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…
“Hold still!”
Fotia grunted once, then twice, and then the lunchbox got pulled back into the ground. Focusing on the lunchbox, he shot one of his feathery arms, getting a good grip of the bottom. He grinned, realizing how much better he was able to pull on the thing.
“You shall not escape me, you miniature demon!” he exclaimed, slowly winning in this battle of pulling.
The demon hissed in response.
“Oh, you want to challenge me, eh!? Prepare for –AAH!”
Fotia lost footing on the sand and slipped. Without meaning to, he managed to leverage his falling body at an angle, plucking the lunchbox and the demon out of the hole via his whole weight. And since they were under the bleachers, one of the boards which the demon ended up stumbling into, face-first. It should be said, the construction was made of wood, just like every other wooden construction found within this world, which were all magically strengthened during their creation. This made them extremely sturdy, enough to make even a Torque pass out if they got hit by one.
As such, once Fotia found himself to, all he saw was the miniature Torque lying limply next to him. He quickly snatched the lunchbox and ran out from below the bleachers. Out into the field, he pumped his hands and did a celebratory “Ca-caw!”. This was a habit of his since he was four, and truly showed how great this victory was.
“That shall teach you, you small maggot! None stands against the might Fotia! Now, how is everyone doing?” he wondered. He began making his way back to others, musing to himself, expecting that they probably were finishing with the clown.
…
“FLORA!” Azure shouted.
For ten solid minutes, she had been sitting on the ground, completely lifeless. It was as if the whole body had been shut down. The clown was snickering from his small corner, unable to contain his amusement of the situation.
“Would you look at that!” The clown kept throwing his hands into Flora’s direction. To him, the young warrior had essentially given up altogether. And he couldn’t NOT use this opportunity to gloat. “Wow, guess our princess seems to have lost composure! Oh, will a knight in shining armour come in and save her? Oh, better yet, kick that royal tush back to action!? No? Oh, I guess some royalties aren’t worth the trouble! OI-Hohohohohohohohhohohohoho!”
In-between his laughs, Zamarad cried out, “Your Highness, wake up!”
This was the nightmare. Not only has she left the princess broken, but also vulnerable to the monsters. How could she let that happen!? How could she be so stupid!? Why did she constantly had to make so many foolish decisions, one after the other, hurting more and more people she cared about!!?
…Zamarad?
<I am a fool!> rang inside her head.
Varvara felt very sorry for her. The spirit once again took everything to herself, which was a bad habit of those who tend to help others a lot. She thought about how she could help, and considered if they can use magic again.
<No, Varvara… All I can do is let electricity use my body as medium. All that would do is make black burning marks on wood or my limbs jump every which way. What fool I was! Why did I think of revealing it all!? I should have never said anything! I->
“Zamarad, look here!”
The emerald spirit stopped her rants and Varvara moved head slightly up. They could see Azure standing close to them.
“No matter the course, do not loose sight of your goal!” he said to them, mutually ignoring the loud laughs of the clown. “You are not the traitor, nor burden! That information you gave us might have saved us all! And to think you have kept it within you, burdening yourself with the darkness of the world, we could never be more grateful.”
Varvara’s mouth went loose. It seemed that Zamarad felt astounded by Azure’s words.
“But, Her Highness-“
“She has to overcome her grief! She has been marred by past for far too long! Rose had always considered herself a failure, always returning to the time before, hoping she could return her people! But now we know exactly the truth.”
“But…” Zamarad kept stumbling on her words, “but are you not marred as well!? I have hurt you! I am responsible for the death of your village!”
“That may be true, and I may not forgive you for that.” Azure’s words were accompanied with his cold stare. Zamarad realized that everything he was saying was as exactly as he meant it. “But you have saved Lahpa-Pessa! You have given us another clue that could save us! And even more so, you might have saved Her Highness!”
Zamarad mouthed words, but none could come out. Varvara was also confused. And yet, she somehow seemed to be getting it.
“A bitter truth can set us free! We will never move past this, unless we find a way! Unless we come together again, with no more shadows to hide on our hearts! We are nothing more than spirits, so let us be free of mortal inhibitions!”
Zamarad was going to say something, but then closed her mouth. Finally, she herself understood what he had done.
<Thank you.>
“Flora!” Azure moved back to face warrior’s limp body again. “Flora, you must help Rose! You are her anchor, so the only one who could possibly salvage her mind and heal her heart is you! You can do this, young Flora, you have to do this!”
She still did not answer. But if she could, she would say something along the lines of “Like, I’m trying, you know! It’s harder than it looks, oh my gosh!” But instead, her words came out muffled, bouncing inside a box. And within that box, she was trapped with a storm of thoughts that was shutting everything down. The lies, the memories, the anguish, the crashed hopes and the ever-rising despair. All creating an inescapable pressure. Everything that turns one’s mind into a blank space, as the only to retaliate against it.
But Flora was getting tired of this. But, can she really do something about this? She never spoke to Rose on that personal level. She was jumping into an unknown territory.
But then again, what else was there to do? Let’s hope Azure was right.
So, Rose, can you hear me?
…
“Allow me to begin the honors,” the clown spoke. His words felt a bit slower than usual within that space. Maybe because they were fully speaking in thoughts, which were like, different between minutes and seconds, or something.
C’mon Rose, wake up already!
“While the princess is busy moping, we shall begin with our next activity for today, squashing the putrid green warrior! Is the hammer ready?”
Flora had to figure out what to do. Rose will not answer, no matter what she was doing, and the longer she was staying in there, the more likely she will shut down too. Furthermore, she can’t expect miracle to happen, and think Barbie can escape herself.
