Thorn in his Side

The Death of a Star

Special chapter to mark the news about Betelgeuse (a star in the Orion constallation) going nova. At the time of posting it may have gone nova or it might be in the next few weeks, decades or who knows, it's a difficult science to pin down an exact time but all astronomers agree, this is happening. Either way, it was an inspiration for this.

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There are some events in the heavens so rare, most mages would never experience it. The founding of a new constellation. The changing of a constellation's spirit. The death of a star.

When she received the golden scroll from Loke, she thought Stache Face wanted to see her newest babies. No, she was to attend a parting ceremony as the stars said goodbye to Orion, the Hunter. The star Betelgeuse was to go nova and would leave the constellation incomplete. It's fragments only resigned to history for what he was.

She had never met the spirit and never searched for his key. If he had a holder, Lucy could feel her chest ache for them. When she broke Aquarius's key, the pain of losing her friend had been hard enough. This was something different, at least Lucy could eventually find a restored key. There would be no restoring Orion.

The tragedy of Ophiuchus had left his key black but one of his stars did not go nova on its own. No, a young Merlin had destroyed it in fear. She eventually returned the star to the sky, but the damage had been done and for the serpent bearer, there was no return. Lucy wondered if her husband's best friend could undo this.

She finished stacking diapers in the large blue and pink bag as Ram started fussing. Lucy smiled as she helped her little man out of his blue blanket, he hated being swaddled. He was their smallest child but had a larger appetite than both the girls put together. She smiled at her son whose black eyes sparkled in happiness as she held him close.

The twins were three months old and each their own little bundles of personality. Haley was quiet, ate frequently but in smaller amounts, and loved to be cuddled. Ram liked mommy's attention, food and brightly colored toys. Haley preferred Mard's attention, much like Scimi but Lucy was a bit tired of finding Mard out of bed and dead asleep holding her in the rocking chair. She was more demanding for daddy attention than Scimitar and when Lucy would complain Haley would go into big eyes cute mode.

"Ready to go on a trip today Ram?" Lucy asked her son as she sat in the wooden and wicker rocking chair and prepared to nurse him. Her son smiled wide at her before raising his chubby hand and holding her finger while he suckled.

She rocked in the chair while he ate, Ram able to smile and eat at the same time. Lucy loved the fact that she had one kid all to herself, even if he was only truly happy when nursing. She bet he'd start on cereal and then solids faster than Scimi did.

"Today is a big day, you're going to meet mommy's friends. We're going to see something beautiful and sad." Lucy sniffled, she hated funerals. Her mind shot back to her mother's funeral and for a moment she could even smell the rain.

Lucy could see her small self pressed up against the golden wood casket, begging mommy to wake up. Wishing that Layla would open her eyes and smile at her. She could feel the pain as her father pulled her away and sternly told her to "shut up."

What she didn't know at the time was how badly her father hurting. Jude didn't hate her. He was just lost and grieving. Lucy couldn't relate then, but she could now and know that if it was Mard in the casket...

A tear fell down her cheek and splashed on Ram, he let go of her finger and smashed his little fist against the wetness. "Sorry Rammie," she whispered as she grabbed a white burping rag and patted the wet spot. She used it to dab at her eyes and tried to hold herself together.