Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

42. Cowards

"Hey idiots, listen up!"

Eternity probably should have thought of a better introduction to the thorough scolding she was about to give her best friend's extend family. But the words had popped out, so oh well, at least they got everyone's attention. And it wasn't like Eternity cared what they thought of her, they weren't her family. 

(Somewhere deep inside, she did care, and she wanted them to be her family, craziness and all. But that was one of the many things she refused to acknowledge, like much of her own feelings. Besides, no matter how much she liked the Wibberlys, it was Lili she was closest to, and Lili she felt it was her duty to defend. Lili would do the same for her, after all.)

Never one to back down, Eternity squared her shoulders and strode over to the head of the table, where Rafe was sitting. She gave the room a once over with her best and most confident death glare, and her confidence grew as she realized silence had fell and all eyes were on her.

Eternity wasn't much of a speaker, but she didn't shrivel in the spotlight either. Her mouth pulled into a tight line, allowing her one more second to collect herself before starting her rant.

"Lili is amazing, but you don't need me to tell you that. You've known her longer than I have, and besides, I'd probably just mess up while trying to describe her. So I'm not gonna waste time on that," Eternity said. Her audience looked rightfully guilty already, though they also didn't seem thrilled about getting yelled at by a sixteen year old two of them had only met today. 

"What I am gonna say is; she loves you more than anything. Seriously, she'd do anything for her family, and you can tell when she says that, she means it. You all are her world. And if I had to bet, I'd bet she's probably beating herself up because she thinks you're afraid of her, or that you're going to hate her, and that's one of her worst fears."

"We aren't afraid of Lili," Clare protested.

Michael nodded, "of course not. Her magic is just-"

"Unstable, darkly aligned, incredibly powerful," Eternity finished, her voice biting, "yeah, I know. Reading magic is kinda my thing. But you know what, it comes from her soul, and it's a part of her, so I'll never fear it. Because it's Lili, and Lili would never hurt me. She would definitely never hurt you."

"Yes, but-"

"No, I don't wanna hear it," Eternity snapped, "I know you don't get what she's going through, I mean how could you, you don't live here with her and you haven't gone through it yourself. But you're gonna have to start understanding, like, right now, because she needs that from you. You just betrayed her and now you have to make it right, because being let down by the people who are supposed to love you most has a way of crushing you like nothing else."

"You say that like you know," Richard said softly.

Eternity shrugged, a bit harder than she needed to, "I do know. But this isn't about my problems."

She swung her bare feet up onto the table, leaning back in her chair. She could see Michael fighting the urge to chastise her for it. A very petty part of her was glad that she was annoying him. 

"You're right, Eternity. I wish I could take it back," Michael said, "Lili should never have had to hear that."

"It's not about what she heard, Michael," Gabriel chimed in, admonishing the younger man softly, "it's about the fact that you said it."

Eternity shot the warrior ghost a glance of appreciation. He put it a lot better, and more politely than she ever could, especially when she was fired up and feeling betrayed on Lili's behalf (and her own; she thought the Wibberlys were better than this, despite knowing at heart that everyone was destined to let people down in the end).