Perilune

Chapter 11

The first drops of rain were quiet as they glanced across the surface of the barrier Amaris had cast, but soon an army descended after its scouts.  The roar was that of the ocean as the rain crashed in waves above.  Thunder calling from the clouds tore Amaris from her slumber, and with a mournful glance at the dark sky, Amaris focused on the sound to drown the echoes in her mind. 

Memories were pulled to the surface; the crash of waves, the sensation of being underwater, of moving the ocean currents to her will.  She allowed pain to replace her nightmares as she wallowed in how badly she longed to toy once more with the unique skill the moon granted her.  Even Celosia had been awestruck at her control over the tides, speculating that with her imagination, she could take down even a star on this terrain.  At the time Amaris had been certain it was in jest, as she was speaking to a titan even among the stars.  It took all of her might to hold the memory proving Celosia right underwater; she was already losing the will to keep treading against the current.  Should the memory surface now, Amaris would certainly drown.

As she desperately fantasized of her own power, she imagined breaking free somehow, diving into the ocean to exert her might once more.  She supposed she'd start by building more islands of ice on the poles.  They had been an experiment of sorts, yielding delightfully odd life.  She wondered how they had grown, and if they had changed much since she last visited.

A brilliant day in which sunlight cascaded off crystalline snow came into focus; Celosia and Amaris cackled at one another as they imitated the clumsy waddle of the odd, flightless birds which were born in desolation.  Somehow the source of their inspiration seemed offended.  A chorus of outraged honks led to more laughter.  "Why do they sound like that?"

Amaris wondered if she should find it concerning that in the life which sprung from lands she created, none of the birds sang beautifully.  Such odd creatures she'd condemned to life, was it cruel for them to never learn flight as they adapted to a frigid tomb?  Perhaps her experiments were only proof she had always been a monster; she never considered such things back then.  Her thoughts returned to a beaten path, until a soft moan from Lyra became the only thing she could focus on.

Clearly having a dream of sorts, lust had cascaded from her voice and called throughout the cell for a lover she couldn't name.  Amaris pulled her knees to her chest and clutched her arms around them.  She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the sound of the rain, the reminders of the ocean, anything to drown out the rush of pheromones and the pounding of Lyra's heart.  Her every sense heightened in response to Lyra's slumbering call, and she tried not to feel how her heart fluttered to answer.  This was not for her, it was not meant to be sensed, Amaris reminded herself.  She would give no response, and make no mention of it later.  Lyra deserved her private moments to remain with her alone. 

The excitement within Lyra grew and she moaned again for the lover of her dreams.  A sound with syllables, as if to hint at a name, was smothered by a crash of thunder, which awoke her with a start.  She glanced around wildly as Amaris kept her eyes shut, determined to feign sleep.  A small, relieved sigh escaped from Lyra as she bought the illusion.

Once the relief that she had not embarrassed herself in her sleep had rushed away, Lyra took note of Amaris's position on the floor, and how she herself was almost horizontally sprawled across the bed. "Oh no," Lyra whispered, wracked with guilt.

The sound broke Amaris's illusion of sleep, regardless of the effort she exerted to maintain it.  A quiet laugh startled Lyra, and as she glanced at Amaris, one platinum eye opened slightly to meet her gaze.  "What?" Lyra asked as the laughter continued.

"Oh no," Amaris mocked the squeak of a sound it had been with a smirk.  It was the perfect distraction from everything else on her mind. 

"Don't make me sound like a mouse," Lyra huffed, her face red.  She began to bounce uneasily between thinking if Amaris was so sensitive to sound, she must not have made any for Amaris not to mention it, to thinking she certainly had made sounds in her sleep, which Amaris absolutely noticed, and simply wasn't mentioning.  Wondering if she ought to be embarrassed felt identical to being embarrassed.