(Malice, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to pull you out)
"What do you mean!?" he cried, looking around for the source of the voice, but knowing he would not be able to find it.
(You'll die in there unless we take you out.
I'm sorry.)
Titania looked around, confusion and fear in her young eyes.
“Who is that? Who are you talking to?” exasperated and scared, she questioned him urgently but he did not answer.
“I can’t leave!” he cried.
(You’ll die- both of you)
Knowing he was powerless to stop the will of The Mastermune (at least from where he was), he turned to Titania, who now seemed so small amongst the apocalyptic backdrop.
“Listen to me, and listen carefully.” He said, and she made no effort to interrupt him “
Remember. And when you do, find your way back to us. This isn’t the end and we’re not abandoning you.”
Though she did not know who he was, she was reluctant to let the last of the strangers leave. Unconsciously, she gripped his hands, making him realize he had not released her palms.
“I can’t stay here...” He said, knowing he had no choice.
(Malice, hurry it up)!
“…they won’t let me.”
She gave him one more pleading look, but he dropped his eyes, too ashamed to meet her gaze.
“Find your way back to us.” He repeated, and then was gone.
There was suddenly a void, and the voice that had distracted her had now left, letting the darkness become the reality once more. Numb from the swift meeting, she stood, frozen, on the shore as chaos closed in on her like a snake devouring a mouse.
She could not have cared less.
The people in her life had vanished from her memory, or had been killed in the storm, and now as she looked upon the endless ocean, to the unraveling of the universe, she could see only emptiness. Suddenly, the pain and anger of abandonment ripped through her body, and she collapsed to her knees, looking up toward the smoky sky.
“I give up!” she screamed, throwing her arms open to the storm “What more have you to take?”
The rain did not answer, but fell upon her hair and face, as if to torment her further; yet as the storm had grown, the wind had stopped and its awful howl did not burn her ears as it had before.
Soon the horizon gave way to the darkness, and as she stared upon her own doom, she screamed once more to the un-hearing heavens.
“Make me watch no longer!” her voice cracked with a burden of strain and sobs, and around her the still-existing cliffs bounced her voice back “Are you so cruel that you will make me watch? You took everything and now you make me
watch?”
Again there was no answer.
Rising to her feet, she stared out at the ominous sky, her small figure seeming a ridiculous opponent “Fine! If you won’t do it, then I will!”
Shedding her senses, she ran into the ocean, her feet pressing into the passive sand and piercing the clear waters, until finally she stood waist-deep in it.
For once in her life, she would not run, and she would not shrink behind the shadow of others for safety. She was no longer a child, clinging to the coat-tails of her father, never leaving the yard for fear of what others would say- of course: there were no more others. They were all dead.
Her very being burning with an unseen fire, she tilted her chin upward to look straight at the orange and gray monsters, which loomed menacingly in the sky. Rain splashing into the ocean and through her now fading body, she laughed, a moment of pure bliss having taken over all the fear. Finally she had proved them all wrong and now as she stood, waiting for death, she knew in her heart that she had done at least one thing right.
“You are nothing to me, Storm!” she screamed, victoriously, her voice still cracking “Take me now for all I care- I have beat you!
I have lived, and you
never will! I have
lived”
She laughed as the rain fell rhythmically upon her, now more like helpless music, than the terrifying wrath of heaven; she reveled in the coolness of its touch. Finally, as the sky seemed to burst in a fury of light and shadow, she was left alone without sight and without sound. There was nothing, and though her eyes were open, there was nothing to see.
“
I have lived…” she whispered, weakly, as the last of her consciousness washed away and she gave up her shallow breath to the cold, gluttonous sky. As her pale form sunk helplessly into the water, the world fell dark and all that was left was the gentle sound of the rolling waves.
*
“You had to make me leave?”
(I did. You would have died).
Malice was silent.
For a time no one said anything, until finally, there came the sound of footsteps along the cliffs.
