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Marin Hunter’s life was falling apart, and all she could do was watch.
Two weeks after her mother had died, they held a small funeral. The only people in attendance were herself, her father, and a handful of family members.
The mood was somber, with Marin sitting next to her cousins, who both stared at the coffin at the front of the chapel with blank expressions. Judo and Marilla weren’t particularly close to their family, but they came to the funeral out of obligation.
She felt numb, all the words coming from the reverend going in one ear and out the other. Marin could feel pressure building in her stomach, like she was going to be sick, and she swallowed, trying to take deep breaths. She wasn’t going to make a scene at her mother’s funeral.
She leaned down, grabbing the necklace around her neck and holding onto it tightly. It used to be her mother’s, and she had given it to her for her birthday.
“Marin? Are you okay?” Marilla asked quietly, looking over at her. Marin nodded, swallowing the bile that was building in her throat.
“I’m fine,” she murmured back, looking away and letting her hair fall around her face. She wasn’t going to break down. Not here. Not right now.
Marilla sat back in her seat, adjusting her black dress. Marin noticed that she had already checked out of the funeral, thinking about something else—probably her soulmate, she guessed.
She looked down at the inside of her left wrist, tracing her finger across the words inscribed on her wrist.
Hey, hey, it’s okay. Do you want to come inside?
Marin didn’t understand it. Was she in some sort of trouble? She wanted to know what situation she was supposed to meet her soulmate in, and the soulmark didn’t help her anxiety at all.
She could faintly hear the pianist and guitarists beginning to play the opening notes of the Ballad of The Goddess, and she lifted her head. She met the reverend’s eyes, and he looked at her in pity. Marin looked away, sighing. She didn’t want pity. She just wanted someone who would listen to her and understand what she was going through.
...She wanted her soulmate.
She looked outside, seeing the sun. It was only around four in the afternoon, but the sun was hanging low in the sky. The rays of light filtered through the stained glass into the chapel, making beautiful swirling patterns of green, red, blue, violet, silver, and golden. As she looked through the window, the sun shined directly into her eyes, and she shut her eyes quickly, leaning back against the church pew.
As the song finished, Marin’s gaze slid back over to the reverend. He cleared his throat, pulling out another tissue.
It made her feel even sicker to see a person who didn’t even know her mother pretend to be so upset over her death. He didn’t deserve to be the one up there.
She stayed silent for the rest of the funeral, waiting until her father jostled her arm, saying, “Rin, we’ve got to go,” he said. “It’s time to bury the coffin.”
She nodded, standing up and brushing off her dress. She grabbed her father’s hand, following him out of the chapel.
They walked out to the tent that was set up above the grave, and Marin felt a swirl of emotions building up in her chest as the pallbearers set the casket down.
“One final prayer, and we will lay Scarlett Hunter to rest,” the reverend said, launching into a short prayer. Marin moved her lips, trying to make it look like she was repeating after him, though her thoughts were elsewhere.
Was her mother watching over her? Did she make it to the Sacred Realm? What if there was no afterlife?
She shook her head, watching her mother’s coffin being lowered into her grave.
The reception was at the Rosa twins’ house, in the middle of the city. There were drinks, and food, and people, and Marin hated all of it.
That wasn’t to say that she usually hated those things. No, Marin loved food, and people, but she just didn’t want to deal with people right now.
She looked out the window, seeing the clouds moving in on the city. She yearned to be outside, just to clear her head. Marin walked over to her dad, saying, “I’m going to go for a walk.”
“Don’t stay out too late,” he said quietly. “I don’t want you to get caught in that storm.”
She nodded, walking outside and running down the block. She thanked Hylia that she had been wearing her flats that day, because it felt so good to finally be active after sitting all day.
She was lost in her thoughts, walking around the city until she didn’t even know where she was anymore. She looked around, seeing tall buildings and small restaurants. Marin didn’t recognize her surroundings, so she pulled out her phone, checking her location on the GPS.
She was somewhat near where her mother had used to work, and she knew how to get back to the twins’ house from here. But she didn’t want to return yet. She wanted to stay.
So she kept walking.
She kept walking until she had absolutely no clue where she was, and to her, that was fine.
She walked until she could hear thunder, and rain started pouring. Her hair was soaked, and her dress stuck to her body, and it was the most alive she had felt in weeks.
She checked the time on her phone. “It’s only seven?” she murmured. “Strange.”
