To Be Or Not To Be

Lost in the circles of swimming fish under the alter, Hotate didn't even realize that his sister was there standing on the rocks peering in, or across the pool with him. It was very unlike him to be caught so off guard, but it must have been fate that pulled him into the shrine and kept him long enough to see his sister again.

He too was speechless for other reasons. Delphi may not have thought she would see him again, but when he laid eyes on her he was struck with emotion he wasn't ready for. The reason he ran and the reason he hadn't come back. He held it well, but maybe she could see how much he panicked at the thought of feeling deep in his core. When he saw Delphi, he saw his mother. It didn't have to be her, it could have been any of them. But he couldn't face it.

"Delphi." He responded, hard like stone. No emotion at all as he kept suffocating everything that stirred around inside. How he could be so selfish. He stood there a moment, still not a word to say to her. The only warning he was about to run was when he took a couple steps backwards off the shrine. Almost wide eyed, then he was turning to bolt. He felt like tears were welling in his eyes as he ran, but they were dry. Just the effort of the mask he had put on for so long. He had to get away from her before he broke.

"Hotate"