"Alfia... look at me."
The wandering soul turned slowly, the light of the heavenly gate outlining her form in a soft, sacred glow.
The young man stepped fully out of the rift behind her, its violet cracks sealing shut with a low hum... like reality stitching itself back together.
Now the two of them stood alone in the infinite void... no ground, no sky... just darkness and that single radiant doorway to eternity.
For a long moment, the soul simply stared at him.
"...Alfia?"
She repeated softly, as if tasting a name she wasn't sure belonged to her.
Judas took a single step forward.
His expression steady but his voice carrying something raw beneath the surface.
"You don't remember anything," he said... not accusing her, not pitying her.
Just truth.
"But that's fine. You will... in time."
Alfia turned back toward the gate of heaven.
Warmth.
Peace.
A sense of absolute completion.
It flowed toward her in gentle waves, wrapping around her like a mother's embrace.
She felt drawn to it, pulled by something ancient and instinctive.
"...I'm tired," she whispered, her voice brittle.
"I just want to rest..."
Judas shook his head slowly.
"Not yet."
No anger.
No desperation.
Just certainty... like someone who already knew the ending of a story she had forgotten she was part of.
He extended his hand toward her.
Not to force her, but to offer a path.
"You still have ties in the world of the living. People waiting for you. Promises you never finished keeping."
His eyes softened.
"And a reason to come back."
The gate's light pulsed, brighter for a moment... as if urging her forward.
The void behind Judas shimmered faintly as if calling her back.
Alfia stood caught between them.
Her hand trembled.
"I... don't understand..." she whispered.
"You don't have to."
Judas reached his hand a little farther, steady and open.
"Just trust me. Come back..."
He paused... then added softly:
"If you don't, Belle will be sad. She'll cry. She needs you. She needs her family."
Silence.
Alfia froze.
Her eyes quivered, and a tiny spark flickered deep within her blank soul.
"...Belle?"
She repeated, almost breathlessly.
A sudden flash...
A white-haired girl with gentle crimson eyes, smiling beneath a warm sun.
And then...
'Mother, I will become the last hero, for you.'
A small girl's voice, bright and earnest.
A vow spoken with trembling determination.
'So please... Please watch me. No... promise me you'll watch as I become that hero.'
The words echoed in her core, like something precious pulling her back from a cliff's edge.
"...Belle..."
Alfia whispered again, this time with unmistakable longing.
She didn't know who the girl was.
But her heart... whatever remained of it... achingly understood one thing.
That girl... Belle... was important.
More than anyone else in the world.
Her silent wish of meeting her sister, the longing that had guided her soul through the darkness, was replaced... replaced by a fierce, burning need to stay.
To stay for Belle.
To stay because someone, somewhere, was waiting for her strength, her protection, her presence.
Alfia's eyes, still closed, trembled as that faint spark grew brighter.
A single heartbeat... then another... and another.
Life... fragile, fleeting, but not gone... began to anchor itself once more.
Somewhere deep in the void, a choice was made.
Alfia would not leave.
Not yet. Not when Belle needed her.
And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, her soul surged forward... not toward the light, not toward heaven... but back into the warmth of life, of purpose, of family.
"...I'm... not done yet."
She whispered it... fragile, breathless, yet carrying the unmistakable weight of a vow.
A spark of will, newly reborn, flickered in the darkness around her.
Alfia lifted her gaze.
And there... far ahead in the endless void... stood a hazy silhouette.
As the fog around it thinned, the figure took shape.
A woman.
Her hair was white like snow, and her eyes were blue like pearls in the bottom of water.
Her face looked exactly like the little girl she was in her vision, except for the color of her eyes.
'Sister...'
The woman smiled at her... a calm, tender smile overflowing with warmth and pride.
It washed over Alfia like a blessing, easing the ache in her chest.
The figure slowly began to fade, dissolving into shimmering particles of light.
But before she vanished completely, her lips moved.
No sound came.
Only the silent motion of words carried across the void.
And even without a voice, Alfia understood.
She read them clearly.
Word for word.
'Go back... and live.'
The last hint of her sister's smile lingered for a heartbeat.
Then she was gone.
"...Belle..."
Alfia whispered, hand clutching her chest as warmth surged inside her flickering soul.
"...I can't leave her."
Her voice broke, but her spirit didn't.
She turned around... away from paradise, away from the gate, away from the peace she'd yearned for.
And there, waiting for her with an outstretched hand and a look that mixed worry, and fierce determination... was Judas.
Reality called to her.
Life called to her.
And this time... she answered.
"Take me back."
Her voice was steadier now.
"Exactly."
Judas nodded gently.
"Belle is waiting. Don't leave her behind... not after everything."
He stepped closer, voice unwavering.
"You raised her into who she is. You gave her the dream she's chasing. And..."
He met her eyes directly.
"Don't you want to see her become the hero you wished for? With your own eyes?"
The gate's light dimmed... subtly, but noticeably.
Alfia lowered her gaze, her hand drifting toward Judas'.
A faint spark... like the first hint of a heartbeat... fluttered in her chest.
Her story... wasn't over.
Not yet.
Just as their hands were about to touch...
Tremor.
The void shuddered violently, rippling like a disturbed ocean.
The gate ahead of them vibrated, its golden surface suddenly blazing with light.
"Huh—?"
Judas barely managed the sound before a violent suction force burst outward, dragging everything toward the gate.
His body lurched forward.
He clenched his teeth, stomped his foot down, and anchored himself to the ground.
"Hold on!"
Alfia... still in her soul form... simply nodded, silent but trusting.
Judas' eyes narrowed, reflecting the radiant gate swallowing the darkness around them.
"This... is Heaven's call. The final summons for a soul to return."
His gaze sharpened into a glare.
"But you're already too late."
He raised his arm, energy crackling.
"Because Alfia has already made her choice."
His voice dropped to a cold growl.
"So you can fuck off."
His arm blurred as he swung.
A crescent of purple energy tore through the void, cleaving the golden gate cleanly in half.
The golden structure shattered, scattering into countless motes of shimmering light.
The tremors faded.
Silence returned.
Judas exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow.
His eyes shifted toward Alfia.
"Let's go back."
He extended a hand and summoned another rift, space cracking open before them.
But before they could step through, a violent jolt shot down Judas' spine.
His instincts screamed.
"Move!"
Without hesitation, he grabbed Alfia... quite literally like a sack of potatoes and blurred away just as a pillar of light detonated where they had stood.
Landing at a distance, Judas turned, eyes narrowing into icy slits.
"Who... disrupted the reincarnation cycle?"
A voice... not heard but felt... resonated through the void, heavy with celestial authority.
A moment later, particles of light gathered from all directions, swirling like a storm of stars.
Feathers drifted through the air.
When the radiance finally condensed, a figure stepped forth...
Its face was hidden behind a white cloth wrapped around its head, shrouding everything above the jaw.
Judas' brow furrowed.
"...An angel?"
A six-winged angel.
White as starlight.
A body wrapped in celestial radiance.
The angel hovered before them, and in its faceless, voiceless stillness... it turned its head towards them.
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