Chapter 6 Aria

Ludwig yawned. His eyelids sagged, and thinking in general was proving to be a difficult task. With how much the exhaustion was getting to him, it seemed like passing out wasn't a possibility, but a probability. Ludwig rubbed his eyes, telling himself that it would all be okay. All he had to do was get to his room and sleep. He didn't need to worry about ending up like Obsidian. There was no way his powers would get that strong.

At least, that's what he thought until he smelled smoke.

His heart rate spiking, Ludwig turned around. He saw singe marks in the carpet, blacker than ink with smoke rising from them in tendrils. Further inspection revealed that they were in the shape of Ludwig's footprints, which added guilt to the cocktail made from Ludwig's fear and worry.

Ignoring his pounding heart, Ludwig rose into the air. He hummed one of his old symphonies as he flew to his room, one that he often went back to when he was feeling bad. The harmony helped him out, as did remembering the voices of the instruments. His heart slowed down as exhaustion overcame him again. He stopped humming to yawn, and yawn like he never had before.

"EEYAH!" Oh wow, that was more like a shriek than a yawn. Ludwig blinked before scowling and shaking his head. "Damn it, Lemmy's weird yawns seem to be contagious."

With that, he finally got back to his room. When Ludwig opened the door, he saw Lemmy asleep in his bed. His chest rose and fell peacefully, and the expression on his face was one of pure bliss. Ludwig, despite his guilt over being the reason behind Lemmy napping, smiled. He softly closed the door, not taking his eyes off his immediate younger brother as he walked over to his bed.

"Don't worry, Lemmy," He whispered. Lemmy shifted positions, all without opening his eyes. Ludwig would never admit this to anyone, but he grew a little teary-eyed looking at him. "Everything will be back to normal soon." He stopped when he got to his bed. As much as he needed to sleep... as much as he wanted to sleep, something held him back. He cringed, feeling too scared to even look at his bed, let alone get in it.

Would the nightmares come back?

Ludwig thought about this question. He joggled it around in his exhausted head. He knew that if he had another nightmare, then any plans to fight against sleep deprivation would be a bust. And that wasn't even getting into the contents of the nightmares themselves. Could Ludwig even handle that imagery? Could he stand seeing it again? Could he handle the horrible sounds, the horrible smells, the absolutely horrific topics that the dreams forced him to look square in the face of?

Hearing Lemmy snore from across the room, Ludwig gripped his hand into a fist and put on a determined face. That didn't matter. He was going to sleep. He was going to stop this problem from escalating, and he was going to make sure that Obsidian's fate wasn't his own. Those nightmares wouldn't come back, he was going to make absolutely sure of that.

With a grunt, Ludwig got in bed. He looked over at his clock as he pulled the covers over him, taking note of the time. Once he was sure that he was in the perfect resting condition, Ludwig laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes.

…

A soft, chilly breeze kissed Ludwig's cheek, ruffling his hair. He gasped, rubbing his face as he looked to see his surroundings. His eyes grew wide and he gawked, the beauty of his surroundings completely indescribable. Before him laid a forest, with sparkling pine trees that reached up into the Heavens. Snow rested on the ground, equally shiny and as soft as pillow stuffing. Despite himself, Ludwig smiled. He stepped forward, sighing in contentment when he heard a crunch under his feet. That sound would never get old. It made Ludwig think of a percussion instrument, one more unique than any drum he had seen or could dream up.

He stepped into the forest, his danger sense not going off in the slightest. Sunlight streamed in through the branches, illuminating some snowy patches on the ground and making them shine even more. The breeze sailed through the trees again, making them rustle. In a way, the sounds in these woods were very symphonic. Ludwig's imagination activated the second he heard these sounds, making him think about all the beautiful melodies he could blend together. With the breeze picking up, the leaves on the pine trees sounding like they were singing... oh, these sounds were absolutely perfect!

And then, Ludwig heard someone giggling.

Blinking, Ludwig turned around. He looked through the trees, blinking as he did. That... that couldn't have been his imagination, could it? Surely, that sound had come from somewhere, from someone. Cautiously, Ludwig stepped through the trees. He kept his eyes peeled for any movement, anything unusual. Just as he was about to give up, he heard a twig snap behind him.

