we are just bodies of the faithful stacked dozens by the roadside
This time her magic lands, and Hotaru watches with a dark satisfaction as the dragon crumples, life ended swiftly the moment her full power is at her fingertips. Just in case her luck doesn't hold, she turns to the dragon Sah is contending with, and shoots an ice ball at it in hopes of assisting the Wild Thunder considering his close quarters.
That's when everything goes to hell.
A tangle of bodies and colors suddenly appears in the middle of the chaos, and the most bone-chilling scream is rending the air amidst the crackle of lingering lightning and furious draconic rumbling. Hotaru spins on her heel and sees -
sees
Gods how she doesn't want to. Blink. Just blink, Ru. It's not there - it's not - they're not here-
They are, Ru. Here they are. Your babies - held in Remi's hands, see? So tiny, little fingers and toes, all ten for each tiny bundle - you counted them yourself, you see, touched your finger to every little digit to ensure they were real. Red-cheeked with life and crying, crying, crying.
Only one is crying now though, why is that? You know you just heard them both moments ago.
Moments ago. Just a moment - you looked away for a moment, Hotaru.
Your fault, your fault, your fault, your fault.
It feels like the world slides sideways beneath her feet, but even if it did, it cannot stop her from running. Nothing could ever hope to stop her. No, no, no, no, her head screams in steady beat to her heart which beats cruelly, inexorably onward - because she knows, before she even makes it to Flora's side, that another heart is not.
She throws herself on top of her children, a protective blanket of flesh and bone that had not done nearly enough, that comes too little too late. They are so big now, so big she can't wrap her arms fully around the both of them - can't protect them, one was left too far out, you didn't shield them both. But they are both so tiny and fragile in the crook of her elbows, a matching set, a legacy continued on with the hopes of being better.
Why did you ever let them out of your sight, Hotaru?
She reaches her arms to cradle them both back to her bosom where they always belonged, "I'm here, I'm here baby," and her voice cracks clean in two; because Hotaru is not Remi. She is not a demigod, she is not all-powerful, she is merely a woman who has clawed power into her greedy hands and loved until it burned her cells to ash in a suicidal mad-dash to the finish line. She is the one Flora chose to come to, to make things right, to fix the worst wrong that could ever happen. But she can't fix this.
She can't fix this.
And she can't look away.
Blink, Hotaru.
But she can't. It's her baby, her boy. Her first and only son. Even bloodied and motionless he is still beautiful to her, as beautiful as he'd been squalling and waving his tiny fists at the world. How could she ever be cowardly enough to look away, when these are his last moments? How dare she be selfish, now, at the end? The Valkyrie has had a lifetime to be selfish, to be greedy; but never - never - has Hotaru been selfish above her children.
Not even selfish enough to cry, because Flora is still there. Still in her arms, beneath her torso, hidden under the span of her body like kittens cowering beneath their mother's belly. Hurting. Hurting so very, very badly, in a way Hotaru never wanted her to feel - a pain she knows too well, a pain she knew she'd never be able to bear a second time, and now she can see that agony in her daughter's eyes and she has failed. "Stay down, close your eyes," she commands through numb lips. The world competes in her ears, wishing to end entirely, and yet forcing her into awareness, reminding her there is danger around that still threatens the one child that remains. Danger that she must destroy, because she can't lose Flora too.
Did you really think things had changed? That you could have your babies?
Oh, Hotaru.
You can't outrun this kind of curse.
- - -
Hotaru shoots an ice sphere at Dragon 1 then runs to shield Flora with her body when she appears.
Type: Light | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Elemental Projectiles | A small bag with an unlimited supply of incredibly dense spheres of ice. Best when used with a slingshot, but can also be thrown. Will not melt while in the bag.
That's when everything goes to hell.
A tangle of bodies and colors suddenly appears in the middle of the chaos, and the most bone-chilling scream is rending the air amidst the crackle of lingering lightning and furious draconic rumbling. Hotaru spins on her heel and sees -
sees
Gods how she doesn't want to. Blink. Just blink, Ru. It's not there - it's not - they're not here-
They are, Ru. Here they are. Your babies - held in Remi's hands, see? So tiny, little fingers and toes, all ten for each tiny bundle - you counted them yourself, you see, touched your finger to every little digit to ensure they were real. Red-cheeked with life and crying, crying, crying.
Only one is crying now though, why is that? You know you just heard them both moments ago.
Moments ago. Just a moment - you looked away for a moment, Hotaru.
Your fault, your fault, your fault, your fault.
It feels like the world slides sideways beneath her feet, but even if it did, it cannot stop her from running. Nothing could ever hope to stop her. No, no, no, no, her head screams in steady beat to her heart which beats cruelly, inexorably onward - because she knows, before she even makes it to Flora's side, that another heart is not.
She throws herself on top of her children, a protective blanket of flesh and bone that had not done nearly enough, that comes too little too late. They are so big now, so big she can't wrap her arms fully around the both of them - can't protect them, one was left too far out, you didn't shield them both. But they are both so tiny and fragile in the crook of her elbows, a matching set, a legacy continued on with the hopes of being better.
Why did you ever let them out of your sight, Hotaru?
She reaches her arms to cradle them both back to her bosom where they always belonged, "I'm here, I'm here baby," and her voice cracks clean in two; because Hotaru is not Remi. She is not a demigod, she is not all-powerful, she is merely a woman who has clawed power into her greedy hands and loved until it burned her cells to ash in a suicidal mad-dash to the finish line. She is the one Flora chose to come to, to make things right, to fix the worst wrong that could ever happen. But she can't fix this.
She can't fix this.
And she can't look away.
Blink, Hotaru.
But she can't. It's her baby, her boy. Her first and only son. Even bloodied and motionless he is still beautiful to her, as beautiful as he'd been squalling and waving his tiny fists at the world. How could she ever be cowardly enough to look away, when these are his last moments? How dare she be selfish, now, at the end? The Valkyrie has had a lifetime to be selfish, to be greedy; but never - never - has Hotaru been selfish above her children.
Not even selfish enough to cry, because Flora is still there. Still in her arms, beneath her torso, hidden under the span of her body like kittens cowering beneath their mother's belly. Hurting. Hurting so very, very badly, in a way Hotaru never wanted her to feel - a pain she knows too well, a pain she knew she'd never be able to bear a second time, and now she can see that agony in her daughter's eyes and she has failed. "Stay down, close your eyes," she commands through numb lips. The world competes in her ears, wishing to end entirely, and yet forcing her into awareness, reminding her there is danger around that still threatens the one child that remains. Danger that she must destroy, because she can't lose Flora too.
Did you really think things had changed? That you could have your babies?
Oh, Hotaru.
You can't outrun this kind of curse.
- - -
Hotaru shoots an ice sphere at Dragon 1 then runs to shield Flora with her body when she appears.
Type: Light | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Elemental Projectiles | A small bag with an unlimited supply of incredibly dense spheres of ice. Best when used with a slingshot, but can also be thrown. Will not melt while in the bag.
HOTARU
