Chapter 15: Ash Like Snow

Riba ran down the stairs. Luigi was awake. It seemed as if time had kept going while the Memory Fragment ran its course, as opposed to the other times where it would be done in an instant. But that wasn't what worried Riba. What worried Riba was Len. She appeared old and frail. As if all her years had finally caught up to her.

"Len!" Riba shouted once more. He kneeled down next to Len, with Luigi already tending to her.

"Riba?" Len asked. "Is that you? I can't see."

"Yes, it's me, Len," Riba confirmed. "Are you---?"

"Dying? Yes," Len wheezed. She smiled, her glassy eyes unable to make out Riba's face. "But that's okay."

"No, it's not!" Riba shouted. "You can't!"

"Riba... the reason I didn't bring you to Mario immediately is because I thought, if you found him, you'd leave me behind..." Len explained. "I wanted to live every last second of my life with you."

In that moment, Riba didn't even have Mario on his mind. He was too worried about Len to even think about the implications of her dying. "What do I do now? You were my only friend left, Len."

"We can still help you!" Luigi cried.

"There's no saving me," Len said. The peace in her smile fell away. "Riba, there's still time. You need to find out who is doing this and stop them. Only then, can you save yourself. I want you to live, Riba..." Len paused, breathing heavily. She then spoke once more.

"If it weren't for you, the last few days of my life would have been wasted on me not feeling any emotion. I would have been as alone as ever. I would have died not feeling anything. But now I get to feel everything. Joy, sorrow, antipathy, dread, and fury. I'm feeling all these wonderful emotions I haven't felt in so long... so that's why I thank you. For helping me, saving me, teaching me the right path. For being my friend."

Riba held her hand up in both of his, as he sobbed. She said more, whimsically without a care in the world. "I want to laugh, cry, and scream all at the same time. It's amazing. I love this... I love you! I loved our adventure, I loved the friends we made along the way, I loved the food, the smells, the enemies, the things I felt, the things I saw... I loved it all! I love everything! This is the best I've ever felt!" Riba smiled through the tears. He felt her little fingers wrap in between his.

"I love you too, Len," Riba sobbed. "You're my best friend."

"You're my best friend, too," Len replied. She felt a tear run down her cheek. "It'll be okay. I believe in you, Riba... I know you're sad. But you'll be happy soon. I promise. Goodbye," Riba could see the outline of a cloaked figure with cat ears form around Len, like a shadow. Slowly, piece by piece, she began to melt into it. The last thing he saw of her was her smile. Until she was gone. Leaving behind only her cloak.

Riba fell to the ground on his face, out of energy or will to do anything. He curled up into a little ball and cried. The smile fell, leaving only an expression of agony. He held the cloak close to him, pretending Len was still in it.

"I'm so sorry..." Luigi consoled. "I could tell you two were close."

"What do I do now, Luigi?" Riba sobbed.

"You have to keep going," Luigi encouraged Riba. Even he looked sad. "You have to fight for her sake. You have to make her proud! You'll find closure one day. I assure you." Luigi grasped at anything else he could say to make Riba feel better. But he couldn't find anything. So he remained quiet.

Riba sniffled, ugly crying. "Thank you, Luigi..." Riba got up and hugged Luigi. He cried on his shoulder. Luigi, though confused, hugged Riba back. Embracing him in his time of need like the good soul he was. Riba couldn't help but think of what Len had said a few days ago. He couldn't help but worry about her in Hell. What could be happening to her right now?

"There, there," Luigi whispered. "It'll be okay."

That's when something fell to the ground. A little clink could be heard. Then the quietest clatter. Riba looked up from Luigi's shoulder, and over to the source of the sound. There was a pendant of some kind. Riba wiped his nose with his sleeve. "W-what could this be?" He asked. Perhaps a parting gift from Len? He reached for the pendant, and opened it. Luigi watched over his shoulder.

Inside was a sepia picture of two girls. One was a little Len, who surprisingly had cat ears under her cloak. The other, however, was another cat girl. She appeared taller, and about Len's age when Riba had met Len in the forest. Her hair was black.

