'That's right...'
Yarnha's hands instinctively grabbed the Monster's wrist as she was choked by its hand.
'Focus on me... Focus... On me.'
The Monster tightened its grip around the Spirit's neck.
'Kill... Me. Kill me, and then-'
Suddenly, Yarnha was let go of.
Her knees hit the ground.
With her hands on her aching neck, she gasped for air.
The Monster stared at her from above, before looking away.
Was it about to leave?
"Now that you're like this..."
The words sent shivers down Yarnha's spine.
"I'm sure even Fire could take over the Forest."
Her body started shaking.
No.
Not the Forest.
Anything but that.
The Monster extended its right hand towards an area dense with trees.
And just when a Great Fire Ball was being formed in front of its palm,
Grab-
"Let go."
The shivering hands didn't do as told.
"Let go." The Monster repeated.
Down Yarnha's grimacing face, tears flowed as her trembling hands held the Monster's left wrist.
"Not... The Forest..."
"Not the Forest?"
"Kill me... Leave... The Forest..."
"Why... Should I do you that favor?"
"Allow it to survive... Don't hurt it further... Let the beauty... Remain... And grow..."
A darkness took hold of the Monster's eyes as he stared at the Spirit on the ground.
"That speech about beauty earlier." The Monster pulled its wrist away. "It was all bullshit, huh?"
"It's-"
The Spirit's words were interrupted, as its hair was suddenly taken hold of.
"Huh? It's?" The Monster pressed as it pulled Yarnha closer from her hair.
"It's... The truth."
"Sacrificing the ugliness for the beauty, huh?"
"Yes!" Yarnha answered with a shout as she opened her eyes wide.
Inches away, was the Monster's face.
And what a horrendous and ugly face it was.
"Then..." The Monster tightened its grip over the Spirit's face. "What about them?"
Yarnha clenched her teeth as her hair was pulled further.
"Sacrificing the ugly for the beautiful... How does-"
"BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE ALLOWED-"
The Spirit's hair was suddenly let go of.
And just as suddenly, its jaw was grabbed, covering the mouth.
"Shut up."
Tears went down her face, climbed over the Monster's hand, and continued their descent.
"During all my time in this world, there has never been..." Yarnha shut her eyes. "Something more beautiful than them. Than Krista and Elisa. And yet, you were about to sacrifice them. To kill them. Why? WHY?" The Monster shouted, demanding an answer.
But the Spirit's lips couldn't part. Its mouth couldn't open.
The Monster was demanding an answer, yet its grip around Yarnha's jaw only grew stronger.
"You were going to kill them... For me. To get me. All you've said until now is a lie, Spirit. It's all backwards. You were about to sacrifice the beautiful... For the ugly. Why?"
Yarnha's shuddering grew more intense.
The Monster's words seemed to hurt her even more than the Corruption going through her body.
Or perhaps, it was because both worked in unison.
"Why were you trying... To take them from me?"
For the first time in its long life, the Spirit had listened to its Greed.
No.
For the first time in its life, the Spirit had felt Greed.
And Yarnha acted upon that Greed.
For the first time, a selfish desire...
But was it truly selfish?
Yarnha had found something that could potentially strengthen the Forest.
Something that could give it more power.
Something that could allow it to better protect itself.
Was it selfish?
Yes. That's what Yarnha felt.
After all, it meant forcibly taking from another.
Something that a Nature Spirit shouldn't do. Something that they don't do. Nature Spirits get what they find. They get what they are given. They do not take.
Yarnha had acted, for the first time in her life, selfishly.
And the World had judged her for it.
Punishment for her Greed.
That's what she thought the Monster was.
But the Forest, no.
That was going too far.
'Kill me... So that a new Spirit can be born. So that a better one can protect-'
The Monster, impatient for an answer that the questioned didn't seem keen on giving, let out a merciless kick.
Yarnha's body was launched away, as trails of blood and tears intertwined in the air.
She brought her palms together.
Even if it meant dying.
Even if it meant pain.
Even if it meant disappearing.
Even if it meant allowing the Corruption to advance faster throughout her body.
'Kill me... Monster.'
Her palms came into contact with one another as her body moved through the air.
The ground started shaking.
Cracks appeared all over it.
The next second, Monsters emerged from the ground.
The creatures weren't Monsters, but they were treated as such.
They could move freely after all.
They even had fangs.