He spun around. "Who's there?" His heart rate picked up. "Who are you?" He saw something moving in the corner of his eye. He turned that way, gasping when he saw a streak of bright blue. He ran after the color, the sight, the being. His mind reeled; who could possibly be here? What game were they playing with him, exactly? What in the world was going on here?

The giggling grew softer as if the person was moving further away. Letting out a breath, Ludwig rose into the air. He wove between the trees, keeping both his eyes and his ears peeled. Still, he didn't find whoever was making the noise. Puzzled, Ludwig came to a stop. When he did, he heard someone singing.

"She spins and she sways, to whatever song plays..."

Ludwig gasped. That song. That voice... he hadn't heard either in so long. Could it... no no, it couldn't be. There was no way. Ludwig must be going crazy; there was no way this was actually happening. He pressed forward, feeling both curious as well as genuinely spooked.

"Um..." his voice caught in the middle of his throat, so he gulped. "Hello?" Nobody answered save for the wind-tussled trees. Ludwig once again wondered if he was just hearing things when, suddenly, the laughter sprang up behind him. It grew stronger and stronger, and Ludwig heard snow crunching under someone's feet. His head whipped around just in time to see something, another flash of sky blue. Ignoring his fight-or-flight instinct, he bolted after it. The laughter was growing louder and louder still, almost as if it was echoing across the surface of the trees.

"Hey!" Ludwig called out. "Wait up!" He couldn't say for sure, but he could've sworn he saw the figure doing twirling motions. The singing returned, with the gorgeous melody and mellow lyrics massaging Ludwig's ears. At this point, he was completely convinced he knew who this person was. He didn't know how though, but that hardly mattered. He needed to catch up to them. He needed to see her for himself.

After what felt like a decade of flying, the figure stopped, allowing Ludwig to catch up. When he saw her, looking at him as he floated in mid-air, his heart stopped. Time itself stood still as Ludwig slowly floated back down to the ground. He just couldn't take her eyes off her. She was just as beautiful as he remembered.

"Aria."

Aria grinned, her cyan curls bouncing around her face as she nodded. Ludwig stood, completely transfixed, as she gave him a playful look with those purple eyes of hers. She giggled again, the sound much livelier now that he was closer to it.

"It's nice to see you, Ludwig." She stepped closer to him, causing a change in the atmosphere. "You haven't changed one bit, let me tell ya!" She laughed; not giggled, laughed. "At least, if you don't take into account the fact that the years have not been kind to you!"

Despite himself, Ludwig snorted. "Yeah, that's the thing about time." He walked up to her. He didn't take his eyes off of her, not even allowing himself to blink. "But... you're exactly as I remember. Exactly the same as... when..."

"When I left?"

Guilt made Ludwig shrink back a little bit. "Yeah." He slowly nodded. "When you left."

Aria giggled and walked up to him. "We have so much catching up to do!" She jumped up and down. "You have to tell me everything that happened when I was away! How's your life? How's your family? How's your..." Ludwig sniffled, causing her to stop jumping and furrow her brow. "Are you okay?"

Ludwig sniffled again, feeling tears streaming down his face. A million memories and emotions rushed through his head, making looking at the young girl who stood before him a difficult task. He wanted to say a million things, and yet, his mind couldn't decide where to start.

"I'm okay," he eventually said. He wiped more tears from his face, forcing himself to smile. "I'm just... glad that you're here." He wiped a tear from his eye, smiling as he looked at Aria.

"I'm glad I'm here too." Aria grinned, looking up at Ludwig's face. The memories and emotions once again reared their ugly heads, causing Ludwig to frown. His sadness grew, threatening to spill out and leave him in such a messy state.

It only got worse when Aria wrapped her arms around him and squeezed extra tight. "I missed you."

Ludwig stood still for a second, not knowing what to do. His jaw dropped as he looked at the young girl, giving him the warmest hug he'd ever experienced. He sniffled again, the tears starting to come back. He whimpered, barely having the strength to hug her back.

