Chapter Text
" Aria!! "
Desperate .
"NO! Don't- DON'T DO THIS!"
Pleading.
"T-They- we- someone c-can close it, Aria, please don't-!"
Convincing.
"I DON'T WANT YOU TO LEAVE!"
…
Her heart ached .
"I'm sorry…", she'd said and smiled sadly, bitterly, "This has to be done. I was made for this, exactly this. You know that"
"I -hic- know…! But you're my sister in all but blood"
She was crying, trembling. She didn't want to leave him. But this was what they'd grown her into. A sacrifice in the name of the tribe.
Okata was an outsider. He had no voice here. Not that she did either.
"Hey. We'll never truly leave each other as long as we remember"
"But-"
"Okata"
He cried silently. She laid a hand on his cheek.
"After this I’ll finally be free "
And she turned.
…
Okata stared at her retreating back.
"I want you free", he said to himself, fists curling and tightening, "but not like this !"
…
"Okata? Okata- what- !?"
A strained grin answered her, leaving her gut to drop as she realized.
"You don't deserve this", he was saying.
She watched in growing horror, "Okata, NO!"
"Aria", he smiled as the spirit world swallowed him, "Be free and live! "
Terror. Pain. Heartbreak. But determination prevailed.
Aria jumped after him, water rising to her as easily as ever. She was the child of spirits and water. The rare sacrifice to close the tear of the spirit world.
She grabbed him. His eyes widened and fire burst forth. His fire. Trying to keep her away.
Not hurting. Never hurting.
She looked into his eyes.
"Together"
The tear would rip them apart any second. Otaka finally nodded.
"…Together"
…
Dana watched her children disappear through the tear in horror.
"Mistress, what are you- STOP HER!!"
Earth rose on her command as she shot herself through.
Aria. Otaka. Her children.
She wouldn't let them .
…
Spirit realm lurched as too many elements, so much willpower , coursed through the tear that pulsed between physical and spiritual.
The children and woman were covered with earth, fire, and water. Wind rose around them in a protective shield. Rina.
Determination. To let them live .
Three pairs of eyes opened, glowing white. Reality twisted and broke . The tear ceased to be. Where Aria, Otaka, and Dana had been was nothing instead .
Gone.
…
…Or not.
Aria woke up, gasping for breath. She hurt all over and felt dizzy. There was something wrong. Something different . Trees above her head, grass beneath her, sky a rich blue and way too bright for her headache .
Memories. Bright and golden. They pulsed beneath her eyelids, circled inside her head. Otaka . Dana . …Rina. They were there. She was here. They were there but… not. Inside her mind. Almost. As though… Her breath hitched and she cried out in anguish. Emotions swarmed her head and before she knew it she was sobbing, screaming, waiting for the world to make sense and give her family back . Her body changed color, length, shape and it was new and weird and concerning but didn't hold her attention for long.
Otaka and Dana were gone. Rina was gone . But there still.
There was only her-him-me and not us .
She was alone in a strange place. Alone. Free but alone. Otaka and Dana… wouldn’t be able to make more memories with her. She was all that was left of them. They were all that was left of her. Rina was keeping them together in the only way she knew how, sacrificing herself in the process.
Aria closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep.