24) Fireworks

Pratijyah gazed at the fireworks above, leaning back on her hands as she sat on the ground.

She wasn’t really sure if there was anything to celebrate, in truth.

The war had been brutal and senseless, with so many lives lost or irrevocably altered. Its leadup had been revealed to be just as cruel and violent, and yet, they were celebrating its end. She supposed it was just that which they celebrated, but it felt truly insufficient to her. Lockettes had always had wars, of course, but there had never been one like this, as far as she knew.

She was still reeling from the laboratory she had helped capture to rescue Nilima. at they had done to her friend had been cruel, but the jars haunted her deeply even so. Jars of trapped saura, tricked by runes into adhering to the jars or simply trapped inside, prevented from finding a proper shell...

It was horrific and had yet to leave her mind's eye...

No one even knew what to do with the jars yet. Artisans, Sculptors, and Crafters had united in advocating for their destruction, believing that in such improper shells, the saura would surely have become malformed and dangerous. Others advocated for research, either because they viewed it as worthwhile for better understanding saura or because they hoped that by research, they would discover a way to transfer the saura into proper shells...

Still, there was no end in sight for that trapped saura, and so, Pratijyah saw nothing worth celebrating.

At least the fireworks were pretty.