Better as Bones

undergrowth - XXXVII

Bastet

Milo and I wake at dawn, our eyes wide and bodies humming with energy. We strip off our coronation clothes and dress in our outfits from the day before. My chest binder is sticky with sweat from the day before as I put it on. I trade my tighter shirt for the button up. I tuck it into my green pants. They're ripping at the knees and fraying at the hems.

I tie my boots tight as I hand Milo a hair tie. He bunches up his hair as he paces the room, his body buzzing.

'I'm so anxious and we're not even arriving until later. Do you think Quarry can wait another day? We should just go now, right?' I stand, resting my hand on Milo's shoulder. He stops pacing, his wide eyes flinging onto me.

'He will be okay,' I tell Milo. He nods, pressing his lips together as he inhales shakily. 'It's Quarry.'

Milo chuckles, rubbing his eyes. He moves towards the door, pushing it open slightly. I hold onto my arms as I follow him. I wish I had something to hold onto, but my several backpacks have been lost in action and I carry no weapons since Roux...

'Well time to wander around until we find Avery,' Milo says, squinting. He leans out the doorway, peering down the hall. I step out.

We wander the halls until Avery materializes at the end. Her bone-white hair is tied up in a bun, her dress swapped with crimson leggings and a baggy black shirt. She grips her backpack's straps as she turns. Her sword is hilted along her back. She squints at Milo and me.

"Well, let's go," She says, eyebrows drawn in as she curls up her lip. Her eyes flick over me. I guess I shouldn't have worn the button up.

We exit a door closer to the entrance than the one we snuck into the first time I laid eyes on the palace. Still not on the face of the palace, we trace the stone-brick exterior. Avery's hand drops to her side once the palace is behind us. She weaves us around the roads, trekking through the forest instead. She stomps on undergrowth to keep it down.

Milo overtakes me, stepping in unison with Avery. From my spot behind them I can see their hands moving but I can't make out the words.

I watch Milo ask questions. Avery rolls her eyes before she answers them.

I glance behind me as the road we follow turns to nothing. We're out of Maylea.

The forest's leaves soften the sunlight, illuminating the veins of the leaves. The bramble and brush is still alive, the stems thick and strong. I step over them, my eyes ahead watching Milo laugh.

"Do you think Cassius will be okay?" I ask Avery. Milo turns to glance at me. Avery shoots me a look over her shoulder. I can feel the rage off her from here. It keeps on hitting me in waves. She focuses down.

'I'm sure he's okay,' Milo says, spinning so I can see his hands. I nod, my hands clasping together to keep from shaking. The cooling air twinges inside my lungs. I swallow as I form words.

"I can take you to where I last saw Quarry," I say. Avery lifts her head. Milo stops to walk next to me.

'What then?' Milo asks. I shrug. Avery stares ahead before turning.

"We sneak in. We find Quarry. We break him out," Avery says, her eyebrows drawn in. I press my lips together, my eyes flicking down.

"There's gonna be guards," I tell her. Avery crosses her arms. She leans forward slightly as she walks backwards.

'We will just have to attack them,' Milo says. I look up at him, my eyes wide. He focuses my gaze before he nods.

"I agree. But how are we going to find Quarry even if we get in? This will all be useless if we go in and get captured ourselves." Avery waves her hand, turning back around. She stops as her eyes gaze up at the thinning tree line. The slight slope of the ground is now present in my mind. Through a sliver in the forest my eyes make out the tall grasses of the bordering meadow. Avery turns around.

"We've fought battles before," I say, my voice soft. Avery's eyes dig into me.

"Last time we fought a battle, remind you, I got stabbed."

"But that time was a surprise and we didn't launch the attack. We're in control this time," I tell her. Avery squints at me, her body squaring.

"Fine. We rest here until dawn. I'm not pushing our luck with one of us collapsing from exhaustion." Avery's eyes flick between Milo and me. She waves her hand as she unhilts her sword and sits, back flush against a tree.

* * *

The moonlight drenches the small clearing we inhabit. It laps over us all like waves in the sea. I stare up at it, wide awake.

I still don't know how I'm going to tell Thorn. I lost my stars. I lost Moon. That was my only thing still connecting me to her. I don't know if I'm ever going to see them again. I don't have a reason to.

I wish I could get Moon back, whatever it cost. I want something of them still with me. Even if it's not something she owned at all.

I raise my head from the ground as I hear a crunch. Avery shifts across the clearing. She's curled into herself by a tree. Her sword and bag are close to her side. I blink as she moves again, her leg tucking closer to her chest.

I can feel the words in my mouth. The hesitant calling of her name. Am I allowed to say Avery's name? Would she be angry if I did?

"Why so early?" I say instead. It seems to echo in the silence of the night. Avery shifts again, curling tighter.

"It allowed for rest beforehand," She says, her body deathly still. I rest my head back down, my eyes turned back towards the moon. Silence hangs in the air for a moment. I shift under its weight.

"I ran away," Avery whispers. "Because my Mom wanted me to be you."

I push my hands into the ground, needles pressing into my palm. I gaze at Avery across the clearing.

"She wanted me to have myth. She pushed it onto me and hated me for the fact I was born with gray eyes. That's why she hired Hadron. She was willing to kill innocents just for me to have myth..." My eyebrows draw in as my mouth parts. I...

"But I think she actually just wanted myth for herself," Avery sighs, her shoulders coming to her ears. "She didn't actually care about what I wanted. So, I ran away." Roux...Avery's mother...was terrible to her. I...I don't know what to say that could comfort her.

"My Mom died," I whisper instead. "When I was twelve. She had a seizure and I was blamed for it. Aken...blamed me for my Mom dying. And I had no one else to go to. He screamed at me and his hands weren't abusive but his words made the kindness bad." Avery sits up, her head hanging into her chest. She sighs before she hangs her head back, eyes to the stars.

"That's why you call all those people Aken," She says. I bury my mouth into my arm. "You called Mom that too."

"I'm so sorry." I blink away the haze that turns to tears. "I know I can't fix this. I know I can't make it up to you. But I am so so sorry for killing Roux...there's no excuse." Avery sighs, curling back up into herself.

"Part," She murmurs. I look up. She said that in the hall... "Part. Bastet...you did not kill my Mom."

"What?" My voice breaks. Tears overflow my vision making everything a sea of blur. I blink more tears after tears. Avery moves in the sea.

"She died two days after you and Quarry ran. It was from complications from your touch, sure, but you did not kill her. I will not forgive you for your part, I never said for her death. You always jump to the worst," Avery mutters. I blink again, gasping for breath. I didn't. I'm not.

I whimper, covering my mouth as I sob. My chest releases and my hands shake freely. I didn't kill Roux. I didn't kill Roux.

I didn't kill Roux.