A/N
Soooo I know that I said I'd release two chapters at once, but what was supposed to be the 'epilogue' turned out to be a bit longer so I need to flesh it out more. For now, enjoy the second-to-last chapter.
Enjoy <3
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Nya's sobs are going from sad, to relieved, all the way back to devastated again. I can't tell what she's feeling, I just know that it's hurting me; both emotionally and physically.
I thought I was alive again, why are her tears hurting me? I keep holding her in a tight hug as she quiets down, but the pain is only growing stronger. What's even happening?
And then I see it; on the floor rests her bracelet. The ruby in the middle is cracked, but not quite shattered.
"I'm sorry," she says, albeit with a muffled voice. I don't know if it's directed at me, herself, or her parents. "I just-I was so tense, and I didn't know what to do, and Kai-"
I try to shush her, rubbing her back. I ignore the fact that I'm totally freaking out as well right now. "It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong! Here, I'll fix it!"
I run towards the ruby and pick up a large chunk from the floor. For a split second, my hand goes through it, and I yelp; I don't let Nya see it.
When I pick it up again, it instead falls, engraving a nice, red cut on my palm. I hate being alive.
I clutch my palm in pain and roll onto the ground, sitting down and holding my breath. I attempt to smile at Nya, but all I let out is a series of 'ouches' and 'ahs'. Very cool of you, Jay.
She kneels down next to me. "Are you hurt?" The tone of her voice changes so suddenly that she startles me. I don't even get to open my mouth before she pulls my hand, revealing the even redder cut on my palm. I gasp.
"You're bleeding," she says. She paces around the room, tapping her head. "Patches, patches, patches..." she repeats over and over. She stops. "Scratch that, I know who has patches. It's not very far from here just hold on-"
She reaches for my hand. She passes through it.
There is a single moment where we both freeze and stare at each other. We're both just as confused, bug-eyed, and shocked.
Her voice lowered to a frustrated grumble. "It was supposed to fix you!" she says, and I can practically see the smoke pouring out of her ears already. "You're a ghost? Now?"
"I mean, who knows! I-I'm bleeding-That's a living-person thing, right?"
"Let's go treat your hand first."
I bite my tongue and nod. To think that I was almost in her arms again. I miss her hug already. Does she miss mine?
Probably not the best thing to think of when you're bleeding, Jay.
But I swear that my senses were coming back to me. I could smell her shampoo, I could feel her tears, her hug-But I still pass through things and who knows what else!
What even am I anymore?
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Nya barges into the shop and I follow shortly behind her.
"Wu!" she shouts. "I need some patches, now!"
For a traditional tea shop, the place was far from full. It was void of any costumers; good for me since, to most people, my hands and feet are literally non-existent.
Oh, I didn't mention that. It's really fun to witness your limbs turning into ghost limbs on the way to the place! They're green and glowing and invisible to others! So fun!
Okay, I'm panicking too much. You're used to being a ghost, Jay, it's alright. No freaking out. If you can deal with a pretty girl for more than a week, you can deal with being half-dead. Come on!
The back door opens and out steps the old, bearded man from before. The same white robe is wrapped around him as a black belt tightens it around his waist. He's wearing matching slippers and a straw hat.
Geez, and I thought I was out of style.
He has a faint smile on his face, until he sees me and he... laughs.
"It seems you are still an amateur in your rituals, my child," he tells Nya. He comes up to me and let's his hand pass through mine. "I told Mystaké not to entrust you with such a burden, but... she's always been one for pranks."
"Pranks?" I spit out. "My hands are invisible!"
"And it's quite hilarious in hindsight."
I'm ready to jump him when he pats my shoulder with his staff. As if he couldn't get any weirder.
"It was merely a joke. Nothing less, nothing more," he tells me. "And, on the topic of that... can patches heal hands that don't exist in the first place?"
Right. I don't think they'll be able to do much. But the pain still persists.
"Uh..."
We turn around to see Nya dumbfounded behind me. Her mouth hangs open slightly and her tears are dried up, leaving stains on her cheeks. Every hint of colour is drained from her face.
She turns to Wu slowly when suddenly, her voice jumps up an octave. "You can see him?" she shouts.
"I thought it was quite obvious," Wu responds.
"He's a ghost!"
