“Nephilim.” The name left Mariael’s lips quietly, throat constricting, growing tight the moment she’d said it.
“Oh,” Maziel breathed, and then a smile broke wide across her lips and her milky eyes watered, but the tears were happy ones. “That’s wonderful, Mariael. Father would be so proud.”
Mariael looked at her sister as her face turned toward her, and the worry that’d been wound tight inside her slowly ebbed away until she released a small sigh and bowed her head. Now instead of thinking of whether or not she had it in her to bully and push Maziel away from the Bay, to get her in her right mind, Mariael was thinking of her son; of the promises she had made herself when Suleiman reminded her of who she really was; of the responsibility to keep the Arch residents safe and free of her personal woes; of everything she had been teaching Nephilim, hoping to undo all the wrongs that had been done to her, by her, and because of her in the past.
Even if she was unhappy with it, she understood what Suleiman said in the suggestions he made. Once, Mariael might’ve pinned her ears and pushed her sister along, ignoring any indignant cries with the understanding that she knew what was best for her. But doing so had led the family astray, broken them to pieces, and scattered them heartbreakingly far from Tinuvel. Maziel had found her way back and, out of Nephilim’s three children, it was best that it was her. She always had been the heart of their family, and the heart had found its way home.
Mariael swallowed back her anxieties at not being able to control Maziel’s safety, and physically drew herself a step away from her sister. It felt like pulling her own skin from her body.
“You really want to stay here in the Bay?” She asked softly, as if needing to hear it one last time before she forced herself to accept it as reality.
Maziel only sighed, then lifted her snipped muzzle toward her sister’s face. She placed a soft kiss against Mariael’s hairy cheek, then nodded after she’d pulled back. “Yes.” The answer was definitive and without hesitation. Mariael’s ears flicked out to the side and her pale tail twitched against her hind, snapping as she worked through her frustration before nodding and forcing herself to take the wiser path, the one Suleiman helped open for her.
“Okay.” She said, and though she said it softly, she knew it was loud enough that Fell and Suleiman could hear her agree. “You come and visit us in the Arch, bring Charmeine as well when you do, so I can meet her,” she said, then added, “And you know where I am now, how close I am now, if you ever need me.” She tried not to think of Maziel not needing her any more, and swallowed back against the pain of a fractured pride. Or, worse, the fear that Maziel would need her, but she would be too far away to act immediately and save her darling sister from any further heartache.
As much as Mariael did not want to say goodbye to Maziel after finally having her again after all this time, she knew the longer she stayed the more it would bother her that Maziel would not be coming back to the Arch with her and Suleiman. Every second that ticked by it would fester under her skin until, ultimately, Mariael knew she might result in bullying Maziel toward the Arch and potentially starting a fight with a border-sharing neighbor. Things will be good again. Her own words, spoken just minutes ago, echoed back inside her mind. Surely she could physically push her sister away from the Bay, but… what would that prove?
“We should get going back to the Arch,” she said in a small, quiet voice. Her blue eyes looked at Maziel with some sort of heartbreak, and it was an instance where she was happy her sister would not see them. She had to have sensed the strain, the internal war Mariael was fighting, because she turned her soft, loving expression up to her and let it shadow with some concern.
“So soon?” She asked.
Mariel felt a tug of guilt, then doubled on her resolve. It was going to be best for all four of them if she simply removed herself from the situation… nothing good would come of what rash thing she might be compelled to do. Her dark eyes flicked briefly over to Fell, and she felt a bit of resentment stir in her gut, but knew better than to act any further. Her pale tail twitched again and she looked back at Maziel.
“Yes.” She answered her sister. “I… think it’s best…”
She ached - how she ached - as she moved another step away from her sister. Tears wanted to sting her eyes, but Mariael abruptly blinked them away before they could even start. Suleiman was permitted to see her emotionally vulnerable, as was Maziel, but certainly not Fell.
“We’ll see each other soon.” She said with a resolved tone, a definitive one, then stretched her neck out and blew warm breaths over her sister’s dark cheek. Maziel turned into Mariael and Mariael whispered, “I have missed you so much-” feeling her throat catch on the words, and swallowed back the emotion as she finally pulled away.
Mariael walked slowly away from Maziel, but parted all the same, and looked sidelong at Suleiman, before looking at Fell. Pushing back against the anger and suspicion she felt stirring, Mariael did what was polite to do. “Thank you for keeping my sister safe, and for letting me come and see her.” The words were hard to part with, but she still said them, knowing it was what was right.
With one last, longing look toward her beloved sister, Mariael turned forward, back the way they’d come and began to walk away at last, waiting for the comfort of Suleiman’s steps beside hers.
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