Falling Leaves 32 ??

  The sound of water flowing muffles as Peter floats underwater, his eyes half open. He looks up at a lavender moon that shines, making the water a deep lavender. Pink koi fish surround him as he floats to the top. His body feels light, his head is hazy, his mind remains empty as he continues to stare at the moon.

  He floats to the surface as moonlight shines on the droplets covering his body, making them shimmer. Lavender mist surrounds him as pink flower petals fall around him. His consciousness returns, his eyes lighting up as he stares into the vast night sky with endless stars falling.

  "Where?—-"

  Soft laughter ripples around him. He turns his head, hair flowing like ribbons in the current. Apparitions of people and spirits fly around the mist—children, adults, the elderly, some spirits that look like different animals: one a panda with a bamboo hat, one monkey with white fur and four arms, another a bipedal orange seal with large blue fins.

  They all laugh and giggle as they float in a circular motion, their bodies transparent as light seeps through them.

  "I must have died again—-" He turns back, facing the moon. "So this is the afterlife after the afterlife?"

  He sighs as his body feels relief. "I feel so free—- maybe this is for the better."

  A gentle splash of water sounds beside him. He slowly turns his head once more and sees a woman. She has long platinum hair, pale peachy skin, and four wasp-like wings drooping down her back. She stands nude, looking up into the sky as ripples surround her. The moon reflects in her rose-colored eyes. The two black antennas on her head droop as well.

  "L'abeille—-"

  His body starts to shake as he tries to force himself up.

  "Le ciel—- il est—- tellement—- magnifique—-" (The sky—- it's—- so—- beautiful.) L’abielle whispers to herself.

  Peter grits his teeth. "L'ABEILLE!"

  L'abeille's ears twitch as she slowly turns and looks down at Peter.

  "You—-"

  "Don't 'you' me! Where are we? What did you do?!"

  L'abeille stares back at the moon. "I didn't cause this—-" Her once soft voice lowers, as if she's found a sense of peace.

  "It seems our defeat at the hands of Le Démon écarlate brought us both to this conclusion—-" She sighs. "To think even in death—- you would still be a thorn in my side."

  Peter's eyes widen. "So we really are dead—-" He scoffs, lowering his gaze. "To think—- I just got another chance at living—- just to lose it again, not too long after. Just my luck—-"

  "Boy—-"

  He glances at her. "What? And the name's Peter."

  L'abeille continues to look into the sky as the apparitions continue to circle and giggle.

  "Where you come from, what is the sky like?"

  Peter frowns. "The sky?" He pauses, memories flashing. "It was blue—- my world had blue skies that endlessly stretched."

  "Fascinant—-"

  "I've only heard stories of blue skies, ones filled with warmth, ones filled with clouds white like snow." She reaches her arm toward the sky as if she's grabbing the moon. "I've yearned to see it—- I've yearned to feel that warmth—-"

  Peter's gaze focuses on her face as her lips start to quiver.

  "What do you mean by that? You haven't seen the sky before?"

  L'abeille lowers her arm, shaking her head. "Only the sickly green skies of Les Bois Maudits—that's all I've ever seen." (The Cursed Backwoods.) "Cold—- lifeless—-"

  "Then why didn't you leave?! You who could travel at sonic speeds, create wasps out of nothing—and you're telling me you couldn't just leave the Backwoods?!"

  "No—-" The koi fish start to jump out of the water. As they splash back in, L'abeille closes her eyes. "I couldn't just leave—- I owed my life to Malika, just like Ma Grandeurs did for you."

  Her wings twitch faintly. "She gave me a second chance to live."

  Peter remains silent, listening.

  "Through her love, she became that warmth I sought." "She was the sky I could never reach. She—-"

  "Is it really love?! How can you call it that when you couldn't even live your own life?" Peter sits up, causing water to splash as drops fall from him.

  "If you really want to know what love is—what true unconditional love is—it's when someone is there for you no matter what. No matter what you do, no matter where you are! They're there! What you have is not love—it's control!"

  L'abeille stares at her reflection in the ripples of the water as it distorts.

  "You're wrong—-" "You're all wrong—-" She pauses for a moment. "The Belles and I, we're all family—- sisters. Sisters connected by Malika—-" "We all chose to serve Malika—- we all chose to stay in Les Bois Maudits."

  "Her love was never control—we chose this out of our free will."

  Peter clenches his fist. "Free will? Don't give me that! It's not free will if you chose it out of desperation!"

  L'abeille stares back at the moon. "To you, it's control. But in my heart, I knew what my purpose was."

  "Purpose—-" Peter gazes down at the water.

  She exhales, wings drooping. "Perhaps this sky—- is a gift from death. After fighting Le Démon écarlate, she claimed to be death itself. And now—- seeing this sky—-"

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "?Hola, Mi Amigos!" A bubbly voice cuts in from behind.

