The Mosaic

Chapter 34

Dedicated to the dear @nikki201801 for their continuous support! Their kind (and hilarious) words are just amazing -- I can't thank you enough for you cheering this story on like that!

"Morosini."

No. Laelia's whole world tilted beneath her, spinning upside down and everything turned black.

Cold... Dark... Cold...

Shadows swam around her, liquid clouds billowing like ghosts of ink. There was only black, the dark wafting in shades of black and blacker.

She couldn't form a single thought, beginnings formed only to be carried away by the silent tide into an abyss of nothing. She tried grasping onto them, but like water her consciousness always ran through her fingers, dripping away into the dark.

There was something, the slightest squeeze, like a rope around her waist, trying to drag her back up against the current.

Warm.

The darkness thickened, gooey fingers trying to pull her down.

Warm. The pressure around her tightened. There was something touching her, somewhere. But she didn't know where. Was she upside down, was she anywhere at all? Floating in the ink, with no sense of direction. Maybe it was just her mind, maybe she had lost her body somewhere.

"...Lia."

Warm. Strong.

"Lia!"

The voice was urgent, carrying all the way down to the ocean bed of her mind.

There was murmuring, but no matter how she strained she couldn't make out any words.

"Lia. Lia!" He sounded hectic. He... who?

She felt like she needed to tell him it was alright. But how?

"Lia!" A drop of poison fell into the oil black sea, green like the most vicious venom. The black dissolved into strings of fog slowly drifting up and away into bright light. Laelia felt a smile in her chest -- poison could cure, too. The green blinked and the white shattered, falling from the sky to give way to blurry dots.

But the green was sharp, two eyes never leaving her.

"Lia!" Giacinto tightened his arms around her. "Lia."

What had happened? Why did he look like he had seen a ghost? Giacinto couldn't sit still for a minute. Let alone keep his eyes on anything. But he didn't move, eyes locked onto her. "...what?" Her tongue was heavy, dragging every sound through a swamp before it could stumble from her lips.

"Lia," Giacinto breathed. "You... are you alright?"

"I don't ... know?" She craned her head. Her muscles protested, as if she had fallen asleep in a odd position. She was still in the hall, laying on a low lounge near the fireplace. The warmth seeping into her came from Giacinto, crouching on the floor beside the couch. Half draped behind her, arms a shield around her, face close as if he needed to watch every breath she took. The flames danced across his dark skin. He looked like a very concerned demon. She giggled.

Giacinto tilted his head. "Lia?"

"I'm fine," she said, nudging him. "Hey, let me breathe."

"Oh, uh, yes." Giacinto immediately dropped his hands, quickly pulling them back into a safe zone. But he stayed right next to her. "My apologies, that was --uh. Yes." He muttered something all jumbled up. Probably Greek, there was lot's of 'os' sounds. A slight laugh sounded on her other side.