A Path of Crimson Thorns
The dim light reflected off of the cold stone walls, soft footsteps were heard as we approached the throne room. We Guardians had trained our whole lives for this, the war that would remove evil from the world. All of us were willing to do it; we were all willing to lay down our lives for the goddess, our goddess Athena.
It was not a duty, nor an order, but it was our own free will. We chose to serve the goddess and we knew the consequences it would have. My fellow Guardians, no they weren’t just my fellow Guardians, they were my family. The only family that I have. We all grew up together, then we trained together and now, now we were going to fight together.
“Arya, don’t fall behind!” cried Albafica, the Pisces Guardian, my brother.
“Don’t worry about me, be ready! We don’t know when Cronos’ Sceptres will attack…” I said, whispering the last part because I had realised it was too late. They were already here.
I slowly raised my Cosmos enough to be in par with the others, I would not be a weakness in our defence. In the dim light, I made out the figures of all the Sceptres, it seems as though Cronos doesn’t want to waste any time. They all advanced towards us in graceful movements, it was like they were floating above the ground. Shion, our leader, the Aries Guardian, began moving forward as well. It was time. All of us, we had spent our lives training to earn these Cloths and then spent the rest of our lives preparing for this war.
I looked around me and saw my family, the other Guardians. They all had cold and emotionless expressions on their faces but I knew them well enough to know that they were thinking the same thing I was, it was time to do, or die…
“Guardians, the time has come to remove the Sceptres and their master, Cronos, from this world. Are you willing to go into what may be your death for the goddess?” asked Shion while the leader of the Sceptres was giving a similar speech to them.
“We are, we will lay down our lives for the goddess Athena,” I replied with the other Guardians in perfect unity, as though sealing a contract. One of life and death.
The leader of the Sceptres was a tall menacing man, his dark hair contrasted with his pale white skin and his bottomless eyes. I had learnt that his name was Minos from Shion. His mouth was curved upwards slightly, like he knew what would become of all of us. I knew I was ready for anything, even for death but I wasn’t sure if I could handle the loss of one of my own.
I looked at each of my comrades again, for what may be the last time. As my eyes swept past each face they searched hungrily for those that I knew. I saw my best friend, my family but I had eyes only for my brother, Albafica. I was determined to see him one last time before battle. His eyes were closed, he was probably doing a silent prayer, but wasn’t that what all of us were doing? Somewhere deep inside me, I was probably praying as well so that we could all come out of this alive. If anyone had to die, I wished it would be me, none of the other Guardians deserved to die just yet. Most of us were in our early twenties, we should by enjoying ourselves and making the most of life without a care in the world alas it will never happen. I have probably spilt more blood that a fully grown man will ever see in his life.
I felt myself tense as Minos attacked Shion and it was like a chain reaction because the whole room had erupted into a fierce and heated battle. I found myself facing a tall, pale man who was wearing the dark version of the Draco Cloth. I waited for him to attack me first because it wouldn’t bode well for me if I attacked first. We circled each other a few times before he launched at me in a sweeping upward kick. I blocked him quickly then grabbed his ankle and threw him to the ground. He got up again and once again tried to attack me but this time with a punch. I dodged it and threw one of my own his way. Luckily it hit him and I could see a trickle of blood in the corner of his mouth. I didn’t want to hurt him, normally I try to make them surrender but this time it was the real thing. I had to eliminate each and every one of my opponents. We continued in that fashion for a while until he began using his dark Cosmos. He tried to hit me with Dark Dragon Breath but I reflected it using Ice Wall.
My Cloth was of Aurora Borealis, the Northern Polar Lights, which probably explained my ice based attacks and defences. It had been trapped in an unbreakable ice column and legends said that only the true bearer of it would be able to break the ice. I had been training in the Artic since I was four years old and it had become my goal in life to break open the ice around the Cloth of Aurora Borealis.
I still remember my first training session with my master, Alexios. He was a cold man; he always spoke with harsh words and pushed me to the edge. Today, I’m glad he did it, this war was supposed to last a hundred days according to the legends. If I was to survive the whole time I would need a lot of endurance which all the Guardians were specially trained in.
