breath and realized he had been emotionally rambling.

Listening to Viktor describe his sister made Lyra smile. "She seemed really kind; a pure angel." She could only imagine how difficult it was for him to talk about someone he loved when he had watched her die in front of him. 

"She is still with you Viktor ....in your heart and memories" she whispered gently.

Viktor inhaled gently and exhaled slowly. "She was my little miracle." This was rather true to him. He had raised her. His parents couldn't have cared less. He felt an aching in his heart, but pushed it away. "I know, but it's... so.... Different"

Lyra wanted to comfort him somehow, to relate to him. She had lost someone she cared about before, though it was nothing like losing a younger sister. "I know how it feels, losing someone who was beloved to you ...but you don't have to keep it all to yourself. You can let it all out..."

Viktor stood up and walked to the window. He spoke quiet. "It's my fault, you know." He said. He sat on the window sill, legs to his chest. "At least, that's what Mother says."

"Don't blame yourself," Lyra soothed. "If something has to happen it happens, even if you try to stop it. Some things just happen. They are not in our control," she told him, releasing a deep sigh at the end.

He took another breath. "I watched her try to run to me. I watched her beg and plead and I couldn't do anything..." Her cries often sounded in his head. He walked over to Lyra and stood there. "Do you know how that feels?"

Sarah looked over and walked to Viktor. She hugged him. "It's alright, Viky." She just kept hugging him until he finally sat down and looked at Lyra. 

"I'm sorry, I should be more considerate." His family often kept emotions to themselves, but Viktor had always more open.

Sage would have hugged him too, but felt like it was probably best not to. She got the feeling he wasn't too into touching people. Maybe it was his hunger?

Lyra never witnessed anyone dying in front of her, but she did feel the pain of others. She'd seen many people sobbing for their loved ones who had died in war.

She took a deep breath. "I may not have gone through what you have,  but I know how it feels ...to miss your beloved, to never see them again, to never hear them again." She took a shaky breath, holding empathetic tears back. "Even if I don't know your pain, I can help you by sharing the pain," she spoke softly, giving him a small smile.

Viktor suddenly hugged Lyra. "Thank you for letting me talk about her..." No one at home ever mentioned Rose anymore. It felt to Viktor like she no longer mattered to the family. "And.. for being my friend."