When Souls Awaken

110. The Shattered

Eyes slowly opened to the silence and warmth of the illuminated island. Her gaze widened as she scrambled to her feet in a panicked daze.

"Wha-what?!" Allura questioned the darkness. "NO! WAKE UP!" she demanded, but was met only with silence. "Th-this can't be happening," she stuttered, clutching her chest with a deep emptiness filling it.

She spun to find her island unchanging, but something was disturbingly different in the vast darkness of the world. She spun again to look at the abyss, and noticed a dark violet glow flickering over something near the shore.

"Hurry," an unfamiliar voice urged Allura forward as she blinked, but she moved closer. "He did not heed my warning..."

Allura made her way to the shore as the glow took the form of a dark violet stepping stone. She couldn't tell if its darkness was due to the nature of its color, or if it was fading in its existence. She continued to stare out at it as it rested against the shore of her island before she noticed another in front of it but slightly lower. Allura slowly reached for the stone with her foot.

Screeches penetrated her mind, blaring through the darkness, and she fell back away from the stone, onto her rear in the sand. She scrambled to her feet with rapid, desperate breaths of air tearing through her lungs, and a lingering static plagued her mind along with a growing hollowness. She stared wide eyed at the stone. Her pupils threatened to devour her irises, until the static faded, and she tried to decipher the rush she felt. Was it threatening, or inviting? She placed a hand over her heart as she stood, and moved closer to it with a look of intrigue as her lips parted into an unsteady smile.

"GO!" the voice demanded, and she shook her head clear.

Allura glanced briefly back at the island before taking a deep breath, and facing the stone. Once again she reached for it, and as her foot touched it the screeching blared once more, making her clench her teeth. Her hands clasped over her ears as she struggled to maintain her balance, and her heart crashed against her chest before she managed to pull her other foot onto the stone.

Silence.

Allura blinked as she looked around. Her island remained unchanged, but there was only silence. She felt... empty. Empty... Empty?

Cold? No, that's not the right word... Hollow?... What's going on?

She-

I breathed.

What is this?

Slowly, I urge my body, and it willingly moves to the next stone.

What's down here?

With each step the hollowness inside me echoes, and I slowly stop upon a stepping stone as I realize my heart- his heart is no longer beating.

Is it gone...?

I look up to see the island floating above, illuminated and unchanging.

I see... Nothing I see is mine...

I hesitate as I pause, and looked to the descending, violet stones before me, contemplating my choices while looking up to see the stones still stood in the darkness. I look down into the abyss that the stones lead further into with a twisted smile tugging at my lips. However, despite the rising want to descend, I turn around with my foot sliding against the smooth surface of the stone. I slowly begin my ascent, but the closer I get to the island the further I feel from myself, and I fall still.

What does that even mean? Is there even a 'myself' anymore?

I begin to question as a silent laugh escapes my twisted smile.

It's not like I have a soul, or a heart! So what's the point?

I tilt my head back to the ever tempting descent into darkness until a gentle orange glow catches my eyes. They drift to the source to find green luminescent roots hanging from the island's belly.

Axis...

My eyes drift back to the darkness below me before taking a deep breath, making an overwhelmingly easy choice.

I will always choose him. Over anything. I will choose him... Axis.

I ascend the violet stones without hesitation despite the heavy weight threatening to pull me down, and every fiber of my body is screaming for me to turn back.

I have my mind. I have Axis. I don't need my heart or my soul to know he is where I'm meant to be... I will stay with him and our future.

One violet stone stands between me and 'my' island, but as my foot touches it, a crack runs through it, and I quickly reel back to the safety of the one I stand upon before it shatters.

A deafening snap slices through the silence. Pain fills every fiber of my being.

It hurts!

My vision blurs as static becomes the only sound to reach me. My body sways back and forth as I stagger to remain standing, and then I feel it. I fall to my knees as a small rock hits me, and through blurred vision I look to see 'my' island crumbling above me.

Shattered. Piece by piece it falls. A beautiful sadness as it collapses with illuminated petals falling softly as they fade into darkness. It distracts me for a moment from the unbearable pain filling me... But only just a moment before the stone shatters beneath me. Usko's nightmare was nothing compared to this... My screams shatter my lungs in the utter agony that has infected me, and I fall into the never ending abyss.