2
Beatrix’s fever faded like a dream at dawn.
By the fourth day, she could sit upright, pale but conscious, watching the frost melt on her chamber windows.
Amandine read to her softly, while Camilla snuck in sweets and warm cloaks scented with lilac.
Aurelia Schwitzer, their close friend, stayed silent most of the time, scribbling thoughts in the margins of a thin journal she never let out of her sight.
And Evangeline hasn't left Beatrix's side ever since.
Tonitrus still hadn’t spoken.
Ventus hovered like a sleeping moth near Beatrix’s pillow, wings still but not gone.
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
*sitting on her bed, resting herself onto the pillows*
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*sitting beside her bed*
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
How do you feel now?
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
*tries to smile*
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
I feel better *hoarse but steady voice*
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
But it's… Quite.
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
The palace?
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
No… I don't mean the palace.
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
I mean, the inside.
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*worried*
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
(Maybe I shouldn't ask her about what happened right now.)
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
*looks down* It was horrible
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
Huh?
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
I was standing all alone, amidst of destruction.
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
A cataclysm.
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
What-?
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
In my dream…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
A-Ah, I see…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
But believe me, it was weird… Too weird…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
*looks at Eva*
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*grasps Bea's hand*
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
I was there…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
I searched and searched but found no one…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
Until I did find someone…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
I couldn't see their face, they had a cloak on
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
They were saying something…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
In a language, I've never heard before…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
Everything was falling towards destruction…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
And… I saw mother-
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*more worried* What…?
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
That person, there were more of such people…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
They were performing a ritual, and mother…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
I think… My mother was the sacrifice…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*eyes widened* No-
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
*teary eyes* I… I didn't know what to do…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*hugs Bea* It's okay, calm down…
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
*hugs back* Eva, do you think if I were there, mother wouldn't have left me?
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
Shhh… Bea, don't think about it…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
She didn't die, Bea…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
Remember, a person doesn't truly dies until even one person remembers them…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
And so many people remember her…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
She's still with us, in our hearts, in our memories…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
Don't say so…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*pats her back*
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
I… I'm sorry for making you worried. *sobs*
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
You didn't… It's not your fault…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*keeping patting her back*
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
*slowly falls asleep*
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
Bea?
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
(Seems like she fell asleep)
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
(But… What do I do about this now?)
Eva was sitting beside Beatrix, hugging and patting her until she fell asleep.
But Beatrix was hugging Eva with an extreme force. And so, Eva wasn't able to free herself and remained there in the same position.
After sometime, Evangeline also fell asleep alongside Beatrix.
Life in the Winter Palace resumed its steady rhythm of court meetings, dances, and bitter politics dressed in perfume.
Beatrix rejoined them all — slightly slower, slightly quieter — but the laughter returned, and so did her appetite.
Her dream of fire and ash was not mentioned again.
Perhaps they all wanted to believe it was simply a fever dream, nothing more.
And continued with their daily lives nonetheless.
But the peace didn't remain for long.
It was three weeks later when the first ripple appeared.
The first day of Rellimar, a festival of blessings and lanterns, marked the slow approach of spring.
Camilla, ever the most devout among them, rose early and went alone to the Chapel of Liora, nestled within the older quarters of the capital — a quiet sanctuary built to honor the light-giving spirits.
She had visited it dozens of times before. It was familiar, sacred, peaceful.
Camilla Von Edgar
*lights the lantern*
She lit a lantern at the altar — a simple rite to offer thanks to her bonded spirit, Lumen — and whispered the prayer of guidance:
Camilla Von Edgar
*closes her eyes*
Camilla Von Edgar
"Light that we carry…"
Camilla Von Edgar
"Light that carries us…"
Camilla Von Edgar
"Cast no shadow unless it shields…"
Camilla Von Edgar
"And guide us when the world dims…"
Camilla Von Edgar
*opens her eyes*
When she opened them, the lantern flame twisted.
Not upward — but sideways. Toward her.
A hiss, like a serpent through cold grass.
Camilla Von Edgar
*stumbles back* Huh…
Camilla stumbled back, the shards falling like rain at her feet, but nothing touched her. The flame rose once — blue and sharp — then vanished.
The reflection of that serpent vanishing could be seen in her amber eyes.
Camilla Von Edgar
*shocked* What… was that?
She didn’t scream. She didn’t run.
But she could feel it — the space where Lumen usually sat near her shoulder was empty. Cold.
Camilla Von Edgar
Where did you go?
Camilla Von Edgar
*looks around*
The attending priestess collapsed in a faint behind her.
Camilla Von Edgar
Huh? Miss…
Camilla Von Edgar
*shakes her* Miss…?
Camilla Von Edgar
Someone, help!
People around the place were also in a phase of shock, until they were not.
Some people brought water, and some helped her get up.
The priestess, then, went towards her chamber to rest.
Camilla Von Edgar
*looking around restlessly*
Camilla Von Edgar
Where did Lumen go?
Camilla Von Edgar
*worried*
Camilla Von Edgar
I can't feel her anywhere…
Later that day, the girls gathered in Evangeline’s solar — the quietest wing of the palace, far from the gilded noise of politics.
Camilla sat with her fingers laced tightly in her lap, her voice low and measured.
Camilla Von Edgar
It wasn't a blessing.
Camilla Von Edgar
It felt …wrong.
Camilla Von Edgar
*looking at her hands*
Camilla Von Edgar
Not like a warning.
Camilla Von Edgar
Not like a punishment.
Camilla Von Edgar
Just something…
Camilla Von Edgar
It was like… It wanted to reach me.
Camilla Von Edgar
I left something…
Camilla Von Edgar
But I can't describe what it was…
Amandine Von Edgar
And Lumen?
Amandine asked, glancing instinctively at the orb of flickering fire at her side — Ignis, ever vibrant.
Camilla Von Edgar
*shakes her head*
Camilla Von Edgar
No sign of her.
Camilla Von Edgar
She hasn't returned.
Camilla Von Edgar
Not even a flicker since the morning. *whispers*
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
*stare*
Beatrix stared at her quietly from her place by the hearth.
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
That's what it felt like for me.
Beatrix Paraz Athelia
When the fever came.
Amandine and Beatrix were trying to comfort Camilla.
Their spirits Tonitrus, Ventus, and Ignis roamed around the place as they were unable to sense Lumen.
While Aurelia was lost in a deep thought.
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
Lia…
Aurelia Schwitzer
*snaps out* Oh? Yes?
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
What do you think of this situation?
Aurelia Schwitzer
I don't know how to explain.
Aurelia Schwitzer
It's all weird.
Aurelia Schwitzer
Nothing like this has been recorded in the History of Athelgard.
Aurelia Schwitzer
The blessing of Liora turning into a serpent.
Aurelia Schwitzer
I think, I would need to do some research.
Aurelia Schwitzer
Plus, Lumen went missing after that.
Aurelia Schwitzer
There has to be something in the books.
Aurelia Schwitzer
Do you think Lumen was just scared?
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*shakes her head*
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
Lumen isn't the one to get scared so easily.
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
Plus, she's very protective of Cami…
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
I don't think she would do nothing when serpent tried to attack Cami
Aurelia Schwitzer
*nods* True.
Aurelia Schwitzer
I'll see what I can find.
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
*nods* Mhmm.
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
(One after another, different incidents keep on happening.)
Evangeline Paraz Athelia
(I wonder what's going on.)
Evangeline looked at her friends, at the subtle fear tightening around their eyes, like frost creeping into windowpanes.
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