Where does your body go when I leave you alone?
Would your heart know if I met you in a brand new set of bones?
'Cause you may see me in different bodies
Hiding below with the same soul
He stared out into the distance, the island in front of him growing larger and larger. He shifted, growing more restless as land approached. This was it. She was near, he was sure of it. More certain of this than anything he had been in the fast few months. He had to be sure, everything depended on it.
He missed her. It had been more than a decade since he'd last seen her, yet he was positive he'd know her anywhere, whether it was in this life or any other.
They had tried to convince him that she was dead. Buried beneath the ashes with all their parents' secrets. He had tried to come back, yet she was long gone, and so was a part of him.
It had been years since Crow had felt whole.
I could have walked by you a thousand times
Different places, different lives
I could have been someone you don't recognize
Different figure, new design
She hummed as she walked barefoot into the open plane. The grass was wet beneath her feet and as she was about to take another step, a daisy bloomed from under her. 'Follow the flowers,' She had once taught him when they were younger, had he gotten lost, "Follow the flowers and I promise you, you'll be home." She had been protective of him, her the older sister and him her baby brother.
He was a small child, quiet in both personality and appearance, whilst she often spoke too loudly, and too much. They didn't have any other friends, besides their parents, no one was there to confide in. He listened to her, and she needed that. Yet when the time came, when the angry men came and threw flames at their sanctuary, it was he who guarded her. It was him who tried to convince those who fuelled with ignorant hatred to leave their family alone.
She remembered being terrified at that moment, her parents screaming as they tried to escape the burning building. The look of terror on her brother's face as the villagers tried to beat him in fear of what they did not understand. She remembered suffocating in the smoke, the sound of her parents wailing, and the seed of sorrow planted in her heart.
She woke up being cradled, and she knew that she couldn't have possibly been in heaven because he was not there. She searched for him, yet nobody could find the missing angel, and a part of her was convinced that he was dead, killed by the very men who took away her family.
Yet she hoped, prayed that he would find her, for she was too weak to seek out a life with a possibility where what little hope she had of his existence would be crushed like everything else she once had.
Otter took another step, another flower in her trail.
I'm just a body that you used to love
I'm just somebody that you used to know
"Are you sure we can trust him?"
"The lad may look suspiciousâand well he isâbut he's a good kid."
"He's looking for someone. Someone important to him."
He could not afford another false lead, another dead end that would lead him back to the start of the cycle of agony. There was a lot that rested on this information, the idea that she was right here in this city. He clenched his fists, resisting every urge to force the information out of the man by all means necessary. He had learned how to assert his will, yet a part of him knew she would not like that.
He calmed himself down and nodded, hoping that it would move the conversation along. He was not here to waste time with idle chatter about his validity. Not when she was waiting for him.
"...Aasimar." He spoke, he rarely spoke. Not when he didn't have to. Most of his childhood was spent reading, understanding text yet barely uttering them. Anyways, he had preferred the sound of her voice to his own and there wasn't much he had to say that she didn't understand already. He wondered if it would be the same now that they were so much older and had grown so far apart.
"The aasimars here are greatly protected by the temple of Sune, and I don't think they would be happy if something were to happen to them."
"Don't worry, the last thing this kid wants to do is to hurt that person."
And what if he did? Accidentally? What current would he disrupt by stepping into her life once more? He had never stopped to think if this was rightâif it were the best choice to come rushing into a life she had built on her own out of his own selfish desires. What if she didn't want him to come back? Had Otter ever tried to find him?
Crow felt a pang of guilt for doubting his sister. He clenched his hand into a fist.
"Give me one good reason why I should tell you." The man at the marketplace was hesitant and he understood. There was only one way to tell him, to convince him that he meant her no harm. He curled his fingers around the ivory mask he wore as a layer of normalcy, Â a curtain of privacy between him and the outside world.
The man's eyes grew wide as he stared into Crow's very own.
"...Looking for...family."
Where did your heart stay in all those years away?
Did I make your body shake?
Could you feel me riding through the airwaves?
In all those yesterdays were you always hiding below?
No, I didn't know
It was the smell that caught his attentionâ the summer breeze, daffodils, a whiff of honey âand ultimately carried him to this temple. His eyes were greeted by color, an overwhelming display of flowers and grandeur architecture that made him fully understand why they had called it the Temple of Beauty.
It was perfect for her, he thought, as she had never been the type to be subtle. If there was any place in the world she belonged in, it was here, at the heart of joy and beauty itself surrounded by those who were like her. She had always wanted to make people happy, and those who were near her could not contain their happiness.
He had tried to find his own place in the world. He had studied in multiple libraries, learning about different places, different walks of life. He had found himself multiple times in the process and had grown because of his constant searching. Yet he knew that there was no place he belonged to if that place was devoid of her.
'Go'. It was a single word, yet it was enough for him to take a step. He had never been so close to finding her and yet here they were, meters apart and he had doubted the very foundation he had built.
He took another step, then another, until he reached the large marble doorsâthe gate between him and his sanity. He stared at it for a moment, reaching out to open the door, to knock, to do anything, yet he could not do it.
The doubts still crept into his mind and all he wanted to do was silence them. The door creaked open instead.
And there she was, sun-kissed skin, bright blue eyes, and an aura filled with warmth. He was stunned, and for the first time in over a decade, he brought himself to smile.
Do you remember my old names?
Recognize my other face?
We're both hanging in picture frames
Somewhere in this place
But my stare at you stayed the same
He had grown so tall. Otter could not believe that this was the boy who had watched her play with wild animals from his tree. She could not believe that he now towered over her, and she looked up just to marvel at his face. There were a million things to do, a million things she wanted to say but she choked on her words as tears began to form at the corners of her eyes and threatened to fall at any time.
Otter had spent many nights crying over him, over the loss that they both shared.
Never did she think she'd cry tears of happiness from the very sight of him. She had dreamed of this moment, and now that it was real she did not know what to do.
Instinct overcame her and she allowed herself to run to him, arms thrown at his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist as he caught her, pulling her closer to him. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed.
If this was a dream, may she never wake up.
She forced herself to look up at him. Her hands touched his face, caressing him gently, inspecting him, making sure all this was truly, absolutely, real.
"Crow," She sobbed. "It's you."
I think we've loved a thousand lives
I try to find you every time
Searching for those same wide eyes
That locked me in, in my first life
He did not want to let her go. She was here in his arms, perfect, safe and sound and Crow would kill for this moment to remain like this. He swore to it, her safety, her happinessânothing else mattered if he could not protect her. He had to get stronger, he had to find a way to destroy all the pain she had ever felt.
Unlike his nightmares, Otter was warm in his arms. Nothing else mattered to him now, not when he had her.
...Never again. I'm not going to lose you ever again.
(I think we've lived a thousand lives)
I'm just somebody that you used to know
(I try to find you every time)
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