Rae Had Been Distracted. Too Many People, Too Much Nearness And It Eventually Made Her Lose Track Of

Rae had been distracted. Too many people, too much nearness and it eventually made her lose track of Ciara while she found a quiet spot to sink into. It was only for a night.

One night too many.

When she found the woman again, it was with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Despite the rest, despite her happiness at seeing Ciara, it was all clouded. Like the miasma of red and black that surrounded her.

Rae rushed at it, trying to push it away as she did before, but she just heard a chuckle all around her.

Silly girl, said the sibilant voice whispered, did you think I would let you have her? She is mine.

"No!" Rae shouted, though the sound would be nothing but wind in the real world. "Let her go! She's not yours. She doesn't want you. You're...you're hurting her!"

The ghost slammed herself against the miasma, watching Ciara move from man to man with abandon. Rae cried, moaned, wailed, and none of it seemed to help. Nothing got through.

When the miasma finally started to clear, when the awful thing was sated, Rae was there.

"Ciara, Ciara please look at me," she begged, making herself as solid as possible, leaning over the woman with beautiful aqua eyes. "Don't let him do that to you. Ciara...I need you. You're not alone. I'm here for you. Always."

She wrapped her arms around the woman and hovered close. The next time she saw the red and black cloud, Rae vowed nothing would stop her from destroying it. Nothing.

Ciara was hers.

“I’m done with this. You’re boring and a waste of my time.”

It ran through her head, over and over again as she fingered the scorch mark on her discarded leggings. Ciara spat again, trying to get rid of that peculiar taste in her mouth, and dropped her forehead onto her left knee. Again, she saw Serenity’s smile as the echo of a pistol being cocked rang overly loud in her ears.

 Again, she heard those words.

 Again… She heard the gunfire.

  I told you, sweetness… There’s only you and I.

Her jaw tensed, and without intending to, the thief broke into a bitter laugh.

  That’s it, my love. I will never leave you. I will never discard you. Your choices cannot hurt me, and I… Well… 

It was almost tangible, that echo of sensation, as if a warm hand stroked her cheek. 

  I will not let you be hurt anymore.

He stayed. She was hurt and in no mood to do anything but rest and try to forget the pain and instead of leaving her alone, he stayed.

She had one nightmare, the eerie spectre of Tia's looming over her, stabbing through her hand over and over...and when Milli woke up crying and gasping, it was in Aell's arms.

"It's alright," he cooed gently, stroking her hair and holding her close. "I'm here. Nothing can harm you while I'm here."

Milli was starting to believe it.

He helped her change the bandages in the light of a single candle, the stitches still oozing blood on either side of her hand. "The barber said it would do that," he reassured her before she even asked the question, kissing her forehead. Milli smiled at him, nodded, and let herself relax.

"Thank you," she said quietly, later in the dark as they settled back to sleep.

"For what?" he asked, kissing her gently.

"Helping me."

Even in the darkness, she could see those jade green eyes flash. Protective. Possessive. "You're mine, Millicent Bowyen, and I always take care of what's mine." He kissed her again fiercely, and Milli relaxed into it.

She was his. He was hers. Together, they could face anything.

With 106 Followers now, this is a little overdue, I will admit. But let’s get started! :D

Hello, everyone! It is time for Happily-Hunyya’s 100 Follower Giveaway Spectacular!! 

First Prize: a 2000 Gem Card!

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And Third Prize: 800 Gems worth of giftable Gem Store content!!

Gem Card Codes will be sent to the winners once names have been drawn!

The Giveaway period will end on February 22nd, at about 9PM EST. Entries after that period will not be counted, sorry. Winners will be determined shortly after

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You must be a follower. New followers ARE allowed to enter, and you MAY unfollow after the giveaway, if you reeeeeealy want!~

Reblog this post for an entry!

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A big thank you to all 100+ followers! I <3 you all!!

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To the Captains' Council of Lion's Arch:

While I appreciate the festivities of the holiday, which no doubt provide extensive funds via tourism and trade to the City coffers, I'm afraid I am at my wits' end as a merchant.

Pictured above is my shop and two of the three snow makers which surround it. I was neither asked nor consulted about the placement of these machines before the holiday and my complaints about how they turned my shop into a veritable ice box went largely unheard.

On that note, I would like to lodge a complaint about one of your employees. She suggested I "just light a fire in the corner," which is a gross violation of fire codes and could prove dangerous as my shop sells weapons and ammunition. One Violetta Fennick, according to the plaque on her desk, proved quite rude and unhelpful to me.

Back to the topic at hand. It is past Wintersday. Well past. If you could please convince the asura Tixx to remove his snow spraying devices, at least from the immediate vicinity of my shop, I would much appreciate it.

And next year, please convene with the local merchants before allowing the placement of these devices. We help keep Lion's Arch running smoothly and it would be a kindness if the council would give them a voice in matters that will directly affect them.

Thank you for your time,

Millicent Bowyen

Proprietor, Clockworks & Mechanicals Unlimited

[One finds an unsigned note, weather-sodden and ink-bled, slid beneath the door of that flourishing shop.] Never did get that garrote from you, pretty miss. I’ll be by for it in three days time; and I hope you’ll keep the lamp lit for me.

Milli read the note again, breath held. She fingered the necklace of bones on the exquisite gold chain around her neck. Ains was back. Her fingers drifted over the ink on the parchment. She'd missed the hound so.

Carefully she folded the note and put it in her pocket, then went to find the garrote. She placed it in a nice box, with a ribbon green she'd been saving for something special.

Milli smiled. Seeing old friends again made her happy.

The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.

Things were fine until they weren’t, but in retrospect she should have suspected something was wrong. People she knew and trusted grew quickly and uncharacteristically tense and withdrawn. Those who were of a more jumpy nature disappeared entirely. And Jack became strained, one with too much on his shoulders, desperately looking for someone to unload it on. She tried to share the burden, but he protected her even from this. He always protected her.

And then even Jack was gone.

She heard from one of the locals that the Stone Mason’s Guild Hall had been ransacked. And when she checked his room at the Lion’s Shadow, she found it equally ruined. His personal belongings were gone. Whether that meant he’d left before whoever did this got there or they had taken everything when they took him, she didn’t know.

Like the lamps in the windows of a house, her sources of information went dark. Something happened with the Hangmen, she gathered, though what she didn’t know. But people were scattering to the winds.

From then on, it was delicate. She provided what money and supplies she could to those leaving. She didn’t go to Divinity’s Reach. She kept her store open and if a Seraph stopped in once or twice, she showed them only the face of a shopkeeper, though she was left trembling and sweating after.

She specifically avoided news. She didn’t want to know if friends were being tried and hanged. She wanted to space out her heartbreaks.

In a few weeks, she was calmer. Things were back to relative normal. If the shop wasn’t as prosperous, that was because she’d spent the extra on her friends. On buying them safety. It wasn’t something she could regret.

Milli was left in the rubble of what had once been. So she did what she always did. She picked up the pieces and moved on.