Chapter -3: Onto Mourning

Just as the petals rise to greet the sun, eventually, they must all fall towards the dirt.

The beauty of nature has never been demanding or jealous.

It's calm, triumphant, and most importantly, a friendly face on dark days.

You'll never remember that random flower you found out in the open.

But that one who happened to always be in path will root itself in your thoughts without realizing it.

The death of Carmine planted the seeds of sorrow in the hearts of his entire village.

He was carried off on a bed of a thousand petals and leaves, wreathed by his favorite flower.

The smile he left this world with lingered in so many minds.

His wife and daughter stood closest to the funeral walk. Acai was dead silent, pale, shivering…

The trees hung their branches and opened the way forward, deeper towards the Titan's resting place.

The colors were flushed with melancholic hues and the light did not poke through the widow leaves.

For many, this would be their first presentation of the Titan's majesty…

Barely able to stand, neck hung and limp, and dew seeping out from the leaves in the canopy above it.

Only the funeral carriers, Mos, and Carmine's family were allowed to get in close.

Ividae craned its head down and poked Carmine with its snout.

The trees rustled with a soft creak as Ividae poked the body again.

Acai stood by, a tender heart yearning for movement.

Ividae craned their head up and a wooden cry echoed throughout the forest, bringing more dew to rain down from the canopy.

They splashed upon Acai's face and rolled down from her slowly widening eyes.

Ividae then took its roots and wrapped them around the body, gently bringing it to the mystical dirt beneath where they both once napped together.

When the roots came to nestle in the dirt once more, Ividae began to moan some more, heard throughout the forest.

A good man was born in this forest, and now, he will be returned to it…Living alongside his best friend in spirit, until the last petal wilts…

Acai's breathing grew heavier and louder by the second, her chest tight and suffocating.

"NO!" She screamed, ripping away from her mom's grasp to dive at the roots entangling her father.

Tearfully with all her strength, she started tearing the roots off only for them to be replaced with more.

"I didn't mean any of it…! PLEASE…! Wake up daddy…! I'm sorry…I'm sorry…!"

Ividae summoned extra roots to try and gently push her away, but she threw herself on top of her dad's sinking body and screamed, "NO! LET GO OF HIM…! I-I want him back…! He's not dead…! He-He can't be dead…!"

She was left to cry as the remaining mourners paid their respects to Carmine, and reverence and thanks to Ividae for treating him this way.

One by one the citizens vacated the resting place of the weary Titan, until only Acai remained.

She cried and she cried until there were no more tears left to shed.

And when there was no sadness left to spare, in its place…anger sprouted.

She curled her fists atop her father's body and heaved heavily, taking a moment to choke on the humid air surrounding her.

She had one serious, guided question to ask.

"...Y-You know who killed my dad, don't you?"

The Titan was as stiff as the trees surrounding it, it's normally mythical visage now bathed in deep purple light.

"...Do you want to get revenge on them too?" She asked, coming off subtly as a plea of desperation.

A long silence. Then…the Titan's head wobbled.

Acai let out a shuddering gasp and then grinned, raising her head with bloodshot eyes and the light giving her face a hint of primal ferocity.

"Let's go." She uttered.

Ividae put his vine upon her shoulders much like he did for her father before her.

And then after putting Carmine to rest beneath the dirt, Acai picked herself up and ran out of the forest.

To find the killer…with silver hair.

Their second victim, Brine, had been returned to his home, before friends, family and precious ones without a hint of warning.

The sea washed away the pieces of the dead army, the fish were scared off from approaching the main lands, and the waters lacked their luster.

For the people of Aquamoria, what was there to celebrate?

They faced all that hardship for nothing.

There was plenty of talk far and wide about the type of man Brine was. Even at his most vulnerable he was someone who woke up every day with a smile.

His dreams, once worth mocking, were now being sung with high praise.

He did fish up the greatest fish in the sea.

He did learn to travel the waters.

He even conquered his fear of swimming.

His name was worth passing down as a legend for generations to come.

Still, many tears had to be shed before they could reach this realization.

And the truly damning sign that their favorite fisherman had died, was that the daughter he left behind was refusing to show her face to anyone.

