The first half of the trip was quiet. Everyone was somber. What Okard had revealed had bothered us, and we were lost in our own thoughts as to what it all could mean. It was only after we’d landed that we began to lighten up. We let our horses walk, some of us dismounting to walk beside them in the strange forest that we’d arrived in.

I remember frowning at first as my feet touched the ground, it felt soft under us and almost bouncy. Every step I took my feet wanted to sink into the ground and then promptly spring back up.  My mare did not seem to enjoy it so much, and so I gave the order to stop.

“We have no choice, this terrain is too awkward for our mounts to walk on. We will give them a proper rest, and we will begin our flight again in an hour.” I told them.

“Ah, man! I’m hungry!” Elliott complained and Rachel laughed.

“I told you rushing out without eating wasn’t a good idea this morning.” She scolded him, in a voice only a loving sister could have. He grinned at her sheepishly as Ivan wrapped his arm around her, chuckling softly at his best friend.

“I was just excited!” Eliott explained as Kora joined them after tying her mount to a tree. I turned my face towards Nakita who was touching one of the trees, her usual stern and unhappy expression solid on her features. It made me curious so I approached and touched the trunk she had, and I gasped. It was soft like velvet, but I noticed it was flat. It wasn’t round. It was as if it were simply a sheet of soft paper cut out into the shape of a tree.

“Strange,” I said, pulling away from it and she nodded. 

“I do not like it,” she said, and I was inclined to agree with her.  The trees and the ground were all strange. I leaned down and touched one of the fallen brown leaves on the ground and again shock rolled through me as I discovered it felt like rice paper. 

“Malakaii, I’m hungry too!” Alice said, causing my attention to turn to her as they climbed down off of the Appaloosa they’d acquired. I looked at Malakaii frowning.

“Did she not eat today yet?” I asked him accusingly. He chuckled softly and nodded.

“I suppose it can’t be helped. Alright. You twisted my arm, I will feed everyone. You don’t have to scold me, Yuzuki.” The old man turned his blue eyes towards me and they sparkled with mischief as I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

“Well, I am waiting,” I said, making my voice as huffy as I could manage before Alice giggled loudly and ran to me, wrapping her arms around my waist in a hug, causing me to reach down and ruffle her pretty soft brown hair. Malakaii raised his etched staff and banged it on the ground. Sparks emitted from the tip, and a plume of pink smoke rose from it thickly before traveling down in a clump to hover around the ground before dispersing. 

I opened my mouth in shock as it revealed a red blanket spread out, a wicker-lidded basket in the center of a picnic spread so large it probably could have fed Okard. Sandwiches, juices, salads, and other various foods lay neatly arranged on the blanket and I looked at him in shock.

“You can just… make food? Out of nothing?” I asked in a strained voice and Malakaii’s laughter boomed out across the fake velvet paper forest for a moment before shaking his head, his long silver beard wagging back and forth with the movement of his head. 

“No, you stupid girl. I assure you, there must be something to be summoned to summon it. Magic is a wonderful thing, but there are certain rules I must follow.” He said before tapping his staff on the ground again, and his favorite rickety old rocking chair appeared. 

The others were all cheering, or looking as dumbfounded as I was, and I noticed with some amusement that Elliott was practically drooling as he plopped himself on the ground. Alice released me and began to prepare plates for herself, Malakaii, and even me. I couldn’t even insist on making my own plate because her brown eyes widened and filled up with fake crocodile tears and I gave in to her, as I often did. 

For a while we all ate, laughed, and talked, goofing off as the horses cooled and rested after their long hours of flying. When the food was gone, summoned back into the abyss of Malakaii’s magic staff, we all lay on our backs while Malakaii rocked back and forth, staring at the sky that seemed to be a deep blue cloudless velvet sheet above us. 

“What were y’all’s dreams? Ya know, before becoming a Spirit Warrior.” Kora asked us and everyone went quiet for a minute.

