Everything Has Changed

Balefire

Linh cast a last longing look at the full-length window before Mai escorted her back to her bedroom. She was about to shut the door closed, when she hesitated for a moment, then said, "Don't hide behind the door again, Linh."

Linh couldn't tell if that was a joke or not. But if Mai had wanted her to be guilty about hiding behind her bedroom door, well, she wasn't at all moved by her words. So she inclined her head slightly and turned her eyes to the wall as Mai slowly closed the door, making the bright light from outside wink out and enclose her bedroom in total darkness.

Linh closed her eyes and concentrated on Mai's fading footsteps, counting each and every footfall, until the rhythmic sound was completely replaced by grim silence. Linh opened her eyes again and frowned at her shadowy reflection through the ornate mirror that had been attached to the side of her gigantic wardrobe, which looked like it'd been dipped in titanium and then sprayed with some sort of glossy varnish.

But in the darkness, its display factors completely fell short as there was little light reflecting on its surface for it to shine. Linh thought the wardrobe was exactly like her--wanting to shine but being given no chance to.

Wearily, she snapped her fingers, flooding the room with light and bringing everything back to life. The wallpaper, which had been scattered with little flecks of golden glitter here and there, glowed in the bright light, like an elf slowly stirring awake from his sleep. The wardrobe shimmered and sparkled as she turned her head to look at it in specific angles, gazing at it in wonder as her clever mind tried to work the reason out. The light cut through the translucent curtains masking her canopy bed, making a blurry outline of the pillows she had slept with visible to her eyes.

And Linh? Linh felt like there was renewed energy rushing back into her heart while her heart pumped that energy into every nook and cranny of her body as she danced around the room, trying to memorise every unremarkable feature of the room she would be staying in for as long as she could imagine. But she knew that she wouldn't be here forever. And that thought motivated her to make the best use of this room and feel better than she had been known to feel.

Slowly, gently, Linh dragged the long, draping curtains covering the view outside and peered out at the amazing view. It was like someone had flipped a switch, and the previously pitch-black Choralmere had been replaced with light, glitter, and more light. Lanterns the colour of red lined the little tributaries, lighting up the water as it flowed into the main river stream and then into the great ocean. The crescent-shaped balcony was lighted up, hanging over the sky like a second moon. Sparks of balefire tucked away in the crystal walls made the whole place shimmer.

And the ocean, the ocean. Linh thought she would never tear her eyes away from the breathtaking sight as she stared out at the frothy waves, as they pulsed forward and broke away just at the shoreline. The light of Choralmere barely reached the first tides, but once again Linh felt the call of the ocean, like a breathy whisper trying to tug her closer. Soon her face was squished on the glass, like she needed to get as close as she could to the water. The lull in the tide was like her breathing, rising and falling in a rhythmic beat. The ocean was her life, her life was the ocean--

Snap out of it snap out of it snap out of it.

All of a sudden, a niggling voice in the back of her mind snapped Linh out of her reverie, and she stumbled back, knocking into the foot of her bed. Feeling her breath tremble and wobble, she took slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. Then, gingerly, she peered out again, pointedly doing her best to tear her attention away from the water as she narrowed her eyes at the windows which had been lighted up.

With amazing ease, Linh's mind mapped out a path of Choralmere's interior, and with the minimal knowledge she had of her new residencial area, she made up her mind and opened her door with just a quiet creak, and slipped out into the dimmed corridors. She winded down the halls, and made her way back to the staircase. She whispered, "Eleven", and the Vortinator whisked her up. Once again, it felt like she had already become accustomed to it. Like she had won and lost at the same time.