East

The east side of the city is the very heart of Sacrosanct - it's unique skyline is a clash between modern sky rises and small Victorian-inspired storefronts. In the heart of downtown, the sleek colored glass buildings reign supreme though their old-world roots can be seen in the most peculiar places from the lamp post styled electric street light to the stone sidewalks. The old world architecture slowly returns the further from downtown you travel, however. It's here that magic thrives, it hums in every stone and can be felt in every breath. Often, newcomers to the city may become overwhelmed by such sensations but, eventually, it becomes an ever-present feeling that's hardly noticed.

What You'll Find Here

City Creek Center
Dark Hunter Department
Inner Sanctum
Red on the Water
Starlight Tower

don't let those butterflies out


Posted on April 14, 2020 by maeve liliwen
East

(dear friend it will be alright, please just stay by my side)
(you might think the world is tumbling down, but it's not)

It seemed as if the discussion of the french man had ended with Maeve's vague answer. 'It is okay for children to have secrets too,' Matteo had told her and Maeve believed every word the fae man spoke. As he sighs and turns emerald eyes onto the road, the golden haired fae child directs her own of amethyst to the window beside her, hands coming to fold into her lap. The silence between the pair not awkward to the girl, but comfortable, the kind of comfort that only comes when one feels entirely safe with another as she did with the panther man she so adored.

It is only with the proximity of the restaurant that she realizes where her birthday date for the night was taking her. She waits patiently for him to open the door before bounding out like a racehorse behind the gates, her excitement the jockey, her smile the silks made of violet, bright and smooth against the creases of her joy. "You're welcome," she says, the only proper response to a thank you, entirely clueless of the man's uncertainty with the compliment. It is a gift to be young, her brazen honesty that she will begin to lose in the coming year as she grows careful with her words. Maeve will learn to bite her tongue, to be honest, but withhold all of the truth from ears that may use it against her. This compliment she offers Tetradore will be some of the last unbridled honesty she offers anyone for the rest of her immortal life.

The pair sits at a booth and Maeve places down her menu, ready with her order quickly. She looks at him with a careful violet gaze. "I didn't ask if it was fine," she says pointedly, but in a voice full of childhood kindness, silly grin on her face as if he must not have heard her question properly. "Is Mac and Cheese what you really want? You're a grown up, you can do whatever you want," she says, unaware of the words she speaks, unaware of the secrets that reach and scratch and twist and burn at the man before her. Cruelties that Maeve has never known, that she doesn't understand.

She will one day, know the viciousness of the world.
But as she peers at Tetradore with eyes of innocent bliss, it is decidedly so that today is not that day.

Today is a birthday.
Nothing bad can happen to someone on their birthday.

"I dont think so," she responds with a shrug, her eyes hardly glancing over to the waitress, instead she is entirely focused on the dark haired man before her. "Tetra, thanks for taking-" and suddenly her words are cut off as she takes in a sharp inhale and those eyes glaze over like water on a window pane.

It is warm, so unlike the day she had just been experience. The sun makes strange patterns as it reaches down between the leaves of the trees, leaving freckled shadows in its midsts. She hears laughter, and those violet eyes turn to the entrance of a tree house and inside she sees the cause of it. A little boy with bright green eyes that look out against sun kissed skin, his head is toped with dark hair and Maeve finds him achingly familiar. He laughs with his friend, a lanky boy with wild dark eyes and even wilder dark hair. 'No girls allowed' it says on the outside of the door that stands ajar as they snack and they laugh and they snicker like boys do. "Tetra?" Maeve asks, knowing she wont get an answer. She isn't sure why, but her heart breaks in this moment, when she looks into those green eyes of a little boy that are not haunted, nor somber.

Her breathing is fast, her heart rate rapid as she is brought back into the present. Her small hand reaches out and grabs Tetra's arm, eyes blazing with wild elation. "Tetra," she breathes. "We have to go, now," she is already standing. "I have to show you something," she says, her hands are shaking with vivacity and vitality. "Come on," she says, grabbing his arm and practically pulling him out of his seat.

"We will take it to go," she calls to the waitress as she quickly assembles some boxes for the odd pairing of restaurant goers. She looks back at Tetra and she shines with all her childish innocence. "We have to go to the park," she says. "More than anything, this is what I want for my birthday."


picture is by greetisabaert

Replies