Divine Intervention

The mark on Alara's neck began to glow brighter and brighter until the light was blinding. Yotaro as a ferret hopped off Alara's chest. In Alara's mind the darkness which had taken over her vision faded into pure, white light. Soon it was as if she was standing in a white room near a beautiful and expressionless woman. She had shimmering white hair and clothing that appeared to be woven from gold. Alara stood as if her wounds were healed. Alara looked at her body which was clean and blemish free. 

“Where is this place? Am I dead?”

The being let out a small giggle. “You are not dead, Alara Elding. You are merely in the presence of a goddess. I am Elis. It is a pleasure to meet a descendant of one of my creations.”

Forgetting her manners, Alara walked quickly up to Elis. And  grabbed her hands. “Elis!? Hurry, we have to move fast to save Thalia. Take whatever you need from me in exchange,” Alara pleaded.

Elis smiled, “You won't even ask me what I'm taking in exchange for helping Thalia?”

“No. Definitely not because it doesn't matter. I would give anything to see her saved.”

Elis simply looked at Alara. With a heavy heart due to her jealousy,  she forced herself to ask because it was the right thing to do. “Um,... goddess? I know I am in no position to ask, but I humbly request that you save Heda as well. Now that I'm dying, Thalia is going to be lonelier than ever. She needs someone to love her as much as I do. I can't die peacefully knowing that she won't have anyone. So please, save Heda as well.” Alara pressed her forehead to the floor. 

“Interesting. So even though Heda killed you, you would ask that I forgive her for the sake of Thalia?”

Without hesitation, “Yes. I would do anything for Thalia. I love her more than logic and reason could explain. Our time together was short, but I couldn't rest knowing she was alone with all her pain.”

Elis scanned Alara's soul looking for any ulterior motives and found none. Instead she found pure and unadulterated love. For the first time in a long time, Elis smiled. “Your motives are pure, and you are what people call ‘a good person’. For this you shall be rewarded, but there isn't anything that I need to do right now. The power that you seek, you already possess.”

Alara scrunched her face up, “Huh?”

“There is a reason you have my mark and it has nothing to do with your magical abilities. You are like the others that have my mark.”

“...”

“Do you ever remember being injured as a child?”

Alara did not. In fact, she couldn't even remember having a single scratch despite all her dangerous activities.

“In the accident that killed your mother, dozens of people died. But you walked out unharmed except for your clothes. Do you not find that unusual?”

Alara was young when the accident happened that left her without a mother. She didn't remember clearly what had happened but because she was the only one to survive people started treating her badly after that. 

“I really don't remember much of what happened during the accident.”

Elis tapped her forehead, “Then I will grant you a look into what happened.”

Memories rushed into Alara's mind. She was about 4 years old. Her mother had left a candle burning in Alara's room while she went to the kitchen of their summer cottage to get Alara a glass of water before bed. 

Alara became transfixed with the flame and picked it up.  The flame slowly gained size and Alara's eyes were glowing red. She was excited to share her new ability with her mother. Just like today, the fireball was massive by the time Alaras's mother had returned. She dropped the glass and it shattered. Startled by the noise, Alara lost control of the fireball and accidentally made it explode. Only remnants of the house remained and Alara remained on her knees with massive burns covering her entire body.  

Her father who was on a hunting trip heard the explosion and rushed to their country home. He saw the last of Alara's skin growing back when he arrived and the mark on Alara's neck glowing. 

Alara's head hurt as she remembered these unwelcome memories. “ So the accident really was my fault then. So I can heal like Thalia and Heda?” Tears ran down her cheeks after being reminded that she killed her own mother.

“Yes. The only difference between you and them is that you were born of humans.”

“So that means I can save Thalia myself.”

“Yes, but as my one favor to you, what will you have me do?”

Again without hesitation, “ Save Heda.”

 “As you wish, and Alara, good luck saving Thalia.”

The light rapidly faded and Alara woke up gasping for air. Yotaro happily chittered and licked all over Alara's face before rubbing his head under her chin. Telepathically, “Oh I'm so glad you are alive! Hurry! We have to stop Thalia.”

Alara shook her head a few times before forcing herself up. Her entire body was sore and stiff, but she forced herself to start jogging towards the battle field.  “Yotaro, clear a path to Thalia for me.” 

He shifted into what looked like a large bull standing on its hind legs. He let out a growl before lowering his head and bulldozing undead out of the way. Soon a path opened up to Thalia and Alara ran as fast as she could. Each time Thalia smashed her body against an undead Alara felt it. Each time fire engulfed her body she felt it. The pain was so great that 50 meters between them felt like a thousand. 

Still Alara pressed forward. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity she reached the naked and battered Thalia. When Alara lifted her chin, Thalia's eyes remained dull and lifeless. She pressed her lips to Thalia's and thought she saw a glimmer come back into Thalia's eyes. Before she could react, Thalia stabbed her with a shard of ice and continued to do so as Alara's grip tightened around her. 

Despite the aggression, Alara pressed her forehead against Thalia's and she whispered, “Come back to me now Thalia, please.” 

Instead Thalia began to head butt Alara and attempt to escape.  Alara held on as tight as she could, and her eyes turned blood red. On her own Alara lit them both on fire.  It was hot and blue. Flesh peeled but Alara pressed her lips into Thalia's again and through telepathy whispered, “I love you”. It must have been the mix of the pain and Alara's present but Thalia's eyes regained their light.

Immediately, Thalia extinguished the flames with water. The couple collapsed. Neither one could move as the burnt flesh flaked off and they both began to heal. 

“Alara?” Thalia whispered.

The severely injured princess blinked her beautiful green eyes and she gave a gentle smile with her blackened lips “Thalia”.

Thalia wanted nothing more than to embrace her lover but she still couldn't move. Panic set in as she realized how badly burnt her partner was. Something unexplainable was happening though. Like Thalia's flesh, Alara's was growing back and flaking off. There was but a moment to rest as an undead began to crawl its way to the couple. Just before it reached the helpless couple it suddenly stopped. All the undead did.

From the platform above, Heda had canceled her resurrection magic. Still gravely injured, Heda could not move. To her surprise Elis had come to her rescue and purified her body of all corruption. When she asked why, Elis simply answered, “Thalia's mate is a good person. You are indebted to her.”

Back at the battle field Alara was almost completely healed. Yotaro draped Thalia's robe across the naked women's bodies. Thalia was still very slow to heal after all the damage she had already sustained. 

Alara wrapped her arms around her lover and began healing them both with magic. The plumpness and youthful glow returned to their skin, their burnt off hair grew back, and the two regained enough strength to speak.

“Alara, I'm so glad that you are alive, but how? I felt you die. How are you alive and healing?”

Alara smiled a gentle smile, “I'm just like you Thalia. I suppressed my memories and abilities after the death of my mother. It was thanks to Mama Elis that I regained those abilities. Thalia, do you know what this means?!”

Tears filled Thalia's eyes. “Yes! We can be together forever!” She pressed her lips to Alara's and took over healing them both.