Kahlua stood resting in the small corner of the World's Edge that she had decided was her own. The little horseshoe grove, sectioned off by trees, held small collections of jewels and gems that the girl had gathered during the endless night. She felt safe here, as she did in every section of the World's Edge, so despite the occasional scurry of woodland creatures through the land or the sounds of horses traveling to and fro, Kahlua did not feel inclined to wake from her slumber until she was good and rested. When her eyes finally fluttered open, they opened to a bright and happy sun. The mare just knew it was going to be a good day. Of course, she just knew that every day was going to be a good day. With hardly a sad thought ever creeping into her brain, especially since the sun's return, she was in better spirits than she had been in a long time.

So, when she caught sight of a familiar frame through the trees heading toward the cliff, Kahlua could not help but follow. Bounding joyful to her friend, Kahlua sputtered out brightly, “Antheia, I've got great news!” The joy in her tone was evident. She couldn't wait to begin to tell her friend that she had been named Glazier in the apparent absence of Lace and Aaron. Their disappearance was unfortunate, but Kahlua did not mourn the matter at all. Soon, though, her thoughts traveled to a conversation that seemed so far in the past now that she could hardly remember the words. “But then I thought... I thought you were not welcome here, my friend?” Kahlua did not ask her to leave, but the words foretold all the confusion she was feeling. Was she supposed to send this mare away now, despite their friendship? Was she was supposed to allow her to stay, despite Mirage's will? She snorted in frustration, her smile turning to a frown of befuddlement. In trying to figure out her own feelings, she barely noticed the look of sorrow that Antheia wore upon her face.

@[Antheia]

Dear Kahlua, the painted mare that Kahlua considered nearly her twin began to speak. For a moment, memories of the time they had run through the woods like fools, playing tag, flitted through Kahlua's head. But even the stupid mare could not ignore the tones of sorrow and death that danced between Antheia's words like fairies dance in the moonlight. Antheia weaved her tale and though Kahlua could not ignore the sadness, it did not mean she understood it. Her brows furrowed as she tried to make sense of the words, but sense would not just come. She began shaking her head, at first in frustration and then in disbelief as Anthiea gave herd ying wish. I need you to watch over Feritas, Harmony and Abishia for me. Don't let me down Kahlua. Kahlua didn't even know who they were, save Harmony. Love, Antheia.

“No.” She said as the mare looked at her with teary eyes and took a step backwards. The word was a vehicle that delivered every ounce of confusion and fear and misunderstanding that the mare was feeling right now. “No!” she said again, more forcefully this time, as if she could convince the unicorn to change her mind. As Antheia looked towards the sky and then back to Kahlua, the stupid mare began prattling on again. “No! No! NO! NO! NO!” The sound started softly, raising in volume each time she said it. Even as Antheia was telling her to say goodbye to Harmony, Kahlua was still saying no. And then she was screeching it, just saying the word over and over again as Antheia took her last step backwards over the cliff.

“NO! NO! NO!” She screamed uselessly, running towards the edge of the cliff then stopping before she too fell off, rocks tickling off the edge after Antheia's body. “NOOOOO!” The hollow cry ended with a terrible, glass-shattering shriek of a whinny as Antheia's body hit the water and Kahlua backed away from the cliff side with fright and confusion in her soul. Tears that had been welling up flowed over and the mare sat and sobbed uselessly, collapsing into a heap on the ground, periodically muttering, “No, no, no,” through her sobs and hiccups. If she had been capable of thinking in that moment (or at any moment) she would have wondered why she was so terribly broken up. Antheia was a friend, but they had hardly seen each other these past few months. Was she sad for the mare's death? Was she angry that she had had responsibility forced upon her that she did not want? Was she crying for the very idea of death, and not the actual death? Perhaps it was all three. She did not know. So instead, she uselessly laid in the grass, flopped down onto her side, ribs heaving in and out as she fought for air between her terrible cries and sobs.

This day felt as if it was dragging by as slowly as molasses, each drip as painful as living for months awaiting your impending doom. Scuff marks marked her path in places from lack of energy to pick her pillars up as high as normal. Maybe it was an incoming change in weather that had put her in this strange mood or something else entirely but to say she was enjoying it would be a lie. After a day spent wandering around rather aimlessly nothing had presented itself that seemed to hold her attention for more than a couple minutes. She had still been unable to find a job that could give her something to do that would be helpful for the rest of the Edge. Various choices had been mentioned but she had yet to find others of those positions to ask, well interrogate to get down to the fine details. Alas it would have to wait for another day now she thought sighing in frustration at her failure.

