She ran. The air was icy, crisp. It filled her lungs, burning and freezing them simultaneously. She ran as fast as her small feet would allow her to, running towards the exit in what seemed to be a maze of a forest. In her hands was the most significant thing to her: a flame that would cease to exist in a matter of minutes, seconds. In her hands was the loveliest red, her most precious item, her king, her savior, her Mikoto.
She cupped a hand over the flame in order to protect him from the snowflakes falling from the pale, white sky, hoping that her only source of warmth—Mikoto—would never die out.
Die—the mere thought of death triggered violent shudders from her head to her toes. She'd already lost so much; it would have been a shame to lose what is most precious to her, after all.
Anna ran from it. If she did not, then he would disappear; they would both disappear, they would all disappear.
As she ran, she stumbled over lumps of snow, failing her attempt to dodge the tree branches in her way. The branches scratched her lithe, pale skin, but the pain was nothing in comparison to the breathtaking squeeze she began to feel in her heart as she realized that the flame she held in her hands was beginning to fade.
She came to a halt, entirely forgetting what she was initially running from. "No! Mikoto, don't go!" she shrieked, staring incredulously at her empty hands.
But the flame had already vanished; hewas gone, and the air began to grow colder and thinner—the snow beginning to fall thicker and heavier. It piled up on the ground and on her hair, on her dress and on her feet, yet, she stood still, uncaring of the fact that she may catch cold.
Nothing mattered anymore.
The flame was out and her world began to darken. Her legs felt numb and her body in an immense amount of pain. There was no point in running any longer. This was it. He was gone. There was no point in moving forward, was there?
As she stood remote due to shock, the ground underneath her began to crumble. Soon enough, she crumbled along with it, falling into an abyss of darkness.
She fell inside unscathed, regardless of the height she'd fallen from; it was completely absurd.
The young female looked up, only to find it looking back at her, giggling as if taunting her. Oh, how she hated that part of her—the unwanted character that had always been stored deep inside of her being in a far away place where she made sure remained intangible. Only in her dreams, her shameful, almost malevolent side is ever released—only in her dreams, for if it is ever to be unleashed, it cannot be tamed.
It waved farewell and placed a tight, jar-like lid over the hole Anna was trapped in. She took her attention away from what was on the surface, giving into the fact that she was helplessly stuck underground, and realized that she was in the center of nine flames surrounding her, each one belonging to one of her fellow clan members. She knew very well which flame belonged to whom, so she instinctively approached Izumo's first, as Mikoto's had already vanished. Just as she was about to touch the flame, it vanished into thin air. Poof. Just like that.
"Izumo?"
Then, only eight flames remained. As she made her way towards Kamamoto's, it vanished as well.
"K-Kamamoto?"
She gasped, figuring that the more she approached their flames, the quicker they would vanish, so she settled on keeping a fair distance between herself and the remaining seven flames. Nevertheless, regardless of the distance she put between herself and the flames, they all, one by one, began dwindling until they completely vanished. First Kosuke, then Eric, Chitose, Shouhei, Masaomi, and Saburouta.
There was only one flame remaining, the flame representing Misaki. She could hear his carefree laughter emitting from the light. It called her, saying, "Anna, come on! Let's play!" However, she knew very well that if she got any closer, his flame would vanish along with the rest, so instead she stood there, inert.
"Anna! I said, come on! Let's play!"
As much as she truly desired to, she simply could not because of the dire consequences that would come from doing so.
"Come on, Anna. You're killing me here!"
At the utterance of those last few words, she flinched. "Killing," "dying"—those words made her feel weak at the knees; they made her feel an overwhelmingly suffocating hopelessness, a feeling that had become much too familiar to her. Slowly, she began to approach Misaki's flame, extending her trembling hand and tentatively reaching him.
"Come on! Come on!"
She began closing the gap between them, taking baby steps, and being careful as to not be the reason for Misaki's potential disappearance. Anna touched the hand he had extended for her, only to find his arm beginning to crumble to pieces at her touch.
His eyes widened. "A-Anna, what are you doing to me? Stop it! No, stop!"
"Misaki! Please, don't leave me alone! Please!" she cried, watching as the final flame of the clan vanished and her world went pitch black.
Darkness engulfed her once again and she was welcomed by a thick, heavy silence, far too heavy for her liking.
"Please, don't...don't leave me alone," she whispered as she dropped to her knees, then brought them to her chest. The child sobbed softly, quietly.
What was she to do now? She was in complete solitude in a place where not even her abnormal sense of sight would be of any help to her. Everyone in the clan once called "Homra" was gone and only she remained. The friendly, warm people that had welcomed her with open arms had vanished, never to be seen again. Their organization had ended. The child was alone in complete confinement.
Suddenly, the ground began to moisten and her dress began to soak. She touched the ground, realizing that her hands were just as wet. It felt as if she'd sat in a puddle of water; however, it wasn't just a puddle and to her surprise, the amount of water began to increase. She stood up, realizing that the water had rapidly risen until it reached up to her knees.
What's going on? she thought.
Soon, the water rose up to her chest and as it kept on rising, she rose along with it until she reached the surface. The surface had been sealed by it; therefore, there was no place to escape. Anna attempted to break the surface open by hitting it with the palms of her hands as hard as her fragile body possibly could, but it was no use. She was unable to scream for help, for her voice went mute. What was the point in shouting for help? Her voice wouldn't reach anyone anyway.
The helpless child began breathing frantically as she realized she would drown.
Maybe, just maybe, it was better this way. She had already lost everything she had loved. If she was gone, she wouldn't have to suffer any longer, right? It was definitely better that way.
Her body began to sink and her blood-stained marbles rose to the surface. She let them rise, finding that she no longer had any use for them.
Her lungs began to fail and she began suffocating. Kushina Anna was gone.