Playing with Fire [COMPLETED]

26 ~ returning to him

The moment I wake, I sense the pull. It is stronger than ever, and it is leading me through Death's Court, all on my own. I walk down the long, winding corridors made of marble and granite, and into a large chamber with a massive table in the center of the room. Death is the first to see me, and she smiles and beckons me over.

But I freeze when I see Ruin, standing not far from where Death sits, his orange-glowing eyes on me. I feel as though the air has been sucked from my lungs, and like I can barely think. Im on fire, I'm burning up....

Suddenly, Ruin is in front of me, and he is studying my face, a look on his own that is somewhere between shock and reverence. He smiles a little.  "Hello, Elorha."

His voice is so soothing. Like calming balm to my raging thoughts. My aching heart. I smile up at him, tears streaming from my eyes. I didn't notice them until he gently wipes them away with his knuckles, a soft smile on his face. Ruin's expression is somewhere between glee and love, and devastation and depression.

"I have had some time to think it through." My voice is raspy and weak, but I do not care. I also do not care that we are not alone in this room. Ruin raises an eyebrow, but lets me speak. "I .... what happened to my home was not your fault. It was Pain's fault. But I needed some time to .... to sort through my pain and Farrin's agony. But now ... Ruin, they're after Mirage, my other sister. She's somehow still alive, and they want her. But why?"

Frowning, Ruin turns to Death.  "Have you heard anything about them wanting Mirage, her sister?"

Death shakes her head, but it is Fear who speaks next.

"I have," he says. We all turn to look at him then. Fear shrugs. "They want her for her power."

"Her what? She's mortal, like me! Or .... like how Farrin and I were," I say.

Fear nods. "But then she died. Just like you and Farrin, Mirage died. And now, she's been reborn .... but not as one such as you and Farrin have become. She's now become a candidate for the latest sibling of ours, Mirage will become our next sibling."

"Wait, what?" I ask.  "What would she represent?"

"There are a number of theories, but the prevailing one is that she is to become an illusion-maker. A Mirage in her own sense."

"So .... basically.... my sister died only to come back as your sister? A new one?"

Fear nods.  "This has not happened in thousands of years, and yet, here it is, happening now."

"Is there anything we can do to stop it? Or make it so they don't like, kidnap her and force her into becoming their newest weapon?" I ask.

"No, this kind of transformation cannot be altered or delayed. However, it can be .... more powerful than they had originally anticipated.... Though that in and of itself is going to be very hard," says Death.

"What can we do?" I ask.

"Very little, other than finding where it was Mirage died in her first life, so that we can be there when she wakes up in this one," Ruin replies.

"She died in the village. I'm guessing where we lived," I say. "So why don't we go there?"

"Alright, Ruin, take her to the village. Maybe we will get lucky, and Mirage will awaken there," Death says. "But if she does not awaken there, return here as soon as possible. We do not want to lose either of you again."