If I don't do this now Who: Rina, Elin (NPC) and Trouble (NPC) Where: Celestia --> Roof of a church When: Late evening
“Think about this, Rina,” the plead was issued for what had to be the tenth time in just the past twenty minutes. It came from a woman who looked as though she could not be any older than twenty-six. She was worrying her bottom lip and smoothing out the dress that she was wearing as she watched her cousin pack a few things into a bag. The thoughts were tumbling through the other angel’s head at too fast a rate for her to comprehend and that was likely on purpose. Rina was fully aware of how skilled her cousin was with her telepathy and did not particularly want her in her head at that moment in time.
“Elin,” Rina’s voice was full of warmth as she closed the bag and turned back towards her. “I’ve been thinking about this for years. I need to go back. They need me.”
“They’ve gotten along just fine without you for all of the time that you were gone!”
“Some of them,” Rina agreed, pulling her hair back so that it would not get into her eyes on her journey. “But some of them haven’t and there are some who have gone through things that they wouldn’t have needed to if I was there.” No, she could not be there for each and every person who fell under her chosen patronage, but she could be for some of them. If she could help just one person then that was enough for her. It was better than sitting here in Celestia continuing to do nothing. That was not quite accurate, she had not been idle and she loved her home, but it certainly felt that way. Rina knew what it was like to struggle through having something wrong with you, had felt it hundreds of times, and she had wanted to return for years. Even Elin agreed that she had healed as much as she would be able to so what was the point of continuing her isolation? Squeezing her eyes shut she reached out and placed her hands on Elin’s shoulders. She could feel her heartbreak at having her leave. “Elin, it won’t happen again.”
“You can’t know that.” The brunette’s lip was trembling and Rina had to bite her lip to keep hers from doing the same. “What if it does?”
“Then I’m smart enough to leave this time.”
“No you’re not, you’re too stubborn for that.”
“Not stubborn,” Rina corrected as she pulled Elin into an embrace. “Just determined to help the people who need me the most. How many did I save last time? At least two dozen and that’s twenty-four people in exchange for one. The ratio is certainly worth it.”
Elin muttered into her shoulder, clinging tightly before she let Rina pull away. “Promise that you’ll take care of yourself?”
Rina nodded solemnly and made a cross over her heart. “Cross my heart. If you decide to follow-”
“I won’t.”
“You can come wherever I am and I’ll see that you’re taken care of.” A kiss to Elin’s forehead and she took a deep breath. “I love you, Elin.”
“I love you too. Even if you’re being an idiot.” Rina flashed her a smile and then she was gone.
When she opened her eyes again she had a brief feeling of disorientation wash over her. Glancing around she was a little surprised to find that she was not on the ground or even inside of a building. No, somehow she had landed on the roof of a building… no again, not just any building, this was a church. “Huh,” she muttered to herself as she sat down, knees drawn up to her chest as she took in the surrounding area. The roads looked nicer than they had been, the cars sleeker and the houses more impressive. Having not looked around much when she visited Germany in 1990 it was quite a change. “They just never stop evolving.” A quiet voice in the very back of her mind muttered a remark about how their tools of destruction must have improved as well, but Rina ignored it. She had only been there for five minutes and that sort of negativity could not occur to her until she had at least a week under her belt.
’Took you long enough.’ Used to hearing voices that had no form, Rina did not even stir. She just laid her cheek on her knee and glanced towards the edge of the roof. Eventually she would have to come down but for that moment she was content as she was. It was comfortable. And maybe she would learn something about this part of the world from the voice that had decided to speak. Who knew why it had been up on a roof. Perhaps it would talk long enough for her to find out. That would be nice. ’Hey, can’t you hear me? I’m talking to you here!’
Rina blinked. Now that was a little different than what she had grown used to. This voice actually sounded like it was trying to address her. They were not supposed to do that. “I’m sorry?”
’That’s better.’ And that was when Rina noticed that there was a small patch of white, or maybe gray, moving across the roof. She must have missed it at first because it was hardly big enough to be noticed. Squinting her eyes she determined that it was definitely alive and coming towards her. It was, perhaps, the size of one of the larger rats that she had seen in Ravens - no. Her mind shut that line of thought down so fast that it nearly caused the world to spin around her. ‘I’m not a rat.’ It was inside of her head. ‘And I’m not an it either.’ This was definitely not one of the voices of the past coming back to converse where she could hear. ‘Not at all. I’m here to talk to you. Well, to protect you I guess.’ Perhaps she was losing her mind after all. Maybe Elin was right and coming back to this plane had been nothing but a bad idea. ‘Please don’t say that, I’m glad you’re here.’
“You can hear my thoughts.” Rina unfolded her legs and stood, almost feeling like being on her feet might provide her with a better idea of what was going on. That patch of fur had moved closer and now she could see that it was a very small cat. Maybe a kitten. Mostly gray on the back with a white stomach and front paws, its eyes very large and greenish. It was very cute. But currently Rina was a slight concerned with her own impending madness. Maybe she should go back to Celestia before it successfully took over her mind and she ended up in a ward. Just the thought of setting foot inside of one of those caused her neck to twitch. “I’m sorry, perhaps now isn’t the best time for us to have this conversation. I’m not quite ready to go mad again. Maybe in a few weeks?” Rina made sure to use her most polite voice, expression earnest, not wanting to offend whatever might be trying to talk with her. Even if it was a hallucination.
The voice made an irritated little noise inside of her head at the same time that the cat pounced on her foot. “Not now, little one,” Rina said, making a shooing motion. If the voice went away then she would pick it up and make sure that it found a good home. Out of the elements. That were currently behaving themselves, true, but they would not keep that up forever. Eventually it would need a home. ‘You’re not going mad. I’m not just a voice in your head.’ Calmly, Rina placed her fingers in her ears and began humming. ‘Alright, my voice is in your head but I’m not… you’re sort of frustrating.’ Rina let out a quiet yelp when she felt sharp pricks of pain on her leg. Glancing down she saw that the small cat was climbing up her leg. And if she did not know better then she would have said that there was a determined light in its eyes. “Please don’t do that, you’re my pants and I didn’t bring that many pairs of them with me. Please, I don’t want to make you stop.” But the cat was ignoring her and once it reached her midsection she reached down to pull it off. It fit in the palms of her hands easily when they were held together. “You’re very small. And you shouldn’t be out alone. Maybe I can find your home.”
‘You are my home.’
Rina blinked. “…are you talking to me?”
‘Penny for the pretty lady!’
“Cats can’t talk.” She remembered that. Animals did not talk anymore than trees or the rain did.
‘Well it’s a good thing I’m not just a cat. I’m your familiar. I know you missed out on this whole thing because you were gone, but you’re mine. Or I’m yours if that makes you feel better about it. And I’m very glad to finally meet you.’ Rina would have not believed it, but the little cat in her hands was actually moving with the words. And it had started up her arm to perch on her shoulder, purring as it rubbed its head against the side of her face. ‘I already told you I’m not an it. I’m a she. My name’s Trouble.’
“Trouble.”
‘And you’re Rina. My angel.’
“I’m not the patron of cats.”
Another one of those sighs. ‘This is going to take awhile to explain…’ Likely; because part of Rina was still convinced that she was just having a very realistic hallucination.