Her smile was the kind that seemed impenetrable, and now she refused to show it…If it was even there at all.

She worked tirelessly to assemble a small boat to put her father onto.

It was the end he would have wanted…to be with the sea he loved as much as everyone else.

Torren kept her distance from this scene and mourned on her hands and knees in the sand.

With every heavy breath, an image of the time she spent with Brine appeared in her head.

"Brine…" Her heart felt like it was being split like the sea.

A shadow fell over her and she looked up. And there was Lulu, staring at her with dead eyes.

Torren bit her lower lip right as Lulu kicked her straight in the jaw, knocking her across the sand onto her back.

"Why are ya still here…?" Lulu muttered.

A shivering Torren rose towards her while grabbing her stomach.

Lulu stepped up, squeezed her fist, and smashed it across her face to leave a notable bruise.

"We were happy together…! Just the three of us…!" Lulu cried out, her voice cracked with pain.

Torren staggered and started to cry some more, sharing the same pain Lulu had on her face.

But Lulu refused to see her own reflection, only the hate in her heart.

She threw her fists down and her screams penetrated back into the village, "But ya had to worm yer way back into his life…! And now…now he's dead…! BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Torren said in a shrill, defeated voice.

"Sorry sorry sorry! It's always sorry with ya…!" Lulu threw her arm out and scowled, "Ya never think…! Ya never act…! Yer just dead weight draggin' everyone down with ya!"

Lulu thrust her finger at her and was trembling for control over her emotions, "There are good men out there who didn't deserve to die. But you? I should've thrown yer worthless hide ta Justek the moment he asked."

Torren caught her breath and stopped trembling, "Maybe you should have…but I'm still here now. Because of her."

"No…" Lulu's eyes widened with sadness, "You stay away from her!"

Torren's memories left her sad, but at the same time, reminded her of the courage Brine shared with her.

With a big smile, she stood against Lulu and told her, "I'm not running away anymore. Tina needs me now more than ever."

"She's already got someone. ME!"

Torren was about to take another step forward when Lulu shouted, "Ya sorry excuse of a mother! If ya budge another inch, I'll gut you!"

Torren recoiled with a sickly feeling in her gut. With a deep swallow she approached this in a different way, "You don't think I can protect her…"

She then put her fist against her chest and declared, "I…I know who killed Brine. I'll stop her. You'll see. Then I'll return for my daughter."

She twirled around and ran for the south.

Leaving Lulu to stay and shouted from the weakness in her heart, "That's right…run and lie! That's all yer GOOD FOR!"

After she huffed her last breaths she turned around to find Tina standing there with a silent expression.

Lulu began to sweat and her pupils shrank. She ran up to Tina and tried turning her around, "C'mon…w-we need to finish that boat…"

"I already did…Auntie Lulu, did I hear you right? Torren…i-is my mother?"

Lulu forced her back around and grabbed onto her shoulders with shaking hands, "She's a nobody. I'm yer mother…"

All she saw in those sweet little eyes was the guiding hand of curiosity overpowering her.

"I…need to follow her." Tina slipped out of Lulu's grasp, only for her to turn around and grab onto her arm tighter.

"No! I can't lose ya too…!"

Lulu broke down crying and sniffled, "Yer all that I've got left…"

Tina turned and gently laid her hand over Lulu's arm, "It's gonna be ok, Auntie Lulu."

In the heaviest of times, Tina raised her smile high like sunshine, "Daddy is still watching over me and…he wants me to go."

Lulu lost all strength with a paralyzed gasp, and as Tina slipped away and ran into the wastes she fell onto her hands and knees broken down and weak.

This was the damage Lilith left in the wake of her "pure" ambitions.

And she basked in its afterglow. Despite losing that worthless girl, she took out two pests and now saw that the path before her was clear for her to rule.

Presenting herself before her devoted followers as Mother Divine one more time, her holy light basked over their tired faces and turned them away from the metallic carnage at their feet.

Her most loyal warriors stepped out from the palace behind her as she drew her hands towards the horizon and proclaimed with soothing divinity, "My cherished children! You know much distress…but fear not."

