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The truck was awfully quiet. And Nona found herself unable to sit still. Her face felt sticky, dry, and wet all at once when she finally calmed down from crying. She tried sitting on her hands, as The Angel- Aim, once suggested when it was time to be reverent, and she found herself unconsciously reaching for the ends of her braids to suck on and was disappointed to remember her cropped hair, now slightly longer than fuzz but still too short to catch in her fingers.
She instead began looking around the cabin of the vehicle trying to find bolts that were paired together like a tiny creature’s eyes that kept watch in the crevices. She needed a distraction. Instead, as her vision wandered she caught another set of eyes, lacking the lively color of her own, but matching in hue of yellow. They were not as they were in her dreams.
The Tower Prince was slumped in their cornered seat, arms crossed staring at Nona, knees and legs parted in their usual careless way. They were so still, Nona had almost even forgotten they were there.
Nona searched those eyes, and broke the barrier of silence between them. “You would like to ask me something?” She tilted her head in a bird like manner as she talked to the corpse on the far left diagonal.
The eyes flickered for a moment, and narrowed. She tried looking away, turning her head to something more interesting in the empty cabin. “It wouldn't matter even if I did.” Said the prince.
Nona’s lips pressed tightly together as she felt a ball constricting her throat. She was still looking for that distraction. “It does to me… Please. What is it?”
Kiriona's jaw tightened then she looked at Nona.
“Who even are you?” She asked.
Nona blinked, head untilting as her eyes dropped to ponder. For months they had been trying to figure this out. And yet, Camila and Palamedes never did come up with an answer for her.
“I don't know.” Nona said. It was the truth. But yet it wasn't quite her truth. “I'm just… Nona.”
The corpse was not satisfied with this answer and tsked with their tongue frustratedly as they tore their attention away again. The room went silent as Kiriona tried paying attention to anything else in the room. Nona wasn't quite ready to allow the cabin to fall to silence again though. It had already been too quiet as they waited for Camilla-and-Palamedes l to finish greeting each citizen.
“Do you know who I am?” Nona asked gently, hoping to keep the conversation going.
“No.” Kiriona answered, not even bothering to glance back at her. It was a lie.
“Do you know who I am supposed to be?”
“No.” Another lie.
“Who do you want me to be?”
“Stop it!” It was a sudden charge through the dynamic of the cabin, and it caught Nona off guard how quickly the prince was able to close distance between them. Their expression of curiosity or practiced disinterest was morphed into one Nona was too familiar with. Anger. It was a cut away from the melancholic hold she had most of the time, it had chipped the mask of Kiriona Gaia.
“No.” Said Nona stony, standing up as well against the taller woman. She did not feel like this would be a tantrum, but it certainly felt like it could be. She stood even, her fist balled up at her side, defiantly opposing the aggressor. She was sick of crying, sick of being heartbroken and so reciprocating the energy, she continued. “You started asking me questions first! ‘Where is she?’ I didn't even get to answer before you started saying things about her. I don't know her. I only know you really really wished I was her. Everybody needs me to be her. And I'm sorry I'm not. I'm sorry I don't know. But you could tell me who she was because no one else has and the only other people who knew her are gone now!”
This was not her usual temper tantrum, but it did feel like there was temper behind her words. It was a strange feeling like being squeezed and boiled. And she did not like it at all. It felt like all the little things she wasn't sure how to feel up until now we're finally bubbling out rather than sudden outbursts of energy. She wanted answers, and there were so many changes in the last few hours she had no clue where to start to find them. It was nothing like one of those fun question games they played in class. It was an annoying question game where she knew there was an answer but no way to get to it.
“You really want to know?” There was still aggression in the prince's voice and she towered before Nona. “You were Harrowhark Nonagesimus. The Ninth House's Reverend Daughter. The coldest and meanest Bitch on that planet and that's pretty impressive since most of that planet's population was cadavers!” Kiriona stepped forward, an accusatory finger pointed at the smaller girl.
