Northstar Vale Pénthos

Life is a circle, Zulema's mother had said. Things would come and go, but it had never struck the girl until now. The following days after Leona had gone to rest, her mother's words echoed louder than her own thoughts. Things would continue to move, even without her, had something happened. What happened to Leona would happen to others. Her family would go someday, others would follow after. She didn't like that, it made her sick, regardless if she would need to come to terms with it eventually. Her belly felt full with fear, though she did not mean to be so centered on herself in the midst of the grieving family.

She could not silence her mind of these thoughts. Anxiety never followed her like it did now. Zulema wished to feel as she did before it had happened. She wished to be playing with her sister or nose her way into whatever Antigone was doing at the time, but it was hard to put herself at ease. Surely the others felt the same? Curled up tightly, her blank stare was interrupted as she'd decided her mother or father's presence would calm her. She sought them out, heading towards Leona's grave.

Zulema had nothing to say as she approached the two, her expression heavy with worry. She looked between where Leona lay and her mother.

❝It's pretty.❞ What a grim thing to say, she thought.