Chapitre 67: Please, Indigo
---Aaron---
"INDIGO! NO!!" I barreled out of the forest and jumped off my horse mid-gallop, almost falling flat on my face. In a tangle of limbs and clothes I managed to get up and grab Indigo's hand that was still gripping the sword. "What are you doing?!" I screamed.
"Stop it, Aaron! Leave me alone! Just let me die!" Indigo yelled, tears running down her face. She wrenched her arm from my grip and her blade swung in an arc. I leaned back to narrowly avoid having my head chopped off.
Indigo scurried away from me. I began to run towards her, but Indigo placed her sword on her neck and threatened me: "Come any closer and I will kill myself right now!" I halted, standing about fifteen feet away from her. Indigo looked haunted; her pale face looked ghastly in the dim forest, and her eyes were filled to the brim with tears. A crazed fire danced in her eyes, and her hair hung down in wet strands, giving her the appearance of a mad woman.
"Indigo, please, don't do this," I begged. "Why did you run away? Why are you doing this?"
"Aaron, please, just go. Just leave me alone and don't look back!" Indigo's gaze pleaded with me, her face torn apart with grief and pain.
"Indigo, why would—"
"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Indigo screamed, and then she began sobbing. Her entire body trembled.
"Indigo, you know I wouldn't hurt you," I said softly, taking a tentative step forward. Indigo stepped back in alarm. I decided to take a different approach. "Okay, I won't go forward anymore. Why did you run?"
"I'm a horrible, horrible person," she whispered, her eyes haunted. "You guys were afraid of me. You guys were ready to fight me. I don't deserve to stay. I deserve to die."
"Don't say that, Indigo, no one deserves to die." I frowned slightly. "Well, maybe except Lord Victor. But not you, for sure."
"No, you don't get it Aaron. I'm a horrible person. I'm worse than Lord Victor. I don't have the face to live anymore."
"Indigo, that's not true," I coaxed gently. "You're not horrible. You're definitely not worse than Lord Victor."
"Aaron, don't you get it? I killed Katherine! I killed her when she didn't do anything to me! I killed an innocent girl! I'm a monster!" Indigo let loose an ear-piercing scream into the air, full of anguish and pain. Thunder rumbled overhead, as if the heavens were confirming her words.
For once, I was at a loss for words. What do I say? What can I say? The pain and grief were written all over Indigo's face, and she was drowning in a sea of guilt. Her shoulders were shaking with sobs. I noticed that her clothes were soaked through with rain. How long had she been out here?
"Indigo, we're not afraid of you. I'm not afraid of you. You're still the same person. It wasn't you fault."
Indigo shook her head. "It was my fault. You don't know what I saw, Aaron. You don't know of the whispers in my head or the darkness in my soul. It was my fault." She tightened her grip on the sword. "Aaron, lead the group to Devil's Peak and defeat Lord Victor. Tell my parents and Katherine's family that I'm sorry."
"What?! Indigo, no!" I had a bad feeling of what she was going to do. "I can't do that. You're the leader, you have to lead us!"
"No, Aaron, I can't. Not anymore. Tell the others that it was never my intention for us to end like this. Tell them that they were the best friends I could ask for." Indigo's teary eyes found mine. "Please, Aaron. Do this for me. I never asked for anything from you. If you truly care about me, please just…just let me do what I have to do."
"You can't blame yourself; the blue orb affected your judgment!" I desperately tried to stop her.
Indigo's eyes were sad. "It was my fault," she said softly. "I'm sorry, Katherine."
"It wasn't your fault!"
"Aaron—"
"No, no, no! Indigo, this is ridiculous! Stop it! Snap out of it!" I wanted to rush up to her and snatch the sword away, but I knew that if I took even one step forward, Indigo would take her own life without hesitation.
"You're making it harder, Aaron! It's always you! Everything I did, it was all for you! Why did you follow me? Why didn't you just leave me to die out here?" Indigo's voice cracked at the end.
"Because I care about you!" I exclaimed. "I need to make sure that you're okay and that you'll do something stupid, like this!" Indigo's eyes went wide. Her hand shook. I softened my voice.
"We all care about you, Indigo. Ashley, Lucian, Rachel, Jason…all of us. We're a family now. It's us against the world. It won't be the same if any one person was gone. We can't lose anyone. So please, Indigo, don't do this."
"Oh, Aaron…" Indigo smiled a small, sad smile. "If only…"
"If only what? What?" I asked as her voice trailed off, and the only sounds were the pitter-patter of rain drops all around us.
Indigo looked away and closed her eyes. When she faced me again, her expression was a determined one.
"I'm sorry Aaron. Do what I told you, alright? Do it for me. Please."
"No. Indigo, listen to me—"
Indigo cut me off. "I will always remember you, Aaron. Always. All the things you did for me, all our times together, all of our happy memories at the Academy…thank you for bringing me happiness and giving me something to look forward to every day. In another life, where we aren't the chosen seven and Lord Victor doesn't exist, I'll find you again. And then, maybe, there will be a happily ever after for us."
These are her parting words to me, I realized. She's serious on doing this. "Indigo, don't talk nonsense," I began to panic. "There is still a happily ever after in this world. There's still hope. Please, Indigo, listen to me!"
"Aaron…" I saw Indigo's heart break through her eyes. "It's too late."
Her hand moved. The sword moved with it, the blade pressed against her skin. A scream was ripped from my throat as I leapt towards her with my hand outstretched. A gust of wind answered my desperate summoning; it so strong it shook the trees and tore leaves from the branches. It hit Indigo sideways and knocked her off balance. She slammed into a tree, her head colliding with the hard trunk. The sword strayed from its course and sliced upwards.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone