isn't it lovely all alone, heart made of glass, my mind of stone
Her eyes follow the coyote as it slips past, noting the way it seems to take a special interest in her companion. She shifts her gaze back to his, commenting idly, “The wildlife seems drawn to you.” Much in the same way she is drawn to those with an affinity for the stars, or the galaxy in general – how despite her inability to really feel anything she had found a strange sort of connection with Astrophel and Ten. He has something special, too, this curious stranger before her, but she isn’t entirely sure what. There must be a little bit of stardust in his veins, she thinks; just enough to pull her in and keep her here.
What is it like to be a star, he asks her, and her brilliant white lips carry the promise of a smile, even if it doesn’t quite reach her aubergine eyes. “It’s like being alive. You shine and you burn, and eventually, you die. But it’s different, being up there versus being down here. You can’t go anywhere, but somehow it’s always enough. You don’t want to go anywhere.” Because being a star was like any other living but still inanimate thing; like the flowers that bloom and wither, or the tide that ebbs and flows. You just are; you have your place in the world, and it is unquestionable, indeniable.
It wasn’t like this. It wasn’t like consciously knowing you were different from the rest, that something about you wasn’t right.
“I don’t think I had to. It just happened. I don’t remember much about being taken, I just remember waking up alongside my new twin sister, and from that day forward trying to figure out why I didn’t belong.” Because her sister wasn’t like her; Islas had noticed immediately, even if it had taken her awhile to figure out why she was different. They were both brilliantly white, like their mother, but Cavern could not control the starlight the way Islas could. She doesn’t think her own mother had even noticed; the circumstances surrounding the conception of most of her children were always so unique that Ryatah paid little attention to how Carnage’s magic chose to mutate.
She never even noticed the star held captive inside her daughter’s mortal heart.
“I don’t know how to be like everyone else,” she continues, her eyes still unwavering as they remain locked with his bright gold ones. “I’ve never had to feel before. It’s still a strange thing for me.”
@[Set]