What if the seven dwarfs never really existed and were just branches of Snow White's personality? Happy for the good days, Grumpy for the bad, Sneezy when under the weather and Bashful around that special someone. What if every time you looked into...
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"We have to find out what Alora's trigger is. She hasn't been around for long and we need a proper goodbye, like we had with Daisy. We deserve that much, Will," Ava said, wrapping her arms around herself to keep shelter from the cold.
"You're right," I said, only listening half-heartedly. She was channelling her heartbreak from Daisy into motivation to protect the other alters, whereas I was still recovering from the shock of having lost a part of the girl I loved.
It was all happening so fast. All I wanted was a moment to catch my breath.
"Will, think. Two of Holly's alters so far have been based on people in her life. Kat's trigger was her aunt, who was her namesake and Daisy's trigger was Granddad. Is it possible that maybe even Alora might have a connection to a person?" She asked, her voice coming out as a hoarse whisper. Her face was red from the cold. I snuggled in closer to her to give her warmth.
"Maybe..." I drifted off, still unable to process her words. I was lost in thought; I couldn't pay attention to anything.
"Will, are you okay?" She asked, then cringed. "Sorry, sorry. That was a dumb question. Obviously you aren't. Do you want to talk about it?"
Ava was nervous. It was an odd emotion to associate with her, considering that first of all, Ava didn't have emotions, and second of all, she was fearless.
"What's with you?" I asked, then cringed, much like she had mere moments before. Clearly, deep talks were not our thing. "Okay, let me rephrase that so that I sound a tad less insensitive."
"Sure, go ahead," she laughed, but her voice sounded wispy. I unbuttoned my coat and loosely draped it over her shoulders.
"You look really pale, you have dark circles under your eyes and your hair's a mess. Have you slept at all?" I asked in a worried rush.
"So much for less insensitive," she muttered sarcastically, an amused smile grazing her lips.
"I'm just worried, Will," she burst out. "What if we can't save the alters?"
I edged closer to her and she rested her head on my shoulder. "We can't save the alters," I declared.
She let out a shaky sigh. "Gee, thanks for the optimism," she muttered.
"Ava, the end is inevitable," I said softly. "All we can do is prolong the end until we've managed to collect ourselves and accept the situation."
"That seems so selfish, though, doesn't it?" She asked dryly, lifting her head to face me.
"All this time, we've forgotten about our own lives. Holly's important to us, but not so much that we prioritize her happiness over our own," I said confidently.
Ava's expression darkened. She looked at me with storms in her eyes. "So is that why you cheated on her with Thea? You replaced her so that you could be happy." She let out a bitter laugh. "And in the process, you broke her heart."