“To be honest, I wanted to be a Warrior from the moment I could formulate a coherent thought. My father was a Warrior in his prime. He died fighting to protect the people of this world from being devoured by those that are tainted.” Ivan spoke up first and from my position, I gazed at him curiously. I was sitting cross-legged with Alice resting sleepily in my lap, her head against my chest. She’d eaten entirely too much cake, and her hands were curled up around a thick chunk of my hair. Kora laughed and sat up, her dark curls framing her dark face as she looked over at Ivan.

“That’s so like you. You were heroic even as a baby huh?” 

“I remember idolizing my father. I just wanted to be like him. He died in battle but luckily his soul was safe. They brought his body back to the city and did a public cleansing of his corpse. A hero’s send-off. My mother had plucked his Amaranth from the ground and dried it. It was framed, and I clung to the memory of him and aspired to live up to the romanticized memories I have of him. I like to think he’d be proud of me.”

“I’m sure he would,” Rachel said, reaching over and entwining her fingers in his, and I watched this with curiosity as they turned to each other and stared for a moment, silent smiles on their faces. It seemed as if they were communicating silently and I felt myself tear my eyes away. I felt as if I had been invading something private.

“I wanted to own my own toy store,” Elliott spoke up, and all pairs of eyes shifted as the blonde boy sat up and grinned. “I always told Rachel that I wasn’t going to grow up, because our dad was always so uptight and serious. He was always frowning, and I had decided if growing up meant I was always going to be grumpy, I was having no part of it.”

“You still haven’t grown up, you big turd.” Kora chipped in and everyone laughed as Elliott reached up and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, cheeks turning pink.

“Good! I still don’t intend to! Rachel can do all the growing up. In the end, when she and Ivan eventually have babies I will be literally the most fun Uncle that ever existed in any plane of existence!” He said laughing loudly and I rolled my eyes, laughing softly along with everyone else at the loud boy who took nothing seriously.

“How inspiring.” Nakita drawled, though her mouth was in a quirky half smile. “I still haven’t decided what I want.“ She shrugged.

“I guess my ambition remains the same. I want to raise a family.” Rachel said sheepishly, her cheeks turning pink as she looked up at the sky and Ivan turned his eyes to her, a small smile on his face, and I resisted the urge to make gagging noises.

“Hah. Seems like you girl. Me? I wanted to be a florist. Making pretty bouquets for girls like Rachel, who have dreams of a big fancy wedding. Marry myself a hunter or a farmer or something.” Kora grinned. “But I guess being an esteemed Healer of the Spirit Warriors is good enough. What about you, Yoozooki?”

Alice who had remained still throughout the conversation turned to look at me now, interest peeking through her eyes. I noticed now that every set of eyes were on me, even Malakaii had opened his piercing, but cloudy blue ones, and the steady puffing of his magical pipe paused.

Put on the spot before, I frowned. I hadn’t planned on contributing to the conversation since I had not grown up in this world as everyone else had. Still, though, the silent stares put pressure on me and I thought back, before sighing.

“I don’t have anything fun to say to be honest. I was a pathetic existence. My world consisted of being devoid of feelings, and following orders. Where I came from, if I had the audacity to dream of something else I would have been severely punished, and potentially labeled a criminal or traitor. My world was harsh, and I was in a very delicate situation… I suppose I would have been happy to find who I was before I did. It was only as I died did I realized that I could feel joy in the first place.” I told them softly. “Once I awoke in this world… I didn’t really have a choice. Alice was attacked by a Tisin, and the Spirit Warriors had already found me. My entire life has been decided by the fate of my surroundings. I am okay with it though. I don’t think I would be good at anything other than being a warrior.” I told them, smiling at them all as my thoughts spilled out of my mouth.

“That’s really sad Yuzuki,” Rachel said in a soft voice. Alice reached up and touched my face, and I looked down into big, sad brown eyes.

