Welcome to Gaia! ::

Her upgrade had arrived at just the right time. Just as she was starting to doubt her own abilities and her place in this war, Aludra had been given a second wind. She could feel the new power now as she raced through the night. It felt good to run, to throw her all into simple movement, faster, stronger. A voice in the back of her mind counselled against being too confident. She still couldn't combat a spear but at least now she had more of a chance.

Aludra stopped to catch her breath, leaning against the wall of a shop. The little line of shops was closed and dark, with only the street lights for company. It seemed a safe enough place not to be noticed, so she stepped out in front of a store, using the window as a mirror. She held up the edges of her fuku, admiring the new designs and then did a twirl to inspect the bow.

She was happy for all of three minutes, for soon darker thoughts intruded and vague memories of black instead of white. It was still terrifying to remember everything from that ‘nightmare’. Most days she refused to think about it but there was too much, too much to just forget. The memories of it was scattered but enough of them stood out that it made her squirm with both embarrassment and fear.

It will never come to pass, she continued to promise herself, it was just a horrible dream.

Dionysus was the last person she’d expected to run into, or was that actuially the last person she wanted to run into. As soon as she felt his aura, there was a blush on her cheeks. She felt guilty and angry and sad and embarrassed all at the same time.

It wasn’t fair to him if she acted out on any of those and so, as he finally reached her, she was still blushing but had at least regained some composure.

“I think I’ve run out of sass today, so you’re safe.”

Her mind stubbornly clung to the image of him as an older teenager, of what they’d done together, how they’d acted. In your dreams, she reminded herself. In that terrible dream. She felt as though she’d wandered into an adult movie and couldn’t take back what she’d seen.

Aludra had decided her shoes were utterly fascinating and was busy staring at them so she wouldn’t have to look up at him. She tugged lightly at one of her hair bows, giving herself something to do and trying desperately not to look so uncomfortable. He was her friend; regardless of all that.

"Talk about what?" She squeaked, gaze flicking up and then back down again. "Hey, you’ve gotten taller." But as tall as you will get. "Did you see? I upgraded." To distract the both of them, she stepped back and did a twirl to show off her new outfit.

She finished her twirl and stood watching him, her hands beginning to tremble just ever so slightly. Aludra had started to convince herself that it had been only her. That it really had been just a nightmare and had no real truth to it. Faced with Dio, she couldn’t play pretend anymore. She’d known, deep inside, that how or why, she hadn’t been the only one sharing the experience. What would Amethyst say if she asked him? What of Persephone?

She took his hand and sat down beside him on the stoop but didn’t let go. Instead she held on tight, entwining her fingers into his. "You do feel different. Older, I guess. Stronger."

Then she started crying. She was probably just as surprised as he would be to realize there were tears streaming down her face and sobs catching in her throat.

No matter what happened. No matter which path they ended up walking down, together or apart, Aludra would remember this moment and his kindness. She clung to him and let out all of her fears and frustrations in her tears.

Though they had seemed endless, eventually the crying stopped and she sat quietly with her head on his shoulder. It was exhausting but something heavy that she had been carrying had been set free.

"We have to promise to stand by each other and never," she squeezed his hand, "be like that."

He was right, of course. "Then I suppose we’ll just have to do our best. Protect each other." It was insane that at thirteen years old she could now say to herself with absolute conviction that she would rather die than be corrupted.

"It doesn’t matter what you were doing," she said, closing her eyes and enjoying his comforting hold. "I was just as bad." Death, betrayal, insanity, giving her body to anyone and anything.

Aludra gave a smothered laugh. "But I really love chocolate cake." She’d actually turned down a trip to the zoo last Saturday and her mother had been extremely surprised. Unfortunately, her once favourite destination would remain off-limits for some time.

"We're not to blame for any of it. That isn't who we really are." They'd been forced to become monsters but that didn't make the memories any easier to deal with. "Please don't." She was sure they could each sit down and write out an essay but that wouldn't achieve anything and she was gad when he he said nothing more on the matter.

"Fair enough. You know, I actually might choose a strawberry cake for my next birthday." Here, right now, Aludra felt safer and more content than she had for a long time.