“Fotia! The Torque, he is after you!” shouted Azure.
And from the looks of things, neither could she expect stuff from Fotia. Dangit, why was she saddled with doing this? Let’s try that again.
Rose! They need us, don’t you understand!? You can’t just stay here like that forever, you got a world to save! And so what that your father is actually a complete and utter monster…who basically took your people and use their souls to…make himself immortal…wow, this is depressing…
The pressure was getting acute. It kept pushing into her throat, and into her heart, and into her head. It was no different than walking on needles, ultimately.
“Sorry, but you are not allowed to play this game! Bye-bye birdie!” The clown then went into one of his long laughs. It was even worse being slowed down.
Rose, don’t you think that’s enough!? Everything is bad, and it’s the end of the world stuff, like!? Well, you know whose world is going to be ending soon? My world! Don’t you care about that!? About the people out there? Innocent people, like fathers, mothers, and children, and that really nice lady at the community centre? Don’t you think it’s awful to leave them like that!?
No response again. The pressure just persisted. At this point, she might as well choose to talk to a wall. Which was neither better or worse, compared to this.
Rose, they need you! I need you! Why can’t you understand, we need you!!!
Flora the pressure’s true form soon became apparent. She was not in a box, but in a bowl. There was no opening, and she was sinking deeper and deeper into it. She wanted to climb out, but all she felt was it deafening everything she did. And even worse, she couldn’t hear outside anymore. It was growing dark. It was turning hopeless. She was alone.
It was as if she was falling asleep.
“Don’t leave me…”
Suddenly, the pressure stopped.
Something echoed within her mind. She couldn’t make it out at first, but listening to it closely, she heard an <I am..>
The pressure started again. But then, it felt more manageable. Her fingers moved the dense substance like cotton-candy, though it would hardly leave her. Flora searched within it, and listened to the voice. Soon enough, she could clearly navigate in it.
<What am I?>
Flora finally found her. She saw, or “saw”, her crying on the ground. Despite the darkness, her bright, pink hair was easy to make out, allowing Flora to finally navigate within the space. It was an open void, but one she was familiar with. One she could roam with ease, unbothered by the pressure.
“Rose?” she tried to speak. She wasn’t sure if she said anything, but continued anyway, “Rose, can you hear me? Don’t-”
<I am…a failure…my people…> She kept on crying. Somehow, there was a feeling like nothing was being kept from between them. It was as raw as it could be. <My people cannot be saved. This is what Zamarad meant. This was what the jester wanted for me to admit. My people. My kingdom. My home….My beloved home…. It is gone! And could never be returned…because of my father! Because of me!!!>
The pressure grew. Flora tried to pay no mind.
“Flora, wait! You didn’t do anything!”
<But my father did! And I was his weapon! I was his experiment, do you not see? And when the world came crashing down, I could not save it! I had no clue what to do! I was a fool, a child! I trusted his advisors, I trusted we could save the world by fighting, and what has it accomplished? All for naught. It was all for naught! I am a failure! I am lowest of low…>
Flora kept looking at Rose from above. The latter was always taller and had a more dignified air to her. But they really were not that far apart in age. She knew it already, of course, but it made more sense now.
“You aren’t the lowest…Rose. Or any kind of low, for that matter.” Rose continued to cry. Flora had to be sure she said the next thing right. “Rose, I can’t imagine what type of pain you are going through. Everything…just dropped out of nowhere! But there’s still a lot of things need to be done, and we need you to be with us!”
Rose ceased her crying.
<But can I truly save them? If I have failed once, can it not happen again?>
“Well, maybe?” Flora shook her head at herself. “But you got friends this time!”
<Is that not the same as before?>
“Well…are you sure you did it exactly?”
Rose did not respond. There was a sense that she still took most of the responsibility on herself. Like it was only her who should’ve been doing it all.
“You can’t just act like it’s all on you. You still need others to save the world. Maybe you should’ve been more open to others.”
Rose was silent. Flora felt at some point that maybe, she had no idea what she was talking about. And yet, this wasn’t the response she got. Instead, it was,
<How can I be sure, it will work this time?>
“No one is. Nothing is ever a sure thing. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try! You can’t just say, ‘oh, it’s never gonna work again,’ you gotta try and try again! Even with people! You need to trust them, and stop letting everything that happens to you be your fault! We can figure things out, so long as we learn to trust them.”
Rose wiped her eyes. After quick huff, she stood back up to her full height. It was at this point that Flora noticed the lack of pressure.
<I cannot leave it as is…what happened to my home…to my people…is horrific. But if what Zamarad said is true, then there is much to be done. My father…he is alive.>
The space wobbled. It seemed that the pressure could not be taken away. And yet, it did not harm them anymore. Nor did it kept them from walking out of it, for the moment.
<I…regretted how I managed my kingdom, on its last few years before its fall. I had expectations, and they were made worse by Lord Vaco, as well as father’s death. I cannot leave this guilt behind, yet. But I do want to salvage some sort of closure.> She looked, finally, to Flora. Her eyes were dry now, but they were not sharp. She was looking for an answer with them. <Can we truly defeat him?>
Flora considered the question. Somehow, the next few words, despite how much she’d hate to admit, sounded almost like Chester’s.
“Hey, we did some of the most amazing stuff out there! We can do it again. So, whaddya say? Ready to blow their minds?”
Rose looked down, and saw Flora’s hand. Before long, she took it.
<We shall.>
…
-----------------------------------------
…
“Hold still!”
