-99-
.Elementals.
I opened my eyes as a hot gust of air stopped my fall and gently set me down in a familiar jungle.
"The spirit plains." I sighed out softly, walking forwards and to the pond I once visited and kneeled down at its shore, staring into it, events of my life reflected in the water from a point of view other then my own, watching myself got through all my life in what seemed like a blink of an eye.
I bit my lower lip as I watched Audrey cry over my body before all faded away.
I took a shaky breath and closed my eyes.
Trembling overtook my shoulders and I hugged myself as I opened my eyes to see no more new images left for me to see but tears still forced their ways out of my eyes and down my face as my composure just left me and I started loudly sobbing in the quietness of the spirit plains.
"I am so sorry." I sobbed, tears falling like they would never stop.
Heart aching like never before, I would never see my world ever again, I would never see my queendom ever again, I would never see my people ever again, I would never see my friends ever again, I would never see my family ever again, I would never see..... I would never see Audrey ever again!!
"I am so sorry Audrey!!" I sobbed loudly, the spirit plains wracked with a violent wind vortex that raged through the trees, water turning in the whirl pool, lightning striking, trees twisting into sinister shapes, the ground splitting and fire spewing from it.
"I wish I could be there for you!! I am sorry!!" I chocked out, forcefully swallowing all my emotions and stopping them from hurting this peaceful place that turned back to normal.
"Arianwyn it isn't all over." I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Of course it is!! I lost everything!! Everything!!" I tried to wipe my eyes as I looked up at a sad but smiling Seraphim.
"No it isn't child." She said, kneeling down next to me and lifting my head with a finger under my chin.
"What is there still to do?"
"Don't you realize it? You can still go back, there is still a chance for you." She said softly as I just looked on.
"How? How would there be?! I died!!"
"You did." She agreed. "But remember what I told you about those dragon stone gems?"
"That they can store magic..."
"Exactly, in this day and age no one knows it but once magic is infused in it void won't rip it out of it. The void is like a vacuum but a dragon stone gem is pure, as long as it has no imperfection, void cannot affect it just like dragon scales cannot be hurt by any other weapon than those made from dragon scales themselves or the best of the best other weapons, like the one that struck me."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Arianwyn, you've charged the gem have you not?"
"Yes?"
"And with your magic yes?"
"Yes."
"The wearer of such gem with their magic can fill it up and when magic is missing the magic in it will pour back into the body of the wearer without a command." My eyes went wide.
"So I did die to that spell...." She nodded. "But the little magic I had in that stone did give my a bit of magic back so I should be able to live since I died from lack of magic." She nodded again. "How?! How do I go back?!"
"The way you came my child." She pointed at the sky and I looked up at the pulsing silver vortex in the air gathering into a red middle glow.... Looked like my dragon blossom flowers....
"How will I reach it?" I looked sadly at its rapidly deceasing size.
"You just need to believe." She stepped back away from me and soon I was kneeling as the feet of a huge silver dragon, oh my.... I would get this big?! "Get on, we don't have much time."
I hopped on my feet and ran over, climbing on and holding tight as she jumped up and flew up.
My eyes were concentrating on my goal but I saw we wouldn't reach it in time.
"Thank you." I said, despite the wind I didn't need to scream, I smiled with all the love I've ever had for my parents and I knew she saw it without looking at me, such is how the spirit plains work. "Thank you for everything, for every sacrifice you made, for every moment I spent in your shade, for everything in my life that lead me to today.... Thank you..... And.... See you again when my time has truly come again or I find a way to come see you somehow."
I hopped on my feet and with a huge blast of fire I sent myself through the air.
I saw her stall and hover as I flashed upwards through the air, a longing and yet happy look in her eyes.
"See you when time comes daughter." I heard despite how far I was before I flew through the vortex and all the pain hit me at once and made my blackout again.
I floated in darkness for a while before opening my eyes with a soft grunt and reaching for my head.
"Oh you are up, you are very lucky young lady or I would have had to go down there and beat some sense into you." I smiled at the voice.
"Welcome to you too Belladonna." I weakly said, eye sight clearing up and could see her fake anger hiding relief and fear for me that was now fading.
"I-- Oh my life Mystery." I groaned slightly as she hugged me, I was still hurting but far less then before, I awkwardly patted her back before she let me go. "Do you realize waking up to just be told you are on your death bed is a shity way to awaken."
"Belladonna, language."
"I taught you that so I make the rules.... That was so scary Mystery you don't realize it, all I saw was the little girl I met years ago, crying for her family, dying in the arms of the princess.... One of my children dying." I raised a hand to wipe two stray tears away with a sad smile.
"I am sorry I scared you, all of you, but that one forbidden binding spell was our only chance against Aurelius." I said.
"I know but it doesn't help."
"Right sorry.... How bad off was I?"
"Shattered ribs, a hole through your body, burns on your arms, a wrongly set wrist, cracked skull, twisted ankle." That's more then I thought.
"I am sorry.... Can I get out of bed? I would like to go see the others."
"You've been out for a whole week.... I would think you can stand." She said jokingly to lighten the atmosphere but still helped me stand with one of my hands around her shoulder. "Take it slow for a bit for now, you deserve it."
I was dressed in my loose night clothes but I didn't care.
"How has life been?" I asked as she walked me out of the room.
"We are slowly healing from the attack, many houses destroyed, food is rare, people are scared but we are doing what we can, the southern king and the elf king helping with the rations and shelter as we slowly rebuild all."
"I see." I sighed. "I wished this could have gone down otherwise."
"I do too, they are here for a while queendom to help."
"Four? You mean someone died?" I was suddenly scared.
"Oh no no no it's not like that.... When you brought me back I had given up my magic to preserve myself, now I am no more then a simple woman."
"You'll always will be more then a simple woman to us and you know it."
"Right my little head mage." I smiled softly.
"Guys!! Mystery's up!!" I heard Em the first as he rushed over and strangled me in a hug, Belladonna soon freeing me from him.
"Oh my god never do this to us ever again!" I smiled happily at all of them, only understanding Calypso as Leo and Amalia's voices mixed so well I made out nothing of their rambling.
I saw a small figure and kneeled down.
"Hey there." I smiled at the little girl I hide in the basement. "Sorry I couldn't come get you."
"We thought she was speaking of you when she mentioned.... Silver fur." I chuckled as Amalia's worlds.
"Yeah it was me, can you do this?" I light a small fire and the little girl tried, only really making a puff of smoke. "This is also why I really wanted to make sure no one would hurt her." I said as all stared wide eyed, not noticing the possibility that she might have been a young future mage.
"Well this is even better." Belladonna smiled.
I had gone back inside and got dressed in a new set of my mage uniform, my body a bit stiff and aching in places but I was happy to be back in this outfit, I even noticed the dragon's design on the insignia had been changed to one resembling me more on my new corset but not those the others wore, I smiled at the personal change made.
I went to the familiar window and the small bushed that were once the huge vines I used to climb up with grew to grab my feet and lift me up to the window and I knocked on it.
It was almost instantly snapped open.
"Hi." I said with a small wave at a shocked Audrey, her arm in a cast.
"Arianwyn." She whispered as I smiled at her brightly.
"I promised I'd live." I whispered, stepping in the room and got hugged, her shoulders were trembling and I heard a few sniffles.
"I thought I lost you." She breathed out while looking at me.
"I know I did too and I am sorry." I wiped her tears away before looping my hands around her waist. "But I don't plan on going anywhere anymore." She rested her hand on my cheek and I leaned into it.
"I wouldn't let you anyway." She said before pulling my head closer and connecting our lips.