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not-krys · 6 months ago

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9. Old [Ophelia, Abby, Miri]

This was more or less my excuse to make some of my characters elderly, which also means also some of the baggage that comes with it. And no, I'm not ashamed of making characters old.

Raw, unedited writing featured below! In these entries:

-We explore a scene from Ophelia's past, which was a journey through description for me, personally. -A bittersweet moment between an elderly Abby and Theo. Heavily implied/referenced major character death -An elder Miri and Simeon reminiscing about the past. Spoilers for OG Obey Me seasons 2 and 4 (somewhat, I'm still early in season 4 but I have seen one particular spoiler about Simeon and decided to run with the concept. Sorry if later lessons make this idea moot, but I just really wanted to explore the idea).

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Ophelia

It was for the others. It was always for them. That was the mantra Ophelia repeated to herself over and over again. For Cordelia, for Rosalind and Portia. For Nicolai and the twins. For Frederick and little Viola. She was doing this for them, so they wouldn't have to suffer the poor life any more.

For them, she would become this old man's wife. No more would anyone go hungry or have ill-fitting clothes. The estate could be fully staffed, the entire house finally cleaned, fixed, and polished to a decent shine. She didn't need to rely on her capricious parents anymore.

The price didn't matter to her, so long as her younger siblings got a better life than she ever had.

She clutched her bouquet closer, the floral smell a little strong for her nose, and stood taller, like a soldier heading towards a battle that they weren't sure they'll be returning from. Her heels clicked on the wooden floor, hollow and ominous with each step. An organ nearby played the typical wedding march of Revaire, a happy little jaunt common in church halls. To Ophelia's ears, weighed down painfully by heavy gems, it sounded shrill and piercing. She could imagine this song being her welcoming tune into hell, fittingly enough. Her dress, heavy and scratchy, was also what she would imagine being pulled into hell felt like too.

Ahead of her was the head priest and beside him was the man who was to be her husband. He was slumping forward on a wooden cane, smiling at her with several teeth missing and most of his hair wispy under his hat. At one point he might have been handsome… maybe… but he more put her mind of the gargoyles on the big church in the capital, but not in the frightening way they were supposed to be. Or maybe of a goblin merchant in the fairy stories Viola loved, but with none of the personality to match. He might tumble over in the slightest breeze, he looked so frail.

Still, she held her head high, swallowed hard, and continued walking to her wedding dirge. Whispers of how beautiful she was bounced off of her, how lucky she was. It was all for her family, she repeated in her head. They were getting a better life because of her. That was the only thing keeping her sanity intact.

At last, once she was close enough to the altar, she nodded to the priest, her breath shaking in her chest. She held her bouquet closer to her nose, hoping to mask a smell that she just noticed and it was all kinds of unpleasant. The priest looked a little envious of her, not having his own escape from the putrid odor.

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Abby

Theo sat by Abby's side, her small hands covered in wrinkles and a little stiff, holding a long paintbrush. Theo, still as youthful as when she had met him, untouched by two hundred years, brown hair and blue eyes unchanged by time, watched patiently as her hand moved, graceful in memory but a little clumsy now with age.

"Just a little more," Abby said, her voice cracking.

"Take your time," Theo said gently, far more kind than he had sounded in her youth.

Silence overtook the two of them, sunlight peeking through the nearby window. Where she needed it, Theo held up her elbow, keeping her arm steady.

"…Talk about him, Theo." Abby asked, squinting her eyes. "Please…"

"Hondje… Are you sure?"

"A happy memory… for me, please?"

Theo closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh.

"Back when we used to live in Comte's mansion, he often painted outdoors. He loved being in the sun. He… sometimes I thought he was the sun."

"When you came around…" Theo continued, "Well, he was happier. More than I had ever seen him. He shined brighter than before. Blindingly so some days. I was a little jealous… Very jealous, actually. How this scared little pup that came out of nowhere had managed to capture my broer so completely so quickly… Maybe it's not what you want to hear, but any truly happy memory I have of him, you're in it too."

Theo touched her elbow again.

"Remember when I came to the house the first time? Because your auntie had sent those pictures of his paintings?"

"Yes," Abby said, "I showed you all those pictures of Vincent and me… of the children… of his life ever since we left."

"You showed me that he had lived a good life and that's something I can't thank you enough for. I had failed in that regard, even in our second lives."

"Your wish allowed us to meet, Theo, so… don't sell yourself so short. My happiness… was thanks to you, after all."

"Hondje…"

"A-anyway… you were talking about how he loved painting outdoors?"

