Chapter 18 - Goodbye

"Persephone", I hear someone calling out to me in a quiet gentle voice. At receiving no response they continue while softly tapping my shoulder. "Persephone." Too tired to open my eyes or to properly respond, I merely say "hmm?". That seems to be enough to signify I'm listening as I hear the voice continue, "it's time to wake up, we don't want to be late for breakfast". I have always been a difficult person to wake up so it should come as no surprise that upon hearing this, I decide instead to turn to the other side, away from the direction of the voice. They begin to lightly nudge me on my shoulder, refusing to let me go back to sleep. "Seph, wake up" they whisper in my ear. Realising that I won't be getting back to sleep any time soon, I try to pry my eyes open and force wakefulness upon me. It takes me a while or two, but eventually I open both of my eyes enough to see the light glaring back at me. 

Turning back to my other side, I face the source of the voice pestering me to wake up. Elina looks down at me from her seated position beside me in bed. I don't need to look in the mirror to know that we look like polar opposites right now, her with her face glowing from joyful excitement while I look like extremely disgruntled. "Good morning" I mumble, trying to bury my face into my pillow. 

"Good morning!" she responds. I turn my head slightly to peak at her with one eye and see her smiling, teeth out for display. I briefly think that she must've slept well, that's good to see. But before I can comment on it, something else comes to mind. 

"Elina?" 

"Yes?" she hums.

"Did you just call me Seph?" At that I see a blush forming on her cheeks as she stumbles to find the correct words to respond. "It's not a big deal, I was just asking in case I heard wrong." I try to appease her. I can tell that she is extremely embarrassed, perhaps she had thought that I didn't properly hear her in all my drowsiness. 

"Yes..." She responds quietly, attempting to hide her face in her hands. It was cute in a way, how easily she gets flustered. It almost makes me want to tease her, but I refrain. Instead - 

"Did you sleep well, Elle?" Her head shoots up from where it was resting within her hands and she looks at me with wide eyes, as though she cannot believe what she is hearing. I wasn't able to contain myself and found myself laughing at her reaction, but that didn't seem to do anything to help with her very visible confusion. By the time I finish laughing, her face looks a little less confused, muscles relaxing to find their original position. 

"Let me just wash my face and get ready for breakfast, is that okay?" I ask as I get up from bed, ready to head towards the bathroom. 

"Sure!" she responds, chipper as always. It's evident that her and Helios are related by how they both have a knack for matching my pace perfectly. She needed no explanation for my calling her Elle. Through understanding me alone she knew that it meant we were now close enough to have nicknames for one another. Nothing quite as special as having a significant meaning, but something that was relatively natural. In that sense it was similar to all of our encounters thus far and our friendship as a whole. Once I was ready I return to my room to see her waiting for me eagerly. 

"Let's head down?" I ask and she responds by leaping up to join me in heading for the door. It was strange how accustomed I had become to being waited on. I half expected, for it to have been Anna waking me up. I found myself constantly reminding myself that after spending some time with Elina, I felt like it was more comfortable for others not to invade her personal space unnecessarily. Habits are a terrifying thing. As we enter the room we see that Helios and Adelphos had already seated themselves, alongside my parents. 

"Good morning" I call out to no one in particular. 

"Good morning" my father replies in kind. 

"Did you sleep well?" asks Adelphos. 

"Perhaps too well" I joke. "Elle had a hard time waking me up". 

"Somehow I don't have a hard time believing that." He jokes back. 

As we're seated, we all begin to eat while conversing. Aside from Elina's occasional awkwardness, it was hard to believe that her and Helios were friends of ours and not extensions of the same family. Irrespective of our many differences, when we were all together, all I could notice were similarities. 

The happy atmosphere was interrupted with what I had dreaded. Anxiety came knocking at my door once more following father's words. 

"Have the two of you finished packing everything up?" 

"Yes, we've gotten all that we will be needing." Helios replies with his usual smile. 

"Helios and I were talking about this yesterday. Although we don't need to leave until a few days later, we both thought it'd be better to leave earlier and get adjusted. Just to have time to unpack and know the area well enough to not get lost. What do you think?" Adelphos asks father. 

Without my knowledge I began shaking my leg, restless to hear the answer my father would give, hoping for him to say no. Elina gently puts a hand on my leg to stop my shakes. 

"When are you thinking of leaving? It would have to be relatively soon if you want enough time to adjust before your lessons start." Father replies. 

It was clear that he had essentially given permission and that made my heart sink.

"Ideally we would be leaving tomorrow morning."

"Okay. Do what you both think is best for you. But Helios -" he directs his attention to him "make sure to ask your parents too, okay?" 

"Of course, Duke." 

It seemed like everything was moving too fast and everyone was leaving me behind. I could feel unlikeable emotions bubbling up within me again upon hearing the sudden news. In a way, I felt betrayed. Although I had been working hard to feel as though I would be fine without Adelphos, while knowing this, he didn't keep me updated with the change of plans. But I would like to think I was just that little bit stronger today than I was yesterday. While one part of me was hurt, the other more rational side was understanding. It was difficult having two conflicting sides but it was freeing to have a new perspective that didn't constantly try to hurt me. Perhaps seeing this internal battle, Helios faced me. 

"What do you think, Persephone?" he asked, bringing me back to reality.

"Well..." I look around to observe everyone's faces. "Personally I'd love it if you both stayed a while longer. But, I also think it's a good idea to leave soon to know your way around. Especially given that it's your first time staying somewhere relatively far away, and that too for an extended period of time. I guess it's just that I'll miss you both." There was silence in response and I felt extremely embarrassed. "Of course, it's not just me! We'll all miss you, won't we Elle?" 

"She's right. I'll miss you terribly brother." She says to Helios. Though it was true, I could feel that she was supporting me so that I would feel less embarrassed. 

It seems as though my passing the ball over to Elina wasn't enough and the atmosphere was gradually becoming increasingly solemn. I didn't want that. If this was to be their last day with their family and friends, the atmosphere should be light and carefree. 

"Now then!" I break the awkward silence surrounding the dining table. "Let's not put a downer on your last day. There's no place here for long faces." 

They both look up and smile. Breakfast had finished after a short while and Elina and Helios were getting ready to return home. 

"Thank you again for allowing us to stay over and for accomodating to our needs. We'll be heading home now." Helios bids his goodbye. 

It was shocking to see Elina follow suit. It seemed as though her stay had helped her come out of her shell. "I'd also like to thank everyone for treating me with nothing but kindness. I hope to be able to invite you all over one day, so that I may repay you in the same manner." She was soft spoken and sounded extremely sincere in her words. I guess this is what it means to be the protagonist. After a few more words exchanged, they departed. 

The rest of the day went by a lot faster than I had hoped. I had wanted to be able to relish in the moment and enjoy my time with my family but I found myself repeatedly being lost in thought. I was somewhere between trying to enjoy the last day we have together before he leaves, and trying to fight the anxiety within me. I was awake but I may as well have been sleeping. Though I was here, I was also not. Before I knew it, I was in bed, trying to sleep with my noisy thoughts. 

I could hardly begin to describe what the next morning  was like. I bid Adelphos goodbye with a heavy heart. After he was done saying goodbye to our parents I engulfed him in a big hug and held on to his jacket tightly, unwilling to let him go. But goodbyes can't last forever so eventually I stepped back. I quickly hand over both of their gifts, feeling shy all of a sudden.

"Don't forget to update me on everything. Send me letters, I'll reply to them all!" I yell after him as he head towards the carriage to get in. "You too Helios!" I add, as the two were travelling together. 

"I will, don't worry." Adelphos smiles before getting in and setting off.