The Kingdom of Magika was eerily quiet when Karin landed with her dragon, a heavy feeling of grief in the air. It was as if every creature in the forest had gone silent this day. Sylfie came to greet them in a flowing dress of black, a silver circlet upon her braided hair and golden bands around her upper arms. Her steps were silent as the wind and her expression solemn. It was so completely different from the Sylfie she knew that Karin almost thought she was a ghost.
"Normally we would have a pyre ceremony, to return her to the ancestors, but since she is already there we will give our blessings to the gods." She said softly to the approaching Soul Reaper. "You may go anywhere you like to give your blessings, wherever you feel that your memory with her is strongest."
"So… no eulogies or grave?" Karin wondered aloud.
"Eulogies are meant for people to tell their memories of the fallen to others, but for us those memories are precious and should be shared with the spirit of the fallen. And there is no body to bury, no place where her soul is fixed, but this was her home and her spirit will always linger here." Sylfie gave a more genuine smile. "Ruala was the bearer for the gift of Hope, of Life. She may no longer have physical form but her role is not yet done. She will serve the Earth forever in its cycle, hidden within every soul, so if you wish to say something to her I know she will listen, even if she can't reply."
"That's kind of unnerving."
Sylfie chuckled lightly.
"Being spirits we know the cycle of reincarnation is fact, and maybe one day she will be granted a new mortal life. So we will mourn the ending of one life to ease the pain in our hearts and make way for the joy of her new one. Whenever you're ready you are welcome to come inside with us. Kirio is here and has prepared some lovely meals."
"That's always something to look forward to." Karin hoped a small bit of humor would ease her nerves. She preferred funerals where she just had to sit and listen to others give their speech, where all she needed to do was place a flower, say a few words and then let them rest. It was easier to let go that way. She had no idea where to even start to find a place to speak to Ruala or whatever she was supposed to do.
Sylfie at least smiled at her effort before turning away and practically gliding back inside her home, the silence and grace of her movements signifying her respect for the dead.
"I will go to the Nest, that's where most of us dragons interacted with her." Dyrilӕn said quietly to her partner. "We owe her a lot for giving us a sanctuary after hatchlings started becoming rarer, I'm sure that's where most of us will share our memories with her."
"Alright, I'll see you soon then." Karin patted the dragon encouragingly. "I'll find… somewhere…"
"Just remember your moments with her and let your feet carry you." The fire dragon suggested, spreading her wings to take flight. "And don't feel like you HAVE to say anything, it's completely up to you."
With that advice, Dyrilӕn took off for the hollow mountain that the dragons called home. The air fell silent without the dragon's presence, so Karin began walking. Her gaze moved around the trees, waiting to see the usual pairs of eyes looking curiously back at her, instead finding branches empty of life. The creatures normally wondering about the natural kingdom were unnervingly absent, adding to the heavy silence in the air. Shoulders hunching a bit as a strange feeling of loneliness crept over her, Karin's steps took her towards the lake. The fish there did not have anywhere else to go, so hopefully there she could find another living thing.
Unfortunately, even the waters were still, the surface of the lake a flat sheet that reflected like a giant pane of glass. The small waterfall that once thundered down the mysterious mountain where Karin, Ichigo and Toshiro alike had trained relentlessly for new strength was currently absent. With the lake stilled, she could almost see straight to the bottom, and that sight made her aware that the waters were just as empty as the trees.
"It's like time has stopped completely here." Karin muttered her thoughts aloud, uncomfortable with the overwhelming silence of this island.
'Perhaps her presence was the only reason they stayed, or they are also participating by leaving the place in silence to let her spirit rest.' Homuratei suggested with a mental shrug.
"It really is weird how we still talk about letting the spirit rest and all that when they're already spirits, and they're actually going back into the cycle to be a new human." She started heading towards the mountain, unsure of where else to go. At least the silence would be normal there since no creatures wanted to travel around it. It was probably the place she spent the most time at anyway while she'd been in this realm, other than in the palace, so this would be where her memories with Ruala were strongest.
'Old habits die hard; traditions carry on into the afterlife. The same things that make humans feel better after they lose a loved one makes a century-old spirit feel better as well, even if we all know what really happens by now.'
"Fair point… I guess that's the real reason those traditions exist. It makes the people left behind feel better. Though I suppose when humans die the ghosts probably appreciate the attention they get before they go to the Soul Society."
She reached the base of the mountain, the rocks just inches from her feet as she stopped at the beginning of the path to the peak. Would it still be as long as before without Ruala's magic? Curious, and having nothing better to do, Karin started ascending the mountain. She remembered the path taking over half an hour to climb when she was climbing to her final trial, but it only took about ten minutes this time. It could hardly be called a mountain at this point, just a hill made of jagged rocks to look like one, with no more magic to extend its size past its appearance. Is that why the waterfall had stopped as well? There was no longer a proper source for the water to flow?
