"The bow of an instrument"

There was a hole in the sky. What had once been a glass covering was now a jagged vignette in the middle of the city. It seemed more pieces splintered off every minute.

Seraphine kept her head low in case any more of the damage rained down. She moved under a tree and observed the blood from the white rooftops. No one wanted to move the disfigured body. There were fearful whispers of potentially finding the head, and needing to deal with that as well.

At least that's what Seraphine figured.

She raised her head a bit to get a better view of the red and white mess. Then her eyes moved upwards towards the opening in the glass. And for the first time, with no piercing glare from a disappointed lover, the sky was more welcoming than anything she could ever imagine. She didn't feel the suffocation anymore. The sunlight held her hand, but the woman felt emptiness.

I'm sorry for upsetting you.

Her ribs felt hallow remembering the song and dance. It was tiring knowing she ever thought such a thing. It was dreadful knowing part of her still believed it.

But Seraphine had work to do. She took a breath in, and started to walk.

Chrysanthemum Corday leaned against the bridge's underpass. His hand brushed along the stone wall. He wasn't used to being a human again. He wasn't sure if Lavender was planning to do anything more. He wasn't able to find where Charlotte was buried, so he sat at the spot where they almost made it out.

Almost. Charlotte's hopes were so high. Almost. A dream. His eyes started to close.

"Chrys."

He jolted back up, and saw Seraphine walking towards him. Stunned, he stood and straightened out his posture, and brushing his overly grown out hair out of his face.

"Seraphine," he said. He felt the need to address her formally, even though she gently shook her head in response.

"Sera is fine," she said. "I just wanted to talk. Before you go."

He nodded slowly. "Right.."

"How did you do it?"

He tilted his head. "Do what?"

"All of those kids.. how did you get them to that point?" She saw his confused expression and frowned. "How did you manage to make them happy?"

He sighed. "They figured it out all on their own. I just needed to believe in them sooner."

Seraphine furrowed her eyebrows. "But even Loki... she looked so much more alive. Whatever training you did caused wings to sprout from her."

Chrys couldn't help but softly laugh. "I mean.." he motioned to his eyepatch. "I think anyone would be happier if they weren't in constant fear of getting an eye pulled."

Sera awkwardly chuckled. "Yes. That much is obvious." She lowered her head. "I'm very lucky I didn't have to go through that."

Chrys lowered his gaze. "I..I don't think you were lucky." He felt the words leave his mouth, and only until he finished did his sentence did he realize he should've given it more thought.

Sera swallowed. "Chrys. You.." She took a minute to figure out how she wanted to phrase this. "You'd tell me if you 'heard something' in my quarters. Or you'd tell me to 'just be safe' if I were alone in the dark."

"It was just a hunch."

"Each and every time you had a 'hunch', it turned out to be correct."

Chrys turned his head away. "Would you believe me if I said I was just looking out for you?"

"You knew something would happen, and you still protected me."

Chrys paused. Then he looked at her again. "You never ratted me out."

Sera sadly smiled. "I liked the idea of someone having my back, I guess."

Chrys's eye widened, as if he had made a realization. "I should've just.. I'm so sorry." Sera smiled and shook her head again until she saw Chrys's pleading expression. "I could've."

"You were a different person then. I was too. We're both lucky things have changed now."

"Yeah."

She cleared her throat. "What do you plan to do once the portal's closed for good?"

"I'm gonna look out for the team. Make sure they're taken care of. What about you?"

"Me and Forest are gonna try to relocate anyone willing to someplace more sustainable."

"You and Forest..?"

"Yes. Some of the ranks felt they should answer to us. Others felt as if we should empower whoever is next in line. Me and Forest relieved everyone of their duties, including ourselves."

Chrys slowly nodded. "I see."

Sera nodded too. "Some of the trainees don't have homes to go back to. So they are welcome to join me and Forest."

Chrys asked. "Where will you be going?"

"No idea. Just somewhere far away from this." She turned around. "Come. We should get you home soon." She started to walk back.

"Alright.." he scratched his neck. "We never truly got to know each other, you know? It'd be a shame if I never get to see you again."

"Indeed, it would be. But I'm afraid that's what it has to be."

After Chrys had been sent on his way, Forest pulled a lever and shut the portal down. He looked at Sera, then at the machine, and then back at her.

She had picked up her chained sledge hammer.

“I think we should destroy it,” she whispered.

Forest hesitated. “I think we should hide it,” he whispered back. “I’m not sure if any technology like this will ever be replicated.”

“It shouldn’t be used again.”

“…I know.” Forest closed his eyes. “I know. I just think about what Noah…” he cut himself off. He inhaled. “Noah would tell me a lot about what he saw.”

Sera nodded somberly. “Grayson would draw the city sometimes.” She slowly put the sledgehammer back onto the ground. “She seemed to like the apartments.”

Forest and Seraphine looked at each other for a longer moment before finally coming to their decision.

A carriage was filled with bread and wood. A few young scouts huddled amongst each other as Seraphine made her way back, humming to herself. Forest, who was soothing the horse, signaled to her, hoping that they’d be all set once she arrived.

Seraphine thought of her dreams with a faceless mother who played the violin. She thought of the fire and the blurriness of it all. She remembered hands around her neck. She remembered the music she’d hum to herself in hopes of words not being too obvious.

She glanced at the wood that could build a fire or a house or a new instrument before turning to Forest Gauthier. His tired eyes asked if she was ready. She stood up straight, and sat herself next to him. Whatever was to happen was no longer their business.

She stopped humming; the melody had ended.