***
"Why are you sad?" A musical voice asked, "I can ease your pain…
Ryan's looked at the girl that was contained in the tank. Her golden hair was floating around her making her resemble Aphrodite herself.
Porcelain skin that looked to have been kissed by rose petals. This girl was truly quite beautiful.
"You're making me blush, sir." The girl hummed, "Come, I will make all of your pain go away."
Angelo shook his head, "There's no need for all of that, darling." He murmured as he held her hypnotic gaze with his own,
"Nēram vantuviṭṭatu, peṇṇē. Uṅkaḷaip pōṉṟavarkaḷuṭaṉ irukka vēṇṭum. (The time has come, girl. to be with people who are more like you)."
The girl froze, it was the language in her dreams. Did this mean that she wasn't alone. Angalo watched the girl reach for him with a different emotion in her eyes.
'The resemblance is uncanny…' he thought as lavender eyes flashed in his mind.
"Avaḷ eṉṉaip pōṉṟavaḷ. Taṉiyākavum iḻantatu. Eṅkaḷ iruvaraiyum kāppāṟṟa muṭiyum eṉṟu nampukiṟēṉ... (She is like me. Alone and lost. I hope you can save us both…)."
Angalo nodded and offered a small, assuring smile. "Soon, you will be free of this place."
Syrenia blinked and she was alone in her tank. She looked around and no one else was in the room.
'I know someone was here…' she thought as she brought a hand to her racing heart. 'Soon, I will be free of this place…' she closed her eyes, 'will she be free of this place too?'
***
Angalo faced his brother with a playful grin.
"Myriah, darling." Angalo drawled as Myriah shyly stepped from her room in jeans and a white T-shirt. She had a basket in hand and her long black hair was tied in a loose bun on top of her head. Since her vision and fainting episode, and her blatant defiance regarding the impending council meeting, Axel became her new mother hen. She had to literally fight him to get the okay to heal Jasmine. Myriah stopped the memories before they could make themselves known; healing jasmine from her burns, and Atolis recovery from her gunshot wound… Myriah sighed, Axel had a very valid point: the best thing for her right now was a sense of normality. With that resolution, she had taken to being the house keeper for all of them. Mostly, in that the constant messes were driving her crazy… however assuming a care taker role helped her feel a sense of familiarity.
The conversation for her to take on her newly self appointed role was an interesting one: Myriah briefly recalled approaching Angalo almost a month ago.
"You're dealing with a lot maybe this type of outlet can help you." Angalo casually consented. Atoli who was sitting next to him frowned in concern, "You shouldn't worry about all of that, we can hire a house keeper." Atoli pleaded.
'Women are home makers, so cooking and cleaning make the ideal wife just as much as working does.' Myriah remembered her mother saying. To be honest, cleaning gave her a sense of calm. It was something that seamed reliable in this whole ordeal she was going through. Myriah even took to maintaining their home, keeping up with the garden, mending damages that the house would sustain with the many accidents… 'mostly caused by me…or Tyler or…'
"Chores calm the mind. When I'm stressed, Ive always liked the thought of trying my hand at interior design." was her whispered answer whenever anyone would ask her why. The truth was that Myriah had a love for interior decorating, and being a giving person by nature, she liked to care for others. At one point, she saw herself having a house much like the one she currently resided in, away from the city. She'd have a small farm and about an acre or so of land. She could see herself being a mother to children and a wife to a husband who would work the fields. Myriah shook the innocent vision away as the universe clearly had other plans for her.
The brief memories of the facility had Myriah frowning, perhaps that vision would remain as so. 'Who could ever love such a damaged woman?' She wondered as her lavender eyes drifted to the silver eyed male sitting feet from her with an open book in his hand.
Angalos calling her name pulled her from spiraling thoughts, "Umm." She mumbled. Even after collecting the elf, Tyler and Mika, she was still closed off.
She would converse, rhe the conversations mostly revolved around the scents they preferred on their clothes, entree choices, desert options, or even opinions on colors to paint the walls of the house.
"Come, I would like you to witness a wager if you'd be so kind." Myriah tilted her head in confusion. Her interest had her placing the basket down and walking over to where Edymond, Axel, Jasmine and Atoli stood. "My brother here, thinks I will blow my cover if I collect Syrenia." "The halfling?" Myriah asked with keen interest. Angalo nodded. "Can she survive the trip?" Myriah asked, concern replacing her interest. "Yes. She's been out of the tank for a week now. They're starting to grow...bold in their experiments of her. I thought it best to bring her sooner than later." Myriah nodded. "I agree. Those men are crass and..." She paused as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as an attempt to shake the ghosts of memories away. Axel watched her aura shift and he took an unconscious step toward her. His hand on her shoulder had their eyes locking and his concern turned to anger at the memories her eyes were trying to hide. Myriah tried to step away from the vampire, but his grip on her shoulder tightened. "Don't keep these things inside..." He murmured. "It will only cause you more harm in the long run." Myriah could only nod. "Myriah?" Atoli asked, concerned for her friend who offered a shy smile in relief of being free from Axel's all seeing eyes. "The wager." Myriah murmured, "What are the terms?" Axel could only watch her force a smile and try to be okay, when she wasn't. He clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes as his thoughts took over- how to cleanse her of the darkness that was once more growing her in heart... that she was alive now was shocking on its own, perhaps its her dissociation of recent events, her lack of outward anger was gravely concerning....
"If I win. Axel has to do whatever Atoli and I say for a month." Angalo's announcement pulled the vampire from his musings as Myriah's eyes widened and her smile became a little less fake. Which made Axel smirk, "If I win," He started, and grinned when Myriah's curious eyes were on him, "Angalo has to help you around the house.... for two months." Myriah felt her jaw drop at Axel's bold announcement. "You would have your brother help me?" She asked, trying to wrap her head around the idea. It was a charming one....but Angalo could mess up her way of things....however to see Angalo cleaning... "He's gone more often than naught, how would two months be sufficient?" Axel and Angalo looked at one another and Atoli tilted her head, "I don't think that having Atoli take Angalo's place is fair since she helps me as is." Myriah sang. 'Of course the girl of Axels infatuations would share the same line of thinking as he…' Angalo palmed his forehead and Axel shook his head with a grin. He wouldn't have guessed that Myriah could also be mischievous.
"Then what would you propose, little one?" Axel asked. He watched Myriahs eyes light up and her smile went from genuine to mischievous. "Angalo has to clean ten times for me...In a french maid outfit." The lavender eyed girl offered which earned her a giggle from Atoli, a roar of laughter from Axel and a groan from Angalo. "And if you don't clean correctly, you will have a day added."
"So maybe-"
"Deal!" Atoli cried. Axel looked at her shocked, while Angalo eyed his wife with a narrowed glare for revenge. Oh and his revenge would be ideal…
"Okay gentlemen, shake hands." Myriah ordered. Axel held out his hand with a grin while Angalo was hesitant to take the offered appendage. Myriah grabbed his hand and connected it to Axels. She held her hands together with her own.
"It's a gentleman's agreement!" She announced as she threw their hands into the air with a giggle.
Her mind wondered to simpler times as her giggling subsided. 'Will I find this part of myself again?' She wondered as she looked at the occupants of the room. 'Or will this be fleeting as my life before was?' Myriah sighed as she gathered her basket and wondered from the room, lost in memories of once upon a time.