Alitia: Crown of Ash

XL: Blood of the Three

Tanith wasn't quite sure when her regular anxiety had kicked it up a notch, but she felt absolutely terrible as she shuffled her way through Millennium City. There was this new tension in the air that kept her from fully relaxing, but she couldn't tell if it was something everyone felt or if it was just there for her. She took in a slow, careful breath as she tried to find someplace that she could calm her mind. The wind was barely blowing and yet, it was far too loud for her. Even though her magic was based around air, there was only so much Tanith could take, and her thoughts were loud enough with the unasked help of the war weighing down her conscience heavily. 

What she really needed was something new. Tanith longed to feel something between her fingers. She had accidentally left her current fidget toy back in her room, and she couldn't be asked to go back and grab it only to leave Alitia immediately afterwards. Her hands felt oddly empty, and she couldn't help but feel as if there was nothing she could do to calm the raging of her head. She needed something to hold, but she simply couldn't find anything on hand. 

A bookstore came into view, and Tanith glanced up at the entrance before letting out a small sigh. She frequented this store when she was looking for a new story to read or something to take her mind off the monotony of everyday life, and she knew that she could use that given how chaotic everything felt inside. If she could just find a book to look at for a while, she would feel much better about how everything was going in the outside world. 

Tanith pushed the door open, and the bell above her jingled gently. She glanced up at it, trying to keep from openly cringing at the sound. It normally wouldn't have made her so jumpy, but all of the business between Igni and Millennia was leaving a heavy weight inside that she could never run from no matter how hard she tried. In a way, she felt as if her nerves were constantly vibrating beneath the surface of her skin, trying desperately to claw their way to freedom. 

The man behind the desk glanced up at Tanith, and she waved gently in his direction, but she didn't make herself say anything. His name was Duncan, she believed. Even though she had been coming to the bookstore for ages, she never really wound up on friendly terms with him, instead choosing to keep her distance. There was never a motivation for her to close the gap between them, so she simply chose not to. 

Tanith slid her way into the fiction section of the store, and she let out another slow, measured breath. If she could just ground herself physically, everything would be fine, but she was going to need something to calm her in the meantime. She reached out for a nearby book and pulled it free of its confines on the shelf. She flicked through its pages before finding the summary on the final page. Her eyes fell to half-mast, and she allowed herself to focus in on the words. 

Tanith finished reading the summary and realized that she hadn't retained any of it, prompting her to cringe and shake her head. What was wrong with her? She needed to relax, and this was the best way for her to do it. 

Read the book. Please, just read the book.

Tanith braced herself once again before she focused on reading the summary once again. This time, she was able to pick up on the fact that the story was a murder mystery, and it was the third in an ongoing series. Tanith had heard of them but never read them, and yet, she found herself reaching for the first one in the series. She flicked to the blurb a second time, and she found the world around her evening. The buzzing in the back of her head calmed itself, and a light smile of peace appeared on her features. 

Tanith found that the book was satisfactory to her, and she tucked it under her arm before reaching towards the sequel. Given how anxious she was, Tanith was positive that she was going to blow through the sixty or so chapters of the book in the blink of an eye, so she reached out for the second book in the series, taking care not to spoil herself with any details of the book's events before grabbing the third book that she had grabbed in the first place.