Ciri
Her tears begin to dry half way through the trip to the island. Her soul has never been heavier, her heart has never known such pain. Of course the thought of Castile nags in the back of her mind. To find him and tell him what happened. However it feels wrong. She needs to sort through her clouded thoughts, she needs to heal. She needs to find Jah.
The cramping has started to fade but there’s still pangs in her abdomen that makes her wince, that make the trip slower. She assumes it’s guilt and stress rolled into a messy little ball, a ball and chain to drag with her as penance for causing the one she loved so much pain. She had never wanted to hurt him. Never had she expected their first declaration of love to end like this.
Of course she could have curled into a ball and cried until the end of time. Part of her wants to badly. Instead she leaves her sobbing behind on the road although the sorrow never leaves the dull strands of silver in her hollowed eyes. She doesn’t stop even when she feels the sickness push at her stomach.
Tired and heartsick, she drags herself to Ischia. Drags herself to find the red wytch that had helped her so long ago. The one that held wisdom that the stars could not give her. ”Jah” She calls shakily, trembling with the pressure of her pain. The ragged wound across her cheek almost forgotten compared to the internal turmoil she faces.
The air is warm despite the cool weather and she pushes through ferns and vines with nothing but her instinct to guide her. ”Jah!” She calls again, desperate. ”I think I messed up…” Soft words meant mostly for herself but still ringing in truth. She hated herself for feeling this way, for being this way. She had wanted to be a protector, to be good. Instead she had become a destroyer. Perhaps she belonged in the Underneath after all.
all of time and space, everywhere and anywhere, every star that ever was