Aurora used to dream of a world of light.
From the earliest part of her memory, her life had only consisted of her room and the winding dark halls outside its door. The company she was used to was only herself and the silence, and when she had finally learned to talk, all she ever had as a listener is the emptiness.
But she dreamed of a world where the light is much encompassing that the sliver of beam from her glass window.
She also knew that she was not allowed to. They had made it clear when they put her in one of the dark unused rooms for a long time, after trying to step out of the trap door where the hallway starts.
It was not much of a problem for her; she was used in the dark. But she would also prefer a more comfortable place to lie in than the tattered cushions.
So she stopped. She determine the end of the line for her and followed through it, despite wanting to see more. In turn, they gave her books where she could use to paint a picture of the outside world in her mind.
It was her gift that helped her taught herself to read.
The others that came for her seems to fear her gift when they realized what it was. They fear of the future that it entails, and prefer for it to be regulated and concealed. It was not until she saw a little girl almost died when she was using it did she realized of their fear of it. It was not something that should be used as one wishes. No matter her circumstances, she does not wish to carry the burden of a life in her hands.
It was not something that should be save for the people outside.
But as she heard the other's words, she could not ignore the sudden thrum of excitement that lit up in her chest and thought, maybe she still hold that dream of hers after all this time.
"I may not be able to take you to see the big world, but I can show you around the town? I'm really familiar with all the streets that twist around in this place," Lilith had said to her and for a split second an image flashed in her mind: pictures of how she thought the town outside would look like, how big the house she's staying in, how different the sounds there compared to the walls surrounding her.
"I--" she looked at the offered hand for a moment before shaking her head gently and taking a step back. "I can't."
"Huh?" the other dropped her hand to their said and sent her a confused look, "Why not?"
Aurora opened her mouth and closed again, thinking of her words before speaking. "As I told you the last time, I am not allowed to leave in this place."
"Yeah, but you never really told me the reason why you need to stay in this depressing place all by yourself."
Aurora couldn't help but look around her room. She didn't think there was any wrong with the place.
Lilith sighed at the other girl's confused look. "Look, you don't have to stay out too long if you don't want to," she tried to convince her. "We could just go around for a while, visit a couple of stalls in town and have you try some food there. Ooh! I could also show you the garden my cousins and I planted back when we were still children. Some of the flowers are in bloom now so it'll be a pretty sight! Ah, but Luna often wanders around there so I'm not sure. . ." She had murmured the last sentence to herself, but Aurora caught most of the words.
"Cousins?"
"Hmm? Oh, they're my two aunts' children, only a couple of years older than me. Their name's Sol and Luna. They were also living with me in the house." She watched as the other nodded. ". . . They're your cousins, too, you know."
Aurora looked up to her at that, and Lilith smiled. She can't confirm anything yet, but she's almost sure that she and Aurora are sisters. This would mean that with her mother and aunt, they were the second generation to be born with siblings, an exemption to the rules that binds their family.
The thought sounded like her own grandmother, but she refused to think any more of its meaning for her. Besides, this here is more important right now. "That means we're family, too."
Aurora honestly does not get the importance of that word, but she kind of like the thought that she, at least, has a connection to the only other person she had ever talked with.
"And so, as part of the family Solerna, how can I let you continue living here without at least seeing the place where you live? Do you know that our family name is quite famous in our town?" Lilith knows that this might be a terrible idea. If both her aunts almost exploded at the thought of her going down here, how much more would they react if she tried pulling Aurora outside?
"I don't know. . ."
"It'll be fine! We can just sneak around if you don't like going out with other people, and then I'll bring you back before anyone else noticed you're gone, promise. Come on," she pouted as she tried to pull the other girl towards the door.
"W-wait Lilith, just--let's think this first, can we? I'm really not supposed to be around, especially if there's many people!"
"You keep saying that, but how can I even know why is that if you won't even tell me?" she answered as she opened the door. She had to blink a couple of times at the sudden change of light before pulling Aurora through the hallways.
"Because if I goes out, disasters will happen!" Aurora's voice was slowly getting louder as she couldn't stop the determined steps of the other.
"Huh?" that had Lilith stop and looked at Aurora. "What do you mean disasters happen? Wait," she pointed a finger at her with wide eyes, "You have a magical gift, as well?"
Before Aurora can answer, the two girls heard the sound of something opening, followed by a pair of footsteps.
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Author's Note: I wonder if I could actually follow the draft I wrote for this story😅 Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter.