Epilogue: Haru [Hopeful Alternate End]

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        Epilogue: Haru

[Hopeful Alternate End]

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Just as Harumi was about to drift into the endless sea of death, a bright white light shone, bursting forth from her chest. Haru leapt from Harumi's heart, now embodied in the form of the lion cub spirit he was protected by in his youth. As he spoke to her, he grew rapidly in size until he reached his full form as the great white lion of olde. He swatted the alcoholic beverage from her hand with one paw then crushed her open pill bottle with the other. "Never again," his voiced boomed into the space around them. Mighty. Godly, even. Sounding as if he were between two worlds. And he was. And she was about to be, as well. She just didn't quite know it yet. "You must live for me, daughter. Your mother still persists in our homeland. Come with me, and you shall come to understand." "Dad? But you're...." "Dead? Only here. Only on Earth. But it seems in spite of my body's failure to continue living, my soul could not leave you and so I rested within your heart. Unconscious, unaware. Love keeps a spirit alive. But then, I heard your mother's voice. I felt the despair crying out from within your souls. Yours, your mother's...and your older sister's." "Wait, wait. Older sister? Me? How is that even...you know what? Nevermind. I'm standing here discussing my lost mom with my deceased dad who suddenly looks like a giant, white lion of all things. Wait...you sound like him...but what if you're a demon or a mimic. I listen to spooky stories like that at work all the time, you know? Prove it to me. Prove to me that you're really my dad. And on top of that? Prove to me that mom's still out there somewhere and I damn sure don't know how you're going to prove I have a sister, but please, "dad", be my guest."

"You were born with a strawberry hemangioma behind your left ear. We did multiple surgeries to remove it throughout your childhood, but the scars never went away and you're extremely insecure about it. You hide it with your hair and have never told a single soul about its existence. Not even Grandma Kat knew about it. Mom and I tried to console you about it before she disappeared by telling you a Fairy Queen had kissed you there to mark you as her blessed knight. I know it was a long time ago now, Rumi, but the day your mother went missing, you were pretending to be a Fairy Princess. You cried for hours after Caste boarded that plane. As for your mother and sister's current whereabouts..." He clumsily grabbed a shard of broken glass from one the many beverages strewn around the messy room and cut open his paw. He then limped over to the large, golden, oval mirror hanging neatly in the center of the wall behind her couch, pressed it to the glass, and let the mirror reveal the Kingdom of Krowne. There atop a throne of bones sat a crazed young lady, adorned in crows feathers and a bleak and bloodied crown. She was muttering to herself. A shadow lingered behind her with sad, lonely eyes. "There they are. I'll explain all I can on the way. Jump on my back, Harumi. It's time to go home. It's time to save mom." Harumi did not hesitate. "I believe you, Dad, but whatever happens in there...promise me, you won't leave me." As he leaped through the mirror, he made a solemn oath, "I swear it. I will never let you go."

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           THE END

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