"I have received a divine vision from our saintly light, and it has revealed the face of the devils who have allowed this pain and suffering to sweep our poor home…"

With the utmost glee constrained on her face she declared, "It is Borealis Aurora of the Ten Sages! He hides many a devil in his walls."

"But fret not, for our saintly light has entrusted me with the most virtuous of tasks. To purge every last devil once and for all, to upkeep the sanctity of this world where even that treacherous Elemental Overlord has failed…"

She then graced these sheep with a poisonous smile, "I cannot do it alone. I ask you all to join me, take your place at my side in this righteous crusade!"

The warriors descended down the stairs carrying bags filled to the brim with the masks of Glade's pristine craftsmanship.

As they began to be handed out in droves, the citizenry's eyes knew only a lack of guidance.

And Lilith's tongue slithered into their ears, "You will have the strength to carry out salvation in my name…Just put on those masks, and silence the darkness of doubt in your hearts."

The masks went on without another word, and soon, Lilith saw her dream realized.

Thousands and thousands, listening to her, embracing her. For she stood above all as the voice of reason in an insane world.

No more need to wear a mask, her lips split with the utmost sublime smile as her eyes glazed over with glistening light.

The citizens fell into a unified kneeling pose, extending like a wave from the steps to deep within the city.

And with one moist smack of her lips, her heart quivered, "You may do whatever you want…but Borealis' head is MINE."

Sarajin needed a moment's rest to clear his head, and home had always been there for him through thick and thin.

The cold late evening air was welcome as he landed on a familiar spot. For a moment, he saw his younger self dashing towards him, ready to leap off and explore the world.

Everything was so big back then and now…it was too small.

He took a deep breath and walked through the village. People were outside, cleaning up, but the damages weren't too heavy.

All the Vortexians that struck here fell to the surface and were destroyed.

But because they WERE here, that could only mean he had been too.

Yet throughout Sarajin's long walk through his home, he couldn't feel his presence. It was just familiar people, and the Titan perched atop their tower.

Eventually he found his dad standing on that rickety bridge leading to their home, his eyes looking up at the night sky as the moon was beginning to set.

"Sorry for taking so long, dad." Sarajin approached with a wave of the hand.

His dad turned to greet him and his heavy eyes made Sarajin stop with caution.

"..." His dad closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.

Sarajin felt a cord tug in his chest and gulped, then walked closer. With a growing pale hue on his face he murmured, "I-Is…"

He silenced himself as a shield, then walked behind his dad and remarked, "There's…a lot to go over, but I'm going to see mom first and let her know I'm ok."

Darnia tightened his hands around the rope and trembled.

Sarajin felt a chill down the back of his spine and turned to face him.

Darnia averted his eyes, whispering under his breath, "Why…?"

Sarajin grabbed him on the shoulder and let out a forceful, "Hey."

When they were looking at each other, Sarajin bit his teeth and muttered, "What. Happened?"

Darnia opened his mouth and let out a dry gasp before shaking his head. He then stood and reached out for his son's shoulder, his eyes looking damp.

Sarajin's eyes shifted over time and his heart tightened.

He spun around and dashed across the bridge in an instant, swerving, stumbling and charging into his home gasping for air.

He then ran up the stairs and into his parents' room, where after turning his head around frantically he found his mom laying on the bed.

Her hair had become as white and soft as clouds and she was laying in a slump against the head of the bed.

She was comfortably lying under three sheets with knitting needles at her sides. She was trying to pick one up, but her fingers rattled and struggled to hold onto them.

"Tsk…" She uttered with mild frustration.

She looked up at her son and remarked, "Sarajin…is that you?"

Sarajin dropped to his knees next to her and reached for the top sheet, pulling it up to reveal that the middle sheet had soaked up an unhealthy amount of blood.

Sarajin bit his lower lip and looked his mother straight in the eyes.

She turned away with a faint smile to gaze out the window at the stars, "Is everyone ok out there?"

"Y-Yeah…?" Sarajin murmured.

She tilted her head and whispered, "Are you?"

Sarajin got goosebumps and with a gentle sniffle, shook his head.

"N-No…" He whimpered, trying to hold on to his strength.

