The Tales of the Shadows

1. The Rage of an Angel

Audrey stood amidst absolute quietude as she sat in her room, a cold breeze ruffling through her hair. A lost expression was on her face, though she quickly put on a smile at the sound of gentle footsteps approaching her room.

"Hey, Audrey. You ready to go?"

Ava's gentle smile immediately eased Audrey, though it was unable to take its usual effect. The girl nodded warily, feeling uncomfortable in that white dress. Her expression hardened as she contemplated for a while before she shook her head.

"Two more minutes," Audrey said and Ava nodded, leaving the little girl to her solitude as she waited outside.

Audrey aimlessly picked a black dress to replace her white one, leaving the room as soon as she was done.

"Where is Jack?"

"He's been with Jay for a while, now. You'll meet him once we reach the Trees of Remembrance, alright?"

Audrey nodded with a smile, immediately warmed by the elder girl's softness. She didn't want to complain and she didn't know what to complain about; Ava faced greater trials than her. She could certainly be brave for her brother and her friend.

The tranquillity of silence prompted the little girl to close her eyes, walking with newfound confidence and uncertainty.

With the first touch of the garden's fragrance Audrey's eyes opened, the moonlight reflecting softly in her grey gaze. A small smile was on her face and she blended with the darkness, observing the expressions of all Shadows.

Such sorrow, such bereavement. And yet she felt nothing.

Audrey gave a wide smile at the sight of her brother and Ava let go of her hand. The little girl rushed towards her brother, bringing him in her gentle embrace.

"Hey, little brother. You feeling alright?"

Jack pursed his lips, nodding slowly. Audrey looked up to the leader standing beside her, earning a tender rub on the head from the man. He took a deep breath and Audrey gave him an encouraging nod and Jay smiled with gratitude. The children walked back to Ava while their leader went to the platform, the cold ground comforting his bare feet.

"The day of the Annual Ball is once again upon us."

Jay paused, letting the other Shadows fall silent. Audrey took a shaky breath, wearing a small smile as she looked towards the sky and then, her leader.

"The Shadows that have parted from us indeed have descended to a higher plain. Where their souls go from their is up to nature, their nature. Their lives are beautiful and their deaths even more so.

"It is sad to lose our loved ones before their time should be up. But sometimes in the face of duty, we must accept these bitter truths. Silence is the true nature of all as silence is what prevails throughout everything. Existence is a simulation, life is the sound of a being that echoes for long. But silence is inevitable, and it is what is true.

"Tonight we represent their life with our sound, and their goodbye with our silence."

The quietude of the atmosphere was serene and haunting, the bitterness of a sweet truth unfathomable by most, but accepted nevertheless. All Shadows closed their eyes in unison to hold onto that acceptance, hoping to understand it, too.

A simple sound was gradually formed by the chords of all Shadows, though the vibrations really stemmed from their thoughts. For a moment nature and all consciousness warped around a single point in a dark void, as if visiting the lost souls one last time.

Audrey felt it. In that moment the gentle aura of her mother, and the carefree alleviation of her father. An invisible light that immediately brought comfort to the little girl as she mustered all courage to bid goodbye with positivity.

"Until we meet again."

The thought echoed across the minds of all Shadows, bringing their emotions together in unity. A sphere of vibrance formed in her mind, hovering over the space of nothing as it reflected the light of all emotions. Each shadow's colour was present in the spectrum, lights of divergence frequency belonging to a fundamental force. No colour belonged to a Shadow, but their present emotion was attributed to that frequency in the world of illusions. It filled Audrey's thoughts with an emotion she didn't quite recognise. However, before these thoughts had she recognised something.

The absence of a colour. Her colour.

Did she feel no emotion? Did she not convey her emotion? She was a Shadow, she too was attributed with light. Then why was there darkness?

A sound stirred in her mind, unsettled. The little girl questioned a notion, but the question was wrong. She was correct, but her answer was wrong. It answered the wrong question, just as a spirit once misunderstood an emotion.

That sound amplified, carrying the weight of this fallacy. The first emotion broke into her mind, a violent volume of energy boiling in her vessel that would've burst if it weren't for a foreign energy running through her vessels. This energy awakened the other while awakening a different mind. She was aware of it, but she was no more conscious.

"In an effort to be like your people of this timeline, don't truly become them. Do not adopt humanity."

A raven flew past Audrey.

"If you go, only one will bear all the burden."

She didn't know who the voice belonged to, she didn't hear a voice. It was perhaps the last thought she would hear for the next eleven years. Nevertheless, she was comforted by it. The rage had disappeared now and so had the chaos. No, it was only subdued.

After all, it followed her.

Audrey slowly opened her eyes, an unfamiliar perspective replacing the one that had existed. Silence now filled her environment. Still and comforting. She did not know from what she had woken or to what dream had she entered. Perhaps she wasn't even aware of it. But something had indeed been woken.

Some things came to reality when all else was in slumber. But, perhaps, some were always simply there.

Audrey's gaze travelled to the sky, an illusion flickering before her eyes for the smallest moment before she saw the stars.

As Jack held his sister's hand, Audrey smiled.

----------

Did I become human? When did I become human?

Am I a Shadow? Are we still hybridised beings of sentience and energies?

Audrey asked such questions, but she was already conscious and aware of the truth. She gently closed her eyes, placing her hand on the rough bark of the tree, momentarily sensing that powerful energy before she stood up.

No expression was on her face but Audrey radiated warmth and peace, and that was right.