As I came to, I noticed a very distinct ringing that overpowered all other senses I held. Lifting myself on numbed limbs from the gritty sandstone, a foggy blanket covered my mind as I took in my surroundings at excruciatingly slow speeds.
My surroundings were strangely red for a desert, and the normal evening heat was gone as a chill settled deep within my bones. Sliding my hand across the slick red-yellow surface of the sandstone, I noted that it was still plenty warm, so this cold came from somewhere else.
Dulled alarms blared in my head, urging my body to sluggishly flop out of the way of a massive spike of solid tar… no, not tar. Suddenly gaining near full cognizance of my situation, a litany of emotions piled behind my now pounding head as my eyes widened in horror.
Grimm, everywhere I looked. Above, around, and even below in the enormous ravine that held scattered remnants of what once was our Grimm Clearance Squad. From mammals to insects, flying to swimming, even some humanoid Grimm were amongst the terrifyingly diverse collection of Huntsmen killers.
It was a second after the sheer number of Grimm settled in that I felt the intense ghostly pain of my missing left arm; knowing I should be dead from blood loss, I assumed it was roughly scabbed over by Eugene at some point.
Swinging my head toward an impossibly loud roar, I could barely hold the entire form of the Kaiju-sized Grimm, which towered higher than even Beacon Tower, in my sight all at once. With a massive explosion to its back, it swung its head as if on a swivel and shot out a volley of large javelins of the tar-like substance that Grimm are made of.
Glancing around for sights of my team, I found an uncharacteristically screaming Eugene, controlling the abnormal amount of blood with finesse I'd yet to see as he took on a mini-horde. Dawn was upon a platform, uncontrollably sobbing as a plethora of different light-based weapons and attacks rained mercilessly upon the Grimm below.
Having seen more dead bodies than alive, I desperately spun on my heel as I tried to search behind me for someone, anyone. Maybe I would find a blur that was Turk, or maybe an icy aura that was no doubt Winter being her usual badass?
All thoughts on finding the others were immediately halted, my brain and body freezing upon seeing a familiar tar-like pillar from the Kaiju-Grimm. It would've been irrelevant, as I'm sure there are countless more scattered about, except at the base of it was my missing arm, and impaled upon it was Celestia.
Any hopes that this wasn't real were dashed as another throb of pain from my missing limb scorched through my body, and before my brain could catch up with me I began stumbling closer to her. Each faltering step brought memories of the past several months to mind.
As I saw a memory of her labored breathing from a particularly intense training session, I looked to find her chest unmoving, having just been spared from impalement. Stumbling my next few steps, a memory of her brilliantly electric blue eyes sparkling with mischief played; it was with a growing pit in my stomach that I looked to see those very same eyes, a hollow, glossy blue that held no life within them.
And as I fell to my knees at the base of the angled Kaiju-Grimm spear, I saw her on that windowsill, under the light of the moon. Her electric blue feathered wings filtered little light as she peacefully brushed them, her pride and joy.
Once tears finally found the strength to begin forming, it was with a watery gaze that I failed to find those beautiful wings upon her back; in their place was a stump of torn and bloody feathers just past her shoulder blade, and half a wing that was hanging by mere tendons from the rest of its broken base.
I could barely put together the hazy memory of her pushing me out of the way, only able to summon enough of her dwindling strength to make it miraculously sever my arm. It brought with it the memory of my father and mother, impaled in front of me, doing everything in their power to save me, at the cost of themselves.
And it was with these colliding memories, that my head seemed to split with pain and a level of grief I wasn't ready to experience again. My breathing became ragged, pain building, and my lost arm throbbing as I became hyper-fixated on the fresh corpse of the woman who began reopening my heart to non-familial love.
As I felt the tears run loose, the building pressure exploded, and with an explosion of golden aura riddled with silver specks - I screamed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I jolted upward, awakening as my scream burned my throat with grief and my cheeks turned red from the rushing tears. I couldn't make out where I was, but such searing memories kept trying to drag my awareness to my surroundings.