If it weren't for the dark spots that covered them, for the decaying portions of their bodies here and there, they could have been described as dangerous, but beautiful.
Flowers and plants with minds of their own.
The Monster's claws proved ineffective against them. And so, it had no choice but to target the bleeding and weeping Spirit.
Channeling Mana through those Creatures without taking control of them makes the Creatures indestructible. In return, the Spirit's own body is weakened.
As the Monster ran towards the Spirit, the latter's body was at its weakest.
Yarnha pushed her body off the ground.
While seated on her knees, she rose her arms to the sides slightly, and shut her eyes.
Welcoming the Monster.
Welcoming Death.
Blink-
"You didn't think it would be this easy, did you?"
'Huh?'
Yarnha opened her eyes slightly.
The Monster's claws were only inches away.
Inches away from piercing her skull.
"You didn't think I would be scared of them, did you?"
Her body shivered as the hand moved.
Grab-
Yarnha's eyes widened, as her dress was taken hold of.
The Creatures that had emerged from the ground couldn't move.
They were indestructible, but they couldn't move away from the area.
The Monster ran away from that area, while dragging the Spirit with it.
The latter's dress screamed out once in a while, when the bones that made up its lower portion collided with one another or with the ground.
Once the distance was judged suitable by the Monster, the Spirit was roughly cast aside and,
Great Fire Ball-
Great Fire Ball-
Great Fire Ball-
Spheres of blazing flames rained down on the Forest.
Again, and again.
With each, Yarnha's heart screamed.
With each, she could feel every living being burning.
Every leaf, flower, Beast, and worm.
With each, a portion of what she loved most was decimated.
Right in front of her.
After shooting a dozen Great Fire Balls, the Monster turned back towards the collapsed Spirit.
It wanted to see the expression on the Spirit's face. It wanted to see the Spirit's pain.
But as he turned around, the Spirit wasn't collapsed.
The Monster took a sudden step back, as Yarnha stood inches away.
Time seemed to stop, as the Spirit's hands moved towards the Monster's.
The Monster wanted to jump back, but it didn't.
Gently and carefully, Yarnha held the Monster's hand.
"It's enough. Please, stop this."
The Monster's eyebrow twitched.
"If you want any more, take it out on me. Please..."
Yarnha's eyes shone with a certain light.
Not the light emitted by Mana or Aura.
A kind of light the Monster had never seen.
Not since being Reborn anyways.
"Don't hurt the Forest any further."
The Monster's dark eyes widened, and the two stood in silence.
"D-Don't-" It stuttered.
"I'm sorry about attacking you. About taking them-"
"Don't... Apologize-" The Monster stepped back.
"I'm sorry..." Yarnha refused to let go of his hand. "About targetting them. I never should have. They truly are beautif-"
The Monster hurriedly jumped back.
It stumbled as it landed on the ground.
The world was spinning.
Its head was hurting.
Its body was trembling.
For a moment, the Monster seemed about to go mad as it stared at the ground.
And with tender eyes, Yarnha stared at the Monster.
"Not... Enough..."
"Then kill me. Right here, right now." Yarnha said as she raised her arms to the side.
"You... Took them from me."
"I...?"
The Monster's trembling grew more intense.
"You took them... When they were the only thing I had. The only thing I knew. YOU TOOK THEM!"
Yarnha's eyes widened, and they were filled with sorrow.
"YOU TOOK THEM FOR ME!! THE ONLY ONES I HAD IN THIS WORLD! THE ONLY ONES I KNEW! I KNOW NOTHING ELSE HERE!!! AND YET... And yet... That wasn't enough for you. YOU TRIED TAKING EVEN MORE FROM ME!! WHY? WHY? WHY??"
Yarnha understood.
"I'LL KILL YOU! AND YOU'LL SUFFER FOR IT! I'LL MAKE YOU BEG FOR DEATH MORE! MORE! MORE!"
Her sin wasn't her Greed.
"Because I'm not the only one you took from..."
It wasn't acting selfishly for the first time.
"You took from her too."
Her sin was messing with their Souls.
Something that the World couldn't accept.
Something she had done plenty of times.
"I've finally found you again... I'm not letting you go... Not this time... I'm..."
'When... Did it start?' Yarnha asked herself.
Standing in front of Mark, wasn't the Spirit.
"I'LL MAKE YOU SUFFER! I'LL TAKE EVERYTHING FROM YOU! EVERYTHING!! AND THEN... I'LL TAKE THEM BACK!!"
