woke giant

She grimaced at that. ‘Not much’ felt like Jupiter was being overly optimistic, there didn’t seem to be any silver lining to carrying a nightbeacon. The Unresting were terrifying, even in the pictures, and they set everybody on edge; the task itself seemed arduous and nauseating; and having to do it all while thousands of people watched sounded misery-inducing. The only thing Morrigan had to be thankful for was that she was the one who was doing it and not anyone else in her unit.

“But,” Jupiter continued. “The easiest way to get through it is by focusing on the finish line. It’s a long walk, and it feels even longer with a nightbeacon, but it will end eventually. If you try to focus on that and nothing else, it’s a little less rubbish.”

Morrigan broke a smile at that, only Jupiter could describe herding hordes of Unresting as ‘a little less rubbish’. At the very least, Unit 919 would be one of the first units to finish, after 920 of course. She felt really sorry for some of the older units, the ones standing by the steps of Proudfoot House, not only would they be finishing last but she could see that some of them had multiple candle holders in the same unit. She felt sick even imagining that.

Jupiter stepped in front of her when the line at one of the fireblossom trees finally reached its end. He held his nightbeacon towards a fiery branch and the wick lit up a bright orange. Jupiter stared at the flame for a moment, the glow flitting across his face before gesturing to Morrigan to come do the same.

There it was again, what had been bothering her for weeks. That incessant urge to know who Jupiter was lighting a candle for. She’d been trying to find a natural way to bring the topic up with him ever since she discovered that he, too, was going to carry a nightbeacon but there was no easy way to bring it up and springing it on him just felt rude.

Besides, she always felt like there was something more important she should be saying.

Hearing the fireblossom tree crackle filled Morrigan’s heart with a pride she didn’t know she could feel. Just like her patron, Morrigan held her nightbeacon up to a low-hanging branch of the fireblossom tree and watched it ignite. She expected it to feel different. More intense, perhaps. Like the moment it ignited, alarm bells would have went off in Morrigan’s head but no, it felt just like lighting any regular candle. Nothing would be amiss until they left the safety of Wunsoc grounds.

“And remember, Mog, your whole unit is marching right alongside you. Even if you can’t look at them.” Morrigan wanted to point out that, no, her whole unit wasn’t with her. Unit 919 would be marching but there would only be eight of them. There had only been eight of them for a year. She suspected that thinking on depressing memories before they even left was likely a bad idea.

“And you’ll be behind me as well, marching with your unit, and Dame Chanda will be with her’s and everything will be fine. Haven’t you been over this enough already?”

“I will repeat it enough times that it sticks in your head.” Jupiter said. “Everyone with a nightbeacon remembers their first march with it.” He grimaced like just saying the words ‘first march’ brought back bad memories. “It’s always the worst one you’ll do, all I want to do is make it a little less worse for you.”

Despite herself, she smiled. “You don’t need to worry so much, I’ve done scarier things.”

Jupiter groaned like thinking of that caused him physical pain. “I know,” He got a faraway expression and clutched his brass candleholder a little tighter. “I just figured you’d be a little older before I had to do this.”

They both went silent at that. The footsteps and the distant chatting of other units were the only noises that reached their ears. For a brief moment, Morrigan wondered if she had set a new record for youngest nightbeacon holder before she quickly put that thought out of her mind.

Jupiter turned slightly towards the path snaking up to Proudfoot House, towards where Unit 895 was standing. Morrigan had never met any of them (they were all much too busy, Jupiter had said, though he promised that they would one day have a ‘grand introduction’) but the way Jupiter smiled when he looked towards the row of them gave her enough info for an educated guess.

“This is where we part, Mog. Remember: I’m right behind you the whole time.”

Morrigan rolled her eyes as Jupiter turned away. “I don’t know, it’s twenty-four whole rows.” She said sarcastically.

“Wha— Hey!” Jupiter turned back around to ruffle her hair with his left hand as they both laughed. He did a mock-salute with two fingers as he walked backwards towards 895. “Good luck, Moggers.”

Morrigan sighed as she mirrored his gesture. “See you at the finish line.”