post irene dimension
Phoenix Drop was in ruins when we returned. Meteli was never rebuilt and instead moved. Most people left. Children grew up. Despite this, I stayed the same.
"Are you sure you want to go to Meteli today?"
My eyes lift at Dante's question. He's grown older. His eyes are tired, and his skin has started to wrinkle ever so slightly. His smile is still warm, but it's sad. In what feels like fifteen minutes for me has been fifteen years for him.
I still can't get over it.
I finish tying my braid before flinging it over my shoulder, nodding my head with a smile. "Cadenza has written me nothing but the best news. I want to see what they did and all their advancements. . . I want to see her and my daddy."
He smiles at me again, but I dismiss the hidden frown in his eyes as how much has changed. It's unbelievable to see just how much is really different.
Laurance walks over to me from our horses and places his hand on my shoulder. "Alright, you two," he starts. "We're set to leave whenever you are ready to."
The two males linger behind me when I practically skip towards the horses, taking my place on the white one and patiently waiting for them. They mutter hushed words to one another before Dante mounts the horse in front of me, waiting for Laurance before beginning to lead.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
The ride felt longer than it truly was, but that was due to my excitement. Dante was silent for the majority of the ride, but I tried not to put much thought into it. I haven't been here in what is their fifteen years, so I assumed he was remembering directions.
Laurance spoke, but it wasn't common. I decided not to question him on why.
"It's my baby siblings," Cadenza says, coming out of a lord's house. She presses kisses against my cheeks and wraps her arms tightly around Laurance. "I haven't seen you both in so long. I've been so worried."
Laurance's smile is soft when he looks at Cadenza. "You've hardly changed. It's like you didn't age," he tells her. "How's being a lord?"
My eyebrows furrow due to my confusion. I look over to Laurance before switching my attention to Cadenza. "Lord? Did daddy step down?"
Cadenza appears to be anxious as she begins to chew on her bottom lip. She quickly starts before placing her hand on my shoulder. "Something like that. Though, you're fifteen years out of style. Let's get you changed."
She grabs my hand, pulling me forward like I'm a child. I go to look behind me, but Dante and Laurance have already begun to wander off. I go back to looking at Cadenza, but her attention is directed directly in front of her. I feel like an outsider amongst my family and a place I once called home.
"Phoenix Drop has been incredibly run down since we were in the Irene Dimension. We've been back for a month, but being up-to-date on current trends hasn't been a priority."
She looks back at me before stopping dead in her tracks. We're inside, but she still looks around like I've muttered a curse. "I don't want you talking about the Irene Dimension here," she tells me. "People may think you're crazy."
Moment pass of pure silence. My face looks gloomy before I speak without thinking.
"I look the same as I left."
"You're my baby sister. You don't have to look different."
I frown. There's no beating around what has happened. The trauma that most likely is hidden within. I grew up only knowing of Irene. I didn't know of her dimension or that one minute meant one year. I didn't think I'd have to learn that the hard way.
"I haven't aged. I'm still twenty-one."
She shakes her head. "Others think you're thirty-six."
There's an unspoken tension between the two of us. Cadenza jokes about how it's been so long, but she still remembers my measurements, but I can't help but to fiddle my thumbs together to keep my mind off of her opposition to the Irene Dimension.
I didn't want to go to the Irene Dimension. I didn't plan on going there, either. I followed the others to see my brother and make sure he was okay. Tensions were high. Emotions everywhere. I wasn't thinking straight and only cared about his well-being. There was a flash and suddenly. . . it happened. We were there.
I'm upset with Garroth. I'm upset that he caused us to have to go to the Irene Dimension because he was blinded by love. But then there's the side of me that is upset for him. That almost relates to him.
Kandi told me once before that Garroth had never fallen in love while he was in O'Khasis. He was trapped inside learning how to be the perfect lord, and the idea of an arranged marriage bothered him. He never ran across from someone who clicked with him until he met Aphmau.
Cadenza has always been the person boys ran to. She was a tease to them, and they liked that. I was always in Cadenza's shadow. It wasn't until I moved to Phoenix Drop did I fall in love for the first time.
It failed, and I couldn't tell anyone about it.
I feel upset for Garroth that his first love caused him so much pain that he felt as though he couldn't talk to anyone about it. He was so hurt that he thought he needed to hide away.
"Cadenza, why are you so against the Irene Dimension?"
She nearly drops the dress in her hands. "Let's not talk about this."
"Garroth's still in the Irene Dimension."
Her shoulders droop down, her head following. "I know," she sighs, rubbing her head with her hand. ". . . I don't like to talk about it because it scared me. It still does. After the news that peace was won over, they sent us to Scaleswind. Dad and I looked everywhere for you and Laurance. He spoke to the Lord of Scaleswind, and he told us that you all were alive. . . but missing. We waited, hoping that you all would come to Scaleswind. Time passed, and it was time to rebuild Meteli and move on. We lied and said that you two were still in Scaleswind, deciding to reside there permanently."
"You lied because you were scared," I sum up, running her words through my head. I stand from my chair. "Cadenza, where's daddy?"
She slowly stands and reaches out for me. The two of us walk down her stairs when she says he's in the backyard. My eyebrows furrow together, confused why he'd be there, before I follow her blindly.
"Why would–" My heart drops at the sight. Tears swell up in my eyes, and my hand covers my opened mouth. "Oh daddy. . ."
