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As I approach the borders of Lycia, shortly after, the walls of Lycia Castle loom into view. As the castle grows closer, the area is becoming darker, duller and less saturated.
What? How? It is still day. The sun is still up...
I glance up where the sun just was in the sky and it is nowhere to be seen now. The only thing in the sky are heavy darkened clouds and howling wind brushing by me as I push forward.
Whoa...that is...creepy.
As I keep looking around the area while it grows darker and darker, I become more and more anxious.
"Princess Star,"
I hear my name and stop dead in my tracks. I feel my body stiffen and my stomach feels like it drops a mile below me.
That voice...could it be?
I turn and cannot believe who I see standing there behind me.
My mother.
She is cloaked in darkness. Her appearance is more intimidating than usual and she appears so much different than the last time I saw her. She wears her similar outfit as mine and her eyes are glowing that darkened blackness color.
She is not herself...that is not my mother...
I focus my gaze on her. I tone my voice down as I speak, "Mother, what happened to you? Why did you send me away?"
I force myself to stay calm and speak slowly to my strange mother standing just a few feet away from me. I stand my ground, preparing to make any quick movements. My mother's appearance does the same, focusing her gaze straight onto me.
"You should not be here, child. You are in much danger. You must leave at once. I am in danger, child, don't you understand? Run!" As she speaks these words, her voice becomes more like the voice I remember my mother having. The voice sounds more afraid as she then emphasizes the words I and run. Her eyes widen as her eyes suddenly change from her normal dark magic look to a black void. Sharp, red eye slits appear onto her forehead as blackness surrounds her. Red symbols appear on the backs of her hands, on her arms and everywhere on her body.
"NO! STAR, RUN! PLEASE!" My mother's voice speaks for the last time, in extreme panic. It is a voice of a worried mother afraid of losing her child forever. The figure of what looks like my mother is now completely gone and a transparent black mist stands in her place. My eyes widen as I hold back tears.
My mother was just taken from me right in front of my eyes. She was trying to save me. She was being forced, controlled by that...thing.
What now stands before me, is a demon. Hell spawn straight from the depths of hell.
That demon has protruding red eyes that looks deep within my soul. Those eyes feel like icy sharp icicle needles that are sticking every part of my body. Before I get a good look at it, the demon phase away, I could not see it anymore. The next thing I know, it has phase right in front of me with its arm raised and strikes me down all in a blink of my eye. It knocks me off of my feet. I immediately go into defense mode as fast as I could. I bring out my black orbs around my hands. I throw my arms out in front of me as my eyes darkened and go black. I regain myself and begin focusing my emotion within the dark magic around my hands. I quickly stop myself from flying backwards anymore and turn to face the demon, hovering in the air. However, the demon is much quicker than me.
"You, child, you stand no chance," The demon hiss and appear behind me so fast that I did not detect it had even moved until it is too late. My hood falls from my face as the demon places its cold, black, slimy hands on the sides of my face. I feel my head being slowly turned to my left, towards the path I had flown over just moments ago. I raise my arms up to grab the demon's cold, clinching hands and hold onto them as hard as I can. I focus my dark magic into my hands and tried pulling its grip off of me. But, once my head is turned enough, I see something standing on the path, so I begin to panic. I lose my concentration and my dark magic connection breaks. I cannot control my emotions any longer so lose control of my magic. My eyes lighten up back to the normal purple color they are, and the orbs vanish from my hands. I feel pulses of worry flash through me.
"Ike! Roy! Lucina! No! Please, what are you doing here? Get out! Now! It's too dangerous here! Please!"
Ike came for me...my friends came...but they should not be here...what if...
My stomach drops and I feel nothing but panic. The edges of my vision are blurring and turning black. My feeling starts to disappear.
No! This...thing...what if it.... No! I do not want to lose Ike...my friends...
The demon laughs at my sudden change in emotion splashed across my face, the sudden drop of my dark magic. The demon must feel I lost control over it once I saw my friends. The demon lets out a loud cackle, laughing.
"Star! What is that thing?" Ike’s voice reaches my ears and he sounds genuinely afraid of the thing that has ahold of me. The thing clutching me is obviously so much stronger than me.
Oh, Ike, he's hiding how afraid he is. Did he follow me through the portal? He must have been watching over me. What all has he seen? He must have seen all of it, right? Why do I feel strange right now when I see him standing there?
I open my mouth and manage to pipe out, "My...m...my mother..."
At that moment, the demon lets out a bone quivering scream and then I feel myself being lifted off of the ground. Ike and my friends are slowly lost from my field of view. I feel my legs and arms go limp. I can no longer move. My neck has a sharp pain shoot through it then I feel myself being thrown into the air at a fast speed. Everything around me starts to blur in and out and my vision is slowly darkening as I feel myself flying through the air while my body is flopping about. I manage to let out a scream, then I feel my body smash against something hard and cold. I feel nothing but pain as I feel my body land on a cold and hard surface. My vision goes black, my feeling numbs and I hear nothing.
Nothing but blackness surrounds me.
Nine
Blackness. Emptiness. Silence.
Complete blackness is all I see. I hear nothing for a while. I did not feel anything either. It feels like centuries have passed.
What is happening? Am I dreaming? How long have I been sleeping?
Then, what feels like a soft, cushion-like surface slowly forms underneath me. I feel some warmth to it, like I have been laying here for a while. I could not move still, but my senses are tingling, beginning to come back to life. I can feel something under my hands, my back and my legs. I cannot hear anything, see anything or smell anything though. I feel warmth surrounding me like a blanket.
Okay, focus. The fact that I am starting to feel my surroundings means my healing magic is beginning to work. I must keep my focus on the spell. Keep pushing my emotions throughout my body, focus my breathing. I must not be on the ground outside Lycia Castle anymore. I have to be inside somewhere, but where? What happened to my mother? What happened to me? I hope my friends are okay. Oh my god, Ike, please be okay. Why are the thoughts of him all of a sudden smothering me? Shake him out, you must focus Star! Heal yourself.... focus on your breathing... I must find my father.
I wait for a moment, focusing on my breathing, then I realize I could speak, "F... fa... father..."
Please, let him hear me...
"M... mo... mother..."
Please, let her hear me...
Then a blinding white light slowly appears in front of me. It speaks to me.
Is that, mother's voice?
"My dear child. Do not be alarmed,"
"Mother? Is that you?"
"Yes, child. I was so happy to see you again. I approached your friend, I asked him to go find you and bring you back. He told me that he would ask his sister. I opened one last portal and let her through. I am glad she found you so quickly. Do not worry, my child. You are healing yourself, you will wake soon,"
"Wait, mother. Why did you send me there in the first place, if you wanted me back now?"
"I did it to protect you, child, I thought I could fight this myself. You hold the power..."
Before she could say anything else to me,
everything goes black once again.