The Shadress (MCD x Reader)

Ch. 21- Anniversary

Sitting up with a gasp, I found it difficult to breathe. My sheets were warm, but I felt frozen, shaking as the thought of how cold I was fronts in my mind. I can't remember what I was dreaming about even if I tried.

How many times has it been now? I ask myself as I get up to get ready for the day. Almost every time I actually sleep, I end up waking from some sort of nightmare, but I can never recall anything of it. The few times I have been able to get a vague idea, all I found were the lingering traces of the past, and tears on my cheeks to match the soured mood I have.

Sometimes, I wonder how much this actually occurs.

As I pass it by, I catch a glance of myself in the mirror – the same 'guard' outfit I always wear and unfortunately dark circles under my eyes. With a single step, I get as comfortably close to the reflective surface without touching it as I can. I pull at the skin beneath my eyes and blink. By the time I open my eyes again, the shadows are once again covering my face. I hope no one points it out.

With one last scan of my form, I open the bedroom door and truly start my day. Jace is sitting at the table, seemingly mulling over his own plans he put out the night before.

The last meeting that everyone was a part of, took place three days ago, each of us agreeing to our parts and getting started on what needs to be done. Jace had gotten out several documents, names, and locations filling most, as soon as he had the space and time to spread them out. Given that my job was to mostly organize and especially take care of that spell, I haven't started yet.

"Did you stay up all night?" I ask him, my voice shattering the silence. I meander to the counter, where several pastries sit ready for breakfast. I begin pouring water for tea and preparing a biscuit for my breakfast.

My brother barely glances up at the sound of my voice. "No, no, of course not." I remain quiet, counting the seconds as silence creeps back in. "Wait, it's morning?"

"There it is," I mumble. It took him 14. "Yes, it's morning," I confirm with a sigh, carefully steeping my tea. "Stars, you'd think the Enlightener would be the first to know when his deity is raised in the sky."

"I never went to sleep..." he mumbled. "Brother Elio, I beg your forgiveness."

I smile into my mug. "I don't think you need to ask for forgiveness. I have a feeling his only worry is you." My words are muffled in the way that a mug full of liquid strangles voices. Jace really looks up then, at which point I note similar dark circles under his own eyes.

"You don't look like you're much better," he notes as his eyes linger on the hidden portion of my face.

"Better off than you. At least I slept."

"Yes, but you aren't supposed to sleep through the night."

Our conversation quickly ends after that, Jace leaving for his room, and myself leaving for the village. Clearly, he remembers more than I give him credit for. My brother, a man who since the Church of Irene became corrupt, had nothing nice to say about me for close to three centuries. Several times he became just as poisoned and mean as the mortal men that I fought against, to the point that I thought he had not a care in the world for my well-being or my loved ones. I didn't think that he would remember the things we discovered before those times.

As I think about it for a moment, my brain wanders to the time before the church's corruption. My brother used to come around all the time for a chance to be close to Irene, something very few had the privilege to do. Menphia and him would go head to head quite a lot, their more fiery personalities clashing while also complimenting the other.

Stars, we were all so annoyed with my brother back then.

Thinking of everyone makes my heart ache which pulls me back to consciousness. I glance around to determine my surroundings, discovering I wound up at Irene's front door. Unsurprising.