erinelf
The generator hummed and whirred, the gears churning inside the gigantic mechanism.
"What is this?!" asked Serena, green eyes huge. Born and raised in Panavene, she had never before seen machines that ran on electricity.
"It's a generator," Leo said with some humor in his voice. "It's how we get power."
"Not enchanted lamps or torches?" she asked, still unable to make the connection between the machine in front of her and the light all around.
The sun was high in the sky, yellow like a piece of buttered popcorn. Leo had to shade his eyes from the glare as he looked around, searching for Serena. She had said they were going to have a picnic, but hadn't specified the location. Leo was excited, and he could tell Zelphym was, too. Zelphym very much approved of Serena in a way he had not approved of Drake and Malyssa or Drake and Sophie, which gave Leo boundless confidence. If a clairvoyant bird bound to Destiny herself approved of his girlfriend, so much the better for them.
It cut at her, eating at her flesh like acid. The pain of his loss was physical, stopping her heart and catching her breath. When people talked about broken hearts, Gwen had always assumed they weren't being literal; how could a heart break? But she felt it inside of her now, a deep ache in her chest. It was the most painful thing she'd ever experienced.
"Medical?" Serena asked, her usually light tone full of anger. "You think I can do something medical? I'm a healer, it's my gift, but I never went to med school, I never wanted to be a doctor, and you think that I can magically do something medical WITHOUT MAGIC?! Tell me, Drake, can you make that refrigerator lift without touching it without your telekinesis? Gwen, can you disappear now, when your power doesn't work? And Leo, can you levitate without any magic? Hm? Just because regular humans can do what I do doesn't mean I can do what they can do!"
Leo stepped forward, placing a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "Serena, sweetie, we're sorry."
Serena blinked. "No, I'm sorry," she said, the anger gone from her voice. "I shouldn't have yelled."
The tapestries stretched down the seemingly never-ending hallway like an art gallery back on Earth. They told stories, old, new, epic, and normal; these were the stories that made up history. As she lived in the castle, Gwen made sure to spend at least 30 minutes studying the tapestries, sometimes with Drake or Leo, frequently with Serena, and occasionally by herself. She loved to take midnight strolls along the corridors, discovering new tapestries as she went.
The silvery balloon drifted up, up, up, higher and higher until Gwen, her hand in her husband's, couldn't see it any more. She turned to Drake, her face flushed with excitement.
"Can you believe it?" she asked. "We're actually married!"
"I believe it, all right," he responded, smiling the wide, happy smile she loved so much. When he was gone, back in time, she had imagined his smile, over and over, always yearning to see it again. Now she would never have to miss it again.
His arms wrapped around her, sheltering her from every danger, every doubt, every misgiving. With him she was safe from anything and everything anyone could do to her.
"Gwen?" he asked, pushing a tendril of her silver-blonde hair behind her ears.
"Yes, love?"
"You know you're safe with me, right? Always?"
She smiled then, her head resting where it fit perfectly in the hollow of his throat.
"Always."