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takerfoxx · 6 years

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RD Walpurgis Nights 7: Part 7

Homulilly stood before the door to Dr. Cynthia’s office. Though she had been there several times in the past, her insides were quailing. This was the first step of what promised to be long, painful, and deeply personal journey. She was not looking forward to it.

Still, the journey was not going to begin unless she took the first step. She willed her hands to stop shaking and lifted one to knock on the door.

“Come in,” came the answer from within.

Homulilly opened the door.

Dr. Cynthia’s office was as welcoming as always, with big picture windows behind her desk open to the slope of Freehaven’s hill, giving her a fantastic view of the city. Several interesting knick-knacks were placed tastefully about the room, and several pictures of her with the various girls she had helped over the decades were on the wall.

As for Dr. Cynthia herself, she wasn’t behind the desk, but instead setting out a tea on the small tea table in the middle of the room, which sat between two comfortable chairs. “Ah, good afternoon, Homulilly. It’s been a while.”

Homulilly nodded. Then she stepped inside and let the door swing shut.

“Well, have a seat,” Dr. Cynthia said as she took the smaller of the two chairs. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Homulilly did so, sitting stiffly with her hands on her knees. She didn’t want to do this. Quite frankly, she would like to be doing anything but this. However, she was now kind of committed.

Besides, she knew she had to do this, for Gretchen’s sake.

“I…” she began. The words caught in her throat, so she coughed and tried again.

“I need help,” she said at last.

Dr. Cynthia slowly nodded. “Well, that’s what I’m here for.”

…

It was a place that nobody asked to come to.

It was a place that nobody wanted to come to.

It was a place that nobody even knew that they were going to.

But they were there regardless.

And though they had come from a dozen different planets, from hundreds of different countries, and from innumerable backgrounds, they were all there, and they had to make the best of it.

From the very young…

…

It was almost midnight when Alyssa entered the Freehaven Public Library, and she was getting just a little pissed.

The library was in the upper areas of Freehaven, which made it accessible to both the residents of the town and those still going through the integration program. It was also open at all hours, which was great for those needing a space to cram for some foreboding test, but it was also further from Alyssa’s home than she cared to travel at that hour, hence her sour disposition.

Despite the hour, there were still a few people milling about. Alyssa found a girl wearing a librarian nametag and made a beeline over to her.

“Excuse me,” she said. “I’m looking for someone.”

The librarian, a pink-haired girl whose nametag identified her as “Charlotte,” quirked an eyebrow. “Well,” she said. “I don’t know what to tell yah. Usually people come here looking for books.”

Alyssa’s left eye twitched, but she maintained her politeness. Manner first. “I mean, I’m looking for someone that came here earlier and was supposed to be back by now, but…isn’t. And she’s not answering her phone.”

“Oh. Okay…?”

“She’s about this tall,” Alyssa said, holding a hand a few inches over her head. “With tanned skin and long orange hair and-”

The side of Charlotte’s mouth perked up. “Wait, you mean Mitty?”

Alyssa paused for a second. “Actually, yes.”

“Yeah, she’s in here all the time. You’re Alyssa, right? This way.”

Charlotte led the bemused Alyssa through the stacks, up the stairs, and over to a study corner.

Despite her sour mood, when Alyssa saw what was waiting for her there, she couldn’t help but smile.

Mitty was curled up in a beanbag chair, limbs drawn in nearly into the fetal position. One hand lightly held onto an open book. She was fast asleep.

“This…isn’t the first time I’ve found her like this,” Charlotte said. “What can I say? She loves reading.”

“Yup. Among other things.” Alyssa spied Mitty’s phone on the table near her. She sidled over to it and checked. Yup, it was on silent, and there were all her missed calls and messages.

Sighing, Alyssa gently extracted the book from Mitty’s fingers and handed it over to Charlotte. “Thank you,” she said as she pocketed Mitty’s phone. “I’ll take it from here.”

With that, she slipped her hands under Mitty’s body and picked her up into a bridal carry.