I continued with my fight against the Dark Dragon and eventually won by hitting him with Diamond Dust. I then began fighting the Dark Andromeda. We fought each other and this time I made sure to get rid of him before he could gain an advantage. My fights continued in this manner with each opponent getting tougher and tougher. During the battles I thought of my past to keep my spirits up. I thought of Albafica’s smile and the Scorpio Guardian, Argos’ laugh. They were memories I will treasure forever…
It was my 18th birthday and I remember clearly that the others had thrown me a surprise party. It was a cloudless night and Argos had come with Albafica to take me somewhere special. I had no idea what was going on so I followed them into the forest. They led me to a small clearing that was bathed in moonlight, a small stream flowed near it and it looked truly beautiful. I was wondering why they had brought me there when the others including Shion. Each of them had given me something different, Shion gave me an antidote to all poisons, Argos gave me a beautiful necklace but Albafica’s present still makes me cry to this day. It was a sketch of all the Guardians at that time, it was elegant and it seemed as though he had captured us in the paper rather than sketch it himself. I don’t know when he sketched it because we had never posed for him like that however I appreciate it because some of the Guardians from the picture have died and left us alone to defend out goddess.
I had just defeated my 16th opponent so I took a break and looked around to see how the others were fairing. Shion was perfectly fine, Albafica had a few scratches and Argos had a bruised cheek otherwise everyone was fine. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of my dear friend Aina, the Lupus Guardian. She was battling the Dark Phoenix and seemed to have the upper hand. I felt a sharp blow to my side and realised I had to start the battle cycle all over again. As I looked into the eyes of my next opponent, I was reminded of Pierre, the Aquarius Guardian. He was always cold towards everyone but slowly I got him to warm up to me. Maybe it was because both of us were ice based or maybe we just understood each other. I don’t really care, I’m just glad that I have him.
I can remember the time we were told of our destinies; I hated the world so much and I was planning on running away from the Sanctuary when Pierre came up to me. He was so shy, it was adorable and when I speak about it nowadays, he blushed three shades of red. We told each other about our pasts and learnt that we had both grown up in orphanages and that we both lived in a cold climate.
Thinking about everything now, it makes me realise how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family, even if we aren’t blood-related. It would hurt so much to lose one of them. I need them, they are everything to me. It hurts just to think about leaving them behind, how would we be a happy family with someone missing? I was torn from my thoughts when I felt a sharp blow to my left side.
I looked at my attacker and noticed that she had the exact same Cloth as me but it was a dark version. She was the Dark Aurora Borealis. We fought each other to the best of our abilities and were still fighting when I felt her raise her Dark Cosmos. I raised my own and because of it, there was a drop in the temperature. We began using our Cosmos as a weapon and we paid no attention to what anybody else was doing. All of my attacks were blocked by an equally powerful shield so I had to find a way around them.
As I thought back through all of my training lessons, I recalled an attack called Aurora Exclamation. It was a forbidden technique that had power equivalent to that of the big bang. If I used it then it would mean that I have to die along with the Dark Aurora Borealis and if I use it, I could kill all of the Sceptres while I’m at it… It won’t hurt anybody else as long as I put a shield around them so the other Guardians should be safe.
I raised my Cosmos to the max so I could be physically and mentally prepared for the Aurora Exclamation. I just hope they all won’t hate me for it…I put my hands together as an image of the Aurora Borealis appeared above me. I made a crystal shield around the other Guardians so that they wouldn’t be hurt when I use Aurora Exclamation.
I focused all of my energy into the palm of my hand and prepared it so it could be used in the forbidden technique.
I yelled “AURORA EXCLAMATION!” and thrust my hands forward. Soon after I fell into a dark oblivion but not before I heard the heart wrenching expression on my brother, Albafica’s face.
*~*~*
I watched as my beloved sister, Arya, fought the Dark Aurora Borealis. She was evenly matched with the Sceptre but looked like she could collapse any second. I silently prayed that she would be fine because I couldn’t handle the loss of my sister. She seemed to be caught in an inner conflict; I could read Arya like a book. I was fighting the Dark Pegasus, he seemed so determined to win but I wouldn’t let him. I had to make sure I got out of this alive or Arya would kill me. But then again, she said that if I died, she would bring me back and kill me herself.
