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I HAVE BURNED MY TOMORROWS, AND I STAND INSIDE TODAY
At the edge of the future, and my dreams all fade away
Ophelia travelled ceaseless, but she was glad that, for once, she had company. Torleik’s heavy footfalls at her side were like music in the crisp, autumn night, and lightning bugs danced around their sides. She had many responsibilities as lead – some of which she took upon herself entirely. Sitting in her icy throne while others did her work caused a few problems, so she preferred to do it on her own. Who could she trust to tell her the truth? Who could she trust to forge the right ties? Hotaru, perhaps, but even then the strawberry mare had made a few enemies. No, some things were best done on your own. The pale princess failed to mention her overwhelming addiction to knowledge and secrets, which was a strong guiding force to her involvement across Helovia.
But as she walked into the World’s Edge with Torleik, she felt confident, structured. They Grey had been a wild dynamic of mercenaries and fighters, unstable, but the Aurora Basin had been far more comforting than she had anticipated. She had grown rather fond of Ulrik, Thranduil and Hotaru. The group of unicorns was fascinating and taciturn, but they were also wildly intelligent and keen. Ophelia found herself attempting to keep up with their spies and overwhelmed by the battle prowess of Deimos and Torleik. In the snowy north, their fortress was fortified with machines and unique, strange souls, and she had grown to appreciate having this place to call ‘home’.
Thus, she stood in a forest, newly emptied after a victorious battle, speaking words she barely believed herself. She spoke of peace, unity and good when she knew the world was empty and unbalanced. But maybe, just maybe, there was some good, and her eyes flickered to Torleik, finding that even now, she did not understand him at all. He was neither a simple nor overly complex puzzle, but the pieces were cut in ways she could not grasp. Honestly, she had grown to appreciate the mystery – the surprise of never knowing what he would do next.
Until now.
Torleik spoke, and she listened openly, but when he offered himself as candidate for lead, the tidal wave of emotions roiling inside swallowed her whole. Ophelia’s expression remained neutral, the light in her strange, two-colored eyes turning to hardened, icy walls. He wanted to leave.
Overwhelming emotions locked behind an icy door, leaving her heart like an empty freezer. Cold. Nothing. Numb. She was still as a statue, marble cut from purest stone. The rest of his words floated on the surface of her drowning sea, barely reaching her ears, because he wanted to leave. Torleik had invited her to the Aurora Basin, shared his home with her, and now she was not enough. No reason to stay.
What was she expecting? That this would be different? A cruel voice in her head laughed, accusing her of naivety again. Her heart beat dully in her chest, and she opened her mind, allowing her dark curiosity the final stab of the knife from his thoughts. If he was to sever it all now, let him do so while she was unfeeling. A plea met her mind, and she stared into his deep, blue eyes vacantly. He thought he was protecting her? She did not need protecting. Not like this.
If he wanted to be by her side, why leave? Too many questions. None of it made sense, not to her. Did growing together truly mean being apart? Did absence really make the heart grow fonder? Ophelia did not know, but she did not dare to hope – not yet. Absence was an open door to worlds you had never known before and new fates which might fall into place easier than her awkward, broken fit. She believed that what he thought was truth, but all who left did not return, not to her anyway. Ophelia would always be an easily or forcibly forgotten past time in a world of pleasures, and only time would prove to him that she was right. Patterns do not change. There were no outliers in the equation of her life.
She imagined he would argue – tell her that she was wrong. Maybe she would be. Could she fault him for believing in them? Could she fault him for thinking that this could work? For wanting to try? No. And so she would wait, watch and observe his growth. As much as this hurt, she knew he believed he was doing right by himself and the world, and she was not worth casting that all aside. Ophelia would not ask that of him.
Maybe this was all there was? Maybe she should just enjoy the time she had until their roads separated completely. Maybe…
“You would make a fine King,” she murmured in his head. “I… I hope you are right.”
@[Torleik]
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[O] Silent beauty, silent ending [Torleik]