As she carried the sleeping girl toward the exit, Mitty stirred a bit. “Um, uh, Alyssa…?” she muttered, eyes still half-closed.

“Yup,” Alyssa said. “You fell asleep in the library. Again.”

“Oh. Shrrrorrryyyy…” Mitty’s head dipped down and she was out again.

Shaking her head, Alyssa cosigned herself to carrying Mitty the rest of the way.

…

To the exceptionally old…

…

It was several days after the Cultural Exchange Festival, and now that the festive air had left the town the rain was allowed to come in.

Astrid sat bundled up in her favorite fuzzy brown blanket in the little cubby space by the window of the apartment she and Zoya shared in the back of the museum’s grounds, watching the silver curtain come down to wash the city clean. She had always liked the rain. It was the closest thing Freehaven ever got to the weather she remembered from her childhood. It had been thousands of years since she had departed the world of the living, but she still remembered.

Zoya came over, a pair of steaming mugs of hot chocolate in her hands. Without saying anything, she handed one to Astrid and eased herself into the small space beside her. Zoya opened the blanket to let her in, and the two just sat there, cuddling together and listening to the rain.

Astrid didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. She knew that Zoya was very aware of the dark thoughts that were hovering over her mind and soul. They came every year, after she gave the tour to whichever class from the FIB’s was ready for their turn. One would think that after doing it for so long, it would stop affecting her. But somehow, it seemed to get just a little bit harder every year.

The older she got, the faster time seemed to pass, and now the years felt like they were zipping by in a manner of minutes. She would lead the tour, relive the memories, give the lecture, and just when she started to feel better it was time to do it all over again.

And again.

For the rest of eternity, all to convince a group of children to consign themselves to being stuck in a trap that even she herself desperately wished she could be free from.

If I had just not run away, she thought, it would be over. Sure, her soul would be probably be forfeit, fueling whatever it was in that pyramid, but at least then it would be over and done with. Oblivion was Oblivion, regardless if she was made one with Nirvana or made part of a mad Incubator’s evil scheme or-

“Maybe I’d better do the tour next year,” Zoya said suddenly.

“No,” Astrid said automatically. “It’s my job. I can do it.”

“Mmmm-hmmm,” Zoya said as she sipped her hot chocolate.

“I can!”

Zoya shook her head. “Snowflake, take a few years off. You’re getting restless again. I lived the same thing you did, I can do it just the same as you.”

“But-”

And then there was a knock at the door.

The knock was fast, loud, and desperate, the frantic pounding of someone terrified and in need of sanctuary. Astrid and Zoya looked at each other in surprise. Then they got up and went over to the door.

Astrid peered through the keyhole. It as a small Hispanic girl with long dark hair tied back in an untidy ponytail. She wore what looked like cast-off clothes that were too big for her and a clear plastic poncho. She was hugging herself as her eyes darted this way and that, and she was shivering in a manner that said that the cold was only part of the problem.

“Huh,” Astrid said, and then opened the door.

The girl stiffened. She looked up at Astrid and Zoya with wide, scared eyes. “I…” she said, and then seemed to choke on the words.

“Can…we help you?” Astrid said.

The girl swallowed. “Y-You two used to be Void Walkers, right? They said you used to be Void Walkers, but you ran away!”

Astrid and Zoya exchanged a look, and then Zoya said, “Um, that’s right.”

“Please, you have to help me!” the girl begged. “I just got out, and I don’t know where to go or who to go to. Oblivion probably has people looking for me right now!”

Astrid’s mouth fell open. “You’re a runaway Void Walker?”

The girl nodded rapidly.

Astrid believed her. It had been so long since she and Zoya had made their escape, but she still recognized that look in the girl’s eyes, the same look they had worn for so long even after reaching safety.

“Oh, sweet breath of life,” she whispered. Then she held out her hand. “Well, come in. Let’s get you out of the rain and warmed up.”

“Th-Thank you,” the girl said as she entered the apartment, her teeth chattering.

As Astrid let the door close, she found that for once, the weight of the years that had been growing on her shoulders was suddenly gone. All it had taken was a small reminder of what they had escaped and what their purpose was, and suddenly it all seemed clear again.

