Afterlife

• Chapter Fourteen •

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"WHAT?"

     If she had a heart, she knew it would have stopped by now. It was like a knife had cut her open, taking one of the only things she had left in this world: Arielle. Blue was down on one knee, their body visibly shaking in a state of panic. "I- I'm sorry, Aurora. She wasn't in her room, and-and the only thing left was this black powdery substance. Even the Keepers were gone, including Millie! Everyone is gone!"

     Aurora removed herself from her throne. The entirety of her being was shaking in an anxiety she hadn't felt since... "if Arielle was taken, then our Keepers must be out finding her." Aurora slowly nodded her head, her mind latching on to any kind of hope she had left. "Arielle's weak. She trusts anyone that gives her any form of attention. It's no wonder she was taken. However," the queen turned towards Blue. "I still need her to continue my reign in this castle."

     "What are you planning?" Blue's hesitancy to speak was clear. Aurora's lips twitched into a smirk, blue eyes lidded. "I suppose I need to bring in new souls. It'd be a shame if I found someone in there that would help us, hmm?" In the short moment of silence, a light bulb seemed to click in Blue's head. "You plan on finding a Keeper? They aren't just lying around you know!" Aurora shook her head, a hand waving absentmindedly in the air. "Sometimes, Blue, you do things until shit happens. Pardon my language."

     The queen turned her head to face the large doors, her black hair pooling over her exposed shoulder. "You stay here and keep my dear moth souls safe for me." Blue all but sighed, their head nodding reluctantly as they watched Aurora disappear into thin air...

The chill air wrapped its fingers along her bare arms.

     Aurora paid no mind to the nothingness around her, nor did she notice the newly dead souls awaiting their arrival to the Afterlife. Blue would surely frown if they knew how wrong she was doing this. Or even, how wrong it was to ignore so many souls. They wouldn't know is all she could think to make herself feel better.

     The ground felt like ice to her bare feet. Aurora remembered being a young girl, fluttering her little wings to avoid touching any part of this abyss. That wasn't so simple anymore. She was a queen now. Her wings were no longer small enough to just fly whenever she wanted. The queen kept her eyes moving, tracing along the nothingness around her. The nothingness filled with the screams of the dead. Calling out to her. They won't know. She reminded herself. When they arrive in our world, they won't know you ignored them.

     Minutes began to stretch into hours. Aurora's feet had long since lost feeling. She wondered how this would feel if she were a human. Would she still be going? Would she have given up? Aurora stumbled a bit, barely managing to keep her balance. She froze.

     There was a light up ahead. Aurora had to pinch herself, fearing she was dreaming. A single tear slid down her cheek when reality hit. Her steps which had started slowly gradually grew into a faster pace. The Abyss of the Fallen hadn't failed her. They have forgiven her. The dead forgave her for ignoring them! As the light grew nearer, the queen finally was able to rest her eyes upon a young man.

     His naked body laid upon a large tv, underneath said tv a sea of cables. Her breathing was ragged, audible in the silence around them. "Your time in the Afterlife won't be as you'd expect," her wings began to expand from her back. "I won't have time to explain much, but I'm sure you'll understand." She slid onto her knees, allowing herself room to rest her head against the others. The memories seeped in quickly, one after the other, from baby to adult hood. As she came back to reality, the soul from the boy slipped out from their stomach.