Fotia grunted once, then twice, and then the lunchbox got pulled back into the ground. Focusing on the lunchbox, he shot one of his feathery arms, getting a good grip of the bottom. He grinned, realizing how much better he was able to pull on the thing.
“You shall not escape me, you miniature demon!” he exclaimed, slowly winning in this battle of pulling.
The demon hissed in response.
“Oh, you want to challenge me, eh!? Prepare for –AAH!”
Fotia lost footing on the sand and slipped. Without meaning to, he managed to leverage his falling body at an angle, plucking the lunchbox and the demon out of the hole via his whole weight. And since they were under the bleachers, one of the boards which the demon ended up stumbling into, face-first. It should be said, the construction was made of wood, just like every other wooden construction found within this world, which were all magically strengthened during their creation. This made them extremely sturdy, enough to make even a Torque pass out if they got hit by one.
As such, once Fotia found himself to, all he saw was the miniature Torque lying limply next to him. He quickly snatched the lunchbox and ran out from below the bleachers. Out into the field, he pumped his hands and did a celebratory “Ca-caw!”. This was a habit of his since he was four, and truly showed how great this victory was.
“That shall teach you, you small maggot! None stands against the might Fotia! Now, how is everyone doing?” he wondered. He began making his way back to others, musing to himself, expecting that they probably were finishing with the clown.
…
“FLORA!” Azure shouted.
For ten solid minutes, she had been sitting on the ground, completely lifeless. It was as if the whole body had been shut down. The clown was snickering from his small corner, unable to contain his amusement of the situation.
“Would you look at that!” The clown kept throwing his hands into Flora’s direction. To him, the young warrior had essentially given up altogether. And he couldn’t NOT use this opportunity to gloat. “Wow, guess our princess seems to have lost composure! Oh, will a knight in shining armour come in and save her? Oh, better yet, kick that royal tush back to action!? No? Oh, I guess some royalties aren’t worth the trouble! OI-Hohohohohohohohhohohohoho!”
In-between his laughs, Zamarad cried out, “Your Highness, wake up!”
This was the nightmare. Not only has she left the princess broken, but also vulnerable to the monsters. How could she let that happen!? How could she be so stupid!? Why did she constantly had to make so many foolish decisions, one after the other, hurting more and more people she cared about!!?
…Zamarad?
<I am a fool!> rang inside her head.
Varvara felt very sorry for her. The spirit once again took everything to herself, which was a bad habit of those who tend to help others a lot. She thought about how she could help, and considered if they can use magic again.
<No, Varvara… All I can do is let electricity use my body as medium. All that would do is make black burning marks on wood or my limbs jump every which way. What fool I was! Why did I think of revealing it all!? I should have never said anything! I->
“Zamarad, look here!”
The emerald spirit stopped her rants and Varvara moved head slightly up. They could see Azure standing close to them.
“No matter the course, do not loose sight of your goal!” he said to them, mutually ignoring the loud laughs of the clown. “You are not the traitor, nor burden! That information you gave us might have saved us all! And to think you have kept it within you, burdening yourself with the darkness of the world, we could never be more grateful.”
Varvara’s mouth went loose. It seemed that Zamarad felt astounded by Azure’s words.
“But, Her Highness-“
“She has to overcome her grief! She has been marred by past for far too long! Rose had always considered herself a failure, always returning to the time before, hoping she could return her people! But now we know exactly the truth.”
“But…” Zamarad kept stumbling on her words, “but are you not marred as well!? I have hurt you! I am responsible for the death of your village!”
“That may be true, and I may not forgive you for that.” Azure’s words were accompanied with his cold stare. Zamarad realized that everything he was saying was as exactly as he meant it. “But you have saved Lahpa-Pessa! You have given us another clue that could save us! And even more so, you might have saved Her Highness!”
Zamarad mouthed words, but none could come out. Varvara was also confused. And yet, she somehow seemed to be getting it.
“A bitter truth can set us free! We will never move past this, unless we find a way! Unless we come together again, with no more shadows to hide on our hearts! We are nothing more than spirits, so let us be free of mortal inhibitions!”
Zamarad was going to say something, but then closed her mouth. Finally, she herself understood what he had done.
<Thank you.>
“Flora!” Azure moved back to face warrior’s limp body again. “Flora, you must help Rose! You are her anchor, so the only one who could possibly salvage her mind and heal her heart is you! You can do this, young Flora, you have to do this!”
She still did not answer. But if she could, she would say something along the lines of “Like, I’m trying, you know! It’s harder than it looks, oh my gosh!” But instead, her words came out muffled, bouncing inside a box. And within that box, she was trapped with a storm of thoughts that was shutting everything down. The lies, the memories, the anguish, the crashed hopes and the ever-rising despair. All creating an inescapable pressure. Everything that turns one’s mind into a blank space, as the only to retaliate against it.
But Flora was getting tired of this. But, can she really do something about this? She never spoke to Rose on that personal level. She was jumping into an unknown territory.
But then again, what else was there to do? Let’s hope Azure was right.
So, Rose, can you hear me?
…
“Allow me to begin the honors,” the clown spoke. His words felt a bit slower than usual within that space. Maybe because they were fully speaking in thoughts, which were like, different between minutes and seconds, or something.
C’mon Rose, wake up already!
“While the princess is busy moping, we shall begin with our next activity for today, squashing the putrid green warrior! Is the hammer ready?”
Flora had to figure out what to do. Rose will not answer, no matter what she was doing, and the longer she was staying in there, the more likely she will shut down too. Furthermore, she can’t expect miracle to happen, and think Barbie can escape herself.
