Music Recommendation: At the end of the Day- Frederico Morales
When Eve opened her eyes, she found Vincent staring at her. She was back in the present, with the cracked walls and the dust around them. He asked her,
"Did something bad happen?"
Eve shook her head, a small smile forming on her lips. She said, "I saw my mother and saw myself. She worked really hard and endured a lot more than she should have. She was a strong woman, Vince."
Vincent came closer to her and put his arms around her. He knew that the remarks on her mother from others were the hardest to digest, and not everyone saw what they saw. He responded,
"She was indeed a strong woman. If it was a weaker woman, the society would have broken and crushed her spirits. I don't even have to go that far to know how she was, because looking at you is enough. She raised you with love."
"She did," Eve answered while burying herself in his arms.
Eve couldn't talk to her mother today, but maybe someday, she could ease the pain her mother felt in the past. To reduce the burden and the loneliness, she thought to herself.
Vincent didn't as Eve what part of life she had visited because he could already tell it was the few weeks before her mother was killed. Before he and she had met. Even though the temperature in the ruined house was getting warmer, Eve's body was cold, as if she had only stepped away from the snow.
He gently caressed the back of her head and said, "Do you want to take another turn? To revisit her again?"
Eve shook her head, "We can do that some other time. There's plenty of time." She didn't want to lose her present while being lost in the past. The time she had with Vincent, she wanted to cherish it even though they had promised each other that it would be forever. She said,
"I think I am ready to build another house here and keep this space in my memories," Eve said, ready to let go of the past so that they could move forward. And if she ever missed, she would learn to harness and sharpen her ability to touch which wouldn't need an object for her to travel.
Vincent and Eve stood up from where they had been sitting on the floor until now. They stepped out of the house while Eve wrapped her hand around his arm as they walked down the street.
"I believe Noah will be rebuilding this town, so that people can start living here again."
"That's good," Eve hummed, as her eyes looked around the place, where there were memories of her small self walking or running in her mother's presence or when her mother was absent.
"You were a cute child when we met," Vincent remarked as they made their way towards the carriage. Small, that needed to be protected.
"You were small yourself, how would you know I was cute?" Eve asked him teasingly.
Vincent turned to look at her with a grin, "You forget I have had a minion for a sister."
Eve nodded, silence filling around them for the briefest moment, and then she asked, "Do you think she has changed?"
"She hasn't from what I last heard," Vincent answered, "I have kept touch with the warden there. The time she has spent there is quite small for her to know how life could be if she mended her ways. Grandpa and grandma said they will be visiting her, so let us leave Marceline to them, and focus on just us. We have a lot of work to do."
Eve didn't remark, and they finally stepped into the carriage. They rode away from Brokengroves and returned to Skellington, where half of their family was. Once they reached the Moriarty mansion, they got inside to hear Strix's laughter echoing through the corridor along with Allie, who ran behind him.
Right now, the mansion was different from when Eve had first placed her foot. Gone was the seriousness, and it was filled with warmth. It felt more like home, Eve's home with Vincent.
"Vincent! Good that you are here, come with me and speak to your grandmother," Lady Annalise took Vincent along with her, and she seemed frustrated as the mother and daughter-in-law were having a hard time seeing things the same way.
"I will find you," Vincent said to Eve, who smiled.
"I will wait," she replied, watching him leave with Lady Annalise.
As Eve walked up the stairs, she heard little Allie call her excitedly, "Sister Eve! You are back!"
"I am," Eve replied with a smile that spread her lips, and she said, "Mr. Briggs has your cookies and cakes."
"Yay!" Allie ran in speed as if ready to eat it.
Who would have thought that the house she would come to work for would be the one that would end up turning into her sanctuary? Eve continued walking up the stairs, and before she could take a turn to go to her room, she took the opposite side. The back of her dress swept the marble floor, and she stopped when she came to reach one of the old rooms that were left untouched.
The room held Lady Katherina's belongings, which had come to take home in here after Eduard Moriarty's second marriage. It consisted of her clothes, shoes, comb, hairpins, and other such things.
Noticing a dressing table, Eve made her way there before she took a seat and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Bringing her hand forward, she brushed the surface of the wood, which was clean.
"It is worth a try, isn't it," Eve murmured to herself before picking up the hairbrush.
When Eve closed her eyes, she was transported in time, many years behind when she met her mother. The air felt different, and so did the lighting of the room. Without anyone's notice, she tried to tiptoe and leave the mansion as it was rude to be here when no one knew about her.
"Do you need something, Miss?" Someone asked Eve.
Eve felt her heart stop momentarily, and it eased on noticing a familiar but younger face. It belonged to Mr. Briggs, and she offered a polite bow to him. She asked,
"Is Lady Katherina home?"
"She's out in the town, taking a walk, Miss. Would you like to sit in the parlour room and wait for her?" Mr. Briggs asked her. "She shouldn't be long."
"No, that's fine. I think I would like to find her. Do you know where I can find her?" She asked him.
"Near the centre gardens of the town, milady."
"Thank you, Mr. Briggs," Eve smiled at him before quickly leaving the mansion's gates.
Mr. Briggs looked confused and asked, "Have we met before?" It was because he hadn't introduced himself to her.
Eve's footsteps were quick, and her eyes searched for the woman she had only seen in the paintings that hung in the Moriarty mansion. Then her eyes fell on Vincent's mother, who sat on a bench with her eyes closed, relishing the evening breeze without a care.