“Yuzu, it’s okay to have dreams. Don’t you want to become something that you decided to be? Nobody is going to hurt you if you tell us what you want.”

“I am happy as I am now, I am glad that I have become what I am. I never thought I would ever find a place where I was content with myself, or the people around me. You all have taught me what it is like to have feelings and friends. My goal is to put down this beast that is my father’s soul. That is all I need for now, as long as I am surrounded by all of you.” I said, reaching up and taking Alice’s hand, pulling it down, and giving her fingertips a small kiss. The little girl in my lap did not seem completely content with my answer.

“Don’t you want to have other goals?” She asked, and I smiled a bit.

“I guess my other goal would be to keep you and Malakaii safe.”

“That’s not a goal!” She said, pouting. I sighed and looked towards the group for help, but they were all smiling, and shrugging at me as if they didn’t know what to say either.

“But I don’t know Alice. That kind of freedom is very new to me. Ah… tell you what. After we have taken care of the dangerous Tisin, you can help me find a goal. You can help me find out who I am. That can be a goal we share together.” I said, and the little girl smiled brightly. The misery in her eyes vanished at the suggestion and she nodded. “Until then, what are your dreams, little Alice?” When she was asked, her face brightened further.

“I thought you would never ask!” She said and I could hear the women in the group chuckling. Looking over at Nakita, I saw that even my dark stoic friend was enamored by this small girl's irresistible charms. She was sitting with her chin on her knees, facing Alice and I, her face uncharacteristically soft and interested in what was happening. 

“Well, what is it?” I asked, chuckling softly at the little girl's enthusiasm. 

“I want to learn magic! And I want to be the best Medicine Mixer and Healer of Limbo! And I want to learn how to fly! Oh! And I want to learn how to dance, and maybe learn how to play music of some sort. But I can’t decide if I want to learn how to play piano or maybe the flute. And I want to know the name of every animal and flower ever!” I stared in shock at the little girl, and it was quiet in the clearing. Her dreams were so simplistic in theory. And straightforward. And there were so many of them. Could her life goals really be so carefree? It wasn’t until I heard Malakaii chuckling did I break free of my shocked silence to see the rest of the group smiling. I smiled too then, breathed out, and shook my head, one hand raising to stroke the little girl’s hair lovingly.

“Is that all, Alice?” I asked her, turning my attention back to the little girl in my lap.

“Maybe! I didn’t come up with all of those at once though, so maybe I will get more in the future.” She said grinning up at me happily.

“Your first two goals are going to be very hard to achieve and take quite a lot of time. Can I ask why such a little girl has such big dreams?” I asked her in a carefree voice, though my interest was fully peaked.

“Because! If I am the best healer, and I know magic, I can protect everyone that I love! And I love everybody in the whole world! So I have to get strong because everybody’s life is important, right?” Again, her answer took me by surprise, and I could hear silence falling on the group once more. My eyes flicked to the group once more, and even Nakita was smiling. There was something in the eyes of everybody present, something deep and meaningful. Perhaps it was similar to what I felt. Deep within me, I felt a stirring, a feeling that made me have to swallow back tears. This little girl never ceased to amaze me. And her reasoning evoked a feeling of warmth that I did not understand, deep inside of my body.

“A child’s innocence brings to fruition a never-ending cycle of selflessness. It’s my goal to see that it never fades from the purest heart in this damned world.” Malakaii said softly, and I looked up at him, nodding. 

“Then that is one of my goals too,” I told him softly while Alice looked between us, a confused expression on her round young face. My arms snaked around Alice and I pulled her close, pressing my lips to her cheek.

When we began to move and took our mounts back to the sky, I remember my face hurting from smiling so much. The scenery had changed into something below that was questionable, the sky around us had turned a light purple, and green clouds were floating around us shaped like smiling faces. There were birds in the sky that were strangely coloured, and oddly shaped. A fish with wings, a floating hippo, a bird with a long tail and beak that looked as if it had been smashed from the front.

