Too short by themselves---so combined.
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No.
"AARON!" Garroth screams, using more strength than I thought he was capable of to throw me off like a paper napkin. "AARON--NO!!!" He screams, pain filling his voice as he runs for the cliff, knocking Aphmau aside. She's shaking her head hard, like she's trying to clear her mind.
I run for Garroth at the cliff, but he dodges and runs with all his might.
"L-let him g-go!" Ein yells, laughing so hard he can't speak. "He'll---r-return---soon." He wipes a happy tear away, and I find myself REALLY wanting to kick him someplace he won't appreciate. Garroth's form disappears in the snow, and I follow his steps to the edge of the cliff.
I can't see anything but a tiny dot of red at the bottom.
This can't be happening. This can't be real. Aaron can't be... he can't possibly be...
I swallow back a large amount of vomit. But SHE turns to Ein with a grin. "It is done, brother."
"Good." Ein purrs. "Aphmau, dear. Come here."
"Yes, my...m-my..." She seems to fight with herself for a moment, and hope swells in my chest, but she just chokes back laughter and grins. "Yes, my love." She walks to him and he hugs her tight.
"Let's go see the wonderful deed we have accomplished, shall we?" He says, glancing from me, to Zane, and Aphmau again. "Violet, you accompany me and my love to the scene. Zane, you patrol the woods. I have a feeling that idiot Garroth will be back."
"Yes, brother!" Zane says, running off.
"Come." Ein takes hold of Aphmau's hand and we pick our way down the mountain. All the way there, Ein talks about how great he feels and how amazing his plan was.
It makes me sick.
Especially when I notice the small dot of blood on my otherwise daisy-yellow sleeve from when I held Garroth down. I made my brother bleed. I'll never forget the look of betrayal in his eyes. Never.
Vi---
I hear someone calling my name, but it cuts off as if I'm hearing it through static.
Violet---
It cuts off again, and she keeps walking.
Violet, can you hear me?
And suddenly, I can't see Ein and Aphmau ahead of me. I'm pulled inside my mind, through her, into a blank white space where everything echoes, and I can move my arms and legs again. I look around in amazement, but all I see is a woman standing with her back to me, wearing an elegant purple outfit, a hood pulled around her face.
"Wh-who are you?" I ask. I hear the question echoed to my right, and I automatically turn to see a boy laying in a bed, his skin clean and clear of the blood that I saw.
"Aaron!" I shout, elation pumping through my body. He doesn't turn my way, focused only on the woman who I now see is standing by a fireplace. I look around, finding myself in a snug little cabin, complete with drying herbs, a roaring fire, and windows that lead out to show a bright white light I can't see past.
"An old friend." The woman tells Aaron, not acknowledging me. "You always managed to get yourself into trouble, every once in a while."
Aaron makes a sad groaning sound. "Am I...?"
"Well, yes." The woman admits, and my heart sinks, tears blurring my vision. He's dead. So why am I here? Am I dead as well? Did the potion kill me?
I snap back to reality and realized I've missed quite a bit of the conversation. "I SHOULD'VE TURNED HER!" Aaron yells, hitting the headboard behind him, his face contorted in pained agony. "I should've done what he said." his voice breaks.
"You doubt yourself." the woman says.
"Of course I do!" Aaron replies. "I failed! I would have done anything for her and I froze!"
"You couldn't stand anyone finding out what you really are." The woman says, still not turning around. "And when the person you love most found out..."
"Everything she said..." Aaron croaks. "It was true. All my life, I've been alone. I had to be. I was a danger to everyone. A monster."
"You'll never be able to open yourself up if you're scared of what you are." The woman tells him. Aaron ducks his head in shame. "Aaron," the woman continues, her voice softening. "You need to accept who you are."
"I was raised to be alone." Aaron says quietly.
"It's a shame." Woman-purple-lady says carefully. "You aren't the man I remember."
"Huh?" Aaron asks.
"The Aaron I remember wouldn't allow a minor setback like this to deter him. Even when everything was lost, he pressed on."
"A minor setback?!" Aaron yells angrily. "The woman I love is in danger and you call that a minor setback??"
"Exactly." She replies calmly. "She's in danger. Being near death almost made you forget. There are people who are in danger, Aaron. People you care deeply about. Are you just going to give up and forget them?"
"I..." he says sadly.
"Maybe you should. After all, the woman you loved caused this."
"NO!" Aaron shouts. "She would never do this! It was never her fault! I love her!"
The woman hesitates, almost as if something is paining her deeply. I can almost feel the heartbreak inside her, and it makes me want to give her a big hug.
