Circumstellar (19 page)

T
he silence was almost comforting in its own way. I staggered into the living room, letting the front door swing back on its own. It hit with a soft click, not quite closing. It didn’t matter.

“
There’s nothing you can do right now. If you won’t let us treat you then, please, go home and get some rest.”

I passed through the living room and turned into the hallway that would take me to Aunt
Kaline’s room. Large splinters of wood and bloodstains soiled the already filthy carpet. Auntie never was much of a housekeeper. I walked over the debris, looking up the broken ladder. Reaching out, I grabbed one of the sides and hauled myself up to one of the least damaged planks, starting my ascent to the darkness above.

The silence was almost threatening in its own way. I warily peered around the attic, half expecting the room itself to come alive and suffocate me with shadows. Nothing good happened in this place. It was a tomb of despair.

I walked over to the small box that held the items my aunt was so fond of. A small burnt-out candle sat on the side – a small pool of wax all the time left of its short, illuminating life. An assortment of jewelry laid beside it. My eyes flickered off the metal before resting on a large black and silver ring. The corners of my lips curled upwards.
Uncle Sebastian.
I took the ring and put it in my pocket. Beside the pile, a comb sat by itself. It was made of a hard, white material, and when I picked it up, it was cool to the touch. This was Kaline’s. I pocketed the item and looked at the final object propped up in the back. Three smiling faces beamed back at me. My throat tightened as I picked up the picture. I folded it in half and placed it with the rest of my bounty. I looked to the ground.
I guess that’s it.

I turned to leave, but a sudden glint of purple light flashed from the floor. Looking down, I searched for the source. Another flash sparkled from a nearby box. Kneeling down, I reached for the light. My fingers grazed something smooth, and I grasped the object, pulling it up to study.

I had never seen anything like this before. It was about the size of my hand and shaped like some kind of large hexagonal gemstone. At first, I thought it might be a dirty mirror, but I could almost see through the object. It was grayish, like some dingy diamond that had gotten dust trapped inside. I looked into its flat surface and the purple of my eyes bounced off the dust, making it gleam back at me. 

I stared into the strange object, fascinated by the tiny glints. They started out sparse, but the longer I looked at them, the more numerous they became. They were starting to change color, too. Tiny
orange sparkles darted among the purple. The little light show continued until soon only orange light dominated the weird crystal. It flickered around before settling in the middle into two circles. What a bizarre pattern. From here, it almost looked like –  

“This is unexpected.”

I nearly dropped the thing in surprise as the cold voice erupted from it. I gaped in shock as the pair of eyes settled into a haughty face. One that, despite my short time of knowing it, I had come to despise so much.

“You!”
I growled. “What the hell is this? How are you doing this?” I tightened my fingers around the crystal, as though by squeezing it I could squeeze the life out of the woman shining from its face. What was this thing and how long had it been in the house? Lady Aureliel raised her chin to look down her nose at me, and a horrible thought dawned on me. “Have you . . . have you been using this to talk to Auntie?”

“That miserable human woman?”
Aureliel asked. “Pathetic child, I do not
talk
with humans. But,” she added, a cruel sneer covering her face, “it turns out they have their uses for their betters, as that one has proved many times.”

“What are you
– ”

“First with
Uturik and then with the keystone. Humans are so easily manipulated.”

My vision blurred, and I increased the force of my grip on the crystal, the edges digging into my hands. “Shut up,” I hissed. “Just shut up.”

“And so easy to break.”

“I said shut up!” I screamed. Rage filled every inch of my being. I thrust my arms up high above my head, and then with as much strength as I could muster, I threw it down. It hit the floor with blinding force, the satisfying sound of glass and wood cracking filling the attic. Lady
Aureliel’s face vanished in a bright spark of light. I didn’t even blink, panting hard and looking at the devastation: broken floor boards, three pieces of dirty glass, and no bitch. Good riddance.

“Ingrid!”

I whipped my head to the side to see someone totally unexpected. Emba was there, at the entrance of the attic, looking at me with wide eyes.

“It was her,” I said, looking down at the broken shards of glass. “The whole time it was
her
.”

Emba
didn’t say anything as she came closer. When she was beside me, she looked down to see what I was talking about. “I don’t believe it.” She gasped, crouching down and picking up the three pieces.

“What? You know what this is?” I asked, confused.

“Come,” she said. “Let’s go downstairs and talk. You need to settle down, and this place is . . . uncomfortable.”

“Settle down?” I said
, making a noise that may have been a chuckle. I don’t know why. Nothing was funny. “I’ve pretty much given up on that. But you’re right about one thing; I want to get out of here.”

We made our way out of the attic,
Emba pretty much just jumping down in one fluid motion and then helping me stumble down with the least amount of injury possible. We came into the living room, and I saw one of Auntie’s candles flickering with a little pink flame. Emba must have done it before coming to find me. I collapsed on the floor beside the candle and let my limbs go limp. Emba sat across from me and spread the broken crystal pieces out in front of her.

My lips curled in disgust at the sight. “I wouldn’t recommend keeping that cursed piece of trash. It only shows ugly things.”

“It’s a
Nibiru
mirror.”

“A
what
?”

“It’s a very rare and special glass,”
Emba said, her eyes transfixed on the shards. “Glass made from stardust.”

I stared at her, surprised. “You mean that stuff that chokes you when you use the keystones? You can make glass from that?”

“Yes.” Emba let out a soft smile. “It’s quite special.”

“I’ll say.
Aureliel just appeared in this one. I still don’t understand how – ”

“A pair,”
Emba answered, cutting me off. “Two mirrors made from the same stardust. They are connected, even across the realms.”