  Peter and L'abeille both turn around, causing the water to sway. Sue?o hovers above the water, causing ripples to spread behind them with a soft smile, her lavender eyes glistening from the lavender moonlight.

  L'abeille blinks in confusion, speechless.

  "Who are you?"

  "Oh—- me? My name is Sue?o—a pleasure to meet you! May I ask for your names as well?"

  Peter grunts. "Before I tell you my name, how about you explain what you are?! Are you some different kind of Grim Reaper to take our souls?"

  "Grim Reaper?" Sue?o giggles. "I'm not sure I've heard of something like that—" Something snaps in her head as her eyes widen. "OHHH YOU MEAN DEATH SPIRITS?!"

  "You know of the Death Spirits?!"

  Sue?o rubs the back of her head. "Well, yeah! Mi Amor is one of them. My little guapo espíritu de la muerte!"

  L'abeille tilts her head. "'Mi Amor'?" "Your love was a Death Spirit? Care to explain which one."

  "Why, Akuji of course! He was here not too long ago."

  Memories of Akuji play in Peter's head—him interrupting his battle with Ari and explaining how he was in a group with Azazel.

  "Akuji—- so that's his name—-"

  He then grits his teeth. "So this is a place where death spirits hang out? You must be one of them! So what is this? Another messed up afterlife!"

  "Afterlife?" "Wait no—"

  "So you must know Azazel too?!" He floats in the water, approaching Sue?o.

  "Boy—- stay back from her—you don't know what she's capable of." L'abeille warns. "We just died, and you would risk getting your soul erased for what?"

  Peter smacks his lips, turning to L'abeille. "Save me your bullshit! When we were alive, you tried to kill me—now you want to lecture me about not attacking."

  "Hey, you two are funny! Where's all this 'died' and 'afterlife' talk coming from?"

  Peter turns back to Sue?o. "This is the after-afterlife, right? A place where dead spirits go? You're a Death Spirit, right?"

  Her laughter grows as a tear falls from her eye. She wipes it. "After-afterlife? That's ridiculous! No, you aren't dead, dummy! This is the Astral Realm! If you two were dead, you wouldn't even be able to astral project to get here in the first place!"

  L'abeille tilts her head. "As—-tral projection—-? What is that? What does that mean?!"

  "It means you two fell asleep and your spirits projected to my plane—- sooo—- Welcome to Reino Astral, as I like to say! Where all your dreams come true!"

  L'abeille floats forward as the apparitions of the spirits float around her.

  "Sue?o, was it? Can you explain—if this isn't the place for the dead, what are these souls doing here?"

  "Oh! What you see around you are just other Astral Projectors. I'm currently speaking to them as I'm talking to you two."

  L'abeille's look of confusion returns. "What? How are you talking to them at the same time you're talking to us?"

  An apparition of a little girl phases through Sue?o's chest from behind her, flying between Peter and L'abeille.

  Sue?o grins. "Well, what you're seeing is your own version of me! Everyone who astral projects sees their own me!"

  "I still don't understand this entire concept of 'Astral Projection'—- so this is all just a dream?"

  "Is none of this real? Are you all just figments of my imagination?—-"

  Peter whirls to L'abeille behind him. "Oh, I'm real alright! Don't think I'm just some dream of yours!"

  Sue?o shakes her head. "No, this is real, ehh." She scratches her head. "No one's ever made me think this deeply about it! Umm, it's real but not real! I'm real, but only in a dream sense."

  "What the hell does that even mean!"

  The apparitions continue to float and giggle as the purple mist closes in on the three.

  "So—- I think I understand it now—this is a place that exists between reality and our minds."

  Sue?o claps, leaning in. "Hey, you got it! You're a smart one, aren't you?!"

  Peter cuts in. "Cut the damn games! Tell us how to get the hell out of here!" He balls his fist as drops of water seep through it. He looks down at it, trembling, thinking of Ari. "I have to find her again—- I have to explain—-"

  L'abeille stares at Peter, her voice low and emotionless. "You're still on about that fox? Your pact is broken. She tried to kill you in that battle."

  Peter whirls behind him, locking eyes with her. "Shut up! I lost a comrade! You have no idea what that's like! I don't have some random savior I can just run to! I survived with her protecting—-"

  "Protecting the very being that got us here. Go on, say it—you were protecting Le Démon écarlate."

  Peter remains quiet as his pupils shake.

  "Who is this 'Le Démon écarlate' you keep speaking of?" Sue?o crosses her arms, floating above the water.

  "She's—-" Before Peter can finish, Sue?o snaps her fingers.

  "Got it! Never mind, you don't need to tell me!" She giggles with a grin.

  "Wha—-"

  Sue?o's eyes glisten as the mist behind her swirls. A faint image flickers—a girl with crimson glowing hair, a giant steel blade in her hands.

