A Hero's Fall
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.
Chapter 13: Interlude: Alone
Caela remembers more than she lets on. She remembers the first night where a figure stood over her and its shadow eclipsed the room in darkness. She remembers the feel of a blade slicing her neck.
Caela remembers searching through rooms and trying to find a way to stay safe, but having to give up on the idea because there is no such thing as safety. In this place it is about intent. Salt and other methods of distraction or deterrence ward evil spirits. If the intent is not inherently evil the wards will not work.
She remembers walking into rooms and watching her friends die, she remembers trying to escape. She remembers pain and crumbling under sheer exhaustion of will. She remembers being stabbed and her flesh torn, burns, and she remembers excruciating torture. It leaves marks on the soul, but not her body.
She thinks that the worst part is not what has happened to her. No the worst part in being in this place is being alone. It isn't the fact that you never know when you are going to die, that when you die you start the day all over and are once more sucked into a situation that never seems to end and you can only remember because of your ancestry, or the fact that it will keep happening. The worst part is being alone and trying to survive. It is being terrified and not knowing if anything is happening to your family and friends and suffering alone because as long as you suffer no one else has to.
Caela knows that the worst part of being trapped is the sheer uncertainty of if you can even make it out alive when you are so alone you can barely hold yourself together.
It is when Alfred shows up she feels the weight on her heart lighten. She is not alone. Someone had heard and answered her need for someone to help. Someone had decided to help regardless of it not being their problem. Alfred came and suddenly she was not so alone. She only hopes that maybe this time the battle will not leave too many scars on her, because Alfred has helped her and she will protect him. He came to her and reminds her of why she is fighting, so the least she can do is keep him from developing the same scars that have rendered her soul, tearing it apart and putting it back together, so completely.
She thinks maybe she has a chance to go home and finally be free. She smiles as she runs her hands through Alfred's hair as he sleeps on the floor in the kitchen using her legs as a pillow. She is glad he trusts her enough to do this and that they have been able to develop some form of friendship. She really hopes they both make it out okay.
