Author's Note: Yes, this story is still alive. Yes, it has been almost four years since I updated. I had some trouble with the start of this chapter, and once again, more conversations are happening that I didn't quite intend to, which is making my outline longer. Oh well. I do love me some foreshadowing, though! Please read and enjoy, and hopefully the quality hasn't suffered! No story notes this time, for once!
The Tangled Threads We Weave
Part Twelve: What Can Be Given
Peorth wasn't entirely sure what she had expected when she woke up the next morning, but even so, a part of her was incredibly grateful to see the familiar head of blue hair beside her. So Lind hadn't left in the night; though her words had suggested that she had intended to stay, that she was going to help with Eira regardless, a tiny part of Peorth couldn't help but think that maybe the younger goddess would think otherwise. She didn't know how long Lind had been up on the roof that night, when she'd come back inside, but she must have been there for a while. At least a few hours, since it had taken some time for Peorth herself to fall asleep.
But Lind was still here.
Lind was still here, and that was the important part.
And…
Peorth glanced upwards idly, watching patterns of light shift across the ceiling, thrown from sunlight reflecting off her bracelets. Truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure her theory on Eira's abilities was going to work. It could be that Eira simply would never be able to perform large magical feats, no matter the amount of love offered to her, by anyone. And, well—she'd have to look, to see if there was any record of how great the child's magical reservoir really was, because if it was as small as she suspected, then…
She frowned. Maybe some disadvantages couldn't be overcome, but at the very least, she wanted to see Eira try.
After all, they had a stellar example in Lind, of the drive to make up for what one couldn't accomplish in simple magic alone. If Eira couldn't learn from that—oh! And quite suddenly, she remembered: Lind was training Eira today, in transportation and manifestation. That is, if Lind still intended to attempt teaching Eira, after what had been said last night.
Do you understand, Peorth, the worth of one soul?
The dark-haired goddess's frown deepened. It wasn't that she hadn't known. The denizens of Heaven were often so very proud to consider themselves above petty humans, and yet…they could be just as petty, just as terrible as mortals when it came to someone who upset their idea of 'perfection'. They hadn't liked Urd, with her black-and-white angel and her demon mother; and they hadn't liked Lind, for the separated wings of her angels. And while the situations couldn't be compared, not truly, Urd's angel could be clearly attributed to her heritage. Lind was a full-blooded goddess, and that made the appearance of her angels an outright anomaly.
And that wasn't something Peorth could ever hope to understand. Gorgeous Rose had unusual 'clothes', but those were easily connected to both Peorth's own love of roses and her earth element. She couldn't hope to understand Lind's pain—but she thought she could still try to help. That Lind had told her of that pain…even if it wasn't intentional, surely that meant something? Surely it meant that there was something she could do?
She could still try to—
"Peorth."
Lind's voice shook her out of her reverie; she blinked down at the blue-haired goddess, whose face was terribly impassive. A thought struck Peorth: had she stayed only because she felt it would be rude to leave without saying goodbye? Was that why she had remained—?
"I must apologize," the Valkyrie murmured, and the impassiveness was gone in the depths of her eyes, replaced by something like regret. She hesitated, her hair shifting across her face, a frown crossing her lips, like this was something she didn't want to say, or didn't know how to begin saying.
For leaving? Peorth wanted to say, but held her tongue. She didn't want to interrupt, when it seemed like whatever it was, was hard enough to speak once. She sat up, letting go of Lind, so that the younger goddess could do the same. She didn't want Lind to think that she wasn't going to pay attention, because that couldn't be further from the truth. She wanted to hear what the Valkyrie had to say—and she herself had to apologize, for her part. No matter if it had been ignorance rather than malice, when she hadn't known Lind personally back then, the result was the same.
"I…I shouldn't have said those things to you, yesterday," Lind carried on. "You—you didn't deserve them." They weren't meant for you, her eyes seemed to say.
"No," was what burst out of Peorth's throat, when she had been all ready to say something to the contrary. "Don't—don't apologize. Not for what you've been through. Just because I never said those things about you—I never did anything about it. I never knew you, had never met you before the Angel Eater, and it—it hadn't mattered, then." She didn't like saying it, but it was true, so very true. And she'd been thinking so much back then of competing with Belldandy, of subscribing to a grudge match that was all in her head, that the one-winged Valkyrie had never been of any interest to her.
