Amethyst Genesis: Bleeding Ruby

Rose Drifting in the waves

Hal eyes the group standing the center. in front of him amongst the moss and the grass behind the group was a gate of mahogany design, Kara's facial expression was no longer bloodshot, but rather calm. He foots his way in front of them, there wasn't a point of trying to sneak around her. She knew of his presence; it was her realm after all. "Hal, you know I know what you are trying to do it isn't going to help. It won't work, the spirits are aligned with me, they obey my desires, .... They are me." Kara says with a rather irritated tone. "I'm stronger, faster and I sure as hell know when and how to put you down. Give up Hal, it's for your own good, why can't you understand that!!" Kara says blocking the gateway, glaring with intense fury. 

"And what happens when you die? I'll be left alone here to rot, never to see you again, to never live the life I want with you." Hal starts to quake on the words he spoke facing downwards. "What will happen then? After everything is said and done, what will happen to everything we had?" Hal says shakily clenching his fists. "

WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND, YOUR LIFE MEANS SOMETHING TO ME TOO!?" Hal yells, holding back the lumps in his throat. Kara's eyes widen as his words trickled to her heart. "But no, you just have to be a hero, to get yourself in harm's way and face it alone." Hal mutters heavily. 

"You just don't get it. All my time with you means a lot, it most definitely does, but I can't bear the thought of you suffering anymore, to be out and vulnerable, where the world can tear you apart at any moment. Not anymore." Kara says shaking. "Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the ones you love, these ends justify the means." She says staring into Hal's eyes with a burnt out, expression worn down by the pains and stress of it all.

The two were left in a standstill, eying each other's movements, watching for the other to make the first move. The air stood silent as the spirits eyed the two. "Hal don't make me do this." Kara thinks with great pain as she eyes Hal's legs. "

Idiot."  Hal thinks. The minutes passed by, but they felt like they were hours. Then like a skipped frame, the silence was broken, Hal bolted towards the gate at full throttle, Kara not budging, readied herself in a stance, the moment Hal reached next to her, she strikes directly in Hal's solar plexus in with a firm strike, knocking the air from Hal's lungs. Hal was stunned and knocked silly to the ground. Hal with a rushing determination and adrenaline, forced himself to breathe again, rushed to get back up only to be held down by Kara. 

Kara looks in Hal's eyes, holding back her tears knowing that this is her only chance to protect him. "I don't want to fight you, but I will if this the only way to protect you." she said.

 "I won't just watch you kill yourself!" Hal yelled. "Let me go!!" 

Hal screamed at Kara to get off of him, but she won't budge. "I just can't." Kara sobs, letting her tears trickle on Hal's face. "Even, if you get out what then? What will stop Lyra from ripping you apart limb from limb." she bellowed as the sky turned gray as her scowl of rage, softened to a face full of tears, and her grip loosened off of Hal's chest. Soothing Kara, he caressed her left cheek with his palm and wiped away her tears with his thumb. 

"Believe me, I will find a way to survive, but I can't let you throw away yourself like that." Hal whispers to Kara as he slowly moves up, clasping her hands in his, consoling her sorrow with gentle gleam of hope. Hal gazes deep into Kara's soul, "I promise." Hal says gently.

Kara raises her arm up, Hal flinches, but she doesn't strike him, she just points to the gate. "Go. Before I change my mind." Kara mumbles frustrated under her breath; Hal without hesitating, stood up, and ran towards the gate, touching the ring with his palm, he disperses into a bright red smoke.  "Don't make me regret it." Kara says softly.

Hal wakes up in warm ocean in a soft emerald hue, reflecting on the verdant green sky, with steam and mist clouding his vision. He viewed his surroundings; he was in a shallow ocean with a never-ending horizon, an infinite green expanse. "Hello?" Hal calls out wading through the waves, his voice echoing with no end. He sees glowing red light in the distance, it draws his attention, without a second thought, he was only meters away from it. Upon further observation it was a humanoid being, around as tall as he was, androgynous in shape, faceless, a mannequin of light. The figure was turning its head towards him, swaying its hips with the waves as it stepped towards Hal, it touched his chest. Hal felt memories surging through him; sights, people, voices and sounds, ones that he had never felt in his life, yet they felt familiar, as if they were his own. 

As he was given wonder from the visions, he received something else, Pain. He convulsed in it, collapsing in it, writhing in the waters. Within those visions, every memory that passed, it wasn't of different people; it was him. Different times, different lives all ending the same; Death. "Hurts, doesn't it?" The figure says squatting down in the waters in front of the screaming Hal. "Don't you just... want to go back where it's safe?" It smirks condescendingly. "It's what she would've wanted, right?" the figure remarks grinning cheek-to-cheek. Hal, without the numbness from dying, was left to face the true pain of mortality. "You fear this pain, don't you? These are the risks of going out in the open." It chuckles as it walks away from Hal, disappearing into the emerald mist. 

Hal was struggling to move his body through the searing sensations surging through him. Death was no gentle endeavor; it was a sensation that ripped the willpower from Hal's spirit. After a while, the screaming stopped, the pain was still there, but the nerves after being on fire for too long were too numb to feel it. The numbness Hal felt gave him tranquility. There he was, floating in the waves, a leaf drifting in a clear pond in early spring; he was at peace. He stopped moving, he slowly rose from the waves. The pain subsided; he was alone in the waves once more.