After The Rain

[clonky 1929]

Spoiler

 

 

AFTER THE RAIN
Comes a Rainbow

 

---

 

 

Wails of a newborn echoed the chambers, vision blurry at the sight of such creation, and suddenly it all stopped. 

 

The room was quiet. A vision now changed, a scene obscure yet so clear, so memorable. A painting of a pair, joyous and loving. Madalene Ruthern, a flaxen-haired woman that Stefaniya so envied, pictured with her spouse; Ailred var Ruthern. Stefaniya’s eyes had fixated upon her father’s portrait, where she shared so many similar features with him, and had a raging desire to be like him. He was her idol, a true knight of fantastical ways that she admired. Then, she had one more pair of eyes to vision upon - a youthful Lucien, who admired the portrait just as much as she, even if he had no chance to have met her two parents. 

 

"When ea have children, ea want to be there for them. Their lives were cut too short.” 

 

Stefaniya was just a child still, yet a promise was kept, a deal where she was betrothed to Lucien, to marry him in the future. He knew, too, the pains of losing a parent, the absence of oblivion, like a sea without water, a desolate sand. 

 

"I promise that it won’t be like that, Stefaniya.”

 

And there they stood, deep in their own thoughts, perhaps in their own sorrow, but also did they begin to look ahead. 

 

Another abrupt wail came, a flash of a vision before her, a wriggling child and handmaidens brushing the sweat off her brow, and it faded out once again… 

 

The sands were unique, a feeling that felt far from home - a warmth upon bare feet, with the waters of the ocean tickling at your toes. Freedom perhaps adjoined with this euphoria, as she stood in ragged clothes upon the beaches of Haelun’or. Stefaniya had escaped her turmoil from her journeys gone wrong, and her mission was to come home, to continue that promise with Lucien, to see her sister once again, but as she stared longer upon the wallowing waves, her mind swirled with the clash of the ocean’s fog. . .

 

You’re evil, Stefaniya                                                                                                                                                                                                  Ungrateful

 

You can’t return home now.

                                                                                         Undeserving                                                                                                                                                                   How can you return?

 

Stop it, Stop it, Stop it. 

And silence. A calm once again, after ravaging and circulating, a riptide of her mind had now turned into the tranquil oceans once again. Her mind stretched far beyond the sea now, where the flurries of snow whipped at the face of those denizens in Haeseni Ruska, and one particular one was still clear in her mind - the face of her betrothed, who she knew was filled with sorrow that she had disappeared. The melancholy sound of the lapping waves, where the same melody played in his ears, yet it was the flame that kept him company, and a bottle of Carrion Black. Soon, she would have made her return. 

 

"Stefaniya? Oh Stefaniya, look at vyr gorgeous babe, look at him, oh how healthy.” 

 

The tears fogged her vision again, and instead of looking upon a newborn, she had seen the countenance of her beloved again. No spark upon his eyes, a weariness that dragged along in his shadow, and her mind whirled again, as if her own shadow had overtaken her mind and haunted it. 

 

How can he love you now, Stefaniya? 

 

Silly you, how detestable you are. 

 

LOOK at him, you did this. 

You did this. 

You did this. 

This. 

 

"I will still have your hand in marriage Stefaniya, it was only you that I thought of, only you.”

Yet, even with these words of reassurance, and even with her simper growing wider at the undying love that her betrothed carried for her, she still had these thoughts wash out her humor. A kiss upon the hand, and a gratitude to be home once more, yet she found herself having a dread, a hidden uncertainty, never to be shared with her dearest. 

 

"Now quiet, nie need to disturb vyr mamej. Someone assist Stefaniya, now, she must be tired. . .”

 

Now her eyes opened, and a glimpse, a dream of her betrothed stood before her - her Prinzen, Lucien upon the altar, eyes now shifting to the other unfamiliar faces, yet she caught her sister’s flaxen hair, the hair that she shared with her mother that she so envied. Her heart raced with love, a passion - Angelika, a dear confidant, a friend, along with her undying ardor for her to-be husband. She remembered now, stringing up the foliage within the church, lanterns and flowers scattered and embraced in their union. 

 

"I do, I will, Stefaniya.” 

 

The words came to her in her bed, where her eyes barely came to open. Beside her was her husband, and the room was silent. Her hand held with the face of her betrothed once again. Before this, she must have told him something, something important. The scene around her had changed again, it was no longer the hazy image of the church, but the bedchambers where she first began her lucid hallucinations… 

 

"Name them, for me. Please tell me one more time, just one more time. . . that vy still love me, Lucien?”

 

She did not hear his response, or hardly wait for it, but she murmured out what she was thinking all along, when the blood ran from her system, when all her health was gone into two newborns, and when all she had left was a full heart. All she thought was;

 

"Ea love vy dearly, mea Prinzen.” 

 

A spur of wails trailed again, albeit distant this time. She felt her other memories flash upon her mind, a story of her life, where she was granted one last dance with her beloved, only until she left him alone for the last time, with two children now taking her place.

 

Spoiler

I'd like to thank everyone who helped develop Stefaniya. Not only is this a post to represent the ending of a chapter for one of my characters, but an ending of a chapter for myself. I joined LOTC in late 2018 and from then on I had so many experiences and different things that I'd argue have helped me develop who I am today. So many memories that I could never forget, and so many beautiful and unique people obviously mixed into this community. I've just graduated high school, and I will be attending college in the fall, and I am very excited (albeit scared) for what my future might hold. Something I'd like to share that I've learned these past few days is - "If happiness is in your destiny, you need not be in a hurry." 

I wish everyone the success they deserve, and follow with your heart and mind and be true to yourself. Thank you all for a lovely few years, and thank you to the Haense community for being so accepting. I hope to be in touch.