Tidal Florette - A Painted Soul I

Kaiya - 18

By the time Kaiya wakes up late in the morning, Michi is gone, and replacing her warmth in the bed is a pounding ache in Kaiya's head. Not as bad as I would have expected, maybe I was smart enough to drink some water before falling asleep? Or maybe Michi made me, that's probably more likely than me making any wise decisions. Did that really happen or did I just get so fucked up I imagined hooking up with the cute maid? She scans the room for any trace of proof she'd had company last night. All the wine glasses are clean, so they offer no help for certain confirmation. I could have sworn we knocked some things over while we... I guess the fact the room is in order is proof enough?

Next to her on the bed she notices a folded piece of parchment sticking out from under the pillow. Now that's the sort of proof that's far more fun. She unfolds the note and is shocked by the elegant handwriting, every stroke of the pen executed with such graceful precision she hasn't even read the words yet. I guess I have a type... sweet and artistic... Her mind starts to pull her away from the letter to thoughts of Yumi, and with that pulls her to return to the wine cabinet. Before she can give in to that call, she focuses to read the letter. It's written in the tongue of the dayrealms, typically only used by the Ignited Temple for sacred writings.

Far from me, a dawn is breaking

Cloaked in night's embrace

Right by me, I nestle my candlelight

Wreathed in hope anew

All around, the flames grow hungry

Masked in feign glory

Within me, a dawn is breaking

Veiled in sufferance

You are not alone

We are with you

Kaiya isn't sure what she expected to find on the note. An offer to meet again the next night, a request to keep things subtle, but certainly not a beautiful poem. For some reason, I feel like the priests would think writing poetry in dayrealm would be blasphemous. She lets out a laugh. I have to admit, that just makes me appreciate it more. I'm not sure exactly what she might mean, but it does make me feel a little better. Kaiya sits up slowly, propping herself back on the headboard of the bed to make sure she can rise without vomiting once again. Then again, she may not realize what I did yesterday, I never heard Inei talk about the state of Ukiyo with any of them. Michi and the other handmaidens might not feel so willing to stand by me if they knew I'm a murderer. That sort of execution is typically left to the priests. I imagine Inei considered chastising me for taking Yumi into my own hands, but I can at least give him credit for leaving that matter alone.

Thinking of Inei drains the excitement over the poetry from her as she folds the paper and places it underneath her own pillow. Unless he is avoiding me, I'm likely going to have to face him today. Maybe I can get him to tell me where this ship is headed. Not that it matters much, but right now I'd rather think about what's ahead than what we've left behind. She sits up on the bed's edge and feels confident that wine's usual morning curse has granted her some mercy today.

As she undresses to freshen up and choose a new robe, she notices a clean tear in her robe around the shoulder. Pulling back the robe, she sees a thin slice from her collarbone to her arm. That's probably going to leave a scar... I guess Jin wasn't holding back... She looks in the mirror, her soft pale skin makes the slice stand out so much more than the scars she's used to seeing along Yumi's slender figure. The lack of blood is a disturbing oddity, instead the wound seems close to healing and scarring. Her stomach turns looking at herself, a guilt-ridden bitterness devouring any trace of pride she once had in her reflection. I didn't deserve to get out of that unscathed... This should have been much worse...