She reached out to touch the side of his face but if Sarajin didn't see it, he never would have known. Her fingers were so fragile, the slightest breeze would have turned them to dust.

Yet they were undoubtedly hers, because of the heavy lifting her heart put into that touch.

"...I-It feels like everything's falling apart around me, mom. I can't…I can't lose you too."

"Heh heh," She chuckled with a hint of her spirit, "You…haven't needed me for a long time."

Sarajin's smile rose forcibly, "Of course I do…you're my mom."

"...I've loved the wind. I've loved the sun…and I've loved you every day…That's the best gift a mother can provide to their son, and you'll carry that…even once I'm gone."

"But…who will be there to greet me in the morning? Or make eggs that aren't too soft, but not too runny? With that little tiny bit of herbs dashed inside…and…and…"

His mom chuckled, "You have your own family for that now."

Sarajin clenched his teeth and pleaded with her from his heart, "But I promised YOU that you'd live to see a peaceful world…Please! You have to hold on just a little bit longer, mom!"

She laid her head against the pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

"Thank you, Sarajin…For giving me the strength to live a long, happy life."

Sarajin started to get more forceful, rising to his feet and holding the bed down, "I'm begging you…"

Her eyelids began to wilt with a smile on her face, "I…can see the world you will create so vividly in my mind."

"It's…beauti…"

Her eyes closed with the faintest whisper, and a few seconds later her hand draped over the side of the bed.

Tears swelled in Sarajin's eyes and he dropped to his knees and slumped on top of his mother's cold body.

Darnia quietly slipped into the room and upon seeing his wife's peaceful expression, closed his eyes and gave a heartbroken soliloquy, "Rest your soul, my brave, beautiful starling…"

Minutes later, word spread of Misty's parting.

The kindness she showed to other generations was repaid in them preparing a special casket for her to be laid to rest among the clouds.

Sarajin sat away from all this, his head hunched against his legs and his body's tension at an all time high.

His eyes were parched and forcibly looking past his knees to the sun cresting the horizon.

The first hint of morning light exposed the last tears rolling down his cheeks, and made the confusion on his face even more present.

His father approached him cautiously from behind, whispering with an outstretched hand, "You should rest…It's been a long day."

"I keep doing this…" Sarajin muttered with a shiver coursing down his back.

"Every time I think things are going to get better…I'm reminded of just how weak I am."

"...I-I didn't save the world fast enough, and now mom's not going to be around to see it. Not her, not Carmine, not Brine…!"

Darnia's hand shook as he reached out again, "My son…"

Sarajin rose with ferocity and clenched his fists as he spun around, the sunlit hues forming a halo around his body that drenched him in a horrific, bitter and melancholic shadow.

"I don't know what's happened to Auris…Justek tried to KILL HIMSELF just to make my dream a reality, and now he could be imprisoned or executed for it…!"

"It's all happening too fast, and I can't handle it! I feel…like I'm losing my grip on myself again…!"

"When does it STOP?! Why…why does the universe keep fighting to hurt us?!"

Darnia lowered his hand into a fist and steadied his gaze, "We have to accept pain into our lives…For enduring it makes our love that much stronger."

He then braved ahead with an attempt to reach out to his son's shoulder, "I know it is difficult to accept, but that is the lesson your mother wants you to cherish…"

Sarajin shoved his hand off and looked at him with eyes half open and a small scowl, "I can't…I brought this pain upon everyone else. It's been my responsibility to live up to my promises, and I couldn't…!"

"I can't afford to wait any longer…I need to bring peace to this world right now."

He started to turn around when Darnia pointed out, "I've seen that dreadful look in your eyes too many times before. Stop and think about what you're about to do, Sarajin!"

Sarajin looked over his shoulder and muttered, "You can't stop me, dad."

Darnia froze in a state of defeated acceptance. And with his head hung he felt his son depart, guided by the melancholic winds surrounding him.

He fell towards one knee as his heart was attacked, but remained strong against the cruelty of time.

"Oh Misty…I wish there was something I could do."

But this was out of many people's hands now.

Fates were converging upon Sancturia one after the other.

And at the end of this journey…what would become of them all?

Next Time: The Demon Unraveled