アリア：青水の姫 / Aria : Princess of Blue Water

Droplets of water fell on my hair, announcing the arrival of a long-expected rain. I shivered and hurried up, trying to push Aria from my mind before the urge to transform and embrace my element became too strong. Even if I knew that no one would even remember seeing me, the thought of running through the city in my revealing and impractical costume was too embarrassing.

I sighed. I could only blame myself for it. I had dreamed her when I was seven, and back then, I considered the outfit really cute, but now….

Of course, back then, I had no idea that she was anything else than an OC created by a lonely kid wishing for a friend or someone who would care as I was passed through all my extended family, hoping that the next place where I would be sent, I would be able to call home.

Sadly, it never happened, so Aria and I became inseparable. She protected me from those dark shadows that crept into my room every night as I lay in bed, feeling so alone. Until my eccentric aunt somehow learned about my existence and decided to take me in and give me as much care as she could. It did not always work out as she had expected, but I never had the heart to tell her about it, telling myself that at least she tried.

I smiled at those memories and hurried home, promising myself a long bath in the evening.

My aunt was away, so I could become Aria without worrying about how my presence would affect my aunt’s memory.

As I got inside, Shiro welcomed me with mad barks and jumps. I tried to play with him as I took off my shoes and went to the kitchen. I put my school bag on the table, poured myself a glass of juice and sat by the table, checking the messages from my aunt. Shiro watched me with pleading eyes, swinging his tail from side to side as I watched the holo recording my aunt had made on her trip to Orbital.

“You are getting old, Shiro-kun, it’s just juice”, I smiled.

He jumped up on my lap, and I petted his head.

“Would you like to go to space?”, I asked him, and he looked at me and barked quietly.

Sometimes, I wished my aunt would take him with her and leave me alone. It would make everything easier, but I appreciated her gesture of wanting me to have company when she was away. I scratched his ear and said softly,

“Sorry, little boy.”

He looked at me, and I said,

“Master override 1178 protocol 4.”

He yelped quietly and went offline, and I gently carried him to the sofa. I suspected the memory wipe would affect him, too, but it was too embarrassing to think he would see me as Aria to let him be around.

I took my pendant with the Dreamstone and held it high in the air, hoping it would work without me needing to shout something really embarrassing at the top of my voice. I was lucky this time, and the blue light flashed from the stone and enveloped my body with a silky mist, transforming me into the Princess of Blue Water.

I opened my eyes, and for a few moments, I admired my nail polish, wondering why on earth no one had ever made nail polish with such a beautiful and deep blue hue that the transformation gave me. Then I remembered what I was supposed to do before I could have my bath, and a cold chill ran down my spine. Even if being Aria made me more confident, the idea of leaving my flat looking like this was overwhelming. But I didn’t have any other choice.

I had seen the dark shadows gathering around Hinoko, and my Dreamstone went freezing cold every time she was near. She was the new girl in our class, and I didn’t really know her, but I would never forgive myself if the Nightmares took her because I was too embarrassed to do anything about it. I sighed, opened the window, and jumped into the air as the sun slowly set.

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I carefully watched her through her bedroom window. I didn’t think she would see me, but my instinct to hide still forced me to levitate behind a big billboard on the other side of the road. She looked pretty cute in her casual clothes, and I blushed and turned my head away. I shouldn’t think like this, I told myself. I am here to help her.

I knew that a day like this would come, and I would need to use the power of the Dreamstone to save the people from the Nightmares. Aria had told me about it when she left me her pendant shortly after I moved in with my aunt. I only wished she had prepared me better for it. Her soft kiss and “trust your heart” definitely weren’t enough.

Slowly, I started to panic, wondering how long I would need to wait here for anything to happen. Did I just make a fool of myself? No, the pendant on my chest was freezing cold, indicating the presence of the Nightmares.

At least I wasn't cold. My flimsy clothes somehow protected me from the elements, and for some reason, I knew they would be sufficient to protect me from harm. They also never got dirty, which was a relief. I couldn’t imagine how I would wash them clean after spending the whole evening jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Hinoko lived far away, and taking a bus was, of course, out of the question.

I started to get bored when I noticed Hinoko getting up to undress. My heart started to race, and I could feel panic building in my chest. Should I look away? But what if the Nightmares came when I didn’t look? I was supposed to protect her, but there was no way I could justify perving on her, not in these clothes, for sure. My face turned red, and I shut my eyes and held my breath until I started to feel dizzy.

