Dreams of fire and gold haunted every waking hour.

An endless void that even the stars could not withstand forever. The peak of Skypillar, melted and rushing down a barren rocky face, crashing into the city below. Nothing but screams and a last, desperate effort to enter the heart and crack it open, even as the others turned to face the body of the void alone.

Would they have stood so bravely, had they known the choice was already made?

*+*+*+*

By the time that the hospital released Jason, the auroras were beginning to bloom across the sky, and he was more than a little late for his shift at the restaurant.

He borrowed Ella's Liaiser to call Olivia and request that she let her parents know his situation, but as he waited for the Liaiser to connect, he found himself wanting to shirk his civilian duty. He wanted to search the City for Banshee, who was still yet to transform or answer any of his taps. His tattoo had remained its usual temperature the entire day, which... for Banshee, was unusual. He needed to talk to her, to ensure that she knew he hadn't abandoned her.

But when Olivia didn't answer any of the three calls, Jason's concerns grew. His eyes flicked to the sky, the ribbons of colour that now flowed across the darkness, as he recalled Olivia's trance enough to wonder whether she had simply misplaced her Liaiser, or whether the auroras had claimed her.

It didn't take much for Ella to declare she was coming with him to the restaurant, and with Ella's questionable use of her government-issued travel card, they were able to hire a Gleamer carriage and make their way over in record time.

The restaurant was packed when they arrived.

Jason excused himself and Ella past the waiting queue, managing to catch Mark's eye from across the room. Mark finished with the table he'd been with and headed over towards Jason, dodging bags and chairs like he was dancing.

"Welcome, Frostsong," said Mark.

"I apologise for being late," said Jason, inclining his head. "I was at the hospital and am yet to locate my Liaiser--"

"You were hospitalised and involved in a Manifested fight in the last twenty four hours," said Mark gently. "No one expected you to cover your shift tonight. It's been taken care of."

"I still feel at fault for not informing you personally earlier," said Jason as he gave the dining room a cursory glance. There was a lack of staff darting about the tables, and just as he was about to open his mouth and ask where Olivia was, he saw her.

Olivia had a plate of food in each hand as she stepped out of the kitchen, wearing a black apron over her regular clothes and her hair secured in a neat ponytail. There was a wide smile on her face as she approached the dining crowd, expertly avoiding the looks that would have trapped her in conversation. With her usual grace she delivered the food, handled the table and danced her way back to the kitchen.

"She's a natural, isn't she?" said Mark with a knowing smile.

It took Jason a moment to remember he was supposed to speak. "I--yes, she is. If you still require my assistance, I am available."

Mark glanced across the room. "If you're feeling up to it, we could use your help, but we also wouldn't want you killing yourself over it."

"I'm well enough to handle myself," said Jason. He lifted a hand to his slightly bloodied shirt. "Though I will require a change of clothes."

"You'll find some in the staff room," said Mark. "Find me if you need anything else. Ella, you are most welcome to stay if you wish."

"I'll be heading off," said Ella, sticking her hands in the pockets of her coat. "Frostboy is your problem now."

Jason bid her farewell and headed towards the staff room to find a change of clothes.

The enthusiastic conversation of the dining room became muted as he closed the door softly behind him and went about searching. He wasn't entirely sure where to begin looking, but before he could start, the door swung open behind him once more.

Jason turned to find Olivia letting the door shut on its own. She gave him a wide smile much like the one she'd been wearing for the crowd outside and walked over to a nearby cupboard.

"Need some clothes that don't look like you just went a round with a Manifested?" she asked, already reaching into a small cubby hole and pulling out a fresh set. She walked over to him and held them out. "Here you go, Frostsong."

"Thank you," said Jason, accepting them.

Her fingers came to rest on his as the clothes changed hands. Maybe it was just Jason's imagination, but they stayed there just a little too long before she pulled them away.

Olivia's eyes met his, their gleaming hazel depths beaming. "If you wouldn't mind, after your shift, can you come find me? I have something I wanna give you."

