SNT: Shattered Dimensions

Her Last Request Part 2

Time to finally repent for all of my mistakes, Nimue thought. She looked down at the staff still embedded in her body. The pain was still present but the forest guardian had felt worse. Her green eyes narrowed towards the crimson shard and took a deep breath.

It's now or never! Nimue determined. The forest guardian thrust herself towards her child and slammed the shard against Merlina's spinal cord.

"Gah Nimue?" Merlina gasped, taken by surprise. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What I should've done all these years ago!" Nimue announced. The shard glowed like the radiant dawn, corresponding with the lady's sheer willpower.

"Khatam Light Gaia!" Nimue roared. A bright lime green sphere formed on the pink hedgehog's chest. Its radiance mixed with the shard's glow and expanded. Merlina tried to move but the energy seemed to keep her in place.

"Nimue that's... sealing magic!" Pumpkin instantly recognized, having seen this technique be used to help control the behemoth. This birthed both fear and confusion within the fox's heart, not because of its sheer power, but the risk Nimue would take at such a short distance.

"You fool, at this range you'll be sealed away with me!" Merlina pointed out. She noticed then that Nimue's eyes did not change. The light in her pupils were almost completely diminished which meant that she did not have much time left.

"Merlina my child, we shall both pay for our mistakes and transgressions. We shall both be imprisoned for all eternity," Nimue revealed. Merlina could feel her skin formed goosebumps as she realized that this was a fatal ploy.

"You... you can't be serious..." Merlina attempted to hide her panic. "You're really... going to leave Pumpkin all alone?" She questioned. Nimue smiled weakly and shook her head.

"Pumpkin will be fine without me," she answered.

"You're wrong!" Nimue's eyes widened as she heard Pumpkin's voice. Her eyes shifted towards the young fox, whose face contorted and shivered.

"Don't do this to me, Nimue. Please, there has to be another way. There has to be! You cared for and loved a monster like me, I don't know what I'd do without you!" Pumpkin begged.

"Pumpkin," Nimue shouted. "I raised you to the best of my ability. A parent's job is to prepare their child for the day they have to leave the nest. Please, do not disrespect me by claiming you're lost without me," she scolded. The tone in Nimue's voice took Pumpkin aback, she had never heard the lady get so angry before.

"I... I..." The fox tried to speak but couldn't think of the words she wanted to say. Nimue sighed.

"Listen to me, Pumpkin. You're much stronger than you give yourself credit, one of the strongest people I have ever met. But you need to stop being so dependent. Ever since the ifrit left you in my care, I could tell that you were someone more capable than I could ever be," the lady informed.

"Speaking of which... I have one last request for you, Pumpkin. Promise me that you'll protect my forest. From the animals; to the fish and the birds, from the fruits grown by trees to the very lakes that sustain our ecosystem. They all have no involvement in the coming battle. Beware my successor, for a war is coming and I fear that it shall destroy all life on the planet," she exposited. Maria took a single step forward and held her right arm close to her chest.

"Nimue, I'm sorry it had to come to this," she apologized. Nimue smiled and shook her head.

"Don't be, Ma'am. I had come to accept that my role would one day come to end a long time ago. I am forever grateful that your team kept their promise. Pumpkin is safe and that's all I could ever ask for. Once this is over, you three must head to the land of Tikal. There your roles shall be unraveled," the lady explained.