I take a breath and open the door and walk out of Jasper's jewelry store. I see that stupid kid in the road again. I still haven't figured out how to save the child and not die. Okay, last time I pushed him out of the way and fell in the road. Not this time.

"Jasper please hold these and don't let Blizzie outside!" I tell him and shove the boxes into his hands. I race into the road and throw myself at the child. I wrap him up in my arms and send the both of us tumbling out of the road. Good, this time I got out of the road, so I won't be killed by the carriage and the horses. I let go of the child and he runs away from me.

"Momma Momma, that dirty witch touched me. Will I ever be clean again?" the boy says as he cries and tugs on the hem of a woman's dress.

"Of course you will be. We will take you to the priest to be blessed. As for the one who touched you. She is filthy and will never be clean."

The more she speaks the more everyone's suspicion bars leap up. I try to jump up and get out of the way but someone is standing on my dress. I try to pull it away but everyone crowds in. Before I know it someone is standing on my neck. They begin stomping on it and more people join in, stomping on me anywhere they can get their feet in. I keep trying to get up but someone is standing on my hair near my scalp.

I hear feet all around me so it is difficult to hear the feet racing towards me.

"What are you doing? Get off her!" I hear Jasper shouting as he tries to pull people off of me. I also hear an angry cat hissing and spitting.

"Meeooowwww!" he screams and I see fur launching at someone.

"Stupid cat. Get off of me!" the man that Blizzie had been attacking screams. I see my precious cat throw on the ground beside me.

"Get them both. Kill the witch and her familiar. Kill them! Kill them!" I hear people chanting around us.

"No! Leave them be!" I hear Jasper shouting. His voice barely reaches me. I reach out for Blizzie and am able to touch him.

I pull myself away from the feet enough to reach him. His ribs are hardly rising up and down. He is crying softly and his beautiful white fur turning is red with blood. I somehow manage to pull him to me. I do my best to protect him as my neck starts to crack and it becomes the target of the angry mob. I cry alongside of Blizzie as we are stomped to death together. As he takes his last breath, I take my last one beside him. The last thing I see is his affection bar maxing out. He must know that I tried to save him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Goodness Aria, don't you think those two deaths were too close together? I mean, are you trying to keep dying?" Alias asks me.

"Of course not! I especially didn't want Blizzie to die. I never want him to die again." I respond.

"I know. I saw you trying to protect him to your last breath. He knew it too,"

"I saw his bar max out. I figured that must have been the reason. I hope that I can max it out again without him dying." I tell Alias. More tears are streaming down my face. This feels like an impossible situation. How do I save the kid and myself as well."

"I am working on a training program for you, but the program will not help you with this one. I can't pull on any of her memories or past experiences to help you out here. This one you have to figure you out alone. I'm sorry Aria." he tells me.

"I'll take that hug now." I tell him.

Alias kneels down and pulls me into his arms. I break down and sob. I can't help it. It hurts. Why does everyone hate her so much? Hate me so much? Saving a child means dying. Why?

"Why? Why? Why?!" I cry, almost screaming the words. However, I respect the fact that I am in Alias's arms, and I don't want to scream in his ear.

Alias strokes my hair and I cry. He holds me tight at the same time as he strokes my hair.

"You chose the wrong person Alias. I can't be the right person. Can't you find someone else. I can't do this. You know I can't. You see how much I have been dying. Find someone else."

"No. You are the exact right person. I know you are. I am so sorry that you can't see that right now. Hang in there. I am on your side. I will always be beside you even you can't feel me or see me there. If I could be beside you physically, I would be."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Why? Why are you so sure that I am the right person? Are you sure that you aren't saying that just because you can't find someone else?" I say still crying, holding on to him tight.

"Of course not. I don't know if I can grab anyone else, but you haven't been trying long enough to give up yet. Don't give up yet, okay?" he tells me, pulling back and wiping the tears off of my face.

I take a deep breath. I'm not sure what to do but I will not allow them to kill me again.

"Are you ready to go back now?" he asks me.

"I am. Do you have any advice?" I ask him.

"Aria has a temper sometimes. I don't know if that helps." he says. He gives me another tight embrace and I find myself walking out the door of Jasper's shop again.

"Hey, you idiot kid, get out of the road!" I shout at him and look around myself, seeing if there is anything to get his attention and the attention of the driver.

I see some pebbles and scoop them up into my hand that isn't holding the jewelry boxes. I really need to find a bag to carry these in. Honestly how did I not think of this when I was leaving the house today. How foolish am I. I must be thinking about earth where you get bags to carry out your belongings. I mean, maybe they give them out. Am I supposed to ask for one?

I take those pebbles and throw a few small ones at the kid. He looks over at me and glares. Looking over at me also made him a little more aware or where he is. His eyes go wide, and I see him run out of the road.

Was it really this easy to save that idiot child? I died twice when there was this option the entire time? I look around at those around me and see that nobody's suspicion bars raised. Well, that's good at least. Jeeze.

I step back into the store and take a couple deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" Jasper asks me.

"Just some idiot kid in the road. I threw some rocks at him to get his attention so that he gets out of the road. I almost jumped into the road to push him out of the way. I then thought about how bad it would hurt if the carriage didn't stop and trampled me for saving an idiot child." I tell him. "Also, do you have a bag that I could put these jewelry boxes in. I don't plan on going straight home yet." I tell him.

