something new, something strange
Rio came back late at night, tiptoeing her way to their room, trying not to wake Agatha up. She paused when she saw the lights on and pulled out her dagger, carefully approaching. She burst inside, dagger at the ready, only to find Agatha still up.
“You’re back!”
Rio groaned, putting her dagger on the nightstand. “Agatha, we talked about this! When I say I'm going to be late, you're supposed to go to sleep!”
Agatha shrugged. “I wanted to see you.”
Rio sighed as she sat down next to her, tucking Agatha's hair behind her ear. “You can see me in the morning.”
Agatha clicked her tongue. “It's not the same. I missed you.”
Rio chuckled softly. “I missed you, too. But it's really late, you should go to sleep.”
Agatha met Rio’s eyes. “Promise you'll stay with me?”
“Always.”
Agatha laid back down, and Rio followed. She looked into Agatha's sapphire-blue eyes, watching her tiredness finally pull her eyelids down. She smiled, placing a pink tulip behind her ear and whispering, “I love you.” before letting herself drift off into sleep. She watched the dreams of her and Agatha play in her mind, feeling a smile creep itself onto her face even while asleep. The birds singing, Agatha and she in the garden… She looked into Agatha’s ocean-blue eyes, leaning in for a kiss when the sound of the birds turned into screams and whimpers. Rio shot up, expecting to find Agatha crying next to her as she had so many times before.
This time, Agatha was on the floor, backing up against the wall, crying, panting, and whimpering, her eyes the same purple as her magic. Rio threw the blanket off, dropping to her knees in front of her.
“Agatha?”
She noticed how violently Agatha’s hands were shaking and tried to grab them to steady them, but Agatha shoved her onto the floor, covering her ears. Rio picked herself back up, unsure of how to react, then sat up against the wall next to her, watching her, trying to figure out what to do. She grabbed the pink tulip that had fallen on the floor, fidgeting with it.
“Hey, my love. I, uh, I don’t know what’s going on or if you can hear me, but– I just– I wanted to let you know that I’m here. You’re not alone. We’re home. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just you and me.”
Agatha slowed down for a second, relaxing, before holding her hands up as if protecting herself from something. Rio placed her hand on Agatha’s shoulder, and Agatha tried to shrug it off, but Rio kept her hand in place. “You can try to push me away as much as you want, but I’m always here for you. You’re not alone anymore.”
Agatha, still panting, shoved Rio’s hand off, backing away into the corner. “Please, Mother!”
Rio crawled over to her, putting her forehead against Agatha’s. The world flickered around them, and Rio found herself in Agatha’s mother’s house. She looked around the house, noting that it was in far better shape than it was when she stayed there. She walked over to the living room, the lights blasting visible even from the entrance hall.
“You are a disgrace!”
“Mother, please give me a chance!”
“You’ve had your chance.”
Rio found Agatha’s mother flicking her hand to tie Agatha up against the wall. Agatha lifted her head, and Rio froze, seeing her. She must’ve been 12, maybe even younger. Blood dripped from her nose onto the carpet, next to the tears.
“Please, Mother, I promise I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“You have betrayed your faith and everything we stand for!”
“Please, I–”
Agatha’s words got cut off as her mother hit her. Rio leaped at her, but she passed right through, unable to touch the vision.
“You’ve always been evil.”
Rio bit her tongue, holding herself back, and reached for her dagger, tearing a hole through the memory before grabbing Agatha’s arm and yanking her out. They found themselves on the ground, Agatha still panting, but her eyes back to their original blue.
“I just– I don’t–”
“Slow down. We’re okay, take your time. Deep breaths, just like we practiced.”
Agatha tried to match her breathing to her shaky fingers counting to 4 and back, then gave up, gripping her head with her hands.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Rio pulled her hands away, holding them down. “You wanna do it together?”
Agatha nodded.
“Okay, in…”
They breathed it together, Rio counting to 4 on her fingers.
“Out… In… Out…”
Agatha slowed down, letting herself fall onto Rio’s lap.
“There you go. Just take a minute.”
Rio stroked her hair, humming a melody.
They sat there for a while.
Agatha exhaled, letting Rio hold her. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“For– for waking you up for things like this all the time.”
Rio clicked her tongue. “I don’t mind waking up. I just don’t like seeing you suffer.”
Agatha traced hearts on Rio’s leg. “I’m sorry I made you see… that.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m just— I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
Agatha chuckled mirthlessly. “She’s put me through worse.”
Rio twirled Agatha’s hair. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Agatha sat up, rubbing her eyes as she yawned. “Maybe in the morning. Let’s just go back to bed. The floor’s cold.”
“Okay.” Rio picked Agatha up, carrying her.
“I can still walk.”
“I know.” She placed her on the bed, pulled the blanket over her, and laid down next to her.
Agatha snuggled under her head, and Rio held her close. She waited for Agatha to drift off into sleep.