Hall of Shadows [The Celestial Chronicles #2]

Epilogue

"He was part of the night, part of the land

Part of the bitter and exhausted ground

Out of which memory grows."

- John Berryman, "The Moon and the Night and the Men'

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Soundtrack of the chapter: Glassy Sky, Tokyo Ghoul OST (This was recommended by a reader for CASPER. Thank you love, it fits the story well so please play it!)

Media: I don't know what to name this *bawls*

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Epilogue

Cady stood in the empty dormitories of the Hall of Spirits, her hands over her bag of meager possessions she had decided to take on the road to retrieve the lost Relics. Among them was the Gilded Tarot, a few Celestial daggers and the old photograph of Van she had picked up more than a year ago. She would be meeting Amueh the Wise in approximately ten minutes, where he would explain the locations of the Relics in detail. There, she would meet her brother as well.

She ran her hands through the messy quilts of the many beds. Months ago, this place was bustling with life, filled with the constant bickers and gossip of her dorm-mates. Now, it was nothing but a sarcophagus of its past, empty but for the ghost of her memories.

Jo once sat at the dresser, her mouth full of bobby pins, telling Cady off for messing up her hair she had spent so much time trimming and preparing for the Beltane Ball. Jo had flushed a severe scarlet when Thomas had turned up, ready to whisk her off into a romantic dance.

But just like ghosts, the laugher were only lingering remnants of her own thoughts.

There had been too many deaths, too much slaughter-Bum, Thomas, Jo, her Oracles roommates, her Oracles friends. Cady found herself wiping away the stray tears from her cheeks. She had been crying too much for the past few days, her tears shed for all the lives lost and trust betrayed.

The huge full-view mirror which belonged to Jo remained standing by the grumpy grandfather clock. She approached it with a mixture of fear and curiosity. The last time she had stared into a mirror was before the Beltane Ball, when the world was still normal and not yet ravaged by war.

Another Cady stared back at her. She still had those red curls and pale skin, but something about her eyes had changed. A flicker of shadows danced past her irises. It was fleeting, but there nonetheless. Cady thought back of how she first came to the Hall of Spirits, how hell bent she was on finding her family heritage. She laughed.

Did it even matter, finding out her dead parents? Did she really want to know who she really was? Would it help ease that sad ache in her heart by knowing her real family name?

Cady slung the backpack across her shoulders and headed out. The metal door of the dormitory swung shut, locking away her memories and tears, her fears and emotions. She needed them no more. There was already enough pain in her heart.

Her mind floated back to Eli. He had stood on the balcony right above the Savage Seas, staring at her intently with his beautiful green eyes. Cady didn't want to look at him. He was alive because Jasper gave up his soul. She was afraid that if she looked too deep, she might see Jasper in his eyes.

Stay, he had begged. Stay here with us, with me.

She had refused. My place is no longer with the Hall of Spirits. I have caused too much sorrow. I must leave.

That was the last words she had exchanged with Eli. Just like her memories with Jo and her friends, she wanted to banish him, lock him away in a little box in her mind which she would never have to access again. But she couldn't.

Cady went out to the Hall yard, looking sadly at the profusion of heortgryre flowers blooming side by side with Moonflowers.

Something rustled against the grass, like the wind kissing fallen leaves. Cady jerked to her feet, her hands ready to call out the Gilded Tarot.

From far away, the silhouette of a woman shimmered under the afternoon sun. Upon closer inspection, Cady realized in shock that it was the lady down the dungeons. The chains that once held her prisoner were broken, their jagged ends trailing the ground. The manacles were still strapped to her sore waists where blood seeped out from the broken skin.

The woman giggled when she saw Cady. She placed a finger to her lips and vanished into the woods, leaving behind nothing that suggested a disturbance to the waving grass.

Cady let her go. Whatever treatment she received in the past, this woman deserved her liberation.

"They're late," Cady thought. "And they told me to be punctual."

"Patience, little one," Zoroth said. "After all you've been through, I can't believe you still lack patience."

She snorted. "Patience is for the weak."

Now that the world knew that she was the last Walker, she could talk openly to Zoroth. But she preferred to keep a low profile. Her connection with Zoroth was something she didn't want to share with the world, lest the world take it away from her.

Someone tugged at the hem of her sleeves. She spun around, her eyes narrowing at the sight of a little Feorh with a notepad wedged between its little rabbit paws, a pen balanced perfectly above the paper.

"What do you want?" she said, exasperated. She was not in the mood for any of the surviving Feorh's games.

"Hi," it squeaked, waving the pen in her face before it bounded up to the marble banisters, all ears and fluff. "I am a scribe Feorh, one of the appointed scribes from Emareth. The Stelliums send us around to gather information. This time, they wanted me to collect information regarding the White War."

The White War. Cady played the name around in her head. The Stelliums had called this battle the White War. White, like Jasper once said, was the color of innocence. Its name was a memorial to the many lives lost in the conflict. Among the many brutal faces of war, Cady found the name oddly beautiful.

"I just have a few, quick questions," the Feorh continued its rambling, sticking the pen behind its fluffy ears and flipping feverishly through the pages of its notebooks, most of it stuffed with illegible handwriting.

"I am not interested, go bother someone else." She rose and walked away.

The Feorh emitted another high-pitched squeak and ran after her, overtaking her and stopping her.

"Okay, just one question! Just one, I swear!"

Cady sighed. "Just get it over with."

"You've been called the Shadow Legacy by many across Esvanira. Some even called you the Dark Queen, the one with the shadows, but we have no access to your real name. I have heard others call you Cady, but I am certain, that is just a nickname. What is your name?"

She titled her head backwards, gazing at the sunlight filtering through the dense leaves. It didn't really matter to her. Let Esvanira call her whatever they wanted. She couldn't care less. Her name meant nothing to her, given by a man who wasn't even their father. Her real family was long lost. There was nothing left to anchor her to the past.

Cady gazed at the Feorh with such intensity, it took several hop backwards.

"My name is," she paused. "Cadence Silverbird."