and bury it before it buries me
The time between night and morning, the place between sleeping and awake, this is where we find Elena at her sea side home. She dreams of her family again.
It is her father and her mother, but they do not stand at the edge of the lake in Windskeep, but Paraiso. Her father is young, no older than two, her mother the same. Elena knows it is her mother, the blue in her eyes tell her all she needs. “Hello,” she says, sweet, honey, lavender, her voice holds a melody as if she were singing while she speaks. “Such a beautiful day isn’t it?” She asks him. “My name is Beylani. What do they call you?” It is in that moment realizes, she is seeing the day her mother and father first met. Magic. Elena knows this is the culprit the moment her father introduces himself as Benjamin. But why would magic bring her here? It is only when they move into the lake, swimming in unision, that Elena feels it. The overwhelming emotion that can only be described as attraction. It radiates from her mother and she knows that it is for her obsidian father. Young love. Puppy love. Whatever you call it, but it was that first blossoming of love all the same.
Elena awakes with a start. The images she had seen had been so crisp, the emotion had been so real. She blinks the sleep from her eyes, staring around her room with a racing heart. She rises from her bed and steps out into the fresh air of her sea side home. It is then another image hits her, falling over her blue eyes with such ferocity that she knows it is not a dream.
Marcelo. The man who had been a boy when he had volunteered to help raise Elena, the little orphan that she was. “It’s them! They are here!” He yells as she races forwards, sliding to a halt before Valerio, Lovelace, and Ruth—his mother. His mother was back. “Mommy.” He wraps himself around her, tears spill from his eyes as mother and son reunite. Elena knows the emotion before Marcelo’s own washes over her. Joy. Such joy. She knows because had she the opportunity to see her parents once more, her emotion would be much the same.
Blue eyes blink away the vision away. Why had this memory come to her? This memory, it was not her own, Elena had no right to see it, to experience, to feel it, like she had. It is then she realizes she has traveled outside of her home and is standing beside the sea. How did she get out here? The cold water hits against her legs and Elena spirals into another vision, as unrelenting as the previous.
Longing. Despair. Anguish. All for a lover who had left. “No, no, no.” Elena is surprised to see the silver form of Aletta, heavy with child as she settles herself down. Elena can see it now, this child is coming, and she doesn't wish for it to. This before Elena arrived in Murmuring Rivers, Elena would be born this very afternoon in fact, just hours after Lilli on the birthday that they shared. She did not want this child to come, not without Valerio, not without her love. Elena’s chest only further tightens with Aletta’s heartbreak when she looks with silver mare into the blue eyes of Lilli, Valerio’s eyes, legacy eyes. And how they both yearn to see them again. Aletta in Valerio, and Elena in Lilli.
Her chest feels like it is crumbling inside her. Elena, during that time period, had never realized how much Aletta had ached for the man the golden girl considered her godfather. Aletta had been a good leader, more than a good leader, but Elena had been so wrapped up in her own grief of losing her parents, of being forced from the only home she has known, had not realized the atlas upon Aletta’s shoulders. Elena knows that feeling now, of losing love, and her awe for the silver queen only grows. The sunshine girl is soaking wet, but no longer in the water, instead she stands on the grassy plains. The shadows of the trees hit her, but it is another memory, another emotion that blinds her.
Valerio stands there tall and proud, looking into the hazel eyes of the alabaster Snow Prince. Elena knows this scene well, she had lived it. The day Frostbane had come to claim her. The day he had failed. His words are sharp, and that is when she feels it. Anger. She had felt it too that day, but hers had been juvenile, hurt and grief. Valerio’s was protective, defensive, and Elena understood it, it was the same she felt when someone had threatened Lilli. “You will leave. Now. This will be the last time you shall step upon the lands of my family and leave unscathed. That is my promise to you.”
She remembers that day. The day Frostbane had come to claim her. She remembers Valerio had come to save the day as he always does. Elena had seen the winter in Valerio’s eyes that day, the first time she had ever seen such chill. And perhaps this is where Elena had learned to harness such a cold fire as that, as was within his eyes. She finds that she has traveled further, onto the outskirts of the capital. Her eyes are tired, her head throbs. No more, she wants to say, no more. She isn't sure what the purpose of all this magic is, she just pays to Vespera that this is enough. Though, her prayers are not so strong.
It is that same scene, but she feels not the rage from Valerio, but the fear from Frostbane. It is seen int he way he takes a half step back, the slight widening of his eyes, but it is what ripples off her skin and under her own that Elena is all to aware of what he felt like when the Guardian returned home, always showing up to protect Elena when she needed him most. “Well, well. If it isn't Valerio, the war hero of Windskeep.” Elena narrows her eyes. He speaks strongly, but she knows what he is, has always known, now she only has the proof. He was a coward.
