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[attr="id","pegasuscol"]SEREN MOCHIZUKI

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[attr="id","pegasuscol"]today's another day.

growing up's tough. [break][break]

but, you're made of even tougher stuff. that's what all the kids runnin' around orchard square are like. they were planted and sprouted in these fields, where the adults say the grass is greener and the plants are heartier. and though your family didn't work the earth themselves, you knew every corner of it as much as the next kid: you're more tan than everyone in your family. you're even more tan than felix, and her family did farm. you've scraped your knees and broken more bones than your parents care to remember, and you've never gotten sick. [break][break]

so, that's right: it didn't bother you one lick that ma left. [break][break]

why would it? good riddance, you say. [break][break]

it didn't bother you. the adults said it was a divorce, as in to say that your ma and your dad didn't love each other anymore, and because of that, your ma had to go somewhere else. you heard your dad, though, one night when they thought you and your brother were asleep: she didn't have to leave. she could've stayed, and your dad could'a found some place else in the village. heck, he could'a packed his bags and left. [break][break]

teaching jobs were hard to come by here, and there weren't many resources for him. but, your ma said that she wanted something new and that the two of you would've been happier here, anyway. [break][break]

delphi was no place to raise kids, ma said. [break][break]

what you heard was that she just didn't want to raise you, and so you said bye. adios! don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya! [break][break]

your dad said she cried when she didn't see you. you didn't really believe him, though. your ma never cried for nothin'. the first time sure wasn't going to be for you. but sometimes, when you went to go get a popsicle to share with your brother and you'd spill a little on yourself, you'd remember how she told you to be more careful. sometimes, you'd remember that your ma didn't like sweets, and never got anything for herself, but she always remembered to stop by the store for you. the first time you cried after she left was when you went to get a popsicle and you cried so hard that you puked. [break][break]

so, you don't like them anymore. [break][break]

( "remember when your mom left? it was the worst time of your life." "i know! it was so stupid 'cause, like, when you think about everything else!" ) [break][break]

[attr="id","pegasuscol"]and tomorrow's another tomorrow,

you thought you figured this whole growing up thing out by now. [break][break]

it's tough. [break][break]

some days, you think that maybe it'd be easier if you'd just left with your ma. but, you think that you wouldn't fit in there any better either. you're knobby-kneed, taller than everyone you knew and the other kids don't really think you're funny. they think you're too loud. they don't like the way you talk, the way you walk—we're not ten anymore, seren; shouldn't you have figured this out? we're adults, and you ought to start acting like it. you beg your dad to let you change the clothes you wear, the color of your hair. dad never talks to you anymore. [break][break]

he hardly ever came home, except to tell you that he was leaving and that dinner was on the table. you decided that this was the least that he could do for you, and he gets mad. [break][break]

tells you to stop being such a child. no one likes a stupid girl, dad said. [break][break]

you were never really smart, but he never called you stupid. [break][break]

when you tell your brother, he's not the same little boy that used to hang on you when you were growing up. emyrs tells you that you've been crying too much, and whining too much, so it's no wonder that dad doesn't want to let you do things. he doesn't call you stupid, but you know that he's thinking it. emyrs hangs out by himself a lot more now. he'll go over to felix's without you, sometimes. [break][break]

and it made you feel bad, because it was like he was asking you to stay home because he didn't want you to come over and embarrass him, which he said you do often. there's a lot of people telling you what to do these days, and that there's a lot of things that are wrong with you that weren't ever wrong before. [break][break]

it kind of starts to hurt after a while. [break][break]

you don't want to worry anyone, though. [break][break]

well. [break][break]

you didn't want to worry felix. [break][break]

( "emyrs is here, where are you?" "oh, i uh. i had homework and some housework. i'll come over next time." ) [break][break]

[attr="id","pegasuscol"]even if it feels like today's gonna be your last.

everyone knows that there's something wrong before anyone from the city hears it.[break][break]

it's pretty common that living in the delta that daemons would come scurrying through the village. that was just one of the things that came along with being out here this far from the walls. the adults would always warn you and the other kids to stay inside while they handled things, and most of the time: those things were handled. there might've not been nearly as many witches in the outskirts as there might've been in one of the larger settlements, but there wasn't zero in orchard square. now that you're an adult, it wasn't going to be a great shock to find out that task fell to you too to help ease the load. [break][break]

but, this time is different. [break][break]

this time, they're more nervous. [break][break]

some of the adults don't come back, and your dad, with his new wife, tell you and emyrs to stay inside even though you insist that you can help. your dad tells you to watch your littlest sister, lunete. if anything happens to her— you're gonna. you promise you're gonna. they said you don't need to worry. help's supposed to come, and you marvel a little at the big, shining armor that comes marching through your village. you half-expected to see your mom's face among them, but remember pretty quickly that she fled this place like a bat out of hell and that there was no reason for her to come back to you. [break][break]

you don't know any of these strangers, but dad tells you you're going to be okay. [break][break]

growing up means that you believe it, even if your instincts tell you not to. [break][break]

( "i'm scared, seren. i can hear them outside my window." "it'll be okay." ) [break][break]

[attr="id","pegasuscol"]but, even if it were?

things go to shit pretty fast. [break][break]

you're stumbling out of the house you grew up in, clutching all the valuables that you could and with your littlest sister on your back, but you can't find your brother. you can't find emyrs, and you don't know where he went. the cerberus soldiers tell you that you've gotta get a move on before the daemons take over, and you scream and protest and you start running 'til you can't stop running because you've gotta find your brother. that's your job. you're the grown up here. protectin' him and lunete—that's what you're supposed to do. [break][break]

you find him over at felix's, but you don't find felix. [break][break]

you find her brother. [break][break]

and he's not lookin' too good. [break][break]

he's shoutin' at ya that he's not going nowhere and you can't make him but you can, and you do. you're gonna make him. but before you can even think of making a current, something comes and lunete screams before you can even register what's happening. a shield comes up. a shield? god, you don't know what it is, but you're just thankful that it's there. felix finds you. [break][break]

finds her brother too, finds yours—the cerberus soldiers find the five of you too, and you're taken away to where it's safe. when the dust settles, they tell you that they found your dad and your step-mother. [break][break]

emyrs doesn't have anything left in him to cry. [break][break]

( "..." "..." ) [break][break]

[attr="id","pegasuscol"]today's another day.

you're twenty-one now, and you're an adult. [break][break]

you feed your sister, and place her down in front of your brother's door. you tell him that you're about to head out for the day, and that you'll be back by evening unless somethin' happens. he doesn't open the door to you. he opens it to her. there's some part of him, you think, that still appreciates that you're you. he doesn't always enjoy the brightness. [break][break]

but, things are different now, and you understand him better: there were more than just your house that you lost last year. [break][break]

"seren, let's go! we're going to be late to the pegasus mission!" felix calls. [break][break]

[break]

you've grown up now, and today's another day. [break][break]