emmy altava and the complexities of making your own decisions

07.02.20 247 words

Summary

She hates this. She hates it more than anything she’s ever done, it feels wrong and it makes her head pound. She’s making a bad decision and she knows it. But this is all she knows! Uncle Leon is all she has, Targent is all she has.

Emmy makes a mistake.

Notes

07.02.20: ok im just going hogwild w/ these who knows how much im gonna write today
if u sent me a request on curiouscat i promise i'll get to them soon i just getting all of the angst out of my system rn
03.23.26: for context: this fic, alongside the rest of the fics in the 'on the bostonius' series, were written and released over the course of a week in 2020 when i was super hyperfixated on the professor layton and the azran legacy. in some notes, i may refer to a few writing challenges that were happening in the fandom at the time. for background context (cw for mentions of pedophilia & 'proship vs anti' discourse) these writing challenges (namely 'drownout' and 'wholesomelayton') popped up in response to a strange wave of fics romanticizing pedophilia. if i remember correctly, a bunch of people wanted to 'drown out' these with fics that Didn't do that. i don't know why we did this. 2020 was a weird time. most of them are quite short but they're a fun artifact of summer 2020 i think.
also does anyone remember curiouscat. good times

Emmy was nervous.

It was the same kind of nervousness she felt as a kid when she messed up in her training. The same nervousness she experienced whenever she received a letter from Targent. The same nervousness she felt upon seeing her uncle enter the cave after Aurora’s awakening.

And now, as she stands behind Luke, her heart is beating like it’s going to fall right out of her chest and onto the ground beneath her. But she knows she has to stand strong, stay on guard, and focus on her mission.

She hardly feels present as she brings the icicle to Luke’s throat. The words coming out of her mouth feel like jello between her lips, and her ears are ringing and she can just barely make out what Hershel and Luke are saying.

She hates this. She hates it more than anything she’s ever done, it feels wrong and it makes her head pound. She’s making a bad decision and she knows it. But this is all she knows! Uncle Leon is all she has, Targent is all she has.

...But Luke and Hershel. And Aurora and Desmond, even. She’s never felt happier than when they were all together, and it was certainly better than the tight, nervous feeling she has every time she thinks about Targent.

She tightens her grip on the icicle. It’s too late now.

And as Hershel throws the keystone to Uncle Leon, Emmy mentality starts to write her resignation letter.