اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
┏━━━━━━𖤐━━━━━━┓ chapter seven: the lost man and the stars ┗━━━━━━𖤐━━━━━━┛
"The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers."
— Matthew 13:41
The same house. The same scent. The same photographs: childhood, graduation, her parents' wedding. The same creaky stair, the same corridor, the same silence. It's funny how things change under a different light.
The same man, sitting in the same chair in his study, doing what he had always done. Marlene couldn't help but think about that quote by Heraclitus "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man". This place didn't feel like the home she used to know anymore. And Marlene didn't feel like the same girl who had come here looking for answers.
She could tell that it was not the same for Arthur either. He looked withered, clothes far from the pristine condition they usually were, dark circles marring his already ashen face. He looked like a shell of the man Marlene remembered and never really knew.
It wasn't immediately that he noticed her standing there. But when Arthur sensed a presence and looked to the door, his face lit up. He raised from the chair and made to envelop his daughter in a hug, but she stepped back, flinching.
Arthur's face fell, but he tried to mask it. It turned out he was very good at it; hiding things. "I'm so glad you're back."
Marley held back a scoff, "Don't act so surprised."
But somehow he did, and if she didn't know better, she'd think it was genuine. "What matters is that you're safe now. Marley — "
"Safe?" she all but yelled, incredulous at his sheer ignorance, "What the hell is wrong with you, dad?! No one is safe, not when the freaking Apocalypse is next in line in the shitshow that you helped set up!"
That did well to stump him. Marlene knew all of his little secrets now. He had no lies left to cover them up anymore. Arthur ran a hand over his face with a heavy sigh. "I did what needed to be done in order to protect my family."
"What did you do?" Marlene asked, solemn.
"You needn't — "
"What did you do, dad?" she pressed harder, voice cold and firm.
Arthur looked away, "I gave them what they needed."
"Which was what? What on earth could they possibly want from you?"
He lowered his eyes and walked towards the window, tuning his back to Marlene. She watched him like a hawk, her breathing rapid from the adrenalin pumping in her veins. She'd never talked to her father this way. Never even raised her voice at him. Never even had a reason too.
