keep my body
for the fire
for the fire
By the time O arrives at the end of the bridge, a crowd has already gathered.
She is disappointed but not surprised. There is little in Novus as new and alluring as the promise of the unexplored island; its residents would be foolish not to explore, especially when rumors of its humming magic had spread faster than a flash of lightning. O had dashed over the rocky bridge as fast as she could on those long, spindly legs, pushing and darting through the masses as they swarmed forward, weaving like a snake, and still when she arrived on the first white sand beach panting she had not been the first to arrive.
Disappointment is a bitter tonic in the back of her mouth. As she slows to a trot, heart pounding in her mouth, the beach opens and Apolonia catches sight of a small half-circle of strangers, all older and bigger than her. But she does not fear them. She simply never learned how. And if there was something to fear (as she listens to strange, shrill song of the birds, she gets the feeling there is) it would be in the bones of the island itself, not the inhabitants of Novus. The threat buzzes like a bee from the land under her feet, and though O shifts her weight nervously she does not turn away.
She peeks forward between two of the strangers. The object of the circle’s fascination is an oil-black statue of a climbing unicorn, and they are all discussing the note attached to its horn, which she reads and mouths to herself: Time is free, time is here.
Complete nonsense.
O snorts and shakes her tiny head. She flicks a dark ear and listens as they talk amongst themselves, still mostly hidden by the shadows of the adults around her; she is nothing more than curious, for the moment. Her eyes are unusually excited as they dart around the ring.
And then, just for fun, she magicks an illusion that winks the note itself out of existence for a few long moments, curious as to who will be the first to smite her when they realize it.
@| "speech" | notes: <3
