Once Upon a Midnight Dreary...
Posted on Mon Aug 24th, 2020 @ 9:37pm by Colonel Sehan t'Varis
962 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Shore Leave: Welcome to Drozana
Location: ???
Timeline: ???
"Oh come on, do it for me. Please?" Out came the puppydog eyes again. They always worked, without fail. "It's Christmas, Sarah invited everyone round her dorm for a party." Ellie stepped closer to the bed and tried to rip the covers off. "Come on, thought your Orion blood made you immune to hangovers?"
"I'm not hungover, I'm tired. Big difference."
Ellie sat on the bed and stroked the mess of white hair that just stuck out of the covers. "C'mon Sey, the exams are over, we should celebrate!"
She finally sat up. "Fine." She leaned over and kissed Ellie. "But just for you."
After growing up on the streets of various backwater colony worlds, Starfleet Academy had become the first place that Cadet Sehan t'Varis -Sey, to her friends - had truly called home. She had shown an almost natural affinity for command, and everyone predicted she would race up the ranks to command her own ship - or end up in front of a court martial. In the past two years, t'Varis had made a name for herself for her ruthless efficiency, and an almost reckless approach to strategy. But it works. She had aced every exam, every simulation. Unsurprisingly, she had not made many friends, and usually kept to her own little circle.
The whole campus had been surprised when it became known that this troublemaker had ended up dating Ellie Greaves, a brilliant cadet in the sciences, who could not have been more different. Shy but sociable, everyone liked Ellie, and on more than a few occasions, she ended up having to get her girlfriend out of trouble. But for just over a year now, they had been happily dating, and people had even noticed that t'Varis had become more mellow and sociable herself. Even in appearance, the two did not look like a match at all. The slim and athletic Raven with her amber eyes and short white hair stood out from any crowd, while the chubbier Ellie, with doe eyes and mousy hair, never attracted much attention. But they were happy, and that was all that mattered to them.
The party had ended, and the two mismatched lovebirds were walking along the beach in the moonlight. "I hope we get posted to the same ship," Ellie said, stopping and looking at her girlfriend. "I couldn't imagine not being with you."
Sey looked Ellie in the eyes. "Regardless of where life takes us, we will always be together. I promise."
Suddenly, their moment was interrupted, when a gaggle of obviously drunk cadets burst out of the bushes."Eey, ladies! Let's have some fun!" Their ringleader was broader and taller than the two girls, and it was obvious what kind of fun he was after as he and his mates made their way towards the two.
A bright yellow dress drenched with blood, the handle of a knife emerging from Ellie's ribcage. The image would not leave Sey's mind as she took her seat on the shuttle. Snapping the ringleader's neck had been easy. But it had not erased the anger, the pain, the loss. Within seconds, everything had been shattered. Another home lost. They were going to get married after graduation, and serve together for the rest of their lives. Maybe even adopt children one day. And now, none of that would ever happen.
Two hours had passed since that moment on the beach. Sey had only packed the essentials. The leather coat Ellie had given her for their anniversary, a change of clothes, a PADD, some latinum, the bottle of rum she was going to give Ellie. She just had to get away. No matter where to. But she would never come back to Earth.
"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore."
Sey must have nodded off, for the night sky outside the shuttle's window had been replaced by the lights of stars. She looked for the voice that had been reciting the poem. It was an old man, reading to a tiny infant in a carrier. Suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes. The lost Lenore - Ellie's full name was Eleanore. Quietly, Sey sat and listened to the old man reading the rest of the poem.
" And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!"
By the end of the poem, Sey was crying her eyes out. Finally, the old man noticed her. "Please, miss, is everything okay?," he asked. Sey shook her head. "My girlfriend. Ellie- Eleanore. I couldn't save her. Why couldn't I save her?"
"Ah, yes. That is the curse of The Raven", the old man mused. "It seems to always bring out people's darkest feelings and sentiments. But it is a beautiful poem, is it not? By the way, Miss, what is your name?"
Sey paused for a moment, and shook her head. "Does my name even matter? I have no family, no home, nothing." She looked up. "I suppose I am like the narrator of the poem. Lost. Cursed."
Suddenly, she smiled. "Well, it fits. You can call me Raven."
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