"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
When it was confirmed that they could stay here, Beyza had shamelessly used her magic to send a message to Livinia, telling her friend where she and the girls could be found. There was never a question of whether she should trust the grey mare, she did without even thinking about it. And if Livinia turned around and told Jamie where they were, that was something Beyza would deal with when the time came.
So she is not worried about it. Not when she had sent the message, not now when she starts smiling with a complete lack of surprise when she sees her friend walking towards her across the soft white beach.
Beyza glows softly where she stands in the shallow water, a full moon shining overhead and glinting off of the tropical water that looks black now but will shine a brilliant turquoise when the sun rises in a few hours.
Everything is picturesque here.
It's softer, kinder, and there are no dark memories for Beyza here. It is a different life than she thought she was going to have, entirely different than what she thought she wanted, and for now the crystalline mare is going to focus on enjoying it.
She waits for Livinia to join her before commenting mildly “Just a little different than Pangea, isn’t it?”
While Livinia had not been upset when the darkness had descended upon Beqanna, she felt no remorse when the sun had come again. She had known it would, one day, and with the darkness had come the monsters and while they had never wanted her – why would they want something that wasn’t living – she knew they would always pose a threat to others she cared deeply for. She knew Beyza could hold her own against anything that went bump in the night, but from the moment she had known Beyza was pregnant she worried for her children. The darkness was not a place for children to thrive. If anyone knew this, it was Livinia.
She had, however, kept her distance from Beyza and Jamie – not wanting to compromise their happiness with her own interference. So when she feels Beyza’s magic brush against her mind – beckoning her to come – she responds immediately. However, she does wonder why the call comes from so far from Pangea. Immediately, the questions begin to bubble in her mind, but she says nothing. Instead, she allows the smoke to take her towards the West, with her new companion following along without issue. Mera had been her saving grace, of sorts. Livinia had always struggled in isolation, and finding Mera had been the part of herself she hadn’t known she was missing. The living, breathing part perhaps. Mera chided her for the subtle self depreciation and flew on ahead, enjoying the warm ocean breeze beneath her wings.
Mera spots Beyza first, sending the image back to her bonded. The flying fox soars deeper into the island before finding a suitable branch to rest, allowing Livinia her privacy as she materializes from the smoke as she reaches the beach. The grey mare moves to join Beyza immediately, but knows in her very bones that her brother is not here. And for that, she feels nothing but relief – and is ashamed of her self for this. She’s jealous of Jamie. Not for his power or what he is capable of – but because he was able to capture Beyza’s attention and affection where she wasn’t.
But seeing Beyza now brings a smile to the smoky mare’s lips. ”I’d say it’s an improvement. Not so bleak.” She moves closer to Beyza, brushing her shoulder gently with her own cold nose. I’ve missed you, it says. She turns her crimson eyes out across the wide expanse of ocean, the physical divide between the island and the mainland is…not subtle.
”Are you okay, Bey? Are the girls?” She asks, finally looking back to her friend – the concern evident in her voice. She knows something must have happened for Bey to bring the girls here, and she has her suspicions as to the cause…
Beyza is glad to feel the gentle brush of her friend’s nose against her shoulder - a smile growing at the response to her question. This place certainly was not bleak, not even at night. When the waves were alive with bioluminescence and the brightness of the full moon. It is a paradise even when the colours are muted with darkness, and Beyza wonders how this place fared during the eclipse. Had the creatures like the one she had given birth to known how to swim?
It is her turn to reach out to Liv at the questions the fanged mare asks, a reassuring but ghost-soft touch - showing that she is thankful for the concern. “We’re all fine. I just…” They don’t talk about it - Beyza’s infatuation with Jamie - so it is difficult to bring up now. The white mare hasn’t quite figured out why when he is something they have in common. It should be a safe subject but she never mentions it and neither does Liv. They rarely even talk about him at all, except that one time when Beyza had been pregnant - when she had been flooded with all the emotions that she had spent the earlier years of her life avoiding. When she had wanted to know if he would love their daughters.
Now, of course, she knows the answer to that.
And now her voice is careful, gentle, when she tells her friend “I know he’s your brother, Liv, but we needed to be away from him.” Beyza shares with Livinia a (slightly exaggerated) memory - embellishing the grip of Jamie’s shadows on her neck as he choked her, while they stood together among his shadows and her lightning. He had done so, of course, but without projecting the fleeting pain onto Livinia this is the only way the crystalline mare can think to share it.
The stark darkness of it against her white throat.
In this moment, Beyza believes this small embellishment unharmful - otherwise, she would not have been able to share it at all. It is simply easier to share a small piece of what happened with a visual. Easier than admitting to the plan she had shared with Jamie, how the girls had been destined for something far darker so she had stolen them away.
She smiles once the memory fades, reminding her oldest friend that she is fine - unharmed - before she speaks softly. “I thought it was time we all lived with some sunlight and colour.”