"Yeah, he'd taken you with him. By all accounts, it should have been sunny all day. But, there was a pop up shower."

"Ah, yes. He wanted to teach me about nature painting. But then it started raining suddenly."

"It was a little late in the day, so I was just getting back from selling some of his work. I got caught up in it too. Soaked to the bone."

"So were we. We had to pack up in a hurry, the paint hadn't even dried properly, both of canvases getting smeared together with the rain water. I was so upset because I was so proud of it and thought I had ruined it."

"Broer just smiled, I remember." Theo said, "and told me that they were twin paintings now. Sebas even came by to tell us about how in the future, there was this movement in art where you don't really paint forms like normal. Sometimes, people would splash paint onto canvases without rhyme or reason. Abstract painting, he called it. I wouldn't have believed him if I hadn't lived through it myself."

Abby smiled a little.

"Vincent held onto those paintings for a while. I was a little embarrassed on how long he held onto them, messed up as they were."

"From what I remember, Comte had them put up in the parlor after you two left."

"That's even more embarrassing!"

"Even had them framed."

Abby lowered her elbow, setting her brush down.

"Thank you, Theo. For cheering me up. For staying and putting up with me."

"You'd be lonely if I didn't, and Broer hated leaving you alone for long."

"…I miss him. So much."

Theo reached up to her cheek, wiping away the falling tear with his thumb.

"Just remember that you had a hand in making his life as good as it could have been. Now I'm making sure yours is just as good in his honor. So, no more tears. You have a portrait to finish, after all."

Abby took a breath and nodded, looking at Theo, determined.

"R-right."

They both turned back to the canvas, the image reflected in their eyes of a younger Vincent, smiling as both of them had remembered.

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Miri

Miri sat on a bench overlooking the city, her magical staff now getting more use as a walking stick in her old age sitting by her side. Older humans weren't as common a sight in Devildom as youthful wizards and sorcerers were more common, but all them knew the sight of the elder sorcerer. It was her that helped the exchange student program at RAD flourish after all. She helped to expand it and make it the respected practice it was now. Miri had even had a hand in teaching some of the younger generations, both as a student council member and teacher. But she was older now, older than she had ever expected be, reaching her 990th birthday a few months prior. Or was it her 991st? Solomon had lost track of his actual age eons ago and Miri felt she was starting to slip into the same mindset.

Though, age really was just a number, a measurement of time really, her body was starting to feel the effect of almost a thousand years, something a normal human wouldn't experience naturally. She blamed her ancestor for her prolonged longevity, and the effects of her pacts likely didn't help, but still, time was finally catching up to her. Her vibrant pink curls had turned gray over the years, her hands now crinkly like wadded paper, her bright eyes now surrounded by wrinkles. Her mind was still plenty quick as it was when she was young and her heart just as kind.

She smiled at some passersby, some she had taught personally in her teaching days saying hello, some she still saw frequently enough on her outings around town. A familiar face soon sat beside her, a hand just as wrinkled as hers resting on top of her own hand on her lap. She smiled gently.

"Simeon." She said simply, seeing the return gentle smile.

"Hello, Miriam." said Simeon. "Everyone was starting to get worried, so I came to look for you."

"Luke let you out of his sight?" Miri giggled.

"Well… I might have sneaked out without his notice."

"He'll be so worried about you!"

"He'll understand. I wanted to see you, so I did." Simeon's eyes, wrinkled just as hers and almost hidden behind thick glasses, were just as bright as hers and full of innocent mischief. "I'm surprised Lucifer or one of his brothers isn't nearby."

"I… may have used a little magic to help me escape. I can still have my own life, you know."

Simeon laughed. "They all mean well."

"I know. It's just frustrating to be treated fragile, that you'll break at the slightest little thing."

"It is a strange thing. I tried to stretch my back this morning and it made such a loud crack, it startled Luke and Raphael. Solomon just laughed and said 'mood'."

Miri sighed.

"Mammon refuses to let me take stairs by myself anymore. I'm not that helpless!"

"It is their first time being around elder humans regularly. Be patient with them, Miriam."

Miri sighed again.

"You're also taking aging well. I mean… do you miss being an angel?"

"Sometimes," Simeon shrugged. "But I don't regret becoming human."

"For… because… because of me."

"To save the three realms, and for you. Saving you I'll never regret, no matter the consequences to me. Growing old with you has been a treasure I've never thought I'd ever experience."

"Simeon…"

"Living life with you, really, I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"You're making me blush…"

"You always did look cute when you blushed."

"I'm too old for that kind of stuff."

"You're still cute, you know."

"Flatterer."

"Not if it's true."