Fractured Soul

Chapter 41: Fragment

"Mella. Look at us, child." Raitiena gently shook Mella's shoulder. Mella ignored them, her terror overwhelming her.

"You're one to say 'child,' Rai." Tara said.

"You know I only choose to look like this, Tara. This really isn't the time to argue about appearances." Raitiena put two fingers to Mella's temple. Her eyes began to glow.

"What did she see, Rai?"

"The ritual. Someone sent her this, though. She's been seeing it over and over again. Not to mention...death. A lot of it."

"Well fix it! She can't handle that much in this state."

"I know. I'm working on it." Rai glowed brighter. Mella gasped, her eyes flying open and glowing as well. After a few minutes both glows faded, and Mella's eyes slipped shut. "She won't remember most of the dreams, but she isn't going to last if she doesn't begin to learn spirit."

"They just got to Koa. Earth before spirit, sister. You know how it works." Tara shook Mella again. "Mella, wake up..."

"Even so, the smallest amount of spirit teachings would keep her going until--"

"Until what?" The two spirits looked down. Mella was staring down at them, her face etched with confusion. "Tara, Raitiena, what's going on? Where am I?"

"It's part of a dream. Wesley pulled you from a nightmare that someone trapped you in. What do you remember?" Raitiena asked quietly.

"A memory...of earth magic. And...death. The soul spell thing. And then voices, saying...saying that there's no hope for fragments. What do they mean?"

"Ah..." Tara looked up at Raitiena, who backed away slightly. Neither of them wanted to discuss what Mella was describing.

"Don't look at me. Earth before spirit, just like you said."

Mella pushed away from Tara, staggering to her feet. The spirits did as well, to catch her if she fell. "Lady Tara, you said in Berna I would get my three questions when I reached an earth place. Koa fits that description. What did it mean?"

Tara did not answer, and the silence was deafening. The spirit spirit broke the silence.

"Tell her, Tara. She's going to find out one way or another. She deserves to know. If you don't, I will."

"Fine. But it's not pleasant."

Mella laughed coldly. "Spirit, in the past month or so, I've been beat up, battled Rin, overcome her burn out spell, found out the truth about myself, experienced the deaths of two of my closest friends, and fled from Larein and her own set of curses. Nothing has been pleasant, not by a long shot. How can whatever you know be--"

"You are dying, Mella. You'll be dead by summer's end."

The nine words hung in the air, much like 'I am a fragment' had rang through Mella's head all those days and weeks ago.

"What? Dying?"

Tara nodded, her eyes flicking to an icy blue, full of sadness. "When the elementalist you were a part of had her soul fragmented, Rin began to cast a spell to capture those fragments before they dispersed, so her family could literally pull the elements from them. But Wesley Roxas stopped it, saving you and the others. But the shockwave hit the fragments, and that's the dangerous part.

"Fragments aren't always stable. Many souls were lost forever after the spell with its ritual were completed. You are a rare case for an even rarer event: the fragments turned into people. Only the strongest souls can manage to do that.