The Unified Soul

Reborn Pt. 1

Aphmau and Airis held Aaron close, finally relieved to see that he was alive and with them once again. However, Aaron was both relieved and confused, especially after seeing Airis alive, smiling with her stunning white hair falling against her back and shoulders.

"How... How are you alive?" He asked, his voice weak and shaky, "I saw you...."

Aaron thought back to that horrifying moment. The moment Ein struck Airis down with a deadly beam of emerald green light, and the moment Airis took her last breath smiling at them.

"It's a long, long story, Papa..." Airis cried and wiped away her tears, "Livana.... my Mama and Papa from before, and two other spirits helped bring me back. Auntie Lucinda, Auntie Kim and Uncle Zane helped give me my strength back."

Aaron's eyes widened hearing this, thinking that this was simply a dream and that it was too good to be real. Nevertheless, he thought that if this was actually a dream, it was a sweet one since he was seeing his loved ones all together once again. Just then, he remembered what happened before he woke up again, the voice of his daughter bringing him back from that nightmare filled with loneliness and despair.

Aphmau looked down at Aaron's wounds, noticing the terrifying dark violet color that stained his skin. The scratches and bruises that painted his skin reminded her of that day at the lodge, the fear and panic she had coursing through her body was enough to make her stay frozen in her place. The only thing that moved were the tears welling up in her eyes.

Airis new exactly what these wounds were.

"Airis, these burns..." Elysian said.

"I know. Void Burns, a marking of the empty void. And from the looks of them, they're really bad."

"We can help you heal them, Airis, if you would like to use our strength." Aianae proposed.

"I will call upon all of your power and strength later on. I can at least dull the pain for Papa for the time being. And as much as I hate to say it, my first priority is to defeat the Demon Warlock. If I don't do that, then no one will survive."

"We understand your plight, Airis. When you need us, simply speak our names and we will come to you." Livana said and Airis nodded in acknowledgment.

"I'm so sorry...." Airis apologized and cried again, "If I had just been a little bit stronger and smarter... I could've stopped this. I could've stopped the Demon Warlock before anyone else got hurt. And I--"

Airis was cut off when Aaron forced himself up and hugged both her and Aphmau tightly. The warmth of his touch was enough to make Airis forget about the horrifying events, even if it was just for a moment.

His strength gave out underneath him, "This isn't your fault, Airis... Just stay here with me, okay?"

The little girl nodded and Aphmau clutched his hand tightly.

"We're just so happy that you're alive." Once again, the two girls collapsed on his chest and cried, barely hearing Kim's rapid footsteps as she ran up behind them.

"Oh my Irene." Kim gasped.

"Void burns." Ghost recognized the wounds, "And they're bad. We need to get him out of here."

Aphmau and Airis sat back up.

"Void burns." Aphmau repeated scared once more, "What does that mean? Will he be okay?"

"Mama." Airis called out to her, "Papa was marked by the emptiness; The Void."

"I've only seen this once before. It could kill him." Ghost explained, "We need to get him home."