Aftermath


Time brought resignation and melancholy sweeter than common joy

-Emily Bronte


Eva Anesdottir was old, too old to be standing out in the biting autumn rain that was lashing against the ground in stinging waves and battering against the trailers the rest of the circus was taking refuge in. The cold sank through her skin, through what few muscles she had left, and wrapped around her bones to make them ache.

She paid it little mind, too focused on the scene before her.

It was barely visible through the rain, but Eva could just make out the bent metal and twisted plastic that was all that was left of the tent. And all that was left of her granddaughter.

Pursing already bloodless lip the old fortuneteller willed the ashes – already long washed away – to pull themselves together, for structures to right themselves, and for flames to once again roar to life and spit Leora back out.

She knew it was futile. Wishes were powerful things, but compared to the wish of another she knew hers was merely a drop in a well compared to a churning ocean. That was how it always was.

That didn't stop her from trying.

"You're going to catch your death out here," A voice called out behind her, the smooth baritone lilting in an accent she had never been able to place despite all the years she had known the man, "Can't have your husband trying to kill me more than he already is."

"You deserve it." she snapped back, but without any real heat. The electrical system had degraded faster than is should have, no matter how much they worked to repair it. Even if they had just replaced the whole thing something else would have started the fire, one way or another. White flames were not to be denied when a wish was deemed worthy. Even if the owner of the flames was unaware.

The rain was suddenly blocked, causing Eva to blink dumbly up at the dancing elephant design of the umbrella for a few moments as a blanket was wrapped around her shoulders. The circus master gave her a small smile that didn't do much to change the sadness in his eyes.

"Leora's a strong young woman, Eva. Whomever she's helping, she'll do us proud."

"That doesn't change the fact that I've lost five children now, Philip." Eva shot back even as she slumped in resignation, not bothering to resist as she was steered towards a trailer and helped up the steps.

Her husband was waiting by the door with another blanket and a flask, the glare he pinned her with demanding no argument as she was tucked up on the couch and ordered to drink.

Not having the strength to argue, Eva downed the vodka with the ease of years of practice, sighing in quiet relief as it warmed her bones up some.

Settling down next to her, Viktor switched to glaring at Philip and Yaozu who had taken up residence in the chairs opposite them. Yaozu was glaring right back.

They sat like that for almost an hour, the only sound being the slosh of each person's personal bottle of liquor. Despite the glares, it was a comfortable silence, one only broken when Yaozu put his bottle down on the nearby coffee table with a solid thunk.

"I still believe we should have told her."

"Told her what, exactly?" Philip asked as he swirled the remaining contents of his bottle, "That her soul housed the incredibly rare Star Flames? That as soon as a wish was made that said flames agreed with her Flames would latch on and pull her through to another world? She wouldn't have believed us, and it's not like we had any proof to give her. Flames don't exist here."

"Ours do." Viktor rumbled, his accusing glare not letting up in the slightest.

Not bothering to deny it Philip let his hand light up with white flecked orange Flames, spiraling it around his fingers until they resembled candles. He eyed it for a moment, an old longing in his eyes, before letting them snuff out.

"It was better that she didn't know." The circus master told them quietly, sagging back into his chair, "Stars break when they fall, even if only slightly. If we had told her, despite not believing us, she would've been more aware and her flames more active. She'd have been pulled through too early, before she had time to become more than a spark. The Fall would've killed her."

"That doesn't make it hurt any less." Eva whispered softly, leaning into her husband in a rare need for affection. The arm that was placed around her spoke volumes of Viktor's own emotional state, if only the few in the room who'd known him for years.

"No. It doesn't." Philip agreed, the faraway look back in his eyes, "But I'd rather this than have her burn out like my Stella did."

"That wasn't your fault, Philip." Viktor growled, and the circus master sent him a wire smile.

"I know it wasn't, at least not directly, but it was still my wish that made her Fall. Her Flame was too unstable after to be able to reestablish an orbit for long. No matter how much I tried to help." Philip lit up his hands again, staring at the flecks of white Flame that Stella had left in his own when she realized she was going dark, "I may not have killed her but I played a key role in it."

So lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice the flask before it clocked him firmly between the eyes. Flailing slightly, he caught the nearby curtain on fire with his still Flame covered hands and had to tear them down and stomp on them to keep the trailer from burning down like the Big Top.

"What the hell was that for?" he snapped, jerking around to face a very unimpressed looking Eva.

"Stella's not here to hit you when you need it, so that job falls to me now." Eva snapped right back, "She didn't use the last of her Flames to send us all here just so you could wallow in misery. We all miss her. Do not blame yourself for something you could not control. Stars are what they are, and Stella went through a lot before she managed to find you. There was war, Philip. The damage she had was not because of you and you could not have fixed her Flames even if there was a way for Stars to Harmonize with Skys. Stop beating yourself up for not being able to do what was impossible in the first place."

"Stella sent us here so we could be safe and happy, Philip." Yaozu spoke up then, causing his Sky to whirl around to face him, "Do not go against her wishes."

"We'll keep doing what we have always done since coming here." Eva spoke up again quietly, but with a note of steel running through the words, yellow light dancing in her eyes as the air warmed with the heat of the Flames she could no longer manifest. "We will continue with the Circus, continue helping any Stars we find grow, and continue living the life of peace and safety Stella somehow managed to tear a hole in the universe for us to achieve. We will live."

"We've lived almost three hundred years since I made that wish." The circus master reminded them petulantly, but with a small smile inching its way across his face.

"Expect at least a hundred more, Astley." Viktor drawled dryly, "I don't see Stella's Flames running out anytime soon."

"It wasn't her intention to blur the passage of time for us when she was blurring the walls between worlds." Philip shot back as he picked his bottle of whiskey back up.

"Still happened." Viktor grunted, before jerking a thumb in Yaozu's direction, "If kúkalabbi over there wasn't such a good liar we'd have been found out a few centuries ago."

"What did you call me?" the Chinese man hissed, the bottle he had picked back up cracking in his hands as Indigo Flames stared leaking from his eyes.

"Farðu til helvítis, kúkalabbi." Viktor sneered back.

The resulting brawl shook the trailer, and had most of the furniture being smashed to pieces before the two old men were kicked outside to continue their fight in the rain.

Philip or Eva could have stopped them at any time; even in their old age they were more than capable of breaking up a fight on their level. It was just nostalgic to watch them fight. Proof that even though so many years had passed some things would never change from how things were before. Namely, Viktor and Yaozu's intense hatred of each other.

Philip was mostly just glad that the brawls no longer included weapons that were pulled out of varying shades of purple fire.

They were too old for that.