The sounds around me were dull, my vision blurry, and the parts of me that could feel the conflicting soft sheets of a bed screamed confusion. But even if I were blind and deaf I couldn't mistake it.
My frantic searching around me suddenly halted as I looked straight at her, the electric blue of her wings once again in their rightful spot on her back. As my vision began to clear, I could see her chest undoubtedly moving as her beautiful voice called out to me - BREATHING.
And those breathtaking eyes that are currently shining with a healthy dose of worry and concern that I completely ignored. Instead, I raised my left arm, not even taking in the fact it was once again present on my body, and slightly cupped Celestia's cheek in my hand.
For a brief moment, I thought to take it off, afraid I would feel the cold touch that death brings to even the warmest of beings. I would not be able to enact such a fear though, as a delicate touch from Celestia's hand went onto mine, keeping it to her face.
I dared not hide my disbelieving joy at finding her warm, healthy, LIVING cheek in my hand, and the tears that had temporarily stopped came out once again. Gingerly pulling her to me, afraid I might find myself back on that field if I'm not careful, I embraced her from my seat on my bed, resting my forehead upon her sternum as I continued to sob, lightly repeating two simple words.
[Argento] - "You're alive."
With the grace of hindsight, I can definitively state the fragility with which my words came out was just a tad embarrassing. But to feel Celestia return my embrace, draping her wings over us to bring the hug closer, was worth any amount of embarrassment.
It was for ten whole minutes she stayed there, silently rubbing my back in soothing circles as I breathed as deep as I could before I was able to calm myself down enough to think. Having noticed this, or so I assumed, I felt Celestia's wings and arms begin to lift off me.
I felt shame at the flinch I couldn't hide, but before I could process why she seamlessly slipped into the spot on my bed beside me. She sat just close enough that our knees and shoulders touched, and resting her right wing gently around me she grabbed my left hand in her right.
Once again taking in her gentle aroma, I felt my unknowingly tensing shoulders relaxing for the second time as I slightly leaned into her. As I looked forward I saw Eugene and Dawn concerningly looking at me for answers, and without looking to my left I knew Celestia was giving me that same look.
[Dawn] - "I know you told us about your occasional nightmare in case it woke us up, but you never mentioned they could get this bad."
[Argento] - "That's because they don't get this bad. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to even call that a nightmare."
[Eugene] - "What, and you expect us to believe that whatever just happened isn't the definition of a nightmare? You've not been awake for more than half an hour, and yet almost all of it has been spent with you refusing to leave Celestia's side."
With the decency to at least blush, but refusing to let go first, I just defiantly glared at a slightly amused, yet still worried Eugene and Dawn.
[Argento] - "What I meant, was that it was too real to be 'just' a nightmare. Too many details, things I shouldn't know… and too much pain."
My final admittance brought a frown back to their faces, but before they could say anything I raised my hand, and motioned for my scroll that sat upon my desk. With a wave of Dawn's hand, it was brought over by a light platform, and without telling them what I was up to I scrolled into my contact list.
Deftly tapping my target, a few quick seconds pass before the screen shifts, showing the impressive backdrop of a cloudy Vale day from the top of Beacon Tower. In the middle of the live video was the inscrutable Headmaster of Beacon himself, showing an unnaturally positive form upon picking up - no doubt because of my call.
This is swiftly replaced with quite the serious and worried expression once his highly trained, and extremely experienced eyes take in my less-than-optimal condition; particularly seeming to focus on the growing redness and puffiness that shows large amounts of crying.
[Oz] - "What happened?"
[Argento] - "Straight to the point? How so unlike you Oz."
[Oz] - "Your well-being is not something to beat around the bush over, especially since you called me while the aftermath of whatever happened is still present."
