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Description
Arrietty’s right hand was beginning to flake. It was not the sort of flaking that you might have after getting sunburnt – this was hard, disgusting pieces of dried dead skin that were falling off like bark off a tree. Her skin beneath these flakes was rough and tanned, while her normal borrower skin was soft and fairly pale. Blood began to seep from the cracks, which had began to crawl up her arm. Arrietty sat up immediately, and realized that her left hand was doing the same.

As she touched her hand, a stinging pain shot up her arm. She jerked in response, which only made it worse. “Why is this happening to me? What is this?”

Spiller did not – could not – answer. Maribel stared in horror – nothing she’d seen in the city was as gruesome as this. Sho immediately picked up Arrietty and Spiller and made a dash for the front door. Maribel hopped onto Jane’s hand and they followed closely behind. They had to get Arrietty to the elder Dore soon, for who knew what could happen to the puny borrower.

Later, they’d realize that they spent less than a minute to sprint from Jane’s house to the forest. Having seen the trail Arrietty took before, Sho made his way into the borrower’s sanctuary within the forest, using his memories and her sense of direction to guide the group towards the elder. As he neared their village, he could hear the screams and exclamations of the borrwers that resided there. It was probably due to his heightened senses from the power he and Arrietty shared, but nonetheless it was surprising and painful.

“Dore! Arrietty needs your help!” shouted Sho as he scrambled towards the elder’s hut. “Dore!”

The little borrower hobbled out of his door, and took a tumble as he realized that a human was towering above him. Spiller went to help him up, and the elder slowly regained his senses. “o-Of course. Set her down here, quickly.”

Arrietty found herself unable to move without expending a huge amount of effort, and lay on the cold hard ground. Oh, how she longed to be back in Sho’s hand… “Elder… what’s happening to me?”

The elder shouted instructions to the rest of the village, and though most of the borrowers in the area were hesitant and fearful, they obliged and brought water and herbs. Spiller and Maribel went around collecting the materials from those who could not get close enough without fainting.

“Dearie, oh dearie. The stars were right. They told me it would be happening, but I paid them no heed. Not enough heed. They warned me, they warned me, but I didn’t take heed. Oh, this is all going too wrong. You’ve discovered the skill of kiltain too soon, you’ve made your choice too soon. Oh, dear, too fast. Everything is happening too fast. Aerite was twenty before she could kilty, and you’re but a mere teenager. Shh, don’t move. You should be fine. You’d better be thankful your… human brought you here fast enough. Dear, dear. We need to hurry.”

Maribel caught Sho’s quizzical glance, and whispered, “Kiltain is transforming. Kilty is transform.” Sho’s face did not change – that wasn’t what he was wondering about.

As Dore applied various medicines and ground up other herbs, he explained what Arrietty was going through. “It is the nature of things to go through transformations, much like a butterfly or moth. Oh, dear. If something is ready, deep in their mind, to move on, they will begin the cocooning process. After this process, there is no going back. Arrietty discovered that her unique sibling-love bond with Sho allowed her to kilty between a borrower and bean. Dear, stop moving. I’m almost certain that she asked Sho if he would accept her, and Sho agreed, thus she was emotionally ready to move on. Stop moving, I say. I know it hurts but this medicine will help. Now stay still. A borrower’s cocoon is unnoticeable until it peels, and even then it is almost instantaneous and has very little impact on their lives. However, Arrietty was capable of kilty, and she had decided to live in a constantly changing body.

“Normally, this would not hurt an adult borrower, like Aerite. But…”

Sho interrupted here. “I do not mean to be rude, but I have to ask: wasn’t Aerite just a legend?”

Dore sighed, still applying various medicines to Arrietty’s hands. “It isn’t. Aerite was a borrower, like me. Now, set your arm down slowly. Careful. Oh, dear. But little is remembered about her now… so we just consider her a legend. She was an adult when she molted, so her cocoon shed without a hitch. But Arrietty’s body is not old enough to sustain such intense changes. Not yet. Almost done, dear. Almost. That is why she flakes like so.”

Dore had finished applying the medicines, and wrapped Arrietty’s hands with scraps of paper and cloth. “If this continues, it will become incredibly painful as it reaches closer and closer to your face. They may leave scars, but we don’t know for sure. Oh, dear. They say that the pain grows so intense that some borrowers would rather sacrifice their lives than to face the pain.”

Spiller asked frantically, “Is there no way to stop the process?”

“Only if Arrietty loses the biological urge to cocoon and molt. We are fey beings, magically supported life-forms. Thus, we are subjected to things a bean won’t. You wouldn’t understand, not without understanding the history of borrowers and borrowing.”

“Then how do we stop this urge?”

Dore cast a sad look towards Sho. “Oh, dear. This was the part I feared the most.”

Sho stared intently at the elder. “I don’t care. I’ll do anything.”

Dore heaved a sigh. “Arrietty will only recover if you leave her side.”

--

Arrietty’s eyes widened. Though she could not move, she struggled to reach out for Sho. “No. Please don't. Don’t ever leave me.”