“Fotia! The Torque, he is after you!” shouted Azure.
And from the looks of things, neither could she expect stuff from Fotia. Dangit, why was she saddled with doing this? Let’s try that again.
Rose! They need us, don’t you understand!? You can’t just stay here like that forever, you got a world to save! And so what that your father is actually a complete and utter monster…who basically took your people and use their souls to…make himself immortal…wow, this is depressing…
The pressure was getting acute. It kept pushing into her throat, and into her heart, and into her head. It was no different than walking on needles, ultimately.
“Sorry, but you are not allowed to play this game! Bye-bye birdie!” The clown then went into one of his long laughs. It was even worse being slowed down.
Rose, don’t you think that’s enough!? Everything is bad, and it’s the end of the world stuff, like!? Well, you know whose world is going to be ending soon? My world! Don’t you care about that!? About the people out there? Innocent people, like fathers, mothers, and children, and that really nice lady at the community centre? Don’t you think it’s awful to leave them like that!?
No response again. The pressure just persisted. At this point, she might as well choose to talk to a wall. Which was neither better or worse, compared to this.
Rose, they need you! I need you! Why can’t you understand, we need you!!!
Flora the pressure’s true form soon became apparent. She was not in a box, but in a bowl. There was no opening, and she was sinking deeper and deeper into it. She wanted to climb out, but all she felt was it deafening everything she did. And even worse, she couldn’t hear outside anymore. It was growing dark. It was turning hopeless. She was alone.
It was as if she was falling asleep.
“Don’t leave me…”
Suddenly, the pressure stopped.
Something echoed within her mind. She couldn’t make it out at first, but listening to it closely, she heard an <I am..>
The pressure started again. But then, it felt more manageable. Her fingers moved the dense substance like cotton-candy, though it would hardly leave her. Flora searched within it, and listened to the voice. Soon enough, she could clearly navigate in it.
<What am I?>
Flora finally found her. She saw, or “saw”, her crying on the ground. Despite the darkness, her bright, pink hair was easy to make out, allowing Flora to finally navigate within the space. It was an open void, but one she was familiar with. One she could roam with ease, unbothered by the pressure.
“Rose?” she tried to speak. She wasn’t sure if she said anything, but continued anyway, “Rose, can you hear me? Don’t-”
<I am…a failure…my people…> She kept on crying. Somehow, there was a feeling like nothing was being kept from between them. It was as raw as it could be. <My people cannot be saved. This is what Zamarad meant. This was what the jester wanted for me to admit. My people. My kingdom. My home….My beloved home…. It is gone! And could never be returned…because of my father! Because of me!!!>
The pressure grew. Flora tried to pay no mind.
“Flora, wait! You didn’t do anything!”
<But my father did! And I was his weapon! I was his experiment, do you not see? And when the world came crashing down, I could not save it! I had no clue what to do! I was a fool, a child! I trusted his advisors, I trusted we could save the world by fighting, and what has it accomplished? All for naught. It was all for naught! I am a failure! I am lowest of low…>
Flora kept looking at Rose from above. The latter was always taller and had a more dignified air to her. But they really were not that far apart in age. She knew it already, of course, but it made more sense now.
“You aren’t the lowest…Rose. Or any kind of low, for that matter.” Rose continued to cry. Flora had to be sure she said the next thing right. “Rose, I can’t imagine what type of pain you are going through. Everything…just dropped out of nowhere! But there’s still a lot of things need to be done, and we need you to be with us!”
Rose ceased her crying.
<But can I truly save them? If I have failed once, can it not happen again?>
“Well, maybe?” Flora shook her head at herself. “But you got friends this time!”
<Is that not the same as before?>
“Well…are you sure you did it exactly?”
Rose did not respond. There was a sense that she still took most of the responsibility on herself. Like it was only her who should’ve been doing it all.
“You can’t just act like it’s all on you. You still need others to save the world. Maybe you should’ve been more open to others.”
Rose was silent. Flora felt at some point that maybe, she had no idea what she was talking about. And yet, this wasn’t the response she got. Instead, it was,
<How can I be sure, it will work this time?>
“No one is. Nothing is ever a sure thing. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try! You can’t just say, ‘oh, it’s never gonna work again,’ you gotta try and try again! Even with people! You need to trust them, and stop letting everything that happens to you be your fault! We can figure things out, so long as we learn to trust them.”
Rose wiped her eyes. After quick huff, she stood back up to her full height. It was at this point that Flora noticed the lack of pressure.
<I cannot leave it as is…what happened to my home…to my people…is horrific. But if what Zamarad said is true, then there is much to be done. My father…he is alive.>
The space wobbled. It seemed that the pressure could not be taken away. And yet, it did not harm them anymore. Nor did it kept them from walking out of it, for the moment.
<I…regretted how I managed my kingdom, on its last few years before its fall. I had expectations, and they were made worse by Lord Vaco, as well as father’s death. I cannot leave this guilt behind, yet. But I do want to salvage some sort of closure.> She looked, finally, to Flora. Her eyes were dry now, but they were not sharp. She was looking for an answer with them. <Can we truly defeat him?>
Flora considered the question. Somehow, the next few words, despite how much she’d hate to admit, sounded almost like Chester’s.
“Hey, we did some of the most amazing stuff out there! We can do it again. So, whaddya say? Ready to blow their minds?”
Rose looked down, and saw Flora’s hand. Before long, she took it.
<We shall.>
…
Is it me, or is FA erasing older posts? Can't find them while searching, now I need to go straight to artist's pages!