"I wonder why the island lost all its magic when the palace stairs are still a weird maze." Karin mused aloud, looking over the tops of the trees. Everything looked so much smaller than she remembered.
"The kingdom is simply mourning; it will return to normal soon enough."
The voice startled her, causing her to pivot sharply on her heels to look for the source. The voice sounded a bit familiar, a gentle and whispering female voice. The docile tone didn't stop her from reaching for her zanpaktou, however, the war keeping her alert for any possible enemy.
She was startled once again at the figure she found behind her. Her form was translucent and shrouded in a strange mist, but recognizable all the same.
"Ruala?" Karin blurted out, hand still on her sword in case this was a trick.
"Of a sort." The ghostly image responded. "I can only hold this form for a bit, and only because of someone else's memories. Memories from someone who had a lot to say and never got the chance."
"Who are you talking about?" Karin tried to think of who would want to stick around just to tell her something, but noticed Ruala was beginning to fade away, the very tiny presence she had been holding onto until that point suddenly blinking out. "Hey wait!"
"Hear me, child of fire…" This voice was new and unfamiliar, a strange chill going up her spine as the mist that had given Ruala form made way for a new figure. She stepped with grace and purpose, her figure wrapped in a dress of flowing white as if made of light itself, shimmering in the sun and embroidered with gold leaflets around the hems. A circlet of gold with emeralds at its front rested atop long flowing curls of bright blonde. Eyes of bright silvery blue found Karin's gaze and she seemed to freeze under it.
"Who… are you?" The woman seemed distinctly familiar, and yet she knew she had never met her before.
"Memories left behind from someone who wanted to give everything to her children only to lose them both forever." The woman smiled sadly, an expression of grief and sadness deep in her gaze. "Memories that wish to impart their wisdom to the one who will stand by her son's side as I once did for his father."
"So you're Toshiro's mother…" Karin realized, eyes widening in surprise. She couldn't recall the woman's name and had never seen a picture, as it was a topic Toshiro never felt like talking about since he knew so little himself. But, she could see all the similarities now; eyes of ice with a no nonsense attitude like her son, a smile matching the sister she left behind, hair just like her daughter's. The woman's very presence, faint as it was, basically exuded winter in its purest form. Both of her children took after her magic, their only ties to a mother they never got to know. "How are you here? Why me?"
"There are only so many question I may answer at once." A small chuckle echoed through the air along with the words. "I am from a long line of elven witches. Spells to keep my memories behind for another are quite easy to find, if difficult to use and one I never thought I would need. As for why I came to you… I trust you can do what I ask."
"But what is it you want me to do? Why not wait for Toshiro or Miyuki?" Karin realized mentioning Miyuki might not have been the best option for the sake of time as the memory of the former queen seemed surprised to hear that name.
"Oh, to hear my darling is alive brings me joy." She sighed with such relief that the mist shimmered, indicating a huge weight was lifted from her soul. "If I had only known…"
"I'm sorry…" Karin finally moved her hand from her zanpaktou to run it nervously through her hair. She knew what losing a family member felt like… she still had not found her own mother's spirit in the Rukongai no matter how much she tried to go with Ichigo to look. The other Soul Reapers said it was likely she had already passed back into the cycle of souls and was a completely new person.
The memory shook her head and smiled once more.
"It is still you I would like to ask a favor of." She stated. "Perhaps two."
"Okay…"
"Do you love him?"
The question caught Karin off guard a bit and she blinked, ignoring her zanpaktou spirit's snickering.
"You mean Toshiro?" She asked just to clarify, her cheeks starting to turn a small bit pink. The former queen smiled and nodded. "Well… yeah, I do. I've been with him for two years and I'm worried sick about him right now."
This seemed to please the woman, her hands clasping together in front of her.
"The ice of the heavens cannot grow soft without its fire, and the fires of the earth know not peace without its ice." The words were spoken almost like a melody, the woman's ethereal beauty adding to the mystery of her statement.
"That's… an interesting way of putting it." Karin frowned in confusion.
"You are an interesting pair." The woman stepped closer but Karin no longer felt threatened now that she knew who she was. The memory reached out and placed her hands on Karin's shoulders, her touch so light it might as well have been a brush of wind. "Tell me, Lady Karin… if you were asked to never leave his side, would you accept?"
"Oh, um…" Once again the question felt personal, and even though she knew the answer it felt very nerve wracking to say it straight to her boyfriend's mother. This question required a more committed answer than the first as well. After quickly clearing her throat she raised her head up with confidence, gathering her thoughts back together. "Yeah, I would accept. I want to be there for him every moment I can."
A joyful smile crossed the woman's face at her answer before being quickly replaced by a strange melancholy, her tone full of sadness.