With my sigh of acceptance, I glance around to see slightly befuddled expressions on my teammates' faces. Honestly, if it were any other group of people it would be a bigger reaction, but they've seen this side of Ozpin before so the effect has been greatly subdued.
[Argento] - "Well I'm okay… mostly. It's primarily a mental thing I'll push through given a little time, but it is directly related to the point of this call; did my parents ever mention an ability to see into the future?"
After the question left me, there were three distinct reactions among the four people included in the conversation. Eugene and Dawn were mostly looking at me in disbelief, but they knew I wouldn't lie so they looked to be wrapping their heads around this potential ability of mine.
Ozpin's was a little harder to unwrap, but he seemed to be thinking deeply to provide me the most accurate answer, having drawn his conjectures about what I could've seen to make me react like that. To be fair, he seemed to fully believe in the ability without much trouble.
The final reaction, one that I felt before I saw it, was Celestia's. Being, still, in such proximity allowed me to feel her muscles tensing, her wing curling in further to me, and her now increasing grip would've been painful for regular people - of that I'm certain.
Looking at her gave my unasked question its answer, because she held a dawning realization of just what WILL occur, because her eyes told me nothing but complete trust in my words and ability. Several emotions continued to flash through her eyes, among which was a heavy dose of equal parts fear and acceptance.
Knowing her conclusions, and knowing they were correct, I tugged at her hand, pulling her gaze directly to me. I gave her a look I hoped portrayed my absolute defiance in letting such an outcome come to pass again - or not 'again' since it hasn't technically happened yet.
As a small smile graced her lips, I heard a small cough from my scroll that showed a very slightly smirking Ozpin as he now openly eyed how physically close I was to Celestia. Knowing he knew damn well this wasn't happening for the reasons he was insinuating - at least not initially - I just huffed as I focused on Oz, now ignoring the conspiratorial giggling that was quietly growing from Dawn.
[Oz] - "Well I know that neither of them held the ability themselves, you should know this since I gave you the whole list back when you first unlocked your Semblance. However, back in the day, I did hear wind of an ability one of your more distant uncles held.
This was sadly lost a couple of decades before you were born of course, but from what I understood he was a key part of a large battle that took place between an abnormally large wave of Grimm. This very battle is where most of your remaining family members, who were already low in numbers, lost their lives, save the one great-granduncle too old to fight and your parents.
His account was said to have been the complete destruction of Vale, not just the city but the entire kingdom. But with his information, which was uncannily accurate, the damage was greatly reduced, even if still causing too much for comfort."
Seeing a look he hid from all but me, and a little reading between the lines, it wasn't hard to conclude that Salem was most definitely what caused this "unnaturally large wave". With a gritting of my teeth and an attempt, though only slightly successful, at keeping my grip on Celestia's hand from tightening, I filtered the information for what I was told and what I already knew.
My reaction, though subdued because of my control, seemed to be taken as a frustration that most of my known family died in one big battle - thankfully. That's still a can of worms I wish to keep away from my team until it comes to it, though I know it'll have to be by graduation at the latest.
With a sigh, I leaned against Celestia again, who seemed to happily let it happen, which helped to bring a small, content smile to my face. It was even enough to let a few jibes from the trio of observers pass with simple unconcerned responses.
Though still visibly worried, Ozpin seemed to greatly relax by seeing me truly enjoying my company, and said his farewells, knowing he'd get a full report eventually from at least someone. It was a few seconds after the call ended, but I could feel their questioning gazes once again fully bore into me.
Knowing it was still a bit early - the strategizing teams weren't scheduled to meet for another hour - I decided to readjust myself by letting go of Celestia's hand and scooting a little away, then promptly plopping my head onto the heavenly pillow that was her lap. Being quite familiar with the position herself, she seamlessly began running her fingers through my hair, with what I saw to be an amused smile.
[Argento] - "I would tell you, but I'll have to tell everyone else later. So until then all you'll get out of me was that it was relatively short, had a lot of death, and I'd rather die than let it happen.
