Unobtainable

Unexplainable

     The closing of the west border spread rather quickly. When the news reached Astrea she was in a dark room, a familiar one at that. The same room she was locked in a few days earlier but opened this time. She slowly rose to her feet, tiredly dragging herself over to the door, leaning on the door frame and looking on to find Bub taking care of a few flowers. Her body felt heavy, every step felt like it took more energy than necessary. After a moment of standing in the doorway, she finally spoke up with a soft voice, but nothing seemed to come out. For a moment she wanted to panic, why couldn't she speak? Fortunately for her, those thoughts were put on hold as Bub noticed her and soothed her mind with his simple words.
    "You're okay. Don't worry. I checked everything...you have no injuries." His eyes softened as he gave her a gentle, reassuring smile. If she had no injuries why couldn't she speak? Such kind words only brought more panic to her mind. Was she dreaming perhaps? His voice picked up once again as he spoke once more, now a bit more resentful in his voice, "that strange gas..had some side effects on people. Whatever....horrid magic that was...it's been paralyzing people...I'm glad you can walk. But...eyes are the windows to the soul, so they say. You're a bit panicked...and your silence is not like you.." Before he could even finish his thought, the door opened. He turned to it, about to lecture whoever it was that came into the closed store; but he held his tongue, seeing as it was just Polly. In no time Polly was quick to head over to Astrea and suddenly pulled her into a hug. The world seemed to vanish around her, a simple hug wasn't it? The warmth that blanketed her body made her feel protected; bringing back memories of her parents. They hadn't been the best, have they? Always working. She could only remember a single time either of them had embraced her in a hug. It was after her brother's death. Is this how people always helped after a time of death? With a hug, like that was supposed to make things better. Even then, her eyes were wide open, this woman was basically a stranger, yet still, this felt so powerful. The feeling of a warm embrace she rarely felt, was enough to pull tears out of her eyes. Slowly dropping down her cheeks, down to her chin. She felt Polly's body shaking slightly, was she crying as well? Loneliness, loss, and grief were finally settling into their minds. Astrea wasn't one to cry at funerals or any death. She remembered the death of her brother, she didn't cry when she heard it. Why was this so much harder? Was it just because of how little she knew them? It felt like she was completely losing a chance to know them, and that thought hurt more than losing someone she knew. Polly's reaction was one of sadness, her tears and slight sobbing showed that much. Astrea on the other hand, her tears fell but she wasn't sad; she was angry. Her body, heart, and soul are fueled with hatred for the king, and angry with herself for being too weak to do anything. She wanted to scream, she wanted to say anything but every word was beyond her reach. She just couldn't speak no matter what she did. The hug was held for what felt like an eternity, once it was broken, she faced Polly, unable to say thank you or any form of thanks.
     "I'm sorry...Astrea. There's a lot I have to tell you...before you-" Polly spoke rather kindly, but before she could let out her next thought she was interrupted by Bub.
     "Polly...She can't speak. That...experimental gas or whatever...it must've done something." He spoke upfront, with serious anger in his voice. It seemed he felt as Astrea did; that the king needed to atone for this action. Innocents did not deserve the death they were granted. Astrea simply observed them both, her mind was tuning them out and focusing on something bigger; action. She wanted to act, to do something. The people needed somebody right? Even if she wasn't completely up to the task, even if she was weak.
     "Calm down...I'll fetch her a notebook and a quail with some ink...! Give me a moment, please." Polly asserted with a small nod before she began to make her way out of the shop, giving Astrea a smile on her way out. Astrea gave no smile or expression back, instead, she simply watched blankly as Polly left; and then turned her attention back to Bub.
     "Astrea...I have something for you." Bub suddenly exclaimed, taking a few steps over behind the desk of the Hortus Copia. His hand reached down to the bottom drawer, opening it up and taking something out. Whatever it was it was bronze, it shined at first glance as he covered it up with his hands. "Come Astrea. Lend me your hand." Astrea followed those directions, taking a few steps of her own toward the desk. Now on the other side of it, she extended both her hands forward, laying them flat on the countertop. Bub brought his hands atop hers, slowly letting go of the object he held. She felt it, it was smooth on some ends, rigid on others. The more rigid ends seemed to come in a sort of shape, while the smooth parts were the form of a circle. "Your father gave it to me a while ago. He said if anything were to happen to him, I should give it to you. You'll know what to do with it...he always had secrets." Bub chuckled a bit after those final words. Astrea pulled her hands away and slowly gazed down upon what he had given her. It was a pocket watch. She looked at it, turning it to its back. The rigid feeling she felt was there, it was an engraving. The engraving was of a sword inside of the sun. Astrea gazed at it, not once looking away as Bub spoke to her, "I hope you can forgive me. For keeping you locked up when the worst was happening." His words went right over her head as her mind was far too focused on the engraving. She had seen it before at home. But where? Bub looked at her, he was almost saddened by her lack of acknowledgment of his apology. A few minutes passed as she thought of where she had last seen the engraving; until suddenly the light bulb lit in her head. Her eyes widened as she figured it out, it was in her parent's room. She had seen it when she was young, a locked box under the bed. On the left side, she could remember it all very well. She needed to find that box now. With no hesitation, she pushed the watch into her pocket and rushed out the door. Behind her, she could hear Bub shout to her, asking where she was going. She couldn't reply of course, and it didn't matter. This watch wasn't a normal watch, she could feel that. Its presence on her made her body feel more sensitive. She could feel the door, not just normally feel it. It was stronger than a normal sense of touch, she could tell precisely what it was made of, how long it had been here, and other things. Her mind just flooded with information from just a touch, she needed to get home.