I quickly got rid of my opponent and had a break to see what was going on. Everybody was fine but when I looked towards my sister I saw the Aurora Borealis above her head. That should only happen when she uses the forbidden technique, Aurora Borealis, but she wouldn’t dare use it… The strength of the attack would kill her and everyone she targets it towards.
I tried to move to be by my sister’s side but an invisible shield was keeping me in place. Could it be my sister’s doing? I saw her focus all of her energy into the palm of her hands and push it forward. I balled my hands into fists and beat against the crystal shield, screaming my sister’s name but deep inside myself I had realised that she was truly gone. She had really done it; she sacrificed herself to bring down the Sceptres and Cronos. Her body fell to the ground like a limp rag doll and time itself seemed to slow down.
Around us, all the Sceptres fell one by one. The other Guardians couldn’t believe their eyes but when they turned to look at Arya they saw her fragile body lying on the cold hard ground. The shield that she put around us before she died seemed to vanish into thin air, just like the Aurora Borealis that hovered above her. I ran towards her body and held her tight against my chest.
I saw something fall onto her armour and realised that they were my tears. I reached up to my eyes and I felt them. How long had I been crying? I was a Guardian, I wasn’t supposed to show weakness but here I am crying over my sister. My only sister. She promised me that we would never leave each other but here we are now, separated from each other until I finally decide to leave this world as well.
I looked down to see her angelic face, her lips were curved in a soft smile and her eyes were open. I gently closed both of her eyelids and buried my face in her midnight blue hair. This time I didn’t try to stop my tears; she deserved them for sacrificing herself.
I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and another stroking my head. I turned my head to see Shion, our leader.
He spoke in a calm voice but those who knew him could tell he wanted to cry, “Albafica, I’m sorry. All of us will miss her; she was not only your sister but ours also.”
“Shion, we should get out of here. This place is going to collapse any second. We can’t risk being in here,” I heard Pierre say, though his normally calm voice was choked.
“Pierre is right,” I felt a hand on my other shoulder, “we need to leave. Albafica, you’ll need to carry her.”
I silently nodded then picked up the fallen warrior and stood in my position beside Pierre. Shion muttered a few words under his breath and a flash of light engulfed us all. I didn’t bother looking at what was going on, I had been through it so many times before. The light was blinding but today it seemed to be stronger.
When I was finally able to see again, I noticed that we were in the Temple of Athena and our goddess was sitting on her throne waiting for us. The others moved to hide me and Arya from the sight of Athena but the grave looks on all their faces would’ve given it away. You didn’t need to ask what had happened, the loss of one of our own seemed to emanate from our very beings and each of our eyes reflected a never ending pool of grief.
Our goddess rose from her seat and moved towards us, her eyes showing worry. She looked at Shion, as if he would give her answers. If it was a normal day he might have but today we lost a part of ourselves. It was hard to talk about it, let alone dwell on it. We needed something to distract us.
“Shion, Pierre, step aside. I want to know what’s wrong,” ordered Athena, “Why won’t you step aside? Did something happen?” Her voice was full of worry and fear of what may have happened.
I decided the goddess deserved to know, seeing as it was one of her Guardians, “Milady,” I stepped forward raising my head slightly, “Arya…” I whispered, suddenly losing all of my courage.
I gestured towards her limp body in my arms, I realised I would never feel her warmth again. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground with Arya in my arms. The affect of what had happened today had back to hit me with full force. I broke down; sobbing over the cold lifeless body I was holding. I felt someone kneel down beside me, stroking my sister’s hair with flawless hands. It was the goddess Athena.
“Albafica, what happened to Arya? You all promised to come back to me intact. Then why is Arya like this? What happened? Please, tell me…” The goddess was begging but how can I tell her that Arya sacrificed herself?
“Lady Athena, let us lay Arya down somewhere before we think about what happened,” Argos’ words seemed to feel right. I couldn’t sit here with Arya in my arms forever so I got up and lay her on one of the couches.
“Milady, can we please speak somewhere else?” I asked my voice barely louder than a whisper but everyone seemed to have heard me because they all started moving towards Athena’s private chambers.
We entered the room and sat down on the various couches. Shion was the only one who didn’t sit down. We were all in a solemn mood, the loss of one of our own just sucked all the happiness from our souls. Even Athena looked heartbroken.