When I dared to look again, the lights were off. I took a deep breath and relaxed without realising that now I would need to levitate next to her window to see anything in the room. I left the billboard to hover closer to her flat. As I came closer, I pressed my face against the window, trying to see into the dark room, only to be met by the surprised stare of Hinoko, looking directly into my eyes. I froze and shut my eyes, my worst nightmare coming true.

“She cannot see me, she cannot see me”, I repeated over and over again, trying to catch my breath. I could hear the window open and Hinoko’s voice calling my name.

“Mizuk-chani? What are you doing here?”

I wished I could die from embarrassment. If I did, I would be spared the need to explain to her what I was doing. How was I ever supposed to, in any case?

“I never met anyone I knew in a dream,” Hinoko said cheerfully. “Of course, you look a bit different, but you have the same soft eyes as always.”

“Dream?”

I dared to open my eyes. Did she think it was a dream? I exhaled and looked at her. She smiled back and asked,

“Do you think I can fly too?”

I blinked and tried to come up with an answer really fast, but suddenly, my pendant went freezing cold, and the shadows behind her took shape. Dark claws dug into her shoulders, and she screamed as the Nightmare started to pull her into the void. I tried to grab her, but she slipped away and disappeared, leaving my hands covered in blood. The Nightmare hissed, filling my heart with terror, and I fell to my knees, feeling helpless.

How could I have let this happen? I was supposed to protect her; I was supposed to be strong, but I knew I wasn't like that. It was Aria who had always protected me from them. I wasn’t like her.

“Aria…” I whispered, and tears started to flow down my cheeks. “Aria…”

“Trust your heart.” Aria’s voice rang clearly in the air, breaking the Nightmare’s spell.

I opened my eyes and saw that the void in front of me was rapidly shrinking. Without thinking, I leapt to my feet and jumped into the black space.

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I landed hard and fell to my knees. Sharp black stones dug into my skin, and I screamed in pain. For the first time, my clothes tore and stained with blood, and I knew that those marks would not go away anytime soon.

I had never gone into the void before, and if Aria ever did, she never told me about it, so I looked with terror at the grey sky and the dead world I found myself in. I tried to get up, hoping I would see Hinoko somewhere around. But when I stood up on my wobbly legs and looked around, she was nowhere to be seen.

“Hinoko-chan, Hinoko-chan!”, I shouted, but only silence responded to my cries.

Where was she? I shivered, I knew I didn’t have much time. I took a few painful steps when suddenly my pendant became icy cold. How could I have forgotten? The Nightmare was still here somewhere, and I had just entered its den.

Despite the terror that shot through my spine, I smiled, remembering Aria’s soft hands hanging the pendant around my neck before she left.

“She believed in me”, I whispered, and with a newfound confidence, I jumped into the air and floated above the desolate land.

“Better.” I smiled, took my pendant, and raised it high into the air. “Lead me to Hinoko!”, I shouted, and blue light sprang from the stone and enveloped me in a cocoon.

I could see how the world around me started to fall apart and fade into the void, and only then did I realise how easily the Nightmare had trapped me in a dream. The void swirled around me, trying to swallow me once again, but the cocoon held steady, and I was safe for now.

I relaxed for a moment until I saw Hinoko floating in the emptiness with a dark pulsating crystal growing from her chest.

“No!”

I screamed and ran towards her. A sharp hiss pierced the air, and the Nightmare appeared in front of me.

“She will become one of us”, he hissed. “You failed, Aria.”

“Aria…”

“I don’t believe you,” I shouted, and then whispered to myself, “Aria never failed me, and I will never fail Hinoko”.’

I summoned a blue wave that crushed into the Nightmare, taking him by surprise. He howled in pain, and I could see the blue light slowly dissolving him from the inside. I ran to Hinoko and tried to pull the black crystal from her heart, but to no avail.

“You might have defeated me, but she will kill you when she wakes up. Her transformation is almost completed. One of you will die here”, hissed the Nightmare before his shadow faded into the emptiness.

“No”, I whispered, and tears started to roll down my cheeks. “No… Hinoko-chan…no. I… I will save you,” I whispered a promise.

Even if I didn’t know how, I wouldn’t let her become one of them.

“Trust your heart…..”

“Aria….”

I took Hinoko's hand and kissed her softly. Blue light shot from my Dreamstone, and it enveloped us and started to melt the black crystal in Hinoko’s heart. She opened her eyes and looked at me with a smile.

“I knew you would come for me “, she whispered.

I hugged her and held her in my embrace until a wave of heat and red light emanating from Hinoko’s heart separated us. I looked at her, surprised, and saw a pendant with a red Dreamstone resting on her chest.