In the Garden
1065 Words
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Aurelia's dress is like her sister's but gold. It looks lively, unlike her face. She's been staring at her feet—that she cannot move without using her powers. Her eyes widen when something is being put on her head. Hera puts the flower crown on her then smiles.
“As I imagined, you look beautiful in it, my lady,” she says but that was not enough to make the crippled goddess smile. “Isn't that right, Lord Darius?”
“Uh...,” he hesitates, looking elsewhere. He swallows before saying, “Yeah.”
Hera giggles at them, saying, “So sweet.”
“Ugh!” he grunts when Aurelia elbows him in the crotch. “What was that for?!!” he rages.
“Hmph!” she scoffs, folding her arms.
“You want me to throw you into the fountain?”
“Go ahead, I'm not stopping you. Everyone will see how pathetic you are for humiliating a poor helpless crippled little girl into the fountain.”
“Do you think I care about what people say?!”
“Id*ot.”
“You two get along well,” Eleanna remarks from behind them. Mila is with her.
“Oh, my ladies,” says Darius with a lowered voice while bowing. “Do you need me for something?”
Eleanna raises her eyebrows a little bit, surprised by Darius being able to greet properly. Mila gestures her eyebrows, whispering, “Told ya.”
“Nothing,” Eleanna answers Darius. “I just want to check on Lady Aurelia.”
“Very well, my lady.” He bows again before turning Aurelia's wheelchair for her to face them. He steps backward five times to make space for them.
Eleanna walks to Darius but Mila walks to her sister, hugging her while she's in her wheelchair. She holds Aurelia's shoulder and smiles as she asks, “How are you, my beloved sister?”
“Oh, I'm always fine, thanks for asking.” Aurelia sounds sarcastic.
“Just ask me anything I can do to make you feel better.”
“Nothing could make me feel better. Even Father has abandoned us.”
“Don't say that. He's trying his best to make this world a better place for us.”
“All of you always say that but it doesn't make me feel any better.”
Mila touches her flower crown. “Who made this?”
“Me!” Hera answers.
“Thank you, Hera. It looks good on her.” She looks at her sister when she says, “You're as pretty as Mother and Danae.”
“Don't talk to me about them!” she yells. Mila steps back a little out of shock. “They said they'll never leave me but-” She stops after hearing herself saying that. Rolling her eyes, she rests her chin on her palm, her elbow on the arm of the wheelchair, and looks elsewhere.
Mila is not mad even for a bit, obvious by the way she smiles and kneeling in front of her sister to grab her hand. “They never left us, Aurelia. They live inside us as we do inside them.”
“You have said that to me a lot of times but I just can't believe that, Mila. It's hard to believe that and forget the fact that they died.”
“I'm not saying that we should forget that they died but I'm saying that they gave their lives for us. So, here we are living like they want us to be. That's how they live inside us. When we don't honor their wishes for us, that's when they truly die.”
Aurelia looks at Mila's eyes and the sincerity she has is clear as the freshly-filled pond from a gentle rain. It's enough to wash off her doubt. With a face of humility, she looks at her hand being wrapped by Mila's.
“I'm sorry, Mila.”
“I understand,” she says, kissing her cheek before hugging her again.
“So, Lord Darius,” says Eleanna as she walks to and fro in front of Darius—who is standing straight without moving. “or should I say, Commander Darius,” She smiles looking up to him because he's way taller than her. “what do you have to report to me?”
Only looking forward, he says, “Nothing as important as our last battle against the God of All, my lady. As Lady Mila has instructed me, I have been monitoring the eastern border we share with the new eastern clans. Nothing important in particular to report but only merchants coming in and out to trade with us. I also constantly do keep in check in random intervals if our warriors are doing their jobs. As far as I've observed, all of them are doing their jobs the best as they can. I also want to mention that more newly-born deities are entering our territory. I personally escorted them and all of them arrived at the palace safely. They should be registering by now.”
“Good job, Lord Darius,” she smiles, showing him how she slightly bites her lip.
On the night of that same day, Mila is on the same bed with her sister and Hera between them. Both of them are still awake except Hera as they stare at the dark ceiling of their room in the palace.
“Do you think that Leo will come back?” asks Aurelia. She's lying on the left side of the bed.
Unlike Mila, Aurelia doesn't know that Leo was pretending on that day. Only she, Juliet, Hera, and the others who found him in the forest with Jasper know.
“I do,” she answers her sister.
“But he was taken over by the monster inside him.” Aurelia reasons. “Who we saw that day was not Leo anymore.”
Turning to lie sideways facing her, Mila says, “This is Leo we're talking about. He's gonna come back, I know it.”
“Yeah, you're right. I know how much he loves his sister. He's gonna come back for her if not for us, at least.”
“Indeed,” she smiles.
“You still love him, don't you?”
“Of course. We had a promise.”
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