Hello! I finished this awhile back. Just enjoy it, 'kay?
CHP 6: Your Past and Mine
Zazie shook the girl in his arms as he called out her name. After the crash, he was able to catch Azure and dragged her into a cave of sort. Their dingoes were separated from them as the gaichuu tried to enter the cave. It kept on crashing the entrance, attracting some rocks above it. Soon the rocks fell and blocked the entrance.
"Tsk...! If only I could shoot that gaichuu, but I can barely move," he muttered.
"W-Where am I?" Azure asked, looking around.
"We're in a dimension that I called Requiem," a voice answered.
A female figure who was about her size popped in front of her. She had dark cerulean hair, matching Azure's spirit amber colour. The woman had a smile which reminded Azure of her late mother. The woman held out her hand to the girl but she backed away. She was already confused that they were floating in midair and spirit ambers of all colours were flying about around them.
She asked in a stutter, "W-Who are you?"
"I am Lapis Lazuli, the spirit guardian of your family, the Lapis family..." the woman explained, pointing at Azure's spirit amber, "That is why a spirit amber resides in your body. Apparently, each time a descendent died, she will be replaced by a new one..."
Azure touched her spirit amber. She asked, "Are you saying that my mother was your former descendent?"
Smiling, Lapis Lazuli nodded. "Yes...you're next since you have azure spirit amber, the exact same amber as your mother..." she replied.
"What do you mean by being 'replace'? I don't get it..." the girl muttered, looking down.
Lapis explained that once she can be summoned when Azure needed her help. However, Azure must give her body and life up to do so. The spirit added that she would live in Azure's place, replacing the girl permanently, but do not inherit her memories. She said that the people who have shared Azure's life with her would not forget the girl.
Azure frowned sadly, "It sounds like I'm dead to them..."
Gazing at her expression, the spirit spoke up, "But, I'm not forcing you to do this..."
"Is there a way to break your pact with the Lapis family?" Azure thought out loud.
"I...do not know..." the woman gave out a sweet smile, looking at Azure, "You sounded like your mother..."
"My...mother?" Azure muttered.
Nodding, Lapis said to the girl, "Sapphire Lapis... She tried to find a way too...she did her best but to no avail..."
"Did you take her body...?" the girl in front of her asked, eager to know the answer.
The woman smiled again. She created a memory projector, showing some parts of Sapphire's memory.
"Lapis Lazuli, save my family!" a blonde in her late twenties begged.
"I shall, but you knew the cost..." Lapis said sadly.
Gulping, the woman nodded. She muttered, "Yes...and the wish?"
"Your wish is?" the spirit asked.
"Live as me, Lapis...live as Sapphire Lapis! My daughters need me, my family needs me! I...must be there for them...!" the woman sobbed.
"Your wish will be granted...I shall live as you..."
Azure watched as the projector showed Sapphire hugging her two daughters: Azure and Diamond. Another picture showed Sapphire giving Diamond a bath as Azure watched. More pictures showed how happy they were, celebrating birthdays, baking cakes together, cooking together, doing the house chores together and giving Excallibur his very first bath when he was a cub. The projector disappeared after that. Azure turned to Lapis Lazuli, her eyes widened in despair.
"So, after all this time...since Dia was one year old...you're the one who've been taking care of me...of us?" the silver haired girl asked.
Lapis blinked sadly at the girl. "Yes...I did not have the guts to tell you. I'm sorry..."
Chewing on her bottom lip and clenching her fists, the girl muttered, "Lapis, I'll find a way to break this pact...and you'll be free, right?"
Stunned by her words, the spirit replied, "Yes, I shall live as a spirit but a free one...you would do that for me?"
"You gave me a very memorable childhood after mother vanished. I owed you...I guess..." the girl sighed.
The spirit's eyes welled up as she was trying to hold her tears. Azure went closer and wiped the tears away. She smiled softly at her family spirit guardian. Lapis took out a small pair of wings from her hands. The wings disappeared and formed around Azure's spirit amber.
"I shall protect you, Azure Lapis..." Lapis Lazuli vowed.
"Thank you..." Azure muttered, a single tear appeared under a right eye.
Azure's eyes fluttered open when cold wind hit her. She shivered, looking around for warmth. The place was dim with only a bit of light piercing through a small hole between the rocks. She realised that a coat was on top of her and it was definitely not hers.
