Tale of Chaos 3: For All Eternity

Chapter 11: Broken Gaze

Forestra's POV

After the blast had cleared, I walked forward and peered into the crater.

It wasn't too big, but it was deep enough to reveal a metal platform at the bottom. I stared at it for a moment, thinking about the girl within.

"Wow..." I whispered to myself.

"She's actually here..."

I remembered Eon's description of Mae inside the box.

From what she said, she was pale, extremely skinny, bruised and battered, and her eyes were sunken.

But that was a year ago.

I didn't want to imagine what she looked like now.

I felt a gust of wind by the side. Feliz walked past me, descending into the crater. We all watched in silence as the woman examined the metallic box.

She knocked on it a few times, and from what I heard, it seemed completely solid. Feliz turned back at us.

"Blackout, Spotlight, Cyclone, Pyroclast, Arcmagos, come here."

The five aforementioned teens approached Feliz, slipping down the surface of the crater and dipping into the center. Feliz stood back.

"Blow it out," she suggested.

Cyclone looked at her, disbelief plastered on his face.

"How? We just blew it up with a landmine. How'd we make that budge--"

"Just do it."

I could have sworn I felt a sense of familiarity when I heard Feliz say that.

The five exchanged looks. Feliz ascended from the crater and rested against a nearby tree. I stood back as well.

They began glowing with their colors-- black, white, yellow, orange, and purple respectively. They glowed so bright that we had to look away. My eyes were practically burning.

Then, after a few seconds, I felt the earth rumble. It felt like the ground slipped out from under my feet, and I nearly tripped. I tried steadying myself as light was all I could see, even with my eyes closed.

All at once, the light dissipated. I felt a lingering burn in my eyes. I was able to open my eyes comfortably and look into the crater.

It had completely widened, and it was a few feet deeper than a while ago.

To my sudden joy, I saw a small figure deep in the crater.

The figure was hunched over, and they looked like they barely even had a shirt.

After a while, the dust cleared away. I slowly descended into the crater.

It had to be... it had to be...

Mae.

I reached my hand out to the limp girl's back, which was quite exposed. It was sickeningly pale, veins popping from underneath the sick skin. Her waist was super thin and her ribcage was delicately defined. It was bad, and that was an understatement.

I suddenly remembered seeing Maia dead on that chair. I tried suppressing it.

"Mae..." I breathed out.

"It's me..."

The girl's head moved, her long neck slowly twisting around.

First, Mae revealed stringy and tossed hair, which would seemingly go past her waist if she stood up. Then, I saw her cheekbones. They were so defined, so skinny. Then, she revealed her face.

The face was the worst part.

Her eyes had gone from a bright green to a dull gray -no, darker than Maia's. They were cloudy and lifeless. Near black circles were all around them. It was as if she had two black eyes, but they weren't swollen. Her lips were crusty and bleeding, inflammation surrounding them.

Then, out came her voice.

"Forest..." she croaked weakly.

"Forestra, is that you?"

I felt tears collecting at my bottom eyelids.

"Yes, Mae. Yes, it's me. We are all here. We're here to bring you home.

For a fleeting moment, we just stood there, not uttering a single word. I could feel a speck of hope radiating from Mae's broken gaze.

In that moment, I knew.

This was our friend.

Then, Mae lurched forward at me, throwing her extremely bony arms around my neck. I heard her sobs of joy, and I returned the embrace.

Soon, more and more arms came in.

My friends'.

We were finally together... together in peace.

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(A Memory of ???...)

Silence.

It was so silent that I could have sworn I heard dust settling around me. But, I didn't want to be stuck here, yet I couldn't do anything. Just... stay here.

Suddenly, my mind was a cascade of thoughts.

I want to be free.

I want to be free from this wretched place.

But I couldn't.

Because I'm not like them.

I was not one of them.

I was an anomaly.

But that will change.

I have everything in order.

It won't be long until I'll be back.

It won't be long until I'll be back to my true form.

But... it might be going too far.

No one would approve of how I'm willing to do this.

I'd been setting this plan up for a long time.

Perhaps... in a month or two, I can really enact my plan.

It won't be long until I could play with my best friend again.

It won't be long until I could reach my full power.

Just you wait... I shall be reborn.

Just you wait... I shall be able to truly feel again.

Just you wait, Sage and Growth... your child will return.

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All their souls are now mine. But it still isn't enough for me to reach my full power. Now, to get to those pests...

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I shall be the one. And no one will stop me.

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Sabi niya...