Above Shadow.Q, on the upper right, sat Avery.
She rested in a tall chair, scepter in hand, half her face and half her body swallowed by darkness.
That silhouette alone was enough.
To Rita, no one embodied the symbol of Eclipse Vanguard more completely than Avery.
These five figures occupied most of the central-left region of the canvas.
Rita left a narrow strip of empty space above them—no wider than a hand—and a vast expanse of blank canvas beneath them, taking up nearly one-third of the page.
She rinsed her brush, mixed new pigment, and returned to Shadow.Q and Avery's side.
On Avery's right, she painted the alchemy shop.
Apache sat by the window, looking outward.
Worry and regret dimmed her gaze.
A glass of Ice Snow Windbell sat untouched on her desk.
Through another window inside the shop, little Kayden stood behind the counter, holding a cluster of falling-star motes in both hands, marveling at their shimmer.