Jason folded the clothes over his arm, finding it far more difficult than usual to pull his eyes away from hers. "Should I be concerned?"

"Nope," said Olivia. "I just don't wanna distract you during your shift too much." She waved him off. "Shoo!"

Jason could only stare after her as she winked at him, turned on her heel, and disappeared back out into the dining room.

He shook himself out of it and changed clothes in record timing.

For the next two hours, Jason was given the easier tables that were closest to the kitchen to manage. With such a light load, he tried to find other ways to help the rest of the staff but found they wouldn't let him do much. Every single one of them that he asked told him to go sit down and take it easy, but in all honesty, Jason was struggling. Taking it easy meant he had time for thinking, and thinking brought his thoughts back to Olivia, Banshee, and the previous night.

What if they had been the Serpent's people out to attack him? It would fit with the Serpent's ambush for Banshee. Was he trying to push her towards Vengeance, or did he have another plan? Why release her when she'd been at his mercy? And as for himself, had he merely been bait, or had there been more to that, also?

And then Olivia--the way she pranced about the dining room now was a stark comparison to the previous times he'd seen her at the restaurant. She'd cringed from notice, now she embraced it like she'd been born to it. Not to mention her attitude during the auroras. In his past week of working at the restaurant, she'd disappeared during the auroras, barricading herself in her room while claiming she needed a nap, and only returning to the restaurant after they were over. Today, there'd been no fear in her as she breezed past window after window, oblivious to their call outside.

When the restaurant had calmed down from the rush, Vincent called Jason over.

Vincent clapped a firm hand on Jason's shoulder. "You did well tonight, Frostsong. Thanks for coming in to help out."

"I was scheduled for a shift, I was only fulfilling my obligations. I apologise for being late."

Vincent just laughed. "You're a strange one. You were involved with some Manifested to the point where you were knocked out and all you're worried about is your shift? Look, tell you what, you've got another half an hour before your shift ends, and as the owner, I'm gonna make it your job to sit down and have a decent meal. What would you like? It's on the house."

"I couldn't--"

"But I could, because I pay your wages," said Vincent with an expectant look. "Now, what can I get you?"

And so, thirty minutes later, Jason stood up from his table and took his plate to the kitchen, wondering where Olivia had disappeared to.

Lydia gave him a smile from her side of the kitchen. "Thank you, Jason!"

"Thank you for the meal," said Jason, inclining his head.

"We have to keep those collars nice and stiff, don't we?" Lydia waved a spatula in his direction. "Olive said she was looking for you earlier, feel free to go straight up through the house!"

Dying a little on the inside, Jason headed up into the house.

It was strangely quiet. The dining room conversation was muted, pressed behind a calm, quiet kind of silence by the walls. He could hear his own breath, his feet on the stairs and then on the rug as he made it to the living room.

The light was on, but Jason couldn't see her. "Olivia?"

Her voice came from the stairs leading up to her room. "I'll, uh, be down in a minute, Frostsong!"

Jason frowned, wondering if she'd blacked out in the last few minutes. Her voice sounded... almost strained, and not quite like Olivia. "Are you okay?"

"Just getting changed!"

Jason contented himself with waiting in the half-lit lounge room of Olivia's home, taking an interest in the family photos that hung on the walls. Rather than a yearly, stiff-backed, formally dressed suffocating the walls, these photos were of moments. Her parents out the front of the restaurant, holding their new sign. A much younger Olivia and another, slightly older girl that Jason presumed was her sister, floating like stars in the canals caught his attention the longest, though he was fairly certain the one with a grumpy Olivia sitting on the ground, arms folded and rollerblades on her feet was his favourite.

Footsteps coming down the stairs from Olivia's room drew his attention away from the photographs.

She appeared a few seconds later, clutching something between her hands.

"I was starting to get concerned," said Jason. "I've never known anyone slower to change than you."

"Oh shush," said Olivia. "You're lucky I bothered to change, especially after helping cover your shift. I was still in my work clothes until about two minutes ago. I decided to make the extra effort just for you."

