Down, the girl dropped, her senses a blank canvas as the ground below approached at breakneck speed. Imminent demise.
The dragon didn't dare let that happen, and although her own body neared a complete meltdown, she willed herself forward, catching Violet in the nick of time.
Clumsily, the two rolled along the rooftop, Selen insistent on cradling the girl's head. Even when they reached a halt, she held on with every ounce of her ailing strength.
"I got you," she said softly. "I got you."
Only once the swordswoman and ghost hunter joined her did the dragon relent and set Violet on her back.
Elation at the successful recovery.
But such happiness faded as quick as it came, the trio noticing how the girl's eyelids remained shut, how her chest stayed completely and utterly still.
"Violet?" Yuko whispered.
Selen planted her ear onto the girl's chest.
No pulse.
"She's not breathing."
Despair washed over the group, and the dragon wasted no time pressing her hands against the girl's torso.
"Come on, buddy," she said. "Come back to us. You can't die at the finish line. Not when you were the reason we made it here. Come on, Violet!"
No response.
Yuko struggled to watch, her anguish overwhelming.
The dragon tried it all—different power, different angles, mouth-to-mouth.
The girl from the sticks showed no signs of life.
"You gotta live, Violet!" Selen wept, her eyes glassy. "You gotta live with us! Please!"
Suddenly, an inexplicable array of ringing rippled from the beyond above, flaunting just enough volume to command Pluto's attention.
She sent her gaze upward, and what she saw froze her to the core.
"Pluto, you wanna quit daydreaming and give me a fucking hand?" Selen growled.
The swordswoman's jaw hung. "I think we have a bigger problem."
"Bigger than our fucking friend dying!?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Irritated, the dragon shot her eyes to what captivated her comrade. But in only a mere moment did her own face soften, the anger melting away in favor of genuine disbelief.
"Holy shit . . ."
The ghost hunter gawked. "What is that . . . ?"
It had barely passed the furthest distance, no more visible than a faraway droplet of rain. But even then, the existence roared to every corner of the conceivable galaxy. Color after color, blending together beautifully, as if the gods themselves had come together to craft otherworldly art. Another comparison would be a meadow where every petal and every blade of luscious grass sung with notes of divinity.
Pluto answered softly, "Paradisio."
Yuko was speechless.
"You mean the Paradisio?" she choked. "The home of platinum souls? Why the hell can we see it!?"
Nearby, the final Chain of Obedience hissed with glee, its descent drawing upon completion.
"Shit . . ." Selen uttered. "We still need to destroy that thing."
"Yeah, I see that," Pluto said. "But there isn't much we can do about it. You and I are spent, and even if she had a marble, I doubt Miss Ghost Hunter, here, would have enough power to break it."
Just then, like some twisted song, the whistles of glass shattering broke loose all around Sincasa, followed closely by a collage of the most disturbing, bloodcurdling screams.
The swordswoman hurried to the edge of the rooftop, where she spotted the most vile of creatures crawling like sickening spiders out of the city's borders.
The Edge had been broken.
The Crooked had come to claim the throne.
"The things from the Beneath," Pluto choked.
Selen grimaced, realizing just what kind of position they'd been punished with.
"Why do you guys look so broken?" Yuko asked. "I don't know what's going on, but there has to be something we can do. There has to be."
The tired warriors, however, only hung their heads, defeated.
The ghost hunter trembled in her frustration.
"After all that, we can't be the losers," she whispered. "We can't let that bastard have the last laugh . . ."
It wriggled slightly in the girl's pocket—the glimmering marble—teased by the darkened particles enveloping it.
Soon enough, the shadowy aura evolved, transforming into a dilapidated, skeletal hand.
And with a newfound hold on the tiny orb, the fingers squeezed with all their might.
Without warning, an intense presence detonated from Violet's body, shoving the other girls back as they gawked.
"Violet!?" Yuko cried.
Not quite, for the girl herself remained lifeless.
The onyx particles spilling off her person, however, pooled above her like a corrupt cloud, expanding rapidly alongside their relentless ardency.
Eventually, the mass drifted swiftly up to the skies. There, they fused together to give birth to their favorite creation: the upper half of an astronomical skeleton, phantom-like as a tattered cloak covered most of the body, concealing its sickly bones. Simple in appearance, but boasting a presence potent enough to send chills across all known realities. Within the darkness of its hood, luminous pockets of pink flashed, and it held its glistening scythe with unquestionable Authority.
The ghost hunter couldn't believe it.
"Your Majesty . . . ?"
The reaper's resonant voice echoed throughout Sincasa.
"All right, you insolent fucks. Get your filthy asses back where they belong."
As if fear itself had been stitched into the syllables, the Crooked immediately obeyed, scurrying as fast as they could back down to their decrepit Beneath. When the last one made itself scarce, the border between the realms rebuilt itself, and the sanctity of Sincasa returned.
Next came the Chain of Obedience, which the reaper handled with a firm swipe of her blade.
In two, the divine metal split, dissipating into nothingness as the amber dust embedded within separated to litter the streets of the city.
As for the profound garden of colors up in the skies, its lowering briskly ceased, and realizing the invalidity of its place, the valley of brilliant souls commenced its journey back to its rightful home in the paradigm.
A smooth transition, the colossal reaper vanished from sight, just as the many residents of Sincasa reappeared amidst the destruction. From soul to soul chuckled pure confusion.
Before the trio, the rightful Queen of Sincasa materialized, her plushie assistant standing proudly on her shoulder.
Yuko appeared puzzled, while Pluto and Selen kept their guard up.
Her Majesty ignored them, looking to the girl the dragon held dearly.
She grinned.
"Not bad, kid. Now, let's see if we can get you kicking again."
YOU ARE READING
Melody of the Holoverse
Fanfiction"I stood before the great serpent, my heart quivering with platinum as she whispered my destiny." In the outskirts of Eridios, Violet Newcastle lives her peaceful life, helping her grandfather with the farm as she simply wonders what she'll be havi...
