Eloise~ West (England)
I stepped off of the stage shakily. Lex and Jenny had gotten Diamonds. The Topez almost burned through the collar bones it was sitting on. I did it. I was a soldier, and I was strongly walking in my father's footsteps. And it felt awesome. It felt amazing to think that I could live to do what my father did.
But what I felt more than happiness, or relief, or even excitement, was fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the things that I didn't understand, yet has such a grip on my life. The Evicted. The cold air just seemed numbing, and my legs shook under the weight of my abdomen. Lex and Arielle rushed up to me, and we all hugged. We hugged for a long time.
"She should have made it," Sniffed Lex. A wave of overwhelming anger, and terrible grief strangled me.
"My sister should have made it, my dad should have made it, and Jenny should have made it. We deserve to ALL be together right now." Sensing the rage that was building up in my chest relentlessly, Arielle looked me in the eyes. Not saying a word, and not with pitying eyes. She just looked with those beautiful blue eyes straight into mine. Tears outskirted my eyes, blurring Arielle's sillhouette. She stood there, her very essence a mirror of the strength I could not have, but she gave me. She held out her arms that had become significantly more muscular because of Refinement, and I ran into them. Lex stepped away, knowing how much we needed to end this together just like we had begun together.
"I am so sorry, Eloise. But we are all hurting, and we need to continue to be strong, okay? We made it. You are following your father's footsteps much closer than you could have imagined. We are soldiers now," I could almost feel the smile on her face. "Now go to your mum. She needs you," I nodded into her hair. Tears now falling from the tip of my nose. She let go of me, and I turned only to see a glimpse of Helen before she tackled me. She was laughing.
The ignorant are far more happy than those who know the truth.
"YOU MADE IT, ELOISE! Look at you, you made it! I am so proud." I forced a smile as she pulled away from me. She didn't have make up on, and she had gained a couple pounds. Weird. Grant stood beside her and smiled at me. He was always the shy sort, but I approved of him for Helen. She needed someone quiet to balance her out.
"Good job, kid." The fake smile had turned into a real one as soon as I saw my mother. She was the only red head in our family, but she was absolutely lovely. She did not look her age. She folded me into her arms, and she wept.
"Your dad would be so proud of you, Eloise Grace. He always dreamed that he would get to give you that Topez himself. He let you play with it when you were a baby-"
"Mum, I can do it now. I can avenge his and Thaliana's death now." She remained silent. It may have been reassuring silence, or doubting silence, I hadn't time to fine out. I felt Grayson's hand on my back. I pried myself from my mum, and smiled slightly.
"Hello," I sighed. He leaned in and kissed me softly on the forhead. "Hello, El." It wasn't a desperate kiss, it wasn't one reclaiming my love. It was a goodbye kiss, and I knew it. Any relationship we had in the past was going to disappear in the battle field as we fought side-by-side. Before I knew it, a tear escaped my eye. "You were the best trainer a girl could have, you know that?" He smiled. "Yes, I did. Look forward to fighting at your side soldier Tyler," He saluted me. I laughed, and nodded my head.
"Let's go to lunch, Eloise! I am starving," I turned back to my family, and followed them back to the car. Kyle looked back at me occasionally. It wasn't that I had a bad relationship with him, it is just he was never really there for me. We hardly talk. He is just there. I wish I new my family more, but change just isn't my thing. I was still hung up on Thaliana and dad. They were my family. That sounds conceited, I know, but I was just removed from my knew family, and stuck in the past. I felt like I didn't have to be that way anymore. And for that, I was glad.
"I missed you too, Kyle." He glanced at me from the review mirror, and smiled.
"I missed you, Elly." I could tell it meant alot to him. We pulled up to my house. It was weird. Nothing was the same. My views had completely faultered from when I left here. I was a new person stepping back into my old world. I frowned. It looked exactly the same. I don't know what I was expecting. Houses don't change with the person. It just seemed- so remarkably the same.
"Lunch is already ready, since you don't have much time with us!" Exclaimed my mother as she situated silverware on the table.
"Okay, mum. I am going to change into some comfier clothes, okay?" She nodded absent mindedly.
I skipped up the stairs, and bursted into my room. I cringed. I grabbed a bag from the top of my closet and searched for things that I wanted to keep. I grabbed a picture of Thaliana, Dad, mum, and me. I also grabbed a laptop. I searched for some clothing worth keeping. I yanked a black leather jacket, a grey tanktop, army boots, and black leggings from my closet. I figured I would wear some nicer clothes for the lunch to not give my family the illusion that I had completely changed.
Even though that was true.
I also grabbed a jewlery box from my bathroom. I dumped out everything except my mother's old wedding ring from dad, and one of Thaliana's necklace. The only thing that wasn't reduced to ashes in the fire. It was a heart, but it just looked like a melted down blob. I could still see Thaliana's name etched into the side though, and that was the most important thing. I placed my Topez necklace inside of it, the metal I recieved for completing Inauguration, and my dad's very own metal inside of it. The most important things in my life.
I rushed down stairs, where mum served us grilled chicken and a colorful salad.
"Did you lose anyone while you were there?" Asked Kyle. I glanced at my food. He knew the drill. He knew that they take you and rip you apart until they can rebuild you. I nodded slightly.
"Um, yeah. Her name was Jenny-" My throat caught.
"Oh, honey. I am so sorry. Come here." Mum embraced me, and I cried silently. It felt good to have my mum there. Here I could be weak, and lean on someone else. I was going to leave that lunch, and be a leader. This was the last time I could just be a daughter. And heck yeah, I was going to take advantage of that.
Because no matter what Refinement stripped me of, it could not strip me of who I was to my mum