Chapter 77:
A short, beautiful, blonde woman with a dragonfly's wings walked through a dimly lot corridor holding a tray with soup and bread.
For several minutes, she continued to walk until she arrived at a door. After a minute of hesitation, she knocked on the door. She didn't get a response, so again she knocked, hoping for a response that never came.
After waiting for a few minutes, she took a deep breath and decided to do what no one had dared do since the war had ended.
Slowly and carefully, she turned the doorknob, then quietly pushed open the door into the dark room. She was slightly hesitant to walk inside, but cast her fear aside ans boldly walked through the doorway.
As soon as she was inside, something seemed to shut the door behind her. Her hair stood on the back of her neck, but still, she continued to walk forward until eventually, a feminine voice halted her.
"Get out." It said.
"You need to eat." The fairy said.
"Get out." The voice said again.
This time, she said nothing. She remained completely still in the dark room, adamant in her resolve to remain in the room and deliver the meal.
"I said get out!" The voice yelled.
When it yelled, a gust of wind rushed past the fairy's ears. Through the darkness of the room, a pair of fierce looking emerald green eyes looked back at her. Fear shot through the fairy's body, but she remained resolute.
However, after a few moments of staring, the once angry looking green eyes began to waver and their expression changed, turning into one of sadness and grief.
"Aigle, please..." They said in a very quiet voice.
"I am sorry, madame." Aigle said. "I cannot allow you to remain like this any longer."
She paused, waiting to see if she would get a reply, which she did not. She slowly walked closer until she was standing only a few feet away from the emerald eyed person in the dark.
"You haven't eaten in months, madame." She said, sitting down. "At least allow me to feed you."
She didn't receive a reply, so she dipped her spoon in the bowl of soup, then raised it towards the person's head. They seemed hesitant, but soon drank the soup.
They allowed themselves to be fed in silence, after which Aigle set aside the tray and and sat next to the person.
"Allow me to take you out of this room." Aigle said.
"No." They replied. "Leave me be."
Despite the reply she got, Aigle lifted them up, wrapping their arm around her shoulders, and began to walk towards the doorway.
"I said leave me be." They said.
"I cannot do that." Aigle said, opening the door. "You may be my superior officer, but you're also my friend...Sasha"
When Aigle opened the door, the light from the hallway illuminated Sasha's face. She was very skinny, her face stained with tears, and her clothes worn and tattered.
She weakly looked at the short fairy that struggled so hard to pull her through the hallway. After seeing her struggle for a few minutes, she finally began to support her own weight with her weak, anorexic legs.
Upon seeing her try to support herself, Aigle smiled as the two made their way down the hallway and towards the light of the outside world.
In The Present
Sasha's eyes quickly opened after her dream had ended. She shot up from where she was laying and looked around. The world around her was pitch black.
Even her sensitive eyes couldn't see anything. She slowly stood up, and started to slowly walk around. It was then she noticed that the ground she was walking on was very soft and wet.
The air, too, was very warm and humid. She made very small footsteps as she walked around. Eventually, she tripped over something.
When she fell, she remained completely still, just in case any enemies may have heard her. After a few moments, she hears movement in the direction of the thing she tripped over.
"Ugh, where am I?" She heard in a voice she recognized as her sister's.
"Mariel?" She said.
"Sasha?" Mariel replied.
"Thank God you're alive!" Sasha said, hugging her sister once her ears had found her.
"I'm happy to see you too." Mariel said. "Where are we?"
"I don't know." Sasha said once she let go.
"Were you able to find anyone else?" Mariel asked.
"No. I only woke up a few minutes ago." She replied.
As she said this, they heard another voice calling through the darkness. Mariel tore off one of her sleeves and tied her arm to Sasha's, ensuring that they wouldn't lose each other. After a few moments, they heard the voice again.
"Is anyone there?!" It asked.
"Max?!" Mariel yelled.
"No, it's Alex! Over here!" He yelled. "I've got Saito with me!"
They looked around for the light from his tail, but weren't able to see anything. Although she felt quite weak, Mariel produced an orange flame in the palm of her hand, illuminating some of the world around them.
The ground they stood on was pink in color and had a rough, albeit moist surface. They followed the sound of Alex's voice until they reached a slope.
"I can see you guys!" He said. "I'm going to jump."
After a few moments they heard him land next to them. They could see Saito's tail in the dark, so they walked towards it until they could see Alex.
"Alex!" Mariel exclaimed, happy to see her son.
"Hi, mom." He said, giving her a hug.
"Saito has not woken yet." Sasha noticed.
"I've been walking around for an hour." Alex said. "I found him a few minutes ago."
