A Garden of Flowers and Bones [Lloyd Garmadon x Reader]

Chapter 15: Where Loyalties Lie

TW: Margot yells about Y/N deserving to die and whatnot. 

It's not exactly a death threat, I consider what Margot does this chapter to be worse than that because she prods at the points she knows will hurt her the most and then basically encourages suicide. You got a rough go of it this time. 

Anyway, if you're sensitive to that, stop reading at: "It hurt most that Y/N could hardly refute it." You can start reading again at the horizontal line that I use to split scenes.

-----------------------

"Do you think-" Malik spoke with his food in the cheek of his mouth, sitting beside Y/N, "That mirrors are gateways to Hell?"

He swallowed his food before taking another bite.

Much like Blondie, this boy didn't know anything about table manners... even though they weren't at a table (his argument against it)- but it was the principle of the matter! No matter how many times Y/N and Gayle and Ingrid and Balthazar and literally anyone had tried to correct him on eating with food already in his mouth, he had refused at every turn, so Y/N had eventually just given up.

That's right, in this world there were such things as lost causes. Malik was a prime example.

"No...? Why?"

They sat upon a brick wall blocking off someone's backyard from the path through a particularly winding part of the residential area, just casually eating lunch. Usually, people didn't take breaks at the same time, but this was a special case. A slow day with not many workers in... it was just her, Malik and Dareth.

Chamille was coming into work later in the afternoon for the evening shift; Gayle was assisting with a pregnant lady in town who had been showing signs of going into labour prematurely and they needed all hands on deck; and Balthazar wasn't in for work because Juliette was having trouble with her grandmother.

She was in bad condition- or perhaps worse condition would be a better term for it. It had been a long time since Georgina had reverted back to a childlike state. These days, she would wander around this area of town like she was lost, and she would forget things far too easily. It was a miracle she'd managed to make it past the age of sixty at all considering everything, but Juliette had taken extremely good care of her and her husband.

Honestly, Y/N just felt bad for Georgina and Juliette. The old lady who had once been a kind and gentle soul had been on a mental decline for the past three years, and then, out of nowhere, her physical health took a dive as well. Y/N didn't come to this area of town very much, since she never had any need to, but it was just really upsetting hearing of the way fellow townsfolk slag off Georgina behind her back.

The people had claimed that she had been hit with an affliction from the devil or that the Goddess had abandoned or cursed her. Y/N didn't think that was the case.

Juliette had been constantly stressed with taking care of her grandparents. By all means, she must've been considered the most filial woman in the village, forgoing starting her own family in favour of helping those who had raised her. 

It wouldn't have been an easy choice to make. Her value as a woman was determined by how many children she could have and the character of her husband. If her only suitor had lost interest in her while waiting for her to get to a place that she could conceivably focus on something other than keeping her family alive, then she would've been thrown to the wolves just like Y/N. 

It was like Laurence had suggested. Men wouldn't usually wait around for someone like that. Balthazar was just different. In some ways, Y/N was jealous. Juliette's future was assured the moment Balthazar decided to stick by her side. Y/N had no one like that.