Words: 6723
Notes: the end sucks but I DON'T CARE I FIALLY FINISHED JESUS also Bard is they/them in this for convenience. Also I know everything is spelled wrong bare with me I hate typing
Warnings: Depressive episodes, storms, gagging
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Audrey failed. She knew that much. She was still breathing, which meant the world hadn't stopped spinning. Audrey, having been the hero the world needed in order to end it, should have been disappointed. She should have been crying in bed for hours after waking up in Langtree. She should have thrown a fit. She should have cursed Eya for all that she was.
But she didn't.
Audrey was oddly content when she heard the breeze lightly shake the trees. She was content when she could small the light scent of flowers near her face and feel grass tangle in her hair.
She sat up reluctantly, but relaxed further when a warm breeze rushed past her. Her eyes searched for a location and found she rested in the open fields of Langtree near the edge of a wooded area. Birds decorated the branches of the tree above her, chirping loudly and happily when they realized she was okay.
"Huh." She spoke suddenly, intrigued. The birds fluttered their wings in response, cocking their heads to the side. Audrey mimicked them with a small tilt of her head, then smiled and turned her attention back to the tall grass of the field. The birds chirped happily then flew away, Audrey watching as they disappeared into the partly cloudy blue above her. Her grin spread a little wider. When she could no longer be drawn in by them, she found better fascination in the field grass. The breeze made pleasant waves in the yellow and it stumbled over when it reached the edge of the layer of grass when there was a wooded area or a pond. Birds chirped happily, and their melodies drifted in the wind, creating a song for the trees to dance to. White streaks of clouds flew in the sky. Sometimes it covered the sun, sometimes they let the sun shine through, lighting up the shade and warming the breeze.
Audrey supposed that the Bard was right; moments like these were worth preserving. When it was calm and serene, it made it all worth living, all worth saving, all worth doing. But it couldn't always be this way, could it? She didn't understand why the natural order could be broken just because someone had been so passionate. Moments didn't last forever. Waves of sadness always found a way to crash into the mainland and drown the happiness and sometimes it was incredibly hard to revive said happiness.
The poor bard probably got depressed every now and again, though he seemed happy-go-lucky most of the time. Audrey never understood how someone could be that lucky to receive the gift of joy, though she figured it had its drawbacks as well. However, someone as dismal as the witch was on their team, and she had such a negative output on the world that Audrey didn't expect her to even try to be a hero.
She didn't expect them to become heroes.
Audrey was proven wrong. At first, the thought left a sinking feeling in her stomach, but the more she thought, the more she felt lighter and more at ease. She laid back down in the grass under the shadow of the tree. Her hand hovered over the soft grass, sometimes petting a clover or daisy hidden somewhere in the tall blades. It didn't matter now. What was done was done, and she couldn't take it back no matter how much she wanted to. Her face fell.
She tensed up when she felt the familiar coolness of metal on her fingertips (when had she lost her gloves?) and the familiar sting of magic stimulated on it's blade.
She coaxed herself into sitting up after a while to glance at the weapon lying useless on the ground beside her. The sunlight that shone through the leaves of the tree captured the sword in rutilant light, the reflection of lightning leaving a familiar feeling installed in her stomach. Audrey knew this was the crave for power inside her and the sword was calling out to it, crying desperately to be used, to be held, to kill.
