Look at the time it's taken me to get away from what was said
I'll never leave, I'll always love
If Aura had paused to consider the reunion before she’d jumped into it, she’d probably have assumed it would be more awkward than it was. In addition to the fact that there really was no good way to simply pop back from Death, she’d never exactly had any friends among the royal family. At worst she and Arthur had been grudging colleagues, rival leaders divided on how best to win a war they both felt responsibility for; at best they’d found tolerance and some sort of mutual respect. Aura wouldn’t have put money on anyone at that table weeping for her death.
Maybe she’d been wrong. Morgana was a little uncertain of the hug, but Arthur received her with more warmth than she remembered from him. I wish I could say I missed you too, but I only remembered you were about five minutes ago seemed like the wrong thing to say, so she accepted his affectionate words in appreciative silence.
“Yeah?” She checked quietly when he turned the topic to her son, resting her teeth gently on her lower lip. Thoth had been a happy child, when he was very young. Time and a lot of heartache had chipped that away. Fortunately, Tristan chose that moment to lift the mood. “Secret lab?” She repeated, torn between amusement, interest and the desire to ask Arthur exactly how safe that was.
The prince was so similar to his grandfather that it was almost painful. Aura bit her lower lip again, but this time to keep from laughing. At least Thoth still had a friend. If he had his friend, he was probably doing okay.
She declined the offer of a plate with a shake of her head, but accepted the chair as it was brought over. Before sitting down, she rested her scythe against the table. As soon as her fingers released it, her floaty blue robes vanished, to be replaced by the grey-scale clothes she’d died in. Apart from the lack of colour and shoes, she now looked exactly as she must have done on the day she’d left Shaman alive. Aura glanced down at herself, as surprised as any of them must be, but shrugged and sat down. At least now she’d figured out how to be less ‘obviously’ the Guide of the Dead.
“Got it off Kelise,” she said, a little unnecessarily, inclining her head towards the staff. “She got away though, and no one else’s memories have been restored except mine. Brock and I have some work ahead of us figuring out how to fix Death.”
She wasn’t sure how much of that they’d understand. Fortunately, Arthur changed the subject to something of more mutual interest. Aura rested her elbows on the table, interlaced her fingers together and rested her chin on it, frowning slightly.
“Well, if Thoth’s alright… shall we get the bad news out of the way first?” She asked, a little grimly. “Exactly how much trouble has Mallos been in over the last…” she glanced at Tristan, calculating based on his age, “six or seven years?”
me and you, we are ghosts
|
|