Wisteria

Arisu's P.O.V

:

''This is the story of how I died. Don't worry, tho! I came back.''

The sound of heavy raindrops on the grass was the only thing I could hear as I ran as fast as I could. I ignored the distant pleas of the soldiers calling me. I just needed to be alone.

It was suffocating to be anywhere near that casket. I couldn't look at her. Not when she was lying there, not moving, not breathing.

She wasn't the best but she was my mother.

The people cried over the loss of their queen but I couldn't. Why couldn't I? I wanted to but I couldn't. She was my mother yet I couldn't even cry at her death. The people around me encouraged me, saying that I was brave. I wasn't.

Part of me was relieved that she was gone. I was finally free from her commands. Her stubbornness to make me the best was now at an end. I could be who I wanted to be. Maybe it was a good thing.

"Your Highness!" I turned to look back at the faraway voices. My feet strumbled a little and made me lose my balance. I fell on the wet ground, face first. I stayed there for a few minutes, just taking it all in. I was tired of everything. When I finally turned to lie on my back I was met with unfamiliar woods.

Huh, these aren't the palace's woods.

Panic rushes through me. I was lost. I get up quickly looking around for any sort of familiarity but I was met with none. I was under a lavender tree. The tree was almost as big as the palace. Its leaves were pink-purple and the whole area smelled of a rich herbal scent. The colors reminded me of Rem's dress when we first met.

It's beautiful.

"You lost little girl?" A deep woman's voice said from behind me. I shuffled away from her, putting as much distance as possible, and turned to look at her with a glare. She looked like she was in her early thirties. She wore a black shirt with black pants and black boots. Her hair was long and black and her eyes were the scariest. They looked like darkness. Like they had seen the worst days to ever live.

What was with this woman and black anyways?

''Aww, what's wrong? Can't speak?" she asked her she tilted her head a little and pointed to her mouth.

"Who are you? A soldier here to take me back? Well then, tell father that I'll come back on my own soon, he doesn't need to send some pets or whatever." I spoke back with a mocking tone to piss her off. I could tell it worked because her left eye suddenly twitched to which I smirked.

"Well, aren't you quite rude?" She took a deep breath, "A soldier you say? You don't look quite important to have soldiers come get you." She replied with the same mocking tone. Now it was my eyes turning to twitch.

"Do you even know who you're speaking to?!" I was furious, how dare speak back to me like that? I'd have her head cut off once I returned.

"Ooo let me guess!" the lady put her index finger on her chin and pretended to think hard. I doubt she could think. "Ah ha!" she put her fist on her other hand's palm. "You arrrrrree a nobody!"

Goddess Hakan please give me patience.

"Don't bring Hakan in this, she's not gonna like it." The pathetic excuse of a human crouched down to my level, her knees cracking in the process. The sound made me cringe. But then it hit me.

"I didn't say that out loud." I was now horrified. Can she read minds? No that can't be, I'm sure she would have commented on the hated thoughts I had of her from the moment we met.

"Oh," she didn't look quite shocked. She acted like this was not the first time this had happened. "Go home kid, it's getting late."

"You sound like a kidnapper" I got up from the ground and tried to brush off all the mud. "Maybe I am, you never know." She replied with a chuckle.

"Your Highness!" I gasped, the yells of the soldiers were now nearing us. The lady noticed because she hummed in confusion, her brows narrowing. "You're a prince?" She looked me up and down. "You're quite dirty for a prince."

I was sure my face was red with anger.

I didn't reply to her, I have had enough of her bullshit. As I turned around and took a step, I was falling. My mind barely had time to register things. The ground was gone and I was falling into an empty dark ditch. No, it was too big for a gutter. It was like I was falling from the night sky except I couldn't see any land beneath me. My heart was racing so hard I was sure It could come out any second. It was getting harder to breathe.

"Not so talkative now are you?"

I was startled, the bonehead woman was with me. She too was falling except that she was standing straight and I was falling like a flying squirrel.

"How are you doing that?!?" I yelled at the top of my lungs hoping she could hear me. She laughed, the sound echoing in the gloaming cave-like area.

"Tell me, prince, have you ever heard of Goddes Aeric?" Her figure was blending. I could hardly make her out in the dark.

Goddess Aeric...

"Of course! Everyone knows her!" Goddess Aeric was the goddess of darkness. It was said that she could kill an army with a flick of her hand. But that power also caused the Kingdom's great destruction.

"Looks like your history class are paying off-"

"HOW LONG ARE WE GOING TO KEEP FALLING?!?" I couldn't take it anymore, the breakfast from this morning was threatening to come out any moment.

