'Why? WHY DID I LET GO?' Regret was suffocating her, crippling her mind, drowning her senses.
When her tears fell down on the whale it moved.
Then, a jarring stillness made her think. The whale wasn't swimming; it was a silent titan directly beneath her.
With a sudden, powerful surge of its fluke, it sent a colossal plume of water arcing into the air, drenching Siya in an icy, shocking embrace.
She gasped, breath held captive in her lungs. The whale's eye, vast and fathomless, seemed to fix on her. It was waiting.
A chill ran through her veins.
'Do you… do you know where she is? My sister?' Her voice shakes with fear of losing her sister.
Another splash, less violent this time, more insistent, and then the leviathan turned, its immense form gliding through the spectral waters. With nothing left but a sliver of desperate hope, Siya scrambled to her feet, following its illuminated path from above.
Time stretched, warped by anxiety. Then, a flicker in the distance, a silhouette, impossibly small, was growing larger. Running towards her.
It was Sayo, her form was becoming clearer.
Relief was so potent that it was agonizing. She kept stumbling, falling again, just as Sayo reached her.
'I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry… I shouldn't have… never…' Siya's words were broken, choked by hiccuping sobs as she clung to Sayo, burying her face in her sister's shoulder.
'Shhh, it's okay. It's alright.' Sayo's voice felt soothing, her embrace tightened with an unspoken understanding, 'I know why you did. It wasn't your fault, Siya. It truly wasn't.'
But as she held her sister, Sayo felt the unyielding core of Siya's self-blame, a wound that her words alone could not heal.
'Thank God! You are safe.' Siya cried .
Suddenly, a light appeared behind Sayo, so blindingly brilliant it seared Siya's vision even through closed eyelids.
A doorway, shimmering with impossible light, pulsed into existence.
'Let's go,' Sayo urged her. She pulled Siya upwards.
Siya's limbs were heavy, unresponsive, but Sayo's strength was supporting her. She noticed Sayo was in her past life form.
As they stepped across the threshold, a radiant halo ignited behind Sayo's head, bathing her in celestial light.
In that instant, Siya saw it – their forms shimmered, overlaid with images of another time. They were Rose and Lily once more. Their features subtly, undeniably, shifted to the visages of their past.
They halted before a figure cloaked in white, the fabric flowing like liquid moonlight. His face, when he turned, was of such serene beauty. A soft, internal luminescence emanated from his body, from head to toe, a divine radiance.
'Lilien Liel Martinez.' His voice felt resonating deep within Siya's soul as he laid his hand gently upon her head.
"He is blessing you," Sayo murmured, her eyes filled with a smile .
'Ruan Siya,' His gaze was penetrating yet kind. 'Today,I will bless your name with your soul, give you a soul name, and with it, your weapon. Choose.' He gestured towards where two halves of a single, fractured stone lay.
'For me?' Siya whispered with her trembling voice.
The sight was deeply unsettling. The stones yearned to be whole, yet were presented as sundered.
One half bore the inscription 'Zephyr' and the other, 'Eryine'. The design also seemed like they can be represented as one.
'What… what do these names mean?' she dared to ask, as it didn't seem normal. "Why is the stone broken?" She looked at Sayo hoping for an answer.
Seiki, the divine being, remained silent, His luminous eyes holding a stare towards Sayo.
'Go on,' Sayo encouraged, her voice gentle but firm. 'Choose the piece that calls to you.'
A sudden, sharp realization pierced through Siya's daze. Sayo's calm, her familiarity with this sacred, terrifying process… it all clicked. "You were here?" Siya whispered, the words barely audible. "You've already been blessed?"
Sayo met her gaze, a serene smile on her lips. "Yes, Lily. I have been here and I have yet to be blessed."
The relief that washed over Siya was so profound it felt like a physical weight lifting from her shoulders. A shaky breath escaped her as she turned to Seiki. 'I choose… Eryine.' She hesitated a bit.
Seiki's eyes held a deep sigh. 'Very well then.' With a graceful sweep of her hand, she blessed Siya.
A soft, golden light pulsed from the stone, a name settling like a warm ember in Sayo's chest and another in Siya's. The stone itself didn't shatter; instead, it transformed, the pieces reshaping into two small, elegant daggers.
Seiki placed the hilts of the daggers into their open hands. 'You can now name your weapons. They will respond to protect you. You must treat them with respect, as they will be a reflection of you.'
Everything was happening too fast, a blur of motion and magic that left Siya's mind reeling. "What… what name?" she stammered, her eyes wide.
Sayo's voice steadily guided her "You should place your hand on the hilt, give it a name, and speak it aloud."
"Oh!" Siya's confusion was replaced by a look of sheer wonder as her gaze fell upon the dagger in her hand.
Its design was breathtaking, a masterpiece of intricate carvings that seemed to pulse with a life of its own.
"Beautiful you!" she whispered, her fingers tracing the delicate patterns. "I name you Dhushore. You will be my companion, my comfort… a shield for my soul."
As the words left her lips, they didn't just hang in the air; they flowed into the dagger, embedding themselves in the very essence of the metal. The blade shimmered, a silent agreement forged between her and the weapon.
'Those are the first words they have heard from you,' Seiki explained. 'They will remember how you treated them at this moment. That settles the connection with you and your Ruh permanently.'
A genuine smile, bright and unrestrained, lit up Siya's face. She turned to Sayo, expecting to see her in a similar state of wonder, but Sayo was simply holding her dagger.
"I already named it," Sayo said, her voice a low murmur. "Rikash."
Siya's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't even noticed when Sayo had spoken the name.
'Everything is done,' Seiki announced, gesturing toward a large, ornate door. 'Now you may leave.'
The door swung open with a deep, resonant groan, revealing the outside world. The brilliant sunlight felt jarring after the soft glow of the chamber.
A carriage waited, its horses pawing the ground restlessly. Their parents were there, too, pacing with a worried desperation that vanished the moment their eyes landed on their daughters