"You're awake?" a voice, most common to her, asked.
She turned to the owner. "Zazie...?"
Zazie scoffed. She noticed that his coat seemed to be absent and above all, he looked really cold. She could see that he was trying to hide that fact as he came closer to her. He put his right hand onto her forehead. The girl blushed furiously, staring hard at his hand. As if moving by themselves, her hands pushed him away. She turned away from him.
"Well...it seems like someone's embarrassed..." Zazie teased.
She shouted back at him, "I am not!"
Smirking, he explained, "Don't get the wrong idea. I was just checking your temperature. I don't want you getting sick or Sub-Director would kill me!"
Shoving his coat at him, she turned her back to him. She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them, trying to warm herself. Zazie didn't say a word. He took a step closer to her, covering her back with his coat. The girl looked up to see him. She gazed into his eyes as they showed how caring he was. He abruptly sat beside her.
"I really don't know what the higher ups are thinking; making the female Letter Bees wear short sleeve shirts and short skirts. I'm sure you're much colder than me. You lost your coat when you were falling. You shot about four gaichuus and collapsed. Another one showed up but I still hadn't regained my strength at the time. So, I had to drag you here with me while our dingoes distract it," he explained.
"Excallibur and Wasiolka?" the girl asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure they're looking for help now. Just rest assure. I don't know about your dingo, but my Wasiolka will never leave me behind- Ouch!" he suddenly cried out.
Azure had hit him on the head because of his remarks about her dingo. The boys glared towards her as he sat up straight, resting his back on the hard rocks. Azure rolled her eyes at him. However, she was quite thankful that he lent her his coat. She snuggled into it, smiling to herself.
"Hey...before we fell..." Zazie startled, glancing up at the girl, "You said you became a Letter Bee to run away... Run away from what?"
Chuckling nervously, she replied, "If I tell you, will you tell me why you like killing gaichuus?"
"Wha?" Zazie was speechless.
Azure puckered her lips to look cute. Her eyes seemed to be sparkling as they gazed at the boy. Zazie looked away, slightly flustered. He nodded slowly.
"Okay...I shouldn't tell you much though. Do you remember Dia's death?" Azure asked Zazie.
"How she had died you meant? Does that have something to do with you running away?" the boy asked.
Nodding, the girl continued, "After becoming a bee, Dia's safety was assured because she can stay with Aunt Sandra while I work. At night, I would be baking breads with her, so we'd go home late. Simply put, I'm running away from the house I'm living in..."
"Your home?" Zazie asked.
"Home? I guess that's one way to call it..." she sighed resting her chin between her knees.
Zazie didn't know what she was going through in her house, but he was sure that it was something she hates a lot. He stared at the girl. Azure glanced up to him, urging him to tell her his story. The boy took off his cap, scratching his head after that. He spaced out for awhile.
"In short, my parents were literally killed by a gaichuu. Their hearts were eaten when they tried to protect me," he said.
Putting her right hand on his left one, the girl muttered "Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
"It's not like I care whether you knew or not..." Zazie avoided Azure's gaze.
Suddenly, they heard a shouting voice, "Resound! Akabari!" An explosion came after that.
"Azure, you okay?!" another voice was heard.
"Niche, Lag-kun! We're in here!" Azure shouted.
"You should stand back! Niche's going to break the rocks!" Zazie pulled her.
He turned around, covering her as the rocks broke into smaller pieces. Niche and Lag made an appearance. Lag was wearing a very worried expression. He helped the two out of the cold cave.
"Are you hurt?" Lag asked Azure.
"No, we're not. I'm fine, Lag-kun. Zazie saved me after all," the girl smiled sweetly.
Sighing, the silver haired boy muttered, "I'm glad."
"It's a great help that you come and get us, but we still have letters to deliver. Ann is waiting after all," Zazie interrupted Lag and Azure's conversation.
"R-Right. Umm...why don't all three of us go then? It'll be a lot safer and we can take turns to fight gaicchuus..." Azure suggested.
Lag and Zazie agreed. Wasiolka greeted Zazie while Excallibur licked Azure's cheek. Azure hugged her dingo dearly, thanking him for finding help. They started their walk to Honey Waters again. They got there when the last bell for the day rang. Ann was loyally waiting for them at the fountain. However, her patient was wearing off.
