The Guardian of the North (Robb Stark) Completed

Redemption

"It is better to have faith in something than none at all." - Connor Kennway, Assassin's creed 3

To fear death is to fear a simple truth. Everybody dies eventually. It may happen in different ways, different locations and different reasons. In the end it is still the same though. Some people die young, some die old, some die fighting for what they believe in. What people mostly don't realize is that death isn't something to fear, it's something to embrace. All the hurt, all the lies. It vanishes in that one moment, just for a few seconds until you leave the world. No worries, no nothing.

Just like Ethan said before. Elena knew that he couldn't and wouldn't give her what she wants. What he truly meant to tell her is that if she joined him, he would kill her to protect her from any dangers that might've followed. He promised her wealth, family, promised her everything. Even he knew that that was impossible. Life can and never will be perfect. It's the obstacles that make it special, the struggles and the fights that make life worth living. Without any goals to reach, when you have everything already, you've got nothing left to live for.

The reason why Elena had broken the spell that Ethan had cast on her, the reason why she could slip through death's grasp was because she wasn't done fighting her own battle. She had so many things left to fight for, so many battles left to win or lose. She couldn't leave her family behind, couldn't leave the rest of the Guardians behind to fend for themselves. Even though Ethan showed her everything she had dreaded her whole life, made her feel what pain really is, Elena broke through it. Not because she was afraid of death, no, because she embraced the simple truth that she hadn't fulfilled her destiny yet. She wasn't done fighting.

For a small girl though such truths aren't clear yet. They've mostly only seen the good the world can bring. Or they've continued to ignore the bad. Either way, they haven't seen true chaos yet. Haven't witnessed what greed or power could do to a human. Didn't see to what extent they could go to get what they want.

Ella was one of those people. Too naïve, too pure to sense what was really going on. So when Ethan finally showed her how the world truly was, she couldn't possibly slip through death's grasp like Elena did. It didn't even last long before Ella's heart gave out under the weight of the curse. It was a beautiful death, to die because she was too innocent. Because the world hadn't made a true impact on her yet, hadn't changed her into someone else.

"Ella?!" Aidan's voice filled the now silent courtyard. He ran towards his daughter and caught her just before her trembling body could hit the ground. She was squirming, screaming for help, for mercy. Tears ran down her little cheeks as the darkness destroyed her from the inside out, taking over every fibe in her body, showing her the way towards death. Within seconds the whines quit falling from her lips and the last teardrop fell down from her brown eyes.

"What?" Robb stammered and looked at the girl's small body lying in her father's arms. Her arms dropped to the ground, her pearly white hand touching the mud beneath it. It was soon after that the wind started to pick up, the clouds started to gather and the sun began to hide behind them. The wind started to howl loudly and sweep through the castle.

Elena softly pushed the girls and Robb off of her as she stood up and slowly walked towards the midst of the courtyard. Her eyes were fixed on Ella, trying to find any sign that she was still alive, trying to find any hope that was left in this dark, treacherous world. But there wasn't any.

The sound of the storm that was coming began to mingle with the shouts of battle from outside the castle. Cannonfire destroyed some off the buildings around them but the guardians and Starks in the courtyard didn't seem to notice. The only thing they did seem to notice was the yelling of Aidan, his screams of torment together with the storm he was making.