The Oracle

Chapter 64: Destiny

AKARI

A short while after Clea went with Gia and Aster, Aster came back out to collect the runestones from Cordelia and he began setting them in their proper places by the pedestal. Most of us have just been patiently waiting while Clea prepares, the rest of us meandering around in the mean time.

"Hey," Kaito says softly and I glance over to my right to see him standing there, a warm expression on his face, his hand slowly reaching out to hesitantly intertwine with mine, his eyes flickering between our hands and my eyes.

"Hey," I breathe out in return.

"We never really got a chance to talk about us," Kaito starts, lightly chewing on his lower lip.

"No," I agree, "we didn't."

"Would you maybe, uh..." Kaito averts his gaze as he blushes and uses his free hand to rub the back of his neck.

"Kaito," I smile softly at him, drawing his attention back to me, "I'd love to."

"Yeah?" Kaito smiles in return and squeezes my hand gently.

"Yeah," I nod and Kaito's smile broadens before he moves to pick me up and I squeak in surprise as he twirls me around and laughs.

"You've made me so happy, Akari," Kaito beams as he places me down, his hands resting on my hips and his eyes gazing into mine.

"Say, what's this?" Kit hums as she leans around Kaito's shoulder and glances between us both.

"Um..." I stammer, blushing. "Just— well, we..."

"That's what I thought," Kit smiles wryly before her gaze lands on Kaito. "Treat her well or you'll be needing treatment. Got it?"

"Y—Yeah," Kaito laughs sheepishly and Kit nods approvingly before she makes her way back over to Sander.

"Alright," Gia smiles as she walks down the hallway towards us, "the ceremony will begin shortly. Everyone, please take your seats in the pews."

We all begin to shuffle to take our seats and I end up sitting in a row with Miroslava on my far right, Valentine beside Miroslava, myself beside Valentine, Kaito on the other side of me, and then Evory beside Kaito. Behind us, Gambit forces a handcuffed Carmin down into a seat and glowers at him.

"You're going to sit here and I'm going to enjoy watching you writhe knowing you can't win," Gambit snaps as she leans over him, Carmin only looking slightly displeased, before Gambit sits down next to him and crosses her arms, her one leg also crossing over the other, and Cordelia moves to sit on the other side of Carmin.

Once we're all seated, Gia moves to the front of the room to stand on one side of the pedestal, the runestones lined up on it, while Aster stands on the other side.

"We will now commence with the ceremony of the runestones," Gia says. "Please, turn your attention to the Oracle."

We all turn to look at the beginning of the aisle to find Clea standing there in a sweetheart neckline golden dress with white trim and golden glitter, the top of the dress looking like one of Gambit's tops with its golden armor, the bottom of the dress flowing out into three sections with the center being white and the two sides golden. In Clea's ears hang long dangling golden earrings and also a golden stud piercing beside each one and another at the top of her ears, her long blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail with pieces of hair that wisp around her face.

Clea summons her book before she begins walking slowly down the aisle and she holds out the book in her hands. As Clea walks, the stones begin to glow golden and raise into the air, her wings forming on her back as she begins to use her abilities. The stones spin around before the spinning ring grows closer and a giant golden rune forms in the air behind them before a flash of light goes off, a gigantic pink opal being revealed once the light fades away.

"The merged runestone," Evory breathes out.

"Akari," Valentine calls out my name quietly and I glance over at him, raising a brow.

"What is it?" I ask, wondering what he could possibly want now of all times.

"Would you hate me if I knew something horrible was going to happen but I didn't stop it because stopping it would mean worse things would happen?" Valentine asks quietly and I glance over at him, my eyes wide.

"What're you talking about?" I ask.

"If it meant saving one life or saving the world, what would you do?" Valentine continues, his red eyes staring into my blue ones. "Would you save them and let the world burn, or would you lose them to let the world live? I live with that dilemma every single day, a war waging inside of my head. Could you imagine knowing you're the person who would have to die? That would be an impossible pill to swallow."

"Valentine, you're worrying me," I frown and glance between him and Clea, who slowly continues making her way down the long aisle, beginning to summon her true weapon, golden light glowing around her right hand.

"We make our own destinies," Valentine says quietly. "We can't always control what happens to us, but we can choose how we react to it. I couldn't imagine knowing your best destiny would be to die so that everyone else could survive, to choose that path for yourself instead of choosing to change it."

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask, my heart beating rapidly and doing flips in my chest, my stomach feeling uneasy.

"Because, I would think...if it were me, I would want you to not remember me with sorrow or anger at my decision, but remember me for who I was and what I gave up so that nobody else would have to," Valentine says softly, brief sadness flickering in his eyes.

Dread fills me as the pieces click together in my mind and I look over to see Clea closing her eyes, a single tear trailing down the side of her face before she opens her eyes and raises her hand, the staff beginning to form.

"Wait!" I shout, drawing everyone but Clea's attention, attempting to run towards the aisle, but Valentine grabs me from behind and keeps me from running. "Let go of me! Clea! Clea!"

In what feels like an eternity of a moment, my eyes widen, filled with tears, as I watch a sword fly through the air and go directly through Clea's back and she gasps violently, the blade protruding out the front of her chest. Within a moment, Clea's hand falls back down to her side and she slowly falls to the ground, a pool of blood forming beneath her in the aisle.

Most of us stare at the scene before us in absolute shock and horror, others with rage, Gia holding her hands to her mouth with wide eyes while Aster stares brokenly as Evory and Isabella rush to attempt to heal Clea.

"I'm sorry," Shae says brokenly, my gaze slowly flickering over to him as he stands in the center of the aisle, his hand slowly lowering. "I couldn't let her destroy them. I can't— I can't lose another member of my family."

"You just did," the words sound hoarse leaving my throat.

"Shae...what—" Sander stares at his brother as he stands in a pew, anger and shock mixed on his features. "What the hell?!"

"Shae..." Reverence frowns, disappointment evident in his eyes.

"She's gone," Evory says quietly and slowly looks up as she sits beside Clea, Shae's bloodied sword resting in her hands.

"How could you?" Isabella cries as she sits in front of Clea, her eyes blinking through her tears to try and look at Shae.

"Isabella, I—" Shae starts, his voice broken.

"How could you?!" Isabella shouts and a burst of wind blows through the room, white energy flying towards Shae and sending him flying back into the doors of the temple.

"Wh—what's happen..." I trail off as the world begins to close in on me and Kaito looks over at me worriedly before he stands up, his words sounding underwater.

"Akari?" Kaito calls out, his eyes holding concern.

"Kai...to..." I breathe out before I fall backwards into Valentine's arms as the world slowly fades to black.