[Automatic] (An Aarmau AU)

[Chapter 21] The Song Of The Void

Time was distorted.

I could have been out for days, or only minutes. I was groggy and confused, yet somewhere in my broken mind I knew I had to wake up. I tried to pry open my eyes, but they wouldn't budge. With every ounce of energy I had I tried to lift my arms, yet they refused to move.

I heard voices, they were very distant but still there. I tried to understand what they were saying, because I knew my life depended on it. I listened with the last remaining energy I had, but the darkness of unconsciousness pulled me down before I could protest.

Xx

"She wouldn't just disappear"

I paced back and forth through Katelyn's shop. She sat perched on the counter, her arms crossed. I knew she was mad at me for agreeing to the treaty, and for breaking Aph's heart. Hour after the initial announcement, all she did for hours was scream and yell at more for what an idiot I was.

I knew it would hurt Aph, but I couldn't risk having her sent away. She was one of the only people who didn't treat me like stuck up royalty, she treated me like a person. Besides Katelyn she was one of the only people I could trust, and the only person I truly loved.

How Aphmau knew about the treaty when she wasn't even at breakfast is a mystery, even though I have my suspicions. She never showed up for the dinner date I promised, so I can only assume she heard my father and I that night.

"We need to find her Katelyn"

Katelyn sighed, picking at her nails with a screwdriver. "Aaron, you broke her, and you don't seem to understand this"

She jumped of the counter, and stood to face me. Unlike Aph, Katelyn was quite tall and almost came up to my height. She threw the screwdriver she had been holding, and picked up something I didn't recognize at first. She held it out in front of me, and then I realized it was a dirty bandage.

"Everyone has secrets Aaron", she told me out of nowhere. "If you don't have secrets then you're not human"

"Aphmau had secrets", she continued, carefully placing the bandage on the counter. "Secrets she fought to keep under lock and key"

"She's more fragile then you think Aaron", she whispered. "She has a tough and strong exterior, but she's falling apart on the inside. She cried out for you to help, and you did. But now you're leaving her, the one thing she begged you not to do"

"I'm not leaving", I cried. "I could never leave her, I love her!"

Katelyn walked towards the door. "You left her the moment you agreed to that treaty, whatever the consequences would have been don't matter to her. She got replaced and that's enough to crack that exterior"

She started walking out the door. "Wait!", I cried out to her. "What did you mean by secrets? Is there something I should know?"

She paused, trying to find the right words. "Her secrets broke her, and you just happened to be one of them"

***

Darkness

Darkness

Darkness

There is always so much darkness, if not in my dreams then when I wake. I missed the light, the way it always came back in the morning and never failed once. Even when the clouds try to cover up it's light, it always shines through eventually.

I read a book along time a ago, a book from before the war. It talked about these people who fought for something they believed in, and even died for it. It wasn't a happy story, but a story of hope. It showed that even the darkest nights will end and sun will rise, even if sometimes it feels like the light will never come back.

I tried to remember songs my mom used to sing to me, all those lullabies that were so soft and gentle. I never slept good as a kid, the doctors think it was because of my arm and how it was so unbalanced to my small body.

My mom would always lay me down in her bed, and sing. She always sang something different, unless of course I requested a song. Where she found or learned all these song I never found out. I would sometimes ask after she finished, but she always just smiled and told me to sleep.

I remember one soft tune, a light humming that resonated throughout the darkness. It was nice, a soft melody to fill the void and darkness. I couldn't put a name to the song, I never could. I believed she sang most of her songs on the fly, making them up as she went

Songs that would never be sang again.

My melody was interrupted by voices, loud terrible voices. I didn't want them to be here, I wanted to listen to my moms angelic voice. Yet I still listened, I needed to know the voices who interrupted the song of the void.

"Is she still asleep?!", one voice asked. "The boss isn't going to like this, he wanted her up before they go to the outer world"

"Relax", a female voice said. "She will be up soon, look, she's a little conscious now"

My arms were still heavy, and my eyes still wouldn't opened. I wanted to run, or punch whoever took me in the face. I wanted to scream at whoever declared a marriage treaty, and find whoever this girl was. My body was trying to do a million things at once, but couldn't even accomplish one.

Yet the lovely song of the void slowly lured my back into a blissful sleep. Mom sang me out of my worries, just like she always used too. For some reason I thought I would never see her again, but she always seemed to appear right when I need her.

Reality could wait a little longer, for the void seemed much more welcoming. The darkness was comforting instead of scary, and it led me away from all my troubles.

When I say filler, you say chapter!

So this was more of a filler chapter (if you couldn't tell) I have big things planned people, but big things take time and school is hard. I'll try to get the next chapter out when I can, it will also be more of a filler, but then the chapter that is when everything is going to go down!

If you have a prediction as to what might happen, I would love to hear it in the comments below! I alway respond to all your comments, and they always make my day!

I can't wait to see you in the next (filler) chapter, but until then, bah bye!

-Lizzy C.