“Tell me,” she said, “Tell me what happened to Arya. Please, she was close to me.” It was common knowledge in the Sanctuary that Arya was close to Athena so we weren’t surprised by her statement.
“She…she used Aurora Exclamation…We didn’t know she was going to do it until it happened…” whispered Argos, bowing his head to avoid Athena’s stare.
“What do you mean ‘Aurora Exclamation’? It’s a forbidden technique! She knew that!” Athena began, her voice steadily getting higher in volume, “There is a reason it’s forbidden! A power equivalent to that of the big bang, it will kill every living thing in the area unless it is protected!”
“We know-” began Aina before she was cut off.
“Every living thing…” muttered Athena, “Then why are all of you unharmed?” she lifted her head and gave us all a criticising glance, like she was blaming us for the death of Arya.
“She put a crystal shield around each of us so we won’t be hurt…” murmured Pierre.
He was right, she did put a shield around us all but didn’t bother putting one around herself. Was it because the attack wouldn’t have an affect if it was released from behind a protective shield?
“We need to prepare a funeral,” stated Pierre giving me a look, “But when are we going to have it? And where?”
I felt as though this question was directed to me alone. I knew that as Arya’s brother I would have to make a few decisions but I don’t want to have to decide this.
“We’ll have it…umm…in three days, in the clearing where we celebrated her 18th birthday…She loved it there…” I said softly as a few more tears fell down my face.
“You’re right, she did love it there,” I looked up at Argos who gave me a sympathetic smile, “Would you like me to begin preparing everything?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“I’ll help, I think a few icy references should please everyone…” commented Pierre. I had expected that, Pierre was an ice based Guardian just like Arya.
“Didn’t she ask for an ice coffin?” All of our heads turned to look at Aina who had remembered such a small but helpful fact, “Pierre, do you think you can make one?”
“Yeah I can, but is it going to stay in the clearing forever?” he asked.
“It is. It’ll stay there until the ice melts…” I replied.
“The ice will never melt!”
“I know…” I whispered.
We all moved off to clean ourselves up but I stayed behind with Argos, Pierre and Aina. Pierre picked up Arya’s body and we all went to the Pisces Temple. He lay her down on her bed while Aina helped pour some wine for Argos, Pierre and me and a cup of strong coffee for herself. We took the beverages to the main part of the temple where Argos and Pierre were waiting. I gave them the drinks then took a seat. We sat in silence for a while, leaving our drinks untouched until Pierre raised his glass.
In a soft tone he said a toast, “To Arya, a brave warrior”
“A loving sister,” I said.
“A wonderful friend,” said Aina.
“And an all round amazing person,” finished Argos.
“Arya,” we said together in a solemn tone. I looked at the others and saw a lone tear trickle down Pierre’s face. He had a right to cry, he and Arya were very close…
“Thank you. All three of you,” I began, “I appreciate your kindness…”
“Albafica, we can’t not help. Arya has done so much for us, at least let us repay her,” replied Aina.
Suddenly the temperature in my temple began to drop rapidly. Why was this happening? I turned to look at the others when I noticed Pierre’s aura, it was ice blue, almost white. He looked tense, like he was bracing himself for a blow that would never come. I wondered what was wrong with him, it wasn’t like Pierre to just…crack.
He looked up, his eyes locking with my own and in that moment I knew why. He couldn’t believe Arya had really gone, none of us could. I know how he feels, it’s a feeling of emptiness and it’s like there’s a huge hole in my heart that can’t be filled no matter what I do.
Argos placed a calming hand on Pierre’s shoulder, when their gazes met Argos gave Pierre a look of understanding. I would have done it myself but I was already emotionally unstable. Pierre calmed down soon after so we continued planning the funeral. It wouldn’t be like traditional funerals because Arya never really was one for tradition.
