There was nothing but darkness and the earliest memories with her mother. But then, there were her most recent memories with her lover. The two were the same, the only times she felt loved.
However, what if those times were wrong? Then, it was one thing for the prophet to deceive her mother, but another for her mother to sign the death sentence for her daughter.
'Is this what you want me to do, mother?' asked Diana as she reviewed her memories. There was no reason she was seeing these now, but it seems her mind wanted to find an explanation.
After remembering everything, Diana realized that she was the same as Arthur, a prisoner of her mother's ideology. It made her understand Arthur's pain after he met his father and the fact that her mother was kind to everyone, but her daughter created a bleeding wound.
The two of them were the victims of this world
After waking up from her memories, she found that the room had been frozen along with the vampire. Her eyes blinked as she looked at the sculpture in front of her, and she realized that there was no life inside.
"This doll allowed me to kill her," muttered the princess as she stood up in the frozen room. "It seems her words were the truth."
It was another confirmation, although she somehow knew that her mother was capable of that. At first, she was conflicted about loving the son of her tormentor, but now she realized that it was her only chance.
Diana rose to her feet and looked around the frozen room. After that, she turned her attention back to the doll. It made little sense to her why the doll wanted to deliver this message and then die, but love made no sense.
"I have no one left," muttered Diana as she walked past the vampire, her steps as unsteady as her mind. "I have to… bring him back."
Her eyes started to glow, each with separate colors, as her wings stretched. Then, as she was about to leave the room, a roar shook the palace before the walls were destroyed with blood. Diana hurried to form an ice barrier around her that froze the blood it touched.
Her confusion was immense as she tried to estimate her time spent unconscious. As she looked at her hands, her vision began to blur as pain shot up through her body. This was the same as the awakening when her body failed to contain her different traits.
"I need to hurry," she realized as she created a path through the blood. Her wings flapped upward as her flames evaporated the red metallic liquid before it touched her.
After she emerged from the other side, Diana realized that the palace was destroyed. Her eyes fell on the Ancient One who was giving her his back. As she emerged from the second floor, she was able to see the entire battlefield, which had now turned into a wasteland.
As she realized that they would notice her, Diana wanted to attack to help the rest. However, something grabbed her attention: a tree in the middle of the wasteland. A man was standing in front of it without a scratch, and he seemed to be looking at her fallen comrades.
'Who is this man?' wondered the princess before she looked at the tree and realized that there was someone protected inside. It was the saint. Her eyes flashed with the realization that this was her chance.
Her flames burned brighter and made her dive toward the tree before she stood beside it. As her eyes met the saint's, a mutual realization was achieved between them.
It was time.
"I want to know why you are all doing this. Are you also being manipulated?" asked the man standing in front of the tree, looking absent-minded.
Diana turned toward him, and she thought of her reasons. Arthur was her imprisoner at first, but the two of them reached an understanding, and there was only love and trust from there. Her mother always taught her, almost religiously, that she needed to protect Alva and the demi-humans.
"I do it for love," she said to make her words real. The man snapped out of his reverie and turned around, looking at her with confusion.
"You are the person he loves," said the man with realization, his eyes turning wide. Diana understood who he was referring to, but her feelings were torn apart because that love might be fictional as well.
Arthur might realize that he met her because of his father, which will make him hate just the same and refuse her. However, it did not matter anymore because this would be the end.
"It is time to come back, Arthur," she said while turning toward the saint. Diana reached out her hands from between the branches toward the saint, and the woman did the same.
As their hands were about to touch, a radiating light emerged between them. The two realized that this was the end of both of them, but none of them retracted her hands.
Her senses tingled, and Diana realized that something was coming her way. However, there were only a few inches left before she could see Arthur again, and she did not want to let go. Pain shot through her chest as a blood spear pierced through it, but she did not care.
"I was waiting for you, princess," said the voice of the Ancient One. "I am afraid that you will have to let go now, or my spear will rip you apart."
"Hah," smirked the princess with a sweaty face as she turned toward Lorius. "You are underestimating my resolve."
"Stop her!" shouted the Ancient One toward the man, but the latter did not move. Diana stared into his eyes, and she saw how shaken they were, and that was the final thing she saw before the light blinded the world.
***
I do it for love.
Those were the words that made Abraham unable to move, especially after seeing how she sacrificed her life for him. The blinding light washed over them as it brought memories of the past.
The wasteland had no life, but the light made flowers sprout of nothing, and his trees began to grow. Abraham felt his eyes fill with tears as the sweet taste of creation ran through his body.
Arthur was coming back to this world.
Everything that did not make sense before was now making sense. The world was regaining its harmony as a man emerged from the pillar of light. As his foot landed on the ground, flowers blossomed around them as if the world itself was welcoming his arrival.
Abraham opened his eyes at last while staring at the man carrying the body of his beloved. His footsteps were slow while his golden eyes stared toward the wound in her heart. His long hair reminded Abraham of the first time they met, and it was the same scene.
The Healer Guardian could not calm his heart as he watched Arthur's sadness for the person he loved. There was a soft, gentle light in his eyes that threatened to turn into tears. Abraham knew that Arthur would never look at him like this.
"What have you done?" his voice was broken.
Arthur looked different from what Abraham remembered, but somehow, his gentle and sad eyes were the same. He stopped walking suddenly and tapped his foot on the ground.
A platform rose from the ground, covered in grass and flowers. Arthur gently placed the princess on it as the world took a deep breath and kept silent. His hand caressed her cheek, his thumb brushing against her frosted skin.
Abraham noticed that her skin was starting to crack, and the blood gushing out had turned frozen. Her hand was shaking, but she was still alive as she reached out toward him.
"Ar…thur…." her voice was hoarse as she reached out. Arthur grabbed her hand and kissed it softly, tears streaming down his face. "I… can't… see… you…"
"I know, sweetheart," he said with the same broken voice. "Why did you bring me back?"
"I… missed… you…"
"I missed you too, Dia," Arthur wrapped her hand with his. "I am sorry for leaving you. I will make sure that you live."
After he said so, Arthur kissed her hand again before he rose to his feet. Abraham held his voice as their eyes met, but Arthur barely looked at him before looking toward the sky.
His arms, one human and the other dark and full of engravings, reached toward the unknown. Abraham held his breath as he watched the clouds gather in the sky above them, thunder striking in their midst. Finally, Arthur opened his mouth and commanded.
"Heed my call, Chains of Order."
The sky split apart as his voice rang through the land. Abraham felt his soul being crushed under the weight of existence.. It was at that moment that he remembered how he had died once before.
