A Bloom in the Void

(...Clack... clack...)In the absolute quiet of the black pond, the soft touch of the skeletal finger against Flora's body left a faint trail of mystical warmth that momentarily halted the uncontrollable trembling of her tiny shoulders.

"Is there... Still something... Flora can do...?"

Amid hiccups and tears of emerald light floating like tiny spheres over the darkness, the little princess raised her large, bewildered eyes toward the immense, hollow socket of the calamity.

"... That is correct..."

In response, the voice of True Death did not boom; instead, it echoed through limbo as a serene truth, devoid of judgment or haste.

"... Sprout of life... You were not born to fulfill a destiny... Nor is there any purpose..."

Slowly, the entity withdrew its hand and pointed toward the center of the little girl's chest, where the crack left by the spiritual spear still seeped fine threads of withered essence.

"... Decide your own fate... The sole thread that still binds two worlds attempting to devour one another..."

At those words, Flora looked down at her trembling hands.

"... Due to your lineage... Your body suffers because it attempts to sever what your soul has already unified..."

In that moment, the little fairy finally noticed how the sparks of green light and the fluctuating aurora intertwined beneath her almost transparent skin, battling in a microcosm as violent as the war raging outside.

"... But... It hurts..."

Because of this, she hesitated, lowering her head with a heavy heart.

"... Mama is suffering... Goldie and Silver are breaking... I feel the others going mad...! And Flora... Is scared..."

She was terrified...

"... Everything is alright."

... And yet.

"... Fear is the first breath that impels life... To move forward..."

Encouraging her, Death's starry cloak stirred without wind as the ancestral being straightened slightly, casting its figure over the serene waters.

"... The question is not whether you are afraid, small sprout... But whether you are willing to bloom in the midst of the storm... To grant them a place to which they may return."

And without the slightest hint of haste, True Death cupped the palm of its skeletal hand, allowing the small sprout of light that was Flora to rest upon the cold, polished surface of its smooth bone fingers.

"... Listen closely... Small sprout..."

Slowly, the entity raised its hand toward the heights of the twilight, lifting the little princess until she was level with the dark hollows of its face.

"... Life... And death... Are not enemies..."

With its other index finger, the ancestral being delicate pointed toward the open wound at the center of the fairy's tiny chest, from which emerald light and the essence of her being continued to escape like threads of dying smoke.

"... The life you try so desperately to hold onto... In your panic to keep from extinguishing, simply spills out and consumes itself..."

Flora then, curled up upon the bony palm, lowered her gaze toward her own crack, feeling the frozen void that threatened to dissolve her entirely.

"... Then... Flora... What must Flora do?!"

As a result, filled with uncertainty, the little fairy asked in panic...

"Flora... Flora is emptying out...! If the light goes out... Is Flora going to disappear?!"

... Yet in contrast to the spirit princess's erratic state...

"... No..."

The voice of Death echoed with serenity, weaving through the air a truth as ancient as Creation itself.

"... Life and death are not enemies fighting for dominance... They are two hands holding the same thread..."

The voice of Death echoed low and steady amidst the silence of limbo.

"... Life cannot grow in absolute void... For a sprout to be born and for the soil to become fertile, it must draw nourishment from that which has ceased to exist... From the remains that the earth absorbs."

The bone finger descended softly until it brushed the edge of the wound, right where the energy throbbed and collided in a violent, continuous clash.

"... Your body suffers because you are trying to contain two forces that are destroying one another... Yet your lineage ought to be able to coexist..."

Upon hearing those words, Flora wiped away her tears and lowered her gaze toward her own chest, watching how the filaments of light kept fracturing.

"... However... A part of you was drained... When you were impaled..."

As Death's words echoed, cold began to flood that space...

"... You are incomplete... There is not enough... To sustain you..."

... In that moment, the lake slowly dissolved as the darkness spread out.

"... Yet... Despite that... There still exists a way... To aid you..."

At those words, the stillness of the black pond began to fracture.

(¡...Ssssshhhhh-fwooosh...!)