"Who is that?" Luigi asked. "Is that her---?" Luigi's voice was drowned out by a ringing sound, and everything went white.

So long ago, before the great kingdoms of the world were formed, there was one hidden kingdom in a pocket dimension accessible only by clear pipes, that would remain that way for millenia to come. That was the Sprixie Kingdom. A wonderful land of cats and fairies, bells and cherries. In many ways, it was like the Mushroom Kingdom. Only better.

In one world of the Sprixie Kingdom, the Grass World, there was a small, fortified town called the Kittydel. And in that still, were two twins of the same gender. Len, and Layla "Kanna" Whiskers. They lived in pure joy every day. Going on hikes, exploring caves, and just having fun all around.

Their roles were easy to remember. Len was the slightly younger, enthusiastic, adorable, bright-eyed cheery one. She had no problem making friends outside of town, even if she was a little tiny for her age. Layla, on the exact opposite side of the spectrum, was the slightly older, mischievous, playful, conniving, sadistic one. Her pranks always ended with someone in trouble. Be it herself, or the poor person she decided to play a mean trick on.

Len and Layla were best friends, despite their glaring differences, despite the both of them being like night and day to deal with. Yin and Yang. Good and evil. Love and strife. Len and Layla. Even their heterochromatic eyes swapped places between the two of them.

One other thing about them is that they held great power. The power of fire and ice, brung upon them by their parents both ingesting super powerful Fire and Ice Flowers before they had met. It was a power that if left unchecked, or let out of control, could devastate the world. Which is why it's important that they keep it in line.

One day, Len ran up the stairs, full of energy. To her twin sister's room. She pounded on the door with her tiny fist. "Laaaaayla!" She called, nearly screaming. Then, she tried opening the door, when she heard nothing but snickering on the other side. But she felt her wrist caught on a thick piece of red yarn. It wasn't sharp or painful, just tight. "Aaaaagh!" She cried. "Layla, that's not funny!" Len heard full-on laughter from the other side of the door. Then, it opened, dragging Len's feet across the floor. Despite the tears forming in Len's eyes, she smiled and flecked them away with a shake of her head.

"You should see the look on your face!" Layla laughed. She held up a black-edged pocket mirror that complimented her hair. Len didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Layla almost fell over laughing. Her eyes looked like two arrows pointed at each other, and she was almost crying from laughter.

"Heh..." Len laughed, biting her lip afterwards. "I was just wondering if you wanted to play. I have an idea for a game!" Layla looked at her intently, her mouth doing that weird thing where it turned into a W. If there was one thing they had in common besides the cat ears on their heads, it was their love of games.

"What kind?!" Layla asked, happily. "I wanna play!"

"Okay, let's set the ground rules!" Len instructed, bearing a cute serious face and holding her free pointer finger up. Next thing any viewer of the pendant could see, there was their father's cane smacking the floor, with Len holding it. She then pointed it at Layla. "I am a knight, and you are a horrible dragon trying to take down my castle and steal the prince!"

"Sounds fun," Layla snickered sarcastically. "Please, you'll have to try harder than that. You're usually good at this!" Len frowned.

"H-hey!" Len whined. "I'm really trying. There's more to it, as well."

"Do tell."

"Okay!" Len exclaimed, walking around in circles. "I just need to think of more first. Umm... we make doubles of ourselves to act as our armies to fight each other. You have the armies of Hell, and---"

"That's a bad word, Len," Layla stated, all matter-of-factually. She looked concerned. "You shouldn't say it." It was her job as the older sister to keep the younger one safe from things that could corrupt her.

"I don't FREAKING care!" Len snapped. "I'll say whatever the crap I want!" Layla jumped onto the wall out of shock, using her claws extending from her hands to cling on, screaming confusedly. "Anyways, I have the army of the kingdom on my side. I brought a Double Cherry, so we can make our armies!" Len held up a huge Double Cherry. "Dig in!"