“You were a short, self absorbed, selfish and cruel little pip-squeak! You had a rod stuck so far up your ass you couldn't get it out even if someone tried to help you, and believe me, people actually tried to help you!”
Another chip.
“You are so proud you couldn't even accept help from the one person who's entire being was to protect you! Who wasted their life for you, to just disfigure yourself and keep me uselessly trapped with you like that Dad-forsaken house of the first!
A new crack.
“And then-!” There was a brief pause where Nona assumed a deep breath would have needed to be taken.
“After looking all around the galaxy and keeping the slightest sliver of hope that I'd get to find you and kick your ass, I instead find your empty shell of a body filled with some idiot who didn't even know what you meant… And- Stop looking at me like that! It's freaking me out!”
Nona blinked. She didn't really think about how she was looking at the prince but something she recognized was pain, and longing behind all that animosity. The dead girl before her always moved sad but now, she was able to pinpoint what kind of sadness.
“You're hurt.”
There was a pause, then a scoff.
“Not likely,” Said Kiriona, walking off to exit the truck with a weight to her saunter. “My skin literally cannot be penetrated.”
Nona didn't know why she said it or why she lacked the self control to stop herself from saying it, but without a missed beat in their conversation she replied, nonchalantly “You wish you could be penetrated.”
The prince stopped in their stride and looked back to Nona so bewildered Nona almost blushed.
“I'm sorry.” her petite hands came up to cover her mouth urgently. It's something Pyrrha would have said, but Cam would have been very disappointed with her response.
The quiet between them was thick and heavy and with their usual lifeless stillness Kiriona just stared at her, a gasped. Then only so slightly did the corners of her mouth start to slant to a smile, at least less cruel than the first time Nona saw her smile. She scoffed again then chuckled. Her hand came up to her own face massaging her eyes as if to prevent a headache and the chuckling continued. They crossed Nona again to reclaim their original seat and mimicked a deep, deep sigh. Nona's vision and body followed them, unsure of what to do, but the corpse broke the silence
“What the fuck are you?”
Nona gently lowered her hands and slowly returned to her own seat as well. They were back to their places and Nona answered knowing I don't know would not be sufficient enough.
Her shoulders slumped forward and deflated, she was getting tired of questions regarding her identity. She wished she was enough to be the finite answer. “Camilla, and Palamedes had a theory of who I was… at first they thought I was Harrow. Then they thought I was you, but …I'm just Nona. I'm just here… because Cam-and-Pal and everyone asked me to be… and I just want to help.”
The room returned to soundlessness but felt an odd reverence now.
Kiriona was looking at her long and hard. There were so many ways Nona could interpret the body language of this corpse, but knew it best to not verbalize them.
“Right. Help. We have a common goal I suppose…so I'm right back at your side you empty asshole.” The prince muttered, head dropped forward through her slumped body, resting her forearms on her knees. Her hands held together with a finger twined clasp.
Nona brought her own hands together, fidgeting at the corner of her nails as she registered Kiriona’s ramble.
“I’m glad to know she finally got that rod removed, so now her asshole’s empty.”
Kiriona’s position did not change, but her shoulders shook with little beats of faux airy laughter “Oh for the love of my father…”
“Joking!” Nona started, defensively “That was supposed to be a joke.”
Kiriona shook her head looking up again. There was still that melancholic expression, mixed with amusement and annoyance. “It was a good one… though obvious and stupid.” The corpse always looked at Nona like it hurt looking at her as much as she tried to hide it with mock confidence or amusement.
This small amount of praise and change in demeanor made Nona somewhat proud though. She liked making jokes even if Honesty or Born In The Morning didn't think hers were very funny. She stopped to think about her friends back in New Rho. She deeply wanted to know they would be OK, but wasn't too sure about that now. She looked at her hands twiddling her thumbs realizing maybe that was why The Corpse Prince had been so disappointed with her. She must have missed her friend so much… this Harrowhark. Kiriona was worried if she was okay.
