Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

* MIIA - Dynasty *

"Maya, the girl with the wings? She is not dead…" Ian answered while looking at Raven who widened her eyes in surprise, and suddenly felt her knees go weak.

"You're joking…" she felt her heart fluttering, her hands shaking, and her world spinning around her.

"While I don't know where she is, or how she didn't die, I know for a fact that her lifespan hasn't ended yet." He said and continued towards the unconscious Lizzy.

Suddenly, warm tears ran down Raven's eyes who had waves after waves of conflicting emotions. 

From not being able to confirm what the boy just said, to questioning whether she will be able to find Maya soon… 

Unable to withstand the pressure on her mind, especially after she had exerted herself to this extent, she fell unconscious.

Catching her quickly, Maria could barely stand herself, yet she knew she had to be stronger this time.

'We will find you, Maya, I promise you…' she swore to herself, her eyes blurry. 'We will definitely find you and bring you back home!'

***

"Mhn," Moaning softly, Raven opened her eyes slowly, only to find herself on a hospital bed. However, unlike what she expected, she found her body warm and comfortable.

Looking around, she realised that Maria had her wrapped between her arms while sleeping next to her.

Smiling softly, she held her hands and kissed them, since she realised how shaky they were. 'She must be hurt the most…' Raven thought to herself.

'Kayla, Tu, are you both doing alright?' she asked since it's been a rough experience they all had to go through.

But knowing that Maya was still alive seemed to cheer her up nonetheless.

"Uhm," Kayla muttered as she materialised next to her and laid down next to her. With her small body, she had no problems fitting in the small space left on the bed.

'The right question is: are you alright, Raven?' Tu asked, surprising the two girls with the way he asked.

'Uhm, I'm ok now that I know she's not truly gone…' Raven said in her mind with a smile. 'This means that I can repay her with everything I have. I can take her with me wherever I go. I can keep her safe again, and at all times..'

Shaking his head slightly, Tu had a concerned look on his face. 'But you have to understand that the world is such a vast place, the probability of you finding her is… relatively low.'

He was going to say zero, but didn't want to shatter the poor girl again. However, even if broken, Raven was by no means naive...

'I am aware…' she muttered, feeling her eyes water up, 'but do you think I'll be able to live if I had no hope?' she said to him, her body shaking under Kayla's touch. 

'I have to believe that I will find her, sooner or later, or I might as well go mad.' She said, warm tears building up in her soft golden eyes.

Feeling her body trembling within her arms, Maria subconsciously tightened her grip around her fragile body even though she was deep in sleep.

After all, she wasn't as strong as Raven, yet she had to experience the exact same tragedy.

No, her experience was even more unforgiving as she had to witness everything happening in front of her while knowing she was helpless and could not help her dying daughter.

Yet, she knew that she had to be stronger for her other daughter, Raven. 

In their hearts, both mother and daughter knew that they had to believe that they'll be reunited with Maya.

"I am willing to take the risks…" Raven muttered. "After all, anything is better than nothing." She smiled as Kayla wiped away her tears.

'Also, Tu, thank you for finally giving me your blessing, it helped quite a bit,' she said. Even though she meant it, she was mostly trying to change the subject.

"Uhm, of course," he said as his body materialised near the bed, standing. "You're such a strong little girl," Tu smiled while patting her head in a brotherly manner.

It was the first time Raven felt that she had an older brother, and she found the feeling to be quite nice.

"Even against the hard circumstances and conditions, you always struggle to find your way through, back to the light." He said with another sincere smile.

'I wish I was like that…' Tu muttered to himself, remembering an incident of times past when he had given up on life, before becoming who he is today.

At the time, he was pushed so hard in an unfair fight with a friend of his. They were both betrayed by their party and forced to fight for their lives.

Tu, being the kind and naive person he was at the time, he didn't know what to do as he felt his heart shatter together with his world.

But, then his friend had willingly sacrificed herself for him, and made sure he got the power he has now in order to live on and carry both of their wills with him.

"Don't you dare die on me, Turanor!" She had tried to yell but the blood covering her face together with the deafening explosions in the horizon made the task harder than it should have been. 

"With the power of my last contract, I hereby, *cough* I hereby pronounce you the new monarch.

"Rise Up, O' Crimson Monarch: The Monarch of Contracts." With that, Tu had felt the power strengthening his soul and body to no ends.

Smiling as she felt her soul almost leaving her body, his friend muttered a few last words: "Tu, promise me you'll use this power to save yourself… don't feel bad, I was a dead cause anyway, amongst the monarchs, I was the weakest…

"I had no way of saving you or even myself against- *cough* against their powers...

"But I'm sure you'll make for a better and stronger Monarch than I was, please, take care of yourself, ok?

"Find someone that is worthy of the sacrifices we made, and then... then ask them to help you achieve our goal, ok?"

Before he could promise her anything or even complain about how she dared leaving him alone, she was gone…