were her way of protecting me.
"Don't worry, Mommy. Protect. Elsa will protect you."
Elsa. Our Elsa.
"Daddy's here. Other Daddies are here. We'll survive. We'll prevail."
Her words were encouraging as my eyes began to close, the light holding me tightly fighting hard to protect us from the darkness that closed in.
Submit, Brianne. I will not fail you.
Surrendering felt like the hardest thing to do and yet it was all I could commit to as my eyes finally closed and my consciousness wavered.
The darkness that followed didn't make me fear if I'd ever open my eyes again. It embraced me like I was its child in need of comfort, which was enough for me to give in completely.
Failure has become the final outcome.
Wounded Beauty And Guilt Of Failure
~KAITO~
* * *
I. Love. You.
My eyes widened as I took in the mouthed words. The world silenced all around me while my beating heart paused. The transparency of the wall was no more, like a window that had received a thick tint.
The image of Brianne vanished and triggered time to move once more. An eerie scream came from my left, but my arms already began to move as I swung my sword and sliced right through the approaching dark being.
Another came from my left, but I did the same, only realizing there was an approaching crowd of them, coming from all directions. I paused in my defensive stance to take it all in, while the dome before me seemed to spark with black electricity and grow bigger.
Brianne wouldn't survive being in there in her current state, and that mere thought angered me to new levels while fear and regret were the tablets of fuel that matched the motive growing in my heart.
Destroy it all.
There was that single voice that would begin the multiple voices in my head. A true composer of negativity who began to conduct the orchestra of doubt, shame, and hopelessness. As if he could control the very emotions inside me, they all rose in anger, like they could avenge our fallen beauty.
Our Brianne, our light, the woman who would find a solution to everything, was now swallowed by the dark mist before me and all I could do was stand while death approached from all directions.
All that training with Master suddenly felt hopeless and I wondered if it was truly all for nothing. The knowledge I'd gained from studying. The techniques I'd learned to use in battle. Was all the struggle and time spent truly for nothing?
There I stood, my grip loosening around the hilt of my sword as it dropped to the muddy ground. My resolve began to fade; the idol of my world succumbed to the dome of darkness because of my lack of strength.
She was willing to go above and beyond for me, and yet due to the many areas where I lacked, I ended up getting here far too late.
I ran out of time. I allowed myself to fail. I failed our Brianne. Our Red... Don't die.
The sheer idea of death had me trembling as tears spilled from my eyes. It felt like I couldn't take another inhale of breath. The world around me felt heavy, and I thought this would be the true end of me.
Of us.
"THUNDRADA RA VE PROTECTANGO REVUKE!"
The booming sound was followed with an ear-piercing sound that forced me to flinch and cover my ears. I looked up, only for my eyes to grow massive as golden arrows arched downward towards me.
There was no time to move, and I couldn't dare close my eyes - frozen in wait for what should have been my new approaching death. But as the first arrow pierced into the approaching dark beings, I realized the very weapons of fine glitter were attacking the enemy.
One after another, the beings of darkness were pierced with the golden arrows. However, instead of screams of agony that followed with death, I watched something amazing unfold before my very eyes.
Each arrow that pierced a dark being submerged them in light. As the golden light dimmed, there emerged the overtaken person, students who wore our uniform, who then immediately dropped to the ground.
Students. They...they were all students?
A dark being was inches away from me, but multiple arrows hit them. I immediately turned in their direction, watching as the darkness was shattered from their body like a broken shell, revealing their hidden appearance.
Out of instinct, I reached out to catch them, and when I did, I caught onto the sound of their beating heart.
They're alive. They...aren't