"Geez, you kids can't handle anything." Somehow she changed her speed and fell faster. I could only watch in shock as her figure disappeared underneath. '' H-hey! wait! don't leave me here!'' my shouts did no good, I was alone up in here, in the darkness. It was frightening. Anything could pop up from the shadows and grab me by the ankle and eat me. I would die a slow and painful death with no one to save me. The thought of that gave me shivers.

''Hey kid, ready for a magic show?'' the idiotic woman's voice called out from below.

''NO!'' I was sick of her shit. I wanted to go back home.

''That's great! you'll love this!''

Suddenly, the whole view changed. It was no longer pitch black. The sky was red, orange, and yellow. It was pretty in a way. I was still falling but this time I could see the landing. I was glad, after what felt like 30 minutes of falling non-stop I could finally rest my feet and get rid of the dropping feeling in my stomach. Wait...

HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO LAND?!?!

Once again, I was filled with panic. I started screaming at the top of my lungs. I was going to land face first, probably breaking my nose and losing some teeth, maybe even an arm or leg.

As I neared the land I mentally prepared myself for the pain coming soon and closed my eyes but it never came. Confused, I opened my eyes and was taken aback. My face was inches away from the damped grass. My body was still in the air but frozen in one place. I looked around to see if that woman caught me only to discover these black fog-like arms lifting me. My mouth fell agape, I turned to the woman looking at her now in a new way. Once the arms lifted me and put me on my feet, I stumbled a little but said arms kept me in place.

''Told you, you'll love it.'' She replied with a smirk.

''Goddess Aeric...'' I looked up from the ground to meet her eyes. She started back and smiled ''I haven't been called that in ages''

''Where are we?''I tried changing the subject. I didn't want to know how she was here. Maybe this was a sick dream I was having.

''Where did your rude tone go?'' She raised an eyebrow. ''It fell when I was falling, now tell me where we are.'' I said sarcastically. I was waiting for a comeback but all she did was laugh. It wasn't a mocking laugh but more of a genuine laugh. I didn't think she could laugh like that. All the stories I've read about her always mentioned how cold and cruel she was. How she never gave anyone mercy no matter how much they begged.

As I was about to ask her again, there was a roaring near us. I ran to hide behind Goddess Aeric, whatever it was that made that sound could not lay a finger on the Goddess, right?

''Don't worry, this is not real, actually, it was but this is just an illusion,'' she turned to me assuringly, ''They will not cause you harm.''

I looked in the direction the sound came from trying to see what creature made that noise but I could only widen my eyes in fright. It was a colossal titan made of black mist. The mist was so black you couldn't see your own hand if you put it in. There were two whites where the eyes should have been. It looked like some patient from an asylum had drawn it and it came to life. It opened its mouth, somehow the inner part looking darker than it already was. It roared again and fog-like arms swayed around and hit the top of a tower, causing the tower to knock down and the debris to fly around, some even coming in our direction.

Looking at the arms of the monster, I realized something. They were the same arms that had caught me, the same black fog in the shape of arms that held me. I turned to look at the Goddess once again.

''Yes, that 'monster' is mine. Don't you know? Each God has an Incarnate. Incarnates are usually awakened by the Gods when there is a war. Maybe your history classes did not pay off....''

I didn't reply, honestly, I didn't know what to say. There was another roar, this time more fierce. It didn't come from the black mist titan but instead from a dragon. I knew this dragon. There was a person on the top, riding the dragon. This person had long red hair till their waist. They wore white robes, a bit revealing from the legs. They were tall and held a spear as tall as them in one hand.

''Goddess Hakan?'' I blurted out. Aeric let out a gasp and looked at me, ''Traitor! how dare you know about her Incarnate and not mine?''

''I don't know maybe have something as cool as a dragon?'' I didn't look at her, my gaze still on Goddess Hakan. Suddenly, the two giant bodies collided with each other. Aeric's Incarnate arms were pushing on the dragon, while the dragon roared fire out of its mouth. ''Is this when you betrayed the other Gods?'' I looked away from the scene and to the person in front but there was none. I looked around terrorstruck, she was nowhere to be found.

''Aeric! Listen to me! You have to stop this! Do not listen to that witch's curse! Control yourself!'' I heard Hakan's voice yell in the distance. There was a shriek from the mist titan which turned higher and higher the more it yelled. It sounded straight out of a horror movie.

