Disclaimer: Don't own any of the healing items/ summons/ jobs, those are Squaresofts. This is non-profit fun.
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She is and always was the one keeper of my heart
Summoning the voice of God with her footsteps
Wisdom and grace in simple words
Golden optimism like magic can spark hope
Beautiful doesn't begin to describe her
A soft healing touch, comforting and gentle
Green eyes that delve deep into your soul
And a smile that can make you feel like the man you're supposed to be
She pulls you in without ever trying
Light and life swirl in her aura
When she sings your chaos is tamed
And when she cries, you'd rearrange the laws of nature just to make her stop.
Sweet Angel Tragic Priestess Forlorn Goddess Average Girl.
-Aleura, by Pen
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Barely stopping to park, he hopped off his
bike, ripping the black helmet from off his head. His heart
sickened, the helmet dropped loosely from his grip He had seen
the smoke rising from the trees as he drove up, dread hit him at
that moment, but he never imaginedthis.
The blackened trees stripped and broken as flames still clung to
their now dead, hanging branches. The welcoming arch spilt in
two, crushed underneath it's rubble some unfortunate monk
and priestess. He knew them, but not closely and now he never
would. Violently, he rushed up the long stretch of stairs in
hopes that this wasn't real, that it was all a lie and the
monastery would be fine when he got to the top. He reached the
top, but his breath stopped in his throat.
The majesty of the monastery, it's curvaceous and peaceful
elegance, were now marred and gutted ruins. Countless bodies
bloodied the ground, their familiar faces cast in horrific
stares. Unconsciously, Ashen walked forward, wide eyes scanning
in a trance the destruction that was all too familiar to him. It
was unreal, like walking into a nightmare waiting to wake up. The
crystal clear creeks carrying limbs and bloody clothes in a murky
red stream. Beautiful green gardens full of flowers and life now
reeked of the dead and raged with fire. Spacious halls he used to
walk in were compacted with debris from the upper floor that no
longer existed.
He wandered aimlessly, lost in this vast death, confused if this
was the past or really the present. Suddenly, his foot snagged on
something and he crashed to the ground, bringing him back into
reality when he came eye to eye with a pale familiar face.
"Kazu" He uttered aloud in a slow hoarse whisper.
It was a second later that he realized that it was Kazu's
headonly. On his hands and knees, Ashen skittered back a
foot staring aghast at the perfectly severed head of the
good-hearted humorous monk; his body came into view a few feet
away. Right next to Kazus body was another slumped to the
side against a tree and missing his right arm all the way to the
shoulder, it was Sesshin. It looked like they died defending each
other.
Ashen forced himself to his feet, never taking his eyes off the
two which were the closest thing to friends he's ever had.
The way he was reacting made it seem like he had never seen
things like this before, but he had, he was the cause of scenes
like this before. Yet he scampered around this devastation like a
war victim, traumatized and lost.
He came upon the crumbling innards of the sanctuary, his legs
lead him here with a will of their own. Incense was still burning
and by the way the dead were dressed, it looked like they were in
the middle of a ceremony. Trailing the tattered floor to the
altar his red eyes fixed on two particular bodies. He came closer
seeing one body drooping over the other.
"Nara Yukai" He whispered their identities
to himself. Eyeing the slash across Nara's back as she
covered Yukai protectively. His sight trailed her clothing, odd
garments he'd never seen her in. Lavender and gold dress
with an iridescent shawl. Where has he seen those? The question
plagued his mind.
Her image came to mind.
"Aleura!" he gasped, his mind crisp and clear to his
purpose for being here, only to be sickened with a foreboding
sense. With the speed of a crazed demon, he ran from the
sanctuary.
~***~
He ran through the grove to where he knew the outer altar to be,
a place she would pray by herself when troubled. It was the first
place he thought to look for her, yet the last place she might
be. Despite this he ran on, his breathing came in ragged puffs
but he didn't care. She was all he cared about right now.
