Arya and I decided to stay in Victoria for a little while. It would suck for a 2 week trip to last not even a day. Victoria wasn't a big town, it barely had 1000 residents. All it had was a couple of restaurants and gear shops.
I was walking past the single flower shop in Victoria when I saw a familiar face. I stopped in my tracks and turned. She saw me too because she did the same thing.
"Sophie?" She asked, her voice shaky, "Is that you?"
I blinked multiple times, making sure I took in her face correctly. Once I knew the face, the name hit me like warm wind on a summer's day. "Marin?" My voice was barely a whisper, but she heard it. Marin was a florist who worked as a slave maintaining our flowers in front of the Victoria house. I used to talk to her a lot when I was a kid to learn about flowers.
"My god… it is you." She said, her eyes were wide in disbelief. "I you might've-."
"Died?" I offered an answer.
She nodded, her lips were pursed, "Yeah, I thought- you know-" She paused for a moment, "The cellar and Rain."
"I know," I said quietly, "I don't believe Rain did anything wrong, though."
"This probably isn't my place to say… but me too." She said softly.
There was silence between us, it wasn't awkward though. It felt right, like a moment of silence for my family.
She then looked at my face intently. "You look different, I understand you're older now, but that's not what I mean, you no longer seem naive, naive of what your parents were doing behind the scenes."
I looked at her with a smile, "I went back to the house. To get closure." I paused, my smile faded a little as I thought back, "You're not gonna believe this, but I saw the ghost of my parents. They told me some things, and I got some closure. Now I can finally tell Rain that I don't blame him. Although I haven't gone into the cellar yet," I admitted, "but one day I will."
She shuddered at the mention of the cellar. "You're a lot stronger than I'll ever be Sophie."
Stronger, huh. I've heard that word a lot since going to my old home. I gave Marin a big smile. "I guess I have gotten a bit stronger. I've been carrying my family's name, which also means I've been carrying around their sins. I've cast the Victoria name aside."
"What happened to Rain?" She asked her voice laced with concern.
"He's in Seprad right now. We've been going to Seprad Academy." I said as I turned and pointed at Arya.. "And this is Arya Ferth, the student council president."
Marin's eyes widen slightly, "You mean that Arya Ferth, the one who placed second in the Five School Tornament?"
Arya smiled, "That's me, the one and only." She laughed a little bit.
"I've read about you in newsletters. Some of the shop owners even have those same newsletters posted in their windows. You're a big deal." Marin said with a laugh.
"I didn't think I was that big of a deal." Arya laughed with Marin. I had no idea that Arya was this famous.
"It's shocking, I wouldn't expect you to travel to Victoria with Sophie."
Arya glanced at me and smiled smugly, "She is a lot more impressive than she lets people believe."
I rolled my eyes, but I felt my cheeks warm up. "Stop it, Arya."
"She really is," Marin smiled warmly, then looked at me, "You've changed more than I thought was possible."
"Yeah," Arya agreed, her tone getting softer, "she's not the same girl that's carrying the weight of her family anymore. She's learning how to walk on her own two feet."
There was another long silence, only interrupted by the sound of Marin running her fingers over flowers.
"You know, I think about that day a lot." She said somberly before continuing, "I fear, I might've given Rain the knowledge to kill your parents, Sophie. That day in the cellar, the creaky stairs, the sound of water dripping onto the floor, the sound of mice scurrying along the floor, it all feels like a distant dream, but I know it was real." She sounded apologetic.
Marin's fingers lingered on the flowers, her eyes were glossy.
"It was real," I said softly, "Too real."
"I never knew he would do that. He was so kind. He asked so many questions. About flowers, about poison. I don't think he had any malicious intent back then, though, thats why I was willing to give my knowledge to him."
"You taught him the beauty of the world, what happened was my parents' fault, not yours, Marin."
"Once again, Sophie," she whispered, "you're braver than I could ever hope to be."
"Like I said, I haven't gone into the cellar," I admitted again.
"There's no need to rush, Sophie," she said, "the fact that you're here and telling me all of this means that you're healing."
"I need to, Rain's still carrying everything alone," I said, somberly, "And until I get back to Seprad and tell him I don't blame him, he'll think he doesn't deserve peace."
Marin smiled faintly, "I miss the way you and Rain used to talk about flowers like they mattered."
"They still do," I said, looking at the flowers, "And I'm sure if Rain were here he'd say the same thing."
We said our goodbyes to Marin. Just as we turned around, a man standing outside a gear shop was gazing at us with his cold, sharp eyes. He turned around so fast I couldn't get a clear look at his face.
I felt a chill, maybe it was nothing, or maybe the past wasn't done following us.