Previously known as ' Always & Forever '
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"Why is it that everyone perceives you as a myth?" he inquired, curiosity lacing his voice.
She responded, her tone laced with a hint of amusement, "It is because they are gripped by suc...
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ATHENA!" I screamed, my voice laced with fear and desperation as I fell to my knees in a pool of her blood. Cradling her head in my lap, I trembled uncontrollably, my hands shaking as I tapped her cold, wet cheek. "Please, don't be dead. Please!"
The tears streamed down my face, mingling with her blood, as I pleaded for her to awaken. And then, a flicker of life, a glimmer of hope—her eyes weakly fluttered open, tears welling within them. Relief surged through me, a bittersweet surge of relief. "Athena," I whispered, my voice choked with pain, refusing to accept the crushing reality. But deep down, I knew. I knew the darkness that loomed.
I shook my head violently, denying the shattered truth she was about to utter. My heart pounded against my chest, a wild beast trapped within, its roars echoing in my ears. But the undeniable truth could not be silenced.
"No," I croaked, my voice strained and broken. "Don't you dare speak in that shattered voice, big sister. You're the fucking Donna, the embodiment of strength. Gather yourself!" I yelled, my voice echoing through the empty room, desperate pleas masked by a futile display of anger. And then, as if the weight of her impending departure crushed me, I crumbled into my own tears, my cries of despair mingling with hers.
Athena managed a faint smile, her breaths punctuated by painful coughs that expelled more blood. Blood that stained her lips, her fingers, and my trembling soul. "It's okay, my little one," she whispered, her words a fragile melody in the cacophony of despair.
"No, it's not," I sobbed, clutching her closer to me, as if my touch alone could mend the fractures that ravaged her body. "Athena, please...don't leave me."
Her weak hand reached out, trembling as it brushed against my tear-streaked cheek, smearing crimson trails in its wake. With those bloodied fingertips, she wiped away my tears, an act of tenderness amidst the brutality of our reality.
"Aurora, my dear sister, listen to me," she rasped, her voice strained with the weight of mortality. Each breath became a struggle, a battle against the forces that sought to claim her. But even in the face of her imminent departure, she remained resolute, her spirit unyielding.
I shook my head, my heart rebelling against her words, refusing to accept the inevitable. "No, Athena, you will be okay. Help will arrive soon. Just hold on a little longer."
Yet, deep down, I knew her time was slipping away, like sand through my trembling fingers. Her laughter, tainted with pain, resonated through the room, a haunting echo of the fragility of our existence. "I don't have much time, Aurora," she managed to say, her voice a mere whisper, fading with each passing moment. "You need to be strong for River and our family."
Her words pierced through me, tearing at the fragile threads that held my shattered heart together. River, her innocent son, would now grow up without the warmth of his mother's love, his father's protection. I clung to her, desperate for an anchor in the storm of my grief, but she slipped further away.
