PEACEFUL

0888 WORDS ■ Cheiri Mizutsune ■ NUMB

TIMES

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The shrill beeping of an alarm echoed through the quiet apartment, bouncing off the walls until it eventually made its way to Coquel’s ears. Her eyes shot open, their pupils dilating rapidly to adjust to the darkness of the room. Judging by the light invading the shadows through the blinds, Coquel deduced it was either late in the morning or rather early in the afternoon. Without peeking at the alarm clock, she unplugged the device mid-buzz and rolled onto her side. This had been how she spent her free time since returning home. This was her life without the person she had cared for most. Her arm extended to the empty space on the bed beside her, and for a second she had to fight off a near devastating swell of tears. Gripping onto the sheets, her teeth grated together as she choked down a quiet sob. This had to have been some sort of punishment.[break][break]

It just had to be.[break][break]

Despite having returned to Legion from the city of Rift a couple weeks ago, Coquel had spent almost every minute since then locked up in her room. Depression had plagued the girl that, regardless of what was thrown her way in a given day, managed to find any way she could to shrug it off. The proverbial dirt on the shoulder, as it were, was something that never seemed to weigh her down. None of those things even came close to stacking up against the emptiness she now felt. With all she had gone through in her short life, all the things she was still expected to do for the Fang, a part of Coquel dreamed that her constant lying and running away had finally come to an end. Elijah was her rock - her support whenever she needed it - and the only true source of comfort she had in her darkest nights. Now, because Legion was scared into striking a crippling blow to Rift, he was gone.[break][break]

A tired sigh escaped Coquel’s lips as she finally let tears roll down her face, tracing the line of her nose before eventually dripping off onto her pillow. She remained silent as she cried, holding back the impulse to scream and let it all out. Drawing attention to herself was the last thing she needed. A buzz from her Scroll drew Quel’s attention from the void at her side, and she sluggishly rolled over to check whatever message she had just received. It was from them. A preacher from the Monasteries had been spotted in the city, going on about peace and the like. She always scoffed at the idea of peace, dismissing it as a fairy tale left behind at the Monastery when she left. Never thought someone from Cela would make it all the way out here, though. What if she knew the person that was speaking to the people? The idea of seeing someone from home, after all this time, caused a slight smile to replace the emotionless expression she had sported the last several days.[break][break]

Slipping off the bed, Quel shuffled across the room with great haste and changed. Nothing too fancy, and rather casual given her usual sense of style. She observed herself for a minute, making sure everything about her was neat and in proper order. A confident nod, and she was out the door. At her side was Daedalus, strapped to her belt and ready in case she had to extinguish a fight. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, though. Leaving the front of the apartment, Coquel was immediately stunned by the sunlight. It was definitely the afternoon. Legion was a perpetual winter wonderland, and being early January meant snow was plentiful. The light bouncing off the snow was almost blinding, but Coquel had planned ahead and snatched a pair of sunglasses before walking out. Flipping the rose-colored sunglasses over her eyes, she made her way to the location she had been given by her informants.[break][break]

There was a crowd forming around the person as they spoke. It was small, but slowly growing. It took Quel a while before finally realizing the speaker was a girl, a realization that left her feeling stupid for not noticing sooner. As she watched and listened to the girl for a few minutes, a sense of recognition began pecking at the back of Coquel’s mind. This girl looked familiar, almost too familiar. It made sense given the assumption that the girl was from Cela, and chances were high her and Quel crossed paths at least once. While she wasn’t a celebrity among the Monasteries, being the adopted daughter of one of the Celan Elders exposed Coquel to a lot of people that lived among the old temples. Now, what was this girl’s name? It prodded like a hot iron before she finally decided she couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. Drawing in a deep breath, she shouted out loud enough for the girl to hear.[break][break]

“Hey! Don’t I know you?” She inquired. She felt like such an ass for shouting out of nowhere among strangers. That said, Coquel figured she might as well go with the flow. “You came from Cela, right? The monasteries?”