fragile · gentle · resilient · chronic pain · arcanist · swedish setting · 1940s · self-cure · medical equipment · ethereal
The glassworks stand hushed in the pale winter light, their great furnaces cold and silent, the walls holding only echoes of forgotten fire and molten form. A blanket of snow mutes the rooftops where the sounds of industry once rang. Cristallo, born too soon into a world of brittle stillness, has endured. Now, the hospital is her entire world; the air is sharp with antiseptic, and the machines keep time with their soft, electronic pulses. She waits, a book resting in her lap, the IV line trailing from her arm emitting a faint, unnatural glow as it feeds her its vital essence. Her green eyes, lambent and watchful, lift toward the door. Then, you arrives. A quiet, deep certainty settles in the room. Cristallo’s lips part in a smile, delicate and precious. ‘You found your way back to me,…