flowers for the broken spirit//@snowstormsnowqueen
Sweetly-scented smoke filled the circular ceremonial hall, and Summer sat, waiting in the center of the atrium, before the altar where the incense burned. The coven filed in, black robes trailing the ground, in stark contrast to the white of Summer’s gown fanned out around her on the floor.
It was a simple garment aside from how the edges were cut to resemble the petals of a lily when seated in this position.
A flower of devotion. Purity. Rebirth, motherhood-
-and death.
Petals meant to cleanse the deceased, to restore innocence as they passed in life.
Each of her hands, shielded only by a bridal glove, were held by Ruby and Yang on either side. Both of her eyes were shrouded in a blindfold of black lace, and serenity canvased the room as everyone took their place.
With a minute squeeze of either girls’ hands, they released hers and Summer folded them over her heart, like a corpse waiting to go under.
Her senses, she allowed to slip away. Ruby and Yang picked up the pitchers on either end of the altar, tipping the contents over the crown of Summer’s head.
She couldn’t let herself feel the cold. None of the energy from the forces around her were for her to feel anymore. It was a constant motion, and she was only the vessel for it to pass through, to change its shape. The water sluiced down her hair, her cheeks, her body, and as she parted her lips with a sigh, rose-colored flames lit the dozens of sconces lining the walls.
And then, she sang. For one of the lost...
-for someone she’d failed.
Her lips caressed the words like she was guiding each one through a birth. The song rose up from the depths of her body and she mourned in every breath, head tipping back.
The voice possessed her, completely. Summer Rose was emptied into the room, into the air, comforting the frightened and stretching battered wings around the weary.
A memory filled her that she could not read. It was not hers to keep, only to borrow. A lost had curled up into the vessel of her body, fleeing from the dark. A hand stretched out and she slowly lifted a bell from the altar. Unseen to her, Ruby and Yang watched, lifting a wrist each, to which were attached bells of their own. In unison, the three rang, and the first of the families made their way forth. Two young boys, brothers, approached and knelt, placing their hands upon the altar. The elder of the two tried very hard not to let the emotion show in his eyes for the younger’s sake, but the effort was plain in his eyes.
Through Summer’s body, a young voice spoke, though it carried the calming timbre of its host. Her arms extended, and the children went around the altar to sink into her arms as she stroked their hair and murmured to them with the words of their elder sister.
“What I did wasn’t a waste. So don’t cry for me so much-all will be well. Raven will watch over you. She’ll make you stronger. So don’t give up. I love you. I love you...”
The young boys, having held back tears for so long, finally collapsed at that, sobbing. Summer’s arms were tight around them, and it was several long moments before they stood up, holding one another as they returned to the crowd.
....
......
A wave of dizziness hit Summer as her spirit stitched itself back into place, weary and taxed. She swayed momentarily with the force of it, and then-
-she did the whole process over again.
And again.
....
............
Where-
Who am I...
Where is-am I, where am I, who am I-
How many are-are left....?
.........
She never kept the memories from-
-from this. They weren’t hers, she wasn’t-
-real-?
No-
Please, who am I, please-where’s my-where am I-
.....................
The first three....yes, she’d sang for three.
The fourth. By the fourth, she was trembling, hands clutched over her chest as she hunched, breathy and panting through every word of the song. The echoes of the dead cried out all around her, begging to come back, to live again-
I hear you-I hear you, I’m so sorry--
She didn’t let herself feel it, she gave it up like she gave everything else up, let it all become an offering-
-take my voice, take my body-
Forcing herself with herculean effort, she swayed until her back was straight, fingers clawing at her throat with some sort of phantom instinct, as though she were trying to dig out the words themselves from the broken earth-let them live again-let them, I’m nothing-I’m-I’m-
Like a soaked cloth, she wrung herself for every inflection until nothing more could come, until she was lost to the ethereal hum of the undead, singing to her, with her. Reaching into her throat, raking the inside as they tried to find home-
She was deaf and blind to all that happened on the mortal plane. She did not perceive the ripple of concern sweeping through the crowd of those that dared not interfere. She could not hear how Ruby and Yang sniffled, scared that she would go too far.
Her voice strained and the flames flickered in the haunting echoes that filled the room. If, in the beginning, her voice was meant to guide another through a birth, by now, it was her own funereal lament, desperate to be more than something she could only barely manage. Her every sorrow and regret bled out of her voice and the pale of her throat was speckled with reddened crescent imprints, agony ravaging her delicate body.
.....
Finally-
..........
The fourth, done.
Summer swayed deliriously and nearly fainted, hands quivering and covering her ears.
I. Hear. A. Sound.
I. Hear. A. Sound-
The blindfold soaked up the outpouring of tears that flowed silently, though she struggled so much that it spread in the entirety of the space inside of it.
I have to-
-can’t--hurts, oh please----
--I’m scared-
“...Ghhn...!” Summer heaved, hugging herself and doubling over as though afraid she’d disappear, huge gasps rattling her body.
--
Hands, on her cheeks, lifting her up. Her arms swayed helplessly, lips parted in a croak.
“Hhh...hh-”
Summer pawed for the hands at her cheek with weak motions, for safety, for mercy, eyelids fluttering, and felt her chest caving as she was set back down into place.
A sob had barely passed her lips as Raven snatched Yang’s pitcher and threw the contents into Summer’s face.
It was as though the force of the water itself had knocked her over. Shocked and hurt, she crumpled to the ground with a silent cry, sprawled, disgraced, across the floor at her daughter’s feet. A gasp tore through the crowd as true distress showed in every one of their faces for their matriarch, who they swore devotion to, who they knew they could not usurp the pride of by stepping in against her captain of the guard.
“Get up,” Raven hissed, “Get up! Did Vernal die for nothing?! For you to lay there useless?!” Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears as she railed, “She’s lost without the matriarch to guide her! She deserves to come home-!”
She spun on Ruby and wrenched the pitcher from the sobbing girl’s hands.