How funny fate was, that Lind could now be considered a most important friend.
"Cher cœur," she tried again, "you did mean it, those words you said. You had to say them to someone, because you'd never said them to anyone. And—and I'm glad," and it sounded so bad, when she said it like that, but she made her best effort to smile, to lessen any potential sting, "I'm glad that you trusted me enough to tell me all that."
Lind stared up at her, surprise fixed firmly on her face. "But…those words, they were—unkind," she said, eyebrows furrowing. "I don't…it wasn't…" It wasn't about trust was the unspoken end of that sentence, the one they both understood.
"But so much of it was words repeated to you, words that others meant to hurt you," Peorth pointed out. "I should have realized what that would have meant to you, long before now. I should have tried to help. I know it's probably better now that you can call out both of the twins, but—still. I should have tried, Lind, and for that, I'm the sorry one."
The blue-haired goddess studied her for a long heartbeat, eyes blinking ever-so-slowly, like those kinds of words were of a different language that she didn't understand. And in a way, perhaps they were, for who else would have thought to apologize to the One-Winged Angel? Who else would have considered apologizing, for a fault in one's own thinking?
Do you understand the worth of one soul?
Oh, Lind, she thought morosely, your soul is no less than any other deity's, and it's Heaven's fault for teaching you that. It's all of us, for thinking that our angels are our most perfect selves, and that anything different is unworthy.
"I…"
Lind's eyebrows scrunched together. Something flickered in her eyes, something not sadness, or disappointment, but—she blinked, and the emotion was gone. "You don't…have to say that," she said at last, fingers twitching over the bracelets on her arms, like she was looking for something to do with them.
"But you deserve to hear it from someone, and that someone may as well be me."
The Valkyrie let out a long breath. Maybe she agreed, maybe she didn't; Peorth never got the chance to ask, because quite suddenly, there was a burst of feathers across her vision, and she realized abruptly that Gorgeous Rose was hugging Lind.
There had been moments in the past when Gorgeous Rose had appeared without Peorth's express call; she had heard of this, because angels were their deity's heart reflected, they could act in accordance with their deity's inner needs and wants, even if the deity themself could not, or would not, perform such actions. She had had this happen before, and yet never quite like this: in the past, Gorgeous Rose's actions had always been about trying to protect her from an unknown threat, or providing support to her, even if her conscious self didn't ask for it.
But this? Embracing Lind like the Valkyrie was Gorgeous Rose's own goddess?
This, she hadn't expected, even with all those thoughts of apologizing.
Something is profoundly sad about her, Gorgeous Rose whispered to Peorth, even though Lind couldn't hear her. Deeper than those broken words. Her angel's green eyes looked sad too, glittering with all the regret that must be written on Peorth's face. Will you ask her to call Spear Mint and Cool Mint? I would like to give them a hug, too.
The dark-haired goddess shook herself, mentally putting her thoughts back into order. There were worse things Gorgeous Rose could have done; she just wished she could've possibly warned Lind first, so that she had the option to refuse if she wanted. "Ah, Lind? Gorgeous Rose—she wants to give the twins a hug too. Can you—call them out?"
Gorgeous Rose released Lind and floated back to hover behind Peorth, her wings casting faint shadows across Lind's face. For a long moment the Valkyrie didn't answer, her gaze distant. Was she talking to her angels, in their inner world?
"…Perhaps later," Lind said, after it felt like five minutes had passed in complete silence. "It is—late, isn't it? Shouldn't we be working with Eira?"
Peorth glanced out the window, checking the amount of daylight, and felt her eyebrows rise—it was later than they usually got up. Eira had probably been awake plotting for hours!
But that wasn't the issue here. Eira would be easily dealt with, no matter what kind of prank she set up. "Are you…" Peorth hesitated only a moment before soldiering on. "Are you still showing her transportation and manifestation today?"
"—Did you want to show her something else?"