She looked around, seeing the rain falling down in torrents. She could faintly hear her mother’s voice saying, “Don’t stay outside in the rain, Rin! You’ll get a cold!”
Marin could feel water on her face slipping down in rivers, and she couldn’t tell if it was rain or tears.
As she leaned against the brick wall, she felt a shiver down her spine, like somebody was watching her. As she opened her eyes, she could see two people, dressed in black, staring at her from across the street.
Her blood ran cold. That didn’t bode well for her at all.
The two men crossed the street, walking towards her. Marin was frozen in her spot, not knowing what to do in this situation. Her parents had never prepared her for something like this.
“Hey, there,” the first one said, smirking. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing out here?”
“Getting some fresh air,” she murmured, stepping away.
“Aw, what are you doing?” the other guy said. “We’re not that bad!”
“I’d disagree,” she said under her breath as they started moving closer. She froze again when the first one put his hand on her shoulder.
“Come on, baby,” he crooned, “we don’t bite…”
“Hey!”
The three of them turned around, seeing the three furious people standing in front of the store Marin was right outside. The oldest of the three walked forward, a look of pure rage on his face. “Who do you think you are?! What is wrong with you?”
“Geez, we were just trying to have some fun,” the second guy said. “Ain’t our fault!”
“That didn’t look like fun to me,” the second person who had come out of the store said. His soulmarks gleamed in the darkness.
“Get out of here,” the first worker said. “We don’t want people like you anywhere near here.”
The two guys rolled their eyes, walking away. As they left, the final member of the trio turned to her. “Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he murmured. “Do you want to come inside?”
“T-thank you,” she said, her voice shaking. “T-thank you s-so much.”
The other boy straightened up, his eyebrows raised. He looked down at his wrist, his face going slack and eyes widening. His words seemed familiar to Marin somehow…
Goddesses above, this man was her soulmate.
“Uh,” he said quietly, collecting himself. “It’s pouring down rain out here. If you want to, you can come inside and we can talk…”
Marin nodded, taking the hand he was holding out and pulling herself up. “Thank you,” she murmured, cheeks turning red.
Her soulmate smiled slightly, holding the door open for her. Marin and the other guys walked into the store, with him following behind.
“What just happened?” she could hear a youthful voice say, and a young boy came out of the back part of the room.
“Some jerks were harassing someone outside,” the first guy grumbled. “That person happened to be Legend’s soulmate.”
The kid’s eyes widened. “That’s awesome!”
“Not really,” Marin’s soulmate—Legend was apparently his name—said. “I mean, the conditions were just terrible.”
“Boys, leave the two of them alone,” a stern voice said from the back. “If you offered Wild and Twilight space, the two of them can have some alone time.”
Legend looked down. “Uh…” he stammered.
The smaller kid frowned, glaring at him. “Fine, but you’re gonna tell us all about her tomorrow,” he demanded.
“I’m right here!” Marin reminded them.
“Right. Sorry,” the kid said, blushing. He walked back to the back room, yelling, “Blue! Twi! Wild finished the cake while y’all were gone!”
The other two followed him back, the taller of the two shooting a glance back at them. He smiled softly, before closing the door behind them.
“Well, that was awkward,” Legend said. He held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, I guess… I’m Legend.”
“Marin,” she said softly. “Thank you for helping me.”
Legend nodded, sitting down. “If you want to, you can sit,” he said, brushing his hair out of his face.
“Thanks,” she said. “What is this place?”
“Castle Town Coffee Shop. I was hired about a month ago,” he said, looking out the window. “What were you doing out here so late?”
“I just came from the reception for my mother’s funeral,” she said. “It was too stuffy, so I went for a walk and got a little lost.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said.
“It’s okay,” Marin said. “There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
They were silent for a moment, before Legend asked, “Do you have any siblings?”
“No,” Marin said. “It’s just been myself, Mom, and Dad for as long as I can remember.”
“Cool,” he said. “I have a little brother. He’s fifteen.”
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen. What about you?”
“Seventeen. My birthday was a couple weeks ago.”
“That’s nice,” he said. “Mine was last November.”
“What day?”
“The twenty-first. What’s yours?”
“June sixth.”
“Do you play any instruments?”
Marin laughed. “That’s a pretty random question.”
“Eh, I like to know things about people,” Legend said.
“I can play the harp, and according to some people, I’m a really good singer,” she said.
“That’s nice. I don’t play any instruments, but I’ve been acting since I was six.”
