"Who will watch over this kingdom in your absence?" I stared at her, asking again. "I know nothing of running a kingdom!"
The crystal shard closed her eyes; her hands spun around in elaborate movements. "Perhaps that will be your new life mission, then."
"C-Crystal shard!" I felt stressed out. "You must provide me with more guidance."
"You have already guided yourself this far, haven't you? You have given your life for this kingdom, and as proof, my life force now rests within you. Tell me, why do you still hesitate to accept your responsibility?"
I closed my mouth. My eyes drifted to Adam, who was still holding my physical body, shaking.
"Yes, I am immortal, but... I know very well that he is not. If the time comes for him to pass, I think—"I looked at my hands. "—I know that I will choose to go with him."
"Then that is your life decided, Emerald Witch?" She questioned, unimpressed.
"I never asked for this power, crystal shard." I said, trying not to feel shaded by her tone. Holding my hands in themselves, I felt only strive come from my abilities. My power. Though, it wasn't always like this. "Fighting in this war, losing the people around me. None of this was anything I asked—"
"And you think there is someone out there in this world who will choose it?" Her voice was strong, a blend of disapproval but also understanding. "To live a life in total solitude... it will never be easy. But- such a life is not a punishment. Shouldn't it be a gift that you experienced such life? A gift that you have had people to love? A gift that you have had people to lose?"
"I..." I shut my eyes, my fists wishing I had something to hold on to. "So that's it, then? I don't have a say in this? For as long as I live- my existence will become one of involuntary servitude to the kingdom that wished me death?"
"You always, always have a choice." She paused. Whether you recognize this choice in the future and take it is up to you."
"You aren't making any sense, Crystal Shard. I-" I finally opened my eyes, looking at her. "I won't be able to do anything alone. Not... not if I am to loose him. What is left of me. If I am only to have these powers that consume me and those that I—"
Her lips remained pursed. I didn't realize I had stopped talking from just the sounds of Adam's grave sobs. They reminded me of my own, around this time, seven years ago. Except then, cries couldn't be distinguished from yells. You were either dead, dying, or killing, without any in between, I would soon learn. The clash of swords and mage wands made the chaos harder to differentiate. Burnt wood and blood burned my nostrils.
That is what my powers had brought me. Suffering.
"Not always, Emerald Witch." The Crystal Shard echoed in my memories as she knelt, becoming my height. Her translucent pasty white being had suddenly extended her hands out to me. "Not forever."
As she got closer, the energetic warmth around her jostled these thoughts out of place. Instead I remembered a green field of grass behind a bookstore. I remembered the strawberry sweet candies passed to me in the hallways of this very castle. I remembered a moonlit light that illuminated a horse drawn carriage with Adam standing besides it. The Crystal Shards eyes began to shine, as though she was watching it with me.
"Crystal shard-" My heart started to feel hot, the warmth was burning my entire body. A rush of homesickness, nostalgia, and deja vu all at once.
"Don't resist it. Be calm, Emerald Witch. I am still within you."
๏๏๏ꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉꪉ๏๏๏
I searched around the entire ballroom for something to stop the bleeding, but found nothing. It was strange to me that the place I'd met her would also be the place I lost her. By the time I had thought of every single possible way of saving her, Elodie's body had gotten cold.
I had just remembered our time together. I had just gotten my memories back. Is that all I was destined to have of her? Memories?
It was then that Daniel came running into the room. "A-Adam..." He started, stopping once he saw me.
"She's... Elodie is..." I glanced at him to see he was holding a shield. I scoffed. No amount of armor could bring the dead back to—
There was a loud ring that pierced the air around us. The cutting of metal and the shattering of glass. I winced, hugging Elodie's body in my arms.
My fathers sword that I had dropped upon entering the ballroom suddenly floated. The shield Daniel had entered with also began floating.
"Daniel!" I turned to him with a hostile glare."What are you doing?!?" I yelled, holding Elodie's body tighter.
"I-It isn't me! I don't know what's-"
Both the sword and the shield shattered.
Gasp!
I looked down in my arms. Elodie's eyes were staring at me, bright green. "Elodie?"
She took several labored breaths, seizing up. I sat her upwards, patting her back several times, disbelieving.
"Elodie..." my voice was shaking from hesitance, but also horse from screaming. "Elodie, you-"
She hugged me tightly. "Adam."
I closed my eyes and hugged her back. It was my turn to start panting, relieved, but also shocked. She was dead. I saw her bloodied and unconscious body.
"How did you-" I pulled her back, staring at where the wound was. Instead, there was a visible iridescent shimmer across her skin. I met her eyes, which returned to their brown color. "Elodie," I was breathless. "How did you do that? Was that you're magic?"
She smiled, shaking her head. "It wasn't me. It was the Crystal shard." Elodie turned to Daniel. "That's who was contacting us all this time."
Daniel pointed at the ground full of shards from the Shield of Trust and Sword of Balance. "T-The sword and shield just shattered! But- it wasn't me!"
"She said she'd use them to bring me back. I-I, I can't believe it. All this time,"
I hugged her again, cradling her head in my arms, afraid it would suddenly go limp in my arms. "Elodie... Elodie I thought you-"
She laughed a little, her eyes streaming with tears. I'm sure mine were, as well. "-I'm alive, Adam-"
I kissed her abruptly, overwhelmed with my emotions. Elodie held my face in response, pulling away slowly, a bright smile on her beautiful face. "Elodie... I love you."
Her eyes turned to crescents and began to water. "Adam-"
I hugged her once more, still, in disbelief. "Don't leave me like that. Never again."
"I promise." She spoke strongly. Slowly, I pulled away from her, holding her hand tightly. Elodie smiled, but met my eyes with a flicker of worry. "Adam, what happened out there?"
"The king is unconscious." He smiled. "Civilians have started to remember everything, now that the crystal shard is free."
Daniel cleared his throat obnoxiously, once again interrupting our moment. I turned around.
"Hate to ruin this moment, but, you guys might want to look outside."