"I don't have any plans," Peorth shook her head. "Today was supposed to be your training day with her, so unless you'd rather do something else…"
"…Then it will be transportation and manifestation," Lind said, sounding a bit more firm in that choice.
Peorth bobbed her head in a nod. "Do you want me to stay?"
She asked mostly because she wasn't sure how superfluous she'd be in these lessons, much like Lind in regards to working with earth magic. If Lind didn't want her to stay, then she'd find some other way to occupy her time—maybe checking up on things with Yggdrasil, or searching quadrant twenty-one to see if she could figure out what Eira had been doing out there with those little knives of hers. But if Lind did want her to stay, then of course, she would. There was no question of that.
There had never been any question of that.
They were partners in this assignment, after all, regardless of how that had come to be. She was curious, but that topic didn't need to be brought up right now. It could wait.
Lind watched her silently, eyes narrowed. Debating, perhaps? "You can stay," she murmured. "You may be able to explain something better, if she doesn't understand when I tell her."
"She's obstinate to a fault, she could be feigning stupidity for all we know," Peorth shrugged. "Still, you're right; we should be getting to her lessons. We haven't even seen today's prank, for Heaven's sake." She made a face, shuddering; a bit exaggerated, maybe, but it was worth it for the slight quirk of Lind's lips towards a faint smile.
"Then, we should go," was all Lind said, climbing to her feet. Peorth followed suit, Gorgeous Rose returning to her body in a flash of light.
She sensed that the conversation—not Eira's lessons, but those broken words—wasn't quite over, but she could leave it where it was, for now. At the very least, she had apologized, and Lind understood that she was here for her, when needed. That was enough, for now.
She opened their door, peering out into the hallway. It was undisturbed, quiet and still. There wasn't any sign that the child had been down this way in an attempt to pull any kind of practical jokes on them. No marks on the walls, no practically-invisible tripwires, nothing lurking over their heads waiting to fall.
"Perhaps it's elsewhere?" Lind said softly from behind her.
"Possibly, but…the house is very quiet." That was unusual, especially with a little trickster like Eira running around. Usually they could hear her before they saw her, but this was different. Peorth swept a vine out through the air, and, after a long moment, stepped out into the hallway. Nothing happened. Her eyes narrowed. "You don't suppose…"
Lind's hands twitched at her sides, but she was clearly on the same page when she asked, "Where would she go? The southern sector is too far, if she wanted to reach Loki's shop…"
"Let's not jump to any conclusions without evidence," Peorth sighed. "If we just check her room—" She headed down the hallway, Lind keeping pace. She could hear some small rattling noises from inside as they approached Eira's room—so she was still here after all?—and opening the door, they found the child trying to squish the pieces of her catapult into a box, with Brilliant Sunbeam looking on and pointing out spots for the pieces to fit into.
Eira jumped, head whipping towards the door. "Geez! I'm almost ready; you don't have to stand there and stare at me!"
"Ready for what?" Peorth was baffled. Sure, she'd mentioned that Lind was training Eira today, but what did that have to do with the child's various prank items? It almost looked like she was…
Eira stared at them both, eyes narrowed, suspicion plain on her pinched face. "…You're giving me up. Right? You're giving up on being my caretakers."
What?
Of all the things Eira could have possibly said, that was nowhere near anything Peorth had expected her to say. Trying to organize her pranking material, possibly. Coordinating something with Brilliant Sunbeam, probably. But packing? Packing because Eira thought that they were resigning as her caretakers?
Where could she have possibly gotten that idea?
"Why—what in Heaven's name made you think that?"
But the moment the words left Peorth's mouth, she knew exactly why, and found herself wishing she could take those words back somehow, because how could they explain this to Eira? Eira, who had no understanding of what any of it would mean? Beside her, Lind stiffened, eyes focused on the child and her little angel.
Eira shuffled the fragments of the catapult, her gaze dropping to the wooden pieces as she did so. "I heard something break last night," she said, and for once, she didn't sound annoyed or angry or insistent. She just sounded…small. Small, like the child she was, despite all her bravado and blustering. "And it wasn't me this time, so it had to be one of you. And you were yelling. Kind of. Not really, but…it didn't sound like nice things."
