Mine:

The instant the fireworks start shooting off, it’s as if Suzume enters a trance as she stares blankly at the sky. My eyes are on her instead as I wait, and watch, it’s not a long moment, but one that seems forever to me. With all the noise and other senses, for someone so new to all of this, at least the World’s End Festival, it can be a bit overwhelming. I know I was in shock when I first came here with the village. Suzume was still very young the festival was last held.

My intuition tells me as much as she jolts and blinks a few times before looking over to me.

“What’s going on?” She questions, and I ask if she’s okay. But she expresses the strangest look, one I have never seen on anyone. A fear, much like I have had before, but her’s, it just seems so much more real then my own. Like she is truly terrified of what is going on to her. I have felt that from her before, but now it’s sinking into me as well.

I’m tied to this.

She backs away from me as her expression changes, she glares at me, a fury in her eyes which I immediately match, now angry at her. “You’re not Mine.” She speaks, but louder before turning away and running off.

I try to resist my urge to follow her, I do know she needs space, but this, her reaction doesn’t make sense to me, nor does mine to her, why did I match her? But I cave, following her, I do try to keep myself at a distances, wondering where she is going, what is she doing. A cooling breeze from the night sky and billowing clouds above nipping at my bare skin and I wonder if I should have gone with the longer Yukata, but it’s only a brief thought.

She takes to the skies, her beautiful wings unlike my violet ones, are orange, similar to monarch wings. High in the skies, but just below the clouds, she follows an energy that is overflowing with joy. I can feel it myself as I trail her. But my intuition is telling me she has no idea where she is going, or what she is doing. She’s just running.

When she does land, I see the people dancing, and I hear the music which has filled my ears for awhile now. It’s quite soothing and makes me want to join in. I land a ways behind her, watching from behind a tree as she is on the outskirts of the opening in the forest. The joyful dancing continues as she takes a seat, looking on, resisting the dance as I am.

A black wisp emanate from the crown of Suzume. It slowly takes form into a man before walking and taking a seat next to her. They look to be talking when he stands again and bows, lending a hand to her, an invitation for a dance.

Stop this…

Proceeding forward an arm outstretched in-front of me stops my advances and I look to see Lou. A smile on his face and watching on as I was, he brings his arm back to his side. “You don’t want to stop this.”

“Yes I do.” I say, but unsure of myself, why did I want to stop it?

“Kayka has tasked me with watch you during the festival, you haven’t any control over your actions if they involve her,” He points forward as the two take each others hands and Suzume’s mood brightens as she begins dancing with the man. Red flowers sprouting beneath their feet. “I’m here to point that out to you, it’s a concept which you haven’t considered, you haven’t learned to quell your actions, or had to before.”

“Why am I mad at her?” I ask and he remains mute. His arm falling back to his side. “I need to understand it myself right?”

To which he nods calmly. “tell me, what does your intuition tell you about this?”

My eyes have remained on Suzume and the man that formed from her, I don’t ponder for long as I speak. “Suzume has manifested a past aspect of herself, one who had embody the emotions and feelings that she will be needing going forward. When she took his hand, she accepted that she must heal her soul. But she doesn’t know that, she’s just flowing.”

“That’s the apprentice priestess for you,” he laughs.

Their dancing continues awhile longer before a very clear “All you need is a bit of bravery,” echos from the man as he dissipates into smoke, entering Suzume who is brimming with a smile. It’s as if she was enchanted before coming back to our reality.

“She literally absorbed her previous aspect to continue growing now.” Kayka’s voice enters my mind, “sorry, been busy so Lou is my proxy.”

We both acknowledge Kayka’s voice in our minds as she continues, “Mine, now is when you and Suzume must go. You will need to find one of the Burdens to bring out what is left of this darkened part of Suzume’s soul. It must be brought to the surface to heal. As she is now, it’s going to always be asleep. Which is why I suggest you go first to a town on the skirts of these lands. The Minor Burden of Jealousy is there and awaits you two.”

