Elias? As Helen's voice tugs at my consciousness, I find myself adrift in the labyrinth of my own thoughts.
Not now, Helen. I am grappling with the weight of our dual existence. She seeks solace, comfort, and reassurance, yet I am ensnared by the complexities of our intertwined destinies. This is a bit like a dream, and it is so hard to remember all the little details sometimes. How can I offer her solace when I am consumed? One thing is drawing my eye at this moment.
"Jonah?" Her words echo in the recesses of my mind. If I am having a dream, she is waking from a nightmare, haunted by the scars left behind by her mother. She might lecture me about this later, but I think I have made up my mind. Renee's existence in our world draws upon me, and Helen chooses to look away from her, but me, I cannot stand the injustice of it all. How dare anyone treat you in such a way?
"Helen, just a moment," I reach out to her, my touch a fleeting gesture of reassurance, entangling my fingers in her hair.
Oh, okay. She sighs, leaning into the gesture. This will distract her for now.
Statement taken from Renee Solomon
Renee Solomon is a complicated woman on the surface, but when you get a good look at her, really see her for what she is, there isn't much to see. So things didn't go her way. So they didn't happen exactly the way she wanted them to, and her daughter won't talk to her. As far as Renee is concerned, she won. She thinks to herself that the world as it is now is only possible because of her influence and what she did for Ast-Helen, for Helen.
I see you, Renee.
Renee Solomon sees herself as a woman with ambition, who refused to be confined by the limitations society and the world placed upon her. Life has this way of twisting and turning, thwarting even the most lovingly crafted and thoughtfully laid of plans. She never let that stop her; however; she pivoted, adapted, and made things happen anyway. Helen's disconnection is her choice of course, not something Renee can do much about now, but it's also her loss. All of this is only possible because of Renee, and Helen can't face her because it's true; that's how Renee sees it. None of this unpredictable horrid world could have happened if it weren't for Renee's sacrifices of course.
Elias, please don't leave me like this. The weight of Helen slumps into me, slides, sinking to the ground. Just a bit more.
Renee remembers the feeling of Helen growing inside her, kicking inside her. If Helen went through all that, maybe she would understand, and surely then she would make sacrifices as Renee did. Of course, Helen didn't understand the purpose of all that pain and suffering, but if she had to live through those…
It is a mother's duty of course to force feed their child until it throws up like a sick animal. It is no more than obligation and responsibility that led Renee to tell her daughter that she was not worthy of love, and would never be worthy of anything other than what they could do for the higher power they both served. It was of course never Helen's choice. It was never Helen's fault. I know even now that as much as you have done to Helen, she would not turn her eye against you, but I will.
Goodbye, Renee. I hope your throat burns with the torment of sludge traveling down it like thick acid the way you did so to her. I hope the very darkness and smallness you forced upon her cuts you into a million unthinkable pieces as you cease to exist. Be seen, Renee. I grow tired of you.
"Helen?" Helen is still on the floor, but she looks so much more fragile than ever, more even than the nights she woke up unable to catch her breath, panic seizing her heart. It's different now though. She struggled to breathe then, but the Helen that lies fingers at the edge of my pantleg, where she must have reached out for me, lies still.
"Jonah Magnus."
"What have you done? Jon, how could you?"
"What did I do? No, Jonah, you did this. This is all your work. I only did as you hoped. I will admit, I could have done things better, but let's end things here why don't we?"