Life after Death

Chapter 3: Four Powers

LLL

Author's Note: Okay, chapter three is up! Sorry it took so long. Harry Potter, dead people, boyfriend breaking up with me, the usual.

Loki: Why'd you have to kill them? Four little black mages died in one chapter! That's not fair!

Mel: Oh shut up, you'll see them again!

Lilly: How?

Mel: …Well, anyway, I'm going to attempt to put pictures of Loki, Lilly, and the other characters on my website. They aren't up yet, and I'm not done with it, so there isn't any point in giving you the URL yet. When I have finished it, and the pictures are up though, I will put the address up!

Special thanks to Dazz and Neo for being my first reviewers!

Disclaimer: Mel doesn't own.

LLL

The alternate plain, Say

I'm fairly certain I passed out. How one knows, without being told so, is beyond me. I'm not even going to try to guess. Guess work is for philosophers, and I always thought that someone should shove their foot up their stiff butts.

You didn't come here to hear me rant, now did you?

I woke up in a dimly lit room, small, but oddly spacious. There was little furniture, except a bed, a chair, and a dresser. A small boy, no older than twelve or eleven, lay asleep on the bed, and I hovered in a corner by the chair. Guess that blows the theory of being awake out of the water.

I've been known for having dull dreams, but dreaming about a brunette boy sleeping is just plain redundant. A steeple hat sat on the bed post. The brim had two large rips in it, patched clumsily together. It looked worn, and more than a little floppy.

It was a perfect copy to the hat Vivi used to wear…

"Vivi, wake up!" A voice wailed, the wooden door busting open. A woman stood their, pouting at the sleeping child. Her hair was waist length, in a bright shade of blonde. Lavender eyes glared at the kid, and a gem clung to her forehead.

Now where had I seen something like that? Oh yeah! There was a gem on Lilly's head. Except, Lilly's was two different shades of green, resembling a leaf. The woman standing there had one in leaf shape, but it was purple, with yellow veins traveling through it in an unnatural way.

"Vivi, I said wake up!" she whined, walking over and shaking the boy by his shoulders. He opened his eyes halfway, and starred up at the girl blankly. "What's gotten into you?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

Weird. That couldn't be Vivi. Vivi was dead! And this looked nothing like Vivi! He actually had a face. Brown hair hung limply from his head, parted to one side. Though…the eyes…they were the same eyes I had come to trust beyond anything in the world. The only thing that could never lie to me, as everyone else had.

"She's in here, you know," The boy said, starring past the woman, right at me.

"Why do you have to be so enigmatic? There's no one else in here, Vivi!"

"You're wrong. You can't see her…because she's only here to see me…" He sat up, pulling away from her. "Kay…can you please leave for a minute? I want to talk to Loki," he glanced at the door, then up at Kay's face. She starred for a second, and then smiled. She straightened her composure, and left. The door clicked softly behind her, and the foot steps of her combat boots rung through the slit under the door for a few seconds.

"Why can't she see me?" I wondered aloud.

"You're dreaming," Vivi stated, hopping off the bed and walked towards me.

"Oh, that's nice!" I snapped back, placing my hands on my hips. "You think I hadn't gathered that?"

He smiled for a second, the sighed, sitting down in the chair. "Well, Loki, I was kind of right…"He looked at the floor, avoiding my gaze.

"What do you mean?" I asked, curiosity winning over annoyance.

"Don't tell me you forgot the Promise?" He asked, glancing at me for a moment.

"How do you-"

"Loki, you know it's me…please stop that!" Vivi scolded, finally looking up at me.

Who, Vivi? It couldn't be him! Could it? "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" My voice shook unconvincingly. My throat became dry, my heart pounding in my chest. If this WAS Vivi, and I was dreaming, it meant I would be struck with the reality of Vivi's death once again.

"Loki, it's okay! I'm not completely gone yet!" Vivi said, smiling halfheartedly.

"And what do you mean by that?" I snapped, glaring daggers at the child in front of me.

"I'm in Say. It's another world. People who never got a chance at life come here when they die at Gaia," he explained.

It was too hard to take in. I didn't want to believe I could ever see Vivi again. I love Vivi, I really do! I wish he had never died, but…I'm dreaming! If I allow myself to believe all this, only to learn that he really is dead…I won't be able to handle all of this. Still…I want to believe him!

"N-no! This can't be happening! I'm not going to fool myself into believing you're alive!" I shouted, holding my hands over my ears, and shrinking back away from him.

"L-loki, you have to believe me!" Vivi exclaimed, getting out of the chair, and taking a step towards me. "I can prove it! Just believe me!" He stopped, and stepped back from me, tears forming in his eyes. "Loki, you have to believe me. The Iifa tree is still stopping the normal flow of souls. There are only four people who can stop it."

"What does that have to do with me?" I snapped, turning away from him.

"You're…you're one of the people who can stop it," Vivi mumbled, covering his face in his hands.

"So?" I blurted out, rolling my eyes. "It's a tree. How hard can it be to destroy it?" I placed my hands on my hips and smirked. "All you have to do is set it on fire!"

Vivi sighed, looking up at me, obviously upset. "It's…not that easy. This world is connected to the Iifa tree. If you just destroy it, Say will be destroyed too. Everyone here will truly die, including me!"

"Oh…Well, that's a problem then. How am I supposed to destroy it, without hurting you then!"

"We don't know yet. Kay and I are trying to figure that out."

"And who's Kay?" I snapped.

"The girl who came in here and woke me up."

"Oh yes…I remember…" I mumbled.

"Look…there's only one thing I can do to help you right now," Vivi said, going over to the dresser. He pulled something off of it I didn't see, and came back to me. He held out his hand, showing me what he had taken. "I know you've seen something like this," He began, referring to the red and orange gem in his hand. It was almost leaf shaped, but the point branched out into three separate points. It looked like fire. "The person who possesses one of these gems holds the power it contains. Kay and Lilly have one. I'm giving you this one." He grabbed my hands with his, and let the gem fall into my palm. "Take it!" He whispered, giving me a sorrow filled smile.

I looked at the gem, dumbfounded for several seconds. Eventually, I managed to look at Vivi again, and talk. "So…if I take this…I'll be able to see you again, right?" I asked. I knew these gems existed on Gaia. This may actually be a real connection to Vivi! I might be able to talk to him still!

"Yes," Vivi replied, nodding his head. He let go of my wrist, and stepped back. "You should be waking up soon," He said after a pause. I couldn't say anything. I just floated there, hoping I'd never have to leave him. "I love you Loki," He finally said, tilting his head to one side, tears streaming from the eyes I loved so dearly. He was afraid…of what, I couldn't tell. I could feel my body being pulled away. The room spun, and everything around Vivi and me disappeared.

"I-" I started to talk, but my voice stopped working, and Vivi vanished from sight. I was back in my own body again.

LLL

Malevalla: Okay, I'm going to be working on LaD and my website all day, so I'll post the URL for my website. (Thank you AOL…even if I don't like youe…--) http/members. What kind of name is Kay?

Malevalla: It's not. It's actually a nickname, now leave me alone, and stop asking questions that spoil the story!

Lilly: I'm not in this chapter!

Loki and Malevalla: So what? Shut up!