We were making up names for the creatures and laughing, Malakaii’s scented smoke occasionally wafting over to me, filling my senses with the scent of black cherries, jasmine flowers, and then sulfur.

Ivan and Elliot had joined in the fun, while Rachel hung back to chat with Kora, and Nakita rolled her eyes at our antics, flying on the opposite side of me stoically.

“Yuzuki girl.” She said in her strange accent, the extra annunciation of her Z’s and R’s making her words roll in a beautiful way. I looked over at her. “Soon be the dark hour. We should rise higher.” She said, her dark charcoal skin glistening with the yellow sun that glowed as if it were not a star but rather a light bulb of strange origin. I nodded to her and raised my hand, signaling the group. Our mounts strained as we rose higher into the sky and the group became quiet. It was not sooner that we stopped climbing, the sharp winds whipping into our eyes, our horse's manes flying about in our faces that the sky changed.

I watched as the sky turned from a pretty, light lavender color to dark sanguine, the red leaking in from the sun as if it were a wound bleeding. The green sun turned into a sickly neon color before dimming into black, the strange dark rings turning into a tainted light. It didn’t matter how long I’d been here in Limbo, I would always hate these hours of the day.

The group had fallen silent again as we flew, my eyes scanning the forest below us warily. Alice had leaned into Malakaii, her small hands clinging to the Appaloosa horse’s mane as they flew. I could feel my own nerves, sparking deep inside my core. The feeling of dread I always got during these hours left me exhausted by the end of each and every one of them. Still, I was more tense than usual. The time we’d wasted eating and resting the horses was strong in my mind. The village we were heading to was still exposed, and recovering from an attack. They would be especially vulnerable now.

These thoughts were piercing my mind like arrows when a scream echoed from the trees below us. It was so human that when I raised my hand to stop the group nobody argued. Nakita and I were both leaning over our mares, looking through the translucent wings for signs of distress. Another scream erupted to our left as if the person screaming was running in that direction.

“We need to get out of here. Malakaii, get in the middle of us.” I said softly. As if that were some formidable cue for damnation, the trees under us exploded in a flurry of movement. Several Tisin flew up at us from the cover of the blurred landscape beneath us. They’d been so stark still and dark that they’d blended in with the blackened and dead trees; with the cover of the distorted mirage that is the atmosphere above the ground of limbo. It had been the perfect camouflage.

Alice’s frightened scream drew my eyes to her before I drew Estrakulius from his beautifully made scabbard. They were skyrocketing towards us. One of the Tisin was screaming, the same human-like scream that we’d heard before, her human mouth open as her black bat wings flapped furiously, the talons of a hawk stretched up towards my mare. I vaguely had time to realize she was a strong beast, with only two conflicting beast parts stating her rank before I leaped off my mare who bolted the moment she felt her reins released.

Around us, smaller Tisin with more complicated structures screamed and barraged my company. There were so many smaller Tisin, the ravaging of bat and bird wings made it almost impossible to hear the screams of the horses. Through the flurry of black, I could see my squad struggling to control their mounts, as well as fight off the hundreds of Tisin around us.

I’d landed on the chest of the bat Tisin. The skin of her humanoid torso was grungy and hard to hold. My free hand had latched on to the creature's hair, my feet planting itself on her hips, but the feathers from her lower hawk half made my feet slip, and the stench of feces and blood made me want to gag as I realized she was filthy. My weight halted her upward progress, which is what I was hoping. The closer this giant creature got to Alice and Malakaii, the worse off I would be. She was at least three times my size, and her wings sacrificed her arms.

She screamed in fury, causing a ringing in my ears but I clung on as she began to shake, her ascension stopping as she struggled to maintain her balance. I’d almost made her fall, which wouldn’t have been good for either one of us. As she recovered she began to thrash her body, barrelling in the air. But I had other issues as well: her heart was not anywhere within sight.

