Puzzle Pieces

I feel my throat constrict as Maman’s pained cries echo inside my mind, why can’t they accept her? Why do they look down on her with such disgust?

It wasn’t her fault, it was her sister who encouraged!

The flood of emotions and the memories dancing in my vision are making me dizzy… My bow slips from my fingers and clatters to the ground, I hear Cyrena’s voice and I feel a need to get away. I slink towards a corner and grasp at my chest, I need the pounding to stop, I need to be able to breathe. I want to hold Maman, to tell her I see her, that I accept her.

Once Cyrena leaves, I plunge into the waters, not ready for a conversation with Moze, not when I know she’s struggling. She can’t handle her own struggles let alone someone else’s. The arrow I fired is once again useless, the painting in tatters and thankfully silent. Maman is huddled somewhere far, almost out of reach… I can feel her hurt, her agony, but more than that I feel the burning rage that seeps from deep within her.

It mingles with my own feelings, I felt it when I pictured Bastien’s face as I was aiming my shots.

I have to keep moving, these paintings need to be destroyed, I need to make Maman whole again, this power that was stolen…

There’s a puzzle piece forming in my mind, something I don’t want to look at but know I’ll need to place… As I try to keep my mind away I hear a voice through the keyhole of the door I find myself peering through.

“Sweeting…” My blood runs cold, something unsettling creeps along my spine and I recoil from the door. Moze is quick to try to glance through though I know she won’t see much either, they’re too far on the other side of the room…

We need to talk to the others.