"It wasn't meant for you, Eira," Lind whispered, her voice so soft that Peorth barely heard her. "It—it wasn't Peorth, either."
"That's stupid." Eira huffed, looking just a bit more like her usual prickly self. "Why would you say something to somebody that you didn't mean for them to hear?"
"Sometimes, you need to say things, even if it's not to the person that really deserves it," Peorth spoke up, cautiously, weighing her words carefully. "It helps…clear the air, a little, I suppose." She frowned faintly, wishing she had her more usual eloquence, but this was a matter that she wasn't used to trying to explain. "Regardless, I'm sorry we scared you. That was never our intent, but that doesn't matter if it came across that way."
Eira side-eyed them, at last managing to fit the catapult parts into the box in a way that would allow her to actually close it. "…So you're not giving up on being my caretakers?"
"Eira…" Admittedly, Peorth was a little relieved that the little goddess would focus on that aspect, instead of on the other words; that made it easier. She glanced over at Lind for confirmation, and the Valkyrie nodded back. "No, we aren't giving up on being your caretakers. You can't get rid of us that easily; we've put work into your magical skills, and you better believe I'm waiting for some kind of payout from all this!"
Eira puffed out her cheeks. "Keep dreaming!" She stepped back from the box, however, and Brilliant Sunbeam fluttered over to sit on her head. "So I'm still stuck with you guys, huh."
Was Peorth imagining the almost-fondness in her voice?
The little goddess's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh! I didn't do a prank this morning!"
No, Peorth had definitely imagined it.
"Don't bother," she interrupted, "we're starting on your magic lessons now, so there's no time for pranking."
"But I don't want to 'feel the grass' or try growing some stupid flowers again!"
"Eira," Lind said, quietly cutting off what would probably be the start of yet another tirade on how Eira couldn't see the point of learning any earth magic whatsoever, "did you forget?"
Eira's gaze tracked to her, narrow-eyed and suspicious. "Forget what?"
"I'm training you today."
The child blinked—clearly, she had forgotten—but then she frowned, the light in her eyes flickering. "No breaking things, though, right?"
"No breaking things," Lind agreed, "but you may find it useful regardless."
"It's not more earth magic, is it?"
"I can't perform earth magic, not really—my element is ice," Lind shook her head. "I intend to teach you something that does not rely on elemental magic."
"Huh?" Eira's eyebrows scrunched together.
Peorth clapped her hands together to draw their attention. "Eira, you're learning whether you want to or not. Lind," and she glanced towards her partner, "would you rather train her here or outside?"
"…Outside," Lind said after a long heartbeat, "she may find it easier to concentrate there."
"Yeah, right," Eira muttered, but Peorth ignored her, conjuring up the now-familiar vine-leash and connecting herself and Eira, since she figured that Lind would prefer to have both hands free for demonstrations. Not that there was a whole lot of demonstrating for transportation and manifestation, but it was the thought that counted, she felt.
"Shall we?" she asked of Lind; the Valkyrie gave a nod.
And so once again, they were sitting in that selfsame clearing in the forest, the place where all of Eira's earth magic training had taken place.
"If I'm not learning earth magic, why are we back here?" Eira complained, crossing her arms; above her head, Brilliant Sunbeam floated in lazy circles, mimicking her goddess's bored expression.
"It's a place already familiar to you," Lind explained. "You won't be distracted by trying to find something new, so it should be easier for you to focus."
Eira scoffed, resting one elbow on her knee, so she could drop her head into her hand, probably for the sake of looking even more bored with the lesson going on, as far as Peorth was concerned.
"…You will be learning transportation and manifestation today," Lind carried on, and Eira's eyebrows furrowed.
"What's that supposed to be?"
At least she's not pretending to already know what it is, Peorth reflected, dispelling the leash and settling back to watch.
"Do you recall, a few days ago?" Lind held up a hand, a snowdrop appearing there. "You were trying to make flowers."
Eira's face fell; she threw up her hands, flopping backwards onto the grass. "No! Not more flowers! I thought we were gonna do something fun for once!"
"You misunderstand," and Lind shook her head faintly. "Do you remember that conversation? I am going to show you my method. It does not require earth magic, and is not limited to flowers. You could use it on anything, as long as you have the magical reach for it."