By the fourth time, her body had turned in the barrel roll, her scream deafening me, my hands lost their grip and I felt myself beginning to plummet.

“Yuzuki!” I heard Alice scream, and Malakaii’s voice boomed over the sound of thundering winds and my fall came to a sudden stop. Looking down, I saw nothing under me, and yet my body stayed floating in the air, surrounded by a yellowing light emanating gently from my clothes and skin.  Looking at Malakaii, I could see his staff, between the thick cloud of wings glowing a brilliant yellow.

“Move like you were on land Yuzuki! I will keep you afloat.” Malakaii’s voice thundered surprisingly loud for such a fragile-looking old man, carried across the thundering wings and screams of the Tisin around us. My feet did indeed feel like they were on solid ground and again I felt the awe of magic, my curiosity interfering with my concentration. The Tisin screamed again, and circled around me, waiting for an opportunity to attack me. I wasn’t about to look a gift Wizard in the mouth, the ability to stay on level ground with the Tisin was exactly the advantage I needed. Grabbing the jeweled hilt of Estrakulius, I crouched and launched myself once more at the Tisin.

“Rule number one about fighting giant monsters: stay on the offensive.” An almost familiar voice softly purred in my brain and my heart fluttered. Estrakulius had spoken. For the first time since I had tapped into his powers at the village to save Leon, his voice echoed silently in my mind.

“Right,” I muttered as I swung my blade towards the Tisin, aiming for her wings. If I’d been afraid before, I wasn’t now. With a screech of indignation, the Tisin barrel rolled away from my blade, and I watched carefully, though she moved too quickly for me to spot any sign of a heart. My feet were still chasing her, and when the red human eyes turned back to me, I saw the frustration run through them. As she rolled once more, her matted greasy blue hair fell to the side and I saw my primary target. The oozing heart, covered in layered strips of armored flesh was at the nape of her neck. It was glowing a dark green inside of its small cavern on her body and I felt my resolve strengthen further.

“You might need to injure its wings. For such a large ugly thing, it knows how to move well in the sky. Slow it down.” Estrakulius whispered, and I renewed my mid-air chase with vigor. She let out an ear-shattering screech and the hundreds of smaller tisin that had surrounded my party began to converge on me.

“I gotcha Yoozooki!” I could faintly hear Kora over the flapping of hundreds of wings, and suddenly the circular wall of Tisin around me scattered, my body being buffeted by strong winds that caused me to have to brace myself, a reminder I wasn’t really on solid ground. I watched as Kora waved her giant pink fan, and Tisin all around us got cut in half, shimmering and glowing as their bodies disappeared, the large blades of wind obviously cutting into their hearts to cleanse them.

“Nakita! Can you help me cripple the beast?” I called, and the woman who’d climbed over the action on her black steed nodded, notching an arrow upon her Soulmate, and drawing it back, searching to aim for the Tisin.

Elliot had begun to circle me, his golden and silver Soulmate flicking in and out expertly, out and in towards his hand again, circling and slicing Tisin while avoiding himself and his mare.

“Yuzuki look out below you!” Alice’s terrified voice screamed out and looking down I saw that the giant bat was shooting up at me from far below, her mouth open.

“I can’t get a clear shot!” Nakita yelled, and suddenly a noise so horrid filled our ears. All of the horses screamed, and whatever control the party had over their horses dissipated.

Elliot’s horse plummeted to the ground as I clutched my head with my spare hand screaming in agony as my vision blurred. My vision became blurry and my head pounded, feeling as if a pressure was building within my skull.

I took a step back as the Tisin rose, but my limbs wouldn’t move. The pressure in my skull was building and I was losing motor control, feeling hot liquid suddenly oozing down my neck and face from my nose and ears. My eyes were pulsating as if they were going to pop out of my head, and I could taste blood in my mouth. I couldn’t see, and the only thing I could hear was the shrill sound of the bat-like Tisin.

