Wings of Change
It's been almost a year. Maddie sat at her desk, tapping her pen absent-mindedly against her journal. In it was stored all the thoughts and feelings she'd had since she started therapy after… the incident. A good portion was filled with her nightmares and another part; her worries Nyroc would come back. After all, he managed to get away from Erebus which left the possibility of his return. At some point Maddie had decided to stop writing every negative thought she had and switched to positive ones, while occasionally putting the bad ones in. Her most recent one stared at her and she stared back.
What if I'm not able to change the barn owl future?
A valid question. Her miraculous had centuries of history attached to it with most of it being tarnished by blood, tears, and murder. Up until she received the pendant it was used for assassinations, perpetrated by her own ancestors. So how was she to secure the future and put the past, well, into the past?
Her kwami took notice of his owner's silence and floated down from his hanging nest. Struuma knew Maddie had been preoccupied with more serious thoughts as of late but hadn't let on what they were about. The little creature handed on Maddie's shoulder and couldn't help but glance at her latest entry. He cringed slightly.
"Still worried?"
Maddie jumped at the question only to sigh. "We've hurt so many people… If I went back to Longdon as Nocturne people would think of what my ancestors did and be afraid."
Silence filled the room after the statement, filled only by the tapping of Maddie's pen. A ruffle of feathers and Struuma plopped himself on the journal's page.
"There's a starting place. Symbolism was a big thing in the family." He kicked the journal closed at that. "Change the symbol's meaning and you'll push the family in another direction."
"Okay but what kind of symbol? I wasn't raised by them so I have nothing to change except you."
"And that's wrong." The kwami floated back up and tapped Maddie's forehead with a wing. "There's one but you'll have to find it. When Nyroc was taken down he not only lost me and your father's miraculous; he lost the family ring. That ring was given to the holder when they completed their training," His eyes took on a more serious look. "By pulling off their first assassination."
As she took in this information, she looked outside her window to take in the street view below. Parents walked by with a little girl between them. Maddie wondered how the girl would turn out when she was older and immediately came to a decision.
"Then we'll find that ring and secure the future for us and our family."