Eyes shut tightly, fists clenched whilst screaming, you felt yourself sink down to the ground, all hope lost. If only you had been kinder towards JR. If only you had tried to listen to him. If only you had been more open towards how you felt. If only...if only…
                Regrets filled your mind, cascading like an ever flowing waterfall as your eyes filled with hot tears. You wanted so much to stop all that was happening, to help JR, but how? What could you do, now that it was too late? Part of you wanted to open your eyes, to see the truth of the consequences played out before you but part of you could not bear seeing JR’s loss, to witness his demise.
                You had been unkind towards him, unfair, unwavering at times and no matter how much you tried to convince yourself that you had done the right thing, it did not seem to fill the emptiness you were feeling deep inside. So easy it was to blame JR for keeping so much from you, to think that if he had told you the truth you would have been more accommodating, more understanding, but even you knew that this was a lie. How would you have been able to believe his words back then? It would have fallen on deaf ears. Perhaps you would have even scoffed and laughed at his sensational words, talking about some sort of legend where you had to fall in love with him and be his queen…
                Then it hit you. JR had never been proud of his heritage, of who he was. He had been shy, he had been reserved yet he had been courageous and always put you before himself. Of course, he had been persistent but he had never forced you to do anything against your own will. All he had ever asked was ‘could you ever love me?’ and it was a question you had never managed to give him an honest answer to. He had poured his heart to you on so many occasions, his cheeks blushing as he had done so, embarrassed by his own words and the sweetness of the gesture had done nothing but melt the coldness in your heart. How much longer could you keep denying how you felt towards him? How much longer could this game go on?
                “There is not much time left.”
                The words seemed to have been spoken by several voices all at once, woven together to form a harmony. You snapped your eyes open to try and find the source and in doing so instantly noticed how your surroundings had frozen in time. How was this possible? You stood slowly and observed how the goblin army was poised with their arms in the air, weapons raised almost in victory as they surrounded Grinkel and JR. Grinkel himself had his sword held above his head, ready to bring it crashing down upon JR...
                JR.
                He had his eyes on Grinkel, brave and fierce, not fearing death in the slightest. Dying with honour was the right of a King and JR would do so with dignity. You heard yourself choke, tears trickling down your face once more. There was a pain inside of you, almost as if someone had stabbed you in your heart and was twisting the knife. You felt helpless.
                “You need to be brave.”
                The voices returned. You span around, desperately trying to find the source but there was no one there.
                “Who are you?” you called out.
                A whirlwind of leaves and feathers began at your feet, spiralling steadily around you. You raised your arms up to your face, trying to shield it from the sharp edges. As quickly as it had arrived, the whirlwind disappeared and before you stood something rather extraordinary. Elves, golbins, fairies; none of them compared to the human form, composed of those leaves and feathers which had just enveloped you. You stared at it, unable to comprehend the unlikely entity. You thought you had seen it all by now, but you had thought wrong.
                “Be not afraid, child. We are the Arethan spirits.” You nodded dumbly, your voice lost to you. “We have been watching, observing you. We know what resides in your heart. We know all which you have concealed within yourself.”
                “Wh-what do you…mean?” You asked, puzzled by the meaning behind their words.
                “Even now you struggle. We shall show you.”
                The leafy feathery being raised an arm and with one swift move, circled its hand before closing it shut. Small beams of light, much like fireflies streamed out from its hand, spiralling before creating a large sphere in front of you. Images began to flicker within them, almost like a makeshift television except this was no soap opera being projected; it was memories of the past few days. Specifically, they were your own memories of the past few days, with JR.
                Images of JR flickered past, those moments where he had made your insides churn, your heart race, times when he had made you laugh, had made you angry, had made you cry, had made you feel safe. The more you watched the more you felt something free itself from within you. You gasped, clasping your hand across your mouth in shock.
                “Do you realise yet what it is you have kept hidden deep within you?” You nodded very slowly, the tears beginning to form once again in your eyes.
                So caught up you had been with pushing him away, with resisting him, with questioning everything that you had failed to realise that you had already fallen in so deep. When it had happened, you could not say but somewhere along the line during this journey you had begun to care for JR in ways you never thought you would. You had stubbornly tried to ignore your own feelings by masking them with doubts and misconceptions, but the truth of the matter was that you were tied to him now. Imagining a life without his presence was torture and although part of you hated yourself for feeling this way, you could not help but also feel relieved. Even if you continued trying to ignore what your heart told you, it would amount to nothing but JR’s demise and potentially even the demise of Aranthi. You had to do something, but what?
                “It is not yet too late. You can still save him.”
                “H-how?” you choked out, looking across at the form of the Arethan spirit. They held their hands out to you and within it appeared a sword. The design of the hilt was incredibly intricate, woven with intricate vines and patterns of flowers. The pommel had a large emerald embedded within it, the cross-guard flicked upwards at the ends and the blade was incredibly long, sharp and resilient. Although it was just a sword, even you knew it was an incredibly elegant weapon.
                “This sword was crafted by us, the Arethan spirits. It was forged with magic so great it cannot be broken and can only be wielded by the purest of souls.” You hesitated, your hands hovering just above it. “Be brave, child.” The moment you took hold of the sword, the Arethan spirit being split apart, the leaves and feathers fluttering haphazardly before floating to the ground in a heap.
                Sword grasped tightly in your hand, you spun around and looked over towards Grinkel and JR. Time was still frozen but it was beginning to slowly unfreeze. The time to act was now.