  "So her name is Danya, huh? Interesting—-" Sue?o's smile widens. "And wow, by your memory, she's really pretty!"

  "How—Wha—- what the hell?!"

  "Oh right, I should explain, shouldn't I? Jaja, sorry about that." Sue?o chuckles, rubbing the back of her head. "I just read your mind, tonto! You have pretty messed up thoughts in there, y'know!"

  Peter swings his arms, causing water to splash toward Sue?o. "That's just invasion of privacy! Don't do that shit!"

  Sue?o puts her finger in front of her as the drops of water from the splash hold still in the air as if frozen in time before hitting her. They all drop back into the water as if gravity dragged them down.

  "Ugh—-"

  "Sorry! I just couldn't wait for an answer—you guys are so interesting!" She turns to L'abeille. "Your turn now!"

  "Wait—- no!" L'abeille ducks into the water, causing a giant splash as she covers her head.

  Sue?o snaps her fingers as her eyes widen.

  "Wow—- you've been through the worst with this Danya, haven't you?"

  L'abeille opens her eyes as the memories of her battle with Danya replay in her head—each hit, each taunt. She surfaces. "Please—- don't remind me of how I failed Malika—-" The droplets of water sticking to her skin gleam from the moonlight as she wraps her arms around herself. "Le Démon écarlate—-"

  Peter looks back at her. "Hey—- are you good—"

  Sue?o shakes her head slowly as a slight frown appears on her face. "Aw, I'm sorry that happened to you! Seeing how you're reacting—- she must have really scarred you."

  "I've faced death incarnate—- The very demon that scarred Malika's soul—-" She starts to tremble as the water ripples around her. "I wanted to strike her down—- I wanted to bring Malika her ruin—-"

  "You wanted to feel her warmth, didn't you? You wanted to make her proud."

  "I—"

  Sue?o snaps her fingers once more. The lavender water and mist start to turn blue as koi fish circle Peter and L'abeille. Sue?o points up at the sky, crinkling her eyes with a grin.

  "Wha—" Peter faces the sky. His eyes widen. "Amazing—-"

  L'abeille tilts her head to the sky, eyes frozen. "Blu—"

  The sky radiates a blue light as the clouds swirl around it. White shooting stars continue to fall as the moon transforms into a bright sun with three rings around it.

  Sue?o grins, eyes crinkling. "This is the warmth you've longed for, isn't it?"

  The koi fish all jump out of the water, leaping over L'abeille's and Peter's heads as they begin to transform. They grow bigger, their bodies shifting into those of serpents, their fins turning to wings. Their bodies turn deep blue as they fly toward the sun.

  Peter watches in awe, his mouth half open as his hair starts to flutter from the breeze created by the transforming koi fish.

  L'abeille's focus remains on the sky. "Le ciel—- il est—- il est—- bleu—-" The light from the sun shines on her skin and wings, making the droplets sparkle, her rose-colored eyes glistening.

  "?Cielos de Verano!" Sue?o raises her arms. "Hope you enjoy it!"

  Tears form in L'abeille's eyes. They run down her face, dropping into the water.

  "Merci—-" "Merci!"

  Peter continues to look into the sky, watching the dragons. "This is insane—-"

  Sue?o watches silently, her grin still plastered on her face.

  A tingling feeling starts to radiate from Peter's and L'abeille's bodies. The sensation of their skin crawling, as a feeling of unease washes over them.

  L'abeille looks down at her palm as she begins to fade.

  "No—-" "No, No, No!" She whirls to Sue?o, locking eyes with her. "Please! I can't leave—not yet!"

  "Sorry—- but it seems like you're about to wake up." "Aw, it was nice meeting you two—-"

  "PLEASE, NO! JUST A FEW MOMENTS!"

  Peter remains quiet as his body starts to fade alongside L'abeille. The apparitions around them continue to giggle, some of them disappearing.

  "Oh, it looks like quite a few beings are waking up now." She waves at the two. "?Adios! I hope to see you two in the future!"

  "NO!" L'abeille shouts one last time before fading.

  Peter sighs as everything goes black.

  Back in Forêt sans ame.

  L'abeille's eyes burst open as the branches of the Soul Trees wrap around her.

  "Dévorer—-"

  They pick her up into the air. She shouts in rage: "AUGH!" Clenching her fist, her stingers stab into her palm as purple blood leaks out.

  She breaks the branches, gritting her teeth. The Soul Trees scream in agony. She drops to the ground, landing in a puddle of her own blood. She lies on her side, face-first on the ground, as purple stains her hair and skin.

  "Damn it—-"

  She slams her fist on the ground, breaking the stingers covering her fingers.

  Across from her, Peter lies opening his eyes, seeing the view of the green fog barely covering the green sky.

  "Beauty to ugliness—-" He sighs. "Such is life—- nothing shines forever."