there are no markings on her country roads
no signs that show the way back home
That he doesn't press her for more information makes Otem's mind temporarily long for the world in which he had asked. A world where she could have bragged about her mother, that she was a demigoddess, and that some part of her vast mind was now hidden inside her necklace (regardless of whether or not that was true). He could learn through mere deduction that she was the grandchild of a god, and that was something, wasn't it? But he didn't ask, and so the easy way she might have embellished who she was disappeared.
"I don't know-" Otem answered, her youthful mind already dispensing with the alternate world she had imagined. "I just can't imagine an entire world just disappearing." Before she could say more, the necklace spoke up once again. However this time instead of a clerical and informed-sounding voice, the tone was screechy and shrill. "Just because you can't imagine it, doesn't make it not so!" The necklace tittered and then fell silent once more. Otem sighed, eyes closing for a moment as if trying to stifle a surge of rage inside of herself, and then released the air. "It does that too." She offered, trying to inject amusement into her voice but probably failing.
Still not really being able to look into the stranger's eyes for very long (he was a man, and a sort of handsome one, and they were alone, and on one had ever taught her how to do this), Otem shuffled her wings awkwardly against her flanks, trying to buy herself time to think of what to say. "Even if there was something left of it, I'm not sure how I would get there."
The Portal
