Chapter 202: Fragments of Solace
The aftermath of the broadcast had left us suspended, the world outside still in turmoil. The riots, the chaos, the political tempest, all of it seemed too far away to reach out to, even as we were experiencing it. Here in this moment, there was only the five of us, trapped in this small, charged room, weighed down by the fact that we had unleashed.
The silence between me and Alexis was oppressive, but somehow, familiar. I had seen her break down before me, something which I did not expect. And now, as the world around us burned to cinders, we were left here, with nothing to do but shards of each other’s shattered wills.
"Rey...." Alexis’s voice broke in, slow and hesitant. She’d been leaning back against the wall, arms wrapped around her as if holding a twister of emotions in.
I looked up where I lay prone on the couch, my eyes wearing out from rubbing. "Yeah?"
"I know you’re not okay," she said to me, her voice strained, but her eyes pleading for mine. "But you don’t have to do this alone, okay? You don’t have to bear all of it."
I didn’t know if it was the exhaustion or the weight of her words, but something inside me snapped. Maybe it was just the crushing weight of the moment, maybe it was the desperate need for some sort of connection in the midst of all this chaos. Whatever it was, I was getting up, moving towards her without even realizing.
I stopped in front of her, our eyes meeting in a silent dialogue. I had so much to say but could not think of the words. I had been so consumed by the impending war that I had not even taken the time to observe what was going on right in front of me.
"I don’t know what is happening anymore," I confessed, speaking more or less a whisper. "I thought I knew what I was doing, that I could fix everything. But it looks like I’m losing everything in the process."
Alexis breathed, her shoulders sagging as if the weight of the world had settled into her bones. "Rey, we’re all fighting, all of us. You don’t have to save them all. We’re here with you. I’m here with you. Please....take care of yourself. We need you."