Future of Calamity [Under Rewrite]

Chapter 11.5 - Irreplaceable

Her mind was in a filling haze as she recalled the memory, lead out by the familiar touch of a pink petaled flower. She could feel the delicate crunching of soft dirt under her leather boots, and she could feel the beating sun that pierced the veil of trees. Her comfortable garments felt foreign on her more honeyed skin, and her golden eyes were bright like a soothing fireplace.

"I see. Thank you, everyone is in position I take it?" His voice reverberated across the scape of her mind - a bolt of thunder in the stormy skies - while residents crowded him, listening intently. He stood in front of their graves without a hint of hesitation or focus, the matters at hand so much more important. So much more reasonable.

"Yes, preparations are underway now. We're all looking forward to it," one of the villagers stated.

"Not much longer, keep up the good work," he said monotonously.

"Of course," another agreed before him. "If anyone can succeed, it's you sir." They bowed as they made their leave, and she remembered her eyes on them as they stepped out of their garden.

His snow white ponytail bristled in the cool and comforting breeze, the gentle sway of autumn leaves stilling his mind like a calm sea. His cold pupils laxed slightly as they settled on the gravestones he stood idly next to, and his cast arm weighed that much heavier in the face of his failure. "The time is nigh, Celica... Time to do what needs to be done. For you, for him... for everyone."

She could feel a shiver of discomfort trail up her back, as a pit of sorrow formed in her stomach.

"Is something the matter, ------?" He said, catching her shuffling in the corner of his eye.

She flinched in surprise as he turned to face her, while she twirled a stray strand of black hair idly with her finger. "Oh, no, I, uh... I just didn't want to disturb you," she nervously explained, casting her gaze to the leaf-trodden ground.

"Perish the thought. You are not disturbing anyone-- she's your sister too," he said with the slightest of kind smiles and warmest of tones.

------ hesitantly approached, while he carried a welcoming look. "I know, I just figured that... Well, she loved you the most out of all of us," she revealed with a sad smile of her own. "And that, uh... you also loved her the most out of anyone else, so..."

The man shook his head, "------, there is no ranking among family. Celica, --------, you. You're all very important to me," he stated softly.

She placed her arms behind her back timidly, "Yeah... you're right," she relented with a growing smile. The forest seemed to glow in the wake of her positive light, foliage swaying with delight in the beautiful shine of evening.

"It's almost the anniversary of her death. I'd better go to the cape and pick her a princessia," he said with a content view of the rosy petals that danced with nature upon its cobblestone throne; gently hugging the well-crafted memorial.

She shifted over as they reminisced about the past in her fading aura, "That's a good idea, I'm sure that would make her happy."

Arthur peered onwards, overcome by the harsh past; hopeless for the future without his loved one at his side.

"Yes... I really hope it does."