203: The Healer's Light, Part Ten

The Healer's Light, Part Ten

{Aphria}

No matter how much Aphria drank from her cup, the amount of tea inside would never be reduced. 

It was strange, but not unwelcome. Focusing on this object, putting all of her attention into this one simple task of lifting this teacup up to her lips and sipping from it, was enough to avoid hearing the cries for help in her memories. 

So, gladly, Aphria kept drinking from it, until that foreigner appeared out of the corner of her eye and walked toward the table. 

She did not sit down, though. 

[A brief visit, I suppose.] 

Taken away from the tea in her hands, Aphria's eyes fell on the stranger. 

Aphria couldn't help but wonder how many lovers this girl had in her world. Maybe standards were different where she was from, but in Aphria's eyes, she possessed the kind of transient beauty one would only expect to see in dreams. Every time her eyes fell upon the warrior, Aphria wanted to do nothing more than get up and take her. 

[Well, she has to be aware of her looks... She was bold enough to make that offer to me, after all,] Aphria thought, hiding a smirk. 

Behind Neve, that woman with the bizarre lower half watched on with crossed arms. She did not show it, but as a woman who'd had many lovers herself, Aphria knew jealousy when she saw it. 

And, that tan-skinned warrior showed every sign. 

[Not that Neve seems to care much. I wonder what the deal is there.] 

"So..." Neve finally opened. 

"Yes?" 

"We, uh, found another barrier."

[Shit.] 

Aphria looked down at her cup of tea. Her own reflection looked back at her from within that clear liquid. 

[... Control yourself,] Aphria finally thought, as she pushed her seat back. [Just go and get it over with.] 

"Take me to it." 

As much as she did not want to return to her fallen home, she knew that it would be in her best interest to keep Neve moving. As much as she could, anyway. 

[The sooner they're done, the sooner this world can finally just end already.] 

Aphria wasn't too sure what was happening around her. No message had been given to her or her people before the world fell.

But, between the fact that her tea never ran out, and Aphria herself wasn't aging even though she felt like it had been years since she made the choice to sit down and brood her life away, she figured she had to be in some sort of stasis. 

If that was the case, that meant she had some sort of role to play. 

[... Maybe this is it,] she thought. [I hope so, anyway.] 

Neve took her all the way to the spot where the next barrier was and, truthfully, Aphria should have seen it coming. 

The central park Neve had taken her to was a place of great importance. Of course, there would be a barrier here. 

Walking through it now, Aphria's eyes began to wander. 

The patches of artificial grass taken from the world's surface, the wooden benches that didn't carry a single crack, the desolate ambiance... Neve probably couldn't tell that this had been the site of one of the biggest battles against the invaders that Aphria's world had. 

She could see it right now if she closed her eyes. Dozens of the most skilled warriors her world had to offer, all standing by, watching as monsters poured in from a hole above, all looking toward Aphria as she-

"Aphria?" 

Neve's voice pulled Aphria out of her memories. 

She'd spent less than a minute here and already, her mind had nearly been lost. 

"Yes?" Aphria asked, turning toward her. 

"That's you, isn't it?" 

She pointed at something to the right and as Aphria found what she was talking about, a bitter taste filled her mouth. 

Suddenly, she really wanted to turn around and fly back to her table, where, hopefully, her tea would alleviate her. 

"Yes," Aphria replied, looking at the statue. "It is." 

Before Neve could say anything else, Aphria walked ahead of it, toward the golden barrier at the back of the park. 

Placing a hand on it, she recited a quick incantation in a whisper, and the barrier broke. 

"Done." 

Aphria was about to flap her wings and fly away, but Neve's voice stopped her. 

"Uh, by the way," she said, "while we were fighting... One of our enemies called out to you." 

Aphria's jaw clenched. Unable to handle the curious gazes from both Neve and that other lady, Aphria turned away. 

"Could you tell us a little about what happened here? It might be important," Neve stated. 

Aphria sighed, getting tired just thinking about it. 

"There... There isn't much to say," Aphria told her. "We were attacked, we failed the Unity Trials, and now we're here. That's all." 

"But, how?" Neve asked and, honestly, if she didn't have this exact shade of deep, blue eyes piercing Aphria's heart, the woman may have just pushed her aside and flown away. 

Instead, her lips began speaking before her mind could catch up. 

"I don't know." 

"What?" That statement baffled Neve. But, the problem was that Aphria was being completely honest. 

She didn't know why they failed. They just did. 

"Look, here's a summary, alright?" Aphria asked, exasperated. "Monsters arrived at our world. A message told us that this was part of something called 'The Unity Trials' and that we'd need to kill them to save our world. Are you following along so far?" 

Neve remained silent. 

"We gathered the best fighters that we could and fought them. Day in and day out, for who knows how long, we fought them. But..."

The memories became too intense. Aphria could see it all happening right in front of her eyes, suddenly. Razor-sharp teeth biting down on her arm, tails as sharp as swords tearing her flesh, magic searing her skin. All while Aphria fought back as hard as she could with her blades. 

"... Something began to happen," Aphria said, her voice lowering to the point of nearly being inaudible to her own ears. "Our people started to go crazy. Their bodies changed, their eyes lost their colors, and their minds were lost. Some of our own suddenly became enemies. So... I began to fight even harder." 

Aphria looked up at the statue. 

"The world had been relying on me from the start," she noted. "I couldn't let them down now." 

She could still remember most of it. The hopes weighing on her shoulders. Every day, she'd get letters of encouragement written to her, by civilians and warriors alike, begging for her to save them. Bags and baskets filled with gifts would almost make it impossible to open her home's front door, there were so many of them. 

"Neve," Aphria said, looking back at the foreigner. "I killed hundreds. No, thousands, of monsters, by myself. And yet... The gods punished my people regardless, turning more and more of us into those mindless beasts you've been fighting." Aphria shook her head with a sad smile. "It was like the more I fought, the more my people would suffer. The more monsters I killed, the more warriors would suddenly lose their minds... I cleared every stage, I killed every enemy, I did everything I believed the Unity Trials were asking of me, and yet, none of it helped. Until... Until I was the only person left who hadn't lost their mind."  0

Aphria hung her head. Her body felt so much heavier, all of a sudden. 

"And, from there, I waited. I knew it would come eventually. That, soon, I too would go insane. And yet, it never happened." She shrugged. "I, alone, remained sane. Maybe the gods just wanted someone to be alive to bear witness to this world's unfortunate ending. But, I don't know, and I don't care. There," she said, looking into Neve's eyes. "That's what happened here. That is the story of the failure standing before you. Are you satisfied?" 

Without a word, Neve nodded. 

Aphria let out a deep breath, feeling like her body had just gotten several times lighter. 

Turning back toward the spot where the barrier had been, Aphria made an effort to recall what came next. 

"... There shouldn't be any other barriers from here on out. More fallen warriors will stand in your way, but... If you've been able to get this far without my help, you shouldn't need me to deal with them. Good luck." 

And, on that cold note, Aphria flew away. 

As she did, she finally allowed the tears that had filled her eyes to fall to the ground below. 

What she'd said had allowed too many memories to pour in and she couldn't stop them anymore. 

Especially since it had been this place where Aphria had made her choice. 

The choice to leave her city and wait for death outside. 

[I gave everything I had...] She thought as she flew. [But, it still wasn't enough. Is Neve succeeding in her own Unity Trials? Why? I... How much more could she be doing for her people than I did for mine? I don't understand.] 

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