Post by Oathkeeper Emi on Oct 27, 2023 16:49:38 GMT -5
There were only two people on the train. This car, and all the rest of them, were totally empty.
Emi, in her thirties at this point, was asleep with the back of her head tilted against the window. A black ballcap was pulled down over her eyes to shield them from Twilight Town's perpetual sunset. As always, she wore the brown leather biker's jacket that she had for years. More than a decade at this point. But the striped shirt she wore before was long gone and replaced with a simple white shirt. She had grown -- not in height, but in maturity. No longer a lanky teenager, but curves filled out, face less childlike.
Next to her was a leather messenger bag, and also an eleven year old girl. The girl was not asleep, and clutched a backpack to her chest. She turned her head and looked out the window. In the glow of the sun, her brown eyes took on a nearly red hue but when she looked away they were a dark, chocolate brown. Like Emi, she had dark skin and dark hair that was such a deep shade of black it almost had purple undertones, and twisted into 2 long braids.
The resemblance was uncanny, but not to Emi.
The girl pulled on the sleeve of Emi's leather jacket. "Mom, I think the station is coming up."
It took several minutes for Emi to finally move and respond. She was exhausted. It had been far too long since they were able to really settle back down. But she knew where they'd be safe. She started rummaging through her bag, taking inventory.
Non-chalantly, without even looking at her mother, the girl said "So...is Kain going to meet us at the station?" Emi stopped rummaging and shot the girl a look that said "you're on thin ice".
"I told you already, Cosette."
Cosette wilted. "I know," she pouted, pulling on the sleeves of her white and blue rugby shirt. The wrists of the shirt were permanently wrinkled from a habit she had of nervously chewing on them. "I was just hoping the answer would be different this time."
But she did already know: no one was meeting them. They were on their own.
Castle was gone. His mother, too. Her own parents. Any friends she'd once know, scattered to the ends of all the worlds, whereabouts unknown to her. Though by now, she figured they'd forgotten who she was and all their adventures.
Before the train reached the station, she pulled out a small leatherbound notebook with a butterfly stamped on the front. And a vape. Cosette tried to reach up and take the vape away but Emi resisted. Better than cigarettes anyway. She flipped through the pages in the notebook, holding random notes and letters, photographs taped or glued to the pages. There was a map of Twilight Town, with the directions from the station to the small home she'd abandoned.
She handed the book to Cosette. "Here, memorize this," she said. The little girl ran her fingers over the page, turned it left and right, staring at it intently. After several minutes, she handed it back over to Emi. "Okay. I got it memorized."
"Good, because if we get lost, it's up to you to get us un-lost," Emi said, tucking the book back into her bag. As she did, a photograph that had come loose fell out. She picked it up off the floor. It was a photo of herself, much younger, and a man with brown hair and a dark blue coat, holding a toddler Cosette. Wordlessly, she put the photo back in the book.
No use in dwelling on the past.
Emi, in her thirties at this point, was asleep with the back of her head tilted against the window. A black ballcap was pulled down over her eyes to shield them from Twilight Town's perpetual sunset. As always, she wore the brown leather biker's jacket that she had for years. More than a decade at this point. But the striped shirt she wore before was long gone and replaced with a simple white shirt. She had grown -- not in height, but in maturity. No longer a lanky teenager, but curves filled out, face less childlike.
Next to her was a leather messenger bag, and also an eleven year old girl. The girl was not asleep, and clutched a backpack to her chest. She turned her head and looked out the window. In the glow of the sun, her brown eyes took on a nearly red hue but when she looked away they were a dark, chocolate brown. Like Emi, she had dark skin and dark hair that was such a deep shade of black it almost had purple undertones, and twisted into 2 long braids.
The resemblance was uncanny, but not to Emi.
The girl pulled on the sleeve of Emi's leather jacket. "Mom, I think the station is coming up."
It took several minutes for Emi to finally move and respond. She was exhausted. It had been far too long since they were able to really settle back down. But she knew where they'd be safe. She started rummaging through her bag, taking inventory.
Non-chalantly, without even looking at her mother, the girl said "So...is Kain going to meet us at the station?" Emi stopped rummaging and shot the girl a look that said "you're on thin ice".
"I told you already, Cosette."
Cosette wilted. "I know," she pouted, pulling on the sleeves of her white and blue rugby shirt. The wrists of the shirt were permanently wrinkled from a habit she had of nervously chewing on them. "I was just hoping the answer would be different this time."
But she did already know: no one was meeting them. They were on their own.
Castle was gone. His mother, too. Her own parents. Any friends she'd once know, scattered to the ends of all the worlds, whereabouts unknown to her. Though by now, she figured they'd forgotten who she was and all their adventures.
Before the train reached the station, she pulled out a small leatherbound notebook with a butterfly stamped on the front. And a vape. Cosette tried to reach up and take the vape away but Emi resisted. Better than cigarettes anyway. She flipped through the pages in the notebook, holding random notes and letters, photographs taped or glued to the pages. There was a map of Twilight Town, with the directions from the station to the small home she'd abandoned.
She handed the book to Cosette. "Here, memorize this," she said. The little girl ran her fingers over the page, turned it left and right, staring at it intently. After several minutes, she handed it back over to Emi. "Okay. I got it memorized."
"Good, because if we get lost, it's up to you to get us un-lost," Emi said, tucking the book back into her bag. As she did, a photograph that had come loose fell out. She picked it up off the floor. It was a photo of herself, much younger, and a man with brown hair and a dark blue coat, holding a toddler Cosette. Wordlessly, she put the photo back in the book.
No use in dwelling on the past.