Rounding a corner her spirits perked at the sight of familiar faces a few paces ahead. A small smile touched her lips remembering their encounters and the joy it had brought to her tired soul essentially helping to pick her up out of the ashes. The beautiful Antheia stood alarmingly close to the cliff's edge as she spoke to her other friend Kahlua who she had met on one of her journey's. The crashing waves obscured their voices from earshot making it impossible to hear what they were chatting about. Seconds passed and clearly something was very wrong with the picture unfolding before her eyes, the energy radiating from her friends was not one of joy as she had experienced before with them but one of sorrow and anguish. Her smile faded as the reality hit her, things were about to get really bad.

Before her eyes Antheia turned towards the cliff and stepped off into the unknown. Stumbling as the shock took her and emotion choked her throat she could only stare into the empty air where Antheia had stood. Screams filled the air as Kahlua witnessed the same tragedy only to rush into a frenzy trying to help her lost friend that could not be saved. Kahlua's frightened cries melded together until it was not her voice that projected into her auds but rather the screams of her family on the day of the massacre. So much pain, terror and panic reigned through the vocals paralyzing her muscles as she was forced to relive the entire scene again in her head. Why had she run away when she did, maybe if she stayed things could have been different, she was a coward.

Another cry broke through her shocked mind bringing her back to Kahlua crumpled on the ground at the cliff's edge. The cry she came to realize was that of her own as moisture welled up overflowing from her glassy orbs to stream down her face. Managing to move her legs once again she cautiously moved to Kahlua's side on legs of jello amazed she did not fall. Her heart almost ceased to beat in her chest as a cold numbness spread like wildfire across her frame. Not being able to bear the thought of looking over to the waves below afraid of what she might see, her cranium lowered to gently touch the shoulder of her friend. Her mind was incapable of forming any intelligible form of communication, all she could do was offer her touch to the fae not knowing what to do or say.

It had been only days since she had conversed with Antheia what had happened between then and now? She sensed that something was bothering the mare even then, why did she not push the subject further? Maybe she could have prevented this from happening, or at least found help to stop it. Why did she not trust her gut when it told her something was not right? Maybe she could have changed things, did she fail again when a similar scenario presented itself?


NOTES: Saddest thread I have read in a long time :(

Seconds felt like eternity as Kahlua lay crumpled on the ground, shaking with the very effort of breathing. Air entered her lung in gasps, her lungs seeming to close down her chest like they did not want the very essence of life that Kahlua was trying to force into them. The white of her eyes was red already, so many tears had fallen. Her heart felt like it was being stabbed, her organs seeming to rip from her chest and abdomen. Kahlua was too feeble to deal with death and beautiful though she was, she was not pretty when she cried.

Somewhere amidst her choking sobs, a nose touched her shoulder. Kahlua did not even flinch. She hardly felt the touch, except that a warm breath of air flowed around her skin. It contrasted with the terrible coldness that was eating away at her insides, threatening to steal her very life away. For along while, the painted beauty continued to stare blindly into the blue abyss above. Slowly, after many minutes- or was it hours?- she found that her breaths were coming more easily. She did not hurt less, but at least she could breath. And at some point, she had run out of tears. Her pain was a dry torture now. The very inkling of a thought that this feeling might last forever fluttered through her brain. The thought was fleeting, but that did not make it seem less real.

Twisting her neck, Kahlua slowly moved and tried to reach Brisa's cheek with her nose. She blew a soft breath of air before letting her head fall back to the ground. The effort was so much. Somehow, she found words. “She jumped...” she began softly, her voice nothing like the one Brisa would have heard upon their meeting not so long ago. That meeting had been in the darkness. For the first time since the endless night had come, Kahlua wished it was still here. If the night was still here then Antheia was not dead.

“Antheia jumped off the cliff...” she repeated this time, not knowing that Brisa had seen the whole thing. Even if she had known, it wouldn't have changed her words. She was in no mood or state of mind to think of more intelligent words. Softly, she sighed and stared at the mists that floated around her. Why? she asked herself, but she had no answer. Reaching out to the only one that was near, she begged for some sort of understanding or resolution. “What do we do?” The tone of her voice was no less than that of someone groveling for their life. She needed help. How could she go on?

@[Brisa]- sorry for the delay, been busy with school and building walls; also, sorry Kahlua's so dramatic, although I have to admit I'm kind of liking this side of her :)