Day Twenty-Nine
Prompt: Brightness
Capella had just effectively curse the living daylights out of a short little Death Eater near the kitchens when she heard Vega scream. Suddenly something hit her hard in the back. It knocked the wind out of her and she felt a white-hot pain shoot across her body. Turning very slowly, she saw a tall man in black robes. Her body felt like it was on fire. The tall Death Eater brandished his wand but there was nothing Capella could do, she couldn't make her body respond. A jet of red light shot from his wand and hit her in the face. For a split second, the pain fully engulfed her. She felt like her body would split in two. She tried to fill her mind with thoughts of her sister and of George. Then, there was nothing but blackness.
Opening her eyes, Capella was shocked to see, not the stony ceiling of the corridor, but an immense brightness. A blindingly bright whiteness surrounded her. She was standing in what looked like a white room. But she couldn't feel a floor and there didn't seem to be walls or a ceiling. She felt that the brightness should be burning or blinding her, but it wasn't. There was a complete sense of calm.
Off in the distance, Capella saw a tiny dark spot that seemed to be moving towards her. Capella waited. She kept her eyes trained on the shape as it got closer and larger. Finally, the shape was recognizable as a human figure. The figure of a man, roughly the same age as herself. He continued his progress towards her and she noticed that he looked familiar somehow.
When the man was only a few yards away she gasped. "Orion?" He smiled and nodded. Before her stood her baby brother, only, he wasn't a baby. How? "Orion, how are you here? Where are we?" She looked around, hoping for something other than brightness. There was nothing. Suddenly, a thought entered into her mind and she felt a sharp pain in her chest. "Am I dead?" Her voice was flat and hollow. She couldn't be dead.
Orion shook his head. "This is your crossroads Pell." He gestured around him. "Here, you have a choice to make."
"First, I have a question," she said, raising her hands in a stop motion. "Why are you…" She gestured to him. "You're not five years old."
"No," Orion said simply. He smiled at her and she felt joyous. Her baby brother was here, in front of her. "This is what I wanted. This is my heaven. I wanted to be like you and Vega so much. I was given the chance, and I took it."
Stepping forwards, Capella embraced her brother. He felt warm, real. She nearly cried for joy. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you," she whispered as hot tears ran down her cheeks.
"Don't be. There was nothing you could have done differently. You and Vega are more that I could have ever asked for," he said with a little grin. "Don't ever be sorry for anything that happened." He took a step back and looked up at her sincerely. "You still have a choice to make."
"Yes, you said this was my crossroads." Capella stood up a little straighter, ready to make her decision. "What do I have to do?"
"You have to decide," Orion said. "You can come with me." Capella smiled, this wasn't going to be a hard decision. "Or you can return to your mortal body." Capella's smile faltered.
"My mortal body?" She didn't have a clue what he was talking about. She tried to think back, but the first memory she had was of Orion coming towards her.
"Yes." Orion made a smooth sliding motion with his hands, spreading them out before her. The brightness that surrounded them faded like fog. She found herself standing in the middle of a stony corridor, before her lay the body of a girl. Two people were next to the girl. The first was another girl; she was touching to body gently and crying into her other hand. The other was a man. Capella looked at Orion, surprised. She moved closer to the man, kneeling down to get a closer look at him. She was startled when she realized that she didn't feel the stones beneath her knees. The man, who had bright red hair, was cradling the body gently in his arms.
Suddenly, years of memories flooded back to Capella. George. His name felt like its own kind of heaven. She looked up at the girl. Vega. Her sister.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do," she cried as the scene faded and they returned to the empty brightness. She looked to Orion for guidance. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Choose."
"I lost you once before, Orion. I don't want to lose you again," she cried, holding her head in her hands.
"Didn't someone very close to you once say, 'when you love someone, they'll never really leave you'?" Orion said, a little twinkle in his eyes. "There is pain and suffering if you return to your body," he said solemnly. "But there is also so much joy and happiness." He embraced his sister. "You have to choose, Pell. Heaven or Earth?"
Capella swallowed hard. The love she felt for Vega and George tugged her in one direction and she couldn't deny it. "Earth."
The peaceful calm left her and was replaced by a burning pain. Her chest felt unbearably tight and her lungs screamed for air. The stones on the floor were cold against her hot skin. She fought to breathe and suddenly a cool, delicious rush of air filled her. She gasped and opened her eyes. A pair of intensely sad eyes looked down at her. They were momentarily filled with pain and sorrow which was immediately replaced by surprise and joy.
"George."