Brightness enveloped her. Sakura covered her eyes. When it dissipated, she was standing in an open field. Colourful flowers surrounded her. There was the smell of nectar and honey wafting through the wind. Golden hued bees buzzed around, slipping in and out of flowers. She lifted her hand to wipe off a bead of sweat from her forehead and found that she was wearing a flowy iridescent dress. She admired the tailoring of the dress, the way the fabric fell down her body to create a waterfall effect. She would probably never be able to get such a dress in reality. Thinking of reality, she got up. What was she supposed to do?
A tall girl climbed up the hill she was on. She didn't notice her until she realised that the girl was approaching her. Her heart raced in her chest. The closer she came, the more features she noticed. The girl had sun kissed skin and long blonde hair streaked with silver sweeping her back. She had a wide jaw and freckles. Her upturned nose gave her a noble look, even though her dull scaly armour was splotched with mud.
"Amada!" the girl called out. Her voice held a silky cadence. She came and sat next to Sakura. Their hands touched. A blush crept over Sakura's face. The girl turned to her and smiled. Her eyes were gold, holding a look of gentle affection. Her gaze was magnetic. She didn't want to look away from her beautiful eyes. Her touch sent a tremble down her spine. She was electric.
Elettra.
That name was familiar on her tongue. Her mind held a thousand lifetimes worth of memories of that electric girl. Running through fields, holding her from behind as they rode through endless roads, having her eyes be the last thing she saw before she fell asleep. It was the only thing she really knew.
"Amada? Is there something wrong?" Elettra asked, tilting her head. The bright sunlight made her gold eyes glint and shimmer. Sakura stared in awe. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. How perfect was this?
She coughed, thinking of an excuse as to why she was staring endlessly into Elettra's face. She beamed her best megawatt smile. "Nothing's wrong. I was just distracted by your beauty," Sakura said. She surprised herself with her smooth words. The girl blushed.
"You're always too romantic," she said. Elettra leaned in and brushed her cheek with her hand. A million thoughts rushed through her head. She noticed that her breath smelled like summertime. Her hands were coarse but gentle. Her eyes held a multitude of emotions left unsaid. And her lips...
Sakura's heart raced. Elettra was leaning in closer. She was conscious of a burning desire. She wanted to be kissed by this beautiful girl. She wanted to stay there forever. But just before their lips touched, she was transported again.
The soft ground gave way to a hard solidness under her feet. The bright summer turned into a cloudy winter. She was standing on a rocky mountain top. The wind was howling in her ears. She shivered from the merciless cold from being so high up.
She looked down. A terrifying drop met her gaze. Miles and miles of nothing but air and sharp cliff sides. Anxiety swelled inside her, but she steeled herself. Sakura's stance kept steady. One foot in front of the other, she walked to the center of the mountaintop. Her legs wobbled a little but she managed to reach it. She collapsed onto the ground. Her legs ached from being so taut.
A sound caught her attention. A small cougar was climbing up the mountain and it yowled at spotting her. It sounded like a tortured scream. Its sharp teeth and intimidating claws foretold a bloody fate. Her eyes went wide at seeing it. She reached to her side and found a knife. Her instincts told her to hurl it towards the beast, but she hesitated. It wasn't attacking, only hissing and backing away from her. She put her knife down. Her hands were on her knees. She stayed still and blinked slowly.
After a minute of staring at her, the cougar slowly approached. She closed her eyes, ready to be eaten because of a foolish miscalculation. However, she didn't feel its jaws closing in on any of her limbs. It sniffed her and began to rub against her. She opened her eyes again.
Upon taking another look, she realised it wasn't a cougar, but a large abandoned cat with ridiculously matted fur. It looked up at her with dilated eyes. It purred. She started to laugh. The killer 'cougar' turned out to be really cute. She petted its head, and it brushed against her hand.
Once again, she was transported into a different world. Dust was stirred up by the wild winds ravaging the lands. The visibility was low, the sun was barely shining through the heavy clouds. The air stunk of blood and bullets. She was standing in a battlefield, placed right at their base. It was on high ground and she was able to see everyone below. She looked down and saw a map of the area drawn out into a grid. Sakura turned her attention back onto the battlefield and saw drones flying in.
"A6!" she called out according to the grid system. The defender nodded, receiving the transmission. "Drones to your left, up north!" she said. The unit noticed the drones and turned her gun to shoot them down.
"Should I descend?"
Someone surprised her from behind. She turned and saw a sniper approaching, holding a gun much larger than her small body. Her hair was slicked back to stay out of her eyes. The muzzle sparked with electricity. It looked perfect to suppress the rush of drones she could see flowing through. She nodded and gave her coordinates. The sniper went down the battlefield in a metal cell attached to a cable. The sturdy walls withstood all the enemy bullets fired at it.
