Amentia

Chapter 44 - Barriers

When Nina and Maylin walked into the caravan, they froze in surprise at the door. This looked nothing like the room they had left just a few hours earlier. Azariah was standing on the big sofa with an arm extended upwards holding an unlit prop torch and reciting a heroic speech from one of the plays. All around him there were fake combats taking place: Meiko was fist-fighting with Meira whilst dodging blows of wind from Anna, Nati was exchanging swords with Almar, and Adam was dancing around the room playing an upbeat tune on his nahe. Furniture was being stepped on or stumbled upon, and random objects were flying around the room. All the while, Ruvyn and Omylia were working in the kitchen, vehemently ignoring the madness going on behind their backs.

It was quite literally a chaotic picture to walk into, but Nina and Maylin felt like the air was breathable again, and the worry left their bodies so quickly that they could only stand and watch in awe as their friends played out this ridiculous scene.

Maylin finally moved to give Ruvyn the spices she'd gotten at the Plaza, and then walked across the room evading the combats to get to the stairs.

"I'd leave her alone if I were you," Anna said to her from the opposite corner of the room as she kept her fight going with Meiko and Meira. "You do not want to add any kindle to that fire, trust me."

A bit surprised by Anna guessing her exact intentions, she took down the step she'd taken on the stairs. The human girls were the ones who knew the most about this situation and they knew each other better as well, so if Anna recommended leaving her student alone, then that's what she'd do, for now at least. A bit of a relief, really, because she hadn't been very sure of what she wanted to say to her... Well, that's not entirely true: she'd wanted to scold her for being a whiny kid and then make her do a hundred folds on a piece of wood as punishment. But that might not have been very helpful, so she sat on the nearest couch and watched as the end of the combat scene unfolded, and later helped clean up the mess they'd made.

Per Ruvyn's request, there would be no performance that night. Not only because half of the troupe was now exhausted from this impromptu piece of a play, but also because they would not be able to give a true performance in the complicated emotional situation they were in. Even though the room had been full of noise and a lot of laughter for a big part of the afternoon, the problem was not yet solved. Distractions are always good to clean up the air and let out frustrations, but they could not last forever and the arguments would start again soon enough.

Dinner had a lighter tone than lunch and there was mild conversation going around, but there was still a big elephant in the room. Zoe did not apologize for her behavior. In fact, she did not speak a single word, and no one spoke to her either. Nina and Maylin exchanged a few concerned glances, and Anna spent the time looking sideways at Zoe between every bite. Where once had been openness and breeziness, there were now invisible walls, barriers that kept them apart. Suddenly, meaningful words felt too heavy and rough on the throat. Anna could almost hear the divisions, like soundproof walls around each person. It kept them from voicing their real thoughts, only trivialities were allowed. It was so thick in the air that she thought if she screamed right at their faces, they would still not be able to hear her.

Nati looked around watching everyone's expressions and body language, remembering old classes from university. This wasn't regular awkwardness after a fight that no one knew how to move on from without making it weird; something physical was standing between them. Maybe I won't figure it out on time, she thought grimly. Maybe I came here only to see some magic and then die from it.