In the meantime, I would greatly appreciate it if one or both of you carried a request to Rumpole for me."
[Eugene] - "And what would that be?"
[Argento] - "I'd like for Coral Moore to be brought into the meeting, or at least the very beginning of it. I believe her Semblance will be quite illuminating, instead of simply relying on my description."
Once I saw the look of recognition come across them, they both wordlessly got up and left for Rumpole's room, having already gotten dressed during the time I was… out of it, to put it lightly.
And so for the next almost hour I did nothing but lie down in Celestia's lap, her fingers running through my hair, making quiet conversation now and again, but otherwise enjoying the silence. Mostly because I knew what I would be getting into once this meeting started.
Holding only a small trepidation within my steps, I led my team into the meeting room that had all representing teams, the Huntsmen, Rumpole, and one nervous second-year already present. My emotions were ill-hidden for the more trained eyes of the room because no matter how hard I tried to make them go away I kept seeing her impaled form flash in front of my eyes; the only reason I was properly functioning still would probably be because Celestia held my hand the entire way.
I hated every moment of it, but only because it made me feel weak. I've spent every year in this world since I was six years old, dedicating myself to becoming stronger; yet after seeing what I likened to practically just a bad nightmare I was reduced to an anxiety-ridden child, afraid my object-permanence would fail me and Celestia would disappear if I let go for too long.
Taking a deep, albeit shaky breath, I regarded the curious, and some worried, gazes with a nod, looking to the Deputy Headmistress to officially start this meeting.
[Rumpole] - "Alright, so as some of you may have noticed we have more people present than we normally would. It has been brought to my attention that information for a future battle is potentially faulty, so instead of planning for the next battle, we will simply take the pre-planned action.
In its place, we will remedy at least some of the misinformation that has occurred, with the help of our lovely volunteers Argento, whom you are all acquainted with, and the second-year Coral Moore, who will be assisting him."
Taking the cue, I step forward, nerves slowly showing a little more while I keep Celestia's steady hand in mine. The action was not missed by anyone, but seeing my condition they all opted to ignore it for now.
[Argento] - "I'm sure all of you have at least a few questions, but please keep them to yourselves until we're done to make this faster. I will start with some relevant information about both myself and Coral before we begin.
To start with, I have an eidetic memory, which in simple terms means I remember nearly every moment I have lived since I could remember anything. This is important because this applies to everything that happens - normal actions, heavily emotion-influenced actions, and even dreams.
It should come as no surprise then, that it also applies to a unique aspect of my Semblance. Without going into unnecessary logistics, I can see the future, or at least what future would have occurred, should I not been shown a vision of what will happen.
These have rarely occurred within the history of my Semblance, which is hereditary, and only occur in moments of great danger or duress of the user of this power. I could simply explain what happened, but there are details that I might've caught that I could accidentally gloss over, and such details could end up being the difference between life and death for some, if not all, of us."
As my words sunk in, all those present seemed to gain reluctantly acceptant faces, save for a few that should know the possibilities of a hereditary Semblance or in the know of my powers. Wetting my lips, I motioned with my free hand for Coral to approach me.
[Argento] - "Some of you may remember certain Semblances more than others, and in this case, the more combat-oriented ones would be more "important" for this particular mission. However, Coral here has the ability to access others' minds.
This has some interesting combat capabilities, at least against the right opponents, but in this case, it is best used for utility. So instead of describing what I saw, you will all see exactly as I did - hear everything I did."
Looking around the room, making sure they are all aware of what is happening, I take a deep breath, focusing on my vision, and allow as free access to it as I can. In response, Coral steps beside me, being just tall enough to reach my head, and closing her eyes in focus she points her free hand at the empty wall that everyone can see.
With a shuddering outward breath from me, she begins, and I just barely restrain my instincts to kick out the mental intrusion. With free reign, she could technically cause extreme damage before I could kick her out, and everyone realized this as the "video" popped onto the wall.
