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Elayne felt as if her mind was divided into three egos, and her main one was sent through an endless tunnel of pink and purple light.
FLAAASH!
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a completely different place altogether than the strange, dreamy castle dungeon she was seconds ago.
She felt slightly dizzy, and her head hurt a lot… But she couldn't really care about her own pain at this point. She had to first…
To first…
"Papa! Mama! Look, we can see the whole city from here!"
"Woow! Look at the view! Amazing…"
"E-Eh?"
Elayne didn't knew what was happening. She found herself sitting inside a Ferris wheel, looking at the distance, the beautiful scenery of the city in the night made her felt lost on its beauty.
"What was I…? Eh?" Elayne felt her mind cloudy, her memories were becoming fuzzier, as if she couldn't remember exactly why she was here, and if what she had experienced before was even real.
"Mama, are you okay?"
And the voice of her beloved daughter resonated, right at her side, an adorable little girl with emerald-colored eyes and long black hair appeared, tilting her head while wondering why her mom was looking strange.
The appearance of her beloved Elena when she was much younger and innocent. When she used to be filled with life and energy… so different from the present.
"E-Elena?" Elayne was confused. "Eh? When did you become so little?"
"Little?" Asked Elena, raising an eyebrow. "Was I big before?"
"H-Huh?" Elayne then looked at the person behind her daughter.
"What's wrong? Are you a bit dizzy because of the ride?" A young man with short black hair and black eyes asked her.
"F-Fran… Francis?" Elayne couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him.
The love of her life, the man that she married, and the one whom she had a daughter. The one that brought her so much joy and happiness through her life, and the one…
The one that left her, after a battle against cancer he couldn't win.
"Yes? Are you okay?" He wondered, genuinely concerned.
"T-This is…!" Elayne resisted the urge to cry, trying to remember something very important. "But… you… you aren't… no… this is- Ah!"
And then, the cloudy memories inside of her mind became much clearer, she recalled she had come here to drag her daughter outside of a dream.
This beautiful dream… Where her husband was alive, and where they were reliving the memories of going to the amusement park.
How could she ever forget this day?
It was just a few days later that her husband would be diagnosed with pulmonary cancer.
"M-Mommy?" Elena was nervous, as if she also felt… something with her mother's strange reactions.
"Elena…" Her mother quickly hugged her, as she started to cry on her daughter's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Elena… I know how much you loved your father… It makes me feel so bad that I have to drag you out of here… I wish… we could be here with him together, forever…"
"M-Mom?" Elena was confused, while her husband remained in silence.
Elayne felt her little hands trembling as she held them tightly, and didn't let go of her beloved daughter… Her mother felt perhaps even worse than her right now.
"I know it hurts… I know it still hurts, even now!" Elayne continued crying. "But you have to wake up, dear! This isn't… this isn't real! If you stay here any longer… You will die… I don't want to lose you! I already lose your father; I can't fathom to lose you!"
While her mother's warm tears covered the girl's shoulders, she quickly realized that she was right… That those feelings she felt since this morning, they were right.
This was all a dream… a fabrication.
And it wasn't real.
"Nngh…" Elena resisted the urge to cry, but started crying, a river of tears started flowing from her big eyes. "B-But I don't want to… I don't want to lose daddy again!"
"But Elena! T-This isn't…!" Elayne muttered. "Please…"
"Daddyyy!" Elena cried, rushing towards her father, and hugging him.
Her father remained in silence, shocked about what he was hearing. Yet… he hugged her tightly, and kissed her forehead, cleaning his daughter's tears, and then his wife.
"It's fine… I get it now." He sighed. "I'm not real… Right? This… this faint feeling I felt from the morning. As if I was reliving something from long ago…"
"Y-You know?" Elayne was shocked. "W-Wait, how? W-What's… going on?! Are you…?!"
"I don't know either…" Francis laughed. "But I would never dare not trust my wife. I'm sorry, Elena, but you need to wake up."
"B-But daddy…" Elena continued crying on his chest. "When you were gone I didn't knew what to do! I felt so lost… Please… I don't want you to leave me!"
"I won't." Her father smiled.
"Francis!" Elayne cried, hugging him as well.
"I won't leave you. I'll never will." Elayne's husband sighed, smiling at the two of them. "I'll always remain within your hearts. The memories you have of me, they keep me alive, perhaps the whole reason I feel so real now is because of the very memories you treasure. I love you two so much… So that's why I need you to wake up."
"N-No!" Elena cried more and more, grabbing on her father.
"Please, Elena… I don't want you to die." Elayne cried.
"Please…" Her father looked into her eyes. "You have to grow up, Elena… Please, accompany your mother. She loves you so much, and always does everything she can to support you, to protect you… Please, Elena… Go with her."
"Sniff…" Elena continued crying, as she hugged her mother.
The entire world around them started to crumble apart, as if reality itself was trying to rearrange itself back to what it was before.
The beautiful lights of the amusement park disappeared one after another. The dreamy night sky filled with stars, the beautiful view of the city, the Ferris wheel…
And then Elena's father, which slowly turned into particles of light, with a smile on his face.
"Please… live…"
"DAD!"
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