"He needs you." The memory spoke quietly. "More than you realize. The path of the Heavenly Guardian can easily become tainted with darkness, a fate I had never wanted for my children, a fate I wish I could have saved him from when I saw it laid out before him at his birth. His time in the demon realm has brought him dangerously close to failing, and only you can bring him back, can remind him why he fights. The ice turns bitter cold even now in his isolation, removing himself from feeling in order to do what must be done, but there is another way."
The woman moved her hands down to tightly grasp Karin's, a strange chill rushing through her arms as if she had been grabbed by snow. She resisted the urge to shiver, still locked in place by the icy eyes looking at her pleadingly.
"He does not have to become a heartless king to save his people, he can beat Kamai without sacrifice. Show him the path, I beg of you; let the prophecy end with white not black."
"Prophecy? The one Ruala gave him bits and pieces to?" Karin blinked in surprise. "You know the ending?"
"There are two versions. Kamai has waited patiently to set up the ending he wants, and he will succeed if he takes away all the love inside my son to leave only hate. There is a path where the darkness is defeated, one filled with just as much sorrow as hope yet still worth fighting for. Should my son ever begin to let the darkness take hold, please bring him back with your love."
"But he's stuck in a coma right now, I can't do anything until he wakes up." Karin began to worry for Toshiro's sake, knowing he had a habit of closing in on himself in stressful situations, and while he was stuck in his current state she couldn't be there to lift some of the weight from his shoulders. They could hardly work through things together if he was by himself.
"The hearts of your dragons beat as one, and those hearts beat the same as their partners, connecting all of you together. That bond, a pure circle of trust and connection, is something the wary and paranoid humans could never understand. Love is opening your heart to another, but with such short lives to live they could never understand how true that was, how scary it could be with their heart laid bare to a world they knew to be cruel. The dragons had always shared their love this way and felt betrayed when humans could not offer the same, but with you two and your dragons, you have built that bond strong."
The hands grasping Karin's squeezed tighter and this time the shiver was involuntary.
"You can reach him… for he has accepted you into the deepest part of his soul. I can feel it."
"But... that would mean going into his mind… isn't that super taboo? It's unheard of to ever go into someone else's Inner World."
"There is no need to place yourself there as you would in your own, simply reach out to him. He will hear you no matter what, maybe even respond. It may never be as strong as your thoughts with your zanpaktou or your dragon, but it will be enough that he knows you are there."
The possibility of being able to reach Toshiro telepathically was somewhat exciting, and as any true Kurosaki would, Karin was ready and willing to try it if it saved someone she deeply cared about.
"Please, you told me you would never leave his side, keep to that vow. Remain his guardian of fire, his queen…" Karin turned a shade of scarlet at the thought; she still had half a year before she turned twenty and only a day ago had to remind herself that she still had a human life with college and responsibilities… but were those worth doing if she meant what she said about staying with Toshiro? Her thoughts had to be shoved aside as she realized the memory was still speaking. "…keep him from the path of dark and hatred."
"I would never let him go that way." Karin promised firmly even if her mind was still in turmoil from the word 'queen' thrown in the conversation so loosely.
The former queen herself smiled softly once again at Karin's promise, looking greatly relieved. She seemed to trust Karin's word and was hopeful for her son's future.
"And please…" Her words now were hesitant as her form began to shimmer in and out of the mist, "let Miyuki know I love her, and that I know she'll grow into a wonderful big sister now that she has the chance. She will do my family proud with her magic and I know she has a heart of kindness not yet destroyed by the demons."
"Sure, I can tell her that." Karin found a smile of her own, knowing Miyuki would be overjoyed to hear this news. "Although, if you can, maybe stick around for her? I bet she wants to know who her mother was."
The memory faltered, clearly thinking about this.
"I can only hold the spell a few hours longer… once these memories have been passed on, I no longer have an anchor to keep me here… I will join the spirits not yet returned to the cycle, awaiting my turn in silent oblivion."
"Then I'll be quick." Karin pulled her hands from the icy cold grip of the memory and hurried down the mountain path, leaving the fading mist to wait nervously atop the rocky peak, wondering what to say to a daughter stolen from her arms over a century ago.
Karin quickly remembered that her dragon was still busy in the Nest and sent a butterfly to the princess instead, hoping Myndrӕl was still at the palace and could carry her over to the island. If he was, perhaps he would be willing to take her back to the palace as well. She wanted to see if she could truly reach out to Toshiro in his coma. Any chance to bring him back was a chance worth taking.
So I have a habit of writing ideas down in a separate document for stories I have or just ideas for parts of ones that may never happen. A lot of this chapter was pulled from something I had already written down for this scenario which helped me out a bit in keeping on track for the story. It also helped me get this written despite having to step away for my classes. Thank you for being patient, all I ask is you continue being patient since this is probably the new average update time in between exams.