None of my thoughts came across the video, instead, it was everything my acute senses picked up, even if I didn't fully pay attention to them all. The ringing noise and blurry sight were clear from the get-go, making it hard to properly make out much.
But at my sudden movement, and the sight of a very large black pillar, both sight and hearing suddenly became the highest definition possible, and even normal details in the peripheral that would be lost to most were clearly detailed for all to perfectly see.
Thankfully this was all being recorded, so Coral would not have to dig around in my memories again, and I would only have to remember them passively, instead of reliving them almost completely. So it was with many stifled gasps that the scene cleared to show the blood-covered ground, barely seeable with the sheer number of Grimm dotting my near-perfect vision.
The cacophony of noises each one made, small movements many wouldn't even be able to catch while fighting an individual Grimm, and even muffled noises from remaining members of our teams. So when the monstrously loud Kaiju-Grimm roared each person winced, though I didn't see it as I kept my eyes closed in focus.
I heard a quiet sob as one of those present noticed a dead comrade, only keeping it together because they were standing right next to them, white as a sheet at seeing their own dead body. But even with the heightened detail, their dead body was simply too far away to see too much - and still, if they were close, it wouldn't be too badly damaged.
With an involuntary whistle of admiration from one of the more experienced Huntsmen in the room, they were simply separating their feelings from their professional side as they saw Eugene and Dawn shredding apart individual hordes. But it was with ease they saw the uncharacteristic showing of absolute rage and pure sorrow that they were respectively showing.
My desire to not move on from that point was shown by the video suddenly going in slow motion, and only the knowledge that this was being recorded allowed everyone to look my way to see tears slowly dropping from my eyes despite my best efforts. Moving past the confusion and worry some were now openly giving, my actions were clear in the next second as I went straight for it.
Much louder this time, almost everyone either gasped or took a sharp intake of breath. I could feel Celestia's hand tighten greatly around mine, a welcome comfort to me as it reassured me of her presence, still alive and healthy next to me.
The video nearly zeroed in on her dead body, and the unsteady steps I took showed either how weakened or affected I was, maybe both. With increasingly loud and erratic breathing coming from me in the video, the memories that overlapped with each step were too fast and transparent to make out, even if they were taken from the video and enhanced with technology.
It was absently that I recognized choked sobs from Dawn, though it was much softer and more restrained compared to what was shown in the video earlier. After each faltering step, Celestia's mangled and very dead body came closer and into greater focus, showing details even some skilled physicians wouldn't notice.
It wasn't until I stumbled onto my knees, mere feet from the base of the pillar, that the tears finally seemed to kick into sight in the video. Greater, heavier breathing came and went, and as the video briefly focused on the arm I had to will myself to bring the faint memory of Celestia pushing me out of the way into focus.
With one final shuddering breath from myself in both video and now, I harshly grit my teeth as the pain came coursing through my mind. The only thing keeping my screams inside was Celestia's hand, still tightly clasping my own.
So with the eerie silence lasting too long for comfort, though this wasn't comfortable to begin with, everyone saw the physical manifestation of aura, mostly golden with faint silver shimmers begin to form. And with the tears finally letting loose, a final clear image of the dead Celestia showed as the aura exploded outward, breaking apart everything in its wake, though somehow keeping her body completely untouched, with a heart-wrenching scream I'm surprised I managed to keep inside this time.
It was at this the video abruptly cut off, leaving the room almost completely silent aside from quiet sobs from more than one person; it was also the point at which my legs finally gave out and I fell to my knees, my hand inadvertently slipping from Celestia's grasp as I barely kept myself off the ground with my very weak feeling limbs.
It was once I fell that most in the room remembered that even if it was unpleasant for them, they didn't have to practically live it as if it was reality, unlike me. So they all swiftly moved around, leaving a respectful amount of space for my team and me, to allow me to recover from what they all recognized as real grief.
