(Update: March 20, 2021: Chapters being updated. Spelling and grammar are slowly being fixed.)
A dream is a wish your heart makes ~
When you're fast asleep ~
Alone. Alone.
Cold cold.
She hated these cold walls with a passion. With windows shut with white curtains, not even the sun could touch her skin. It was the typical look of a hospital room. Though it was far larger due to the number of machines she was connected to. It almost looked like she was a puppet trapped in a web of strings. Each machine irritated her as she heard the beeping sounds, they made. Big and small they were. Color white like the skin of a pale ghost. Each machine had a job to monitor her body. One her blood pressure. Two, her heartbeat. There was a hospital stretcher that allowed her to be moved immediately if something went seriously wrong. Another hospital machine that was connected to the wall showed X-rays of her bones. On it was also the results of her blood test and such.
Connect. Inject. Cut.
Agony. Pain.
Iron.
Must she suffer more...?
It was always the taste of iron in her mouth. She coughed into her hand and gritted her teeth once she saw the crimson liquid that is supposed to stay in her body, splatter on her hand. Today it was only small droplets, so she calls it lucky. She groans as she grabbed the paper towel roll next to her bed and ripped a sheet off. She wipes her hand and crumpled the paper and threw it.
"Yeet!" She said excitedly as she saw it made it into the trash can.
She hummed as she went back to her computer, where she was watching some guide videos to help her out in the newest game that was gifted to her. She would have preferred to go buy it herself since she is an adult.
"Tch. So much work." She grumbled as she continued to watch the video on her computer.
It was one of the few pieces of technology she has access to. To her, it was a blessing.
Knock knock.
Hearing the knocks on the metal doors, she saw them open automatically and revealed a young boy who seemed to be about 13. He carried a medium size case that she could tell inside was his guitar. He loved playing music.
"Hey sis, how are things?" The boy smiled at her and she smiled back.
Internally, the boy just wanted to burst out crying. She looked so pale. The rosy color of her cheeks was no longer there. There were dark circles under her eyes. Her once glowing light tan skin now had the sickly pale color. Her brown eyes were a bit red from crying, that he could tell. She was skinny, but not so much that people think she is malnourished. Her brown-colored hair looks dry and its glow was no longer there. The trash can was filled with crumpled paper that had red bloodstains on them. Her body was wrapped in bandages from the different surgeries she had but was hidden away thanks to the pale blue hospital dress that she wears. Multiple wires were connected around her arms and a few on her legs. The bed she sat on had white and blue bed sheets except for her blanket, which the hospital allowed her to have. It was blue colored one with a lion, eagle, and deer on it.
"Hey little bro, how are you? I hope your teachers aren't being too harsh or they might have to deal with the wrath of a former college professor." She giggled as he walked over to her.
He grabbed the chair that was next to the table where there were multiple bottles filled with different colored pills. He hid his grimace looking at so many bottle pills. He pulled the chair near her bed and saw she was watching a video game guide again.
"Watching Fire Emblem 3 Houses guides again sis?" He asked.
She nodded as she grabbed her Nintendo Switch that she had placed next to her laptop. She turned on the screen, revealing the games she had. She smiled as she found the one he just mentioned and opened it.
"Dun, dun, dun dunnn... " she lightly sang the tune of the starting screen.
He smiled at her sadly.
"Let me finish recruiting Bernadetta quickly and I'll help you with your math homework in a bit. Alright?" She smiled at him.
"Arisa...you don't have to..." he said, worried.
"I can do it myself now. I can finally understand the formula of a sphere!" He said proudly.
She just gave him a blank face and he chuckled nervously.
"Nice try Christian. A mi no me puedes engaƱar." She said.
"Shit.." he cursed internally.
She was a college professor(formally) after all.
"Aha. Lo sabia. You can't hide things under my eyes. But Christian, as I said before, as your older sister, I will help you. Regardless of my condition." Arisa smiled at him and patted his head.
He smiled at her sadly and nodded.
"So...I'm assuming you're recruiting Bernadetta because you finished the Church and Crimson Flower routes?" He said.
"Since I'm bedridden, I'll take my advantage and play my games. I rather be in my classroom at the university teaching my lesson about constellations and then teach at the nursing program, but sadly life likes to kick you where it hurts." She said.
"But yes, I can't bring myself to hurt my children!" She said.
"Yet you show no mercy when you give out midterms," Christian said back.
"You know very well it is for everyone's good. I was once a student myself when I was younger." She said.
"Well...you're 25 turning 26 in three days." He said.
