Starry Night PV Alyss Gilmour

Date: March 20th

Time: 7:00 pm

Syrah leaned against the cold stone wall of the Astronomy Tower, her arms crossed, eyes fixed on the darkened sky. The stars scattered across the night like frozen jewels, sharp and distant. She had no intention of paying attention to the lesson; the professor’s voice was nothing more than background noise to her. She knew enough about the stars already—enough to know that they didn’t care about anyone. Not her, not anyone. They simply existed, distant and indifferent.

The cold wind whipped through the tower, tugging at the edges of her cloak, but she didn’t mind. It felt good—sharp and real, unlike the heat of the crowded classroom. The chill was a welcome distraction, letting her thoughts drift away from the nonsense happening around her.

She glanced down briefly at the parchment in front of her, noting her complete lack of interest in even pretending to take notes. Instead, her gaze wandered back to the night sky.

Baba Zoya would be up, no doubt, stirring some sort of potion or preparing for whatever rituals she did in the dead of night. It had been a while since Syrah had seen her grandmother. Syrah wasn’t particularly sentimental about it, but she couldn’t deny that part of her wondered what Baba Zoya was doing at this very moment. Something powerful, something ancient. Something that Syrah didn’t have the patience to understand fully.

"Poate că ar trebui să fiu acolo," she muttered under her breath in Romanian, the words cold and detached. "Maybe I should be there."

Her lips curled into something close to a smile—bitter, dry. She didn’t need to be anywhere except right here, doing what she wanted, when she wanted. But sometimes, just sometimes, she wondered what it would be like to be involved in something more... complex. More meaningful.

But that was just a fleeting thought, easily tossed aside as she stared into the night. It was just easier to let things be, to stay aloof, to keep the distance between herself and everything else. The stars weren’t the only thing that didn’t care.