Hiraetha
Mystic
{ x }
Some say that when falling a great distance, you drift into sleep before you hit the ground.
This theory was proved fantastically wrong by Olive, whom watched the ground jump towards her face until she smashed against the rocks below the railings looming among the high edges of Grafjell's citadel.
In the spring months, Olive had been noticing the paths of Grafjell being lit up more often, and the grown ups around her talking of strange 'mists.' Foolish adults, she thought, they are our friends, to play with! She kicked her hooves into the air, swinging the stick in her hand lightly through the air.
Something in the distance caught her eye; a light. Perhaps Mother Ashna was returning home from parading around Grafjell for the day? Or was it another guard? She lept off of the small rock, hooves smashing against the cobblestone as she ran towards the light. "Mommy Aksna-"
She froze, gaze set on the strange floating orb of light. How odd! she thought, holding her stick behind her back. This looked like no strange mist to her; and so, to the Child, it was fair game. The orb began to drift away, a giggle being emitted from the glow. Confused, the small Caparii child clopped after the orb; throwing her stick to the side of the path.
Up, they went, along bridges and through short tunnels, drifting through the scraggly outcrops of the citadel. Every time that Olive reached out to grasp the stone, however, it shot out to be just beyond her reach. And each time, she cried out in joy and kept running. Eventually, her and the orb reached a ledge. It floated slowly out over the railing, hovering just out of her small hand's reach.
"Mommy says no ed!" The orb could only reply with giggles and promises of play. However, Olive stayed away from the edge of the bridge, eyeing the ball warily. Eventually, it drifted back along downwards; shooting into a dim-lit tunnel with railings running along the bottom. The Child followed, her legs begging to tire and burn. "..W.. Wait! Wait up!"
The orb shot out between two slits in the stone, and Olive heard a cry from not far off. Was it Grey's? She could not tell. Her brown gaze was locked on the orb of light, and she shimmied out between the stones, just small enough to fit. Grasping the edge of the stone railings, she leaned; and grasped the rock!
It was warm in her small hand, and Olive grinned.
And then she plummeted down the cliffside, holding the rock tightly. It vanished just as she heard Leila's voice. "Olive, no-"
She felt herself hit rocks, and her small, frail spine snap. A chorus of screams sounded from the right as Olive's limp body rolled to a stop, thumping against a post near the library.
Olive wrapped her arms around Cloud's necks as they departed from the Isle. It had been nearly two weeks since her accident, and surgery. She had no feeling from the waist down. The child lifted a thin hand to wave at Grey on the docks, as the ship pushed off into the choppy waters.
And then Olive watched her home vanish into the mist, along with each of her loved ones.
As Cloud carried her below decks so that she could lay down, the six year old recalled each of the other times that Grey had left. Ced, Tzemik, Syra, Hammy, Vallahad, her dollies, and her parents. Everyone had left her. Even Ashna was gone, it seemed, retreating into her body and mind.
She tried her best to imagine her warm welcoming bed in Grafjell, the walls plastered with her drawings of life before.
I vote Olive to be the child with the worst PTSD in Altera right now. Abandoned, witnessed someone ripping someone else's chest out, magic, abandoned again, paralyzed, surgery, leaving her home, being force-fed sedatives, etc.