The elder shushed them both. “Sho. Do not answer that. You may make it even worse. Arrietty, you must rest. You are in no condition to speak. Spiller, take Arrietty to the infirmary. Maribel, go help.”

Sho kneeled in the dirt, and Jane sat down beside him, resting her left hand over his shoulders. “We’ll get through this, Sho. I will support you no matter which decision you make.”

Sho watched as Arrietty’s feet disappeared into the hollowed-out trunk of a giant tree. “I don’t know, Jane. I love her, I truly do, but I don’t want to hurt her. And I’ve lost her once already, I don’t think I could a second time.”

Jane nodded her understanding. “I get it. But if you stay with her, you may lose any chance of having her again. At least if you leave her life for now, she could stay with me until she’s ready.”

Dore shook his head. “She will constantly be reminded of Sho, and thus it will only get worse. She must forget. Let go. Everything she’s done with you, everywhere she’s been with you. Although it pains me to say it, you must disappear from her life and memory. She must disappear in yours as well, lest you accidentally contact her through your abilities.”

Sho’s eyes welled up with tears. “You’re asking the impossible. I can’t just let Arrietty go, not after what we’ve been through.”

Dore’s impatience began to show. “Be reasonable, Sho. Arrietty may very well die of the trauma if she remains with you for much longer. You will have killed who you loved, murdered her for your own selfish needs. Think about it, Sho!”

Gigantic drops of salty water fell from the sky, accompanied by the sobbing of the entire world. “WHY!”

He slammed his fist into the ground, punching the earth with all of his might, over and over and over. “WHY WHY WHY! WHY!”

The punching eventually died out, and between sobs, he whispered words Jane could barely hear. “I’ve already… given her up… once. I lost… her. I thought it… would be forever. But… but… I found her. And I loved… her. We loved… each other. This can’t… be the end… of us. This can’t… be the end. It can’t be.”

Jane hugged the crying boy. “There, there. Life is hard, Sho. Sometimes, things have to be.”

Sho repeated, almost mindlessly, “This can’t be the end.”

“So it won’t be.” came a voice from behind Sho.

A beautiful young lady, dressed in a white lacy dress, stood solemnly. She looked like something out of a cartoon, an anime, a storybook. She had the perfect features, a perfectly slim yet toned body, and an aura of grace and a touch of magic. Dore gaped at her. “It can’t be…”

Jane, the first to gather her thoughts, asked, “Who are you?”

The lady smiled.

“I’m Aerite.”

Description
Arrietty’s right hand was beginning to flake. It was not the sort of flaking that you might have after getting sunburnt – this was hard, disgusting pieces of dried dead skin that were falling off like bark off a tree. Her skin beneath these flakes was rough and tanned, while her normal borrower skin was soft and fairly pale. Blood began to seep from the cracks, which had began to crawl up her arm. Arrietty sat up immediately, and realized that her left hand was doing the same.

As she touched her hand, a stinging pain shot up her arm. She jerked in response, which only made it worse. “Why is this happening to me? What is this?”

Spiller did not – could not – answer. Maribel stared in horror – nothing she’d seen in the city was as gruesome as this. Sho immediately picked up Arrietty and Spiller and made a dash for the front door. Maribel hopped onto Jane’s hand and they followed closely behind. They had to get Arrietty to the elder Dore soon, for who knew what could happen to the puny borrower.

Later, they’d realize that they spent less than a minute to sprint from Jane’s house to the forest. Having seen the trail Arrietty took before, Sho made his way into the borrower’s sanctuary within the forest, using his memories and her sense of direction to guide the group towards the elder. As he neared their village, he could hear the screams and exclamations of the borrwers that resided there. It was probably due to his heightened senses from the power he and Arrietty shared, but nonetheless it was surprising and painful.

“Dore! Arrietty needs your help!” shouted Sho as he scrambled towards the elder’s hut. “Dore!”

The little borrower hobbled out of his door, and took a tumble as he realized that a human was towering above him. Spiller went to help him up, and the elder slowly regained his senses. “o-Of course. Set her down here, quickly.”

Arrietty found herself unable to move without expending a huge amount of effort, and lay on the cold hard ground. Oh, how she longed to be back in Sho’s hand… “Elder… what’s happening to me?”

The elder shouted instructions to the rest of the village, and though most of the borrowers in the area were hesitant and fearful, they obliged and brought water and herbs. Spiller and Maribel went around collecting the materials from those who could not get close enough without fainting.

“Dearie, oh dearie. The stars were right. They told me it would be happening, but I paid them no heed. Not enough heed. They warned me, they warned me, but I didn’t take heed. Oh, this is all going too wrong. You’ve discovered the skill of kiltain too soon, you’ve made your choice too soon. Oh, dear, too fast. Everything is happening too fast. Aerite was twenty before she could kilty, and you’re but a mere teenager. Shh, don’t move. You should be fine. You’d better be thankful your… human brought you here fast enough. Dear, dear. We need to hurry.”

