homeward bound

Adaria's trail was a spiderweb. If the Princess's eyes hadn't stood out so much to the strangers she passed, Nell would have taken a lot longer to get to Val Roy. Frazzled by missed turns and questioning absolute strangers for nearly a month, Penelope was deep into her worries when her coin purse only held the small, worthless old screws, nails, and bottle caps she collected. 

Glumly, she thumbed them, sinking down against the wall of the alleyway in the mazelike, vast city so different from the cloistered palace. Had she lost the trail at last? Small Eluvian portals in little villages always had some bumbling nosy elder watching for queer events, but this city was so saturated with them that 'a girl with blue eyes that went through your soul' earned her only shrugs.

She rubbed her dirty face, feeling the panic sink in of where she might sleep tonight. For the hundredth time, she asked herself why she took this leap. She didn't know what she was doing, each leg of the journey something she had to fuddle over and figure out. 

She put away her little purse, curling with her arms over her knees when she heard the melody. It was far off, but familiar - An old Antivan lullaby. They used to play it together. She lifted her head, shock in her eyes. She shakily got up and followed it...

Please be Addy, she whispered to herself as she found the door to the residence. With uncertainty and a swallow, she rung the bell.