The many lives and times of Lin and Ezerella

Ghost mentor/companion au

This was born of me thinking "Hey you know how [Spoiler] [Spoiler] [Spoiler] but not really but also kinda? Yeah. And think of  that underlying metaphor!" and then completely forgetting the idea for months.

A lot like chapter 4 of this work, I can maybe see myself coming back and making an actual fic of it. Only maybe, though, and certainly not for a long time. Gotta see how the actual story plays out first!

Enjoy!

tw// mentioned death.

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Lin blinked. Woke up.

She was lying on a cold stone floor, looking up at a matching ceiling. A great big storm was going on around her, blowing the pink petals near her head into disarray.

Altogether, this wasn't a very pleasant situation. Lin pushed herself off the ground, turning her head in the direction of a cold wind.

There was an open balcony. There was also a girl standing in front of it. She was clothed in a pale blue nightdress, hair loose and feet bare. She would have looked like she was heading to bed, if not for the dark red stain across her stomach.

"Oh goddess- are you alright?" Lin blurted. Her focus bobbed from the girl's face to her wound before landing on her face again. "You're- you're bleeding!"

The girl looked at her, something complicated flickering in her eyes so briefly it was impossible to pin down. "That hardly matters now. I'm afraid we have far more important matters to discuss, and the time to do so is drawing to a close."

Well. That sure got her to stand up quick. "What?"

She continued to look at her with that same clinical expression. "My name is Princess Ezerella. Moments ago, I succumbed to a fatal injury and perished. Yet rather than pass on I arrived here – in a mindscape, my spirit now tethered to yours."

Lin processed only half of that. Her brain was rather caught on the whole this girl is dead thing. Ezerella, however, gave her not a moment to process it all before she went on speaking.

"Now, you are going to go back. Three years in time, to be exact. You will wake up as if the time had never passed and none will remember, not even my past self. Once you wake, go to Visehi forest and wander till you are lost."

Finally, Lin snapped back to life. "No, hold on! What do you mean go back in time? And getting lost in the forest would be stupid, I won't be able to get back out."

"All will be explained in time," Ezerella responded. "Now, when you are completely lost, a cottage will find you. Speak to the woman inside and head her instructions. Then you will find a temple, inside being a sword."

The world was beginning to grow translucent around them. "This sword is not an ordinary sword, so treat it with the utmost respect. From there, all I can tell you is to find my past self. I-" Ezerella hesitated.

Then her eyes grew steely, and she placed both her hands on Lin's shoulders. "Under no circumstances must I touch the sword. Do you understand me, Lin," she said firmly.

"Don't let her- you- touch the sword. Got it. But how come? Will something bad happen if you do?"

Ezerella removed her hands. "Her memories will return."

"But wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Rather than answer, she looked around at their surroundings. "You'll be waking, soon."

Lin forgot her question in favour of asking another. "Am I still going to be able to talk to you when I wake up? Are you leaving me?"

She shook her head. "No, I won't leave. Our souls are tied, now, until the end. However, I can only take the form of a spirit, strongest in dreams. Though I want to help, I'm afraid this is no longer my fight."

The world was now almost completely hazy. "Oh. Okay," Lin said. "Wait, how do you know all this?"

In a manner very contradictory to the usual seriousness, Ezerella gave her a wry smile and raised a finger to her head, tapping her temple.

"Your blessing is courage. Mine was wisdom. We shall see if this principle stays true."