New World New Life 176 Focus On What Matters

Aether slithered off Vy's arm and shapes.h.i.+fted into a more human-like form. He wore a set of light-weight scale armour that covered his entire body. He had dark purple hair that went past his shoulder and had matching dark purple pupils for eyes. 

Aether placed his hands on Vy's shoulders. He had her attention. 

He could see her pupils turning dark, her mind was racing with dark thoughts. 

"I'm here for you, Vy." Aether said. 

"The world can come cras.h.i.+ng down upon you, but you need to stand up to it. You can overcome this," he continued. 

As Aether spoke, a breath of mist escaped his mouth. Vy instantly realised the change in temperature that surrounded them. With her heavy breathing, she could see the mist too. The disembodied whisper that mumbled at the back of her mind was getting closer. 

It was getting louder. 

"Vy," Aether called out to her, "focus."

Vy nodded.

She focused on his words.

She took in deep breaths and tried to s.h.i.+ft her focus. As she did so, the temperature in the room slowly returned to normal. The whispers remained, but Vy was able to ignore them. Soon enough, the whispers started to fade away little by little.

Vy moved over to the small table on the left side of the room and brewed a pot of green tea. Tea would help her calm her nerves. Once it was done, she brought it over to the table and sat back down. 

Aether watched her in silence, making sure she was alright. 

Her hands were still shaking a little as she poured herself a cup from the teapot. Vy gently blew on the steam that was coming out of the teacup. She took a sip of tea.

After some time, Vy felt much more relaxed. She leaned back in the chair and let out a breath of air. Aether returned to his slithering form and rested on Vy's lap. 

-Thank you, Aether.- Vy said to him. 

Aether simply nodded in reply, giving no verbal responses. His silent nature often made Vy wondered about what he was thinking of. She figured it would take time for him to warm up to her. But it seems that it's his silence that she appreciated the most. 

As she blew the steam off her cup, she took another sip of tea savouring its earthy flavour on her tongue before swallowing. Vy placed the cup back on its saucer.

After some time of silence, there was a knock on the door that almost jolted her out of her seat. 

This brought Vy out of her thoughts and into the present. Caster walked in and saluted her. 

"Milady," he greeted her with a bow, "You asked to see me?"

Vy looked up at Caster and asked, "I need you to make preparations."

"Preparations?" Caster echoed her words. 

"There might be another court session to take place in Timbretune soon," Vy said, "And I will be the one on trial."

"Milady, if this is regarding the recent gossip that is spreading I implore you to …" before Caster could continue, she stopped him. 

"I appreciate your concern for my well being, Caster. I really do. Do not worry, I have it all figured out." 

Over the next few days, everything was calm. Lycster focused on spending time with Carole. He helped her with her stall and ran errands for her around the town. Just like his sister, he chose to keep himself busy to push his thoughts to the back of his mind. 

When he had some time to spare, he would visit Elette's grave in the cemetery. Sometimes he would bring her fresh flowers, sometimes he would just sit next to her gravestone. As Lycster watched the clouds move by in the sky, he would tell her a story, or about their recent trip to the Alterra Sector. 

"We miss you very much, Elette," he said as he placed a hand on the gravestone. 

Vy, on the other hand, chose to stay indoors to deal with the matters she had on hand. While looking through the belongings they had retrieved from the Capital City, she found the letter that Tatiana had sent to her. 

The pastel pink envelope stood out from the rest. Unfortunately, it no longer smelled like roses as it once did. Vy opened the envelope and looked through its contents. The moment she saw the word 'Viviana', her heart sank. 

Reading through the pages, Vy bit her lip as her hand began to shake. If only she had read it then. Maybe, just maybe, the tragedy could have been avoided altogether. Elette would still be alive, Lycster would still have both of his arms. 

"Vy I brought you…" as soon as Lycster saw his sister shaking, he placed down the tray he held in his hands and rushed to her side. 

"What's wrong, sis?" he asked as he placed his arm around her. 

Seeing the letter she held in her hands, he could not help but take a peek. Upon realising its contents, Lycster was speechless. As much as Vy wanted to cry her heart out, she realised that she could not. 

She had no more tears to cry. 

Lycster took the letter out of his sister's hands and walked over to the fireplace. 

"Lycster, what are you…" before she could even finish her sentence, Vy watched as her brother crumpled the letter and threw it into the fire. 

As the crumpled paper was consumed by the flames it quickly turned into ashes. Lycster returned to his sister's side and hugged her tightly. 

"Stop blaming yourself, sis," his voice was m.u.f.fled, but she could still hear every word he said. 

Vy looked down at him, ruffling his hair as she sighed, "I can't help it."

He looked up at her. 

"Neither can I."

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