"You sure are late?" she said to them, huffing.
"Sorry, we got caught up in a mess just now," Zazie replied.
"Where's your coat?!" Ann asked, surprised that Zazie was only wearing half of the uniform.
Chuckling nervously, he explained that he had lost it when fighting the gaichuus. Azure was the only one who knew that it was a complete lie. Ann sighed, saying that Zazie was being as reckless as always. She told them that she wanted to talk to Zazie personally, so Lag and Azure decided to deliver the letters.
"We'll meet up at the entrance once everyone is done with their part," Zazie decided.
"Okay!" Lag and Azure replied in unison.
Azure was the last one to complete her job. She apologised for being late. Her reason was that one of the recipients invited her for supper. To show hospitality as a Letter Bee, Azure said that she could not turn down the invitation.
"I've brought you each a muffin from her..." she said, taking two muffins out of her bag.
"Whoaaa! Thanks!" Lag said, taking it.
Zazie took his share too. After eating, they started their walk back to Yuusari. As they were walking, a gaichuu Cider popped up which confused them because they were not carrying any letters. Before it could attack, Niche picked it up and Lag shot its weak spot. It exploded in no time. Some fragments of Lag's shot landed on Azure's spirit amber, revealing her past. A screen was formed in front of the three and their dingoes. The girl widened her eyes when she saw what was projected...
"Listen here, my dear two daughters... Don't let anyone find out about you having spirit ambers on your body. If they do, trouble will arise..." a woman with an azure spirit amber on her forehead muttered.
"You called for me, Sis Sapphire?" a blond young man came in after a few minutes.
"Ah...you came," Sapphire smiled weakly.
She was on her bed, with her daughters by her side. The two daughters were crying as the doctor had announced that their mother was in a critical state.
"Why are you doing this?" the man asked.
Smiling, the woman explained, "I am dying...and I can't take of my daughters properly anymore. I don't want them to suffer... Hagel, you're the only relative of my husband I can trust them with..."
Hagel stared at the two daughters. The younger one was a blonde with dark purple eyes, matching Sapphire's eyes. She had a cloth, with the capital letter 'D', tied around her forehead. The older one had silver hair with soft blue eyes, matching her late father's eyes. She was wearing a scarf around her neck.
"I will do my best to take care of them!" Hagel vowed.
The screen disappeared and another one popped up, showing Azure's dark past...
The thirteen-year-old Azure was shoved onto the bed. Diamond and Excallibur were separated from her. The girl was crying hard.
"I don't wanna do it! It hurts a lot!" she cried.
"Are you disobeying me?! Do you want Diamond to die?!" Hagel shouted to the girl.
Azure's sobbed subsided. She hiccupped a few times as she sat on the bed. Her Uncle exited the room with a smirk on his face. Soon, the door barged open and a complete stranger stood there. His face looked like a predator, ready to eat its prey.
The screen disappeared after that. Azure heaved a sigh because she was glad that the two boys would not be able to know the rest.
"W-Well...l-let's get going back now..." Lag said, sweat dropping.
Azure glanced up at Zazie as the boy did the same thing. They turned away from each other's gaze after that.
"Azure's face red. You okay?" Niche asked the girl, staring at her face.
"I-I'm fine, Niche. Thanks for being concern," Azure patted the girl's head.
They quickened their pace so that gaichuus would not have time to catch up to them, or so they thought.
Now that you're done. I would like to express something here. Maybe, the admins of this website will hate me for it, but I can't shut up.
To those who see Muslims as terrorists...please prove it, ok?
I am a Muslim myself and I've seen what is happening in Gaza and Palestine.
So I would like to express how sad I am to see my sisters and brothers murdered and killed.
Most people turned a deaf ear towards this...but I can't. They are of the same religion as me...
No...
They are of the species as me...they are also HUMANS...
What I'm trying to say is...get rid of the ideals of thinking that Muslims are terrorists, unless you have proofs.
You don't need to be a Muslim to realise what is happening over there is not humanity at all...you just need to be human.
So, my fellow readers,
Please pray for my dear sisters and brothers in Gaza and Palestine...I beg of you...whoever you are...