“That’s cool! Are you doing any shows?”
“I’m actually in one right now; I’m playing Evan in Dear Evan Hansen. It’s my dream role, so I was really excited when I got the part.”
“Aw, that’s amazing! When is it?”
“Late July, the twenty-fourth to the twenty-eighth.”
“Well, I’ll definitely come see,” she said, smiling and leaning back in her chair.
They looked up, and their eyes met, and Marin could have sworn she had never seen a person more beautiful.
Legend could have talked to her for ages, but even Marin could tell that he was slowly running out of time.
It was only made obvious when he felt a buzz in her pocket, from his phone. He checked his messages, almost dropping his phone when he saw the time.
8:15 P.M.
He was supposed to be home at 8:05 at the latest.
Legend worked hard to regulate his breathing, standing up and trying his best to hide how much he was shaking. “I have to go,” he said, his voice faintly shaking.
“Are you okay?” she asked, concerned, but Legend waved it away.
“I’m fine,” he said, “it’s just, it’s getting late and I don’t want to worry my brother.”
“Wouldn’t your parents be worried, too?”
Legend almost flinched at that, trying to get his nerves under control. Instead, he said, “Yeah, they’ll be worried.”
Just then, the door to the break room opened. “Legend Martinez, you had better not be about to leave,” Malon said, hands on her hips. “I can’t in good conscience let you go out in this weather!”
“I need to go,” Legend said, nearly crying.
“I’m sure your parents would understand! What’s your mother’s number, I can call her and-”
“No!” he said, flinching once he realized that he had yelled the word. He took a moment to calm down, before saying, “I’ll be fine, Malon. I know the way back home.”
Malon looked at him for a moment, clearly conflicted, before saying, “Stay safe, honey. I don’t want you to get sick.”
He nodded, grabbing his jacket from the seat and pulling out a pen and paper. He wrote something down on the paper, handing it to Marin. “My number.”
“Thanks,” she said, waving goodbye as Legend sprinted out the front door, running down the street as fast as he could.
It took him about ten minutes to get back to their apartment building, and Legend checked the time. 8:27 P.M.
“She’s going to kill me,” he muttered, pushing the door open and racing up the stairs. He held his shaking hand up to their apartment door, knocking a couple times.
Hyrule instantly answered the door, his too-large hoodie hanging over his too-small body. “She’s really upset,” he said, whimpering.
“I know,” Legend whispered back, steeling himself for whatever punishment awaited him for being home late.
Their mother was sitting on the couch, arms crossed and a dangerous glint in her eyes, and Legend could smell the alcohol from where he was standing. “Where. Were. You.”
It wasn’t even a question.
“Rehearsal ran late,” he murmured. After seeing her shift in her seat, looking even angrier than she was before, he said, “I’m sorry.”
“You will be.”
An hour later, Legend fell onto his and Hyrule’s shared bed, his entire body exploding with pain. He flopped over, staring at the ceiling, where the two of them had stuck some of those glow-in-the-dark star stickers on the ceiling. They were still glowing after all these years.
“Are you okay?” Hyrule whispered, looking over at him with concern.
“Could be better,” he said, “but I also could be worse.”
Hyrule nodded. “Where were you really? You told me rehearsal was canceled.”
“...At work,” he said. “You won’t believe what happened tonight.”
“What happened?” he asked, laying down next to Legend and pulling his older brother into a hug.
“I met my soulmate.”
“That’s awesome!” Hyrule said quietly, squeezing him. When Legend winced, he frantically apologized, saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry-”
“It’s okay, ‘Rule,” he said. “You didn’t mean it.”
“Still, I’m sorry,” he said, pressing his face into Legend’s neck. “Do you think you’ll be okay tomorrow?”
“I hope so,” he said grimly. “Go to sleep, ‘Rule. It’s getting late.”
Hyrule nodded, pulling his blanket over the two of them and drifting off to sleep, still holding Legend.
He turned his head to the side minimally, looking over at Hyrule. “I’m so sorry you have to live like this,” he murmured once he was sure his brother was asleep. “You don’t deserve it.
“I’m going to get us out of here,” he said. “I promise.”
But he had to figure out how to do it on his own. He wasn’t going to drag the Foresters, or Blue, or Wind into his mess. He could deal with this all by himself.
He had taken it in stride for seventeen years. He could put up with it for a little longer.
If anybody noticed that Legend came into work with a limp the next day, they didn’t bring it up.