Eira gazed up at the sky for so long that Peorth was starting to suspect she might just end up ignoring them both for the whole time. Brilliant Sunbeam, drifting over the child's head, had only a slightly puzzled expression on her face.
Then Eira sat up slowly, brushing grass from her shoulders. "Wait, if you can use it on anything, is that what you do with the axes when you're not using them? Just pull them from a closet somewhere when you need them?"
Lind's eyebrows furrowed. "No."
"You just want to find a way to use the axes in your pranks, don't you?" Peorth asked, recalling that Eira had asked about Lind's limiters before.
"No-o-o-o," Eira puffed out her cheeks, dragging out the word.
"Eira," Lind sighed, "you will not be taking my limiters. They have nothing to do with the magic I am trying to teach you."
"I didn't even say anything! Papa was the one who—"
"Quit trying to stall," Peorth interrupted, hoping to cut the child off before she really got going. "Just pay attention!"
Eira stuck out her tongue and waggled her hands, grinning all the while. Peorth's eye twitched, and for a second, just a second, she contemplated stuffing the little goddess into a shrub and leaving her there.
But no matter how irritating Eira happened to be, abandoning her in the forest trapped in a shrub was probably considered forfeiting their assignment, and Peorth couldn't have that.
Lind cleared her throat, thankfully diverting Eira's attention back to the Valkyrie.
"…As I was saying, transportation and manifestation can be used on anything, as long as your magic can support it. For example, if you wished, you could call an object from anywhere within Heaven's domain. However, there are limits—you cannot call objects from between dimensions. So you cannot think of something on Earth and transport it here."
"That's lame," Eira said, frowning.
"It's mostly because the energy required to cross dimensions is so high," Peorth supplied, certain that her words were going in one of Eira's ears and out the other. "That's why we have the Gate, instead of just trying to cross ourselves, on our own."
"…Lame."
"Eira," Lind stressed both syllables of the little goddess's name; Eira turned in place, pigtails flying, and almost hitting Brilliant Sunbeam, hovering just shy of her host's left shoulder.
"What? It's true!"
"…That's not the point." Lind was starting to look like she was regretting agreeing to teach Eira anything. "Eira, since moving physical objects is more difficult, we will leave that for later, should you show promise. You are going to manifest an object already with you, always."
Eira blinked, long and slow, a mumbled "Huh?" slipping from her lips.
Lind extended a hand, a familiar snowdrop materializing there. "This is from my inner world—for you, it would be the place where Brilliant Sunbeam resides, when you do not have her present physically. Do you understand?"
"But I don't have any of those!" The little goddess gestured vaguely towards the snowdrop. "I don't know what that flower even is!"
"It's a snowdrop," Peorth cut in, "and what's in your inner world, it doesn't have to be a snowdrop. Gorgeous Rose likes roses, so the flowers in my inner world are all roses. It doesn't even have to be a flower; that just seems to be a common element for many." For example, Peorth figured that Skuld's inner world most likely had technological aspects, rather than flowers. Belldandy was probably a safe bet for flowers, though; and she didn't even want to try and think of what Urd's might be like.
The child turned slightly in place to look at Brilliant Sunbeam, who was now hovering above her left shoulder. They stared at one another for so long that Peorth was sure they were having a silent conversation; but in the end, Brilliant Sunbeam only shrugged, and Eira returned her gaze to Peorth and Lind, narrow-eyed and squinting.
"What's the point of asking about Brilliant Sunbeam's home anyways?"
"That place would be easier for you to reach, than trying to call something already existing physically to you," Lind said, softly though. "Perhaps…" And she lowered her eyes to the snowdrop, her lips twitching like she was thinking of saying something. Or was she, too, having a silent conversation with her angels? Peorth wondered if she would bring them out—Lind hadn't called for Spear Mint and Cool Mint in all the time they'd been together with Eira; only almost a couple of weeks, true, but—there was no sign of feathers, no shifting pale shadows behind the Valkyrie.
Lind lifted her head, fingers slowly closing over the snowdrop. "Perhaps it would be easier to explain mine," she said, haltingly, like the idea of it was unfamiliar.
