Creatures of the Dark

Alessia didnt say a word to him, collapsing onto the fold out chair and pulling her knees into her chest.

"You can't casually say to me in a few minutes you'll be dead and then be.. absolutely fine over three hours later." Alessia mumbled. "It isn't fair. Didn't know what I would be coming here too... I've been feeling sick."

"Am I actually one of the souls you are meant to torment? Has all of this just been part of it because today has been horrific." Alessia mumbled, burying her face in her knees. "I don't like you as King. I don't like how you lie to me and tell me your hurt, then fight with me. Then -" She swallowed. "Rose and I were the bottom of your list today."

The closer they got to where the movie was showing, the more excited she became.

"We weren't safe, the attack was over, yes but no one had been caught. I was hurt. You were hurt. No one was safe!"

___
"Keep your balance," Aled teased, sun light illuminating the specks of emerald green in his eyes as he stood balanced on his paddleboard. His shirt discarded on the rock of the shore several miles away, attention on Reagan just ahead of him.

____
Aeon wandered down the stairs, stumbling down the last two as if he were unused to using his feet. Arms tensed as he gripped onto the handrails, eyes still half closed.

"I'm trying," she called back to him just as she wobbled, her arms stretched out to either side of her to try to keep from toppling over. "You make it look so easy."

----
Sophia was in the kitchen, already awake when she heard him coming down the stairs. "Are you alright?"

"Fine! Fi- fine, ma'am." Aeon swallowed, ducking his head. "I am sorry for sleeping so long."

---

___
"And you are doing much better already, compared to when we started." Aled laughed quietly. "It gets a bit more uneven by the cliffs, but I need to show you the cauldron. Do you think you're ready for it?"

"Sophia, you can call me Sophia." She had gotten up to stand in the doorway. "Rest is what helps us heal. How are you feeling this morning?"

----
You think?" She asked beaming over at him. "I'm willing to give it my best try if you think I can handle it."

"If you struggle, you always have my board to jump upon." He assured quietly, "Tomight is an equinox, it is meant to make the reflection in the cauldron more stunning. According to the myths you so adore."

---

___
"I should begin repaying you." Aeon whispered, avoiding the question. "What tasks would you like me to do first?"

The smile on Reagan's face grew all the more. "Only as a very last resort, I don't want to topple you over as well."

----
Sophia blinked at him. "You don't have to do anything."

"Of course I do," Aeon frowned.

____
"Impossible," Aled chuckled, dipping the paddle into the water to redirect them towards the cliffs.

"Would you like to help me fix breakfast?"

---
She laughed softly, lowering her paddle into the water so she can follow him.

"What do you need me to do?"

____
"Keep up," Aled chuckled over his shoulder.

"You don't give a shit about yourself or how I would have to raise a child without you so what would it have mattered if I was dead or not? You are just... emphasising how I am alone." She swallowed. "When will you stop thinking of yourself like a accessory to me, Damian? You are not my accessory! You are not something I can replace! No matter how my mother brain washed you!"

"I would be! They don't know me! None of them know me and it isn't them I want! It isn't them I need! I - I need you more than your people, more than every single person here."

"It doesn't feel that way!"

"You need to start showing it! You care more about your job, you have just shown that."