Geez
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…
“Hold still!”
Fotia grunted once, then twice, and then the lunchbox got pulled back into the ground. Focusing on the lunchbox, he shot one of his feathery arms, getting a good grip of the bottom. He grinned, realizing how much better he was able to pull on the thing.
“You shall not escape me, you miniature demon!” he exclaimed, slowly winning in this battle of pulling.
The demon hissed in response.
“Oh, you want to challenge me, eh!? Prepare for –AAH!”
Fotia lost footing on the sand and slipped. Without meaning to, he managed to leverage his falling body at an angle, plucking the lunchbox and the demon out of the hole via his whole weight. And since they were under the bleachers, one of the boards which the demon ended up stumbling into, face-first. It should be said, the construction was made of wood, just like every other wooden construction found within this world, which were all magically strengthened during their creation. This made them extremely sturdy, enough to make even a Torque pass out if they got hit by one.
As such, once Fotia found himself to, all he saw was the miniature Torque lying limply next to him. He quickly snatched the lunchbox and ran out from below the bleachers. Out into the field, he pumped his hands and did a celebratory “Ca-caw!”. This was a habit of his since he was four, and truly showed how great this victory was.
“That shall teach you, you small maggot! None stands against the might Fotia! Now, how is everyone doing?” he wondered. He began making his way back to others, musing to himself, expecting that they probably were finishing with the clown.
…
“FLORA!” Azure shouted.
For ten solid minutes, she had been sitting on the ground, completely lifeless. It was as if the whole body had been shut down. The clown was snickering from his small corner, unable to contain his amusement of the situation.
“Would you look at that!” The clown kept throwing his hands into Flora’s direction. To him, the young warrior had essentially given up altogether. And he couldn’t NOT use this opportunity to gloat. “Wow, guess our princess seems to have lost composure! Oh, will a knight in shining armour come in and save her? Oh, better yet, kick that royal tush back to action!? No? Oh, I guess some royalties aren’t worth the trouble! OI-Hohohohohohohohhohohohoho!”
In-between his laughs, Zamarad cried out, “Your Highness, wake up!”
This was the nightmare. Not only has she left the princess broken, but also vulnerable to the monsters. How could she let that happen!? How could she be so stupid!? Why did she constantly had to make so many foolish decisions, one after the other, hurting more and more people she cared about!!?
…Zamarad?
<I am a fool!> rang inside her head.
Varvara felt very sorry for her. The spirit once again took everything to herself, which was a bad habit of those who tend to help others a lot. She thought about how she could help, and considered if they can use magic again.
<No, Varvara… All I can do is let electricity use my body as medium. All that would do is make black burning marks on wood or my limbs jump every which way. What fool I was! Why did I think of revealing it all!? I should have never said anything! I->
“Zamarad, look here!”
The emerald spirit stopped her rants and Varvara moved head slightly up. They could see Azure standing close to them.
“No matter the course, do not loose sight of your goal!” he said to them, mutually ignoring the loud laughs of the clown. “You are not the traitor, nor burden! That information you gave us might have saved us all! And to think you have kept it within you, burdening yourself with the darkness of the world, we could never be more grateful.”
Varvara’s mouth went loose. It seemed that Zamarad felt astounded by Azure’s words.
“But, Her Highness-“
“She has to overcome her grief! She has been marred by past for far too long! Rose had always considered herself a failure, always returning to the time before, hoping she could return her people! But now we know exactly the truth.”
“But…” Zamarad kept stumbling on her words, “but are you not marred as well!? I have hurt you! I am responsible for the death of your village!”
“That may be true, and I may not forgive you for that.” Azure’s words were accompanied with his cold stare. Zamarad realized that everything he was saying was as exactly as he meant it. “But you have saved Lahpa-Pessa! You have given us another clue that could save us! And even more so, you might have saved Her Highness!”
Zamarad mouthed words, but none could come out. Varvara was also confused. And yet, she somehow seemed to be getting it.
“A bitter truth can set us free! We will never move past this, unless we find a way! Unless we come together again, with no more shadows to hide on our hearts! We are nothing more than spirits, so let us be free of mortal inhibitions!”
Zamarad was going to say something, but then closed her mouth. Finally, she herself understood what he had done.
<Thank you.>
“Flora!” Azure moved back to face warrior’s limp body again. “Flora, you must help Rose! You are her anchor, so the only one who could possibly salvage her mind and heal her heart is you! You can do this, young Flora, you have to do this!”
She still did not answer. But if she could, she would say something along the lines of “Like, I’m trying, you know! It’s harder than it looks, oh my gosh!” But instead, her words came out muffled, bouncing inside a box. And within that box, she was trapped with a storm of thoughts that was shutting everything down. The lies, the memories, the anguish, the crashed hopes and the ever-rising despair. All creating an inescapable pressure. Everything that turns one’s mind into a blank space, as the only to retaliate against it.
But Flora was getting tired of this. But, can she really do something about this? She never spoke to Rose on that personal level. She was jumping into an unknown territory.
But then again, what else was there to do? Let’s hope Azure was right.
So, Rose, can you hear me?
…
“Allow me to begin the honors,” the clown spoke. His words felt a bit slower than usual within that space. Maybe because they were fully speaking in thoughts, which were like, different between minutes and seconds, or something.
C’mon Rose, wake up already!
“While the princess is busy moping, we shall begin with our next activity for today, squashing the putrid green warrior! Is the hammer ready?”