"I missed you too," he whispered, his voice breaking.

Aria squeezed even tighter. "It's alright, Ludwig. Everything is alright." Ludwig didn't know how true those words really were. He wanted to believe them, but at the same time, hearing them felt so... wrong.

"Hey." Aria let him go, jumping up and down as her eyes glimmered. "There's something I want to show you. Follow me."

He took his hand in hers, her fingers curling around his in the most trusting way possible. Ludwig stood up, following Aria as she guided him through this enchanted wood. His heart pounded, his head tried to wrap around what was happening. Everything about this meeting... it felt so good, and yet, nothing about it made sense. And looking at Aria's head as she guided him through the forest only solidified those feelings.

Right as Ludwig's confusion was reaching its peak, Aria came to a stop. "Remember this?" she asked as she pointed toward the tree bark. Blinking, Ludwig approached. He searched around the tree, trying to see what Aria was pointing out. After a minute of searching, he stopped. He gasped out loud, reaching out toward the tree and gently placing his fingers on the bark. He smiled, the tears returning.

On the tree was the message "L.K. was here." Ludwig felt like crying while looking at it, especially as he remembered the circumstances that led to him carving it. He looked back over at Aria, smiling despite his misty eyes. "I remember this."

"Yeah." Aria approached. "You made that... what, ten years ago? Eleven?"

Ludwig chortled. "Yeah, it's been a long time." He looked back at the carving. "To think it survived through the years." The second he finished saying that, another fresh round of guilt overcame him. He frowned, not knowing what to do now. The message was made over a decade ago. To think about how much he had changed. To think about how quickly he had changed. To think about what he did, how fast it could take for light to become inescapable darkness. He bit his lip, telling himself not to break down.

Suddenly, he heard a scraping sound. Blinking. he looked and saw that Aria was carving another note on another tree. He watched her do this and took note of how joyful and innocent her face appeared. Once she finished, she turned and looked at Ludwig. "Come see."

Ludwig came over. He gasped a little when he saw the message, his heart melting. The text on the tree said "Ludwig and Aria, best friends forever." He stood still for about five minutes, not tearing his eyes away as the warmest joy (and the darkest grief) overcame him.

"Aria..." he smiled. "That... I don't know what to say."

"That's okay." She looked back at the tree too. "I meant every word."

Ludwig's heart melted even more. "Th... thank you." He touched the bark of this tree as he did with the first one. He couldn't believe this. Everything about this meeting had been perfect. Aria was here, happy and well. She was exactly as he remembered her. She was exactly as she should be. To see her like this... Ludwig could barely wrap his head around it.

"Aria?" He removed his hand from the tree and turned to her. "Are you..." he blinked, his heart skipping a beat. "Aria?" He moved away from the tree, scanning the woods as his heart pounded. "Aria, where are you?

"Ludwig, help!"

Ludwig gasped. His protective instincts kicked in, he rose into the air. His heart continued to pound so hard that it hurt. He zipped through the trees, keeping his eyes peeled for his friend. "Aria?" Tears fell out and landed in the snow. "Aria, where are you? What's going on?"

"You shouldn't be here."

Ludwig stopped, shock filling him. That voice... it sounded like his.

"You don't deserve her."

The scent of smoke filled Ludwig's nostrils. He turned, his eyes growing wide when he saw blue fire consuming the forest. It spread through the trees, consuming them with a ravenous hunger no animal could replicate. Shrieking, Ludwig flew away from it. He flew as fast as he could, but every time he looked back, he saw that the fire was still right on his tail.

"ARIA!" He screamed. His throat hurt, but he didn't stop. "ARIA, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"What could you possibly do for her that would make up for everything?"

The trees in front of him burst into flame. Ludwig coughed, the smoke filling him and making breathing an impossibility. He collapsed to the ground. As he knelt in the snow, he hacked his lungs out. Everything hurt. All of this hurt so much.

"Where... where is... where is she..."

Ludwig tried to get back up, but the smoke was overpowering. The scenery was starting to go dark as he felt his strength give out…