Peorth tried not to be too obvious in sitting forwards; she couldn't deny she was curious. Inner worlds were private things, after all, the residence of one's angel, your heart reflected, and the world shifted at a whim. Gorgeous Rose's world, for so long, had been a field under a blue sky dotted with the occasional cloud; and at seemingly random intervals, great rosebushes sprouted from the earth, some twisted and gnarled, others neatly spruced. She had understood innately, that the appearance of the rosebushes indicated particular events in her life, moments of great emotion or achievement, or more simply, moments she had imprinted upon her memory that she did not want to forget. A rosebush had grown when she had attained first class rank; another when the Angel Eater had torn Gorgeous Rose from her; and still another when she had accepted the bet with Thurs to see who could grant the most wishes. The rosebushes even changed to show her own shifting viewpoints; the bush for her bet, for example, had been wilting some lately, because her brother was no doubt pulling ahead in the numbers.
She had an assignment, though, and right now, she considered this more important.
"…As I told you before, this is a product of my inner world," Lind's voice brought Peorth back to the conversation at hand. She glanced briefly to the snowdrop, benignly sitting upon Lind's palm, and Eira, too, seemed to be watching it as though it might suddenly come alive.
"Your inner world changes as you do; this is a—a reflection of that change, in mine."
Eira's shoulders hunched. She plucked at the grass at her knees, seemingly in need of something to pull apart. "…It means something, doesn't it?"
It sounded so simple, spoken in the child's voice, but Peorth stiffened ever-so-slightly, casting a quick look to Lind. Those terrible words were rising in her mind, that memory, and she fidgeted, about to reach out—
"Yes." Lind's voice was soft, and even Peorth had to lean to hear her, despite sitting only a couple paces away. "It is a promise."
"A…promise," Eira said slowly, testing the words.
Peorth knew what her next words were going to be—What promise? What for?—and got as far as opening her mouth to attempt stalling the inevitable, when Lind moved.
She held out the snowdrop to Eira, and the little goddess looked from the flower to Lind's face and back again, uncertainty etched into every plane of her face.
"…Are you…giving it to me?"
"Consider it like…" Lind hesitated, clearly hunting for a word, and frowned, like she hadn't quite found one that fit but carried on nonetheless, "an anchor. Something to provide you with an—an example, to draw from. You were able to tell that Peorth and I used different methods merely from looking, so holding something produced in this way may help lead you to reproducing it on your own."
Peorth wondered privately if that was putting too much faith in Eira—especially since she hadn't been able to repeat anything like her noticing their different magic, much less any progress towards meaningful magic use—but she didn't say that out loud. Instead she only watched as Lind dropped the snowdrop into Eira's hand with an air of terrible finality.
The second the snowdrop touched Eira's palm, the little goddess flinched, the flower falling to the grass with a soft thump.
It is a promise.
Peorth lurched forwards, not entirely certain now that she wanted to know what Lind's promise was, nor to whom, not when Lind had said that it was because of a change in her inner world—and definitely not when Eira had—
"It's cold!"
Peorth froze, blinking dumbly.
"…That's what made you drop it?"
Eira squinted at her. "Duh! I didn't expect an ice cube when I was looking at a flower! Plus, no flower's gonna be able to hurt me!"
"Clearly, you've never had to deal with thorns," Peorth muttered dryly, rolling her eyes and sitting back as Eira carefully picked up the snowdrop, Brilliant Sunbeam fluttering to her side and patting the petals, drawing back with a surprised look on her face.
Oh—and Peorth cast a glance towards Lind, who was sitting still, practically unmoving as she watched Eira. The Valkyrie hadn't moved when Eira had dropped the snowdrop; had she been expecting it? Lind was, after all, an ice elemental, but—
"May I see it for a moment?"
Lind's eyes flicked to hers, startled; Peorth was even a little surprised herself at the question, when she had been the one to ask it in the first place. Eira was looking between them, mouth slightly open and eyes blinking, the snowdrop clutched between two fingers and her thumb. From this distance, Peorth could see the small sheen of ice melting from the petals, dripping quietly to the grass.