They were there to help, in any way they could. It was as simple as that.

…

From those having to deal with fresh wounds…

…

One hand holding tightly onto that of Shelley Attenbourgh, her therapist, Ophelia slowly descended the steps down into the pool. Her bare feet touched the warm water, and she instinctively flinched back.

“Easy there,” Shelley said, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze. “Take your time.”

Ophelia scowled. No. She wasn’t going to let this beat her.

A few steps down, and she was standing in the shallow end, with the water up to her middle.

“That’s it,” Shelley said. “Just go slowly. Stay focused on Oktavia. You’re doing great.”

The blue-haired mermaid in question was in the pool’s deep end, which was only around six feet deep, but it was enough to submerge both of them completely. Oktavia was treading water, waiting for her.

Ophelia took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s do this.”

Shelley let go of her hand, and Ophelia sank down until only her head was about water. Then she paddled across the pool over to where Oktavia was. In sharp contrast to the graceful, fluid movements that defined practically everything she did on land, in there she moved awkwardly, just a little too fast and jerky.

“Take it easy,” Shelley said as she swam next to her. “Slow it down. Wide strokes, now. Wide strokes.”

“Right,” Ophelia muttered. “I can do windmills on my freaking fingers, so I can do this.”

Then she reached Oktavia, and pretty much collapsed into her arms. “Hey, good job!” Oktavia said as the two floated together, fins and legs slowly moving to keep them up. “I mean, you still swim like a crippled turtle with dementia, but it’s a major step up from sinking like a rock.”

“Asshole,” Ophelia said, but she smiled.

“All right,” Oktavia said. “Ready?”

“Gimme a second,” Ophelia muttered. She took a deep, let it out, and then another. Then she nodded. “Okay.”

Keeping a firm grip on each other, the two lowered themselves down. Ophelia squeezed her eyes shut, but nothing could block out the feeling of the waters closing over her head.

Again she felt the surge of panic, the rush of memories from when she had drowned to death multiple times in succession. She jerked a bit, her body reflexively recoiling from the water toward the air. She fought it, chewing the insides of her cheeks and she kept her fear in check.

They were only down there for ten seconds, though it felt much, much, longer. Then they surfaced and Ophelia started gasping.

“Are you okay?” Oktavia said. “You got this?”

Ophelia held up a finger, signaling for her to wait. Then, after a bit, she nodded. “Okay,” she said. She was still breathing heavily, but at least she had it under control. “I’m good.”

Then she blinked. Her hand went up to the top of her head, feeling around the fake skin that covered where the flames came out, frantically searching for any seam that the water might have broken through.

“You’re good, you’re good,” Oktavia reassured her. “No water got in.”

“You sure?” Ophelia said. “Maybe some seeped in. Maybe I’m gonna start choking any second now.”

“Babe,” Oktavia said with a roll of her eyes. “Even if that thing wasn’t completely airtight, which it is, it’s enchanted to ward away water from the seams. You are literally protected by magic. Besides, if enough to choke you got in, I think you’d know by now. Anything less would probably just evaporate.”

Ophelia paused with her fingers still probing the seams. Then she let them drop with a sheepish grin. “Okay,” she said. “Fine.”

“You did great though,” Shelley said, clapping her in the shoulder. “We’ve been doing this less than a week, and you already doubled your time.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t like doing things halfway,” Ophelia said. Then she scowled down at the pool. “Even if it involves evil, sadistic, hellish water.”

Oktavia sighed. “Well, it’s a start. In the meantime though…”

“Eh?”

Shelley pulled herself out of the pool. She walked over to a table and picked up a small, white remote wand.

“Er, what are you doing?”

“Just trying a new form of therapy,” Shelley said. “To help you build pleasant associations with water.”

Then she pressed a button.

The lights in the indoor pool area dimmed, and then a spotlight poured down over Ophelia and Oktavia. Over the loudspeakers a song started playing, a jazzy piano melody accompanied by a saxophone and a string section.