“So that means . . .”

“Aureliel has the other mirror. She’s been using it to speak with your aunt.”

“She’s been tormenting her this whole time,” I said, feeling miserable. “Right here and I did nothing.”

“There was no way you could have known.”

“But I did know. She’s been acting so strange, and I just shunned her. And I still don’t understand. How did she get the mirror in the first place?”

Emba looked down at the mirror shards again, breaking our eye contact. “It was your mother’s,” she whispered. I didn’t say anything, letting the new information sink in. “
Lugal
Uturik,” she paused, “your father gave it to her, so he could watch over her while he was in
Kigal
.”

“And
Aureliel now has his,” I stated.

Emba
nodded, still looking down. “I’m very sorry that such a gift of . . . of,” she paused again, taking in a deep breath, “of love had to be used like this.”

I didn’t answer her, turning to look into the tiny pink flame. It was a little bright for me, but I didn’t care. My mind wasn’t focused on my vision anyway. The mirror had been a gift from my father to my mother. Did Auntie know that when she found it in the attic? Did she even care? What about
Aureliel? Hadn’t Auntie recognized her as the one who killed him?

“She took the Orion Stone for her,” I said at last. Memories of Ty,
Lesia, and me in my room came to me. “And she told her about Lesia. She must have heard us that night.”

All of the sudden, something grabbed my chin, and my head was tilted until the pink flame I was staring at turned into a pair of glowing pink eyes.

“Listen to me,” Emba commanded, her voice lining with a stern edge. “That wasn’t your aunt’s fault. It was all Aureliel’s doing. She is,” Emba stopped and quirked her lips as though searching for the right words, “
unbound
.”

“Unbound?” I repeated.

“Yes,” she said. “But you need to get some rest, Ingrid. Your body can’t start to heal if you don’t get some sleep.” She stood up and brushed off her armor.

“Where are you going?” I asked
, a little startled at the sudden change of topic.

“To check things out.”
She smirked back at me. “It’s looks like I’ll be stuck here for awhile. I might as well make myself familiar with the area.”

“Oh.” It was all I could think to say. Up until this point, it hadn’t occurred to me that without a keystone
Emba wouldn’t be able to return home. “You can stay with me if you need to.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’ve got some
things
I want to check on first. Besides,” she said, winking at me, “I’m sure you’ll have plenty to occupy your time. I’ll just be in the way.”

“If you say so,” I replied, yawning.
Emba bringing up my lack of rest triggered my realization of how tired I really was. I looked out the window as a thin beam of light ascended over the horizon. Dawn was here, and I still hadn’t gotten any sleep. I lay back on the floor. My eyelids were getting heavier by the second. “Good morning, Emba,” I mumbled. I heard the door click shut, and I turned my head to the side. I would wake up later and go visit Ty and Auntie at the hospital, and then I would go see Lesia and Loxley. Everything would be good. I looked at the carpet in front of me and saw three blurry crystals. How pretty . . .

M
rs. Delaney did a good job, especially on such short notice. The violet flowers were perfect: bright, beautiful, and full of life – they suited her perfectly. The cool porcelain under my fingertips a fine quality.

I gazed off into the horizon in my wrinkled black uniform, defiantly ignoring the looks of pity from the people descending down the steep stone steps and away from the temple. I’d been getting those looks all day, and I couldn’t stand it. Even
Kaira’s nod of acknowledgement had been less stiff than usual. My grip tightened, and I let out a shaky breath. You’d think I’d be used to this by now.

“The world goes on – even when we feel our own has stopped.”

“Thanks for the advice, Grandma, but I’m really not in the mood for any wise old sayings.”

Meissa
came to stand beside me, looking into the distance with me. “Don’t be ridiculous, girl. I don’t need any sayings, just the truth.”

“Well, it still sucks,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. “I’ve done this a couple of times already. You’d think it’d get easier.”

“It never gets easier,” Meissa admitted, a distant tone in her voice. “No matter how many times you do it.”

We both stayed silent, looking at the peaceful town below. I could barely make out some small figures going about their daily business as usual. Their lives hadn’t been changed by any of this. They had no idea what happened. Their worlds kept turning.

“Thank you,” I whispered, “for letting us use the temple.”

“It was only fitting.”

“Even after she stole the keystone . . .”

“That is irrelevant,”
Meissa said. “Today we celebrate a great warrior. All else has no meaning at this moment.”

“Great warrior, huh?”
I smiled, lifting the small lid off of the oval jar. “Did you hear that, Auntie? Finally some recognition.” My eyes stung, the corners quickly becoming wet. A strong breeze blew, ruffling my hair. “You’re finally free, Auntie,” I whispered, voice cracking. “You can be with them. Go, Auntie. Go be with Adeline and Sebastian. Find them!”

I threw the urn forwards, flinging the ash into the wind. It whirled and danced wildly, free of any inhibitions – just like
Kaline. I watched as she traveled through the air, sparkling in the sun – just like stardust.

I leaned forwards, tears streaming down my face. I let out a loud sob and buried my face into my hands. In an instant, I felt two pairs of arms embrace me. I didn’t have to look to know who they belonged to. We’d been together too long, known each other so well.

Meissa said that everything else in the world was irrelevant right now, but that wasn’t true.
This
was relevant.
My friends
were relevant. I swore at that moment that I would never go through this again. I would protect them with everything in my being, and I wouldn’t fail. But
she
would. I would make sure of it. I would do it for them and for Aunt Kaline. My world would keep turning. Just as sure as the sun and stars in the sky.