Reaching Salvation: Post-Acer Part 12

"Are you sure you're okay?" Nathan asked Celeste. His face was a concerned one and he placed a hand on her shoulder to check on her. This was her mindscape and he was well aware of the danger she could be in.

Celeste turned around, her expression frazzeled and a bit crazed, before looking into Nathan's eyes and calming down slightly. "I'm... okay."

They continued to walk, Nathan could hear voices from the trees, sometimes crying and other times laughter, until-

Celeste's voice, high with fear came out. "Lissa. Put down the gun, please, Melissa. Put it down, put it-!"

Thunder cracked like the sound of a gun.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Celeste screamed.

"Celeste!?" Nathan yelled by her side in seconds his hands on her shoulder again. "You need to calm down!"

"What do you see?" This must have been her memories. He'd read about them in Shima's files... but never had he expected to experience them.

Tears were starting to run down the girl's cheeks. "S-she... why did she kill herself...? Why...?"

The voices coming out of the forest strted to come out again, this time a voice of wonder.

"This... energy... why is it...?"

The girl's hands began to be tinged with greenish-blue. The rabbit behind the tree peaked back, it was covered with the same material.

"Flow." Celeste whispered under her breath in wonder.

"You're beginning to remember!" Nathan assured her. He placed his hands on either side of her neck so that she could look into his eyes. "Trust me... first come's the pain... but then the good memories will come."

"N-nathan..." Celeste looked up into the boy's eyes until the voices came once more.

"I must say... you'll be an interesting addition to my collection, Miss Knight."

The girl began to struggle in Nathan's hold, screaming and swearing, her hands clawing at the ground until a roar of pain could be heard from the trees. Celeste went limp. After a moment she began to return to normal, though her face was hard.

"Celeste is dead." She said in a monotone. Small, barely heard words came from the trees. "My name is Erika Knight, I'm just passing through..."

A jolt of pain coursed through her body, her features became sharper, her hair was getting longer, and her clothes changed. Nathan was also going through the changing.

"I-it hurts..." Erika said to Nathan.

Nathan looked almost distraught as he tried to hold Erika, pulling her into a hug as he heard that it hurt. "Just wait... the memories of Joey, Elena and Heidi will be coming soon." He assured her, trying his best to stay calm.

Multiple voices could be heard from the trees, voices of either the gamemakers or Acer contestants. Both her and Nathan starter to look better fed. Erika seemed to be soothed, but also jumpy.

"He gave me a diamond... does that mean he-?" Erika looked confused, her cheeks turning red, then turned happy as Elena's voice, along with Adeline's and Heidi's rose up from beyond the fray of voices. "Family."

A few moments later Erika stared at Nathan with confusion... then anger. "You..."

Nathan saw the anger in her eyes and he lowered his gaze fully expecting this. She still had five years worth of anger and hurt to remember yet. He could only stay here and bare it.

"Are you trying to fucking compensate for something by trying to kill anyone who makes you mad?! You overpowered piece of-!" Erika then looks very, very confused. "Why did you save-?"

The voices started again, this time yelling and Elena screaming coming up loud before it turned into whimpering. Shadows started to leak out of the forest and circle around them, Ven's voice taunting. Erika looked terrified, before the shadows seemed to flinch back from the two of them.

"Nathan?" She looked up at the teen with evident confusion.

Nathan held her gaze unflinchingly, she hadn't reached the part when Darkness had threatened to over power him. There was still more of his wrongdoing to come.

He could only look back at her with sorrow.

The vocies continued, until Erika yelled and screamed, then all became still.

Hands reached up to touch Nathan's face, cupping it.

"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." She looked up sadly at Nathan, before it changed again. The girl seemed to be very far away, a thoughtful look on her face, then Joey's voice coming through the trees.

"I love you." Both voices said at the same time. Then it changed into one of embarrasment then annoyance. The hands that were cupping Nathan's face smacked the side of his head.

"You are an idiot." Erika deadpanned.

Nathan's chest was thundering and he almost felt like he was invading Erka's private thoughts but still he knelt there next to her. "I know..." he breathed sadly.

This continued until the second meeting with the Illuminati. Erika looked up at Nathan with betrayal. And for the next few minutes had to go through spouts of the girl yelling "I hate you!" and "Why the fuck did I let you-?!" and "Why the hell do I still love you?!" and "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

This turmoil eventually subsided, turning into Erika just scowling up at Nathan.

"You fucked up both of our lives real good, dude."

"You think...?" Nathan responded almost sarcastically as he looked straight into Erika's eyes. He hadn't quite realised how intertwined their lives had become since the tournament until today.

Erika went back to reliving other memories from the Tournament, either smiling or cheering or swearing or soothing spouted out. Until it finally lead to after the battle.

"I know after all this shit you probably would rather shoot me than listen to what I have to say." The teen looked tired, but there was something in her voice that seemed like it would make people listen. "They promised us Utopia, Salvation... and the majority they gave us was lies and a pile of crap."

Voices murmered from the trees once more.

"But that doesn't mean that now we go back to our lives. Because between you and me- the Acer Tournament was hell, but it gave me back soemthign I'd lost. And I think that's true for a lot of you, too... it gave us purpose, meaning. And I don't want to go back to wandering the earth and waiting to die one day."

Nathan had never heard her speech before, by this point he and the Illuminati had completely left to beginning training for their attack on the adults. It must have been then that her evolution to leader had taken place.

"Let's show the world that we aren't just going to die! We survived, we are the Survivors of Acer, and we will. Not. LOSE!"

Yells of agreement and cheers could be heard from around the forest, it seemed to get brighter, the shadows banished.

---

The years passed. The wedding, the fights, the returns, learnign she was pregnant, it all came back to her.

It was now the end, Erika and Nathan had returned to their normal looks. Erika looked tired, but was smiling at Nathan, pulling him into a hug.

Nathan returned the smile and the hug before sighing slightly at Erika.

"Don't ever do that again, Princess." He muttered. "We all thought we'd lost you." He stood up and after looking around at the landscape noticed what looked like a large rabbit hole. That would be their way out.

"Not planning on it." Erika replied, holding Nathan's hand. A small girl appeared from the darkness with long brown hair and maroon-colored eyes looking at the two with interest.

"I have too many important things to do." The brunette said confidantly, before the both of them walked into the light.

---

Nathan found himself back in the chair in Erika's room when he opened his eyes.

Joey was currently walking around the village, waiting for them to be done.

As soon as his eyes opened, Nathan was out of the chair and looking straight at Erika praying that he'd done enough.

Seeing Joey, Kira called out to him, though it didn't come out very loud. "J-Joey!"

Joey turned, and walked over. "Yes?"

"A-Ah...I was g-g-getting s-something o-out of...of th-the storage...a-and the building st-started to collapse!" Kira told him, sounding rather panicked. "I-I'm holding i-it up with vines...b-but th-that won't last t-too much longer..."