In Her Waking [Formerly Breathe . . .]

Chapter 29

I huffed the second I was back in my old room in the worker prison. The atmosphere in there seemed colder and empty but that couldn't bother me.

I had Awre's card tucked in my pants. I pulled open the wardrobe. Of course, white jumpsuites were intact. I couldn't suppress the urge to roll my eyes.

I didn't notice Elmonde standing by the door with her ankles crossed.

"Look who finally decided to show up."

I don't know what came upon me, relief or anxiety or fear that something worse would take place but I pulled the ginger headed teenager into a tight hug.

"Please don't break me." She wheezed.
I had no idea I was a tight hugger.

"How'd it go? Did you find out anything?" Elmonde asked.
"Well yes. We did really."

I took time to explain to her our meetings with time, the attacks and Araya's memory.

"You?"

She rambled. "You have no idea how bad I want my job back! My fingers sting and for some reason everyone's been feeling so sober, depressed. She's made us bend winter's gold thrice as hard as we used to and Denvera supervises."

"She's still here?" I asked.

"Well she left for a while. Then she came back." Elmonde groaned. "You have no idea... the torture. It's unbearable!"

I inclined my head.

"So many people she's hurt, killed even with her deathly stare." Elmonde said. "I only knew the forget wars were about taking humans but this? What motives are these for? Why?"

I wanted to point out that I had recently just explained that Mañana wants to bring back the black fairy but I decided otherwise.

"Is Theadoress okay?" I asked, snapping Elmonde out of her self pity.

Her eyes were filled with a light film of tears. "She's gone."

To be honest I hadn't bonded with that her a lot.

She just seemed to be that random character in a movie that's there for a short time to make everything feel better.

But it stung. "What do you mean she's gone."

Elmonde and Theadoress seemed to have bonded like sisters and it irked me that I knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Mañana said something to her and she freaked out. She yelled at Mañana and well... You know the rest."

"Oh." And I said nothing more.

"Are you gonna... Figure this out? You can right?"

I had already considered ditching this whole mess and fleeing home but of course I couldn't tell her that was what I had in mind.

"Well... Quilpxe and the rest can handle it."

I know I promised to help them stop whatever was coming but I couldn't and that was a fact.

Well at least I thought so. It's not like I could just stand up to an all powerful whatchamacallit and destroy her.

Someone who from the stories was a tyrant. That certainly wouldn't happen.

Was I some kind of saviour or what?

"So you won't help them anymore?" She asked.
"That's not what I said." I countered.
"Liar..." She muttered under her breath but loud enough that I felt guilted.

I cleared my throat and pretended to look through the wardrobe. It's not like I would find anything different in there.

"I'll... Go now." Elmonde said.
"Oh, yeah..." I grunted.

Moments after Elmonde was gone I pulled Awre's card out of my pocket.

There was nothing embedded on it. I guessed I didn't need any new virtues.
Probably all my thoughts were right?

I sighed.

I looked at the card one more time. Something was out of place.

Something was wrong.

I smoothed its face with my thumb and then I noticed what was wrong.
Of course there was a writing there but it was fading.

Slowly it was fading. I squinted my eyes at whatever was written there.

Bravery.

But it kept on fading till the face of the card fell plain.

Was it referring to me?
For someone who's bent on being nice that sure wasn't.

I guess.

I tucked the card beneath the mattress and lay on my bed, drifting into some well deserved rest.