"GO AWAY!" Faer screamed at the taunting visions of children in her head, her body shaking with fear. Her hands slid across the dusty floor of the cabin, feeling for something, anything, that could fend off the haunting sight.

"It wasn't my choice! It was a direct order!" Her voice was hoarse as her throat swelled, tears leading down her cheeks her flames to low to evaporate the salty liquid, her usual body heat lowered from the influence of terror. Her armor clinked and shifted as she spun on her knees, turning her hunched body, low to the floor, her boots thudding against the wood as she searched aimlessly.

The children she saw taunted and accused her, some pointing at her and yelling that it was her fault that they were dead, others laughing at her disheveled and panicked state. The one that got to her the most and wrenched her soul out with ice cold guilt was a the little girl in the corner, all alone as she played with a fake tea set, stuffed animals sitting along side her.

As Faer's distressed gaze moved over to the young monster, the girl stopped the sweet singing she had been doing twisting her neck at an odd angle to smile sweetly at the Royal Guard, asking in a childish and sugary tone. "Do you want to play with me, mommy?"

"No, no, no, I don't, no, stay away!" Faer scrambled back until the bottom of her boots struck the wall behind her, startling her. The little girl leered at her, looming closer though she did not get up from her seated position, inching closer as if being pushed by an invisible force. 

"But mommy, you promised you would play with me." Faer began to hyperventilate, pressing to the wall behind her, closing her eyes tightly in an attempt to block the child from her vision, though none of the children disappeared.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Stay away from me!" The little girl's smile spread wider, sharp teeth present in her tiny mouth. She giggled, the sound of which echoed off the edges of Faer's mind resonating in her brain and repeating as the other kids joined in. 

"S-stop laughing! Shut up!" Faer's hand slid back as she nearly lost her balance, pressing her back fully against the wall. She jumped when her glove bumped something that made a familiar shing of metal inside a holster, her eyes flashing open. 

"Don't worry, mommy. We'll be together forever now." The voices said in unison playful yet ghastly, getting louder and closer. Faer screamed at them as her fingers wrapped around the hard rubber grip of her sword, feeling so right in her possession. 

"Never!" Faer screeched as she swung her sword wildly in front of her, her eyes widening as the blade phased harmlessly through the ghostly figures, momentarily disturbing their body by spreading cloudy wisps of them in the direction of the sword's wake until they

 slowly morphed back to normal. 

"What's wrong, mommy? Don't you want to see us?" The children asked, stepping closer with each heavy soul beat in the fire elemental's chest. Her mind spun as she tried to devise a plan to rid herself of the heavy burden of the haunting visions, until one came to her. One she was just crazy enough to do.

"No.. I.. DON'T!" Faer yelled as she switched her grip on her sword's handle and aimed the tip of the blade at herself, her eyes meeting the cold metal with an insane smile, blood rushing loudly through her ears, adrenaline pumping into her body. She barely flinched as the sword's blade flashed in the dim light leaking through the broken shutters of the home, the kicked up and disturbed dust filtering in the beams. 

Cold pain ebbed from the lacerations she created over her eyes, the chill soon chased away by warmth that seeped off her cheekbones and nose, dripping down onto the chest plate if her armor, the scarlet red shimmering faintly. 

Tears watered the new, metallic scented liquid as Faer's sword clattered next to her, the blade tainted with her blood. Her vision washed away and darkness engulfed her, the only sound in the welcome yet forbidding silence was her own husky breathing. 

Faer collapsed against the floor, choking on sobs, her chest heaving, her breath hitching. Her tears and blood pooled onto the wood, seeping into the cracks in the floor, a small pool of it rippling as more droplets collided and created small splashed in the surface. 

After a while her trembling calmed, peace washing over her dull mind, reassuring her in the little time till her cuts healed, before her scars became present, before she would see them all again. Before she would be haunted by her past again. But for now there was nothing but darkness and insanity. And she welcomed it with open arms.