"It's a skill few possess naturally, but even fewer choose to embrace," he says as he strokes his beard. He goes to open his mouth, but the back door bursts open.
Mystaké is holding a tray of tea, as well as a few jars of weird ingredients. Her hair is dishevelled, far from her usual, tight bun, while bags bring down her eyes.
"Wu, we've already talked about leaving in the middle of a ritual. Do it again and you'll be drinking 'Mortali-tea' with your meal."
She stops dead in her tracks once she sees us-and my half-ghostly form. She comes up next to Wu with a sigh.
"Fine. But next time, I'm betting lower," she says with an exasperated grumble as she digs through her pocket. She gives Wu a sack of coins, but he refuses.
"I don't need your money," Wu says. "I am just content enough with being right. I told you Nya is a strong girl."
Nya and I exchange a look. She looks at the two curiously yet cautiously. "You... bet on me?"
Mystaké shakes her head. "It takes a lot of strength for someone to pull this sort of feat. I've had a person not even able to break their phone to detach themselves from a spirit, much less an item so cherished."
"You could have saved us a lot of time, you know..." Nya says.
"The most tiring thing about this job is not being able to tell clients things up front; they have to discover it for themselves," she says. "You found love, aren't you happy? He's not the most ideal, but I'd say you got a good catch. Another client's soulmate turned out to be a knight from the ancient Serpentine Clan just a few months ago."
Nya's face has transitioned to a deep red; not from embarrassment, but from rage. That time, she's the one ready to lunge at them.
I put my arm in front of her before she can, though she still struggles against my grasp. As I'm ready to properly stop her, my entire arm becomes ghostly; we both yelp, and she falls straight through and onto the floor.
Mystaké stares in shock. "Did you actually break anything?"
With my ghost hand, I manage to float the bracelet's broken pieces out of my pocket. My grip is wobbly, less strong than before.
Both Wu and Mystaké frown. "That's not enough, dear," Mystaké says. "It needs more. Have you tried a hammer?"
Nya can't even stand to look at it, and yet Mystaké is pushing it towards her face constantly. I see red.
I don't intend to push her, but I do nudge her as I step between her and Nya. My hands clench into fists.
"She went through all that without any guidance from you two and now you want her to just do it all over again? Do you know how many days it took for this to happen?" I yell way more loudly than I think at first. I try to wrap my arms around Nya like a good, protective (boy?)friend but they just pass right through her. My vision is getting blurry. One of my eyes is becoming transparent as well, and I shield it in pain. "Maybe we would have figured stuff out more easily if it weren't for some overpaid old hag being cryptic about it!"
I take a deep breath. Even Nya is surprised. Mystaké isn't pleased.
"Ya done?" she says, raising a brow at me.
"Just break the rest by yourself, don't put Nya through more. She's already done enough."
"She did survive with you for too many days." She pulls a pair of keys out of her pocket, twisting them in her finger. "Alright. I'll shatter the rest. We had better do this at my shop."
I'm reluctant to follow her. Good thing the streets are basically empty on the way there...
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
One loud thud after another, the ruby gem breaks into more and more pieces; not quite microscopic, but definitely smaller than before.
With each shatter, Nya grows more and more tense. She goes from gripping her clothes to gripping mine, but I don't mind. I guide her near me, my grip only tightening around her as I regain my limbs.
"I'm sorry," she mumbles. "I'm... not usually like this."
I bring my hand to her hair and stroke it a little. I can finally feel it again; it's so soft. "I know. It's okay to feel sad."
She buries her head in my shoulder and closes her eyes. I shoot Mystaké and Wu a glare.
"Does it have to shatter that much?"
"Just a little longer. Patience, child," Wu tells me. "You'll be free. It will be worth the wait."
With one final hit, it was done. Mystaké wipes the sweat off her forehead lazily, storing all the broken pieces in a jar.
Nya sighs against me, most likely of relief. She looks up at me finally and I melt at her gaze. But before I can say a word, Mystaké pulls me aside.
"Everything in place? All limbs returned properly?"
I rub my wrists, moving my weight from one leg onto the other as I try to get hold of the ground beneath me. My vision has properly returned. "Yes, ma'am. Fit as a fiddle."
"Well, you'll learn how to speak properly eventually..."
