[@AdmrlStalfos19]

[b]Uchima Senior High - Hallway outside Faculty Office, 3rd Floor, Classroom Building???[/b]

For what seemed like an eternity within the darkness, nothing responded to Etsu's demand. No wise voice to teach her the truth behind her doomed fate. No saviour to sweep her away from the foul appendages of the beast slowly draining her lifeblood. No torch to illuminate the black pit inside the very depths of her weakening heart. There was nothing. Nothing that would give Etsu comfort, that would give her even the slightest sign of everything being fine.

There was nothing.

[right][i]There aren't many who can remember their identity when in this domain.[/i][/right]

Then there was something.

A single point of light, faint in the distance.

A faint blue.

Another point of light.

Another. And another. And another.

They grew in number, each little glow accumulating one by one, stabbing through the darkness with warmth and light. And they grew in size, the black void retreating before them. No, not growing in size. Far from it.

They were coming closer.

Butterflies.

Blue butterflies, the servants of Psyche herself. A beautiful cloud that approached, each flap of their fragile wings graceful.

And before Etsu, they began to coalesce.

[right][i]The scent of fresh soil.[/i]

[i]The sound of joyful laughter.[/i]

[i]The embrace of a mother.[/i][/right]

The world snapped back into detail.

The fearsome golden eyes of the beast stared down at her.

Its ignoble scent.

The choking sensation of its claws upon her throat.

Yet now ...

[center][i]I am thou... Thou art I... From the sea of thy soul, I come...[/i][/center]