She wasn’t sure what time it had been when it occurred to her -- really occurred to her and stuck there -- that Aurora should be home. That she was also most certain that, even if her youngest sister was honestly capable of going out with Neveah as her eyes, their mother would definitely prefer for her to have company. Cheila would rather Aurora had company. And it had nothing to with her being blind (well, perhaps it did a little bit, because an owl could not catch her if she tripped) but simply because she did not want her to be out there alone. While the elemental had clung to the hope that Diana thought the same as her and went on to obediently put her pyjamas on like her familiar kept nudging her to -- it was getting late -- she also held fast to the idea that her sister was a grown woman. She could wander if she wished and she would be just fine because she had her own bird looking after her. If something was terribly wrong, Neveah would come and tell them so they could go and get her. Yes; yes, that was true, because it had to be. It had to be even when they had reached the point when all Cheila could think was how Aurora should be home now. A pattern of thought that made functioning almost difficult. For someone whose mind was so prone to wandering, having it nailed to one point was like... like... ‘If something really was wrong, Cheila, as a familiar I would rather stay with my ward.’ That shared information, while something she probably needed to hear, served as nothing more than a reason for her to ignore the small bird. Aurora was fine. Lost, possibly. Cheila was worried, but that was only understandable, and-- When it came to their mother, she was not sure she understood how it was not already storming at midnight. The tension in the air a constant and she had been expecting the air pressure to drop like a rock for so long... and then she realised she could not finish making her bed again because Dashiell was trying to sleep in it.
Cheila had been very close to making him get out and then sleep in it the right way round -- even though a voice she was ignoring told her that was uncalled for -- when her attention was called to the window. For a moment she had peeked around the curtains before she ran on her tip-toes to get dressed properly even without Lala’s prompting and began to rush to the windows of nearly every room in the house. There was a ‘but maybe--’ behind every pane of glass as well as strong pangs of disappointment, and it wasn’t very long before the pressure in her head made her eyes tear up. Those headaches only ever came when she was frightened or upset. And no, she hadn’t even been listening to Lala when she said she was going to help look for Aurora -- she was still cross with her. She was cross and tired and the Gods only knew when she had sat down in the hallway, but her head felt like it might explode. The worst part that a tiny part of her wanted to run to Diana to hear her say that everything would be alright when her mother must have been feeling it the worst.
Turning her head slightly so her ear was more to the door, Cheila could have sworn she had heard-- “Aurora?” If not, she was going to join the search. Banging her elbow painfully in her attempt to push herself up off the floor, she let the door fly open and felt like she might have stopped breathing. For the second it took her to inhale and for the colour to drain from her face, all she could register was the blood. On her sister. “Aurora!” Cheila couldn’t even flinch away from the contact, instead wrapping an arm around her sister like she was scared she might break. “Oh, Gods be good, your leg--Mother!” Who could have been right there for all Cheila had registered. Blood. And... something about a demon that the elemental was trying to block out because those-- those were not to come near her family. She tried her hardest to smile at Neveah, but there were more tears than before and instead just nodded, kissing the top of Aurora’s head. “You’re safe now. Yes?” Yes. Please, yes. Don't come for her again. Leave her be. It was whispered. Any louder and Cheila felt she might affect the weather. She needed Diana.