But she knew why she was here, wasn't she? It was why she came back, after weeks of deliberation, it was why she was standing here right now and starting up those steps. She couldn't just push it out of her mind, she couldn't just abandon it. Because she had to know, had to confirm that what she saw was the truth. If it was, there had to be some sort of evidence, right? And... she could possibly find out other things beside it?
She passed the Statue of Flora, touching it gingerly on the arm, but the vision did not come. No voices, no laughter, no figures; she lingered for a moment just to make sure before she started into the corridor the figures had came from the other time.
There were stairs there, heading upwards, and she put a foot on a step to test it before she made her way up the spiraling staircase.
She was greeted with a floor of empty rooms, some locked, some not. They looked like residences, with beds and tables and chairs, where some people of Flora probably once stayed. There was even a library of sorts, but Flora merely peeked into it before moving on. Perhaps she would study the room one day, but she didn't feel as though her past self would even bother to stay in there long.
She didn't know exactly where she was going, but her feet took her up a few flights of stairs, to the highest level where there were only two doors, one on each of her sides. On her right was a door with a symbol she had never seen before in her life, but seemed so eerily familiar. It was then she realized, with a start, that she had seen it before; this very symbol had been at the base of the Statue of Flora.
On her left, was a symbol she could place much easier. "The Fleur de lis." She breathed. But what was it doing here? Whose room was this?
Her gaze flitted between the two doors, trying to decide which one she should enter first. Her left. She ultimately decided, stepping into that direction and away from what was obviously her room. If she saw a vision in there, she wasn't sure she would be able to take it, especially if it involved Zephyr... At that thought, Flora made a face and started towards the Fleur de lis room.
The door opened as she turned the handle, creaking loudly as the thin sliver of light that came from within the room expanded as she walked in. It was a huge room where someone important once lived, she guessed, larger than the other rooms she had seen before. Perhaps her room was this big too; she glanced at the door opposite but did not start towards it. Not today.
There was a large four-poster bed, and a throne-like chair in the corner near a dresser with a few books and papers on it. It was when she walked towards the bed and touched one of the columns when it came, the visions slipping into sight as suddenly as the voice from the lady seated on the chair entered her ears. "You are utterly irresponsible, running off like that when you know you have duties to attend to here, Flora!" She admonished, her face set into a stern line, dark hair pulled backwards into a tight braided bun. She was dressed in flowing robes of white, pink and green, with a hood, and looked middle-aged but wise.
Her past self was standing opposite the seated figure, just a mere inches from where she currently stood right now. She looked sulky; her braided hair a mess, arms folded huffily across her chest. She looked younger from when she had last seen her in that first vision; was she about Flora's current age now, or younger?
"Where did you take him?" Came the stubborn response. No denial of what she had done, no protesting that she had a reason for doing so. Flora was losing more faith in her past self.
"That boy," the older woman spoke, gripping the armrests of the chair tightly, "is a bad influence on you. First, you two have this childish fiancee business going on," at this, current Flora sucked in a breath while past Flora simply rolled her eyes, "And then he encourages you to run away to any planet that first pops into your minds. You don't come back here for a week, or maybe less if The Royal Highness needs your help, just to skip away for a vacation, Flora! I have every mind to ban him from ever coming here again..."
"You can't!" Past Flora burst out, face paling. "You can't do that! Please, don't ban Zephy, you can't ban Zephy, he's done nothing wrong!"
"Nothing?" The woman repeated. "Have you not been listening to what I said? I believe the Council will agree with me that there is no need for him to come to Flora any more!"
"That's not fair!" Past Flora objected, stomping her foot in agitation. "Besides, even if you're the Vernalis, the Council all has to listen to me, don't they? I forbid you from banning Zephy!" There were tears welling at the corner of her eyes now, but she wiped them away with the back of her hand.
"Using your authority now for such things, aren't you?" The Vernalis, whatever that meant, didn't seem too pleased, and current Flora agreed silently, grimacing at her past self's attitude.
"Because everyone sees me that way!" Past Flora erupted, starting to pace up and down. "Because everyone, ever since the day I was born and got that symbol right here," she jabbed at the spot in the middle of her forehead, "thinks of me as Flora, the Patron of this Planet and the Spring Handmaiden of Princess Chronos of the Zodiacs, Lady of the Seasons! I've always been reminded about it, even when I was a kid! I've always been told to act proper, to do this and this, and you want to take away the one person who actually treats me normally? Zephy sees me as Fleur. Just a normal Florian, a normal girl, and I've liked that about him ever since! He never cared if I was the Patron of Flora, and that brings me more sanity than you ever know, than you ever thought I needed!" The words finally started to slow down and she took in a few deep breaths before she continued, at a measured pace.
"It's hard dealing with that responsibility. It's so hard, more than you will ever understand. Zephy provides me with an alternative; it's that running away that gives me the thrill, it releases me from this boring funk, of the pressures that have been dumped onto my shoulders that I never ever asked for." The tears were here again, and this time, she just let them fall, and Flora, for once, felt sympathy for her past self. "I love him, Aunt Iris, please don't..."
The voice trailed away and the figures had vanished as suddenly as mysteriously as they had came, and Flora, overwhelmed by it all, sat on the bed in a daze.
...And then she started sneezing and coughing because the sudden pressure on the old mattresses had flung up years of dust from the sheets. She waved her gloved hands frantically around to fan away the dust, backing away from the bed and to the door. She paused right there as the dust settled, a hand tracing the Fleur De Lis sign on the door. This trip had brought more questions than answers; once again confirming that relationship with Zephyr did exist, and the Vernalis, whom she had also called Aunt Iris... Flora puzzled over it all, still lingering in the doorway, turning slowly to face the closed door with her symbol on it.
Not now. Not today. She shook her head and closed her eyes, preparing to return to her apartment on Earth. She needed to lie down and think this through, (and evidently, she couldn't rest on the beds here) before readying herself to enter what was once her room.
She drew both symbols on a piece of paper that night, side by side, as if afraid that she would forget them.