That was how the battle commenced, with sword meeting shield, bullet meeting armour. She kept a close eye on the units, retreating those who looked like they were about to fall, and bringing in new units who slashed and shot down everything in sight. She identified the advantageous spots, a secluded spot where snipers could shoot without being seen, a high rise area where offense units could attack the enemies before they finished climbing up, and a narrow area right in front of the base where the enemies were bottle-necked when attacking the defenders. The last enemy was shot down, and they emerged victorious.
A shining light hit her eyes. Her eyes narrowed in its glare. When it disappeared, she was in yet another world. This one was far more mundane and familiar to her. She was in a hospital, with a dusky light illuminating the room. She looked out of the window. It was night time. Cars raced through the streets. City lights lit up the dark expanse like twinkling stars. She heard someone sob behind a curtain. She could recognise that sobbing.
"Mama...?"
She pulled back the curtain. There she was, Sakura's mother. She didn't notice her coming into view. Her hair was in tangles, her hospital gown soaked in tears. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying. She seemed to melt into the bed, unable to hold her own weight. Sakura stared even though she was unable to bear the sight of seeing her mother so distraught, she couldn't be so cruel as to turn away.
"Haruka..." she heard a voice she hadn't heard in a long time. Her head snapped to see her father coming into the room. He didn't see her either. He held a baby in his arms. Her heart dropped. She realised what this was now. "Haruka.. come hold her," he said, his voice breaking. "She's beautiful."
"I c-can't," her mother hiccuped. "H-how can I? Knowing...." she sobbed. She turned away from him. Sadness was etched into his face. Sakura could see tears forming at the edge of his eyes. He exited the room. She followed him into the hallway. It was quiet now, and only a few lights were on. It was incredibly somber. Sakura felt her heart clench in her chest. She placed her hand to feel her heartbeat. There was only a nurse patrolling the halls. She nodded sadly at him and disappeared into a patient's room.
"Sakura," he murmured, speaking to the baby in his arms. She couldn't respond, but she seemed to smile at the sound of his voice. "Sakura, you were named after a legend of a flower that existed long before our time. This flower represented life. It would bloom so beautifully and fall just a few days later. That's what life is, Sakura. It's beautiful, but short," he said. His voice could hardly keep steady.
"And I must accept that your life is short, Sakura," he spoke, this time to himself. "I will cherish this time with you. I promise."
Tears rolled down his cheeks. Sakura was taken aback. She had never seen her father cry before. She hugged him from behind, even though she knew he wouldn't be able to feel her. She started to cry silently. She wanted to say 'I'm alright, Daddy. I'm right here,' but she knew he wouldn't be able to hear her. A doctor approached them. Her father handed her over to the doctor, wiping away his tears. She looked at him apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Ken. We'll try our best to give you more time with her."
She took baby Sakura away. She followed the doctor, passing lots of dark rooms full of either sadness or joy. The hospital was the circle of life taking place. Life swelled all around her. She took it all in, knowing that not all the lives around her were going to make it.
She opened a door and placed the baby into a plastic crib. She hooked up a pulse monitor onto the baby, and shook her head at the weak pulse that displayed on the screen. She left the room and closed the door. Sakura stayed, staring at her infant self. It was so bizarre seeing herself with her own two eyes.
A woman walked towards her. She seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Sakura glanced at her, startled. The woman looked like she had walked out of another world. Sprays of silky pink hair flowed down to her waist. There were gold rings in her hair, glinting in the dark. A powdery pink aura surrounded her. She was dressed oddly. She wore an iridescent dress that hung down her frail frame. Jewelry Sakura had never seen before draped her body. Sakura realised that the woman was the person she was in the first world.
The closer she got, the more Sakura could feel the strong energy surrounding her. Memories of Yukika, Angie and Elettra flashed through her mind. Her heart fluttered and she warmed up. She was embraced with love. Feelings of appreciation and unspoken gratitude hit her. She was flying. The world was so tiny below her and it filled her with exhilaration. She was spending the night with someone she was in love with. The night was endless but it passed by so quickly. She could do anything. Such a strong emotional response could only mean one thing. The woman was a spirit.
The woman held onto the baby crib. She looked down on it, watching baby Sakura intently. She could see a pink energy flowing between the two of them. The pulse monitor was the only thing breaking the silence. She was on the verge of flatlining. She kept watching the spirit, anxious to know what was coming. After what seemed like forever, the spirit murmured something.
"I will try my best to help you, little child."
