Shadow Beings

47. Timor

Jay stood in the centre of the main hall, tall and confident despite the heavy exhaustion filling his eyes. His back faced my direction and Ava and Aurelia stood behind him, wearing their signature kind smiles. The Phoenexia immediately caught sight of me, her smile melting a little as acknowledgement. Ava's focus remained on our leader, her aura unreadable. Jay's hair stayed messy and long, reaching the base of his neck just above the shoulders.

I ran my own fingers through my own and left their hold an inch above my shoulder. As I brought my hand in front of my face, I saw three broken strands of the dark-brown hair, their colour warm but lifeless in the soft sunlight.

I disliked having my hair that long.

My legs took slow steps towards Jay. I felt my knees wobble but I discreetly kicked the air , hoping to make myself feel stable.

Ava gave me a smile the moment she noticed me, exhaustion flickering in her brown gaze. Jay turned towards me upon seeing Ava and the same expression appeared on his face.

It had been too long since I'd properly spoken to Ava, or at least that's what it felt like. Her thin face propagated an aura of assurance, though weariness hindered it. Despite everything she had done, despite what she felt, she managed to carry herself with great confidence and strength and solace... I wonder how she did, how all three of them did it.

"Hello," Ava greeted me with that calming smile of hers. Somewhat reminiscent of my mother's with an added sweetness in her gesture.

All three of them remind me of her in some way.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Better, I suppose," I replied, rubbing my left arm nervously. Aurelia approached me, gently putting her palm on my side.

"Your wound," she started. "It hasn't healed properly yet." She raised her eyebrow, asking me if she could do that.

I nodded, closing my eyes as I heard her take a step back. After a few seconds, the familiar warmth filled the area around my wound. For a second the cut burned fiercely, but the pain was numbed by the time Aurelia was over.

A familiar feeling. I was glad that I could experience these feelings. But I wished the cause would stop.

Mixed feelings. Not an unfamiliar thing to me at all.

I raised my shirt enough to see the wound. Slowly, my cold hand was pressed against the healed skin and all signs of its existence - physical and abstract - vanished.

Dropping the shirt I turned towards Aurelia, thanking her with a nervous smile.

"Where are the others?" I asked, my eyes reflecting concern and caution. Aurelia's once confident smile now turned slightly anxious, but it seemed the emotion was for my sake. 

Huh. What did that mean?

"Jack and Theo passed out the moment we reached the headquarters," Jay replied with a worried look in his eyes. "They're resting in their rooms."

"Evelyn and Conrad were very exhausted, too. They fought perhaps the most and...you know. Conrad is with Evelyn and they're both in Elek's room." Jay rubbed his neck, forcing a smile on his face. I nodded slowly but as I did, I felt a sudden pain in my chest.

Ignore it.

"Ariana and Aurelia were both tired too, healing everyone as much as their strength allowed them to do," Jay continued, regaining his composed tone with a deep breath. "Ariana is still asleep and Aurelia woke up an hour ago."

Jay sighed, looking at me with a worried expression. He held himself confidently with a powerful aura of calmness, his eyes shining gently with a profound zeal for the sake of those around him. Yet I could see that the last layers of strength helped him up; he needed to collapse for a while. Rest was something he barely paid attention to, with always running around to help others.