Moonrise ✔ [Complete]

56 Celestial

Death was dark, a void without feeling. Maeyune stood alone.

Blackness surrounded her on all sides. For a long time, she considered the possibility that she simply could no longer see. Was this to be her fate for the rest of eternity?

She had hoped to find familiar faces in death. But there was no one to greet her when she woke within the realm. And there was no Reo.

Darkness would be her everlasting companion.

But what was this light that glowed in the darkness? She glanced down at herself, at her hands. Her skin appeared to emanate a gentle sheen, and she became a lamp inside the empty realm.

Then, the light evaporated from her flesh. Her body grew dimmer. The light gathered into a ball in front of her, drifting slowly out of her reach.

"No, wait!" she cried out. Her hand shot outward to catch it, to force it back into her body again. "I'm not ready yet!"

The light stopped for a moment and hovered just a few feet away. It became her only anchor in the vacancy. When she reached out to touch it, light erupted and filled the space.

It was strange how time seemed to shift. There was no pulse from her heart, nor breath in her chest, but the air around her felt alive. Time moved forward—or was that backward?

The light waned, and she found herself standing on an invisible plane in Vaius' green ocean. Ahead, she saw a silver man who stood at around twenty feet tall. His back was to her, his long, silver hair adrift in a mysterious wind. She could still see the horns that curled down from his temples.

Before him stood a human woman donning a simple day-dress. Her hands cradled her large belly. Maeyune stepped closer and discovered her face.

Ayla Ereni gazed up at the Moon God, and when he turned to reveal Maeyune behind him, Ayla's eyes widened. Maeyune froze.

Surprise and sorrow glinted in Ayla's eyes. She held out her hands, and Maeyune instinctively stepped forward to take them.

"I'm sorry I cannot be there for you when you need me," Ayla said, her lips quivering. "I am placing such a heavy burden on you. I know that Shivra will raise you into a strong warrior. I know it will be difficult not understanding your purpose in this world. But it gives me great joy and gratitude to know that my sister will be there for you, to love and protect you."

Maeyune's brow crinkled in worry as she watched her mother.

Tears spilled down Ayla's cheeks and streaked around her smile. She touched Maeyune's face. "You are everything I dreamed of."