"The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live."
-Auguste Rodin
Dark waves clash in rapid succession, ripping the virtuous wings of petals. Oh, Lady of Fortuna hath spun the wheel of God's cruelty, letting it turn tumultuously in self-loathing and misunderstanding. Cruel mistress doth cry; misery is companion to weak chastity and bubbling bitter brew. A storm arises from the deep, coal, abyss with ravenous hunger to dominate the fowls.
Sparks fanned by embers, a smoldering rampage burning bright. Oh, the wheel hath spun, a gentle plead, an ache, oh tears of the lily! Within her breast lies a caution, a collar for the intolerable, and a gentle nudge for the lost. Anger's breeding dulls to charcoal, used to draw misshapen shadows within art.
Ib hurried forward to help Amelia and Luno in dissuading Garry from harming his fellow classmate. Amelia was pleading as she pulled at the arm holding Dmitri suspended a few inches off the ground. Luno was trying to get in between in order to face both of them, and Ib hugged him from the side. "Please stop, Garry."
Garry gave pause before letting Dmitri go. He turned and stalked from the room, Ib about to follow but Luno stopped her.
"Let him calm down."
Ib merely nodded before her eyes landed on Amelia. The normally happy girl had a strange dazed look on her face, which was painful to look at. Ib shakily walked over, ignoring the curious stares of whispering students, and grabbed her friend's hand before tugging her out of the cafeteria.
Getting Amelia away was more important.
They had veered off the path to the dorms at some point, Amelia leading. The only conversation was between the trees and insects that dwelled within the woods. Side by side they aimlessly walked. Grass crunched under their feet, the wind whistled and danced in eccentric patterns, and the clouds overhead wordlessly floated without a care in the world.
They didn't keep track of time, but it seemed to slow for them as the looming shadows of trees stretched endlessly onwards. Thoughts, worries, and fear were swept away with the tide as the dusk slipped into nightfall. Red and orange hues dying out like small embers never meant to roar to life.
Long after the sun had retreated and the moon had risen, the trees came to an end. As they stepped into the clearing time caught up. Amelia dropped to her knees, droplets pouring from her eyes. Her hand clung tightly to Ib's, not wanting to relinquish the hand that had taken her from that place. Her chest hurt as her knees itched from the grass. Her free hand selfishly groping clumps of grass and kneading it before ripping the plant out.
Ib bent down and pulled Amelia to her in an embrace. Vermillion orbs stared up at the millions of stars, reveling in their majesty and mystery as her friend shook with sobs. The colours were gorgeous, blues and whites for miles. Stars twinkled at her, gazing at her in retrospect. Her eyes blurred, the glimmering auras clumping together to form fuzzy shapes. Hot falling stars slid down her cheeks, making no sound throughout their descent. Showers fell from above, each coming right after the other. These showers were special though; they could cry out and voice themselves though only in sobs and wails.
Sometimes, a person will play the stone. They ground everyone else while supporting them, but that doesn't make them invulnerable. Even mountains can be moved, worn away from erosion, or even tumble. It's alright to fumble and chip, to caste away the role of the stone and be a feather; vulnerable but durable.
Side by side, through cracked lenses the stars are visible. Sparkling and glistening, endless seas of lights encompass them. Shadows cautiously guard the edges as moonlight gently caresses the small clearance lovingly. No words are spoken as stars twinkle within their eyes, reflecting beautiful majesty and rarely a falling star. All is there, within those stars, but they are unobtainable and far.
In her haze, Amelia's arm reaches out as if to grasp for the impossible, her hands cupping nothing but breeze. All her thoughts are lagged and bewildered, her eyes heavy. Questions ripple through her mind, but are quieted in front of the sky. Cognitively, her gaze drifted over to Ib's own that were still soaking in the gleaming stars.
Mere moments later Ib met her gaze and reflecting back at her were deep emotional scars and fears, along with the feeling to conceal it. Amelia's broke first, the stars leaving her eyes.
"I d-don't know what t-to do. All these negative things keep jumbling together and there's this little voice that's t-telling me I deserve it because I really am stupid and slow." Amelia choked her voice cracking.
"You're not. No one's good at everything and its people who don't understand that who are stupid. Amelia is someone who keeps everyone smiling and likes to tease Garry. She's always looking out for other people and has their best interests at heart. She's also very brash and headstrong." Ib declared, her tone and eyes reflecting nothing but honesty, "I'm truly happy that she's my best friend. I've never had one before."