Flora had to figure out what to do. Rose will not answer, no matter what she was doing, and the longer she was staying in there, the more likely she will shut down too. Furthermore, she can’t expect miracle to happen, and think Barbie can escape herself.
“Fotia! The Torque, he is after you!” shouted Azure.
And from the looks of things, neither could she expect stuff from Fotia. Dangit, why was she saddled with doing this? Let’s try that again.
Rose! They need us, don’t you understand!? You can’t just stay here like that forever, you got a world to save! And so what that your father is actually a complete and utter monster…who basically took your people and use their souls to…make himself immortal…wow, this is depressing…
The pressure was getting acute. It kept pushing into her throat, and into her heart, and into her head. It was no different than walking on needles, ultimately.
“Sorry, but you are not allowed to play this game! Bye-bye birdie!” The clown then went into one of his long laughs. It was even worse being slowed down.
Rose, don’t you think that’s enough!? Everything is bad, and it’s the end of the world stuff, like!? Well, you know whose world is going to be ending soon? My world! Don’t you care about that!? About the people out there? Innocent people, like fathers, mothers, and children, and that really nice lady at the community centre? Don’t you think it’s awful to leave them like that!?
No response again. The pressure just persisted. At this point, she might as well choose to talk to a wall. Which was neither better or worse, compared to this.
Rose, they need you! I need you! Why can’t you understand, we need you!!!
Flora the pressure’s true form soon became apparent. She was not in a box, but in a bowl. There was no opening, and she was sinking deeper and deeper into it. She wanted to climb out, but all she felt was it deafening everything she did. And even worse, she couldn’t hear outside anymore. It was growing dark. It was turning hopeless. She was alone.
It was as if she was falling asleep.
“Don’t leave me…”
Suddenly, the pressure stopped.
Something echoed within her mind. She couldn’t make it out at first, but listening to it closely, she heard an <I am..>
The pressure started again. But then, it felt more manageable. Her fingers moved the dense substance like cotton-candy, though it would hardly leave her. Flora searched within it, and listened to the voice. Soon enough, she could clearly navigate in it.
<What am I?>
Flora finally found her. She saw, or “saw”, her crying on the ground. Despite the darkness, her bright, pink hair was easy to make out, allowing Flora to finally navigate within the space. It was an open void, but one she was familiar with. One she could roam with ease, unbothered by the pressure.
“Rose?” she tried to speak. She wasn’t sure if she said anything, but continued anyway, “Rose, can you hear me? Don’t-”
<I am…a failure…my people…> She kept on crying. Somehow, there was a feeling like nothing was being kept from between them. It was as raw as it could be. <My people cannot be saved. This is what Zamarad meant. This was what the jester wanted for me to admit. My people. My kingdom. My home….My beloved home…. It is gone! And could never be returned…because of my father! Because of me!!!>
The pressure grew. Flora tried to pay no mind.
“Flora, wait! You didn’t do anything!”
<But my father did! And I was his weapon! I was his experiment, do you not see? And when the world came crashing down, I could not save it! I had no clue what to do! I was a fool, a child! I trusted his advisors, I trusted we could save the world by fighting, and what has it accomplished? All for naught. It was all for naught! I am a failure! I am lowest of low…>
Flora kept looking at Rose from above. The latter was always taller and had a more dignified air to her. But they really were not that far apart in age. She knew it already, of course, but it made more sense now.
“You aren’t the lowest…Rose. Or any kind of low, for that matter.” Rose continued to cry. Flora had to be sure she said the next thing right. “Rose, I can’t imagine what type of pain you are going through. Everything…just dropped out of nowhere! But there’s still a lot of things need to be done, and we need you to be with us!”
Rose ceased her crying.
<But can I truly save them? If I have failed once, can it not happen again?>
“Well, maybe?” Flora shook her head at herself. “But you got friends this time!”
<Is that not the same as before?>
“Well…are you sure you did it exactly?”
Rose did not respond. There was a sense that she still took most of the responsibility on herself. Like it was only her who should’ve been doing it all.
“You can’t just act like it’s all on you. You still need others to save the world. Maybe you should’ve been more open to others.”
Rose was silent. Flora felt at some point that maybe, she had no idea what she was talking about. And yet, this wasn’t the response she got. Instead, it was,
<How can I be sure, it will work this time?>
“No one is. Nothing is ever a sure thing. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try! You can’t just say, ‘oh, it’s never gonna work again,’ you gotta try and try again! Even with people! You need to trust them, and stop letting everything that happens to you be your fault! We can figure things out, so long as we learn to trust them.”
Rose wiped her eyes. After quick huff, she stood back up to her full height. It was at this point that Flora noticed the lack of pressure.
<I cannot leave it as is…what happened to my home…to my people…is horrific. But if what Zamarad said is true, then there is much to be done. My father…he is alive.>
The space wobbled. It seemed that the pressure could not be taken away. And yet, it did not harm them anymore. Nor did it kept them from walking out of it, for the moment.
<I…regretted how I managed my kingdom, on its last few years before its fall. I had expectations, and they were made worse by Lord Vaco, as well as father’s death. I cannot leave this guilt behind, yet. But I do want to salvage some sort of closure.> She looked, finally, to Flora. Her eyes were dry now, but they were not sharp. She was looking for an answer with them. <Can we truly defeat him?>
Flora considered the question. Somehow, the next few words, despite how much she’d hate to admit, sounded almost like Chester’s.
“Hey, we did some of the most amazing stuff out there! We can do it again. So, whaddya say? Ready to blow their minds?”
Rose looked down, and saw Flora’s hand. Before long, she took it.