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the looks of determination on the faces of my friends; they seemed so resolute in making the funeral perfect. I couldn’t ask for better friends, no, they weren’t friends. They were family…
*~*~*
It was the day before the funeral and I was in the clearing. I decided it was time for me to make the ice coffin for Arya and all the icy decorations. Arya…I missed her warm smile already. I had almost lost control two days ago in the Pisces Temple, I had almost frozen the whole place over because the grief became too much. It wasn’t fair; they shouldn’t have taken her away…
I looked around the clearing to see if it had changed much and I noticed it was practically the same. The tall evergreens towering up above us, the small stream weaving in and out of the trees, the soft green light that seemed to be everywhere…She would have loved it. I needed to find a place to create the coffin and as I looked, I saw the perfect place. It was at the foot of the tallest tree and the stream flowed right behind it. It looked so peaceful, like it was from a painting.
I went to the place and began gathering Cosmos in my hands. I let it flow out onto the ground where it began forming the base for the coffin and as I moved my hands, they formed the walls. It had a unique design, carved into the ice was Arya’s life story, from the moment we had all met her to the time of her death. The images were interwoven with vines and roses and just like all roses, these ones had thorns. In those thorns, I encased my own blood so that they seemed crimson. Her life had been lived on a path of crimson thorns.
I created other sculptures all around the clearing and when I was almost done Aina and Albafica came.
“Pierre,” cried Aina, “It looks amazing! Arya would have been proud of you!” I couldn’t help but smile slightly at her comment.
“Thank you, I did the best I could…” I replied.
“Pierre, is that your blood?” asked Albafica looking at the crimson thorns on the coffin in shock.
“It is…” I quietly replied, bowing my head to avoid their reprimanding stares.
“Why? Why did you do it? You know she wouldn’t want that…” said Albafica.
“I owe her. That’s why I did it…” They were shocked. They hadn’t expected that, but I loved Arya, I had to do it, she was my everything…
Albafica came to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders; he knew how I felt…The loss of someone important, it left a gaping hole in our hearts. One that won’t ever be filled. I turned my head slightly to look at his face and saw glistening tears welling up in his eyes.
Aina came over to us and whispered, “I think it’s time we go back.” Albafica and I had no choice but to obey. This place brought back memories of Arya that we weren’t ready to remember just yet. It seemed like her 18th birthday was just yesterday but that couldn’t be true.
I remember when I was two, my mother told me that sometimes the people who we love the most leave us but I didn’t believe her. Soon after she and my father both died in a car accident and I was put in an orphanage until Shion came and took me away. I still don’t want to accept the fact that my mother was right, Arya and I could be together again, we could never be separated for too long.
*~*~*
It was almost the end of the funeral. A few of us had gone up to say a few words out Arya but I didn’t, I couldn’t. The funeral was not that long, but it was serene. I looked at Arya just lying there on the ice coffin I built for her. She looked as though she was only sleeping. The rest of the funeral went by quickly and it was time for us to pay our final respects to the fallen warrior.
We stood up and raised our Cosmos’ high enough to see our auras. We then shot an attack into the sky where they collided with each other, spraying the sky in a colourful display. Aries Shion held a rose in his hand as he walked to the coffin; he placed it gently on her folded hands and went back to his place with a few tears streaking down his face. Everybody began following Shion’s example; they took roses and placed it on her unmoving body.
Finally it was my turn and Albafica’s. We walked to the coffin in complete silence but as we walked I noticed that we were both shaking. The walk to her coffin seemed to take ages, but when we got there we stood in silence just looking at her calm face. I placed a red rose in her arms and trailed my fingers along her cheekbone. I would never get a chance to feel her soft skin again.
I stepped back slightly and let Albafica have some time with his sister. As I watched, he took out one of his blood-sucking roses and pierced his skin with it, slowly the once white rose turned blood red. He opened Arya’s mouth slightly and placed the rose in her mouth so it looked like she was going to dance.
It was a speciality of Arya and Albafica, to talk with a rose in their mouth but I didn’t think much of it, seeing as they both use roses in their attacks.
Albafica placed a soft kiss on his sister’s cheek and came to stand beside me. It was time to cover the coffin. I stepped forward and ran my hands where the lid of the coffin would go. I watched as the coffin was finally completed. Arya would not be ravaged by time as she lay in the ice.
Suddenly, a ray of sunlight burst through the treetops and hit Arya’s tomb. The whole ground was speckled in colour as the light hit the ice. It was a beautiful sight and one that would be forever engraved in our memories.
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