to-ma-to asked:
jaspirin answered:
Once there had been a small, glowing red gem inside a lantern. Imprisoned, yes, but at least she was intact and protected.
Jasper’s hands felt bulky and clumsy suddenly, her sobbing ugly - too much, too shaky, making her fingers tremble where they could not; she had to keep hold to every single tiny shard. If even one was lost…
She closed her hands carefully into a ball and held it to her chest. “Coral,” she sniffed. No one was around to hear her. Everyone else was gone, leaving only her and her shattered lover.
“Coral, please. Please come back. You can’t be gone. You can’t.”
The forest around them - around her, there was only her now - was burnt, charred, trees blackened and still faintly glowing with sparks, the last remaining glittering pieces of what Coral had created. Jasper curled, holding the shards in her hands tightly enough that they dug into her skin.
I should have kept you in that lantern. I never should have let you out. I never should have let you follow me to this godforsaken planet, let you be hurt. I was supposed to protect you.
“I was going to keep you safe forever. Coral. My Coral.”
