@fallen-angel
-“The Beginning.”-
”NO!”
Gisei cried and cried, remaining curled up beside Nol-i Teul’s bloodstained, lifeless form, refusing to believe her only friend had just died.
Nol-i Teul, Playground Matron. Dead.
Lying in a pool of her own blood, saving Gisei’s life.
It was understandably hard on Gisei, but she wouldn’t be the only one to face grief today. A voice called out to the Last Sacrifice, in a soft voice. “Gisei!” it cried. Through a sorrow-induced haze, Gisei turned her head to see who was trying to reach her.
It was Illella.
Gisei was utterly puzzled- halfway through last year, Illella had been almost drowned and badly wounded saving a close friend, and it had put her in a coma which everyone assumed she wouldn’t wake up from.
“Gisei?” Illella stared at Nol-i Teul for a long time, then put a hand to her mouth in horror. “Is… is she dead?”
Gisei had no choice but to tell Illella the truth. “Y-yes.”
Illella’s irises darkened, her pupils dwindling to tiny points, her ears drooping with sadness. She sank to her knees, then rushed to sit beside the fallen Playground Matron. “We had a close relationship as frenemies… We were never meant to have one, but we did. Something was going to break inside, and it just so happened to be my heart.”
She then put a paw on Gisei’s head. “You aren’t the only person who’s… who’s… lost a friend…” Illella began to cry as well, shedding all the tears she could. Gisei was shocked to see her cry, for she never imagined that Nol-i Teul had somewhat of a friend in Illella too.
Despair had her grip on both Gisei and Illella now. She wasn’t going to show any mercy.
<…> Gisei sat miserably in Nol-i Teul’s Playground, staring at her reflection in the pool’s water. “Why?” she asked herself, but she knew she was asking the Playground Matron this question as well. “Why did you have to do this?”
Gisei sat miserably in Nol-i Teul’s Playground, staring at her reflection in the pool’s water. “Why?” she asked herself, but she knew she was asking the Playground Matron this question as well. “Why did you have to do this?”
She laid her head down on the cold snow, and broke down in tears once again.
<…>
Nol-i Teul’s lifeless body lay where it had fallen, stained with blood and snow littered about it as it was on the ground. Illella had left Nol-i Teul’s side to mourn on her own, and also because she couldn’t bear to see her dead friend.
Something dropped out of the air, descending towards Nol-i Teul. It looked almost serpentine, its snout like a hognose, but it was something else: two pairs of sharp diamond-like eyes, three pairs of vent-like nostrils, four pairs of large wings- and with one pair, smaller, also being the entity’s ears. The insides of its wings, and patterns on the outside, gleamed in the darkness of night like all the colours of a prism, its eyes glowing the blue of the cloudy sky at day.
Its snake-like body weaved through the air as if it were a ribbon, the parts of its body shining with Glimmer lighting up the blackness like a lit lamp.
Prismtone had seen Nol-i Teul die, but she was not going to let it truly happen on her watch.
<…>
It saddened Prismtone to see that Nol-i Teul was dead and that her body was in a crippling condition. It dawned on her that the death of the Playground Matron could only have been caused by something on a disastrous scale, but perhaps Nol-i Teul had either died being at peace or died happy.
Prismtone dropped from the air so that her body hovered in front of Nol-i Teul’s, just a few inches above the ground, and nuzzled her head. She then set about cleaning the Playground Matron’s wounds and body, wanting Nol-i Teul to be sent off in a better condition that she was currently in. During the process, Prismtone was overtaken by an odd, inexplicable swelling feeling.
Shifting her body so that her wings covered the rest of her in a cocoon-like resting position, Prismtone melted into the still night air, wanting to keep watch over Nol-i Teul’s body but not yet wanting to be seen.
<…>
Illella’s face was streaked with shed tears- Nol-i Teul’s passing had hit her with more grief than she’d ever felt in her life.
A flock of Peros, noticing how gloomy Illella was, landed in front of her, staring up at her. Illella recognised them as close friends of the late Pero King, who Nol-i Teul had slain a while ago. “Illella… is something wrong? You’re not usually looking this glum,” one Pero pointed out.
“The Playground Matron just passed away,” Illella snarled in a low voice. “Why would it matter to the likes of you? I say that for obvious reasons I am sure you’re aware of yourself.” Tears began to roll down her face again, and her torn ears began drooping as they had when she saw Nol-i Teul’s body.
The Peros all gasped, murmurs spreading among them. “Nol-i Teul is… dead?” one of them whispered.
“Again. Why would it matter to you?” Illella snapped, looking away. “She killed your former leader and friend, and I have good reason to believe that you’re happy that Nol-i Teul is dead.” She flexed her wings, being upset further because of the situation, and braced herself knowing that the Peros were going to retaliate with something that’d hurt her greatly.
“Nol-i Teul… yes, she did kill our monarch, but we could never truly detest or resent her for that. It would be wrong of us to do that.” The flock nodded, agreeing with each other.
Illella was taken by surprise. “But… but… I worried that you would hate her for what she did to you all…” she stuttered, completely shocked by the Peros’ words. “Maybe I worried a bit too much, more than I should have.”
<…> Gisei, caught in Despair’s clutches, was feeling even more empty. I have my own friend’s blood on my hands. I got Nol-i Teul killed. I killed her! She would not let this go. The Last Sacrifice felt as though she’d slain Nol-i Teul by getting herself into this situation.
How could I do this to her?
The only creature I got along with throughout my whole miserable life?
Curling up in the snow, Gisei drifted off to sleep, tears still streaming from beneath her headplate, her mind still filled with grief and sorrow.
-“To Be Continued…”-
