Lucia ran following the girl as she was making her own path out from the building. From the new exit she had made, Lucia could see the rumbling was a tornado towering up to the sky with flecks of fire within. This was surely an unnatural and nature replied in kind with the creaking of trees and sudden darkness in the sky. By now this has attracted everyone’s attention.

Darkness

Shadow

All alone again

Mom…

I tried… I have tried to be strong…

I am sorry…

I am sorry…

Yurika opened her eyes to darkness, as it engulfed her, slowly embracing, nullifying all of her senses. There was a part of her that actually welcomed the blackness. In it, the whole world could have blown away but she didn’t feel like she needed to care anymore. She could still faintly smell the earth as if it’s wiped clean as if all the plant life was gone. Everything else has dissolved like it was never there at all, like the universe hasn’t even begun, or perhaps it never was. In the darkness, she couldn’t get a sense that anything was important at all – life, death, pain. She was fine with anything that could help her forget the painful truth of how the Goddess really had made fun of her –Eireen- fleeting life.

The others could also see the hollowness in her eyes, as she motioned the fire tornado to cause destruction and left nothing but scorched earth behind its path. Lucia, Zeke, Jace, Lyal Wenona, Amierra and Scry have all rushed outside to see the horrors unfolding. They knew they must subdue her. With Jace leading the unprepared, they rushed towards Yurika before more destruction unfolds.

“Yurika...,” A soft almost lulling voice came to her ears. Yurika turned around trying to find the voice. She felt like she knew the owner of it. But in complete pitch black of course there was nothing she could see.

“Anyone there?”

“… I am always here,” answered the voice.

Once more Yurika tried to find the source of the voice. This time she started to see the soft silvery mist on her right. She took a few steps closer while trying to adjust her eyes to the new light against the blackness behind her. A silhouette emerged inside the mist. It was crouching in a fetal position as if it was sleeping.

“Who are you?” Yurika asked, her eyes were probing the profile inside the mist.

“You know who am I,” said the voice, as it slowly raised her head. The mist then receded and finally, Yurika knew who was the person hiding behind the mist.

“Eireen…,” she said. Her lips trembled to mention the name. As much as she tried to hold it in, the beads of water started falling down one after another without a sign of stopping.

“Why are you crying?” asked Eireen, as her hands reached out towards Yurika cheeks. Softly brushing the tears away.

“I- I don’t know,” Yurika answered between her sobs. She felt like a mess, there’s a mix of everything in one. And she couldn’t actually pinpoint her feeling or even understand it.

Eireen rose from her fetal position and gave her a hug, “it’s okay, I understand what are you feeling right now.”

“You do?”

The pink-haired girl nodded and smiled gracefully, “thank you…”

“Thank you? Why are you thanking me?”

“For being angry for me, for taking my side,” Eireen looked deeply at Yurika eyes, “but most importantly, for living a better life than me.”

Yurika felt another gush of tears rushed through her eyes, “It’s unfair, what the Goddess did to you!”

“Maybe…,” Eireen whipped Yurika’s tears once more and took a step away from her, “but, not everything was the Goddess fault. I also had my part in taking the wrong choices.”

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“Wrong choices?”

Eireen gave a sad smile as an answer.

“Like… killing yourself?" Yurika burst out the question that had been hanging on her mind ever since she got Eireen’s fragment of recollections, “Why did you kill yourself?”

“Did I?” Eireen asked back.

“What do you mean? I thought that’s what your memory had shown me?”

Eireen eyes flickered down, avoiding Yurika’s gaze, “I haven’t shown you everything. I will when you are ready.”

“I am ready,” Yurika said persistently. Her headstrongness made Eireen chuckled.

“It is not you who will decide that,” Eireen brushed her hands on Yurika arms softly, “for now you need to go back.”

“Go back?”

“Yes to your mission t--”

“No! I am done with the Goddess’ game! She’s not going to use me, not after what she did to you!” Yurika’s anger came back like a rush of tide wave.

A loud explosion caused by Wenona knocked Yurika out of the air to the ground and followed by a flurry of projectiles from Marc. They flew at her in an attempt to stop her from getting back to her feet. Before they could reach their mark Yurika flicked her wrist once more and from the ground rose up a shield wall of fire vaporizing the projectiles coming at her. Jace and Zeke came around the flanks in an attempt to grapple her while she was distracted by the projectiles. But their timing was off by mere seconds as the flames returned to the ground Yurika was able to see both of them in time. She grabbed Zeke and threw him into Jace. With all the chaos from ripping wind and tornado, Lucia was helping anyone in the immediate area from being harmed. Luckily the tornado hasn’t reached major structures yet,

“Not even for your friends?” Eireen waved at the darkness in front of her and a view emerged.

