Chapter 195 195: Declaration
“Ah, did you manage to get all your frustration out? Then, we should head back to the surface now. We have a lot of work to do.”
Aurora found herself not being able to look Ava in the face. She knew that it was not Ava’s fault that such a situation had occurred but Aurora still found herself angry at the outlooker.
‘She could have helped us and this all would not have happened.’ The thought plagued Aurora’s mind before she shook it off.
Even she knew that Ava could not have acted as she liked in another’s territory. It was stupid of Aurora to expect the outlooker to risk her life for Natasha’s sake.
“Oh, and before I forget! Here, this is the locket we came down here for. You will be able to hide your aura with the hold of this locket.”
Aurora could not bring herself to take the locket from Ava’s hands. It felt heavy to even look at. All Aurora wanted to do was to throw it as far as she could and never see it again.
But Aurora did not do that. She could not because Rita picked up the locket and held it up.
“Turn around. Let me put it up on you.”
The red of Rita’s eyes was more of a purplish color. It made Aurora feel like she was talking with Natasha. Even the voice Rita let out was cold and rigid. It did not sound like her at all.
Aurora turned around and raised her hair. She could feel Rita’s gaze aimed at her neck but Aurora did not flinch away from her.
“All done. It looks good on you.”
The end of the locket came to rest on Aurora’s breasts and sank in between them. It was difficult to see, especially when Aurora had clothes on.
But she had a feeling that Rita was not talking about the locket specifically.
“Ok, enough flirting around me. Let’s head out now. Aurora, did you send the message to the Northern Republic to inform them what happened to their princess?”
Aurora nodded, her heart still feeling heavy.
As soon as she had finished her round with Rita, Aurora had made it a priority to inform the Northern Republic and Rex about what happened down here.
Rex had assured her that the Northern Republic did not hold her responsible but Aurora found it a hard pill to swallow.
The Northern Republic had converted into a full-on republic as soon as the truth of their nation had been revealed.
Since corruption and sinking were no longer an outcome for them, the monopoly of nobility did not matter.
The nation had let go of its past and its princess. So the loss of their monarch was not as big a blow.
“It’ll be alright. Besides, Natasha is not dead, she’s just resting inside me. We might not hear her speak again but I’ll keep telling you how she feels.”
Aurora knew that this was Rita’s way of cheering her up and it was working to an extent. Aurora did feel better already.
“Oi, I just told you both that we need to go. We will be late for the ceremony otherwise.”
Ava’s yelling finally got the other two moving. It was time to leave the abyss.
Aurora and Rita had made a small grave for Natasha’s body in the abyss itself. It would not be possible for them to take her body above ground since it had already disappeared as a result of soul merging.
It had been a difficult thing to do but the upcoming ceremony would be even more difficult.
“I am a little worried to have asked Rex to help me prepare a funeral for Natasha near the academy but I’m sure he would have done a fine job.”
Rex had assured Aurora that everything would be ready when she returned to the surface.
It did not take long for them to return to the surface and they were welcomed by a guilt-ridden face that belonged to Damina. Aurora could read what the young teen did not say.
“It is not your fault that Natasha died. You being down there with us would not have helped Natasha. So don’t blame yourself needlessly.”
Aurora assured the kid as soon as she dragged herself out of the hole. She knew what the kid was thinking but Aurora did not want him to drag himself through the mud.
“I am not blaming myself. Sacrifices are necessary to win a war and someone was bound to die sooner or later.”
Aurora felt her heart hurt at the kid’s speech. It was clear that he had lost people to the tower before and it had hardened his heart.
But the pain of loss was never going to become easier.
“Anyway, we pitched a lot of effort to give Natasha a beautiful grave. Astoria even managed to grow plants around her grave because Natasha loved flowers.”
Damina led the trio toward the back of the academy. The once-barren land had been transformed into a beautiful garden with various flowers and trees covering the area.
The center of the park held a large rock covered by veins and it had only one name in the center of it.
Natasha Kowalski
The princess of North.
May she find peace in the afterlife.
The words were simple and minimalistic. They were very much like Natasha herself and Aurora felt her eyes fill with tears.
She quickly diverted her eyes toward Rita and the redhead had silent tears running down her face as well.
When she turned her head toward Aurora, her eyes were blue and brimming with happiness. At that moment, Aurora was sure of one thing – the one looking back at her was Natasha and not Rita.
No hint of Rita’s red eyes could be found on that face.
“Thank you for loving me. I feel like I can leave in peace now.”
Aurora wanted to say a lot of things to Natasha but her throat felt blocked every time she tried to. Aurora had no right to say anything to Natasha right now.
Not when the other was asking Aurora to let go of her and to keep on moving toward her goal.
“No, thank you for loving me. For loving us all and following us till the end. I will see the end to my journey for you as well.”
Aurora did not know what her end goal was. When she had started this new life, all she had wanted to do was to exact her revenge at the tower and collect Clove’s soul.
That goal had not changed at all but Aurora also knew that it could not be the end goal for her.
The abyss was the real threat here, it was the real consumer and the reason everything had gone wrong.
Perhaps once Aurora was done exploring the things on the surface, she would take her time and explore the depths of the abyss as well.
There had to be a way to put an end to the cursed existence that was the abyss. It hid so many more secrets than it told the human race.
‘One day, I will conquer it all and see past the tragedy that caused it to exist. But for now, I need to focus on the present and make sure that the sacrifices that were made on our behalf do not end up being in vain.’
“Aurora, do you want to say something to these people? They are waiting for your words.”
Rex arrived on the scene as well, his white clothes depicting his mourning period. It felt good to see him again but Aurora knew she needed to pull herself together.
More than a dozen eyes were focused on Aurora, waiting for her to address them all. These people trusted Aurora to lead them and prepare them for future dangers.
“This sucks, but I won’t pretend that this loss never happened. The abyss is dangerous like that and this would not be the last sacrifice it will take from us.” Aurora paused, taking in the frightened faces, “but, that is why I will do my best to prepare you all. We cannot let fear stop us here or this will be the end for us all.”
There were only a handful of students in the Rocx academy for now but a lot more would come once the news of their successful expedition spread across the masses.
Only losing one person in the abyss was considered a miracle for anyone who was not from the tower’s main branch and Aurora had even managed to take artifacts out.
They would be getting busy pretty soon. The delegates from the council would be here tomorrow and Aurora needed to make sure everything would be up to the mark for their arrival.
“The real fight is just starting now. Everyone, brace yourself because the upcoming week is going to be hectic. We will not go down without a fight.”