Amelia smiled and poked the brunette's cheek, "Well I have a cooler best friend named Ib. She's pretty awkward and dense; she has a tag-a-long named Garry, and is really kind...though she can be really sarcastic at times. She also has vermilion coloured eyes, which are real, but she's afraid of showing them off."
Ib cracked a small smile as she blocked one of Amelia's pokes.
A few minutes passed as they returned to looking up at the stars. It was broken again by Amelia. "Hey, Ib, do you remember when I told you I liked someone?"
The brunette in question simply gave a slight nod.
"I-I'm pretty sure that h-he doesn't like me anymore. We aren't even friends."
Ib's eyes widened as she put the pieces together, "Amelia, was it Dmitri?"
"Yea," was the soft reply? "I think I still like him, even after all that, but it really hurts."
Ib looked to her other side and got an idea, "Amelia, do you know how to make flower crowns?"
"Huh? No, not really."
"Want to try? Maybe Garry will wear one tomorrow or Luno if we ask."
Amelia giggled as she imagined the two of them wearing misshaped flower crowns before sitting up and agreeing.
For an undisclosed amount of time they went about picking flowers and threading them together into crowns that progressively evolved. Their chatter pertained to what colours would match who's hair and how they would convince them to wear them the whole day. Sometimes it drifted into the past as they retold sad, exciting, and embarrassing stories.
"Ib! Amelia!" The two paused to watch as Garry and Luno emerged from the shadows at some point, worry etched onto their faces.
Spotting each other, Amelia pulled Ib up and ran over before placing the crowns on each of their heads. "Fabulous! They turned out awesome." Amelia cheered, hugging Ib from the side.
"Do you two know what time it is?" Luno asked, his brow twitching. He sighed when they both shook their heads, even though Ib wore a watch that she had conveniently forgotten about.
"Let's have a party! I brought drinks." Amelia grabbed her bag and pulled out a few soft drinks and a can of tea. "Here are some cookies that I swindled too."
"Amelia, just what type of party is this?" Garry sighed.
"Neh, Ib, have you ever had a faerie party?" Amelia's smile nearly glowed in the dark when she shook her head no. "Let's have one now then!"
She dragged Ib over to Garry and moved them into the position for a waltz. She grabbed Luno's hand and he sighed before waltzing with her, moving slowly so that Ib and Garry could clumsily try to copy. They slowly got the hang of it, Ib before Garry as her family had dragged her to many formal parties and believed that it was a must to know at least how to dance a bit, though no one ever asked her.
Garry clumsily stepped on her toes, again, and profusely apologized. Ib gave a small smile and began softly counting off for him so keep rhythm. After a good twenty minutes he didn't need Ib to time it and was working on not staring at his feet.
"Switch!" Amelia called as she appeared before them. She curtsied to Ib, "May I have this dance?"
Ib placed her hand in hers, "You may."
They elegantly spun and twirled around the clearing before Amelia started to throw in moves from the tango and other various ballroom dances. She glanced over at Luno and Garry who were staying stationary and tutted at them, "Hey, I want to see some yaoi material over there!"
"Yaoi?" Garry asked hesitantly. Luno shook his head sadly and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You don't want to know. Beware of the fujoshis."
Garry didn't bother asking further as Amelia forced them to dance for awhile before switching partners again.
Garry and Luno smiled as the two girls went about dancing, after calling the boys wimps for getting tired, though that was mainly Amelia.
"They seem to be doing alright," Garry spoke up, still worried for them.
"For now. They're distracting themselves from it, which I'm surprised to think is Ib's doing."
"Why would you think that?"
"Amelia doesn't know how to thread flowers together. You can tell who made what. Ib's is more put together while Amelia's is clumsy." Luno supplied as he picked two crowns up off the ground to make his point. "Amelia instigated the impromptu party, but it was a shared agreement. I never thought it was possible to grow so close to someone in just a short amount of time."
"I guess it depends on the person and what you experience together. That's probably why the others lashed out; you and Amelia got involved with the Gallery and have changed in accordance. You both nearly died, which is enough to push people closer together."
"I understand that. As I was waiting for that last petal to fall I promised Amelia something, and then when Ib saved us and cried over us I promised her that I wouldn't die, but that's not something I should promise someone." Luno confided as he leaned back.