Ophelia recognized it immediately. It was one of Oktavia’s original compositions, her personal favorite in fact.

Then Oktavia’s hands slid behind Ophelia’s back and she pressed herself close.

Ophelia blinked. “Um, what’s going on? I mean, I can’t say I mind, but…”

Her face close to Ophelia’s ear, Oktavia murmured, “Well, it occurred to me that I’m dating the best dancer in Freehaven, but never once got a dance with her. And you’re dating the best swimmer in Freehaven, but we’ve never really gone for a swim together. So…why not split the difference?”

Ophelia’s brow raised. Then she smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep us afloat,” Oktavia said. She took Ophelia’s hands in hers. “Just show me the steps.”

…

To those carrying old hurts…

…

“Faster!” Nikki shrieked. “Faster, Annabelle Lee! Faster!”

“Uh, no!” Elsa said hastily. “Veto on the faster! In fact, slower! Slower is fine!”

Annabelle Lee glanced first to the tiny, golden-haired girl in her arms, and then to the taller, raven-haired girl clinging to her back. “Well, make up your minds. I can go faster or slower. Can’t do both.”

“Faster!” Nikki insisted.

“No!” Elsa shouted. “Or I will throw up into your neck! Don’t think that I won’t!”

Annabelle Lee sighed. “Well, that cinches it. Sorry kid, I’m not digging chunks of puke out of my scarf.”

“Aw…”

The trio had been flying through a fairly thick cluster of clouds. But as they talked, they suddenly broke through, and they were sailing through bright blue skies with the sun shining brightly down on them.

Suddenly, Elsa stopped complaining. “Wow,” she said.

Annabelle Lee’s worn and tired eyes crinkled as her mouth lifted in a rare smile. “Yeah,” she said. “It’s something else, ain’t it?”

“It is,” Elsa agreed. Then she paused. “Well, I’ll be.”

“What?”

“You’re smiling! And not in a mean way either. Annabelle Lee, are you actually having fun?”

Annabelle Lee’s smile vanished. “Shut up,” she said. “I do this all the time, remember? It’s just fun because you like it.”

Elsa laughed “Well, this is a day for miracles. That might be the loveliest thing you’ve ever said.”

Annabelle Lee sighed. But still, as she gazed upon the endless horizon before her, with the very people in her life worth caring about held close, she found herself smiling again.

Eternity had done her no favors whatsoever. But even so, some parts were nice.

…

It was all the same.

Because they were in the same place. And to survive and continue on, they all needed to learn to love and support one another, to lift up those who had fallen and look fondly toward the future.

…

“To Candeloro and Charlotte!”

Several mugs and cups clinked together in the air, and everyone cheered.

The pair were in the Honey Hive bakery and coffee house, where Mami worked. Now that things had calmed down, they and their friends were gathered together with all their friends to celebrate. After all, it wasn’t every day that one achieved her dreams at the exact same time as the one dearest to her heart.

It was past closing hours, and the whole place had been pretty much taken over for the celebration. Candeloro had to admit, it was nice to be pampered in the place that she spent so much time waiting upon others. Occasionally a passerby would see the crowd and assume that the place was still open and try to come in. Candeloro’s coworkers seemed to enjoy turning them away just a little too much.

“For they’re a jolly good couple…” Ophelia started to sing, waving her mug of obscenely caffeinated and criminally sweetened coffee back and forth.

“For they’re a jolly good couple…” Oktavia joined in.

“For they’re a jolly good couple!” called out the rest of Candeloro’s friends. “Which nobody can deny!” And then they all cheered again.

Then, just as the noise quieted down, Cheese chose that exact moment to call out, “You’re all the shits. Hello, you stupid bird!”

Everyone laughed at that, even Candeloro, though Charlotte shot a glare at Ophelia, on whose shoulder Cheese was perched. Ophelia, who had insisted that Cheese be brought along on account of him being family, merely grinned unrepentantly and shrugged.

“So, when is your book coming out?” asked Kisandra, who was one Candeloro’s coworkers.

