(013: Blue) The Tower "Lasting Damage"
Title: Lasting Damage
’Verse/characters: The Tower, Bahne Haven
Prompt:#15 Blue
Word Count: 853
Rating: PG 13?
Working himself through the thick hedge before him with blind determination, Bahne pushed aside twigs and leaves with his bare hands, for once not caring about scratches or ripped and dirty clothing.
Finally the plants gave way to what must have been the most beautiful garden he had ever seen. It was a wild garden, full of moss and a mass of ivy that seemed to be growing wherever you might have wanted to put your feet, only occasionally making way for patches of flowers, ferns and grass in a multitude of colours. The air was thick with the sound of humming insects and a sweet smell, like fresh honey.
Without moving to take another step forwards, Bahne lifted his head to look up at an infuriatingly cloudless sky. Unable to figure out what else to do with them he buried his sore hands deeply in the pockets of his trousers.
It was hard to believe that this garden and the tower were actually on the same grounds. On the other side of the hedge the winter never ended, and the sky never seemed quite so blue.
High above a startlingly bright sun radiated light and a pleasant warmth that would have touched anyone straight to the bone. However, Bahne couldn’t have said that it was of much comfort to him.
As wondrous and beautiful as this place was, he had a deep dislike for it. It was too vital, somehow, especially considering that first and foremost he still considered it to be a grave. It had grown overnight, many years ago and only days after Bahne’s second eldest son had been buried in the frozen ground exactly where the gardens heart now was.
Back then Bahne had been appalled and furious, not only because of the injustice of losing another child in a place where nothing was ever supposed to change, but also for this - this anomaly.
At least Lyall had left on his own accord, but Eden had been killed for this - for another silly joke, a play on words and names.
Bahne knew he was being ridiculous, but there was no one else to blame but the blue, blue sky, and it just wasn’t fair. He found himself shaking again with suppressed rage and something a little like fear.
He hadn’t come here since that morning when he had first stumbled upon the garden, and even now he wasn’t sure why he had chosen to return today.
Maybe part of him had found it fitting to visit the place that was yet another reminder that nothing ever worked out for him.
Bahne had been numb all morning, ever since he’d been told what happened in the tower earlier that night. Bahne had not seen much of the carnage, apart from a drying pool of blood in one of the corridors, and when he finally woke up Eve had been safely hidden away in her room again, silently refusing to open the door. But from what he had been told, it must have been quite the spectacle. Eve had been found carved open like a piece of meat, with half of her insides hanging out and her and Bahne’s youngest boy kneeling over her, his right arm buried in the open wound almost up to the elbow.
Of course Eve had still been alive and horribly, terribly conscious while Niall had sliced her open, she was after all Death’s only child. According to Konstanze, who had found them just after Death herself, and who likely could take some credit for the fact that Niall had not been ripped to pieces on the spot by his own grandmother, Eve had even tried to protect Niall. She had held on tightly, trying to shield him with her own broken body.
Since then, Eve had been healed and Niall had disappeared, it was fairly clear that he could never return to the tower again after an attack like this.
Bahne didn’t know with whom he ought to have been more disgusted, but mostly he could feel his inside crawl with the realisation that even now he could still be disappointed.
He didn’t know how he felt about Niall, only that he wanted to take an axe to every tree and shrub in this blasted garden, to tear out all the roots and flowers until there was nothing left but cold winds and dark clouds again.
He wished more than anything that he could grief, could cope with loss like he knew regular people did. But for him there was nothing, no crying, no shouting and not even proper rage, just a quiet sense of feeling lost.
There was nothing for him in the garden either, just more bad memories and a sense of unease, yet he stayed for a while, until he could no longer bear the warmth that was trying to worm its way inside of him.
Finally he turned to leave, feeling as calm as he could have under the circumstances. He wondered what had become of Niall now, if he would ever see him again and whether he even wanted to.
7/100
’Verse/characters: The Tower, Bahne Haven
Prompt:#15 Blue
Word Count: 853
Rating: PG 13?
Working himself through the thick hedge before him with blind determination, Bahne pushed aside twigs and leaves with his bare hands, for once not caring about scratches or ripped and dirty clothing.
Finally the plants gave way to what must have been the most beautiful garden he had ever seen. It was a wild garden, full of moss and a mass of ivy that seemed to be growing wherever you might have wanted to put your feet, only occasionally making way for patches of flowers, ferns and grass in a multitude of colours. The air was thick with the sound of humming insects and a sweet smell, like fresh honey.
Without moving to take another step forwards, Bahne lifted his head to look up at an infuriatingly cloudless sky. Unable to figure out what else to do with them he buried his sore hands deeply in the pockets of his trousers.
It was hard to believe that this garden and the tower were actually on the same grounds. On the other side of the hedge the winter never ended, and the sky never seemed quite so blue.
High above a startlingly bright sun radiated light and a pleasant warmth that would have touched anyone straight to the bone. However, Bahne couldn’t have said that it was of much comfort to him.
As wondrous and beautiful as this place was, he had a deep dislike for it. It was too vital, somehow, especially considering that first and foremost he still considered it to be a grave. It had grown overnight, many years ago and only days after Bahne’s second eldest son had been buried in the frozen ground exactly where the gardens heart now was.
Back then Bahne had been appalled and furious, not only because of the injustice of losing another child in a place where nothing was ever supposed to change, but also for this - this anomaly.
At least Lyall had left on his own accord, but Eden had been killed for this - for another silly joke, a play on words and names.
Bahne knew he was being ridiculous, but there was no one else to blame but the blue, blue sky, and it just wasn’t fair. He found himself shaking again with suppressed rage and something a little like fear.
He hadn’t come here since that morning when he had first stumbled upon the garden, and even now he wasn’t sure why he had chosen to return today.
Maybe part of him had found it fitting to visit the place that was yet another reminder that nothing ever worked out for him.
Bahne had been numb all morning, ever since he’d been told what happened in the tower earlier that night. Bahne had not seen much of the carnage, apart from a drying pool of blood in one of the corridors, and when he finally woke up Eve had been safely hidden away in her room again, silently refusing to open the door. But from what he had been told, it must have been quite the spectacle. Eve had been found carved open like a piece of meat, with half of her insides hanging out and her and Bahne’s youngest boy kneeling over her, his right arm buried in the open wound almost up to the elbow.
Of course Eve had still been alive and horribly, terribly conscious while Niall had sliced her open, she was after all Death’s only child. According to Konstanze, who had found them just after Death herself, and who likely could take some credit for the fact that Niall had not been ripped to pieces on the spot by his own grandmother, Eve had even tried to protect Niall. She had held on tightly, trying to shield him with her own broken body.
Since then, Eve had been healed and Niall had disappeared, it was fairly clear that he could never return to the tower again after an attack like this.
Bahne didn’t know with whom he ought to have been more disgusted, but mostly he could feel his inside crawl with the realisation that even now he could still be disappointed.
He didn’t know how he felt about Niall, only that he wanted to take an axe to every tree and shrub in this blasted garden, to tear out all the roots and flowers until there was nothing left but cold winds and dark clouds again.
He wished more than anything that he could grief, could cope with loss like he knew regular people did. But for him there was nothing, no crying, no shouting and not even proper rage, just a quiet sense of feeling lost.
There was nothing for him in the garden either, just more bad memories and a sense of unease, yet he stayed for a while, until he could no longer bear the warmth that was trying to worm its way inside of him.
Finally he turned to leave, feeling as calm as he could have under the circumstances. He wondered what had become of Niall now, if he would ever see him again and whether he even wanted to.
7/100