“You miss her.” Nona presented under her breath still fidgeting with her fingers. Kiriona either didn't hear or chose to ignore her and more quiet accompanied them. Nona really missed her hair and began reaching up rubbing at the strange crop at her neck.
“Why did you kiss me?” Kiriona Looked up, watching Nona from her corner of the truck.
Nona returned to tilting her head. Her bright gold eyes once again met with Karina's dull set. This question had a strange inflection to it.
Nona fidgeted, pulling her knees up to her chest sitting wholly in the seat. “You looked like you wanted to be kissed…”
“Nope. I'm gonna need a better answer than that. What does that even mean?”
This felt like the kind of questions Blood of Eden would ask her. She never knew how to explain. “I-I'm good at seeing people… I can just understand them sometimes… when you opened your eyes and looked at me… You looked like you needed a kiss… It was the way you looked at her if I were her…” Nona nuzzled into her arms as she crossed them over her knees, closing in on herself. She wasn't sure she wanted to elaborate, given Kiriona’s outburst the last time they were displeased with Nona’s company. In addition to that, she felt awfully weary. Like she could close her eyes right now and slip away from this bad dream.
“Maybe I did… but that's how I knew she was gone…” Kiriona shifted back looking over with distant interest. “She would never…”
Nona without hesitation said. “Well I did.” She lifted her head. “To be perfectly honest, it caught me off guard as well. I didn't even think I liked redhead's before…”
Kiriona huffed a laugh “And what's that supposed to mean?”
Nona moved her legs to a crossed position and slumped her head in her hands, elbows resting on knees. “I don't like redheads… then again, Honesty was the only redhead I knew, and he was rather odd looking to me. Your skin isn't like his thought. You can see the veins through his eyelids. He reminded me of a ghost, and his eyes would go funny when he wasn't paying attention and-”
“He reminded you of a ghost?” The prince raised her eyebrows once again in disbelief. “You know I'm actually fucking dead right?”
“That's a swear”
“Oh my god. How old are you?”
“Nineteen.” Nona responded as a practiced answer, then hesitated and added, “Technically six months.”
“Six months?” The prince sat back, confusion still plastered on her face slowly shifting to something like actualization. “No actually. That makes more sense now… and absolutely none at all… you really are a fucking infant.”
Nona felt heat rise to her face again, but not making the same mistake twice to call out the corpse prince on her potty mouth and reciprocated, “How old are you?”
“Nineteen…” Kiriona Imitated. “Technically twenty if I were still alive…”
Nona paused before her next question. She knew this was not a nice question, but then again she did not find Kiriona Gaia to be a particularly nice person, so with another shift to her position she asked solemnly. “What was it like to die?”
There was a twinged expression that crossed Kiriona’s face, she seemed for the first time uncomfortable in her seat. “Why?” She genuinely asked, then added to retain her cool demeanor “Is the little baby scared?”
Nona took a deep breath, and pulled out the fancy handkerchief gifted to her by the stranger Camilla-and-Palamedes had become. “Because I’m dying.”
Time passed after Nona’s statement, but she just continued pulling the pretty fabric between her fingers waiting for the prince to respond.
She looked up at the prince expectantly. Kiriona was looking at her. Had she been watching her this whole time?
“Well?” Nona pressed.
The prince's shoulders moved again like she took a deep breath. Her mouth twitched unsure of its movement and the hard press between her eyebrows softened. “It’s an awfully big adventure…”
Nona blinked, but started shifting her neutral sleepy expression to a smile. Kiriona was still trying to be cool, and even though she could tell the answer was a lie. She knew it was a lie intended to protect Nona. “I like adventures.”
The corner of Kiriona’s lip raised, slightly, sweetly, and for once Nona didn't see the mask that was kept so well on the corpse's face. Sad still, but caring. Nona felt like she was finally seeing the girl in her dreams before her.