Hortus Arcanus planēta

ACT 2

prayer

“Why did you bring me here, Ella?”

“I… wanted to tell Father and Mother about you, Lumia. And also… well, it may be nothing important, but it has stayed in my heart all this time. The words Mother said before she died: Be a good girl.

I took those words exactly as they were. I thought I always had to be a good girl. So speaking ill of others was out of the question, and I lived without ever complaining.

But… just a little… somewhere inside me, I keep wondering why those were the last words she chose to leave me with. She could have said so many other things. Yet thinking that way is something the good girl I am should never do. That’s what I believed.

And still… I cannot understand why Mother said that to me. I know it would be better if I could simply believe that Mother and Father are watching over me. But those words never fade away.

Even so… I was loved by them more than anything. Truly, deeply loved.

So when you said the word pure, Lumia… it caught in my heart the same way Mother’s words did. I’m sorry. I never meant to say all of this. I know very well you didn’t mean anything by it.

Maybe… I just wanted to confide in someone. These feelings I never knew where to place.”

With those words, Ella folded her hands before the spot where the hazel branch had been planted.

Her expression twisted ever so slightly in pain.

Watching her, I could only think once more that this world was cruel. No other words could contain the helpless ache I felt.

And with that feeling weighing on me, I had no idea what I could possibly say to Ella.