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Senior year was not Mina’s favorite. This whole quest was certainly not his favorite, and that was before Asa fucking died.
Mina was no stranger to death, you know, raised in a cult that followed the god of death, and then becoming a cleric of hers makes you get pretty comfortable with the concept. However, this specifically felt frighteningly familiar.
On their twelfth birthday, Mina’s identical twin sister, her literal mirror, told Mina that they had to run. After cleric training, one day Missanwyn overheard something. Their goddess was demanding something bigger, a bigger sacrifice; they were going to sacrifice the twins. Mina had never seen bright, loud, wild, fearless Wyn look so scared. It freaked Mina out. Wyn insisted they run, but she would not leave without Mina, and Mina was terrified of both options, but to Mina, inaction had always seemed safer than action. So he refused to go. They had their first big fight, and Wyn got sacrificed. Mina ran away that evening, taking several lessons away from that whole experience. Most importantly, Mina stopped freezing. He would run, he would fight, but he would never freeze again.
And then Asa got stabbed. Mina saw Asa’s body crumple from his peripheral vision, and when Webs yelled to hold onto something, Mina did. He held onto Asa’s lifeless body and a tree root harder than he had ever held onto anything before. Mina didn’t get to bury Wyn, but she could at least do this for Asa. Still, Mina froze. He knew he had revifivy, but he couldn't force his stupid limbs to move. He was a scared little girl again. As Mina blinked away tears, Asa’s body flipped from the strong 18-year-old teifling to a tiny 12-year-old elf girl and back again. Mina felt untethered, floating on a tiny raft in an ocean of memories, as inaction once again felt safer. He knew he was a coward; he always had been, but even with the exact spell for this situation, Mina couldn't fix it. He would fail again.
“Mina! Cast revivify!” Clara yelled as she made her way towards them, the final enemies falling as Webs flipped gravity. And finally, Mina could do something.
He was no longer a helpless 12-year-old. He wasn't alone in the world; Mina had friends, a connection with a god again, Mina had magic and resources, and money. Mina could do something. This was not the same situation again; this was so vastly different. He could do this. He had power and autonomy. In the middle of a battlefield, the world flipped upside down. Mina realized something. He was not alone. There were people who loved Mina. People who would treat him with care if Mina let them, and one of those people was dead in his arms. However, most importantly, Mina could fix that.
Mina shuffled slightly so he could pull a diamond from the patch around his waist without dropping Asa or falling to certain death. He took a deep, shaky breath and released a few final tears before he prayed to his goddess. Mina prayed that Death’s shepherd would let this one stay in Mina’s flock for just a little longer. As the diamond melted into Asa Mina felt tears return. What if this didn’t work? What if this was the end of the story? Several terrifyingly long seconds passed until finally, Asa’s eyes blinked as he began to breathe again.
"Hey M," he said, a shaky grin resting on his lips.
Mina felt the world shift but paid no attention. This was not Wyn. He was not 12. Asa was alive. The world was not ending. Maybe, just maybe, Mina wasn’t doomed.
"Asa. Don't you ever do that again." Mina couldn’t stop the tears rolling down his face, but that was okay because these people loved him. They would keep him safe while he fell apart, and they’d help him reassemble himself again.
"Sorry, no promises."