"Uh…" Eira slowly extended her arm, the flower petals fluttering in the light breeze.
But it was Lind that Peorth was looking to—it was Lind's opinion that mattered here. The snowdrop was a part of her angels' inner world, an important memory of a promise she didn't want to forget. And Peorth's earth magic was strong, especially when she was a first class goddess without restrictions, and while conceivably, if she thought about it, if she tried, she might glean something from the snowdrop that could help her understand what event had made it grow… She didn't want to find out that way, not even to satisfy her own curiosity.
It was only…
Lind looked at her, met her gaze, and there was an expression there, an emotion that Peorth was not sure she knew. Something tentative, hesitant—but then Lind was nodding, once, and the expression was gone, replaced by mild wariness.
Peorth held her hand out, and Eira let the flower fall.
The dark-haired goddess had been expecting the cold, and so the chill of the flower against her palm wasn't a surprise. Nor were the last pieces of ice melting from the stem, beading into tiny droplets on her bracelets. No, the surprise was in the small warmth in the flower's petals, that beneath the layer of cold there was undeniable heat, a pulsing light like that of a little heart.
She understood, then, that this promise was not a dangerous one.
No matter how deep those dark words lurked, no matter how Lind had suffered so under Heaven's prejudices—this promise had nothing to do with that. It was warmth, light, and Peorth felt at once incredibly honored that Lind could have trusted her to hold it. More than that, that she had trusted Eira—
—but Eira would not understand. Of course, the little goddess was a safe bet, but…
"Thank you," Peorth said, addressing Lind, and only once the Valkyrie had offered a small nod in acknowledgement did she pass the snowdrop back to Eira.
"What was that about?" the child wanted to know.
Trust, Peorth wanted to say, but didn't want to explain all the nuances that went into it, not when Eira wouldn't understand. Instead, she searched for her inner world, mentally plucking a rose from the rosebush that had appeared from her choice to act as Eira's caretaker. She called it into her hand and held it out to Eira.
"I don't want more flowers—"
"It's another loan," Peorth interrupted. "You can use it as another example."
Eira puffed out her cheeks and pouted; evidently she had been expecting them to forget there was a magic lesson going on. She took the rose anyways, balancing it and the snowdrop together in her right hand. "But I told you already, there isn't anything like this in Brilliant Sunbeam's world!"
"…It doesn't have to be a flower," Lind said. "It can be anything of note from your inner world."
"What is there, then, if not flowers?" Peorth put in.
Eira frowned, gaze falling to the two flowers in her hands. "…Like this," she said, gesturing vaguely around them with her free hand. "Except, there aren't any trees, or flowers."
"Just a bare field under the sky?" Peorth guessed. That was the way an angel's world always started, as far as she knew, and then changed as the deity's personality developed. Eira had enough personality, though, for it to be surprising that her angel's home would be so…empty. Surely something in her life had warranted some change? "…You could," she started, about to say just summon a blade of grass, if that was all Eira had, but the child straightened up, eyes widening.
"There is something," she said, blinking. "A small spot with no grass, this big." She put the flowers down and made her hands into a small circle. "And there's this little seed in the ground. That's all."
"A seed?" Peorth tilted her head. It could be referring to Eira's magical potential, perhaps, that she needed to work harder for it to grow, but…something felt off about that. If the inner world had molded around the seed to the point where no grass grew beside it, it had to be important for some reason, though maybe not even Eira really understood.
"Try calling that seed to you," Lind suggested. "It is small, yes? Perhaps that would be easier than a clump of grass."
Eira's eyebrows furrowed. "…How?" she asked, reluctantly.
"Picture it in your mind, as clear as you can. Imagine pulling it from the ground, that you are holding it in your hand. And then you must will it to be there in your hand, believe that it is there, and your magic will bring it to you."
Eira stared down at her empty hands, and then to the flowers sitting beside her knee. "It's not—"
"Try," Peorth said sharply, knowing exactly how that sentence was going to end: It's not going to work.
The little goddess huffed, but curled her hands into fists and squeezed her eyes shut. Brilliant Sunbeam fluttered down to land on her head, mimicking her pose. Several long seconds passed in silence.