The spirit held her arms out high. Her aura began to swallow her, creeping from her fingers to her toes. The energy wrapped around her limbs, leaving nothing left. Her body was disappearing. Soon, she was nothing but a pink mist. The mist tunneled into baby Sakura's body and it flashed a bright light. Sakura looked away. When she looked back, it was as if nothing had entered the room.
Her pulse began to show signs of stabilising. Sakura wanted to jump for joy, even though she had known that would happen. One thing was overriding her joy, filling her with fear and uncertainty. Seeing the spirit disappear into her body and stabilising her life line could only mean... she was a spirit soul herself.
Sakura sank to the ground. No, it couldn't be. She never had the ability to see spirits or interact with them. Images flashed of all the people who suffered from not being able to handle the powers of their spirit dwellers. Veins bulging, bordering on the brink of explosion. Eyes blinded by all the sights of the other world. Consciousness corrupted by endless whispers of malice. She couldn't have been a spirit soul.
She knew, however, that she didn't need all those things to be a spirit soul. There was only one requirement. To have a spirit dwelling in your body, keeping you alive.
She breathed in. And out.
Her perception of the hospital was torn away from her. The sight of the dim room with moonlight streaming in the stained window, the smell of antiseptic and the touch of the cold hard floor all turned into nothing. Sakura floated in a sensationless universe. There was a neverending darkness in front of her. Sakura stared on. She was lost.
A pinprick of light pierced the black sea. Sakura reached out to it. She stretched her arms out and felt the light touch her fingertips. It took over her, flowing to each point in her body. She was enveloped by the shining light. Sakura closed her eyes. She was a star, burning bright in the endless universe. The light pulled her into another existence. She flew through an infinite number of possibilities. There was only one destination for her.
A weight was taken away from her eyes. Sakura blinked and saw a world of white sprawled around her. A firm chair sat underneath her. She tried to move, but she was strapped down. She almost panicked until she saw a gentle pair of eyes staring down at her. A hand patted her head.
"You're back, kid. It's alright."
He laid back beside her and wrote something down. Dazed, Sakura stared up at the bus ceiling. Pure white. She wasn't sure how to make sense of her thoughts. Knowing all those different worlds, seeing all those things. Exhaustion wrung her body. She wanted to go to sleep and forget it all.
"Your spirit dweller appears to be doing fine in you, there's no excess of spirit energy flowing in your system," said Amaranth, not looking up from his notes. Sakura decided to say something.
"I didn't even know I had a spirit dweller."
Amaranth looked at her, eyebrows lifted in surprise. "How couldn't you know?"
Sakura might have suspected it. Her mother had always said that her surviving as a baby was miraculous. Her spirit mark didn't appear until her recovery, which seemed to be a sign that at the very least, a spirit visited her that night. It seemed to explain a lot, but it still never occurred to her that it could be true.
"I mean, I've never been able to see spirits or have cool powers, so I never believed I actually had one," she confessed. Amaranth nodded in understanding. He closed his eyes, thinking for a moment. He turned to look at the pulse monitor and spoke.
"I suppose your spirit dweller might have just recently crossed over. It could also be that it's spending most of its time trying to keep you alive."
The spirit would have been weakened. Sakura heaved a sigh. No matter what, she was burdening somebody. Even her own body. Amaranth smiled at her emphatically. He gestured towards the double doors at the back of the bus.
"That's all for your evaluation. You can go to the cafeteria and rest now."
She exited the bus, relieved that the process was over. She walked over to the cafeteria, shielding her eyes from the sun shining bright above her. It was just in time for lunch, but she couldn't stomach even the thought of eating. Angie met her at the edge of the cafeteria, bouncing with questions about how it went. Sakura told her about all the different worlds she saw.
"Woah," Angie said. "You're a spirit soul like Yukika? That's so crazy," she paused to pout. "I didn't see any fun spirit stuff. You're so lucky."
"It certainly doesn't feel like I am," she sighed. "I can't imagine what crazy spirit worlds Yukika might see," she shivered as she spoke. She didn't know how Yukika handled being a spirit soul with powers. Angie put her arm around Sakura's shoulders. They walked together to her table in the cafeteria.
"We'll ask her once she's done. Don't worry Sakura, I know you can handle being a spirit soul. You're a strong girl," Angie reassured her. Sakura smiled at her. Angie grinned and elbowed her. "So, Elettra, huh?"
The ultimate regret hit her. She hid her blushing face in her hands. Angie laughed and spent the whole time teasing her about Elettra. It reminded her that things were still normal. She was still Sakura. The world was still turning. Her friends were still by her side. She grinned and took it all.