The Fall of Vequera

Chapter twenty-five | Amaryllis

THE BURNING SOUL OF A FLAME: ACT THREE

TW MENTIONS OF: IMPLIED DOMESTIC ABUSE, CHEATING, AND TOXIC RELATIONSHIP, SUICIDE

LOCATION: EASTCLIFF, ELER

YEAR: 621 C.E

IT WASN'T LIKE MARY WANTED THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO END THE WAY IT DID.

In a screaming match about where their loyalties truly lay. Hers remained the same. It always had but Lanai wanted more. She always wanted more until Mary was not enough. At first, it hurt like nothing else but eventually, she got used to the pain of seeing her with other people. But Mary was not perfect and her mind found ways to remind her of that. They weren't meant to be. They never were but now and then, Mary found herself craving for Lanai's touch. To be held by her. But that was until her touch became more than what she wanted.

It became violent and hurtful. Demanding and unforgiving. It wasn't like she had anyone to tell her what she was going through was bad for her. Her mother was thousands of miles away and her uncle, she hadn't seen him for years.

Sometimes, she wondered if it was her fault, it all happened. The longing glances when she saw her with other people, the sleepless nights, the burning eyes. Was it her fault? She would pray to the gods to send her someone to love her. To truly love her unconditionally. Something she seemed to be deprived of her entire life. Something her mother refused to give her. Something Lanai refused to give her. Valia cared about her. She knew that. She felt it when she burned Lanai. She should thank her for what she did, but she couldn't figure out what to say to her. She wanted to tell her of her troubles. Her problems but the words never seemed to want to escape from her mind.

Her mind wandered as she watched Koa talk to Valia about how to use a bow correctly. "You're holding it wrong." He noted as he took it away from her.

They were a day into their trip to The Valley of Death. Koa wanted to show Valia. Mary didn't know how she felt about the idea but she tagged along, nonetheless. She just didn't want to run into her uncle or Lanai. How would Valia react to seeing Arya's body? It had not yet been accepted by the gods. So, it remained in its original state. She remembered Koa bringing her body back to Eler days after Valia came. He refused to speak for days after. Not until they laid her to rest with everyone else they had lost. Gods, they've lost so many people.

Her heart sank. So, many innocent lives were taken, and for what? Because the humans didn't like things that were different from them? The Venturi was different from them but yet they have remained allies for generations. It took her years to realize that it was just for power. If House Lamonia wanted something, they would have it and more. With their dragons, they could rule the world if they wanted it.

They were in the middle of the woods. Mary turned to see a fallen tree and moved to sit on it. Valia and Koa's conversation carried on with Valia breaking off into a rant about Koa being annoying. Her fingers picked at the threads of her trousers. "Hunting, Valia. That's why I decided to bring it." Valia rolled her eyes before she pushed the bow into Koa's arms.

"You do the hunting then since you want to complain about the way I'm holding it." She sneered before glancing around the wilderness.

One thing of many things that Mary learned about Valia was that she had quite a temper. Mary theorized that Myrna might be involved, but by entering Valia's mind, the Elders limited Myrna's influence over Valia so that Valia had more say over what she did. So, maybe it might just be Valia.

Two souls trapped in a singular body might be quite hard for one person to deal with. Mary found herself reading up on Myrna Delacroix and what her life was like but after she turned one and thirty, her life seemed to stop. She looked everywhere and even asked Elder Aideen about where her records might be.