Afterlife

• Chapter Six •

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She remembered standing at Blue’s side crying.

     The room was filled to the brim with the souls of plants that were fading away into nothing. Blue’s hands rubbed circles along her back, comforting the queen in her dire state of mind. Aurora trailed her eyes upwards towards the ceiling, watching the luna moth souls crawl amongst the decaying nature. “It’s time, you’re majesty. You can’t keep avoiding it, everything will die out if you keep this going.”

     Aurora’s head hung low, shoulders drooping in on themselves. She knew Blue was right. She knew they were and it was terrifying. “I… how am I supposed to be a mother? How am I supposed to raise a child in a place like this?” Aurora’s voice was trembling as she looked over at her partner who looked equally as worried as she felt. “I’ll be here to help you, you know that! You have to do this now or else everything will die out. I’ll be right here.” 

     The queen didn’t speak. Her blue eyes drifted back towards the moth souls moving around amongst the fading plants. Aurora took in a deep breath, cupping her hands together before guiding them towards the souls. A light glow filled the area, not enough to be blinding but enough to get all the souls' attentions. She waited, eyes widening ever so slightly as a luna moth soul took flight. Aurora could hear her heart thumping within her chest, throat tightening in fear she hadn’t felt in decades. The soul drifted towards the queen, circling the light she had produced in her hands. She was so trained on the soul she barely heard Blue’s words of comfort.

     The soul suddenly stopped its movements around the light. Aurora felt a slight sinking feeling within her chest before she saw it do something odd. At first, the soul’s body twitched, a strange sight she’d never seen before. Again, its wings twitched, however, a copy of the movement formed behind it before fazing back together as one soul. Aurora watched in awe as the soul flapped its wings harsher than before, producing another set of wings behind it which continued to faze back into one soul. 

“What is it doing?”

     It split into two souls. A pair of luna moth souls flying side by side. Aurora's mouth was open in awe, but even then, her lips were still ever so slightly upturned in a smile. The queen gestured the light closer to the two, watching them with careful eyes as the two neared the light together in sync. As they touched it, the light enveloped them entirely in a bright ball of blinding white light. 

     It was in no time at all the queen and Blue each held a baby in their arms. In Aurora’s was a baby boy, hair as red as blood, eyes as blue as his mother's, and freckles which dotted the boy's nose. Blue, who had a huge grin on their face, had a baby girl which was a replica of the boy in the queen’s arms. “Look!” Blue squealed, lifting the baby girl in the air before turning her around, “she has little bug wings!” Aurora held up the boy beside his sister, seeing they both had the same wings. The wings reminded her of a dragonfly, the upper wing being much longer while the lower was comparatively smaller. She had a similar pair herself before she became queen.

     “What should we call them? Oh, I’m so excited! I didn’t know twins could even happen! How about… Amber? Or, or, Sophie? No, that’s too basic… how about-” “Arielle and Aaron.” Blue lowered the baby girl so that she was resting against their side. “Arielle and Aaron?” They paused in thought. “That's… perfect! Oh Arielle, aren’t you just the cutest! We’re going to do everything together, just you wait!” 

     Aurora looked down at little Aaron who was busy playing with her long black hair. She couldn’t help but smile, her nerves dying down to nothing. Even the surrounding area, which once was dying, was now refilling with life and energy. She’d almost forgotten how scared she was just moments ago. At the moment she felt at peace. The future looked to be bright for the family. Even with the ups and downs, she knew it was going to be perfect.