At last Eira opened her eyes, frowning deeply. "It won't budge."
"Did you—"
"Yes, I tried!" The child lowered her fists but didn't unclench them, her gaze flashing between Peorth and Lind. "It wouldn't go anywhere!"
Peorth hummed thoughtfully. "It's possible…hmm. Eira, it may be that you can't move it because it is something so deeply entrenched in that world that you can't imagine it outside of there. Just what does the seed represent, to you? It has to mean something, because every angel's world starts out as only grass and sky. Your personality, the events in your life, they all change it accordingly, so the seed being there means it's something you put there."
"But…" Eira shook her head slowly, and honest-to-Heaven, she looked genuinely confused. "I don't know why it's there. It's just…it's just there, it's always been like that." She glanced up to find her angel. "Could…could Brilliant Sunbeam bring it out here?"
"Yes, because she can interact with the objects in your inner world at will, but that's not the point of the lesson—" Peorth cut herself off when Lind raised her hand.
"I am curious," the blue-haired goddess murmured, "if she can move it. If it is as you say, Eira, as an extension of yourself, she may not be able to retrieve it for you."
Eira slumped in place, shoulders drooping. "But Papa said…"
"That is how it is for most, that the angel can interact freely with any object within the inner world, but if your subconscious mind is fully committed to keeping it there, then your angel will not be able to remove it." Lind tilted her head. "Please tell Brilliant Sunbeam to try."
"I…" Eira faltered, fingers grasping at the air, like she needed something to hold onto. "…Brilliant Sunbeam, do what Mama says," she said at last, and the tiny angel obligingly vanished in a flurry of white feathers.
Peorth settled one elbow on her knee, so she could rest her head on her hand; it could be a while. Admittedly, it was definitely odd that Eira both didn't seem to understand what the seed was for, and couldn't interact with it. She could've been lying, she supposed, but the child's confusion had truly appeared sincere, and when she'd explained about the seed she hadn't seemed like she was making it up as she went.
A soft glow heralded the reappearance of Brilliant Sunbeam, who clutched a chunk of grass, with a small clod of dirt still clinging to the roots, in one hand. She held nothing in the other.
"Eira, you're sure you don't know what the seed is meant to represent for you?" Peorth asked.
"I don't know." The little goddess's gaze shifted away, landing on the flowers.
"You're absolutely positive?"
"I don't—" Eira shot to her feet, Brilliant Sunbeam leaping back to avoid her, dropping the grass in the process. "I said I don't know! I don't know! I don't—I—" There was something wild in her eyes, something afraid, and Peorth stood, settling a hand on the child's shoulder, bringing Eira's attention to her in a sudden start.
"It doesn't matter," she said, keeping eye contact. If it was bothering Eira that much, then it would be better to ignore it entirely. They could make do with the grass, because Brilliant Sunbeam had been able to retrieve it, so it could be moved under Eira's magic, too.
"But—you said—"
"If it's bothering you, then we won't make you think about it. We're not trying to torture you here, just teach you more magical skills."
"Put it out of your mind," Lind agreed after a pause, and Peorth realized she'd gotten up too, and was standing next to her.
Eira's eyes narrowed. "You don't…care? That I don't know what it's for?"
"Sure, I'm curious," Peorth shrugged, "but it's not necessary to know. It would only be more knowledge about you, but you don't have to look for it if you don't want to. Okay?"
Slowly, ever-so-slowly, Eira's body relaxed, the tension in her shoulders sliding away, hands swinging loosely at her sides instead of in fists. "…Okay."
"The grass, then?" Peorth asked of Lind.
The blue-haired goddess nodded, directing a glance towards Eira. "Try taking a blade of grass from your inner world, then. One just like this," and she picked up the clump of grass, separating a single blade and holding it up for Eira to see.
It was slow going, but they eventually returned to the old routine, going constantly in circles as Eira futilely tried to make her magic work.
But Peorth didn't forget, carefully watching Eira as the child struggled. The seed in her inner world had some importance, that was for sure, but Peorth couldn't think of what it could mean. Rather, she could think of too many options, but none of which should have kept Eira from being able to manifest the seed outside of her inner world.
Something…was not quite right.