AN AMBER MAPLE LEAF

XI

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

i woke up on a cold floor with a throbbing pain in my head. when i fully regained my consciousness, my instincts kicked in and i tried to escape whatever place i was in. to my demise i was chained up and i could hardly sit up. just this small action took a lot out of me, since i guess i lost some blood after my head was slammed onto the hard stony path.

i looked up to see who was behind all of this and when our eyes met my blood ran cold. before me sat a woman on a throne. her presence cold and threatening and i immediately knew that the woman before me was the one and only cryo goddess herself: the tsaritsa....

"you, who have been ruining my plans for so long are now finally here. defenceless and weak.... you have been nothing but a distraction to the 7th fatui harbinger and appose a great threat to my plans. your journey ends here!"

the cryo goddess stretched her hand out towards me and i could feel the cold already getting to me without any ice to accompany it. the power this goddess holds is  truly frightening. knowing i couldn't do anything to protect myself i barced myself for the impact.

'i'm sorry y/n... good bye...'

...but nothing came

there before me stood y/n....

...and i could tell they were furious...

shards of ice and amber were shooting everywhere and the tension grew greater than ever before.

y/n wasted no time to attack again, but as expected from a god, the tsaritsa had no problem blocking the impulsive attack.

it went like this a few more tries and every time y/n charged at her the bigger and stronger the honey like amber spikes were. Until it finally managed to make a crack in the solid ice shield...

"enough of this childish game!"

the tsaritsa's voice roared through the whole throne room making everyone in ear shot shudder and the pure coldness... but not y/n...

the tsaritsa aimed one last attack but not towards y/n as both of us expected... but me...

since i was still weakened by the events prior i wasn't even able to move, but i knew that even if i could... i couldn't...

out of reflexe i closed my eyes shut to not see the giant icicle coming my way.

and that very moment i wished i could not hear a sound, because the thing i heard made my heart stop... still not opening my eyes i could hear y/n let out a pained cry that echoed through the whole room...

my eyes immediately shot open... splashes of blood and dirtied ice landing on my clothing and face. i watched as their body started going limp, still supported by the ice... but not for too long... the moment the cryo goddess pulled out the icicle from their body i knew it was the end. their body fell onto the ground like a ragdoll and stayed laying there not making a sound nor the slightest movement. i stared at their figure, eyes wide in shock.... this situation was all too familiar... and i hated it even more than the first time...

"what a shame... but i guess it takes care of the problem too..."

the tsaritsa said before walking out of the door to call for someone to clean up the mess.

with all the anemo power i could muster up i broke the shackles that held me to the ground and clumsily dragged myself towards the person so dear to me that was just then laying in front of me, half dead, barely breathing...

i took their body into my arms and sat them up a little, supporting their head to be comfortable.

"hey kazuha... i don't feel so good..."

they weakly said turning to me holding them in my arms.

"no please y/n don't say that! you can't leave me yet!"

i desperately called out to them... even tho i knew they were far too gone... i refused to accept this.

"i wish i could see the maple tree one last time..."

they whispered to me with a small smile adoring their bloodied lips.

"o-of course... let's go there right now!"

i said with my voice cracking at the begining of the sentence.

"it's ok.... just promise to plant me there..."

they said while taking one of my hands in their and putting something in the palm of it.

"i love you... kazuha...."

they whispered their last words to me before going completely limp in my arms...
"no! please! y/n don't leave me yet! you can't leave! i can't loose you too... please... i love you..."

but they never heard me finish it. feeling their heartbeat stop completely a few tears slipped down my cheek as i started to cry uncontrollably while hugging their dead body...

i could hear footsteps coming towards the grand door leading to the throne room i was currently grieving in.

i put y/n on my back before leaving through one of the windows into the cold nigh. i ran as fast as i could, as fast as i could to get to the maplE tree...

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───