“I could be wrong… Her Nymph side may be preventing the lack of darkness from hurting her. But Seri, I wouldn’t have brought it up if it wasn’t a real concern. Just think about it, okay?”
“I… Okay, I’ll think about it,” Seri said softly.
Severo stretchedwith a yawn and scratched his stomach. Lazily, he made his way out of his room towards the kitchen, intending to get a small snack before heading back to bed, but froze in the hallway at the sound of a soft whimper. Severo glanced at the door to Seri’s room, and stood there listening.
At a soft cry, he approached and lightly knocked on the door. “Seri…” he called out.
There was a louder cry this time, and then a sudden inhale followed by sobbing. Seri had…woken up. He reached for the doorknob but hesitated to turn it…
Severo instead slipped into the Shadow Realm.He felt them instantly, their presence a wave of negativity that buzzed against his skin. Heavy, sticky, and filled with malice, Nystra were there beyond the door, just waiting for the Nymph to fall back asleep so they could latch on again. He could help… He could pull them away…but it would be…invasive… He’d see things Seri would likely never willingly choose to share…
So Severo slipped back into the real world…and remained standing there for a long time, just listening…
When the crying slowed to sniffles, he slowly released his hold on the doorknob and backed away. As much as Severo had wanted to burst in and slay whatever dragon Seri was facing…he had no right to do that. Nor would it have been welcome.
Sighing, he headed back to his room, no longer hungry.
Severo smiled, arms out and waiting.
Seri eyed him, face pinched. “Are you sure…?”
“Yes!”
“She can be fussy…”
“I mean,Idon’t actually need a nap, so it’s okay if she is fussy.”
“She may get hungry.”
“Then it’s a good thing I know how to make a bottle now.”
“Okay, but?—”
“Seri, I promise that no one will come near her in the darkness.”
“I…” Seri hesitated, tensing further.
“No one. She is safe with me. I swear, all we will do is nap.”
“Gah!” Skya whined, clearly ready for her nap and done with them talking.
“Gummy bear me.” He wiggled his fingers.
Seri sighed and slowly handed Skya over to him.
He clutched her to his chest. “Come on gummy bear, it's time for a grand adventure into nap time!”
Skya made a grunting noise, clearly not up for any sort of playing. Chuckling, he snagged her bassinet off the floor and beelined for his room.
Her face remained grumpy and fierce, up until he stepped into the darkness. Her head tilted then, eyes widening slightly as she looked around his room.
“Yeah, a bit different, isn’t it?”
She stared, blinking in wonder. He eyed his bedroom. It was nothing special, yet…for a Shadow Dweller, darkness was pure peace. The calm most felt in light, his kind found that in the darkness. There was a special film that dropped over a Shadow Dweller’s eyes in darkness, that could be both automatic and purposeful, that revealed the world in its every detail at night. Transforming the world into one of dark grays.
Not that it was without color. If anything, there was more color than there was in the light. As all the grays were tinted. Every tone, tint and shade was captured, creating swirls of color at times. Blue, green, red, yellow, etc…it all was there, just peacefully muted, nothing blindingly bright.
There was still darkness, but even that wasn’t pure black. Just as with the grays, it was mixed with color, as it shaded and darkened the deepest crevasses and corners. It was like the world when clouds casted, or the sea during a storm.
