Rising Sun Valley Crash collision of Jefferson Starships

She'd given Sarah a moment to process and speak, should she wish to, and then Ibis heard her speak, and it was like a punch to her throat. Thinking of Seabreeze and Olive, and how empty Elysium had been, and all the sensations associated with her discovery of the willows without a single soul beneath them — it hurt, just in remembering.

How is your mother? Sarah had said. What a good question — Ibis wished she had an answer.

I don't know. For a moment Ibis just sort of... stared, at her aunt. She dropped her gaze to the dirt for a moment to try and compose her next thoughts, her next words, and realized they must have been walking for ages to find the cache Sarah had talked about; at some point they must have stopped, and Ibis had been too wrapped up in her story to realize it. After a longer than normal pause, Ibis went on to explain, When I got to Elysium it was empty, and... I'm not sure where they went. I think the quaking ground played a part in it? But I can't be sure. There was an edge of hurt in her voice, but stronger than that was Ibis' sense of utter exhaustion. Going through it live had been difficult, and rehashing it now was proving to be a struggle too.