But suddenly arms wrapped around my waist and all the noise disappeared. My vision cleared rapidly as the pressure died and I regained the ability to see. Alice glowed purple and yellow just as the Tisin streaked up and rose above us so close the wind blew our hair back.

Alice’s eyes went wide as talons that were meant for me gouged into her back and we flew back, shoved by the force. My arms snaked around Alice protectively and I felt hot liquid rushing out of the little girl in my arms. We both began to fall, the yellow and purple glowing from our bodies disappearing as Malakaii’s mount was jolted, but I took no notice of anything.

Crimson was leaking from Alice’s back, covering my arms as we fell. An alarming amount of blood was spilling from her. I felt terror and panic as I looked at Alice’s face, her eyes glazing over in pain.

“No! Alice! Estrakulius!” I screamed as we fell, Alice’s eyes began to dim as she clung to me. The Tisin had looped around and was diving us again.

“Gotcha!” Ivan’s voice was in my ear and we came to a harsh halt as Ivan caught me in his arms, his mount struggling to compensate for the impact. It barely managed to regain its balance enough to land, crashing through branches that smelled of mold and dust as it hit the ground hard.

“Rachel!” I screamed, and she was there, jumping off of her horse and sprinting towards us, yanking Alice from my arms. I watched as she set the little girl down, and her Soulmate began to immediately glow a brilliant white.

“Yuzuki get ready, it’s coming!” Ivan bellowed and I turned, the blood on my arms distracting me as I raised my Soulmate defensively. The blood that shone, matching the putrid sky above made me burn and I looked up as hatred and anger burned through me.

“Tap into my power Yuzuki. All of this time it has only been you that has kept us apart. Be one with me.” Estrakulius hissed in my head, and as the Tisin dove down to us, I wanted nothing more than the ability to bring that monster to the ground, no matter what it took. Heat rushed through me and I felt a strange tearing painful sensation in my back, but I ignored it as I began to run, following my instincts, letting Estrakulius guide me. I jumped into the air and found myself rising to meet the Tisin whose eyes had grown wide with surprise.

My blade came up and I felt the connection as I tore through her wing. The Tisin screamed in pain as she began to fall, but I mercilessly grabbed onto her hair, forcing myself onto her back as we fell together, the red sun glinting evilly off of the silver that was the blade of my katana-shaped Soulmate, as I stabbed her through the neck cutting towards the heart I knew was there.

We crashed violently to the ground as she began to glow, the Tisin screaming and writhing as I rolled away from her. But I didn’t stop to watch her begin to purify, I didn’t even have the courtesy to pull my sword from her neck. I turned and ran to Rachel who was panting. By now the rest of the group had joined but kept their distance. Malakaii was kneeling in front of Alice, his wrinkled forehead covered in perspiration as he released magic, chanting in an unknown language. Kora was swaying side to side a small distance away, her beautiful pink winds surrounding the little girl on the ground.

“Alice!” I said, sliding down to the ground on my knees, at the little girl's head. The ground around us, and her eyes looked up at me. Those eyes that were usually so bright, full of life and love were glassy and dim now. Her pink cheeks were so white she almost looked like paper, and I could hear liquid gurgling as she tried to take deep slow breaths.

“Yuzuki, we can’t. We can’t…” Rachel said softly, and I could hear someone scream angrily as a wall of denial slammed into my heart.

“Why?” I heard myself asking in a broken voice, a voice that was shrewd and hysterical.

“The wounds are just too deep…” Kora said, sobs wracking her voice as she leaned down and kissed one of Alice’s hands.

“NO! NO! YOU BETTER KEEP TRYING!”  I shrieked shrilly, my hands flying out to hold Alice’s cheeks gently. “Tell me what to do! I’ll help! Tell me what to do!” I could hear myself sobbing as I leaned down over her, begging Rachel. “Please!”

“Yuzu…” Alice’s voice was so soft, I almost didn’t hear it and I jerked my head down, putting my forehead to hers.