"I apologise," said Jason, inclining his head.

She waved a hand in his direction. "Don't worry about it. I got to have a nap after the main rush was over anyway." She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and shoved her arms out straight in front of her. Anyway, here!"

Jason took the object from her hands and was surprised to find-- "My Liaiser?"

"Yup!" said Olivia, putting her hands behind her back. "Banshee got it back not too long ago. She just dropped it off about five minutes ago. Wanna take a guess at who had it?"

He didn't want to say it. "My mother."

"Welp, it's a good thing I didn't make a bet," said Olivia with a small smile. "C'mon. Let me walk you back downstairs."

Jason wasn't entirely sure what to say, so he didn't. He simply nodded and followed her.

The muted silence was different from before as they made their way down the stairs. It was no longer calm but tense. Voices were raised over an angry silence.

Both Jason and Olivia hurried the last few steps down into the dining hall.

A pair of men in sharp grey suits stood just past reception, speaking with Vincent. Behind them, blocking the entrance, Jason spotted at least another five individuals dressed in policing uniforms. The few remaining occupied tables in the dining hall were dead silent, their eyes no longer on their food but firmly glued to the newcomers and their conversation with Olivia's father.

"And it's as I've told you," said Vincent in a patient yet firm tone. "We are not harbouring her here. It is true she has interactions with my daughter, but I will not allow you to harass her on baseless claims because of it."

"With all respect, sir, we are the governing authority in this City," said one of the suited pair. "Our authority is just as legal as the temple's on matters such as this."

Jason managed to catch Mark's eye, who calmly picked up a plate and headed over, expertly steering them towards the kitchen without any of the newcomers noticing.

Even the kitchen was quiet.

"What's going on?" Jason asked.

Mark went to place the plate on the counter before deciding against it. "They're government officials. They arrived a few minutes ago. They said they're looking for Banshee."

"Why would they be looking for Banshee?" asked Olivia.

Mark pressed his lips together, shooting a guilty look towards Jason before he replied. "They want her for questioning regarding what she did to Aurelia."

Jason felt cold. His Liaiser felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket. "What do you mean, 'what she did'?"

"I don't know," said Mark quietly, his eyes flicking to the dining room behind them. "All I know is that--"

"Olivia Shadowheart!"

Both Jason and Olivia turned around as behind them, Mark cursed under his breath.

The two suited individuals had seen them and walked past Vincent and Lydia, who the police had stepped in front of, blocking their way while one produced a starstone recording devices from their pocket.

"What?" said Olivia as the two suits stopped in front of her.

"We want to know where Banshee went. We tracked her movements to this house, particularly on the balcony, before we lost her."

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you," said Olivia, lifting her chin. "You have no right to track a Luminary."

"Then you are obstructing justice," said the second suit. "This is a serious matter, and we will be taking the appropriate steps."

Olivia opened her mouth, but Jason spoke first. "Aurelia Shadowspeaker is my mother. What incident was she involved in?"

The two suits shared a look.

"Then perhaps you can convince your friend to be more forthcoming with information, Frostsong," said one. "Because the infamous Shadow of Skypillar just tried to kill your mother."

*+*+*+*

A/N - Remember all those times that you guys wanted Aurelia out of the picture? Welp.

Unrelated side note to chapter: pls send good writing jujus. After almost two months of not writing it's... hard. Combination of IRL stuff + being out of practice has low key killed something and just aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. 

*throws cookies*  I love all of you guys  <3  NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK OF YOURSELVES, I THINK THAT YOU, YES YOU, ARE A FREAKIN' AMAZING INDIVIDUAL. YOU KEEP DOING THE LIVING THING, AND IF YOU DONT THINK YOU CAN KEEP DOING THE THING, YOU CAN PM ME AT ANY POINT AND I WILL TELL YOU EXACTLY WHY THE THING IS WORTH DOING.

Do a Jason. Believe someone else when they tell you that you are enough, even if you can't quite believe it yourself right now <3 

Soapbox Kelsey out~