I really don’t want to travel anywhere with her, showing her around was a pain in itself. “I don’t want to help her.” I say and Lou pats me on the back, quite rough too.

“When the two of you heal, that feeling will be gone, so you have to do this to rid yourself of it.” Lou says, and Kayka confirms his words to me.

“Leave this to fester and you will always feel this way. When you move on from this life, that will hang with you, and it will get to a point where it boils over, where you can no longer move forward...really you can’t move forward until it’s settled between you two now.”

Turning to look at Lou, as he’s the only one around he gives me a hug, “You’ll be fine, remember it’s just a feeling, you have no reason to act on that feeling. Scream and shout if you want, but don’t do anything to cause Suzume harm, she has to deal with the blunt of all this since she is in a sense the carrier of the memory. She is the one who experienced it.”

I let a few tears fall as I think of how truly angry I am at her, I have no idea why. It’s just that, I am about to shout but I hold my tongue as I turn to her, she is walking away from the other souls who are all cheering for her. In the back of my mind I want to as well.

But I can’t.

She walks though the flowers which glisten in the night sky, a red hue coming off of them and casting their shades on the two of us as I greet her. She has a frown, but she still looks kind of happy by what ever transpired between her and herself.

“We need to go find a Burden,” I tell her, trying to be as pleasant to her as possible. “We’re going to The Minor Burden of Jealousy first…”

“She will be able to direct you better then I as I am unaware of the locations of the Burdens.” Kayka’s words echo in my mind.

“She’ll be directing us.” I tell Suzume as she walks past me instead and I turn to see her parents coming from the road that runs past the opening. She embraces the two of them in a hug, while her mother looks directly at me, as if she wants to tell me not to harm her daughter. Her dad is far more gentle with me, as he parts from the hug and pats my head.

“You’ll be fine, this isn’t something to worry about. We’ll be holding space for Suzume in the mean time. I wish the best of luck to you.”

“We’re leaving now?” Suzume asks, turning back to her father. He nods.

“You both need to head out, there is a time limit...that is to say you need to be ready for the reenactment of your memories.”

Suzume’s face contorts and I’m taken aback as I think I heard him correctly…

“Reenactment?” I question and Kayka’s voice soothe me.

“What he means is that you’ll be entering another Pitfall once Suzume is ready, but she has to be physically the same as she was during the memories. So yes, there is a time limit. You two have three years in Earth time to complete the task of getting Suzume ready for her memory. You only need to deal with your anger that long...if you heal the memory like it should be, your anger will vanish.”

Suzume doesn’t hear this explanation, and it doesn’t sound like either her parents heard it. Lou watches us from a far and I go over to her and rest my hands on her shoulders. Pressing my forehead to hears, I take a deep breath and she follows suit with her. My mind is still a buzz with hatred for her, but I know this will calm us both down as I hum. Both her parents crowed around us and hum, we embrace in a kind of hug while we all hum, and I can feel Suzume’s heart settle.

“We’ll await for your return.” Her father tells us as I hold Suzume’s hand in mine, and we part from the hug.

“It’s but a moment, but will feel longer,” her mother tells Suzume’s directly as she plants a kiss on her forehead, tears in her own eyes. “You will succeed.”

“You will,” Kayka’s voice tells me, “but once you’re off this land, I will no longer be able to communicate with you, although I can astral travel if that is necessary.” Good luck you two.”

I say her words aloud so Suzume hears what she says and she nods. I’m unsure if she understood completely, but she is loosing her innate abilities, sure Kayka can direct who she is talking with, but all should be able to hear. She just seems lost.

We part further from her parents as I call my wings from the astral, and unfurl them, Suzume copying me. Lou remains by the trees and gives us a thumbs up as we leave them. We have three years, but is it really going to take us that long to do? I have a general idea of where the town that Kayka has mentioned to be at, so that is the direction we’re heading in.

Hand in hand, I glace at Suzume, her mouth tightly closes as tears continue to stream down her cheeks. She is very scared of what is going on with her, and I feel that, but I always feel my burning hatred for her. I want to be nice but part of me…

Part of me just wants to leave her be.