Nocturne

☾ Chapter Seven ~ Diurne ☽

The walls of the city were imposing and brilliant. The sun caught their splendor and sent it spattering across the city, glittering and flashing in a daily spectacle. She didn't stop to watch it. She bolted through the polished golden gates, past the shocked guards, and onto the grass outside Apollo for the first time.

She laughed. The wind tickled her hair, blowing dark strands every which way. The burning in her lungs soothed as she slowed to a stop. She stared in wonder at the new world glimmering around her. She smiled, a true and genuine smile of the pure joy and serenity of freedom. Why didn't I ever come out here before? She wondered.

On pure impulse, she crouched and pulled off her white shoes. The grass was as soft under her toes as the air was clear in her lungs. She walked on, away from her pain and anger, away from her hurt and her fear.

This time, when she began to run, she ran with an antelope's grace and a smile singing on her face. This time, when she began to run, her tears were of love instead of hurt. This time, when she began to run, she did not run away. No, she ran towards.

When a rock speared her bare feet, she laughed from where she fell, because now she knew exactly where that 'towards' was going. Home.

The ruins were almost as vast as Apollo. Dark stone rippled up graceful towers and petite homes. Small lakes glimmered silver and ancient trees reached high into the azure sky. It was a citadel as magnificent as Apollo, but fallen, collapsed, and shattered.

She climbed through a broken fragment of the once-great wall. Small animals scattered as her feet touched the ground no human had even seen in a hundred years. Her feet disappeared into long grass, and elegant blossoms of blue and purple and white were scattered all around like the leftovers of some faerie festival. Even overgrown the place felt sacrosanct, as if even though its peoples were long gone it was beloved, watched over by some ancient benevolent force.

There was no road that she could see but an overgrown gap between buildings. She wandered with no end in sight, but she knew she would know it when she saw it. She traced silver decorations on collapsing buildings and felt a song rise unbidden from her lips.

The song filled the still air, soft and gentle, but far from delicate. It rose and swam with lazy purpose, gliding in smooth arcs, guiding her. She looked around and saw a silver fox following by her side. Her voice ceased in her throat as she let out an involuntary "Aww!" at the small fluffball. When she crouched and held out a hand, it backed away, strange purple eyes wary. The girl sat patiently, and let a few soft notes slip out.

The moonfox shook its fur and crept closer. She kept singing, strange nonsense words that enraptured the young fox. It butted its head against her hand. She petted it, and a loud rumble emerged from the small silver animal. She smiled.

She had seen sunfoxes before, gold and red fox-like creatures that lived around Apollo, supposedly blessed by Sol. But this silver variant was new to her, and she realized that perhaps the world wasn't as small and well-known as she had thought it could be. She let the song fade and the fox looked up. It leapt up onto her shoulder and she looked at it in surprise. It only continued to purr. "Well, hello little moonfox."

She looked up and took in the spiralling tower before her. A silver crescent adorned the mantle, yellow and black from tarnish. She reached up and traced it, then looked over to her new friend. "What do you think, Diane? Should I go in?" The fox purred louder and butted her cheek. She laughed softly and scratched the fox under her chin, thinking that Diane was far more of a cat than a fox. "I'll take that as a yes."

The inside of the tower was dark, but not in the way that made it hard to see. Light filtered in from somewhere, but it was so diffused it was hard to tell where it came from.