Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written: 2012. Rewritten: 2014. Found: 2018.- Licia

Long ago, before the Arjiki walked the earth, there were two young sisters.

Kumbria, the oldest of the two at ten moons, was spirited away by Great Mother to become the bride of Grimmerie, a young man of twelve moons. Her sister, Lurline, at eight moons, mourned the loss of her beloved older sister, and blamed herself for her disappearance. Years passed, and Kumbria and Grimmerie grew to love each other deeply; they grew together, falling even more in love day after day, until many, many moons had passed, the years of their marriage stretching out before them.

One afternoon, while out within the grasslands exploring, they came across another couple; despite the years that had passed, the young woman recognized Kumbria immediately, rushing towards her, but Kumbria backed up, putting her husband between them. The other young woman was revealed to be Lurline, her little sister, now a woman and also married herself.

Though Kumbria did not initially remember her sister, the two women met in the grasslands where they had last been together, talking and getting reacquainted with each other. Over time, Kumbria began to remember Lurline, and the women grew close, becoming sisters once more. Eventually, after months, Kumbria began to swell with child; Lurline too, swelled with child, and the two sisters rejoiced in their impending motherhood together.

But it was not to be.

When Kumbria's time arrived, the moon was high in the sky and speckled red with blood; not long after, Lurline's time also came, and the sisters experienced the growing pains of labor together. For each strong pain Kumbria felt, Lurline would follow, their labors mirrored each other; the broken connection they had had as children due to their separation had repaired over time, becoming exceedingly strong, near dangerous.

Night dragged on, their labor worsened; Kumbria soon began to bleed. The closer she got to birthing, the more blood she would lose. Lurline soon mirrored her sister, losing blood as well, though not nearly as much. As the hour of dawn fast approached, Kumbria began to lose her senses; her skin began to burn and delirium set in, sickening her mind. She lost all memory of her beloved little sister, only recalling her years with her husband, as though the last years with her sister by her side had been wiped clean.

The more blood she lost, the more her skin burned and the worse her delirium became, until she remembered nothing but the babe within her, desperate to come out. She soon began to claw at the sensitive skin of her belly, the fever that ravaged her causing her to turn on her own body. And though Lurline suffered similar, the memories of her and her sister remained, keeping the delirium from setting in completely.

As dawn began to peek over the horizon, the babe burst forth from Kumbria's womb, though not cries drowned out her own. Collapsed back in Grimmerie's arms, she heard only that her child had not lived; a scream of agony escaped the delirious young woman, and her body arched one last time as the sac the babe had grown in was expelled from her. Her body now finished with its task, she looked up at her husband, eyes rolling without focus, lips moving without sound. She breathed one final time and passed into the next world, leaving her husband alone, for the babe had gone before her.

Lurline, having witnessed her sister's life end but unable to do anything, continued with the birth, eventually expelling her own babe from her body. Strong, healthy cries reached her ears, and she sobbed, for having delivered a healthy babe where her sister did not. Without her beloved older sister by her side to experience her own joy- joy that had turned to heartbreak in moments- Lurline too collapsed in her husband's arms, the babe against her chest. She turned her gaze not to the babe in her arms, but the man she had married, whispering that she was sorry before she too breathed her last, sagging into his chest, her heart still, leaving her husband to raise their daughter alone.

Grimmerie, overtaken by grief at the loss of both his wife and child, soon joined them in the other world; his body was found drowned in the river hours after. Lurline's husband, Kiamo, after burying his wife, sister-and-brother-in-law, took his daughter, a little girl he named Preenella, and went in search of Great Mother, who helped him to raise the little girl. From Preenella's womb, eventually came the Arjiki tribe, and she was often confused with the Great Mother herself.

It was thought that the return of her sister drove Kumbria to madness, that their bond was so strong, the young woman could not handle it, as well as the throes of labor, and so her body turned upon itself, wiping clean her relationship with her sister to preserve her, only to do so too late, costing her life. It was believed, that Lurline, so connected to her sister after having been separated from her for so long, could not bear the thought of being without her beloved Kumbria again, and so joined her in the other world at the cost of her surviving family.

Legend stated, that the sisters would return on a day of equal light and dark, at the moment of their separation. And that if the outcome was unfavourable, the end of the Arjiki would be near, but if the outcome was favourable, then only good fortune would shine upon the tribe from then on.

Fiyero knew the legend well; he, like so many Arjiki children, had been raised hearing the 'Legend of the Sisters', and it had scared him then. But it scared him even more now, especially with his wife and sister-in-law in the late stages of labor and beginning stages of birth. He gently rubbed her back, kissing her hair softly, trying hard to keep his worry from showing, as he got up and went to the tent flap, checking the sky outside. With the hour of day and light fast approaching- dawn had risen hours ago, and still the women labored- he wasn't afraid to admit to himself that the madness Kumbria had experienced, the outcome, was not possible.

Elphaba and Mulhama were so close, so connected, there was a very real possibility-

"Yero! Yero!"

He turned back, hurrying to his wife's side. She reached for him, crying out in pain as blood trickled down her legs, and something began to slowly appear between the folds of her opening. He took her into his arms, speaking softly to her. "Sta arrivando, marito! Sta cominciando a venire! Sento che comincia a venire! Yero... Yero, ho paura..."

He glanced at Sarima, noticing the same look in her eyes, before turning back to his wife. "Shh, Fabala. Andrà tutto bene. Sono qui. Non permetterò che ti succeda niente. Promesso." But even as he said it, he knew it was a promise he couldn't keep, for it was her body in control, not his. He looked up as Mulhama let out a screech, and realized that just as their babe was beginning to come, so was Mulhama and Tibbett's.

As he held his wife closer, he prayed to the gods, especially the Great Mother, that the outcome would be favourable.