Elena doesn't have any concept of time anymore, has no idea that this has been happening the entire day, an entire day lost in memories and emotions. The sun is setting and another vision falls over her eyes.
She knows this one, because it is as much a memory as it is a vision. Her small, golden body is unhinged with fear. ‘Run, Elena, run!’ her father yellows to her as he turns around to fight. He know he is going to die, he cannot beat Frostbane a third time. Elena cannot look. Blue eyes close and she turns away. The feeling that comes to her though is not fear, but bravery.
There is at last some reprieve (it is only fitting that the image of her father brings it) as she climbs up the cliffs she has landed beside. The bonfires send signals into the night air. It is comforting, not be alone in the dark. She stands there for how long, Elena isn't sure, it could have been only seconds, could have been minutes, hours even. It is long enough that crowds are beginning to leave, a few stragglers left behind. She should throw something into the fire. She realizes this is not the first time she has thrown worries onto flames, just the last light she had placed them inside had been the fire of her cousin’s heart.
This one hits her harder than the rest, until she is thrusted backwards knocking her off balance and is suddenly sent careening over a shallow cliff side with a devastating splash below. The cold water hits her but she can feel nothing but one singular emotion: love.
Lilli refusing to leave her side when the Snow Prince threatens them both.
Lilli and she in their clubhouse within a tree, talking about future plans and future adventures.
Lilli racing to her in the meadow, promising they would always be best friends forever.
Lilli snuggling beside her in Culloden, refusing to leave her side.
Lilli finding her in Hyaline underneath a starry sky.
Lilli crying for her when she left.
Lilli bringing them together with magic.
Lilli wishing her well.
Lilli, it had always been her cousin that had loved her most, when her parents left, all that they had felt had been poured into the girl who was more akin to be her crimson sister.
Love.
Elena is drowning in it. It fights its way towards her lungs, cleansing her body from the inside out.
Breathe, Elena! Breathe! A voice screams inside her, and the red haired image of Lilliana appears.
Elena smiles inside her watery dreamland.
It is her father and her mother, but they do not stand at the edge of the lake in Windskeep, but Paraiso. Her father is young, no older than two, her mother the same. Elena knows it is her mother, the blue in her eyes tell her all she needs. “Hello,” she says, sweet, honey, lavender, her voice holds a melody as if she were singing while she speaks. “Such a beautiful day isn’t it?” She asks him. “My name is Beylani. What do they call you?” It is in that moment realizes, she is seeing the day her mother and father first met. Magic. Elena knows this is the culprit the moment her father introduces himself as Benjamin. But why would magic bring her here? It is only when they move into the lake, swimming in unision, that Elena feels it. The overwhelming emotion that can only be described as attraction. It radiates from her mother and she knows that it is for her obsidian father. Young love. Puppy love. Whatever you call it, but it was that first blossoming of love all the same.
Elena awakes with a start. The images she had seen had been so crisp, the emotion had been so real. She blinks the sleep from her eyes, staring around her room with a racing heart. She rises from her bed and steps out into the fresh air of her sea side home. It is then another image hits her, falling over her blue eyes with such ferocity that she knows it is not a dream.
Marcelo. The man who had been a boy when he had volunteered to help raise Elena, the little orphan that she was. “It’s them! They are here!” He yells as she races forwards, sliding to a halt before Valerio, Lovelace, and Ruth—his mother. His mother was back. “Mommy.” He wraps himself around her, tears spill from his eyes as mother and son reunite. Elena knows the emotion before Marcelo’s own washes over her. Joy. Such joy. She knows because had she the opportunity to see her parents once more, her emotion would be much the same.
Blue eyes blink away the vision away. Why had this memory come to her? This memory, it was not her own, Elena had no right to see it, to experience, to feel it, like she had. It is then she realizes she has traveled outside of her home and is standing beside the sea. How did she get out here? The cold water hits against her legs and Elena spirals into another vision, as unrelenting as the previous.
Longing. Despair. Anguish. All for a lover who had left. “No, no, no.” Elena is surprised to see the silver form of Aletta, heavy with child as she settles herself down. Elena can see it now, this child is coming, and she doesn't wish for it to. This before Elena arrived in Murmuring Rivers, Elena would be born this very afternoon in fact, just hours after Lilli on the birthday that they shared. She did not want this child to come, not without Valerio, not without her love. Elena’s chest only further tightens with Aletta’s heartbreak when she looks with silver mare into the blue eyes of Lilli, Valerio’s eyes, legacy eyes. And how they both yearn to see them again. Aletta in Valerio, and Elena in Lilli.
