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The portal had been a mess of lightning, mystic and the gutters of a ninpo that did not belong to her- something that was siphoned by the whirling, greedy mass without her knowledge. So, when she was ejected out at the other end, all she felt was tired, but accomplished.
She stood on trembling legs; Leo’s reforged blades now dull and cracked from the tremendous amount of strain they underwent in such a short period of time. The remnants of blue light flickered across the metal once, twice, before fading away completely.
She couldn’t have known the sacrifice that had been made in order to preserve her life
Lavinia blinked around, taking in the sheer amount of life and noise and colors.
She didn’t think she could get used to this; she was far too jaded, too hurt to ever forget the desolation of the future, of all the death.
She had to bury all of them- no one could forget that
Especially not a child
CRACK
She flinched and looked down at the swords- and felt something within herself shrivel when she realized they had broken apart; she was only holding the handles that were wrapped with her brothers’ masks. She knelt down and touched the broken, charred bits of metal, and bit back the sob that wanted to bubble forth.
Why did she feel like her world was crumbling down around her?
She could always reforge them, so why did the thought alone cause bile to rise in the back of her throat?
Lavinia shook her head and dug her palms into her eyes. She needed to get a grip.
She remained that way for a long time. Long enough that when the spots cleared from her vision, the sky had gone from blue to a deep, almost void-like purple.
There were no stars, Lavinia noted with something like relief. The lights of the city held them at bay.
She wondered if she would ever look up at the stars and find joy instead of bitterness. She pushed the thought away as quickly as it had appeared. She needed to get moving.
With sharp, jerking movements she slipped the handles into her hoodie, and carefully stepped around the broken pieces. She looked back at the city- at New York as it used to be and wondered if she would be able to face her family knowing that to them, she would be a stranger.
“Never know ‘til you try, Lavi,” Mikey would have told her. “The first step will always be the hardest- but the next ones will come easier.”
It quieted the cowering, hurting thing in her chest enough for her to breathe.
Without looking back, she scaled down the side of the building that she had appeared on and slipped into the bustling crowds, hood drawn over her head as she scurried around in search of familiar faces.
Behind her, the broken pieces crumbled into dust and scattered on the winds-
As if they had never existed