''If you think it's that easy why don't you try it!'' The head of the mist titan uncovered and revealed Aeric in it. Her arms and torso were covered with black foggy vines, In an instant, the vines pulled her back in and the head was back on. The mist titan's clawed hands came up to hit the dragon but Hakan controlled it and dodged.

I was left to just watch this scene.

Hakan and Aeric kept fighting, it seemed they had no intention of stopping soon. There were a few more yells from Hakan telling Aeric to control her powers or to calm down and there were Aeric's replies telling Hakan to shut up. But things were getting more intense and I decided that the place was no longer suitable for me to sit and watch. I got up from my place and turned to find an exit. I hadn't even taken 3 steps when a few pieces of rubble came flying toward me. Soon more and more were flying in my direction and they kept getting bigger and bigger.

I ran from the spot and went the opposite way. The rocks were so big now that the ground was cracking and falling, making pits. I was running for my life, running so fast I couldn't feel my feet anymore. And while I ran the ground behind me was basically disappearing. I could hear the sounds of people screaming whenever the ground fell.

Are there people in the ground?

I shuddered at that thought. Turns out, trying to think about how there were people in the ground almost killed me. I lost my balance and almost fell off a cliff. Luckily I stabilized myself and stood up straight. I could finally see where I was.

The sky was dyed with blood. Some houses were on fire, some were being blown away by the wind and there was a small area that was flooded. People were screaming, children were crying and the soldiers yelled as they fought for their land. In the middle of all this, there was a white castle. Despite all the chaos on the land, this castle stood tall and untouched. Maybe because it was in the clouds that no one could harm it. But there was a figure standing in front of the gates. I couldn't make out the figure from this distance but I could see the amount of blue they wore. No normal human could reach the tower, if they could fly then maybe they could reach it. I looked around once again.

I know this place.

My head shot up to the castle once again. It seems that today was just not my day and I was destined to keep falling. I had forgotten about the collapsing ground and now it had caught up to me. I fell again into a dark pitch.

''Oh my god! Just let this end already!'' I knew Aeric could hear me and I decided to let her listen to my annoyance. As soon as I said that my face made contact with the ground.

It seems that she heard it.

When I got up I had an intense pain in my nose. Hastily, I brought both my hands to my face and covered my nose. I couldn't see at all in the dark, but I could tell that the liquid that dripped was not snot. The blood dripped all the way down to my chin and I could taste it in my mouth. Covering my nose, I tried to walk around and see if I could find an exit.

Suddenly, there was a big white orb on the top of the ditch. This orb's light was bright but it still couldn't light up the endless darkness. The ball of light was floating down and toward me.

''Child'' I had no idea if I was going crazy at this point or if the orb actually just spoke. It made another whisper-like noise and was now very near me.

''Oh child of Aeric, We have chosen you, as our Salvador. Come, and we will guide you, through this reckless world. Come, and we will protect you from all that brings doom. Come, and we will save you.''

As I spoke these words, I seemed to have been hypnotized by something. My arms moved on their own and reached toward the light. Once it was within my space, my blooded hands grasped it and cradled it to my chest. The red liquid stained the orb but it still continued to glow.

''Oh child of Aeric. Come, and we shall eliminate all that does wrong to you.'' It spoke again.

I was silent. I didn't know what to say.

''Who is 'we'? are you referring to the Gods? or are there more of you? What do you mean by protecting me?! What do you mean by saving me?! Who are you?!? Just let me go home!!''

Maybe I did know what to say.

The orb was silent for a while. Then it shook and glowed brighter. It floated up and came face to face with me. I has to squint a bit as I couldn't stare right at the light.

''Child, we are Hakan, Rajin, Sara, Fujin, Himuro, Kurgokami and Aeric. We are the protectors of this land. We are the ones you worship whenever you make a move. We are your Lords and we chose you as our Salvador.'' As the orb spoke all this, it lifted me into the air. My feet floated up with the light and it slowly kept spinning us.

Tears filled my eyes and they spilled down. Now my blood was mixed with salty water. The Gods chose me? why? there was nothing special about me.

''You, child of Aeric, are filled with capabilities more than anyone else.'' The orb vibrated more and slowly transformed into a silhouette of a woman. I knew who this was as I so clearly remember how she left me all alone. Aeric smiled at me and held me in her embrace.

''Shush child, take this as a blessing. You would be unstoppable against the world.''

I could only sob into her chest, in the dark pitch, I was floating and still spinning slowly. A woman who was Goddes Aeric wanted me as her successor. The Goddess of Darkness.

And who was I to say no?