until every last star in the galaxy dies
T
he oil-slick-green-eyed stallion before them splits into two, then three - each of them black, each of them the same. Their shadowy wings whisper as they fold them, their cheekbones flash in the sunlight. Sirius’ head hurts to look at the three of them, to look into their eyes that are too-bright and laughing. So he looks beyond them, at the sky and the sea and the dilapidated buildings. But their voice whispers through his ears like silk, and although the strange man’s words are confusing, the soldier-in-training cannot help but listen.Small-wings-big-heart Charlie is braver than he is, and far more bold. She lifts her chin, and Sirius wonders if it’s the adrenaline from her first flight that fills her so, and he hopes that enthusiasm never leaves her. She challenges the Senecas (are they all named Seneca? He thinks at least one of them must be lying, but whom?), and Sirius watches her. The smile unfolds across her face in a way that reminds him of the sun setting, and how the light spreads out across the horizon and turns everything gold.
“Seneca, are your eyes green?”
At first, the significance is lost on him.
At first, their answers do not make sense.
At first, Sirius feels like he is nothing more than a colt hooded in darkness, who can’t read, can’t fly, can’t think for himself.
Understand blooms slowly, but brightly.
”Yes,” the two say. ”No,” says the first Seneca, and it’s the frown that accompanies the lie that does him in. He smiles at Charlie, a quick, pleased thing. And then he steps forward, his wings flaring at his sides.
“Seneca,” he says, testing the name out on his tongue. But he’s looking directly at the second Seneca, the one one standing between the other two, when he raises his voice. “Are you - is He -“ he points at the middle pegasus with one dark wing, to emphasis his question “- the healer?”
He knows he won’t know whether the second or third will answer truthfully or not. But the first Seneca has already revealed himself as the liar - and it is his answer that Sirius will wait for.
I'LL BE WITH YOU
@Charlotte @Marisol
this is…
…late
(sirius is asking whether the second seneca is the healer)
@
this is…
…late
(sirius is asking whether the second seneca is the healer)