Maribel caught Sho’s quizzical glance, and whispered, “Kiltain is transforming. Kilty is transform.” Sho’s face did not change – that wasn’t what he was wondering about.

As Dore applied various medicines and ground up other herbs, he explained what Arrietty was going through. “It is the nature of things to go through transformations, much like a butterfly or moth. Oh, dear. If something is ready, deep in their mind, to move on, they will begin the cocooning process. After this process, there is no going back. Arrietty discovered that her unique sibling-love bond with Sho allowed her to kilty between a borrower and bean. Dear, stop moving. I’m almost certain that she asked Sho if he would accept her, and Sho agreed, thus she was emotionally ready to move on. Stop moving, I say. I know it hurts but this medicine will help. Now stay still. A borrower’s cocoon is unnoticeable until it peels, and even then it is almost instantaneous and has very little impact on their lives. However, Arrietty was capable of kilty, and she had decided to live in a constantly changing body.

“Normally, this would not hurt an adult borrower, like Aerite. But…”

Sho interrupted here. “I do not mean to be rude, but I have to ask: wasn’t Aerite just a legend?”

Dore sighed, still applying various medicines to Arrietty’s hands. “It isn’t. Aerite was a borrower, like me. Now, set your arm down slowly. Careful. Oh, dear. But little is remembered about her now… so we just consider her a legend. She was an adult when she molted, so her cocoon shed without a hitch. But Arrietty’s body is not old enough to sustain such intense changes. Not yet. Almost done, dear. Almost. That is why she flakes like so.”

Dore had finished applying the medicines, and wrapped Arrietty’s hands with scraps of paper and cloth. “If this continues, it will become incredibly painful as it reaches closer and closer to your face. They may leave scars, but we don’t know for sure. Oh, dear. They say that the pain grows so intense that some borrowers would rather sacrifice their lives than to face the pain.”

Spiller asked frantically, “Is there no way to stop the process?”

“Only if Arrietty loses the biological urge to cocoon and molt. We are fey beings, magically supported life-forms. Thus, we are subjected to things a bean won’t. You wouldn’t understand, not without understanding the history of borrowers and borrowing.”

“Then how do we stop this urge?”

Dore cast a sad look towards Sho. “Oh, dear. This was the part I feared the most.”

Sho stared intently at the elder. “I don’t care. I’ll do anything.”

Dore heaved a sigh. “Arrietty will only recover if you leave her side.”

--

Arrietty’s eyes widened. Though she could not move, she struggled to reach out for Sho. “No. Please don't. Don’t ever leave me.”

The elder shushed them both. “Sho. Do not answer that. You may make it even worse. Arrietty, you must rest. You are in no condition to speak. Spiller, take Arrietty to the infirmary. Maribel, go help.”

Sho kneeled in the dirt, and Jane sat down beside him, resting her left hand over his shoulders. “We’ll get through this, Sho. I will support you no matter which decision you make.”

Sho watched as Arrietty’s feet disappeared into the hollowed-out trunk of a giant tree. “I don’t know, Jane. I love her, I truly do, but I don’t want to hurt her. And I’ve lost her once already, I don’t think I could a second time.”

Jane nodded her understanding. “I get it. But if you stay with her, you may lose any chance of having her again. At least if you leave her life for now, she could stay with me until she’s ready.”

Dore shook his head. “She will constantly be reminded of Sho, and thus it will only get worse. She must forget. Let go. Everything she’s done with you, everywhere she’s been with you. Although it pains me to say it, you must disappear from her life and memory. She must disappear in yours as well, lest you accidentally contact her through your abilities.”

Sho’s eyes welled up with tears. “You’re asking the impossible. I can’t just let Arrietty go, not after what we’ve been through.”

Dore’s impatience began to show. “Be reasonable, Sho. Arrietty may very well die of the trauma if she remains with you for much longer. You will have killed who you loved, murdered her for your own selfish needs. Think about it, Sho!”

Gigantic drops of salty water fell from the sky, accompanied by the sobbing of the entire world. “WHY!”

He slammed his fist into the ground, punching the earth with all of his might, over and over and over. “WHY WHY WHY! WHY!”

The punching eventually died out, and between sobs, he whispered words Jane could barely hear. “I’ve already… given her up… once. I lost… her. I thought it… would be forever. But… but… I found her. And I loved… her. We loved… each other. This can’t… be the end… of us. This can’t… be the end. It can’t be.”

Jane hugged the crying boy. “There, there. Life is hard, Sho. Sometimes, things have to be.”

Sho repeated, almost mindlessly, “This can’t be the end.”

“So it won’t be.” came a voice from behind Sho.

A beautiful young lady, dressed in a white lacy dress, stood solemnly. She looked like something out of a cartoon, an anime, a storybook. She had the perfect features, a perfectly slim yet toned body, and an aura of grace and a touch of magic. Dore gaped at her. “It can’t be…”

Jane, the first to gather her thoughts, asked, “Who are you?”

The lady smiled.

“I’m Aerite.”