. Begin Your Journey .: there is nothing left of you;

Was it the purity of this copper girl? The hidden depths of pain in her eyes? Was it the tragedy, the travesty? She was not dead - I felt the puff of her breath against my face even as I pulled my head back up to look at her squarely.

But something told me she was dead. Was she Lilium reborn? Was this hells cruel way of punishing me?

Did Tartarus plan this, because I was too thin and pink for his tastes.

(I swear, Tartarus is a closet fag.)

Eh hem, anyways.

What was it about her that reminded me so much of something dead? Some great tragedy had befallen her, yes.. One could say the same for nearly any girl I'd met.

Why was she so very dead, and yet (and here I touched her, taking a quick, decisive step to her, my head shifting to slide past her own, my nose reaching to touch her shoulder.), so very solid?

She was real - all of my senses assured me. And yet my eyes, my mind, screamed otherwise.

There is a cruel beauty here, Eos, that even I cannot deny. Before, it seemed taken for granted.. and while there is so much darkness, it makes what light we do have all the brighter.

I waited, rethinking the very answer I had given her. I should have just said something simple, and thoughtless.. but my answer had rolled off my tongue - a feat very few had pulled from me.

Who was it, in all of her unguarded innocence, all of her magnificent sadness, had I been so honest with?

Luvyna..., escaped my lips, as my world tumble around me. My nose was still pressed softly to her shoulder, but my eyes were wide.

Oh, dear sweet living girl, you are the very spawn of the dead!