“Don’t worry. Don’t worry. It’s okay sweetie, it’s going to be okay.” I said softly and her response was to cough, blood splattering against my face. The hot liquid splattered my cheeks and nose and for the first time, my buzzing ears could hear the liquid and rattling with each shallow breath Alice took.

I noticed Malakaii had stopped chanting, Kora and Rachel both falling back. I looked up at them angrily but Alice reached up and I took her hand, Malakaii coming and taking the other in his strong grip.

“I wanted to protect you.” She said, barely audible between gasps for air. I felt despair filling the pit of my stomach, and I shook my head.

“You did great, Alice. It was my job to protect you, and you saved me instead.” I said.

“I’m sorry. I got in the way.” She said, her face frowning and I shook my head reaching down and kissing her hand.

“No. No, you didn’t. You did great.” I said, barely controlling the trembling of my voice. I could see now looking at her, there was no way. The Tisin had gotten her in just the right spots, just the right depth. I was no medic but I was taught enough about anatomy while I was alive to ensure I knew which were fatal spots. The Tisin must have punctured her lungs, she was coughing up blood, and her legs were awkwardly angled as if she couldn’t feel them anymore. Blood was pooling under her alarmingly fast, and her body was beginning to twitch with the blood loss.

“You were quite the little warrior.” Malakaii said gravely. “You did well, my Alice. I’m so proud of you.” He said, his voice soft and raspy. I looked up at him helplessly, begging him to be able to provide some miracle. And in his haunted blue eyes, I could see the familiarity of this situation, like when he and Okard died together. Alice’s frown disappeared and she smiled weakly up at us, struggling for air.

“Yuzu has wings now… I think I have another goal. I want wings too. Malakaii, will… you teach me magic now?” She asked him. And Malakaii managed a laugh somehow, patting her small hand in his grip.

“You already know the strongest magic there is my child.” He said softly and she looked up at him confused. Her eyes were growing more dim by the second, blood soaking the ground under us from her small body. “Love. It is the most powerful magic in all the world, and you have so much of it in your heart. And you are loved back just as much. Oh, how I love you so, my little Alice.” Malakaii’s voice broke and I let out a choked sob. Love wouldn’t save her. It wouldn’t keep her there with us. I wanted to scream in frustration but she spoke, and I stayed silent. My body shook with the held-back tears, but I wouldn’t. I would listen, I would cling to her last words for as long as I could.

“Really? I knew magic all along. I love you lots you know. And Yuzu too. I love you lots too.” Her words were weak, and growing weaker, her breaths becoming more shallow and I shook my head. I didn’t want to say it but the words spilled from my mouth before I could swallow them back.

“I love you, Alice. I love you!” I said, and Alice’s eyes went to me, and a smile crossed her pale face, a truly happy genuine smile, and a strange reverted sense of deja-vu ran through me as her eyes suddenly dimmed and her hand went limp in mine. I wondered if I had died with the same happy expression on my face as Sakura held me in my last moments. But I knew she was gone then and I shook my head hard.

“What… have I done?” A ragged husky voice rasped out from behind me. I turned, the scarred and mutilated body of the Tisin now fully human and naked was staring at the little girl in horror. The green eyes were wide and tears were leaking from them and as she disappeared into the separate lights, I heard a wail of sorrow from her.

Vocal

Memoirs Of The In-Between Table Of Contents

Javardh

Memoirs of The In-Between: Chapter 11

Moments That Will Never Heal Or Be Forgotten

The first half of the trip was quiet. Everyone was somber. What Okard had revealed had bothered us, and we were lost in our own thoughts as to what it all could mean. It was only after we’d landed that we began to lighten up. We let our horses walk, some of us dismounting to walk beside them in the strange forest that we’d arrived in.



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Memoirs of The In-Between: Chapter 11

Moments That Will Never Heal Or Be Forgotten

About the Creator

Hope Martin

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