As for myself, well I managed to keep my sobbing internal, same as my screams, so there's a plus. I couldn't stop the tears nor the shaking though, but a group hug from my three closest friends, fully enclosed in Celestia's wings, brought about a faster end to this outburst, compared to the one I had after I woke up.
With shaky legs, I managed to maneuver myself to a proper sitting position as my team gathered some seats from the surroundings to sit down in, or at least for them. Celestia took the centermost chair, and pulling me in front of her she continued running her fingers through my hair.
Seeing us now mostly okay, though my eyes had regained some of their earlier redness and puffiness with Dawn joining the club, and a distressed Celestia having seen herself so brutally killed, they all slowly migrated closer to us. The few looks I stole showed an understanding of how I acted up to now, seeing just how close we are gave them an idea of how that loss would be taken.
I did note that Coral was still here, though noting her unique abilities she might have been asked to stay in case someone needed more mental help - and by someone I mostly meant my team, but the semantics weren't important. Part of me wondered if she had psychiatric training, but my thoughts kept jumping around too much to let the passing idea settle.
It was about half an hour later, with my team being the only one to not actively participate in the discussion - for reasons they all understood - before Rumpole took charge and ended the meeting.
[Rumpole] - "While the details from Argento's vision are invaluable, we cannot create real plans solely based on what little he was able to glean. Until the battle of the ravine, which is an area a few days away, I will have professionals gather as much intel as they can.
If I deem it too dangerous even after newer, more accurate information is gathered, reinforcements will be called without hesitation and all those too weak to fight in such a battle will be made to go back early, for their safety. None of you are to spread this information outside of this room, if only because it could cause unrest and panic.
You have the next two hours to yourselves, after this, I'll reconvene you all for a quick debrief of our formation for this upcoming battle. Dismissed."
With the strength I had been able to gather from the short rest and a little help from Celestia, I managed to almost flawlessly rise to my feet. Knowing that a battle was just a few hours away made me, for the first time, nervous.
It may not be the battle I saw, but it was still a battle where we could very well lose our lives if we were not careful. This ruffled every protective sense I have, and it was with monumental effort I didn't bring up the idea of having her not partake in the coming fights.
I know very well how insulting such an idea could be, even if it came from a place of love and worry. So with great restraint, and my very supportive teammates, we arrived back in our room.
A few hours for some would seem like a lot, but despite my - occasionally unfortunate - ability to perfectly tell time I almost didn't notice them slip by. The briefing was short, on both ends, and it was with a fading reluctance that I let there be physical distance between me and Celestia.
Honestly, the woman has an almost unyielding patience, despite how easily she seems to be set off when we goof around, and I couldn't be more grateful. It probably helps that something is brewing between us, but before now there seemed to be an ever-present barrier I couldn't move past.
But as I looked at her, happily chatting and giggling with Dawn in that way that brings her small dimples to her face, I suddenly found the previous barrier gone. Cautiously mentally stepping over the line that used to be there, a few seconds passed as I let the feelings trickle slightly into my being.
As I let the feelings settle on the tip of my tongue, testing out the beautifully rosy feeling that settled in my stomach, a smile began spreading on my face. This, of course, was very short-lived as I was mentally assaulted once more with her future impaled corpse.
Taking a sharp breath, my smile straining in place, I faced away from the object of my conflicting affection. It just so happened that Eugene was exactly in the area I turned, and his approach was inevitable.
[Argento] - "Before you ask, I am fine. I've just overcome one hurdle to find myself immediately faced with another."
Raising a brow, Eugene looks at me sharply, and sparing a glance in the direction of Celestia he seems to loosely put it together.
[Eugene] - "So am I correct in assuming your new hurdle has nothing to do with the fight we're about to be dropped into, and maybe everything to do with a certain blue-themed woman?"
[Argento] - "Am I really that easy to read?"
He didn't even have to answer the question that came out questionably whiny, because the belly laugh he gave answered it all. The noise, and subsequent shove I gave Eugene, caught the attention of the female members of our team, who both looked our way.
