As The Snow Falls

Anamnesis Records (One)

Please Lilith, forgive me.

Andromeda had been walking for days. She didn't know where she was going, but she was heading as far away from Epistylium as possible. Her face was definitely branded on wanted posters now. She had that odd appearance that Pedaiah had wanted to keep safe. But now she was everywhere. Everywhere she looked, she could see the faces of her dead friends. The people she didn't know, and Pedaiah. Every woman that crossed her in the street had her face, looking her up and down with those tightly pursed lips.

Only to figure out that she killed her mother and took advantage of her power. Or she would've if Andromeda didn't escape.

And when she escaped she...

She became a murderer.

But for as much as she could, Andromeda tried not to think about that. Instead, she thought about how her teeth were free of those metal bindings. For the first time in her life, her face didn't ache. She felt as if she could think clearly for the first time since she was taken in by Pedaiah. A freeing experience.

After several days of walking, she entered a town. It was muddy and brown, but it was better than the endless countryside that she'd been trekking through. The road was cobblestone like Epstylium, but it looked a million times older.

The town was nestled in the crook of a lake, allowing an unpleasant frozen breeze to penetrate right through Andromeda's coat. The entire thing was frozen solid, branded with mounds of ice, snow, dirt, and blood.

The town seemed nearly empty, allowing Andromeda to let her guard down. The third shop she approached shone with a warm orange light. Relief filled her when she realized it was open. A burly man stood in the window, huddled in a knit jacket. It smelled like grease and charcoal, but it was better than frozen mud.

"Oh. Hullo there." He smiled when he saw Andromeda. "Come to buy something?" She opened her mouth, then closed it. She didn't have any money.

"I'm not sure." She responded. The man frowned, stroking his long beard.

"Whad'ya mean yer not sure?" Andromeda shrugged, scanning the menu tacked on the side of the shop. It was cheap, but she'd already spent the money gifted to her by a friendly couple she'd stayed with the night before on several pieces of lemon bread.

"I don't think I have the money." She replied, shoving her hands in her pockets. The man's eyes filled with pity. He sighed to himself, mumbling something.

"Alright, kid. I'll get yer something. On the house, eh? How does that sound?"

The man's shop was warm, letting Andromeda finally relax. The warmth seeped deep into her bones, thawing the brittle frost. She took the time to observe the calendar on the wall.

She'd been missing for almost three weeks. Three whole weeks. She wondered what the people in Epstylium were doing now.

She sat in the far corner, her eyes rimmed with red, her raggedness clear on her face. The man set a bowl in front of her, sitting on the other side of the bench.

"Care to tell me yer story, kid? I'm in need of a good distraction." He held a large mug in his hand filled to the brim with amber liquid.

"What makes you think I have a story?" She asked suspiciously. The man laughed.

"Yer accent! Yer got that Epstylium accent. All proper n' shit." He gruffed.

"I ran away." She said simply while slurping on the soup. It was delicious. The man laughed, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

"From who? Yer parents? I gotta tell ya, kid. You have some dedication." Andromeda stared at him, confusion clouding her brain.

"Dedication?"