Resting her forehead against the cool stone of her planet’s ruins Cruithne shook with exhaustion and fear. This was the first time she’d been back since she’d found the cordial. Something deep within had thought that, maybe, she could escape the nightmares here.

That instinct had been wrong.

The moment she’d closed her eyes and tried to sleep amongst the broken stone and withered gardens, the nightmares had come swarming back. Oh, sooner or later, sheer exhaustion would force her to pass out and she hoped by that point, she’d be so tired that nothing would be able to penetrate the darkness. Sighing, she edged close to the small pool that she’d been working on cleaning out and laid beside it, idly running her fingers through the cold water. Not even the Cordial could help. Lady knew that she’d tried.

With another sigh that sounded closer to a sob, Cruithne turned to lay on her back, one hand cushioning the back of her head while the other traced idle patterns in the water. Above her, the stars seemed much closer than they did back on Earth. A trick of the atmosphere, maybe? Or maybe Science was wrong about light years and distances and they only seemed far away because magic somehow kept them protected. Take the Rovers for instance. They’d been exploring Mars for years and never found a trace of what used to be there. Only old signs of water and fossilized amoebas. That had to be old magic at work!

It was just too bad that she couldn’t get that magic to work for her and help banish the nightmares. And it hadn’t been lack of trying. She’d chugged down the Cordial, she’d prayed, she’d even tried her mother’s sleeping pills. Nothing had worked. Everytime she closed her eyes to rest, she saw the same dark images. It had already reached the point at home where her parents had made the decision to bundle her off to a psychiatrist. She’d even met the man once. He was nice enough in a distant sort of way.

“It’s not like I can tell him about all of this,” she murmured to the stars above. “How is he supposed to help me when telling the truth is going to get me locked up and drugged for the rest of my life?”

The stars didn’t have an answer for her, but something inside seemed to relax just enough for her to blink sleepily. It was really too bad that everything here was dead, she thought. Maybe she could consider bringing some hardy plants that didn’t need a lot of water? Having something green, growing and alive would be a comfort. And it really was too bad that she couldn’t bring any crickets up so she could have music of a sort. But there was nothing for them to eat and she didn’t want to condemn anything to a slow, unpleasant death because she felt lonely.

It was something to think about anyway. Yawning a little, Cruithne took her hand from under her head and swept a stray curl from her eyes. The sound of gently moving water made a small smile curve her lips as she made herself more comfortable. Then, without intending it, her eyes gradually closed and within moments, Cruithne was sleeping peacefully with the stars above keeping a cold, shining watch over her.