"Come on... It's no point crying over a dead sister now..." Aefia spoke towards Lewis' ears.
It had been quite some time since she had been buried, at the Island itself. And somehow, when she didn't want anyone to overreact, someone couldn't control themselves at the end. She was dead, obviously, but she still had a wondering sould that refused to leave for now.
She wanted to confirm that the others were alright before she left completely. And somehow, it was almost impossible to believe that despite the duchess having already leaving a long time ago, Lewis had refused and asked to stay for a week more.
Of course, he didn't know that Aefia had been watching over him for some time, although she would be travelling around the Island most of the time. Mostly the sunrise and the sunset. She enjoyed the view, and she felt like she was finally given the previleage to finally enjoy her life.
"Seriously? Don't make me regret sacrificing my soul..." She spoke calmly, which didn't even reach his ears. Unknowingly, she crouched down beside him and wrapped her arms around him, then hugging him, before going back to staring at the situation.
"Because of me though... You would all have to suffer one day. Very painfully. So stop crying. Because I expected something else from you honestly."
As if having heard her words, he stood up and wiped his eyes before clenching his fist at his sides. "Thats it... I need to know why she had done it..." He whispered to herself. It was snowing heavily, and he didn't even care that the wind was an annoyance. "I will stain the snows at your grave's foot with the blood of your reasons..."
"Please don't..." Aefia answered silently. "Let me live for once..." There was a triumph smile at her face, holding no regret. She was faced with an angered elder brother who was going to seek hee revenge... Maybe the Guardian of Silence.
"But honestly... If you can grow stronger with my death in your mind... That is all I would want. Then you alone will be necessary to protect the others that I have left behind." With that, she took one last glance at Lewis before she slowly faded away into the spirit realm.
She was smiling with her eyes shut until the very end, as if she was happy that she had finally succeeded and could rest peacefully.
But once she opened her eyes again, she was met with something she didn't want to face for a very long time. Brittany and Ms. Avry's souls.
They were staring at her, while standing side by side. And a few steps away, was the former Countess, Lady Elanor's sister.
"..."
Silence was the only answer she had received back. They all just stared at her with anger at their faces, but their faces didn't scrunch to physically show it.
"Shameless young girl... Did you really give up that early?"
"I would have expected her to have lead a good life with my death, but she returned the favour with this."
"How could you have done this?"
All of the three people spoke to her at once, making it sound like an echo inside her mind. But Aefia knew better then to just accept that she had done it because she had given up. She had her reasons, to protect those she couldn't really keep a constant eye on.
"I am sorry... I had to give up to let the others live." She replied to them not so long after. Although, she had already started feeling guilty that once in a life, these people had to give up their lives for her to have a long life. They don't understand.
It was an obvious answer, because they had particularly sacrificed themselves to keep her alive and to have her complete her missions. Ms. Avry in particular, was very upset on her. If she could say it, she would have said. "Shame on you Aefia..." But she seemed like having pressed her lips into a thin line instead.
"I know... I have made a mistake." Aefia answered while taking a few steps back without knowing what was below her. Her free hair flowing in the wind as she continues moving backwards. "So I will step back." Her speech fell out in time for her to suddenly plummeted in a whole at the ground. And she didn't react, since she had already faced it once.
What...? Am I going to hell...? Aefia smiled, knowing it was a punishment she had to endure for the things that she had done so far. In the meantime, her eyes got covered by feathered wings, which fluttered with the wind as she collided head first with an obstacle. Then, her back hit solid ground.
The wings then disappeared, but she was left in a bed of flowers that were fragrant and turned red with her blood, but she didn't know why a soul would bleed. Perhaps? It is a form of punishment? Enduring pain until it the sins had been paid off.
***
There, laying on the bed of white hibicusses stained with blood, was a young girl. Wearing a white gown which was also stained red, with the gold edges turned a bruised black. Her face was pale, and she lay as if sleeping, with her arms and legs gathered into a straight line. At her hands, were a few stems with white roses, contrasting away from the stained red hibiscuses.
Before long, she was approached by someone. She didn't even know who, because somehow, that same someone had placed her between alive and being dead. So apparently, she was leaning on the edge of death, but she was only unconscious. Her organs working, but not too well.
"Did you really have to go that far?" The person asked, but it sounded more regal and royal. "Seriously... You are... A strange person... Like everyone else says. Aren't you? Pitiful child." She asked.
The holographic footprints weren't really visible where she walked between the hibiscuses. Perhaps she was the one who had forced her back, but it was going to take a long process to actually repair her for the world again. Given the fact that her element had been depleted completely, leaving her a huge disadvantage when she returned back.
The woman sat on the ground right next to the girl, and reached out a hand to cup her pale cheek, her thumb brushing away the stray hair that rested on top of her face. She moved her fingers compassationately.
It was almost hard to believe that something like this was happening. The girl who happened to have taken her own life while falling onto the extended arms of an angel-winged woman, was now having her own face traced by a woman with wings.
Silence slowly lifted the girl's head onto her lap and clawing at her hair. "I am not confident... That what I am about to do is going to be a successful experiment. Because this is my first time attempting." She whispered while staring into the star filled sky.
