“Broken, broken…” The voice grew louder and louder, hurting Tez’s ears. It was shrieking at this point, a loud, relentless scream. Yet again, it stopped quickly, and the fog rolled away, almost tumultuously. She would recognize the next place. Rowan was standing at the edge of the water by the dock, his brows furrowed. His body was aching in ways that Tez wouldn’t have thought possible. His limbs hurt. His lungs hurt. His heart hurt. His hands had a constant tremor, and the icy water lapped at his bare feet. He stepped forward, getting knee deep in the water, but a ripple disturbed the surface, and Tez would see herself surfacing. Something moved in his chest and he breathed a sigh of relief. Something was wrong, though. She moved towards him and pulled out a knife. This scene was now becoming horribly familiar. The warmth in his chest faltered as she pushed him down and icy fear slipped into his veins. A familiar hollowness began to twist in his stomach and he gasped for breath, looking up at the one person he had truly let himself love as she tried to kill him.
Her eyes were icy cold as she stared into Rowan's and she would see a cut forming on his neck around the blade. He looked up at her and felt his heart break. The fog rolled back in.
There was an eerie silence this time. The fog was shifting slowly around her, slipping between her fingers, and if she listened carefully, she would be able to hear whispers. The fog melted away, revealing Rowan, back at age 11 or so. He was sitting alone in a room at a wooden table. The walls were painted a dull yellow, and smiling decals on the wall promised a happy day, but Rowan's hands were folded and he was staring at his fingers, squeezing them so hard they turned white. There was a door off to his left, and there were quiet voices behind it that Rowan was obviously listening to. "I... I don't understand. I thought you guys got along well." "Ms. Peabody, we... we knew there would be troubles with Rowan, but..." There was a heavy sigh. "He won't talk to us. He's completely quiet." "He just needs time." "We've given him time," another voice cut in abruptly. "He isn't doing anything. He isn't trying. He won't talk unless we touch him, and then all he does is his whimpers." "Mr. Manson..." "No, you listen here, Peabody. We were kind enough to give Rowan a try, but we want a real son or daughter. We want a child. We're not going to waste our time on a broken one. He's not right. You know he's not going to find a family." The words seemed to have a huge effect on Rowan and he squeezed his eyes shut, ducking his head slightly. There was a silence on the other side of the door, and Rowan seemed to take it as a confirmation, slipping out of the chair and moving to leave, tears slipping down his cheeks.
Tez whimpered, observing the scene sadly. She wanted to reach out and do anything, but she knew she couldn't.
An inky blackness filled the space, and it swelled around her for a moment. A small light shone in the center, and it expanded slowly, revealing the silhouette of Rowan. He looked at her, actually looked at her, his violet eyes glowing in the darkness, full of a deep longing. The whispers were loud in here and there was a scuttling around her feet.
A tunnel grew between them and he reached for her, disappearing at the end, the darkness surrounding her once again. And then she woke up. A small beeping monitored their heart rate, and Rowan was still unconscious next to her, his head lolling.
She seemed a bit panicked for a moment, her breaths quick. "I don't know. I don't know." ~~~ Many of the memories he experienced were calm and serene. There were often flashes of the surface of water viewed from below. It was.. nice, mostly. Meeting Miko, singing enchanting songs through foggy seas, small adventures. A few times stuck out, like when she went to the market by herself and was attacked by the humans. It was mostly the attack on him that stuck out the most. It was like he was in a center ground between two voices. A smooth, slow voice on the outside, obviously the queen, her fearful voice on the inside. It was like a record on repeat. "Kill anyone that is not fighting for our side in this war." Tez's voice was much more aware and real, but obviously terrified of the situation. "No! No! Stop! Stop it, please stop!"
Her words turned to sobs as she faltered, but fought again. "Just stop.. I can't.. I can't.. Please stop."
It would be like that until her cry suddenly became more powerful, echoing. "Just stop!" And suddenly it went black and was over.
