The Shooting Star

2. Sanctuary

Averines eyes opened for just a moment, and she saw a face. They had glasses, and their eyes were a soft shade of blue. She felt herself being lifted off the ground, but her conscious faded once more before anything else could be taken in.

「 Don't you think he's getting too old for this kind of stuff? Letting him play with dolls as a baby is passable, but he's nearly 10 years old. 」

A distant voice spoke to her. . . . it sounded clouded and distorted. . .as if it was clogged somehow.

‪【 I detest it, However if it's what he wants to do then let him do it. Half of his childhood was practically spent in a cage after all, and there's nothing he can change about that.‪ 】‬

Another distorted voice. . . it sounded familiar. She couldn't do anything but glance at their blurred faces. She couldn't speak or move, only listen through the ears of a playing child.

‪【 Make sure he's back in his room within the next three hours. I want these test runs to be over with.‪ 】‬

「 Whatever you say, Dahlia. 」

That voice was becoming more recognizable, and it sounded like Marie. It made her wonder if she heard the voice of her Mother, even for just a moment. Why couldn't she remember her face? Has it truly been that long since she's seen it?

Before Averine could think any further, she felt a warmth over her body as her eyes slowly opened. She stared at the ceiling and now struggled to think at all. Her head was pounding and her body ached, the unfortunate result of letting her self control dwindle.

Before she could process what was happening, a faint creak emitted from the corner of the room. Averines' glance slowly turned over, and she saw an older woman at the entrance and she held a bowl of. . .something. Her appearance matched who she saw before hand.

༻ Oh you're awake! I thought you weren't going to make it for a while. ༺

Her voice was soft and carried not a trace of malice. It was reassuring. . . and honestly the only scenario Averine wouldn't be panicking over. Averine tried to move her body, but struggled to do so. Even trying to move her finger hurt too much at the moment.

༻ Sorry about not getting the placements perfect. I'm used to having a bunch of hospital grade equipment so a lot of it was more or less makeshift. I did what I could from here, but that did leave me using a lot more bandages then usual.༺

Averine couldn't look down, but felt the wraps of adhesive and bandages now that they were mentioned. No wonder she couldn't move.

❝...t-thank you... ❞

Averines voice was both low and strained, yet the womans' smile seemed to brighten at her response.

༻ Oh it's no problem at all! You're always keeping us safe, it's the least I could do. My name is Patricia, and it's a pleasure to be acquainted. ༺

❝ May I ask. . . where I am? ❞

Averines voice was healing much before her body was. All that yelling didn't seem to take much of a toll compared to everything else.

༻ I brought you to my home. Haven wanted to be the one to carry you but she ended up doing something different. There were two of you but the other one's wounds seemed a little too. . . extreme to resuscitate. So I opted to bring you back while Haven gave them a proper burial. I'm sorry if it was someone important to you. ༺

Patricia scooted onto the bed and rubbed Averines head, her tone shifting from conerned to sympathetic.

❝She. . . used to be. Don't feel upset about it though, she was never one to let others worry about her. I doubt she'd want it now❞