"I will never give up on her." Aaron swears. "I will do anything to keep her safe."
"You always have." The woman murmurs. She turns around for the first time, and a shock goes through me as I almost call out Aphmau's name. At first glance, it looks like her. The angle of her bangs, the tilt of her face, the kindness on the face I can't really make out. But this woman is full of pain, and her hair is gray on it's ends, showing her age.
"Do you want to go back?" She asks Aaron.
"Of course I do!" Aaron yells, standing. "Aphmau---Lucinda, Zane! Garroth, Violet, Kim! I may not have told them everything about me, but they care about me. They're the closest thing to family that I have." His voice takes it's broken edge again, and my heart melts inside. Aaron... I move forward and touch his shoulder briefly. I'm here, Aaron. I want to say. You're not alone anymore. We love you. You're our family, too.
But he gains strength with my touch, even though he can't seem to see me. "I will not let him have them!" He promises.
The woman laughs, and her gaze seems to slide to me just for a moment. "There's the man I knew. All right then. I'll help you."
"Huh?" Aaron asks, confused. I move back away again.
"If you are truly determined, I can help you escape death." The woman says. "But from there, the rest is up to you."
"Am I dead?" Aaron asks.
"Are you truly determined to save her?" She asks, ignoring the question. "To save all of your friends?"
"Yes." Aaron says, his voice shaking. "I will never give up."
"Then this is my debt repaid." The woman says. "Go. Fight for them."
As if realizing something, Aaron's eyes relax, and he nods. Then he turns and walks toward the door. But he hesitates, turning back. "You never told me who you were."
"Just..." She pauses, considering her answer. "An angel." Her voice hardens. "Now go. Before I change my mind."
Aaron nods, then turns, opens the doors, and exits the small cabin. The woman watches him go, almost sadly, then she moves forward and closes the doors behind him. She turns to me then.
"Aren't you wondering why you are here?" She asks calmly.
"So you could see me." I say.
"Of course. I called you here."
"Called me? Am I dead?" I ask in a panic. "But--Garroth, Kim! Lucinda and Zane!"
"Don't worry, child." she says. "I shall send you back momentarily. But first---a warning. This fight is not over. You will need to learn to live with the guilt."
"Guilt?" I repeat. "But---"
"Violet Ro'Meave, I hope I chose correctly." The woman says. "Now go. I send you back."
"Wait! But I---"
She waves her hand and my jaw halts. My mind blurs, bringing me out from the room, out of my mind, and back into her, where we're near the bottom of the mountain.
"Aren't I amazing?" Ein crows. "Can you believe that I was the one who ended the Ultima werewolf?"
"You did a wonderful job." Aphmau says lovingly. "That fool never saw it coming."
"And his last thoughts were indeed of how miserable his life was." I add in, feeling the awful joy at Ein's grin towards me. The calm room with the mysterious woman fades into the back of my memory, her focusing on the here and now.
"And it was SO WELL executed!" Ein laughs. He turns to the clearing up ahead. "Now! To see the look on his cold, dead face. Oh, how I---" He stops dead and stares in shock at the clearing. As soon as Aphmau and I join him, I understand what he's seeing.
I did indeed see a pool of red at the bottom.
But no Aaron.
Joy leaps in my chest, making my cry of surprise as real as it can be with me still trapped inside. He's alive. He's alive! I saw him---I heard him---HE REALLY IS ALIVE!
"Huh?" Ein mutters, sprinting for the crater of blood. But all there is is a knife in the center, with a path of bloody footprints leading off to the side. "There is NO WAY! How did he survive??" Ein screams. He turns to Aphmau, mad rage tearing at his features. "YOU!" He runs at her and slaps her across the face.
YOU SCUM, YOU SLIME, YOU STUPID FAT OMEGA POOPBALL JERKFACE----
"YOU FAILED ME!" Ein yells.
"I-I'm sorry!" Aphmau cries. "I---"
"Brother!" Zane's voice shouts as he runs over, joining us. "Lucinda isn't answering her calling!"
"WHAT!?"
"EIN!" A voice that is achingly familiar screams. His voice echoes down the side of the mountain, making it sound as if he's all around us. We all look skyward, where we can just make out a lone figure standing on the cliff that we just left.
Aaron.
"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HER!" he yells, determination ringing through the stone around us. "COME HERE AND FACE ME!"
"I" risk a glance at Ein, and to my joyous satisfaction, it is now his eyes that are wide and fearful, his jaw hanging loose in shock.
We're going to win. We have to.