"Of course. I actually got some purses in to sell alongside the jewelry for people that buy a lot of things and don't have a bag for them. Would you like one?" he asks me.

"Yes please." I tell him.

"Here is a silver one to match your hair. Does that work for you?" he asks.

It is a lovely and large purse. It is silver with roses embossed on it. It is truly lovely. And it just so happens that the embossing was in purple. I smile at that. Matching not only my hair but my eyes as well.

"That works for me very well." I tell him and smile at him. I take the purse from him and open it. I put the jewelry boxes in it carefully to make sure they don't somehow open and spill. I don't know how that would happen, but my luck hasn't exactly been very good to be fair. I am beginning to feel that if there is anything that could go wrong it will.

"It's perfect for you." he says, and I see him smiling at me. "Also, it is just big enough for you little Sir Blizzard to fit in it as well." he says smiling.

"Well Blizzie. What do you think?" I ask him.

"Mroww." he says and puts his front paws in the air, as though he is asking to be picked up. I scoop him up and place him in the bag alongside the jewelry boxes.

"Now Blizzie you have to be careful not to claw those boxes, okay?" I tell him.

"Meoow!" he says and then purrs a bit. Well, I will take that as assent. I reach down and pet his little head. For a moment I picture him covered in blood. I close my eyes for a moment to clear the image away. Never again. Never.

"Thanks again Jasper. I am excited to see what you do for his collar, and I look forward to seeing you at my birthday. And just so you know, I am considering you." I tell him. I give him a small and sweet smile and leave the shop.

Okay, where was I going to go next. I didn't spend even an hour in the shop with Jasper, so I still have plenty of time before I need to be home. I am not sure what time I should be home, but I did tell Poppy that I would be out late. Aside from Poppy I don't think anyone else will even notice when I get home to be honest.

I don't even bother to think about what the next shop is. I will just walk next door and see what is there. It ends up being the tailor. It looks like they don't just fit dresses but sell them as well. How convenient having a dress shop right next to the jewelry store. I am sure that was done intentionally.

"Good afternoon!" I hear a voice say. They sound distracted.

"Good afternoon." I say in response. I walk fully into the shop and begin to look around.

There are a multitude of gowns in all different colors and styles. I somehow got a bunch of gown information in my head all at once. Evening gowns, ball gowns, mermaid style, a-line, modified a-line, sheath, bouffant skirt gown, trumpet gowns, circular skirt gown, full skirt gown, cami-gown, asymmetrical and princess silhouette gowns. So many styles. I wonder what kind Aria would usually wear. Well, I hope our tastes are the same. I am in this life now and I want to wear what I like. I know it is important to fit the role, but I also want to be comfortable. As comfortable as I can be without being allowed pants.

Save point reached!

'Umm, should I be worried?'

"Well good afternoon, Aria are you here to choose your birthday gown? There are a couple that I have been working on that I think might fit you well. Care to see? They might be a bit bolder than you usually wear but I know that you are looking to sparkle." a voice says coming up to me.

I knew who his person was. Short dirty blond hair with hazel eyes. They also have a name that is easy to remember. Taylor the tailor, one of the people that I suspected may be the hidden route. Also someone with a very nasty temper at times. He is very particular with his designs and needs people to appreciate his work. If he feels that they are not appreciating his work, he will not sell to them.

I feel nervous to reply as this man could be a tickling time bomb at times. "I am yes. I would love to see what you have as I simply adore all of the gowns that you have designed for me in the past." I tell him.

"Very good. I know that you appreciate them which is why I have no qualms about showing you all the latest. Now then, these are some that I have been working on with you in mind. However if you don't like them I will sell them for others to wear at your party. I will not allow such works to go unappreciated."

"Of course. I do understand." I tell him.

He leads me into a side room which is clearly a workshop. There are multiple dresses upon mannequins. They are lovely but also puffier than I like. I don't feel that I would be able to walk or dance in them, which would put a bit of a downer on the evening, and increase people's suspicions I am sure.

"Well?" he asks.

I make an appreciative noise as I walk up to examine each gown. The first one I look at is a yellow bouffant skirt dress with a bustle in the back. The top of the dress is a darker yellow with the bottom being more of a lemon méringue color at the bottom. There is also some black lace design pattern on the arms. This one was not for me. I look over at him and give a small shake of my head before moving on to the next dress.

The second dress I look at is a pink and blue dress. It is a sapphire blue on the top leading down into baby-doll pink on the bottom. The bottom is layered like a cake or multiple stacked tutus. Definitely not for me. I give a small headshake on this one as well.

Taylor makes a small noise and I am not sure if I had said something wrong or not. I am not dead on the floor yet so I assume I am fine thus far.

The third is a deep red trumpet gown. I like the color but it is not the color that I have decided to wear. I look it over anyway. It has a plunging neckline and off the shoulder sleeves. Clearly these dresses weren't set in any sort of time period. Maybe the designer of the world simply enjoys different styles? Or they didn't care to have any sort of consistency, which doesn't bother me when it comes to clothing.

The last dress sitting on a mannequin is royal purple in color in the princess ball gown silhouette style with flared sleeves. It is lovely but there is a very good chance that I would trip on all of the fabric and fall flat on my face. This wasn't a good fit either.

"Who are you?" Taylor asks me in a cold voice.