"..."
"... Yu-Yukina…?"
"Get away."
"I-is- is-"
"Allisa, look away."
"Vivien- is… is that-"
…We can't… Why did this all have to happen…?
I smelled the stench of rotting flesh. It wasn't like a bear… it was vomit inducing, as if it was a creature that died a while ago.
Just as anyone would, I got curious. Too curious, this was my biggest mistake. Allisa accompanied me, I tried telling her to stop. And oh, so I tried. My wounds were not keeping me down, I forced myself to get over a hill.
An immediate regret took over my body, my stomach churned as I found… it- It was Vivienna… her body- it was mangled… My body reacted before my mind could, I found myself wretching.
Everything that entered my stomach splattered to the ground. What the fuck happened here.
Only when I could stand up did my mind make sense of all this. Allisa was shaking, her mouth covered and eyes wide at this sight. I tried to usher her away, someone this young shouldn't see… that.
She tried to put up a resistance, trying to bring me back. Which… I couldn't as her older sister.
My body felt weak, so weak, I couldn't muster any strength into pushing Allisa away. But… she started turning around when I begged her to.
As… a result, I fell to my knees when I turned around.
I'm sorry…. Sorry… Maybe if… I was quicker… Vivienna's face… was contorted in agony… As if she was yelling for help. Pale… drained of all blood.
My eyes shakily went down, her clothes were shredded— she was attacked by monsters just… after the avalanche— her legs were twisted in so many sickening ways.
Even parts of her bones were sticking out. If I had been…
I couldn't take my eyes off her body despite every muscle in my body wanting to.
… My stomach was churning non-stop. Unending, when I looked at the grotesque sight I had to hold the vomit back. It was taking every inch of my strength to keep today's breakfast from spilling out.
Her abdomen, it was nearly gone; her organs were ripped out— every intestine was gone, I couldn't see her ribs— Her spine was separated from her lower half…
...
I don't know how much time has passed. My mind went blank, the orange sun was casting down on me. My legs were numbing, my hands were turning purple.
Is this world… just full of misfortune? The vomit in my throat had cleared. Vivienna's lifeless body was still taking up my sight. Why does everything go wrong… when I'm closeby.
Shaun only had her, they had no kids. He was happiest around her, a gigantic smile, a loving tone when they were together. She was the one for him, giving into his goofy ideas, joining in with his jokes.
"I'm sorry…" I muttered, my hands tightened as my vision was blurring. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything…
I'm sorry Shaun…"
I felt moisture run down my cheeks, I barely knew her despite traveling with her. Only knew of her name, not how she acted towards others… I was truly stuck with James and Melinda.
"I'm sorry."
I held my breath, I found the hand she held her wedding ring on. Her hands were deathly cold, my spine ached, but I slid her ring off.
As I stood above her body, my legs were made out of jello. But I knew something had to be done, even though I wanted to throw up.
I held my breath whilst wiping the tears in my eyes. Then, I recited the words that were told to me.
"Human bodies should be disposed of to preserve their dignity…" This was something taught to me by the party, meaning… I should cremate her corpse to save her from further mutilation.
Using my advanced form of earth manipulation, I made a jar. My raised hand, I released a puff of flames.
I controlled it to envelop her body. Not the best… way to go out, I'm really sorry Vivienna. I'm so sorry…
As the flames I made burned her body, my heart ached. There wasn't anything else I could do, I don't have resurrection skills… I couldn't carry her dead body to Shen…
This… is the best I can do for you.
Her bones turned into ash, her skin melted and became dust. In a few minutes her body was gone, only leaving black ash.
After I scooped her ashes into this jar, I struggled to make it back to the others. Verd's kids were trying to comfort Allisa, she was covering her eyes and curled into a ball.
The two kids rushed towards me, their eyes full of worry. Their eyes also navigated to the jar, but I diverted their attention with my finger
"Go back inside."
"But.."
"I'll take care of it, it's getting colder out."
"Yukina…"
I set the jar down next to me, and gave them the best forced smile I could muster. "It'll be okay, you two. Go back to the hut."
To make a pit stop, I made a small igloo made of earth. I made sure to fill every crevice with earth, and made a small "fire" pit. It kept us warm, and secure. During the night I could cover the entrance whilst leaving some room for air. It wasn't architecturally pleasing but it did the job. That was good enough.
Eventually the two kids let their heads hang before going.
Allisa… I crept towards her, I could hear sniffles coming from her. Her body was shaking so hard, I thought I could hear her skeleton rattle.
"Why…?" I heard her whisper, she repeatedly said this. "Why did this… why did this happen?"
"Allisa…"
"Why did Miss Vivienna?"
I held my tongue, Allisa couldn't hear me. She kept berating herself with questions, the same ones I distraughtly thought of. Why did Vivienna have to die? What if we were faster?
How did this? What did this? Why did? Why did everything happen? What did we do to get cursed? Just what, why, who, when?
There was no answer, no solution… I had to accept it, there was nothing we could do. If you kept asking questions you'd be stuck in your head forever. We're just two girls, burdened with taking care of these two children. I didn't know where Shen, and everyone else went.
Sure, some days I could hear her voice, but I didn't see her. That was the difference, we couldn't see or help each other.
"Allisa, hey… hey…" I crouched down to her and whispered her name. She stopped shaking, but no more words entered my throat. Instead, I wrapped my arms around her body, letting her head drop into my shoulder.
It was rare… that I did hug her, and it worked effectively all the time. And I silently wished it did this time, but her tears were clinging to my shoulders.
"Why did Miss Vivienna have to…?" Allisa's question caught her tongue, and her crying intensified.
"I don't know."
"Just why? Why? Why…?!"
She kept asking me, getting louder with every cycle. I don't know, is what I kept saying. I never knew why, but… She wasn't suffering.
Allisa soon came clutching the clothes on my back. Her arms held me tight, her breathing quieted, and her tears started to soften.
"Why did.." Alissa's voice began to quiet, becoming harder to hear for me as well.
She fell asleep…? I realized when her arms released, and her head fell onto my shoulders. Thank…fully…
I couldn't help but hold her tight and rest my head. Now that my brain had slowed, my heart was racing.
My gut was starting to churn when I couldn't get a break— Shen's voice broke through my mind again.
What happened with you kid? You feeling better?
Physically… no, no I'm not. … Something happened, we found Vivienna.
There was silence in my mind again, followed up by a low tone in Shen's voice.
She's dead, isn't she?
…She was mauled by monsters… we were too late.
I'm sorry, kid. I'm sorry you had to witness that.
I stayed quiet, Shen did too. She didn't know what to say, it sort of calmed my heart knowing not even she could come up with something.
An unexpected response came from her.
I'll inform Shaun of this. You shouldn't be the one to break it to him.
Thank you… That gives me peace of mind.
Don't mention it kid. Just be careful.
Okay…
With… that, Shen disappeared. Allisa was asleep, and the two kids were asleep in the earthen igloo I made.
With slight struggles, to put it lightly— I lifted Allisa, ignoring the roaring in my muscles and carried her into the igloo. I rested her head in my lap, then I rested my head against the side.
My mind was foggy, but every time I closed my eyes, Vivienna's body stuck to it. Won't be able to sleep…
Stay awake, distract yourself… Need to distract myself…
Until morning came, I worked on earth manipulation— whilst being careful with keeping the heat inside the igloo. My mind couldn't come up with any ideas.
Once everyone had woken up, we began going forward but with an air of silence.