"Tienes razon. Pero~" she sang, "Might as well live what I have left of my life in joy than bitterness." She giggled.
He smiled bitterly at that last part. He didn't want her to die.
"Anyhow," he said wanting to change the topic, "So your reason for recruiting Bernadetta?" He said.
"Her and Felix belong together." That was all his elder sister said.
He groaned into his hands. He swears her and her romances...
"How...are mom and dad by the way? And the rest of the family?" She asked a bit nervous.
"Mom is a wreck as is dad. Both constantly working because they want you to be okay. Our siblings are also doing okay. But all of us are coming on Saturday for your birthday. You know well no one ever misses that day." He smiles as she nodded.
Her fists pumped when she saw Bernadetta ask Female Byleth if she could join the Blue Lions. Of course, Arisa clicked the yes option. This was honestly her second play-through of the Blue Lions Route. It was her favorite. If she had to rate her favorites, it is Blue Lions, Golden Dear, Black Eagles, and lastly the church route.
"Okay, I'm done. I finished saving so take out your homework." She said as she finished saving her game and put her switch down.
Christian nodded and took out his folder, which had his math homework in it. He handed it to her, and she opened it. There were 14 questions and she pointed to three of them.
"This one is wrong. You need to divide. Remember, this formula is used to find the mass of the sphere, not the volume. Now, in this one, you do use the formula to find the volume, and in the last one, you must use both formulas. Y-cough cough!" She suddenly began coughing and he quickly ran to get her the small trash can and quickly handed it to her.
"Uurreegghhhhh!" She hurled in it and he rubbed her back gently.
"Cough! Cough! Thanks..." she said weakly as he handed her a small towel to wipe her mouth.
He saw the blood on her lips and his blood froze. She was getting worse.
"Could you hand me the bottle with the blue pill please?" She said and he nodded.
He handed it to her, and she opened it and with shaky hands, plopped one in her mouth and swallowed it with no water.
"Here..." he handed her favorite lavender tea, but no sugar in it.
She thanked him and gulped it down and handed him back the cup. He put it on the table.
"Sorry about that. Shall we get back to fixing those math problems?" She smiled at him as nothing happened.
He looked at her worried but nodded.
Behind the smile, she wore to make sure no one was so constantly over-worried about her, was a little girl that screamed and screamed nothing sorrowful words of pain and agony. Screaming why she had to be born like this? Why did her sickness have to come back and now ten times worse? Not only did her bone disease return, but she was also diagnosed with lung cancer and ovary cancer. She was anemic and worse; her immune system was deteriorating. Her bone disease was cured when she was 13 and she was more than happy to leave the damn hospital rooms. She was finally able to have a proper life. She went to school, graduated high school, and went to college. At age 22, she became a full-fledged professor and was teaching mathematics, astronomy, and dance. Her hobbies are fencing, martial arts, reading nothing but piles of books in her free time.
History, psychology, philosophy, geography, culture, mathematics, biology, art, language, folklore.
It was the only thing she ever had access to when she was a child. A simple book of fairy tales is what started it all. Her room in her house was filled with shelves and shelves of books to the point her parents put a limit on her of how many she could buy. When the shelf near the window in her hospital room was filled with books. But not just that. Games, soundtracks, and movies. Thank her elder brother for introducing her to otaku culture.
- Night -
"It's like this." She said as she opened her mouth.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" She sang beautifully.
Her brother smiled. He was the baby of the family. Arisa was the 3rd oldest. He noticed the clock and it was beginning to get late. He sighed and took out his guitar.
"Hey sis, can we sing Hanezeve Caradhina from Made in the Abyss?" He asked.
She smiled and nodded.
"Of course." Arisa smiled.
He smiled and he began to gently pluck the strings to the notes. He sang softly because he wanted to hear his sister's voice. He always sang lightly. Because...he may never hear it again...
"Ha la la ha se la ha la le lu
Si vi bi le shi dhina how we le la la le li la
Hanezeve caradhina
Ha la la ha la for the ha la he le le le
Le le le col we le la ka la li la hanezeve yu lu mai ni
Ha la la ha ze la ha la le lu
Si vi bi leshi dhina how we le la la le li la Hanezeve caradhina
Ko do wo do hon do hon dow
He le le le le le le ho we le low
he le le le Hanezeve yu lu mai ni
Ha la la ha ze la ha la le lu
Si we bi le shi dhina how we le la la le li la
hanezeve caradhina"
From outside the hospital room, the nurses and doctors hummed softly to the song. And from the door, Arisa's best friend was silently crying as she heard her friend sing to the music her brother played. She turned around and ran through the hallways and into the bathroom, where she burst out crying.
