//𝘙𝘌𝘉𝘖𝘙𝘕♡

The third stage~~part one.

The smell of smoke and burning bodies filled my nose as I saw destruction created by the man in the cloak. I thought I would've forgotten now how it felt to be in so much anguish and pain.

My mother dead, blood splattered all over her ruined kimono.

Her face blank as she stared at me from afar, surrounded by the burning fire. The houses around her crumbling and crashing into the ground as she just stood there, peacefully.

No.

The pain was unbearable as I tried to set my legs into movement, trying to reach her, trying to save her from her terrible fate.

But my legs wouldn't move.

I screamed. It blended in with the others from the people burning alive around me.

No...stop, please.

The fire reached way up into the night, clouding the starry sky with its black clouds seeping off it as sparks flew, landing on other houses and setting them aflame.

The chaos people created, trying to escape, to run, far away from the heat of the flickering hell that surrounded our village.

The screaming continued, blocking out the other sounds and creating a ringing noise in my ear that gradually grew louder.

Stop...no, please no.

And who's fault is it?

Mine, it's all my fault.

It's my fault that the village is burning and dying.

It's my fault that my mother's dead.

It's my fault that no one will be able to live there anymore.

It's all my fault, all cause I struggled, all cause I screamed for my mother to help.

A sudden darkness enveloped me, steadying my guilty thoughts. It blocked out the fire, but not the screams.

It filled my head and crushed out other sounds, senses and thoughts.

"STOP!"

Eyes shooting open, I realize that it was all just a dream.

Cold sweat drips down my face and on to a yellow and blue fabric.

Huh?, yellow and blue? I think.

Sitting up, I check out my surroundings.

We where still on the hot air balloon.

The couch that I had fallen asleep on, was crowded with two other people. Leorio, who was still sleeping, and Kurapika, who was groaning from the sudden loss of warmth on his front body. He woke up, but was still half asleep.

Quickly realizing that I had slept on Kurapika's torso, my face turned into a tomato.

"Aiko, what're you doing?" He said in a cute yet smoother voice than usual. He leaned forward into me, his head hitting my shoulder.

Clearing the fuzzy vision he saw me, sitting on my knees, next to him. He quickly understood that I was sleeping on him a second ago.