There Yurika saw the destruction that was happening around her. She also saw Wenona, Zeke, and Lucia who looked very troubled and seemed to shout muted words at her. She even saw Jace, Amierra, Marc, Lyall, and Scry. Some of them were trying to help the innocents people to take refuges while the other was trying to subdue her. To stop her from bringing the world calamity. But nothing seemed to manage to budge her.

“Wen, Zeke…,” Yurika muttered their names.

“You are different, you live a different life than me,” Eireen said, “I was alone. I have no one before. No one to protect, no one to love, no one to give me support.”

“But, you have your mother and also Zeke?!”

A single drop of tear fell down on Eireen’s face, her face was sorrowful, “I have nobody, not even my mom.”

“What do you mean?! Not even your mom? What happened to her?”

Eireen just shook her head as an answer, “in time you will find out. Now you need to decide will you go back or not? Will you take on the mission or not?”

Yurika turned her head towards the scene in front of her once more like she was watching herself from a distance. Tiny glimpses occurring through the smoke she could see.

The streets darkened by the sky and dust ripping through the streets, in the distance an ominous fiery tornado, Lyal tried to rush her with a blow from the hilt of his sword. Yurika swiftly dodges to the left and summons a gush of air to throw him into the strewn street full of debris. Amierra feeling helpless she didn’t have time to summon any of her beast friends, rushed in to with her bow drawn sending off an arrow with the knowledge Yurika would just easily evade this. But just as fast as her arrow was sent off so was her being sent flying back.

Another explosion happened just behind Yurika throwing her to the ground yet again. With this Jace and Zeke managed to grab her before she could react. But just as soon as they grabbed her, they had released her in a split second as it was unknown to them that her rage was reflected in her skin temperature. In their recoil, Yurika waved her hand and in a single gust threw them to the side.

“Live a better life than me Yuu, for my sake. Change the world, show the Goddesses that we won’t lose against what they call as fate,” Eireen whispered in Yurika ears as she embraced her from behind, “live for me.”

The darkness then came back and overwhelm her once more. Eireen's presence was no more. She was left all alone. Yurika closed her eyes and let it consumed her.

“Yu-Yurika!” someone voice came to her ears and conscious. It was barely clear at first but it grew stronger by seconds. The voice was competing against the angry wind and shaken ground.

“Yurika! Don’t let your anger consume you!” It was Lucia’s voice

“Listen to me! Aine, she has a message for the chosen one. She told me to deliver this message to you, “ Lucia stood in anguish screaming her lung out trying to grab Yurika’s last strand of cognition, “I am sorry, for choosing you. I am sorry that your path won’t be easy. I am sorry my child, but only to you, to your heart, I could trust the world.”

"Just... don't forget that. Your heart."

Taft’s voice echoed in Yurika’s mind, “…be strong when the time comes. I'll entrust the world, to you"

“Ta-Taft…,” Yurika murmured, her face scrunched in pain, “Wen…, Ze-e…”

Lucia stood by next to Wenona and Zeke. They watched her cautiously. Nobody made a move. They were waiting for her. They have tried everything but nothing has been working so far.

“Yurika! You can control it!” This time it was Wen’s voice who tried to reach her out, “I trust you! Don’t lose, don’t let it consumed you.”

Yurika made more painful grunts and moans as the light blinking more rapidly, faster and almost garish. Everyone in the scene covered their eyes and prepared a magic shield to whatever may hit them. The light was so bright and blinding, they could only put their last hope on her. For her to beat the rage, for her to control the stone's power. Then the light started dimmed to the point where it was nothing more. Lucia opened her eyes slowly followed by Wenona and the others. They saw Yurika’s body slumped on the ground between the rubbles of whatever was standing before. The tornado has stopped and so was the earthquake. They were gone as fast as they were coming.

“Yuu? Yuu!!” Wenona rushed toward her best friend. She didn’t care about what danger might still be lurking.

Wen pulled Yurika weak body into her hug, “Yuu, are you okay?”

The girl in question was heaving with her eyes half closed, “I – I am okay… I- I am s-so--,” before she finally lost her conscious.