Morrigan - ACOTAR Fanfic

Chapter Ten - The Plane Analogy

~~ (3 months later) ~~

Curled on an armchair in the foyer of Athelwood, I peered through the high-arched windows gracing the manor into the dark starry night. With my feet tucked behind me, I held a half-full glass of red wine in one hand and allowed my mind to lose itself in reflective thought.

The dreams about the human girl had grown more intense over the past few months, and every night clear images appeared in my mind, allowing my dreams to gradually merge with reality. The peculiar scent of her, her stunning ocean-blue eyes and golden-brown hair... it all made me feel such powerful vividness and truth.

But for the first night in the past few months, I did not dream of the girl. Halfway through sleeping, my body had awoken me, as if it was also wondering where my mate was.

To pass the time, I searched through my existing memories of those dreams, both recent and not-so-recent. Face set into a calm, unruffled tone, I gazed at the twinkling stars outside.

One of my personal favourites had occurred over the course of many nights. Alexandra had recently finished the book involving Nyx's birth. She'd used the talking-brick again and it had described an unfamiliar world to me, one of modernity and style.

As the girl and I had spent many hours listening to the same book, I'd been introduced to an entirely new fictional world. The badass, red-haired female protagonist known as Bryce Quinlan, had been both Alexandra's and my favourite character. Judging by the girl's reactions to the development of the plot, she'd read it before.

Despite knowing that the book had started off with the death of Bryce's best friend, Alexandra had still poured her heart out in a flood of tears. I'd teared up a little myself. Towards the end of the fantasy, majestical book, Bryce's new lover had been torn into pieces, battered and broken apart at one edge of the bomb-filled city it was set in.

Alexandra hadn't stopped crying all throughout it, even as Bryce accessed her newly found starborn power, reunited with her best friend in Hell, and returned to the city with a vengeance worthy of setting the world ablaze.

All I'd wanted to do was wipe the girl's tears away, hold her in my arms and shush her shaking sobs.

Later that same night, once the talking-brick had stopped playing through my dreams, it had been replaced with the sweet-sounding voice of my mate. Lying with her back to the bed, she'd whispered aloud, "Light it up. Light it up. Light it up! Buzzard." She'd continued the same phrase over and over until she'd drifted off.

The Cauldron had no idea who 'Buzzard' was, so damn me to Hell if I did.

Reaching the end of the track, my thoughts trailed off, then began a new one on their own accord.

I recounted a dream from many weeks ago. The girl's face hadn't appeared my mind, but she'd sent in the most interesting thoughts about her own mind. She'd discovered an analogy for people, which she ended up calling 'The Plane Analogy'.

Alexandra may have looked like a young woman, but she had the heart of a child and the mind of an elder—her words, not mine. This had proved true as she'd soon delved deeper into the analogy and explained it further as if someone—such as me—was listening.

According to the girl, humans are planes. Their personalities are the physical exterior and interior of the plane, and the type of plane is the type of person they are. Their physical body is the Pilot, and their co-partner is their assistant Pilot.

Of course, initially, I had needed to read in-between the lines to understand what a plane was, but once I realised that it was a human-made invention for quickly transporting things in the air, I couldn't help but agree with Alexandra on her analogy.

She had imagined that plane turbulence represents turbulent feelings, and the physical impact of it symbolises the balance of the person's life. The quality of the actual plane and the company it's owned by represents the quality of the Pilot's life. The leading flight attendant is the person's best friend and the other flight attendants are family. First-class passengers represent close friends, business passengers are people the Pilot is forced to hang out with—whether they like it or not—and economy is all other acquaintances and people the person has met in their life.

I mean, Alexandra had spoken the honest truth. Through her many thoughts that I'd listened to at night, she considered her mind an absolute whizz. However, during the day, it was as good as potato mash—once again, her own words.

She had thought that the weather affecting the plane shows the different stages that the person has experienced in life. The flight attendants—family and friends—leave behind many memories, and subsequently, passengers are people who float in and out of the Pilot's life.

Like a thread of string winding down a long, narrow road, the girl's whisper of thoughts had trailed along, and Alexandra had followed eagerly.

She'd said that the passengers never focused on the inner workings of the plane and its 'life journey'. Only the Pilot recognises that the destination is not the only thing to be admired in life. Only the Pilot and crew members acknowledge the sleepless nights, skipped meals, the hard-working but forced-to-keep-a-smile-on-their-face flight attendants, and difficulties faced when flying in the sky.

I sat with that Fae stillness in my chair, as if I was as good as dead, an unblinking face and unmoving body.

Alexandra had concluded on a random but deep thought. That life is a journey, not a destination.

This part of the analogy had helped me realise that the girl could be philosophical and inspirational when she wished to be. I knew that only her two closest friends, Freya and Maxwell, had ever seen such a part of her. Alexandra had a deeply relatable complexity unseen and unacknowledged by most people.

But the human girl—my precious mate—treated her friends like treasure. As grateful as she was for them, she feared losing them more than anything. And just as Rhysand would give to Feyre, just as I would give to continue to see Alexandra in my dreams, I knew that my mate would do anything to see Freya and Maxwell happy.

It was part of the reason I mourned silently inside: even if I had the chance to meet my mate, I couldn't guarantee she'd want to leave her life and friends behind to meet me too. Ever since I'd started dreaming of her, that unyielding waterfall of emotion inside me had started hammering down on the wall I'd placed up around me so many centuries ago.

I looked away from the windows to the wineglass.

As attached to Alexandra's dreams as I'd grown, I was grateful for the break tonight.

*****

By the bloody Cauldron, the Mother played games with me again.

Almost immediately after I thought to be thankful for the break in the dreams, Alexandra's voice entered my mind. A tingling sensation rushed from the roots of my golden hair to the tips of my toes, making the hairs on my arms shoot straight up.

But the instant I processed what the girl was pleading for, I sobered.

She repeated the same thoughts over and over. "It hurts. It really hurts. Please take it away. I'm begging anyone." A sob broke through her words. "It really hurts. Please, please take it away."

My eyes widened and panic filled me. My lips moved on their own as I demanded, "Take away what?"

My mate answered softly, as if she could hear me, "Take the pain away."

Hey everyone, 

We're reaching the resolution of this shorter fanfic. I think you guys will simultaneously love the ending and have your hearts crushed by it. So good luck! It won't be what you expect. 

*evil smirk*

Also, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Farewell for now :)