Arcane

Sunaro

hey y'all I forgot to post this Monday so here is the new chapter so sorry about that :)

Sunaro-

     The fire crackled and glowed in the dark of Akane's room. I sat next to Mizu in the chairs in front of the fire as we both silently watched it burn and smoke. The only source of light in the entire room. The smell was stronger to me and the smoke burned a little in my throat. I could hear Akane's faint breathing as she slept. The gashes on her back were gone like they were never there thanks to Fera and Lilith. The silence was getting too loud and I awkwardly shifted in my seat.

"Why do you think she refused the execution?" Mizu finally broke the silence. Her voice was hushed and careful not to wake Akane.

"I don't know"

"It doesn't make any sense, she has never done that in the two years I've known her to be the king's executioner. She knew she was going to be punished and she still did it anyways" Mizu turned in her chair to face me clutching her knees in her arms.

     Her face was illuminated in the fire and she looked like the version of Mizu I saw in my dreams, glowing and almost like she was fading. She was glowing and her skin was glimmering as she looked into my eyes. It was mesmerizing. I made sure to remember that sight  before answering her.

"I think she felt guilty," I said.

       Akane wasn't known throughout the kingdom for having a heart but I knew that there was something human left deep within the depths of her. I always thought of Akane when I looked at the moon. A part of her was always hidden away. And no one could ever figure out what she kept hidden away in the parts we weren't allowed to see. Something she didn't allow anyone to see.

       It was well into the night and both Mizu and I should have been in our rooms sleeping for the day of work ahead tomorrow. Instead we both sat in front of the fireplace. Maybe it was the mutual feeling for the girl we both loved as our own or the dread that she would leave the next day and we couldn't face the possibility that she may not ever come back. So we sat in silence once again watching the fire in the dead of night.

                                                                                          ∼•∼

      The picture of the past occurrences whirled in my head fading in and out in short scenes. I remembered standing next to Kaen and seeing his horrified face from the corner of my eye as he watched Akane get whipped and the couple get killed. Kaen clearly had never been to an execution and the hard armor around himself had cracked as he watched. Akane's hysterical laughs were playing non-stop in the background but she was silent in front of me, smiling that empty cynical smile of hers.

     This was clearly his fault. Of course, Akane shouldn't have been there in the first place but she was still a child and probably just wanted to be a part of the world for once. Being locked away must have been hard for her.

      Kaen was the one who revealed she was there. If he hadn't done that she would have gotten away with it. In reality I didn't know why Akane had refused the execution. I gave Mizu an answer to calm her stress and anxiety about Akane and end the uncomfortable conversation. There was a possibility that it actually could have been guilt but I doubted it. She wasn't one to feel guilty of choices she made in the moment.

                                                                                                    ∼•∼

      The sunlight beamed through the tower window waking me from my dream. I opened my eyes to the sight of Mizu stirring in her sleep. If I could have stopped time at that moment and lived in it forever I would have. We never made it out of Akane's room and her laughs and giggles still rang in my head.