Her chest feels like it is crumbling inside her. Elena, during that time period, had never realized how much Aletta had ached for the man the golden girl considered her godfather. Aletta had been a good leader, more than a good leader, but Elena had been so wrapped up in her own grief of losing her parents, of being forced from the only home she has known, had not realized the atlas upon Aletta’s shoulders. Elena knows that feeling now, of losing love, and her awe for the silver queen only grows. The sunshine girl is soaking wet, but no longer in the water, instead she stands on the grassy plains. The shadows of the trees hit her, but it is another memory, another emotion that blinds her.
Valerio stands there tall and proud, looking into the hazel eyes of the alabaster Snow Prince. Elena knows this scene well, she had lived it. The day Frostbane had come to claim her. The day he had failed. His words are sharp, and that is when she feels it. Anger. She had felt it too that day, but hers had been juvenile, hurt and grief. Valerio’s was protective, defensive, and Elena understood it, it was the same she felt when someone had threatened Lilli. “You will leave. Now. This will be the last time you shall step upon the lands of my family and leave unscathed. That is my promise to you.”
She remembers that day. The day Frostbane had come to claim her. She remembers Valerio had come to save the day as he always does. Elena had seen the winter in Valerio’s eyes that day, the first time she had ever seen such chill. And perhaps this is where Elena had learned to harness such a cold fire as that, as was within his eyes. She finds that she has traveled further, onto the outskirts of the capital. Her eyes are tired, her head throbs. No more, she wants to say, no more. She isn't sure what the purpose of all this magic is, she just pays to Vespera that this is enough. Though, her prayers are not so strong.
It is that same scene, but she feels not the rage from Valerio, but the fear from Frostbane. It is seen int he way he takes a half step back, the slight widening of his eyes, but it is what ripples off her skin and under her own that Elena is all to aware of what he felt like when the Guardian returned home, always showing up to protect Elena when she needed him most. “Well, well. If it isn't Valerio, the war hero of Windskeep.” Elena narrows her eyes. He speaks strongly, but she knows what he is, has always known, now she only has the proof. He was a coward.
Elena doesn't have any concept of time anymore, has no idea that this has been happening the entire day, an entire day lost in memories and emotions. The sun is setting and another vision falls over her eyes.
She knows this one, because it is as much a memory as it is a vision. Her small, golden body is unhinged with fear. ‘Run, Elena, run!’ her father yellows to her as he turns around to fight. He know he is going to die, he cannot beat Frostbane a third time. Elena cannot look. Blue eyes close and she turns away. The feeling that comes to her though is not fear, but bravery.
There is at last some reprieve (it is only fitting that the image of her father brings it) as she climbs up the cliffs she has landed beside. The bonfires send signals into the night air. It is comforting, not be alone in the dark. She stands there for how long, Elena isn't sure, it could have been only seconds, could have been minutes, hours even. It is long enough that crowds are beginning to leave, a few stragglers left behind. She should throw something into the fire. She realizes this is not the first time she has thrown worries onto flames, just the last light she had placed them inside had been the fire of her cousin’s heart.
This one hits her harder than the rest, until she is thrusted backwards knocking her off balance and is suddenly sent careening over a shallow cliff side with a devastating splash below. The cold water hits her but she can feel nothing but one singular emotion: love.
Lilli refusing to leave her side when the Snow Prince threatens them both.
Lilli and she in their clubhouse within a tree, talking about future plans and future adventures.
Lilli racing to her in the meadow, promising they would always be best friends forever.
Lilli snuggling beside her in Culloden, refusing to leave her side.
Lilli finding her in Hyaline underneath a starry sky.
Lilli crying for her when she left.
Lilli bringing them together with magic.
Lilli wishing her well.
Lilli, it had always been her cousin that had loved her most, when her parents left, all that they had felt had been poured into the girl who was more akin to be her crimson sister.
Love.
Elena is drowning in it. It fights its way towards her lungs, cleansing her body from the inside out.
Breathe, Elena! Breathe! A voice screams inside her, and the red haired image of Lilliana appears.
Elena smiles inside her watery dreamland.
so take away this apathy
bury it before it buries me
@Tenebrae <3
![[Image: ddvotwe-59302ba6-6a81-47bf-9846-30c5a5db...0iFb4PvyXE]](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/8026a53b-dc57-41ab-b574-9f8a8fe57ce4/ddvotwe-59302ba6-6a81-47bf-9846-30c5a5db0780.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzgwMjZhNTNiLWRjNTctNDFhYi1iNTc0LTlmOGE4ZmU1N2NlNFwvZGR2b3R3ZS01OTMwMmJhNi02YTgxLTQ3YmYtOTg0Ni0zMGM1YTVkYjA3ODAucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.ujCJH7FAbsQhfZlQniMmEd_vw-VmvaTDn0iFb4PvyXE)
let's light this house on fire
we'll dance in the warmth of its blaze
pixel made by the amazing star
