‹ Prequel: Shattering Crystals
Status: Active

Twisted Returns

fate will take us where it will

The spell breaks.

Dean's face is no longer perfect. The light is no longer beautiful. The world is a thousand shades of ugly.

"No way." This comes from Dean, who shakes his head furiously.

"I wish I could agree with you," Marigold says.

"But why?"

"Though her soul is in her body, it is not whole," Alina explains. "The other part is in the necklace, which is in the possession of the attackers. Meaning they can tap into her magic, suck it out of her body."

"But she had it on Earth."

"Time was frozen here. They couldn't take it then."

"Well, can't she tap into it from her body? And then just take it back?"

"Souls outside of bodies react differently to things. No one really understands it at this moment."

"The magic went missing when you all arrived in Crystallaria and time unfroze," Marigold says. "It all works out."

"But why does she have to die?"

"Because when her body's soul is truly done, it will destroy the magic that goes alone with it. Without Diana's magic, they're nothing."

Dean looks at me, and then back at the Council. Even he knows it's for the good of everyone. There is no way to argue his way out.

"I can't." I say the words, but it doesn't feel real. This is not the fairytale I wanted, the fairytale I was promised.

"You have to," Isabel says. "You have to do it yourself."

"I can't." I can't help but wonder why. Everyday, I'm terrified that they'll get me. But to do it myself...

"There is no other way."

"I... why can't someone do it for me?" This is not real. I can't.

"It won't destroy your magic."

"How will I do it?" My voice is steady and calm. Because I truly don't believe that this is happening.

"There will be a potion prepared for you. It will be quick and painless."

"How can you just sit there and say that?" Dean says furiously. "You say it like her life means nothing."

"We have to do what's best for everyone." I can see Isabel's logic. If this was just statistics, I would agree. But it's not. This is me. And things aren't that easy.

"There has to be another way," Dean says.

"There's no time for that. Crystallaria will be a wreck soon. And there is no possible way." Isabel addresses a thin woman. "Salandra, please prepare the potion. You know which it is."

The woman goes. I wonder what's going through her head. Everyone was desperate to protect me. And now she's preparing me for my death.

I gave up everything. That life on Earth. These may be my last moments. Even after everything, I am not happy.

I should have picked fate.

I look around, taking in my surroundings. I realize that beauty is everywhere, yet no where. Everything is different when your time is limited.

"Dana, I..." Dean trails off.

I shake my head. "You don't have to say anything. This isn't your fault. It's all mine."

"But it is. The necklace was made for me. Stolen from me. I was careless."

"No, you weren't. You just didn't know. I never told you."

"For my protection. Either way, it's still not your fault. You just loved me. There is nothing wrong with loving someone too much."

"There is when disasters happen."

He doesn't answer. He just looks at me with those navy blue eyes. I wonder, for the millionth time, if I could ever love him again. But I shouldn't be wondering. I'll be gone, and he'll be here. He won't care.

Even so, I know that I don't love him. Not that way. Not now, and maybe not ever. Not when my 'ever' is only a while longer.

"I wish things were different," he finally says. I can't find myself agreeing more.

"Wonder how much time I have left," I say. "Or if I even get to say goodbye."

"They have to let you. And in that time, they might think of something else."

I shake my head again. "Saying goodbye would be too hard. And let's face it - there is no other way."

"I guess."

"Don't worry. You'll still be alive."

"How will I live without you?"

"You'll survive."

A rumble goes through the ground. They're so frequent these days that I barely even notice them anymore. But now, I'm aware of everything. It could be my last. Will that be the last rumble I ever feel? The last muffled screams I hear?

"We have to get this done soon," Isabel says. "No time for ceremonies or anything."

"How can you be so heartless?" Dean shouts. "The greatest person to ever live is here in front of you. And you are talking about her like she's just another statistic."

"Because when it comes down to it all, that's what she is!" she shouts back. This is the first and probably last time I hear her voice with some emotion in it. "I learned, a long time ago, that you have to do what is best for everyone."

I wonder what happened to her. If she's always been this way. It makes me realize that not everything can be seen statistically. They are more than just a number, those people who died. They had a life, and a past, and a future.

I wonder who I'll never get to meet. What I'll never get to do. What I'll never get to learn about myself. What secrets will die with me. And if, when it comes down everything, if it was truly worth it at all.

Maybe I could have seen him again. Maybe we could have been happy. Maybe I made the wrong choice.

All these maybes, what ifs, this wondering... it will all amount to nothing. There is no reason to think anymore.

Salandra reenters the room, carrying a crystal wine glass filled with a bubbling green liquid. As she carefully sets the glass before be, she whispers, "Be brave."

As if I need bravery where I'm going.

"Diana, we are all sorry that this had to be your fate," Isabel says. I internally cringe, but keep my face calm as ever. "But fate will take us where it will. Now, I am inviting you to speak your last words."

I nod and stand. I don't say anything, and neither do they. Dead silence. The kind so loud it beats in your eardrums. Finally, I slowly raise the crystal glass into the air. "To fate," I say.

"To fate," they all murmur back.

And then I let the glass slip between my fingers, shattering into a million pieces.
♠ ♠ ♠
Oh look, shattering crystals.

If you're reading this, I love you. Leave me a beautiful comment, pretty please.

Fun fact - I wanted to add some racial variation in this story, but then I would have had to change the storyline, because of the history of Crystallaria.