The Fog of Airyll COMPLETE

Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

The walk to Mabel's dragged on under the heavy shower. As the girl ranted with excitement about any subject under the sky, she forced herself to focus on putting a foot after the other. Her mind still hazy with exhaustion and pain made it so she could barely follow Mabel's trail of thought.

One foot after the other.

A glance towards her hands told her that they were trembling – was it from exhaustion or from pain? Or from the sheer cold that seemed to infiltrate her bones?

Holding tighter to her walking stick, she looked at the sky with its heavy black clouds. How much longer could she keep walking in the rain? She could hear her teeth rattling and guessed that she didn't have much longer. Her step faltered and her knees almost gave up underneath her.

A burst of anger filled her body. Now, when she had finally made her mind, when she had finally decided to survive?

She would make it. She damn well would make it, if for nothing else, to deliver Mabel back to her parents.

Yes, the girl... the girl had a family. She had people who cared about her, people she had been ranting about to her. People who would miss her if she was gone.

While nobody would care if she was missing, Mabel had people who would cry her death. She needed to make sure that they'd be fine.

Gritting her teeth, she dug the walking stick deep on the muddy ground and forced herself to give yet another step. She'd make it. The cheerful girl who was now ranting about apples and sugar cookies, seemingly without a care in the world.

How could Mabel trust a stranger like this? Was it because she had saved her? Was it because she was wounded and apparently harmless?

Or was it all a trick? Was she being fooled by the girl and heading even now to her death?

Her knees folded underneath her body and only her determination and stubbornness kept her from falling. Holding tight on the walking stick, she pushed herself back on her feet and kept following Mabel.

Soon, her body wouldn't be able to move anymore. Soon, she'd fail due to blood loss and hypothermia.

Soon, yes... but soon wasn't right now. She could surely hang on a little longer.

So stubborn.

The whisper made her jump, startled. That voice again. It was soft, gentle - even if she could identify the mocking laughter behind the words.

Determined to hold on, she took a deep breath and forced herself to focus on that thought. That voice, she had heard it before...

Oh, my sweet sweet Nephelle. For you, the whole world is good, isn't it?

Nephelle. Was that really her name? Or was it someone else's?

Repeating the name inside her head a couple of times, she smiled. It felt like hers. There was something inside of her that felt at ease with the name. Nephelle. It felt familiar.

Hers.

Her sight grew hazy, but for the first time she could remember, she felt like she could fly. She knew something. She remembered something.