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Veyle didn’t have very many memories about her birthday over the years.
Her childhood memories were mostly blurry, but there generally wasn’t much opportunity for celebration while being raised in Gradlon in the middle of a war. (She treasured what gifts she could have nonetheless.)
Then while living with humans, her mother didn’t want to draw undue attention to her age, or rather the lack of physical development a human would have had. (In the end, the matter had gone underlooked until too much time had passed, yet still not enough time for the wounds of the war to heal.)
So they were left with quiet recognitions at home alone, but she enjoyed being able to spend the day with her family, despite longing for more. (She felt more grateful for what she had when she didn't have it anymore.)
And afterwards, she hadn’t had much idea of what time of year it was, other than the changing seasons, until reconnecting with society again. By then, the worshippers treated her lavishly enough on the regular that she didn’t want to burden them further with setting any higher expectations on them. (She could hardly even grant their wishes other than being there for them.)
That was about how she felt up to now, and she still felt similarly, even after sleeping through a thousand years, finally reuniting with her family, and finding a place to belong. Her conscience still couldn’t let herself ask for such good things from others while she still had her own duties to atone for, so she didn’t make a fuss about it.
But deep down, there was still a little part of herself that wanted to enjoy it.
“Just a minute left.”
And it was sitting across the other side of her bed, wide awake and counting down the seconds until midnight.
Living with the other her these days sometimes felt like dealing with the itch of a bug bite, dark impulses coming and going as she sometimes felt lost in the thoughts weighing on her. But for the most part, she had felt more at peace living on the Somniel after the war, not needing to restrain herself.
Veyle wasn’t sure if it was better to ignore the temptation as she had been doing before, or to scratch a bit for relief, but then having to avoid digging too much and ending up with swollen skin, still itchy. Either way, she was trying to be more gentle with her thoughts, trying not to make things worse than they were. (It helped that they could talk things out now, too.)
For now, she would try to stay awake until her other self could at least have this experience for the first time, as she insisted on.
To the other Veyle, birthdays were odd. Not that she didn’t understand them even without experience, but it didn’t feel like it was hers to claim. It wasn’t as if this was the day that she had been forcefully awakened, or even felt truly alive. She barely even had an independent existence, with nothing but her dark outfit and severed soul as an other self.
For the most part, she was content to rest in peace within Veyle while she was here, better than the lonesome void and the castle parallel to it. Yet there were times like this that reminded her they were still connected by instinct, like when her true self refused to claim her birthright, that nagged at her enough to notice herself being conscious enough to split and weigh in on it.
So now she was waiting for this clock to strike midnight and see what would be so interesting about the day.
Three, two, one…
“...That’s it?”
She waited for a few more ticks to make sure the clock wasn’t off or anything.
It didn’t feel like much else was going to happen.
“Yep… happy birthday, to me…” Veyle murmured as she rolled back over to sleep.
Other Veyle crossed her arms. “So, are you going to tell anyone else?”
Veyle fidgeted with her hands a bit. “Oh, it’s too late now to prepare anything. I wouldn’t want to make people feel bad about not knowing. Maybe next year…”
She sighed. Well, that wouldn’t do at all.
She wanted the best for herself, and she knew exactly who else would do anything to make it happen for her. She didn’t know if it was a good idea, but that hadn’t stopped her before.
“Alright then. Sleep well,” she wished to herself with an innocent demeanour, careful not to arouse suspicion as she slipped out of the bedroom and into the cool night air.
The stars in the sky shined especially brightly from this high up. Not as close to touch, but perhaps that was for the better. It was a bit thrilling to roam around this forbidden divine territory, but she kept her focus as she skipped straight for the divine altar.
The ‘divine’ dragon was sleeping so soundly, she could almost picture them as a corpse. Maybe she should drag the body out just to make sure her sibling hadn’t died again.
Unfortunately, Alear rustled to life as she approached.
“Go away, Eveyle…”
“Hmmmm… Is that really how you’re going to greet your sister on her birthday today?”
Alear blinked wearily.
“It’s what–”
“Surprise! Well, I’ll be going now if you insist. Sleep well.”
“Wait– agh–”
Ah… now today was something she could look forward to.