<We shall.>
…
Geez
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…
“Hold still!”
Fotia grunted once, then twice, and then the lunchbox got pulled back into the ground. Focusing on the lunchbox, he shot one of his feathery arms, getting a good grip of the bottom. He grinned, realizing how much better he was able to pull on the thing.
“You shall not escape me, you miniature demon!” he exclaimed, slowly winning in this battle of pulling.
The demon hissed in response.
“Oh, you want to challenge me, eh!? Prepare for –AAH!”
Fotia lost footing on the sand and slipped. Without meaning to, he managed to leverage his falling body at an angle, plucking the lunchbox and the demon out of the hole via his whole weight. And since they were under the bleachers, one of the boards which the demon ended up stumbling into, face-first. It should be said, the construction was made of wood, just like every other wooden construction found within this world, which were all magically strengthened during their creation. This made them extremely sturdy, enough to make even a Torque pass out if they got hit by one.
As such, once Fotia found himself to, all he saw was the miniature Torque lying limply next to him. He quickly snatched the lunchbox and ran out from below the bleachers. Out into the field, he pumped his hands and did a celebratory “Ca-caw!”. This was a habit of his since he was four, and truly showed how great this victory was.
“That shall teach you, you small maggot! None stands against the might Fotia! Now, how is everyone doing?” he wondered. He began making his way back to others, musing to himself, expecting that they probably were finishing with the clown.
…
“FLORA!” Azure shouted.
For ten solid minutes, she had been sitting on the ground, completely lifeless. It was as if the whole body had been shut down. The clown was snickering from his small corner, unable to contain his amusement of the situation.
“Would you look at that!” The clown kept throwing his hands into Flora’s direction. To him, the young warrior had essentially given up altogether. And he couldn’t NOT use this opportunity to gloat. “Wow, guess our princess seems to have lost composure! Oh, will a knight in shining armour come in and save her? Oh, better yet, kick that royal tush back to action!? No? Oh, I guess some royalties aren’t worth the trouble! OI-Hohohohohohohohhohohohoho!”
In-between his laughs, Zamarad cried out, “Your Highness, wake up!”
This was the nightmare. Not only has she left the princess broken, but also vulnerable to the monsters. How could she let that happen!? How could she be so stupid!? Why did she constantly had to make so many foolish decisions, one after the other, hurting more and more people she cared about!!?
…Zamarad?
<I am a fool!> rang inside her head.
Varvara felt very sorry for her. The spirit once again took everything to herself, which was a bad habit of those who tend to help others a lot. She thought about how she could help, and considered if they can use magic again.
<No, Varvara… All I can do is let electricity use my body as medium. All that would do is make black burning marks on wood or my limbs jump every which way. What fool I was! Why did I think of revealing it all!? I should have never said anything! I->
“Zamarad, look here!”
The emerald spirit stopped her rants and Varvara moved head slightly up. They could see Azure standing close to them.
“No matter the course, do not loose sight of your goal!” he said to them, mutually ignoring the loud laughs of the clown. “You are not the traitor, nor burden! That information you gave us might have saved us all! And to think you have kept it within you, burdening yourself with the darkness of the world, we could never be more grateful.”
Varvara’s mouth went loose. It seemed that Zamarad felt astounded by Azure’s words.
“But, Her Highness-“
“She has to overcome her grief! She has been marred by past for far too long! Rose had always considered herself a failure, always returning to the time before, hoping she could return her people! But now we know exactly the truth.”
“But…” Zamarad kept stumbling on her words, “but are you not marred as well!? I have hurt you! I am responsible for the death of your village!”
“That may be true, and I may not forgive you for that.” Azure’s words were accompanied with his cold stare. Zamarad realized that everything he was saying was as exactly as he meant it. “But you have saved Lahpa-Pessa! You have given us another clue that could save us! And even more so, you might have saved Her Highness!”
Zamarad mouthed words, but none could come out. Varvara was also confused. And yet, she somehow seemed to be getting it.
“A bitter truth can set us free! We will never move past this, unless we find a way! Unless we come together again, with no more shadows to hide on our hearts! We are nothing more than spirits, so let us be free of mortal inhibitions!”
Zamarad was going to say something, but then closed her mouth. Finally, she herself understood what he had done.
<Thank you.>
“Flora!” Azure moved back to face warrior’s limp body again. “Flora, you must help Rose! You are her anchor, so the only one who could possibly salvage her mind and heal her heart is you! You can do this, young Flora, you have to do this!”
She still did not answer. But if she could, she would say something along the lines of “Like, I’m trying, you know! It’s harder than it looks, oh my gosh!” But instead, her words came out muffled, bouncing inside a box. And within that box, she was trapped with a storm of thoughts that was shutting everything down. The lies, the memories, the anguish, the crashed hopes and the ever-rising despair. All creating an inescapable pressure. Everything that turns one’s mind into a blank space, as the only to retaliate against it.
But Flora was getting tired of this. But, can she really do something about this? She never spoke to Rose on that personal level. She was jumping into an unknown territory.
But then again, what else was there to do? Let’s hope Azure was right.
So, Rose, can you hear me?
…
“Allow me to begin the honors,” the clown spoke. His words felt a bit slower than usual within that space. Maybe because they were fully speaking in thoughts, which were like, different between minutes and seconds, or something.
C’mon Rose, wake up already!
“While the princess is busy moping, we shall begin with our next activity for today, squashing the putrid green warrior! Is the hammer ready?”
Flora had to figure out what to do. Rose will not answer, no matter what she was doing, and the longer she was staying in there, the more likely she will shut down too. Furthermore, she can’t expect miracle to happen, and think Barbie can escape herself.
