Sera Makatza
Interacting with: Nenra @AmethystA hand found its way to Sera’s shoulder, but this time the Fire gem did not startle. Her eyes moved from their fixed placed on the scorch marks on the table up to the woman who was touching her. The woman was plain looking and seemed nervous, though Sera was judging this by the shaking of the her hand as she poured water into a goblet and offered it to her. Sera ignored what she had asked, taken aback by the courtesy she was being shown and not understanding how to respond to it. She didn’t lift her head from the crook in her arm, but she reached for Nenra’s hand on her shoulder, taking it in her own and guiding it to the scorch marks on the table. She laid Nenra’s hand flat against the table, allowing her to feel the marks in the table with her fingertips, as it was clear to Sera that this woman had trouble seeing.
”Serafine burnt it.” She responded blankly, ”I wonder if they’ll punish me like they did the other girls.”
For any person, it would appear as though Sera was talking about herself in third person. For her, Serafine was the person she blamed for actions she did not make consciously. It was a coping mechanism the girl had developed a long time ago, when the incident happened. There was a piece of her that understood that it was her all along, there was even a piece of her that understood what she was doing, but she would rather live in denial than to admit that there was something wrong with her.
Sera’s gaze moved from their hands on the table back to Nenra’s, unknowing if she should make conversation with the woman or if she should simply leave her. Breath filled her lungs and escaped her mouth with a heavy sigh. She wouldn’t have to decide though, the group in the hall was being ushered out once again. Sera looked at Nenra once more, emotion free from her face, before picking herself up from her seat and leaving the hall.
Sera entered her room, her temporary home for the night. As she closed the door behind her, she leaned against it, allowing her body to sink into it. She stared blankly at the muddled black figure standing at the opposite side of the room for her. They followed her everywhere. Another heavy sigh escaped her as she tightly closed her eyes and shook her head gently before opening them again. It was gone. Sera moved across the room slowly, ignoring the whispering sound of her own voice around her. As she walked passed the bed, her hand extended to pull the blanket off of it. She dragged the blanket across the ground, casually tossing it on the floor in the corner of the room. Sera relaxed to the ground, slowly curling up on the half piled up blanket in the corner of the room, her body positioned to face the door.
She thought back to the woman in the dining hall. Maybe I should have been nicer to her.
~~~
Sunrise drew itself with a loud interruption of the door to Sera’s room opening, a Drakken appearing in its place. Sera looked up at the brute from her position on the floor in the corner of the room, she had been awake for sometime now. He yelled something to her she chose to forget but could only assume was an order. Sera pulled herself to her feet, leaving behind her blanket on the floor, and followed shortly after the Drakken. She returned to the hall, ushered in like a herd of sheep being ushered into a pen. Sera stood at the entrance for a moment too long, accepting the push-a-long from a Drakken to have her move out of the doorway. As she moved passed the tables and toward the breakfast, she noticed the woman from the day previous.
Just go sit with her.
Sera collected a few plain looking rolls and made her way over to Nenra, she sat down across the table from her but a seat down. As she picked at the food on her plate, her gaze kept returning to Nenra. A few minutes went by before she collected the want, or even the courage, to say something to her.
”You can’t see me, can you?” She asked, though not entirely realizing what she said could be seen as rude. ”Yesterday, you seemed to have trouble with the water jug but you asked if I was alright. That was nice, but I guess, more importantly, are you alright?”
Sera was silent for a moment before starting again, gears turning in her head as she was now curious about Nenra. ”Where are you from anyway?"
Sera wanted to know why she was chosen to be Reaped, but she even realized that would be too rude. Her attention was drawn away when the Drakken from the day before returned. Instinctively she rose, bowing her head slightly until she was dismissed to sit again. Sera returned to her seat, a curious eye wandering to capture a glimpse at Nenra before paying full attention to the matter at hand. The Drakken announced a free day for the Gems, a day to be spent at a hot spring. Their kindness seemed peculiar to Sera, even more peculiar than most people extending kind gestures to her did.
”A hot spring?” She asked aloud, though only loud enough for herself and her nearby acquaintance to hear. ”I’ve never been to a hot spring before.”
A sudden flash to an unbearable hot room shot through her mind like a strike of lightning piercing a tree. Sera’s eyes widened slightly, and the whispering voices returned; filling her head. She closed her eyes again, placing her hands over her ears at an attempt to drown them out.
Boil them all. Every single last one of them… like useless rats needing to be exterminated from this world.
Yes. It’s almost too perfect, to rid of all them right away. What better way is there?
”No.” She responded hoarsely, hoping that no one would hear her. Sera pressed her hands harder against her ears in an attempt to expel the voices in her head. Her breathing became laboured and she had to remind herself to take three deep breaths. After a few moments, the voices lowered to a dull murmur until they completely disappeared. Sera’s eyes opened slowly, her hands dropping softly away from her ears and finding a new home gripped together in her lap. She stared down at them, nervous about them; nervous about herself.
