Sunshadow

Afterlife

She opened her eyes. She was stood on a path in the country, flowers lining the side and the sun high in the sky.

"Where-" she started.

"Hello, Kiki." Came her mother's voice from behind her. She spun round as Helia took her arm.

"You shouldn't be here yet, Alkina." Abuela Eliane appeared at her other side. This must be a hallucination from the pain. What could she remember?

Lee. Gun. Bucky. Black. Falling. Wake up here. Hmmm...

Nothing else.

"Where am I?" She asked her 'mother'.

"Technically, you're dead. At least, your body is. We have created this path to discuss with you." Helia gestured at the beautiful place they were in.

"Come on," said her grandmother. "We must walk."

☾

"I can't do it! I'm not strong enough to bring her back!" Sol cried. Bucky slammed a fist on the wall of the lab.

"She has to make it through."

Hayl sighed at Bucky's outrage. "If you're going to punch something, go to the training room, not my wall. There is not much else we can do, so take your anger somewhere else."

He calmed himself down, knowing that it would never help her.

"We need you, Sol. She needs you." He kneeled down next to her and held her hand as she cried.

"I'll try again." She said, standing up. "I'll save her."

☾

"At the end of this path is the Afterlife. When you cross the line of stones, there is no going back. You will be dead." Eliane pointed to a spot not too far away.

"There is something we can do, though," Helia said comfortingly. "We can all project ourselves into the physical world and lend our power to Sol."

"In a normal time Sol would be the stronger sister. She uses the Sun, and can take more of it at any time than we can. However, somehow you make your own energy. It's, well, never been done before."

"Except for the first Sun and Moon."

☾

Kiki still lay on the counter of the lab, as the medical staff rushed in. It had only been 15 minutes since Bucky had brought Kiki here and Hayl had sent someone to find the emergency crew. And already 3 interns had fainted.

It was quite obvious Sol was not up for the task.

She kept trying, screaming when it didn't work. She had only just got Kiki back and already was losing her again.

"Miss, we're gonna need you to step back," interjected a medical assistant. "We don't have everything we need here, so we will freeze her body until we can get her back to the Hub."

"I'm staying with her." Sol meant it. Even if they just told her there was no hope, she had to stay this time. She wouldn't let Kiki go alone again.

"I'm staying too." Bucky stood next to Sol, and she smiled softly. It was good to Kiki had a friend.

☾

They were not far from the line of stones now.

"Make your decision, Alkina." Eliane turned to face her.

"Make your decision." Helia stepped in front of her, smiling. She would welcome her daughter if she chose to stay, but she would also not hold it against her if Kiki went back.

"Why would you give me a chance to go back? I'm not a good person. I'm not even an okay person. Surely the world would be better without me." Kiki started towards the line of stones, but was stopped by her grandmother's hand.

"There has not been such a powerful Moon since the first."