Behind the Flames .:H2OVanoss:.

.:Chapter 33:.

"Craig..?" Brock's sad and gentle voice did not phase the shaken Fire bender. A moment later a hand rested on his shoulder, squeezing it firmly. His mind was blank, running no feeling but despair, brokenness, and regret. "Craig?" The voice echoed again, and the hand shook his shoulder slightly, unsuccessful in its attempt to stir him.
Brock wiped the tears from his face then slid to his knees and wrapped his arms around his friend. Brian joined them, pulling them both close to his chest as he, too, wept in mourn. He shared no words, for no words were needed.
Craig couldn't gather himself together to see clearly. It were as if he were in a dream, drifting further away from the ground as the world swirled around him. Tyler's helmet was plastered to the center of his vision, taunting him as drying blood oozed from the eyes.
The pain in his chest inflamed drastically with every breath. He looked down, noticing his own blood saturate the white cloth beneath his silver armor plates. Normally he would have panicked at the sight, but as he hunched further over the broken helmet he couldn't even scrounge enough sanity to care. Why did everyone always leave him behind? Why couldn't Tyler have taken him with him?
His spirit grew weak, despite the comet's incredible strength. His ember eyes closed and his body staggered, shocking the two clinging to him. They shook his shoulders ineffectively as his eyes closed slowly, fading him away into nothingness, where a field of ash and smoke lay claim to his imagination. The black clouds snowed soot like a blanket over his paralyzed limbs.
Before him on a hill of dead grass, the bloody lady stood with a weak slouch, her eyes of obsidian watching him with sympathy. He tried to stand but he proved too weak, and collapsed to his stomach. "P-please.. take me, too.." His shaky hand reached out.
Her heart grieved for him as her leaden steps took her to his side. Slowly halting beside him, her voice sounded with a familiarity that sparked conflict in Craig's defeated soul. "Is this truly the world you would rather be reborn into? One of ash and blood? He will only be suffering until all is good once more. Do you truly wish that for him? For all eternity?"
He hesitated. "I.. no, of course not! It's just.." He pulled his hand out from under his stomach, showing her the scarlet stain dyeing his fingers. "I'm so broken.. it takes so much in me to breath, or speak. There is hardly a thing I can still do to help anymore.. I would only drag everyone down, like I always have."
She listened to his confession in solemn silence. She understood him like none other, but she also understood the consequences of allowing death to overpower will. "Tyler believed in you better than anyone, you know this." She smiled as his head lifted back to her. "He saved you from the crumbling tower because his feelings for you were greater than his own desire of life. He always knew you could still do great things, despite your injuries. Don't throw his sacrifice away."
Craig looked down shamefully. Tears pooled from his eyes as his lips trembled miserably. "I can't keep going without him," his voice squeaked between hiccups, "I just can't! It hurts so much, I'll never be able to close my eyes without seeing face! Everything hurts so fucking bad!! I can't deal with it anymore!!" He lurched over into a violent fit of coughs, clutching his side and wailing in agony, as his tears clumped with the blood and ash on the dying ground.
She sucked in a remorseful breath, taking to her knees and placing a tender hand on his back. There Craig fell to his sobs, screaming until his throat ached and his arms couldn't hold him any longer. Her touch radiated a love like Tyler's, omitting emotions of an experience only the Bloody lady knew and could understand. She too lost someone as dearly as Tyler were to Craig.
When he finally silenced his uncontrolled anguish, she met his eyes when he glanced up in despair. "Though he is not with you physically, this doesn't mean he is gone forever. When you are finally proud of the things you have done for the sake of the world, he will come back for you."
His expression looked hurt and confused. "What? No, please! I've come so, so far, but I just can't be that person anymore without him-!" As the spirit stepped back, sunset wings of ember showered him from behind, enveloping him in a golden rainbow sea.
"Stop lying to yourself, little Phoenix. You never saw through our eyes at what you've become. Look behind you at your transformation, at what was once a powerless sparrowkeet that is now the embodiment of the sun."
She took another step back and began to fade, dragging the dying world with her. His eyes went wide and his body weak as the colorful light shot up on all sides, pulling him into the sky. Both strength and weakness flooded back into his body, spinning him around, where he was graced with the sight of a celestial bird. A Phoenix as glorious as a star, with a golden beak and flames of amber, sunlight, and magenta flowing from its head and wings, bellowed down on him with a cry so royal only a god could make.
"With what little time we have on this planet, keep fighting on. So long as you continue to breath air into your body, you shall always make a difference."
Just as he was pulled back into reality, his determination rejuvenated at the sound of Tyler's voice. "I love you."