Nocturne

☼ Chapter Two ~ Aurora ☼

Aurora's eyes went wide. Her jaw dropped and her mind raced, trying to connect the woman standing before her with the quiet girl she had known. The intelligent girl Aurora had passed by so many times in the streets and the hallways, the kind girl she'd barely known, the tall and regal girl she'd envied for the way Diurne had looked at her, the girl she'd modelled her relationship with Diurne after her friendship with Eliana, the girl she'd worried about for her quietness and admired for her wisdom. The girl that was standing there, in a messily patched gown, and with a hand-forged steel moon shining over her heart in a temple of the sun.

For the first time, the temple didn't seem so much like home to the yellow-eyed teen. The love and laughter that usually brought the place to life had faded, absorbed into the bone-white pillars and frozen marble floor. Any noise in the normally raucous place was jarring and unwelcome. Even breathing felt unnatural and loud.

Aurora glanced at Diurne at found her leaning forward, rapt, purple eyes filling with depths that Aurora did not know. An arrow pierced Aurora's heart when she noticed how alive those eyes were. They were now so easily filled with emotions that Aurora had to work so hard to see on her friend's face.

A thought struck her like a slap to the face. Could Diurne... agree with Asa?

Everyone was watching Lord Elios now. The High Priest of the Sun walked to the Brazier and turned to face Asa and the crowd. To Aurora's surprise, his wrinkled face was sympathetic instead of angry like many members of the crowd. "Asa, dear..."

The assembly waited without breath.

Aurora suspected they all had different reasons for their anticipation- and their fear.

"I'm sorry. I cannot help you." Lord Elios leaned forwards on his elaborately carved birch walking stick. "I am High Priest of Light, and you seek the path of the Dark. I cannot do for you what you wish."

Asa bowed her head. She wiped her hands on her skirt and a shuddering breath escaped her lips. "I know, my lord. I simply..." Lord Elios smiled at her. "You hoped. That is good. And your hope is not without reward. For, you see..."

Aurora was almost certain she imagined what happened next. It couldn't have been as she remembered it, could it? Even years later she would still wonder if it had happened.

He turned and made eye contact, smiling as if he knew something he could never share, but something that made him happy, gave him hope for a brighter future. His warm brown eyes were smiling... at Diurne. Diurne. And while Diurne was still blinking from shock and confusion, he spoke. "I cannot help you, but very soon, someone will come along who can."

Then he turned and walked away.

And Asa was alone. Everyone avoided her like her defiance was a contagious disease no one wanted their children exposed to. Eliana, however, immediately started after her. Aurora grabbed Diurne's hand as she ran after her sister.

The rebel was moving towards her family, the crowds parting as she walked, throwing barbed comments and suffocating rumours around like candy during a parade. Asa's parents sent a glance their daughter's way. They pushed Asa's little brother away with a friend before turning to face their more disobedient child with reluctance and rage.

Asa began to speak but her mother raised an accusing hand at her. Muscles toned from years of forge-work bulged in barely contained anger. "No. You have brought shame upon your family. We have given you so much, and yet you threw it away in public to pursue a shameful path never even open to you on a whim!"

Asa stepped back, eyes and fists clenching shut. "It was never a whim, Mother. This the path I've been longing to follow for years. I'm sorry to have shamed you, but I hope you can see that this is the right choice for me." Her voice was careful, with measured amounts of honest emotion dripping off of it. It was a little awe-inspiring to Aurora, how in control she was, even when she was so obviously and understandably distraught.

Her father shook her head, clutching her hands to her chest. "Asa..." he said, then trailed off, unsure. "I'm sorry, but... we can't." Asa looked from her father to her mother, a sob threatening to punch through her throat. "Can't what? Father? What can't you do?"

Her mother shook her head, her heavy brow bunched and lowered. "Can't let you stay. We don't care what you do, as long as you don't come anywhere near me or my family ever again, Lunatic!" Asa staggered backwards at the slur from her once-mother and fell on top of Diurne, who barely noticed, simply remaining frozen in place, a terrified, empty look on her face.

Diurne was watching Asa's ex-family stride away, a faraway look in her eyes. Aurora was worried. Diurne looked like it had been her that had been disowned, not some self-proclaimed Lunar!

Lord Elios was observing the scene from an unobtrusive platform, his white robes falling around him, pristine as gold and jewellery. Through the crowd, his warm brown eyes somehow met Aurora's yellow ones. A shiver went down her spine and she turned away to escape his piercing yet gentle stare into her soul.

Her gaze fell on a quavering dark figure at the edge of the crowd, surrounded by gawking and superstitious distance. Only Diurne was near her, and Aurora could see Eliana well within Asa's line of sight, doing absolutely nothing to help her once-best friend. She seemed hesitant, and afraid, and more than a little betrayed.

Aurora understood, of course, but she thought it was a bit ridiculous. She would have to have a serious discussion with her older sister when they got home.

The thought made her smile.

Aurora placed a hesitant hand on Asa's shoulder. "Do you need a place to stay?" she asked. Asa couldn't stay in the Acolyte dorms, of course, but Aurora couldn't allow her to be homeless! Who knows what would happen to her?

Diurne agreed. "You could stay at my place? If you wanted?" Asa hesitated. She clearly wanted to accept, but she and Aurora both knew no proper Solar would allow a heathen like her to stay with them.

Someone cleared his throat behind them. Lord Elios strode into the middle of the group. "Asa, dear, you needn't worry about accommodation. You are welcome to stay in the House of the New with the youngest Acolytes. I'm sure your friend Aurora here would be happy to guide you."

Aurora hid a frown.

Asa bowed to him. "Thank you, my lord. I will accept your offer for now. Tell me how I may be of assistance." Lord Elios looked at her with dusty brown eyes, deep-sunk into his weathered face.

"Many will tell you something- 'Out of sight, out of mind'. To know the answer to your question, simply decide: will your defiance be forgotten? Will this city forgive you? Or will you help forge a new path as you forged the moon you now wear over your heart?"

Asa's hand went to her heart, clutching the silver-coloured pendant. Her blue eyes were wide as the old man winked and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. They all stared after him for a few moments.

Aurora sighed. "Well, c'mon then, Asa. I'll show you to the House." She glanced over her shoulder at Diurne's parents. Di had been acting strange lately, even more than normal. If she were considering refusing the gold at her own ceremony...

Her parents needed to know. It was for her own good. No Lunar could live a happy life... Could they?