“Coming out?” Charlotte said. “I don’t even have a publisher yet!”

“Nothing short of a formality at this point,” Corbit said. “I will have them crawling over one another to get at the rights.” The jott was set to return home soon, but she had stuck around to join in the party. Candeloro, who had only recently met her, definitely saw why Ophelia and Oktavia had taken to her so easily. She was definitely charming, to say the least.

“Well, when it does, you’re pretty much obligated to have the release party here,” said Francoise, who owned the Honey Hive.

“Plus a meet-and-greet and a book signing!” Corbit chimed in. “A capital idea.”

Charlotte made a choking sound. “Wait, book signing? As if in autographs? That might be a thing?”

Corbit gave her a sympathetic pat on her shoulder. “Best strengthen up that wrist, sweetie. It’s going to get a lot of use.”

“It already does!” Oktavia said, and she, Ophelia, Corbit, and some of Candeloro’s more…crude friends burst into laughter.

Charlotte sighed while Candeloro gave the pair a sharp look. “Knock-”

“-it-,” Ophelia said.

“-off-” Oktavia continued.

“-you guys,” Cheese finished. That just made everyone laugh harder.

“I like that bird!” Corbit said. “I must get one of my own.”

“Well, regardless, I’m definitely going to have to hire some more people,” Francoise said when everyone had calmed down. “You winning that award already kicked up business, and once those sponsors you got for us start coming through, the line will be out the door!”

“Yeah, thanks a lot, Candeloro,” Kisandra said with an exaggerated frown. “Way to make our jobs harder.”

As everyone laughed and chattered, Candeloro allowed herself to finally relax. On the whole, while she did not regret her trip, it had been very stressful and she was glad to be home. It felt very nice to finally be able to let herself unwind after a very long week and enjoy the fruits of her labor. Finally her hard work was getting recognized, as was Charlotte’s. And while she was incredibly proud of everything Ophelia and Oktavia had accomplished in their chosen fields, it was nice to finally have something of their own to be proud of as well. Still, getting there had been difficult, and by all accounts the last week had been tough on everyone.

Speaking of which…

Candeloro turned her attention to a pair of guests who weren’t exactly sitting apart from the rest of the party, but were by themselves on the fringes.

“Excuse me,” she muttered to the others, and then got up to go over to the pair.

“Hello, you two,” she said as she sat down across from Gretchen and Homulilly. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course!” Gretchen said. “Congratulations, by the way. Again, I mean.”

“Thanks guys,” Candeloro said. Then, with a quick glance over to the others, she lowered her voice so that only the three of them could hear. “And, um, I hope I’m not intruding, but we haven’t gotten much chance to talk since I got back. How are you two doing?”

The kids both winced. “Well,” Gretchen said. “It’s been…it’s been…”

“Pretty rough,” Homulilly admitted. “I, uh, made a lot of mistakes.”

“We both did.”

“No, it was mostly me. Actually, I screwed up pretty bad. You probably already know all about it.”

“Most,” Candeloro said. “But listen: I have heard of all the work you two are doing to try to fix things, and I have to say, I am proud of both of you. It can’t be at all easy to confront that sort of stuff, so it’s great that you are.”

Homulilly nodded. “Well. You’re right, it is pretty hard.” Then she smiled over to Gretchen, and laid her hand on the back of hers. “But it’s worth it.” Gretchen blushed a little, then she leaned over to kiss Homulilly on the cheek.

“That’s just what I wanted to hear,” Candeloro said. “Also, if you two ever had a problem and need someone to talk to, please don’t hesitate to call. Because the way I look at it we are all more than just friends. We’re a team. Family, even.”

“Family,” Homulilly said, musing over that word. She smiled. “I like that. I like that a lot.”

…

And honestly, that’s what they were. Family. A team. However you want to put it. They had to be. That was their best chance of getting through it.

Because when you really got down to it, it didn’t matter where they had come from, when they had come from, what they had been through, or what they had done.

One way or another, no matter who they were, they were all in it together.

#Walpurgis Nights

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