The Unified Soul

Losing the Battle

Airis huffed and cried as her world lit up again, her consciousness only leaving her for a few short moments. In a flash, she remembered everything that happened in only a few minutes. The raiding of their hiding place, her family being split up into smaller groups to escape.... and Melissa....

She felt so helpless, not being able to help her family more than she could. With her magic and Livana's magic slowly combining, the process could be interrupted if she uses too much of her own magic at once. So being restricted to some low level spells was torture for the little girl who wanted nothing more than to protect her family from these monsters.

Nevertheless, she knew she had to be strong, not only for her family, but for her future as well. She grabbed a small bit of her blue hair, only to see that more of it was turning white. She could even see how the white was bleeding into the Celestial Blue she had always known, albeit the process being slow.

Kawaii~Chan peeked from their hiding spot, watching as the Guardian Forces left the area to search of them and the others. But as she turned to face Airis and Aaron, she noticed the latter with his fist to the wall and his head bent down in pain and mourning. After all, he just listened to his older sister be shot.

"Melissa...." He muttered under his breath, his voice heavy and dead, "This can't be happening. This isn't happening."

Airis looked back and forth from her father and aunt, not sure what she could do at this point. She wanted to keep the secret of what she did to everyone, putting the seal on their bodies so that couldn't be mortally wounded. In other words, they could be harmed, but they wouldn't die. And even then, they would be put into a death-like state that would throw the enemy off. Eventually they could come back to the world, but that would take time depending on the severity of the wound inflicted.

"Papa..." Airis hesitantly called out, looking up to see her father's anger filled face and bright glowing red eyes. He was really losing everything he had, and thus losing control of his eyes, as well.

"Aaron...." Kawaii~Chan said sadly, "She did it for you and Airis."

Aaron looked straight at Kawaii~Chan, his eyes filled with hatred and horror. Kawaii~Chan gasped upon seeing his eyes, this being the first time ever seeing the Ultima eye's crimson color. She was afraid just like everyone else, but she wasn't going to leave her friends behind.

"I... Uh... Garroth told me, that back in those woods, near the lodge, when all that bad stuff happened, you were trying to do everything you could to protect them. Even Airis, a little girl who was terrified of the situation, followed you to protect everyone at the lodge."

Airis sniffed back her tears, "Auntie Melissa is just like how we were then, Papa. She was thinking about everyone else. Thinking about us. She took the shot for us."

Aaron closed his eyes and tried to calm down enough to clear his eyes of red. He knew what they were saying was true, and he needed to help them escape.

"Aaron, I don't know where anyone is and we can't stay here." Kawaii~Chan cried, "I need you to be here. Airis needs you to be here. We need you to be calm."

Aaron punched the wall hard, trying to stop his tears from falling down his face. The grief was hard and painful, but if they didn't escape, the pain will only get even worse. As he tried to wipe away his tears, he felt his daughter's hand on his. He looked down and saw the little girl he loved as his own wearing a small teary smile on her face.

"Papa... Auntie Melissa isn't dead. She can't be." She said, "Because I made sure of it."

His eyes widened, "Airis... what are you saying? What did you do?"