The dark water beneath them did not churn with waves or tides; instead, it began to evaporate into nothingness, rising and dispersing into countless crystalline droplets that floated suspended in the twilight void like a reversed rain of tiny luminous pearls.

"W-What is... That method...?!"

Despite the faltering cold that began to invade the space following the dissolution of the pond, the little princess clenched her tiny fists.

"Tell Flora! What is that method?! Flora wants to do it!"

With her legs trembling, gathering a resolve she had never felt before, Flora stood up directly upon the skeletal palm, raising her gaze to stare directly into the entity's dark hollows.

"..."

And in response, True Death beheld the small silhouette standing tall upon its hand with absolute calm.

"... If you wish to act... You must simply refill that which has been depleted..."

Directly after, the entity slowly extended its polished bone finger once more, pointing to the open rift in the fairy's chest.

"... A World Tree... From which you hail has torn away... No, rather it has reclaimed... The vital energy that sustains you... In an ordinary case, upon being stripped of it... As a spirit, your form should have dispersed..."

Death's finger remained brushing close to the wound, where the light—fluctuating like an aurora—struggled to keep the fairy's tiny form cohesive.

"... However... Your birth was no ordinary occurrence... It came to be through the integration of your mother's soul essence... And it was that bond that acted as an anchor, holding the structure of your being together to keep you from fading completely..."

Flora looked down at her chest, touching the fluctuating light with the tips of her fingers.

"Then... Flora is still here because of Mama...?"

It was at that point that a certain "spark" lit up within her eyes as a feeling began to sprout...

"... That is correct... Yet the anchor only holds the remains; it cannot replace what was taken from you..."

... Unaware or indifferent to what the seed of that emotion would bring in the end, the Reaper continued its explanation.

"... You are empty inside. In this incomplete state, there is nothing you can do for the material world..."

And immediately, without harshness or violence, True Death gently tilted its hand forward.

(¡...Swiiish...!)

Losing the rigid surface of the bone, Flora's tiny feet slipped down the polished slope.

"Huh...?"

As a result, the little girl released a faint gasp of surprise as she fell directly before the Reaper's immense face, beginning to float unstably in the midst of the absolute void where the pond had completely vanished.

"Waaaaa-Ah...!"

In a place where nonexistence reigned, suspended in the gloom, blinking amidst the water droplets that continued to float around her, the small sprout of light faced the abyssal gaze of an ancestral calamity.

"... Flora..."

The voice of True Death no longer sounded like a distant whisper; instead, it echoed through the void with a solemn, ceremonial weight that completely transformed the surroundings.

"!?!"

At the same time, the gloom surrounding them seemed to grow denser, and the water droplets floating in the air froze completely still, suspended like dark gems in an eternal sanctuary.

(...Clack...!)

Slowly, the entity raised its left hand to the height of the little princess, who remained floating in an unstable posture.

"... The time has come... Fourth guardian... Of the Yin key..."

And extending the bone of its pinky finger right before the fairy's tiny face...

"... Death is not the end of things... It is the force that impels life to seek a meaning..."

With a measured movement, the Reaper's other skeletal hand drew near and gripped the base of its own pinky finger.

(¡...CRACK-CLACK...!)

Without the slightest sign of pain or hesitation, it snapped the pinky bone clean off its own joint in a single pull.

"Are you okay?!"

The dry snap of the fracture echoed through limbo like the sound of a sentence passed.

"... It is only through the encounter with death... Where both the best and worst traits of a being emerge without a mask..."

Yet ignoring the little girl's concern, holding the detached phalanx, Death placed it directly before Flora.

"... Once you accept this into your center... There will be no turning back."

From the pale, polished bone, a living aura began to emanate—dual and breathtaking. It was a radiance that at first glance felt deeply ominous and dark, yet at the same time wrapped the little girl's body in a soft, comforting warmth.

"... The dissolution of what you were shall give way to what you must become... Yet deep down... That which is important to you... Shall prevail..."

No one yet understood the true horror behind those words...

"Gulp..."

Likewise, there was no one capable of stopping her as Flora gazed at the floating bone before her.