"No, it's not. If it's a promise, though, you'll be more likely to strive towards keeping yourself alive." Garry pointed out.
"Point taken."
"Early at the cafe, you said to try to confirm what happened that day of the accident..."
"Yeah, did you find anything out?"
"I called my older sister and she's going to send me a package with some stuff that relates to what I was doing and a text for details. She did divulge that I was going to meet someone that I had met at some exhibit sometime prior."
"I see, hopefully it'll clear up a few of our questions. For right now, let's not talk about it." Garry nodded with a small smile just as Ib appeared and shyly asked him to dance. Luno smirked as Garry took her hand and went off. Amelia took Garry's seat as she plopped down, somehow elegant but inelegant at the same time.
"Phew, that was a work out," she babbled while popping open one of the soft drinks open and taking an elongated sip as she chugged nearly half of it down. Luno found it humorous as he watched her.
"Yo, blond brows, we're totally still on for Sunday, right?" Her face held a smile as she looked at him, becoming more excited when he nodded. "Awesome! This is perfect, it'll be just the...four of us and then we'll ninja away and leave Ib and Garry to a cute date at the festival."
Luno chose to ignore the way she hesitated when realizing that the others wouldn't be going with them in a large group. "Neh, neh, Luno, do you think Ib and Garry would make a cute couple?"
Luno raised a brow, "If I were an outsider I would be questioning when he would pop the question. However, I know their status and once they get past being shy and dense then yes, they would make a nice pair."
"Great! Hey, the concert is in two days. How is Lumi doing?"
"Excited, stressed, and is about as dense as those two when it comes to that rotten bed-head. In regards to what happened earlier and how she'll take it? I'm not positive on one reaction, but she'll likely get to the bottom of what happened and try to make everyone get along unless her anger issues act up and she kills us all."
Amelia gave a sheepish laugh, "It's sad that we aren't kidding when we say that."
Luno got to his feet and held out his hand to her, "May I have the closing dance?"
Amelia let him pull her up and danced to the music within her own imagination.
At some point in the middle of the night they headed back to the dorms, exhausted from their party and all the events that the day had brought them. It was surreal that such a good day could spiral so far down only to rise from the ashes like a phoenix. Only the question of what tomorrow may bring seemed to linger at the back of their minds.
She giggled to herself as the lavenderette raised his fist to punch the other boy. Really, the latter was fun to play with. His emotions and mind were all jumbled up like a large puzzle. It was easy enough to influence him a bit and plant the seeds of hatred. Really, these people are pathetic!
She watched as Ib managed to calm lavender-head down, her expression morphing into a pout when she left with the blue-eyed girl. She really wanted to watch those boys be violent and stupid, but at least she got to see Ib. It was always interesting with that brunette around.
Grumbling to herself, she left the room and stalked into the shadows of the hallway. Her footsteps didn't echo when they hit the ground, which sort of pissed her off. However, she was on a mission!
A Cheshire smile split her face as she giggled. Soon enough she would get rid of that witch and then she would be free to move around more to operate. Now, all she needed was to get the pieces for her game.
She walked into a tiny room located where no one would trespass. Her grin only growing when she stared up at the painting, "Hello, sister, do you want to play a game again?"
The painting's one eye blinked back its answer and the girl giggled, "Yay! I know you're going to have so much fun! You always do when you get to go play."
She picked up the painting and exited the room, marching up the stairs and into the theatre where she would hide her special present. "Don't play just yet, okay? I'll let you know when the hunt begins."
Footsteps gave her pause as she hid among the shadows of the drawn curtains. Her body grew rigid and statue like as she waited. The door finally cracked open as an older lady with gray haired strode in and thoroughly looked around for a few minutes before making her way out, casting one last glance back towards the large drapes.
"Did you see her? That's target number one. Oh, I know she doesn't look like much fun, but she is so don't worry, you'll see!"
The girl laughed and hid the painting before skipping out of the room, the doors slamming closed behind her as she went.
AN: Inspired by Anohana and Toradora-Lost My Pieces Extended ost. Short chapter, but it's more of a stress reliever and then a glimpse at what is to come. This is also my New Years Gift and I shamelessly recommend Anohana: The Flower We Saw that Day to anyone who hasn't seen it, just be prepared to board the feels train, complete with indoor rafts just in case someone does cry a river.