Wu taps my shoulder. When I turn around, he wraps my palm with a patch that is, admittedly, pretty tight. "There," he tells me. "It's a minor price to pay for becoming alive again."
Mystaké shoves a packet in my arms. "'Sereni-tea'," she says. "Drink a tiny dose twice a day. It'll help ease the pain."
"What pain?"
"Your body has to get used to certain things again, and normal medicine won't cut it."
"Oh."
Nya's voice is rather weak. "So... are we done?"
"I'm afraid we are," Wu says. "However, there is one last step."
"What step?" we say simultaneously. But before we can burst out in anger, they shush us.
Mystaké is looking away dismissively while Wu is wearing a smile on his face. He strokes his beard. "Well, as remedy for all the trouble we have caused you, Mystaké and I thought-"
"You mean you thought," Mystaké shoots at him.
"Right. I thought that we owe you as well." He turns to Nya. "Mystaké will forgive all your debts... and give you an extra try, free of charge."
My face lights up immediately. As annoyed as Mystaké looks, I give her a hug. Wu separates us with his staff.
My head whips towards Nya, putting on my brightest grin...
... But Nya isn't excited in the slightest.
After a few moments of deep, concentrated thinking, she smiles.
"I'll pass," she says.
"What?" I blurt out. She chuckles.
"I... I just think I got my closure, that's all." She seems unsure of her words.
"Are you sure about this?" Mystaké tells her. "I don't give out free stuff often, you know."
"I'm sure." She glances at me for a brief moment. "Besides, I know someone who needs it more."
I gulp.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Nya is out of the room. Wu is as well. It's just me and Mystaké.
I pour down the last of the ingredients into the tea (I make sure to get it done properly, unlike Nya...). Mystaké says it's time to take a sip.
I'm hesitant to do so. Maybe, with Nya next to me, I could have done it. Alas, she's not here.
The liquid is rather thick for being a tea and takes a long time to reach my lips. When I finally swallow my first sip, however, I gasp.
The taste isn't like anything I've drank before. Still, it's... familiar. It feels like home.
Mystaké mutters something in my ear, but I don't hear it. By the time I look up, she's left me alone in the room.
I place the tea down in the middle of the table. Out of the strange symbols carved into it erupts a green smoke that clouds my entire vision.
I rub my eyes. Part of me believes I'm somehow back in the departed realm, but I can still sense and comprehend everything around me.
Once the smoke disperses, it's just my mother's dazed, ghostly form on the table.
I look at her entire form before gazing into her eyes; she looks a little older, a bit wesker as well. I can't distinguish much colour due to her ghostly form, but she looks... paler.
She's confused as she looks around, but her gaze darts to me and she gasps.
"Hi, mum," I say, and my voice cracks. I'm already crying, neat.
"Jason?" she finally says. Her voice isn't clear at first. "Where... are we? You're alive?"
I can't help but chuckle as I wipe my tears. "It's... a long story. I spent so long looking for you in the Departed Realm." I can't resist my tears for a second time. "I... I'm sorry mum. It's all my fault."
She approaches me, but I scoot back. "No, liquid will hurt you. Don't come close," I quickly say.
But she hugs me anyway. I can't feel her touch. Is this what Nya felt like with me?
"None of this was your fault," she reassures me.
"No, it was! I know about dad, and if I wasn't so stupid-"
She shushes me. "Hey, now, it's alright. What's gone is gone." She pulls away and looks me in the eyes. "The power of positive thinking, remember?"
I nod slowly. "Yeah, I remember..."
"I don't know when or how, but... you're alive. Make the most of it. Do it for me, at least, alright?"
"I am!" I exclaim. "I've got some cool friends, I'm gonna start school, I have a maybe-girlfriend..."
"I didn't expect anything less from you," she says with a chuckle. "I'm proud of you. Always have."
I choke on my tears, but still manage to put on a smile. "I'm proud of you too."
It initially takes her by surprise. Eventually, her face softens, and she laughs.
"I... I don't know how much time we have left," I admit. "But I'll try to speak with you as soon as I can. I can try to do it again."
"Even if you don't, this meeting was enough." She floats down to my level and wraps her arms around me and strokes my hair. "I love you, bluebird."
I know we don't have much time left. But for this, simple moment, I close my eyes and enjoy it while it lasts.
"I love you too."