The sun rose to the sky like a flame from a burning house, a myriad of reds, tinted the sky into an ocean of blood before coagulating into the source of its life.
Soot and ash saturated the air as they stepped closer to the origin.
The dilapidated village had almost been put on an altar.
The trees surrounding it had been destroyed, leaving the remains to float in the air, and to make breathing a terribly difficult event.
I tightly grasped the small girl's hand, sending a few of the beasts ahead to secure the area and check for life.
Taking steps into the village I whispered to Senna to close her eyes from the haunting evil that rested in man.
The smell of burnt flesh wafting in the air had been growing more revolting as we made it closer.
Our feet were sticking to the gunk and residue, threatening to knock one of us off balance but we kept forward.
If there had been a god in this world, it did not care for its people.
Puke rested in the back of my neck as my mouth went sour at the sight in front of me.
A large mound of dwindling fire was before me and Senna.
The town square, once buzzing with life, had been made its antithesis.
As I made out the many limbs in the mountain of the deceased, I saw a badly charred stuffed animal just slightly far enough from the fire to retain its material form and not be reduced to ashes.
I moved forward feeling the frenzied flame reach for my body with its formless self.
My hand seemed heavy as the terrible smell filled my nostrils, however I was able to grab it. What was left of the wolf stuffed animal..
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Albert stood over the remains of a woman clutching a child, the bones blackened and fused together
"They have no idea what they have done so they?"
A tear ran down Al's face as he looked over the residual corpse of the child and mother.
He crouched. There, near the corpse's foot, something had called out to him when him and Senna were beginning to leave..
A pendant.
Shaped like a crescent moon.
He froze.
[Thread Signal Detected]
[Designation: Moon's Divine – Akari]
[Status: Fragment Anchored – Resonant Pull Available]
Taking the crescent moon into his hand he wiped the residual ash off it with his shirt..
The pendant vibrated in his hand.
The red and bloody sky had begun to break away as a void opened in the sky where the sun should be. Darkness crept around the sky consuming it like a parasite.
Bells began to charm as if they were heralding the coming of the end.
The large sphere rose from the dark like a leviathan from the deep. It filled the sky in an unnatural way, seemingly out of place.
It hovered over Al intentionally watching him.
A gust of wind swept the ashes from the ground, revealing a hidden circle of silver stones.
A shrine had been resting here.
To her.
[Resonance Initiated…]
[Memory Fragment Absorption – Commencing]
His vision blurred.
He was no longer in the hell that was the village.
He stood in a place of white light and quiet bells, surrounded by towering statues of Akari, a cruel rendition of her beauty.
The eyes were blindfolded on the creation closest to him but two other versions had excited in this space.
One with mouth stitched shut, allowing for no pleading.
Lastly a statue stood behind the rest, one of her with her hands desperately pressed against her ears.
Behind the statues, raised an elevation was a circular platform.
She once again was standing there.
Within a few feet Al had made it up to the platform in a desperate dash to stay connected with her.
Al laid his hand on her form, turning her to finally see his face again.
However, Akari's face did not bless his eyesight.
Instead SHE was there.
Y.
A hand rose to his face before a thread snaked around his neck…
It was wrapped like a snake around his neck so tight that only shallow breaths could escape his tired lungs..
Y let a smile coat her lip line before she moved her hand back to her side.
A fierce pain followed her hand moving as the thread constricted his throat as hard as it could.
The memory broke.
Al gasped, throwing his hands to his neck like he was choking.
Senna was at his side, gripping his shoulders. "Al?!"
He looked down at her.
"It happened again, this time it was so incredibly terrifying. However, I am trying to figure out the rest of the story."
Senna bit her lip obviously very worried about Al.. "Then we will, together."
He stood, breath shaking.
A small shaking of his head had told Senna that he was indeed listening.
The pendant had turned black.
The ash was making it hard to catch his breath but It also reminded him of the horrors the village had been subjected to.
Smiling against the pain, Al looked at the stuffed animal.
"Senna."
"Yes Al?" A concerned and trembling voice rose from his right side.
"I have this for you, I found it and It made me think of you, would you like it."
For the first time in this world Al had been happy to be there. amidst all the death, and evil of humanity. In this terrible example of human potential for terror.
Senna looked toward me with a smile that could erase all of the hopeless the world had to offer. As tears rained from her eyes like a typhoon she reached out her hands almost as if she was being given something divine.
I placed the stuffed animal slowly into her outstretched hands in which she brought it to her chest almost afraid to squeeze it too tightly.
"Thank you so so so much Al" Senna was able to cry out amidst her trying not to hyperventilate from her intense emotions.
"Of course Senna" taking her into his arms he gave the girl a much needed hug. Much needed for both of them.
As tears dried, so did the blue sky and once again the darkness came to devour the sun.