Written in The Stars

The Seventh Scroll

Lydia was standing by the window in one of the rooms they shared with the guys. The one where Nestor spent his days in proud solitude. Now she knew that not all days were so lonely. The girl looked out the window at the cloudless blue sky, occasionally lowering her eyes to the portrait lying on the table in front of her. Pete with his trademark grin; Marcel, serious and brave, as always; Eugene, whose face was not hidden by a hoodie, at least in the drawing; she herself – and here lyre seemed to herself much more beautiful than in reality; Nestor with a deep and trembling gaze.

"Lydia, why aren't you coming down?" The dark-skinned man had crept up quite unnoticed and was now standing at the doorjamb.

Lyre did not move or even turn her head towards him – at such moments it seemed as if it was impossible to take her by surprise.

"What should I do there?" the girl was perplexed, touching the wooden tabletop with her fingers.

"I thought that you and Jhaar should not leave each other for a moment," Marcel said these words with an extremely cheerful mood and crossed his arms over his chest, slightly bending his torso.

"I managed to convince him that nothing would happen to me while I was sitting in the room," Lydia's voice, on the contrary, had nothing rosy.

"What is it?" The man could no longer ignore the tension in the air.

"Why does everyone always feel like something is wrong?"

Marcel took a couple of steps forward, standing right behind his interlocutor, and put his hands on her shoulders:

"Because you obviously don't look happy with life," he sighed, turning her around to face him.

Lydia literally had to tilt her head back to look at his face – she was so short. Her gaze was extremely tired:

"You always said yourself that I get angry easily."

The man grinned, pulling the girl to him – in his arms she seemed even more tiny. Despite her heavy mood, lyre easily responded to his touch. And all her worries about her brother and the way ahead were instantly dissolved. She suddenly felt incredibly strong, capable of anything.

"I'm just a little worried before parting," lyre smiled, pulling away and wiping moisture from her eyelids.

"Are you sure you don't want Pete to come with you? Or Eugene, he certainly won't refuse..."

"No, no," she clasped her friend's hand. "I don't want Eugene to know that I feel anything other than self-confidence."

They both laughed.

"Besides, as you correctly pointed out, Jhaar will be with me."

"He seemed like a good escort to me...."

"That's because you didn't meet him when he wasn't own me a debt."

Marcel chuckled soundlessly, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sure he'll take care of you," the man continued.

"Until he saves my life," Lydia confirmed.

"Gods can be unpredictable in their designs," he didn't want these words to sound too meaningful, but it still confused the girl.

"What do you mean?" She frowned maliciously, looking up at the man.

"Nothing," Marcel laughed, kissing his companion on the forehead.

After that, he pulled away, still holding his hands on lyre's shoulders. For a while they just stared at each other, finding comfort in each other's eyes.