There was a truth that was written, but almost never tested. If you had the power of a few Guardians or were assigned a role where you are the next Guardian, you could be forced back to life. And given the fact that the Guardian of Silence had killed the Guardian of Death, the Guardian of Peace and so many more, she had that amount of power necessary.
Given that Silence had killed and stolen many Gaurdians' powers over a long time, she had a way of assigning an heir to those powers in case she were defeated. Which, thanks to not having a proper heir, she was given the task of selecting one before she finally dissipated and dissapeared forever.
And besides that, there were multiple other things. If she wanted to have a person to reign her peers after her passing, that person would need to be a sacrifice that benefited mankind.
Because someone who had been a sacrifice, always got a second chance. She could either be reincarnated, resurrected, regressed, or even transmigrated. Anything, there was a possibility of it. But what it would lead to would be highly dependant on the person's life itself.
Given that Aefia had a hard time, it was understandable as a view point. And so, Silence knew that the first step had been qualified. Then, came the next step, where the person to become heir needed to be strong enough to handle the power passed down to them and had experience with handling magic.
Aefia qualified that too. She had been able to fight with limited power and still survived, and her body was practically built for combat if they put more knowledge into how she fought. Her organs had the strength to handle the amount of power that was about to pass through her nerves and wreck her entire body, which was going to become more unnoticeable by the time she had learnt to control it again.
Then, she had the experience with magic. In fact, she had been the first few to have been able to easily use her skills without even being properly instructed. Therefore, there was no doubt she would be able to survive the overload of the sudden change in the way she used magic. She may be a little too overpowered to the others, leading to her organs also working to the edge to keep her alive.
Then, came the most undetermined part of them all... Humanity.
For a serial killer like Aefia, it was absolutely hard to tell since she was neither really a killer nor was she a complete psycho. She had her reasons, and was actually more compassionate then what more people would have described her as. It was because of her nature that she had become like this, so it could be more proven that she had the humanity in her.
And with all that in mind... Aefia was definitely a proper candidate for being an heir.
"Then... I guess I will get to working..." Silence muttered to herself while placing a hand at the girl's wrist, at her pulse point. "Don't die in the process..." She added in a whispered while sending bright, deep red light seeping through her veins. It was the same colour of her element.
The sudden dense power of the energy caused Aefia's face to scrunch in pain. It was burning and causing aching. But whatever the circumstances, she had to endure no matter what. More of the energy had reached in, and after a long moment of exhaustion and transfer, the process was done.
"Aefia Seraphina... I name you the next heir to the throne of the Guardian of Death." Silence muttered for one last time as she let go of the wrist due to the lose of her energy. She tried to stand, but she had become to frail. "You ought to fulfil your responsibilities and not die... Until you have finished."
Why did she do that? No one knew.
They were enemies... Then why suddenly? That one of them was trying to keep the tiger alive when their entire life to kill them?
Now that she had been given her responsibilities... She needed to find out the answers to her mysteries. Because that 'Guardian of Death'... It somehow happened to not be a joke and was a real thing.
However, as Aefia opened her eyes, she was met with the vast sky stretching above her, and the corners of her eyes caught the sight of Silence hovering over her.
Even if she was about to sacrifice herself, Aefia felt no symphathy.
She sat up, while still holding the white roses at her hand. But she didn't even think about looking towards where silence stood while swaying side by side. Before long, she had stood up, and just as she did, the spent Gaurdian's head fell onto her shoulder.
Then, it slid off due to no movements and fell to the ground. Dead... Finally.
But instead of looking down, Aefia held the flowers in front of her mouth and blew on them, testing the powers she had just regained. Fire engulfed the flames, turning the petals black, as she let them drop to the ground.
Her hair had happened to have grown a little longer, as it blew with the wind and swayed behind her. Her steps lifted towards nowhere, through the endless fields of the white hibiscuses. The entire garden blew up in flames. She didn't give a mind anymore, with her expressionless face a clear sign of complete ignorance.
***
The statue of the angel-winged woman... Wasn't this were I had fallen dead?
Tsk...
I think that was actually the trailer of my own beginning. Wow. I really couldn't believe this was a thing that could have happened. There was no body, but the blood was dried and stuck.
By now, Lewis must have left for the Palace. I don't mind about it as long as he is safe.
Waking up from the death, I had found myself in my bloodied state. My white formal appearance making me look like I had just stepped out of a dungeon... Maybe I have...
At my right hand was a sword, I was hunting a few reckless ghosts at the garden, when I came across this place. Regardless, I had changed, and I would like to return sometimes sooner to the Empire of Smod, but just not to the palace.
A twitch at my forearm almost caused me to lose my control over the obsidian blade at her hand. Given that I had too much of a dense power now, things were painful.
Now how do I explain this in short?
I have been given the ability to see ghost and talk to them... I believe that's a perk of being the Guardian fo Death now. I love it, because I can finally kill without spilling more blood. Just swinging the sword was enough for me to enjoy my boring days.
Suddenly, a squirrel ran in front of my path, causing me to abruptly stop. "Pfft... It almost got grilled alive..." I smirked, before continuing to walk with my blade groaning due to the force of it hitting wood.
"Aefia Seraphina... Ha! I like that name... But I also want a new identity." I muttered unknowingly. "But I will get it just after I finish dealing with these few runaway b*stards." And with that, I took off in a run like I usually do when angered.