"Your wounds..." Mariel asked. "I can't feel them."
"I have a few broken bones, but my skin is healed at least." He said. "You two seem alright too."
"How peculiar." Sasha said, realizing she was more or less healed.
Ar this time, they saw a magenta colored flame coming towards them. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a large, 7 armed, magenta, upper half of a skeleton moving towards them.
Inside, they could see Shion, Louise, and Max, seemingly uninjured. When she noticed it was them, the large skeleton disappeared and she ran towards them.
When she was in ranged, she jumped on Alex, pulling him into a tight hug. He was equally happy to see her and gratefully accepted her hug.
Max and Louise then arrived, having walked more slowly. Before anyone said anything Sasha noticed that Max was carrying something which she quickly recognized as Aigle's corpse.
He slowly laid it on the ground, after which everyone silently surrounded it. For several minutes, they stood in the dark with their eyes closed, praying for Aigle's safe passage into the afterlife.
Eventually, after wiping away her tears, Sasha took a deep breath and composed herself. After another minute, she finally decided to talk.
"Thank you, all." She said.
"She's in a better place..." Louise said, rubbing Sasha's shoulder.
"I know." Sasha replied giving Louise a hug.
"What is this place?" Shion finally asked. "And why did some of our wounds heal?"
"This...stuff we're stepping on." Max said. "It's alive."
"It doesn't appear to be harmful." Mariel said.
"If that's the case, let's remain here until Saito wakes up." Sasha said.
Everyone agreed to this, since they thought that moving anywhere wouldn't help them at the moment. It took more than two hours for Saito to wake up. When he did, he was in a daze.
"This is the afterlife?" He said to himself when he woke up.
Louise gave him a hug when she noticed he was awake. He hugged her back, although in the back of his mind, he wondered if and how she was alive.
"We are not dead, Saito." Sasha said.
"Then where-" He began.
His question was cut short. They all felt a substantial jolt, making them fall to the ground. Afterwards, everything around them became silent.
Soon after, however, they saw a crack of light form some distance away from them. Before they could even begin to discuss whether or not it was dangerous, a gust of air blew them towards it.
The feeling of falling through the air came over them until they landed on hard ground. Mariel rubbed her head in pain, then opened her eyes.
Towering above her, looking majestic under the single moon of Saito's world, was the great serpent Lífþrasir. Her eyes pierces Mariel's soul so that she found it hard to speak.
Everyone else by this time had realized that the serpent was now towering above them and had already drawn their weapons. However, at once, they all heard a beautifully soothing voice in their ears.
"You need not draw your weapons against me." The great serpent said.
"You're...in control?" Saito finally asked when his nerves had returned to him.
"I am." She said.
"What happened?" Saito asked, still not convinced they were safe.
"It appears that your master's attack was traumatic enough to sever my connection with my puppeteer." She said. "Thank you for that. I regret the damage I caused you and the life I've taken."
"Where are we, serpent?" Sasha asked.
"Ah, if it isn't the one who was once called Gandalfr." She said. "I transported you to the land on which you arrived in this world."
"Transported us?" Max said. "So you...ate us?"
"If you wish to phrase it that way, yes." She replied. "I suppose you kept your word about freeing me, Saito."
"These aren't exactly the circumstances I anticipated." He replied, finally putting his sword away. "Besides, you aren't free yet. Who knows what will happen once we leave."
"I was put under control because I was held back by my restraints." She said. "Now that they're gone, I cannot be toyed with."
"I see." He said, feeling relieved.
"Although I wish to be in the world that I belong in, it can wait until you defeat them." She replied.
"Them?" Louise asked.
"When I was under their control, I could see within their mind." She explained. "They are not even individuals. It is one mind in control of many."
"So you were able to see them all?" Sasha asked.
"Yes. I recognized them as well." She said. "Only few do you need worry about. The 12th crown prince of the Angels, Lucifer. The last Queen of the Fairies, Lune. And of course, the first and last King of the Humans, Brimir. All are controlled by a dead man in the capital of Germania."
Saito immediately remembered what he found in the locked rooms in Germania when she mentioned a dead man.
"What about your brothers?" Louise asked.
"Only Brimir has the strength to capture them." She said. "He is currently in battle with Gandalfr. One of my brothers rests on the highest peak of your world. Go there and you will find him. The other rests in a great desert land south of Halkeginia."
"I see. Thank you." Louise said.
"No, thank you for freeing me, little mage." She replied. "I will protect this world until I may go back home. Farewell."
With that, she disappeared. Her body seemed to turn into a liquid and merge with the sea. After a few minutes of silence, Louise opened a world door to her palace.
Everyone wearily stepped through it, feeling anxious of what was to come.