The 10th Circle - Abyss [Complete]

8. Engram: Wings (2)

Silence descended between us, and my gaze fell on the bedside table, where the pink jelly cubes sat still untouched.

"Hey, why don't you eat a little bit?" I suggested "Before it... well, never mind, it's definitely cold by now, and I actually don't even know if it's supposed to be eaten warm or cold, whatever the hell this is."

"Uhm.... I don't really feel hungry," she mumbled.

I furrowed my brow and took a closer look at her. I was not exactly the most empathic person, but something about her demeanor alerted me. She had always looked pale when I had seen her before, but now there were dark purple shadows under her eyes, which had a glassy sheen to them. I softly touched the back of my hand against her forehead, but instead of the heat of the fever that I had expected, her skin seemed rather too cold. I took her hand in mine, and it was positively icy.

"Are you not feeling well?" I asked, "Can I get you anything?"

She shook her head, causing the blonde curls that framed her face to bounce around.

"There is nothing here that could help me..."

There was something about the way she had phrased her response - not that there was nothing I could do to help, but that there was nothing here to help her - that filled me with excruciating misery. It came over me like a wave, crushing me under heavy exasperation and hopelessness, and stealing my breath away for a moment. It was because of that look on her face - one of melancholy and sorrow that did not seem appropriate for someone so young. I realized if Quill had looked like she had seen enough horrors to equate several lifetimes of suffering, this girl must have seen an eternity of it.

Just what the hell had happened to her that would break her spirits so completely?

As she sat there, this pale young girl with her shoulders slumped and her gaze cast down on in dejection, a protective instinct overcame me, just like when we had been drawn for the trial.

"You know, if you don't eat, you won't feel any better," I said, and brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face.

It was a lie. I knew very well that eating would probably not make anything better either. And the way she looked at me as she raised her head, with a deep and doubtful furrow on her brow, she knew it too. Telling her that lie only added to my feeling of misery.

"Could you at least try to eat a few bites? For me?" I pleaded with her.

I tried my best impression of a begging puppy dog look. After years of Moon giving me that expression, I seemed to have picked up on her trick, because Feather sighed and then nodded.

"Okay. But... this stuff looks really gross," she said and eyed the food warily.

"Yeah, tell me about it..."

I poked one of the cubes with the fork, and it wobbled in response.  Under any other circumstances I wouldn't have forced that stuff down if my life depended on it. But it didn't seem to be my life that depended on it.

"Listen, how about we share it?" I suggested, "Let's make this a game... no, how about a competition! For each piece I eat, you must eat one too. Winner is who manages to force down the most."

I switched my demeanor from begging puppy to overenthusiastic adolescent dog. That coaxed a weak smile out of her at least, and more importantly, got her to eat. We ended our competition in a draw after going through two-thirds of the jelly cubes. They tasted better than they looked, at least, faintly of raspberry.

"You know, I'm really happy that you came to visit me. Thank you," Feather said with a smile.

"Of course. Any time. I... just fear I cannot provide you any entertainment like Edge."