Locking eyes with Celestia, I let a simultaneously bemused and affectionate smile shape onto my face. With a smile that I could swear made the air around me warmer, I could see Dawn making silent kissy faces behind her just in my sight.
With a glare that caused Celestia to shift her attention, and a once again laughing Eugene who grabbed my shoulder, all conversation was cut short as the bay door opened, showing our current target area. Without even meeting up on the ship, each team went to their designated drop zones, swiftly dropping into the fray.
It was a simple affair, my nerves quickly melting as I let the flow of battle take my present worries away for but a few fleeting moments. The only noticeable difference to me was how I almost always had to have Celestia within sight, even if only peripheral.
I found this out the hard way, when she left my field of view for just a few seconds longer than my brain could currently handle, and Eugene had to save my ass when my movements turned panicked. Multiple times as well, not just the one, since everyone messes up here and there in battle.
These continued blunders were quite obvious, and even if the others didn't notice Rumpole certainly did, and she wasn't afraid to point it out before she excused our leading teams for the night. Let's just say that after we got back to our room I got quite the talking to from my team, primarily the one who felt me practically coddling her.
[Celestia] - "I mean seriously, I know it hurt to experience, but I'm still here. The vision showed I would at least live until the ravine battle - so why do you feel the need to watch over my every move?
Do you not think I'm able to protect myself? Is one flimsy view of a future that we now know to avoid enough to erase all these months we've spent learning each others' limits and abilities?
Honestly, you would think I would be the one more affected, seeing as my death was prophesied and literally shown to me, but no! I'm not some damsel in distress to protect, I am a grown woman capable of fighting for herself.
Better yet, I am your teammate - your partner, even in this mission where teams were split! If I find myself overpowered I will rely on OUR backup, and if all else fails I will seek out YOU! Not the other way around!"
Now I wouldn't be able to deny that those words hurt, but I know I needed to hear them. Especially as my teammates looked on, agreeing with Celestia more than me; so even as I winced under her verbal assault I am fully willing to accept that I deserve it.
It seemed the deflation of my body, slumping down onto my bed, fully slouched and defeated finally stopped the beratement. With a small look of guilt in their eyes, which I believe they shouldn't have, Celestia sits next to me as the other two choose Eugene's bed across from mine.
[Argento] - "I'm sorry, I know it's ridiculous. I do trust you, I would leave my life in all three of your very capable hands without a second of hesitation. I just… I've lost too many people I care for, you know?
And then experiencing your death, but managing to get you back? It's a fantasy I would often lose myself in while first recovering from losing loved ones.
So as much as I am aware all of this is my reality, some part of me can't shake the feeling that one of these moments I'll blink, and I'll have lost you again. It's especially strong during battle, so I start to panic if I can't see you."
The slight tremble in my voice gave away that my hunched form was a feeble attempt to hide growing tears, and I was starting to grow tired of it. I know from experience I have an uncanny knack for shoving my emotions deep within, so would it really hurt to do so until this all blows over?
It was at these thoughts that I once again saw Summer's motherly silver eyes boring into my soul, and I instantly felt a wave of guilt wash over me. I promised her I wouldn't, I did so in memory of what she meant to me.
{Summer} - 'The best things in life are oftentimes the hardest to handle. The impossibly tall highs, and the obnoxiously deep lows. But everything happens for a reason, if not just to make life worth living.
After all, what's life worth if it's all stale grays and flat hills?'
I gave a weak chuckle at her words as they rang through my memory, having initially found them corny when she said them. But through the time I spent with her, and even after she went MIA the time I spent with her family - my family - I grew to deeply appreciate those words.
Feeling Celestia wrap her arms around me, bringing me into a gentle hug, I found Summer's words spiraling through my head in that supportive way she always talked to me. It may be hard, but this bubbling warmth I could feel was something I could never trade away.
It was what made life worth living, that's for sure.