288 Skollwood Adventures Part 10: Familiar

Her vision blurred as tears welled up in her eyes. 

She looked up, tightening her fists

She was going to make things different. 

"Vy, Vy!" the familiar voice of the sweet young child. 

Hearing her voice again felt like an arrow through her heart. Tears fell from her eyes as her heart ached. 

"Elette… Elette!" Vy called out. 

She got onto her feet immediately, running forward. But before she could get far Vy tripped and fell onto the ground. Something grabbed on to her ankles, holding her down. 

"Vy! Help me!" the voice called out yet again. 

"I'm coming Elette! I'm coming!" Vy screamed as she crawled her way towards the sound of the voice. 

But little did she know she was sinking deeper into the ground. Vy tried to reach for her energy dagger but it was nowhere to be found. No matter how much she struggled, she continued to sink into the ground. 

She was swallowed whole by the darkness. 

When she opened her eyes once more, Vy searched the room immediately. She could see Lycster with his back facing her. 

"Lycster…" she called out as she ran towards him. 

"Don't come near me!" the boy shouted across. 

Vy stopped in her tracks. 

"You're a murderer! You killed Elette!" her brother accused her. 

"Lycster, I…"

He turned around to face her as she got close. Anger, disappointment, disgust, were all written in his eyes. Her brother had tears in his eyes as he gritted his teeth and tightened his fists.

"How could you do that?! She was just a child!"

Vy crumbled to the ground. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Her heart was pounding in her ears. 

"It… it was an accident," 

Lycster pushed her away. 

He pointed his finger at her as he raged, "You could have saved her! But you just let her die! I don't have a sister like you!"

Lycster ran away in the opposite direction. 

"Lycster, no… wait!" Vy called out after him. Her legs were weak but she still mustered all the strength she had in her to get up. 

She ran after him. But no matter how fast she ran, she could never catch up to him. She was not certain how long she was running for when her legs finally gave way. Vy was gasping for air, taking in deep breaths. 

"How could you let me die, Vy?" Elette's voice whispered in Vy's ear. 

But when she looked all around, there was no one there. 

"How could you do this to me?" the voice whispered again. 

"No… that's not it. I… I-"

"Why did you let me die Vy?" 

"Why did you let me die, Vy?" all the Elette copies echoed together in a monotonous tone. 

As they repeated their question, Vy could not take it any longer, she covered her ears with her hands. What she did not realise, is that the temperature around her had begun to drop significantly.

"I didn't… I didn't!" she exclaimed as she shook her head. 

But the voices were still ringing in her ears, causing her head to spin. 

"I did everything I could to save you!" Vy shouted into the void. 

As soon as her words echoed throughout the space, a wave of ice magic turned all the Elettes into ice sculptures. Together, all of them cracked and shattered into ice shards. A hole opened up beneath Vy and she fell down into it. 

When she opened her eyes again, Vy was in the middle of a snow-covered forest. All around her were the strewn corpses of everyone she ever knew, impaled by shards of ice. She was in her hybrid Dark Kyu form, with her nine flowing tails on her back. 

Aether was nowhere to be seen, but the spirit of the Dark Kyu stood before her in a spectral form. 

-You've succumbed to the darkness. It is time for us to join forces.- the dark kyu's voice rang in her mind. 

"No… no… I don't know what you're talking about," Vy's voice was shaking. 

Her hands were shaking. Her breathing was all over the place. She was afraid. 

The Dark Kyu turned to look at the massacre all around them. -You did this. You dare deny it?- 

Vy fell back into the snow, shaking her head. She covered her mouth with her hand. 

"I… no…"

-This is all your handiwork. I must say, you're stronger than I have ever imagined. Together, we would be unstoppable.- the Dark Kyu declared. 

"No!" Vy tightened her fists as she launched herself at the Dark Kyu.

But dark tendrils sprung up through the snow, grabbing onto her legs and arms. No matter how much she struggled Vy could not get out of their grasp. The more she struggled, the tighter they held onto her. 

Since it was useless to fight against it, Vy stopped. She allowed the tendrils to hold her in place as the Dark Kyu approached her. She looked up into the sky, watching the twinkling stars accompanying the moon in the sky. 

Something about this felt so peaceful. The moment of calm allowed her to clear her mind and come to terms with the situation. 

"I'm not afraid of this," she muttered to herself. 

-What did you say?- 

Vy looked straight at the Dark Kyu in the eye. 

"I'm not afraid of our power. Not any more."

She had allowed her fears to control her long enough. It was time for her to stand up and fight her own battles. If the time she had spent with Lycster after the Arkwing Castle incident meant anything, it gave her time to learn how to move on. 

Aether was there to support her when she needed it the most. What had happened was already in the past. She could not turn back time to fix those mistakes, but she can do everything in her power to pave the way for a better future. 

With a grin on her face and a tear in her eye, she declared, "You have no control over me."

The Dark Kyu instantly dissipated into the air, leaving behind the familiar face of a young child. A child she once called her little sister. The tendrils no longer had the power to hold Vy in place. She did not let anything stop her as she went up to cup the young child's right cheek. 

Elette's eyes were hollow, blank. 

"Why did you let me die?" she whispered to Vy. 

"I did everything I could to save you. I'm sorry," Vy apologised as she pulled her little sister in for a hug.