“Is it back?” Malice muttered, sarcastically “Is it here to get the rest of us?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Was the only answer “And I’m a he. Not an it.”
“Oh. It’s you, Barn.”
“Brian.”
There was no apology.
“Why is everyone so quiet?” the soldier asked, taking a seat “You think you’d be happier to see me.”
His joke seemed to make no impact.
“Where’s Belial?” Magus asked, seeing that no one else wanted to say anything “Shouldn’t Osirus and him be with you?”
“Of course they didn’t come.” Malice interrupted “They don’t care.”
“In so many words- yes. They don’t care.” Brian said, suddenly seeing the girl’s sleeping form “What happened to-”
“At the moment it is beyond our knowledge.” Glenn interjected, still rubbing the non-existent wound in his back “And we will not know until she wakes up, or…”
“…until she wakes up.” Magus finished his sentence “Malice, do you know of any way we can help from here?”
The Theiran raised his head and looked at his friend “If I did, I would be doing it right now.”
“She’s still breathing…” Brain commented, seeing her chest rise and fall.
Malice looked up once more, and sat next to her, deciding to try one more time to get through.
“Wake up…” he muttered “Please, wake up…”
*
Slowly, the waves swayed, invisible in the darkness of the abyss. And yet from it there seemed to have been spawned a new kind of light- one which was peaceful, serene, and gentle. Shakily like a new-born fawn, it crept across the moving ocean, lighting it up as it went.
Wake up.
Adrift in the ocean like shipwrecked wood, Titania raised her head, conscious for the first time in what was an eternity.
Are you lost?
She shook her head.
“I don’t need help.”
The voice seemed not to hear.
Are you hurt?
She did not answer.
Can you hear me?
“I can.”
Listen, and try to remember.
Her ears perked at the words, and she raised her head, but then let it fall again.
“I don’t need any help.”
It ignored her.
Do you remember your home?
She listened and said nothing.
The wood floors were so eaten by ants your father had to cover it in rugs. None of them matched.
A small, un-repressable smile tugged at her lips as she imagined the sight.
When you were small, you used to pretend that they were different kinds of wheat and pretend you ran a farm. Your mother told you not to day-dream, and your father told you to think better than farms.
Their voices, which now seemed so sweet in the cold of the night echoed through the sky and she found herself sitting on the floor of her home.
The other children would make fun of you because you had soot on your face from the ovens, and you did not want to ever go outside. They didn’t know why.
“I was ashamed!” she cried, as if in argument, though she knew by now that the voice could not hear her.
Do you remember your father? He used to tell you fairy tales, and make ones up about you. Do you remember your mother? She would bring home dinner from the sea and you would have to watch her. It made you sad to see her kill the fish..
The voice went on for some time, pulling up images and memories of safe places, of times of learning, and times of great importance. Finally, and with greater weight than the times before, it chided her with the memory of the storm.
When you were seventeen you were sent to find your mother, because it was storming out, but you stalled, and went with your friend instead. By the time you were done, it was too late. You ran to the Eidolon Wall but your mother wasn’t there. The city in ruins, you could not return and so you cried to Phoenix who brought you here.
She stood before the Eidolon Wall, it’s brick glowing red with the fire of a hundred generations. As she stared at the carvings and words of the ancients, suddenly her life came flowing back to her, as if it were there the whole time.
“I know what happens next…” she muttered, walking to the statue of Phoenix.
Though there was only blackness in the sky above, and the storm seemed not to come, she stood firm and looked at the effigy without fear and without regret.
“Send me home.” She said.
*
As if coming out of water, Titania opened her eyes and coughed, gasping for air and trying to sit up. She looked around her to see her friends, who had come near at the sight of movement. Overwhelmed with joy at the sight of their kind faces, she smiled at them, pulling them into a tight embrace.
“I remembered.” She whispered to Malice “And I found my way back.”