"Why why...?! Why must you take her away from us God?! She didn't deserve this!" She cried.
She was her best friend. She didn't want Arisa to go through such pain. She didn't deserve it.
"If only...God if you do exist...if she does die...please...grant her a healthy body in her next life..." she whimpered.
- 2 days later: 5 minutes before midnight to become the third day -
With the curtains opened, she laid on her bed looking at the ceiling. She wore her oxygen mask and looked at the letter she had placed next to a vase with flowers. Her body was getting weaker, her heart rate becoming more sluggish and she felt her body becoming colder for some reason.
"Hhmmmm...hhmmm..hmm..." she sang Isabella's lullaby to herself.
She slowly turned her head towards the window and smiled sadly.
The stars...how beautiful they are...
Little to big balls of light...
They all have different meanings...
Is there life out there...?
They say the stars are the souls of those who have passed on.
"I still want to live..." she muttered softly as she reached out her hand towards them.
It hurt. Her whole body hurt with that single movement. She didn't care.
"Just a little more...just a little more...Just a little longer" her eyelids feel heavy and she was starting to have this overwhelming feeling to sleep.
The strength in her body was almost gone but she smiled as a lone tear fell from her eye.
"I caught one..." were her last words as her hand dropped down heavily.
On her lips...remained a happy smile, because, in that final moment, she was able to touch a star.
- The Next Day -
"I hope she likes these!" With a cheerful smile and her red hair tied into a ponytail, her honey-colored eyes gleamed with joy as she made her way to her friend's room.
She carried a vase with her friend's favorite flowers, which were white lilies. She always came one hour earlier than her friend's family. It was a special moment for them. The two women would always talk about different animes they watched and such. As she made a turn to the left, she saw her friend's door open and walked in. The room was cleared of the machines and bookshelves. She was Professor in Criminology but also had another job of making different guns. Also, she was a motorcyclist. She was confused at first till she saw the doctor come in and looked at her surprised.
"Ms. Theresa! Wha...what are you doing here?" The doctor said.
"Today my class starts late so I decided to come and pay my fellow professor and friend a visit. Has she been transferred to another room?" Theresa asked.
The doctor looked at her sadly and spoke calmly.
As the doctor spoke the next words, time seemed to slow down, and a ringing in her ear began. Her smile left her face in an instant as her hands became loose and the vase shatters on the floor. Water spilled all over, the petals of the lilies ripped, and some fell apart.
"No...you're lying...she...she..." Theresa began and the doctor looked at her sadly.
"I'm sorry for your loss." He said.
She walked further into the room and was silent.
"Please close the door. I need a moment." That was all she said, and he did just that.
The nurses nearby looked worried and the doctor shook his head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Everyone looked down to the floor as they heard the woman's screaming voice. Her curses and wails filled the hallways. Theresa screamed all of her emotions out. Her friend was gone. Her friend was gone. Arisa had saved her during a difficult time she was going through when she was 14.
"I'm still holding on to some heavy baggage
Hey, what kind of tomorrow
Am I supposed to look for in this town?
AAAAHHHHHHHH!"
She sang and screamed her heart out.
- 1 week later -
With the gray sky that seemed to be weeping with her, Theresa placed the boutique of flowers on the tombstone. In her hand, was the letter that her friend wrote. She cried and whispered..
"My friend...should we ever meet again one day in another life...I pray you to have a healthy body...for you to smile and to have the strength to walk on your own two feet. To run, to play, to fall in love. For you to make your own family and meet your beloved. I will serve you...and protect you...my dear friend..."
(End of Prologue: Under the Stars, Just a little longer)
Welcome to the Prologue of my newest story! And I can already see the millions of pitchforks coming at me. Look, I'll be truthful with you all, I have not had much energy these past few years because of the university. But now that I am now doing what I love, I have found my moment to enjoy manga, anime, and writing again. I won't be constantly writing, and my updates will be slow. This is my first attempt at writing a Fire Emblem Fan Fic. I will be adding a few of my own elements. This story was inspired by an artwork by funyanrinpa. The artwork was what if Sothis was with Byleth since their childhood days? I really loved it and with me recently being able to buy Three Houses and Awakening, this story was born.
Now for my OC information:
This story will mainly focus on Arisa and around midway, we will start to focus a bit more on Theresa and Christian. Now, when will they appear again? That I will not say. In the next chapter, I will give more details on how I have officially decided to turn the 2 prototype chapters in my one-shot book into an official AU fanFic.
Enjoy everyone!
