P A S T_________________________________________________________
Kieren heard their back door slam hard followed by hurried footsteps hitting the soft gravel and quickly growing distant. She knew this was only her sister dashing towards the temple as if her life depended on it. It was officially 12 am as she heard the familiar chime of the church bell. Which meant it was officially their birthday. Calliope must've been up all night waiting for that bell to ring, Kieren knew how eager she was to find out what Estuary she had received. On the other hand Kieren was far more timid about it, afraid of what her condition would lead her to receive. Since they were born Kieren had always been smaller than Calliope, all due to oligohydramnios. All this means was that in the womb Calliope was able to develop normally because of constant blood flow, where Kieren received such a small amount that it only allowed her to grow so much. Fortunately, Kieren received proper medical care and was able to develop normally. However, she would always struggle with long amounts of physical activity and be a little behind in her age group. Kieren slid carefully out of bed her toes curling on the cold wooden floor, she grabbed a coat and an extra one for her sister as she knew Calliope wouldn't bother with all her excitement and energy. Wrapped up in a red woolen scarf and her sturdiest shoes she walked out the door. She held her arms close to her chest as she felt an icy chill run down her spine. She took a deep breath to calm herself, but the crisp air only made her throat and lungs burn. The Temple was only a block or two away but it felt like hundreds of miles, she could feel herself begin to shake in fear. She squeezed Calliopes coat nervously, carefully approaching the Temple doors. Her glossy blue eyes began to well up with tears as she gripped the handle. Swinging the door open she came face to face with Calliope. The two fell backwards into the snow, Kieren held the back of her head painfully her eyebrows furrowed trying to focus on what she collided with. By the time she had realized, her sister was already helping her up. She smiled trying to look strong, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly and placing the coat on her shoulders. Then she moved forward the water from the fountain reflecting in her eyes, she lost grip with her anxiety and focused on the glittering chalices surrounding the room. All she knew was something was supposed to stand out to her, so she scanned the room her only thoughts on what to pick. She began to develop a headache and shut her eyes tightly, she wanted to distract herself from this moment and began to think. She sat on the cold tile curling herself in a ball, all she could think about was her mother.
*THUMP* Kieren's head slowly lifted off her pillow, her sleepy eyes now becoming wide and alert. "M-mom?" Her voice was filled with concern as she bolted out of bed and dashed into her mothers bedroom. She gasped in shock as she witnessed her mothers body lay strewn across the floor. Her stomach dropped as she came to her side lifting her up onto the bed, her mothers face extremely pale and her mouth dripping with blood. She felt that she still had a pulse, but she was getting weaker and weaker. After getting her mother in a safe place, she began to collect the medicine to help with her mothers fits. She sat close to her mother, her breathing was uneven and raspy, but Kieren remained calm. She helped her take each pill and used a wet cloth to clean up the blood. She Held her mothers hand, sitting with her on the bed till she began to breath evenly and fell back asleep. Kieren folded the covers back over her mother, kissing her hand before she let go. "You worry me so much, why can't I make you better?" She was relieved to get her mother back into a normal state, but she knew she only had days left until the disease completely shut down her body. She sighed wishing her father could be home, instead of working for the families only income. Her father actually felt the most guilt for their mother's state, after all he was with her when she fell from her watch tower and became permanently paralyzed from the waist down. He felt responsible for not being able to save her, when it could've happened to anyone. It was only from there that matters got worse for their family, because of the incident and now her recent sickness their mother was unable to work. Which meant Calliope had to take up a job in acrobatics and their father had to work full time. This left Kieren in charge of charing for their mute mother, and stepping up in taking care of the household as well. As Kieren had calculated their mother had passed within the next week, dying in her sleep. She had been preparing herself mentally everyday that she cared for her, but it still absolutely crushed her. Ever since Kieren has wanted nothing to do with heights or medicinal practices, she only wanted to focus on her family and work herself to be strong like her sister, Calliope. So everyday she would run to build up her strength. She did everything her sister did, even if it was too much for her to handle. Some days Calli would slow down purposefully just so Kieren wouldn't wear herself out. After awhile Kieren began to feel less guilt about her mothers passing, and moved on to taking care of herself and Calliope.
Calliope. Her mother. That's where all this doubt in her head was coming from. All her life she had worked hard to be something she isn't and now the answer was right in front of her. She opened her eyes paying no regard to the Mystics above her. She walked forward picking up the smallest silver goblet, it was nothing fancy but they way the water reflected off the metal made it look so beautiful. She collected the water and watched as the glow of green danced off the ripples of the water and filled the room. She knew in her heart she was meant to care for the wounded and would never fail again.
P R E S E N T___________________________________________________
Kieren looked over the rows of cots carefully, she could see that they were less full today than they had been in quite awhile. All the Injured Mercenaries and Harbingers were at rest peacefully, she felt satisfied that everything was going smoothly. She felt Felix gliding himself between her ankles and she smiled down at him, she held her arm out for him to jump onto, as he liked to perch on her shoulder to get a better view of the base. She quietly walked through the rows of cots making sure everyone was comfortable and okay, so far the morning had been going well. No sign of near by Cimmerians and no medical emergencies. The medic ward of the base was so quiet, she wondered where her other allies had run off to.
