Willow experienced all of the stages of grief and heartbreak at once. Nazmi watched as the woman's face contorted multiple times while she tried to sort her thoughts. A silvery tear escaped the spirit's eye, which she quickly wiped away.
After a long period of silence, Willow met Nazmi's eyes. Although the older nymph's eyes were bottomless, unfathomable pools of black, they held a certain palpable sadness within them.
"I… will start from the beginning," Willow said, her voice thin. "My name is not Willow, it is Kalliphae. When I was alive, as I have told you before, I was an ashen nymph. I was born without parents of my own; I was simply created by the earth and unfortunate bloody circumstances."
Nazmi' lips thinned into a line, but she didn't speak. She had expected that Willow wasn't the spirit's real name; it was a name unlike typical nymph naming conventions, and too on the nose. Nazmi waited for Kalliphae to continue her explanation.