They both took a bite out of the Double Cherry. "Mmmm..." They both sighed, enjoying the sweet flavor.

Soon, there were rows of them lined up in order. With the real ones in the frontmost center of it all. "With my army, I shall slay you, beast!" Len cried.

"No, with my army of heck I shall defeat you and take over the kingdom!" Layla shouted.

"May the best army win!" They both said in unison.

"Chaaaarge!" Both armies shouted in unison. They ran towards the opposing one, and Len swung her cane against Layla's walking stick she had gotten from her grandmother.

"Hiya!" Len cried.

"Haaa!" Layla shouted.

They swung at each other many times, as members of their army fell to the other in puffs of orange fairy dust around them. "Wait, Len!" Layla cried. "This is getting a little heated. Someone might get hurt!"

Len did not listen. "You worry too much!" Len shouted. "Remember, you're a dragon! You're here to hurt people!" Len took another swing, as frost glistened and steamed into a water vapor on the cane. Layla swung to defend herself, knowing Len might accidentally hurt her. Fire burst on the walking stick, as the two collided.

VWEEEOOO... was the sound that was made as time stood still that day. Then, it all came crashing down. In a burst of fire and ice, the entire town came crumbling down. Len looked around as parts of the ceiling started falling apart. She saw the open window behind Layla, and Layla standing there, dizzied from being at ground zero of the powered up solar flare. Somehow, they were fine. But it wouldn't stay that way for long. Not if they got crushed by the incoming ceiling!

"Layla!" Len cried as she tackled Layla out of the window. They fell out of the second floor, and landed painfully on the grass below. Just as the house collapsed in on itself. The doubles of them were destroyed. Along with nearly everything in the house.

"Ungh..." Layla whined, rubbing her head. "Len... you... saved my life!"

"What happened?" Len asked. They heard voices in the distance.

"Hey! Is everyone okay?" A man shouted in the distance, as he dug into the rubble that was once his house.

"What caused this?" A woman cried, over the rubble.

"The fortifications!" Another man shouted. "They're gone!"

Len and Layla looked over, getting up. Indeed, the wall surrounding the Kittydel had fallen down. They gripped each other's hands. "Layla, I'm scared," Len whined.

"Hey! It was those damned children!" A voice shouted. Len and Layla turned around to the source of the voice, gasping. "Get them!" There was a man and a few others chasing them down. Len and Layla ran away with their tails between their legs.

They ran until there was no more room to run, the only place to go being the sea that was forming tidal waves in the distance in reaction to the storm and the explosion. They turned around. They were surrounded!

In the middle of the crowd, were their parents. Layla gasped from joy, tears still flooding her eyes. "Mommy! Daddy!" She cried, running forward and hugging the legs of her mother. "Tell them to leave! It wasn't our fault!" She then felt something hard hit her stomach. She went flying back, and skidded on the grass. Len screamed, and looked up at her mother in disbelief. She had just kicked Layla.

It wouldn't be the first time, either. Their parents weren't the best to them when they were unhappy. Usually, it would result in them hurting Len or Layla. They never hit them to the point of scars or bruises, but it did hurt. Layla would always protect Len, even if it hurt herself more after. So now it was Len's turn to protect Layla.

"Go away!" Len cried. She held her wrist with a cry of pain, hunching over. It was enveloping itself in ice. She forced it up, looking at her parents with ice forming in her eyes, her tears freezing. The crowd stepped back in fear. "Away! All of you! I'll kill you!"

Len felt something hard hit her in her marshmallow-soft cheek. A loud crack could be heard. The ice left her hand, and her frozen tears turned back to water. Len fell sprawled out on the grass, along with Layla. A stupidly brave stranger had hit her hard.

"Take them to the dungeon!" The stranger who had hit her cried, fearful for his life. "They need to go!"

"I agree! You two have forsaken us!" Another one shouted. Soon, the entire crowd was screaming to lock them away forever. Len was so afraid. What would she do?