AN: Set during the ten year time skip. Oz is in the Abyss. Ada is grieving. It's angst-y... Enjoy!
Cages
Her home had been drapped in the shadows of mourning. That dark Abyss they'd lost him to. Uncle Oscar was away from the house more often and Gil had gone some bad place where Uncle wouldn't take her to or even tell her where it was. The servants looked at her with pity.
All because he wasn't home.
Sometimes – rarely – Ada will call her friends over and they will play and she could almost imagine her older brother taking her hand in his and Gil's voice drifting around them in overly-concerned tones. She can pretend she isn't alone.
Sometimes, Ada was acutely aware of just how quiet the Vesalius Mansion had become.
On days like this one, she had no desire to go out.
She snuck into his room and crawls into his bed, hiding herself beneath his soft covers. It was cold, the room barely used and the fire-place devoid of even the remnants of ashes. The pillows and sheets didn't smell like him anymore, but she still imagined his blonde head poking out from under the covers and his groan as she snuggled against his side after a nightmare.
Ada had never really contemplated just how gloomy it was in here, how formal. Books were all lined alphabetically in two, ceiling high bookshelves by the fireplace. A work-table was by the window, clear of any touches he might have left behind. The plush chairs were old, but they were yet to be worn out by time – no one ever sat on them, after all.
Everything was tidy and ready for use, looking somewhat new if one looked past the layers of dust that had already began to settle over Oz's sanctuary.
She was always safe, here. Was, now it is this place that caged her, haunted her and called her to come back, come back, come back!
Had the curtains always been so thick? They didn't even allow for a wink of sunlight to pass through. Had this room always felt so cold and lonely, or was it just because of her brother's absence?
Despite those thoughts, Ada could't force herself to leave.
It's fortunate, this time, that Uncle Oscar was due to return that day. A servant came to fetch her sometime later that could have been hours or eternities since she'd first entered Oz's room. Soon Ada was getting ready to greet her last remaining relative.
She stood at the bottom of the stairs half an hour later, a few paces from the door, valiantly resisting the urge to run down and tackle her guardian like the eleven-year-old she was. She gave in, in the end, and sprinted over the small distance separating them with a sort of reckless abandon she'd though the constant weight of absence had sucked out of her long ago.
„I missed you, Ada." said Oscar as she hugged him – like a child, like a lifeline.
Ada hears him chuckle and doesn't need to look up to know her Uncle is smiling that smile. She can't help but be reminded of the brother that still hasn't come back home to her, to them, whenever Uncle Oscar smiles Oz's smile.
„I miss you too." she murmured quietly in return.
Thoughts? I'd love to hear what you have to say!