"... Spirit princess of flowers... Descendant of a World Tree... And emerald guardian..."

The emerald light in her eyes flickered with hesitation as she felt the immense, ancestral power emanating from that small structure.

"... Flora can do it... Flora will do it...!"

A pressure in her throat made her swallow nervously, feeling how the fear and the cold threatened to paralyze her once more.

"... Safe travels... Future spirit queen..."

However, looking down at the crack in her chest and remembering the reflected suffering of her mother and the others, she pressed her lips together with a firmness she had never felt before...

(¡...Fwoooosh...!)

... And clenching her small hands into fists, Flora reached out her arms and seized the bone with pure bravery...

"For Mama!!"

... She remembered the phrase her sister Silver had taught her to face danger, shouting with absolute determination.

(¡¡¡...CRAAASH-SHHHHH...!!!)

As a result, without hesitating for a single second, Flora aimed the tip of the skeletal bone directly toward the open wound in her chest and impaled herself.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡KRAAAA-SHWWWWIIIING-KRRRRRRRR...!!!!!!!!!!)

Consequently, a raw, ear-splitting scream burst from Flora's throat, piercing the absolute silence of the void as the skeletal bone drove into the very center of her core.

(¡¡¡¡¡PLING-SHHHHHH-BOOOOOOM!!!!!)

In a fraction of a second, the calamity's phalanx collided with the remaining essence of Mireya and the core of the spirit queen's avatar, unleashing a violent and uncontrollable chain reaction.

(¡¡¡...FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH...!!!)

Soon, an impetuous whirlwind of energy erupted from the point of impact, turning into an incandescent hurricane that roared with the force of a contained cataclysm.

"... Farewell... Small sprout of life... No, rather..."

From the open wound, dying smoke and withered light no longer seeped; instead, an incalculable tide of phosphorescent petals—spectral roses, lilies, and orchids—began to bloom and multiply through the void at a wild velocity.

(¡¡¡SWIIIISH-SWIIIISH-SWIIIISH!!!)

Millions of flowers flooded the infinite space, spinning in an unbridled spiral that devoured the twilight gloom.

"... Farewell... Young flower..."

And in the midst of that boiling floral sea, the gigantic silhouette of True Death beheld the scene, while its starry cloak and pale bone structure began to softly fade, dissolving into threads of shadow that were absorbed by the voracious whirlpool of vegetation and life.

(¡¡¡KRRRRR-ROAAR-SHHHHHHH!!!)

In that manner, as the hurricane of petals and vital aura closed over Flora's tiny silhouette in a suffocating, luminous embrace, contracting until it reached a blinding density that collapsed the space of limbo into a single point of emerald light...

(¡¡¡...FLAAAASH...!!!)

... And when, in an instant snap, the darkness shattered.

(¡¡¡SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!!)

Back in the reality of the clearing, the roar of battle burst forth all at once without granting a single moment of respite.

"Ggh... A-ahg...!"

Beneath the protective dome that trembled against the environment's punishment, Clotilda remained on her knees, sinking into the frozen mud while clutching the tiny, translucent body of the little fairy desperately against her chest.

"Increase the mana flow! Do not let her dissolve!"

The former knight's hands—stained with mud and blood—trembled violently as she pressed against the wound.

(We were entrusted with a single mission...!)

The healing light she was channeling flickered erratically, threatening to go out before the suffocating pressure weighing down upon the ever-expanding clearing.

"Kh... Cough... Cough!"

It was in that state, feeling her new body creak under the superhuman exertion, that Clotilda coughed violently, spitting a streak of thick blood directly onto the muddy, scorched earth of the forest.

(¡...Pling...!)

However, instead of dissolving into the mud, the blood that spilled from her lips began to crystallize upon contact with the creature's body.

(¡¡¡SWISH-SHHHHHHH...!!!)

And immediately after, from the red splatters on the earth and the edges of Flora's translucent body, a gentle, impossible rain of green and golden petals began to sprout and rise into the air, swirling softly around the healers in the midst of the clearing's chaos.

"W-What is... happening?!"

... In that moment, Flora began to mutate.