(no subject)
Symbols of the four elements were engraved above the altar; the candlelight gave the scene an eerie feel, as if the miniature flames were mocking her. The dim lighting given off by the candles was not near enough to light the room, and the faces around her were shadowed and eerie. Occasionally, she would see the flash of fear as she stepped past someone where they sat in the isles.
She had to force down first anger, then tears. She shied away from their looks and faced the alter.
I’ll be there soon. Only a couple more steps. One, two…
She shivered under her robes. This moment should never have come, she thought. This was not where she was supposed to be now. She knew it.
Five, six, seven…
The cloth pressed against her shoulders; she slumped. She tried to recall the time she might have spent recovering from the trauma. She remembered none.
Eleven, twelve…
She knew that everything was happening too fast to even be possible. How could she be here after all this. The start of a war. Her mother’s death. Her ascension.
She lost count of her footsteps.
She looked up and the priest was before her. His eyes were unreal, cold, unfeeling. She immediately looked down. Her breathing remained steady; it wasn’t real to her. It couldn’t be real.
He pulled gently on the sleeves of her robes; they fell, revealing her bare skin. She shivered only slightly at the sudden exposure; the sliding of the cloth over her fur had ruffled it and given her chills. She hardly noticed as he dressed her ceremoniously. She stared right past him. He would go away soon. He would disappear with the rest of this strange, strange dream
When he pulled away, she looked to her hand. A glove covered it. Her eyes traveled up her arm. A tight, violet-red wristband secured her glove to her long, purple sleeve.
Her sleeves were that of an Untouchable.
Tears flowed then, and only then. There would be no awakening from this nightmare.
-------
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Blaze didn’t even glance back as she paced across the halls of the temple. “That little ceremony of yours was finished over a day ago, Daddy. I stayed around and acted all tough and pretty for your admiring subjects; I’m going now.”
She could sense his frustration behind her. “I don’t think you get it, Blaze. Do you even realize the significance of that ceremony - your ceremony?”
“Yeah. It means I can’t touch people anymore. Doesn’t make me non-existent, though I’m sure you’d love that.”
His hesitation was unsurprising; the venom in her voice was unintentional but effective anyway. After a moment, he interjected. “Blaze, what do you mean by that?”
“YOU KNOW FULL WELL WHAT I MEAN!” Blaze whipped around, suddenly confronting him and letting out all of her anxiety and emotion from earlier. She tried to breathe before she continued. “You hate me this way. You never wanted me to ascend. You loved me before I did…”
“Blaze…” He looked at her with an almost hurt expression. “How could you think that I don’t love you?”
For some reason, the simplicity of the question took Blaze by surprise. “I… The way you looked at me… you’re afraid of me…”
“Oh, no…” He whispered, obviously coming to an understanding. He reached for her cheek before realizing that he couldn’t even comfort her; then, he caressed the air next to her. “Blaze, my child… of course I still love you. I just can’t imagine what it must be like… to never touch you again…”
Blaze shuddered with guilt.
“You’re my daughter, Blaze. You are my treasure. What I fear is not you… it’s the idea, the thought that I can never even embrace you again…”
Blaze could take no more; she turned away again. “I’m going to find Silver.” She said over her shoulder as she continued to walk and slowly sped her pace.
“…You won’t find him.”
Something made Blaze’s feet stick to the ground. She turned her head to the sad look on her father’s face. “… Wh… What?”
He shook his head. “He left two nights ago. I thought that’s what you were… uh… making so much ruckus about the night before last.”
Blaze shook herself. “He left? Silver… he left. When’s he going to be back?”
Her father sighed, obviously pained. “He… well… He saw a dark future that might be able to be fixed. He went on a pilgrimage to find the source of the darkness, and hopefully find a way to elude it.”
“He… saw the future? How?”
“He was a Seer, Blaze.”
Someone had punched Blaze in the gut. She suddenly found it very hard to take in breath. “Silver… a Seer?!” she held her head and rubbed her temples. “But… but when is he coming back?”
Her father hesitated. “Blaze…”
“WHEN IS HE COMING-”
“He isn’t.”
The reply was shattering, and there was silence for several long moments. At last her father composed himself. “He revealed his visions to the council and proposed that since he was the one to see it all…”
“No…”
“…, that he should take this journey. He insisted.”
“And you let him go?” Blaze’s voice cracked. “You LET him go! Why did he leave if he knew that he wouldn’t be coming back?!”
Her father was reluctant. “It… is a very slim chance of his return. The way he described the enemy, there would likely be no way of survival…”
“But WHY?! WHY DID HE LEAVE?!”
Blaze didn’t wait for an answer; she ran. Out of the temple, past the ruined palace, beyond the courtyards. She ran to the Caster house, knowing somewhere in her heart that Silver had to be there.
When she came within sight and slowed to a halt, she saw Mesa leaning against the black oak tree that she and Silver had spent many childhood days in. Tears were streaming down the strong woman’s face, and she held the necklace that Silver had made for her as a boy years and years ago.
The truth hit her hard, and Blaze quaked under a new sort of anger.
She threw herself at the ground, creating small craters with her fists. Mud spattered the white knees of her pants and stained her new, crisp gloves. She clenched her teeth until blood shown in the corners of her mouth.
“Why, Silver?” She whispered angrily, then threw her head back and screamed. “WHY?! WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!”
-------
It was several hours later before Blaze returned home, new clothes dirty and torn, small dots of blood sprinkling her clothes where she had scraped herself. Her face looked worn and pale from crying, but her eyes held a stony glare that he had never seen before.
When her father saw her this way, he was cautious about approaching her.
“Blaze…”
“It doesn’t matter.” Her tone betrayed her words and revealed her feelings, but her eyes stared straight ahead without a trace of any other emotion. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll forget him soon enough.”
One day, I’m gonna forget your name
And one sweet day, you’re gonna drown in my lost pain…
And oh you love to hate me, don’t you, honey?
I’m your sacrifice.
Whew... another crap-load of work. I just wrote that whole chap in like... an hour and a half. ^^;
Part three. Just one more part, then prologue. Then end of Angst!Fic.