“Fotia! The Torque, he is after you!” shouted Azure.
And from the looks of things, neither could she expect stuff from Fotia. Dangit, why was she saddled with doing this? Let’s try that again.
Rose! They need us, don’t you understand!? You can’t just stay here like that forever, you got a world to save! And so what that your father is actually a complete and utter monster…who basically took your people and use their souls to…make himself immortal…wow, this is depressing…
The pressure was getting acute. It kept pushing into her throat, and into her heart, and into her head. It was no different than walking on needles, ultimately.
“Sorry, but you are not allowed to play this game! Bye-bye birdie!” The clown then went into one of his long laughs. It was even worse being slowed down.
Rose, don’t you think that’s enough!? Everything is bad, and it’s the end of the world stuff, like!? Well, you know whose world is going to be ending soon? My world! Don’t you care about that!? About the people out there? Innocent people, like fathers, mothers, and children, and that really nice lady at the community centre? Don’t you think it’s awful to leave them like that!?
No response again. The pressure just persisted. At this point, she might as well choose to talk to a wall. Which was neither better or worse, compared to this.
Rose, they need you! I need you! Why can’t you understand, we need you!!!
Flora the pressure’s true form soon became apparent. She was not in a box, but in a bowl. There was no opening, and she was sinking deeper and deeper into it. She wanted to climb out, but all she felt was it deafening everything she did. And even worse, she couldn’t hear outside anymore. It was growing dark. It was turning hopeless. She was alone.
It was as if she was falling asleep.
“Don’t leave me…”
Suddenly, the pressure stopped.
Something echoed within her mind. She couldn’t make it out at first, but listening to it closely, she heard an <I am..>
The pressure started again. But then, it felt more manageable. Her fingers moved the dense substance like cotton-candy, though it would hardly leave her. Flora searched within it, and listened to the voice. Soon enough, she could clearly navigate in it.
<What am I?>
Flora finally found her. She saw, or “saw”, her crying on the ground. Despite the darkness, her bright, pink hair was easy to make out, allowing Flora to finally navigate within the space. It was an open void, but one she was familiar with. One she could roam with ease, unbothered by the pressure.
“Rose?” she tried to speak. She wasn’t sure if she said anything, but continued anyway, “Rose, can you hear me? Don’t-”
<I am…a failure…my people…> She kept on crying. Somehow, there was a feeling like nothing was being kept from between them. It was as raw as it could be. <My people cannot be saved. This is what Zamarad meant. This was what the jester wanted for me to admit. My people. My kingdom. My home….My beloved home…. It is gone! And could never be returned…because of my father! Because of me!!!>
The pressure grew. Flora tried to pay no mind.
“Flora, wait! You didn’t do anything!”
<But my father did! And I was his weapon! I was his experiment, do you not see? And when the world came crashing down, I could not save it! I had no clue what to do! I was a fool, a child! I trusted his advisors, I trusted we could save the world by fighting, and what has it accomplished? All for naught. It was all for naught! I am a failure! I am lowest of low…>
Flora kept looking at Rose from above. The latter was always taller and had a more dignified air to her. But they really were not that far apart in age. She knew it already, of course, but it made more sense now.
“You aren’t the lowest…Rose. Or any kind of low, for that matter.” Rose continued to cry. Flora had to be sure she said the next thing right. “Rose, I can’t imagine what type of pain you are going through. Everything…just dropped out of nowhere! But there’s still a lot of things need to be done, and we need you to be with us!”
Rose ceased her crying.
<But can I truly save them? If I have failed once, can it not happen again?>
“Well, maybe?” Flora shook her head at herself. “But you got friends this time!”
<Is that not the same as before?>
“Well…are you sure you did it exactly?”
Rose did not respond. There was a sense that she still took most of the responsibility on herself. Like it was only her who should’ve been doing it all.
“You can’t just act like it’s all on you. You still need others to save the world. Maybe you should’ve been more open to others.”
Rose was silent. Flora felt at some point that maybe, she had no idea what she was talking about. And yet, this wasn’t the response she got. Instead, it was,
<How can I be sure, it will work this time?>
“No one is. Nothing is ever a sure thing. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try! You can’t just say, ‘oh, it’s never gonna work again,’ you gotta try and try again! Even with people! You need to trust them, and stop letting everything that happens to you be your fault! We can figure things out, so long as we learn to trust them.”
Rose wiped her eyes. After quick huff, she stood back up to her full height. It was at this point that Flora noticed the lack of pressure.
<I cannot leave it as is…what happened to my home…to my people…is horrific. But if what Zamarad said is true, then there is much to be done. My father…he is alive.>
The space wobbled. It seemed that the pressure could not be taken away. And yet, it did not harm them anymore. Nor did it kept them from walking out of it, for the moment.
<I…regretted how I managed my kingdom, on its last few years before its fall. I had expectations, and they were made worse by Lord Vaco, as well as father’s death. I cannot leave this guilt behind, yet. But I do want to salvage some sort of closure.> She looked, finally, to Flora. Her eyes were dry now, but they were not sharp. She was looking for an answer with them. <Can we truly defeat him?>
Flora considered the question. Somehow, the next few words, despite how much she’d hate to admit, sounded almost like Chester’s.
“Hey, we did some of the most amazing stuff out there! We can do it again. So, whaddya say? Ready to blow their minds?”
Rose looked down, and saw Flora’s hand. Before long, she took it.
<We shall.>
…
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 120 x 120px
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