His running came to a halt upon the sight of her golden waves.
The momentary relief of finding her washed away as he saw her
unnatural sitting position. Sitting on the ground her back
against the stone altar, her hair covering most of her face that
was slumped to the side, and a large puddle of blood underneath
her.
His heart throbbed in his ears as, inch by inch, he stumbling
awkwardly towards her still form. His breathing in long drawn out
shallow breaths, while his eyes kept an unblinking vigil waiting
for her to get up and giggle at accidentally falling asleep or
something. He never noticed his body shaking uncontrollably nor
the silent streams that involuntarily escaped from his eyes.
He Fell to his knees beside her, yet she didn't stir. His
hand shakily touched her shoulder. "Aleura?" His voice
was almost inaudible. She did not answer him, she did not look at
him, she did not move at all. Gingerly, he reached for her other
shoulder, laying both shaking hands on her he gave her a slight
jolt in frail hopes it would jar her awake and they could leave
this bad dream together. But sickening reality hit him as her
head rolled back with unnatural ease. Uncurtaining her face from
beneath her golden locks and revealing a cold trickle of red
blood from the corner of her mouth.
All his fears and dread had been correct, not able to lie to
himself nowShe was dead.
Staring unblinking into nothingness, still unaware of his shaking
and of the tears he was shedding for the first time in his life,
he pulled her cold body into his embrace. Lacing his fingers
through her hair to hold the back of her head, he buried half of
his face in her soft tresses. The sweet smell of jasmine incense
that permeated her form still present yet now mingled with the
scent of her blood.
His mind struggled with disbelief: She was dead; Aleura was dead.
The woman he loved, the one person in this entire world who he
loved and loved him, was dead. She would never laugh again, She
would never sing again, she would never open those beautiful
green eyes again, she would never smile for him ever again. She
was dead. His Aleura was dead.
Gently, he slid her into a cradling position, with his free hand
he touched her face. Tracing the line of her jaw slowly,
lovingly, longing as his fingers caressed the icy flesh.
Thankfully, her eyes were closed, unlike many of her fallen
comrades. She was still so beautiful even under the white wash of
death, the mendi and face paint exchanged for make-up that
enhanced her natural beauty. Gazing at her with pained eyes that
slowly fluttered shut; he bent down and left a soft kiss on her
cold lips. He left his mouth hovering an inch above hers.
"I kept my promise" he whispered to her as if she
could hear him. His face twisted slightly in pain as he willed
himself to sitting up again. Red eyes washed over her body,
unable to look at her face any longer. He noticed she had on
different clothes then he was accustomed to seeing her in. A
reddish brown short skirt and blazer, a white collared shirt, and
a pair of reddish brown flats. She dressed this way for him, in
anticipation of their new life.
She looks like an average girlshe died an average girl.
His jaw clenched at the thought. Then his eyes saw it while
trailing her body. A bloody stab wound about two fingers width of
a hole, it was a little down and to the right of where her belly
button should be. He knew that kind of wound, knew what kind of
death that would produce. It was not quick and painless. He
ground his teeth in seething rage, his eyes burrowed in on the
fatal blemish that marred her perfection and eventually stole her
from this world. Learning that it went all the way through when
his fingers graced another hole in her back.
He shut his eyes tightly to get the leering image of the
bloodstain out of his head and embraced Aleura once more as if
she could comfort him. But it remained, there mocking him in his
minds eye, telling him all the things he could have done to
prevent this until it escalated into a thousand garbled
high-pitched voices. His throat felt dry and scratchy.
One primal scream twisted with anguish and rage, cut through the dead silence like a knife. Ashen was unaware that the screaming was his own.
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AN: * sniffles * It's always hard to kill off one of your characterslet alone five. * braces herself for the readers wanting to kill her for Kazu's brutal death. * Sorry, sorry, but it's all a part of the storyyeah. Anywhodoes anyone need a tissue? Well say what you think, rants are welcomed just as much as raves. Hope you all read again next week!
