“They come, my child…”

As her mother’s voice subsided in her mind, so did the surrounding silence. Aster’s ears soon became subject to the rising volume of hellish screeching from the blackened carrier buzzards floating towards her that once speckled the horizon, now coming into full view. The full, hulking size of their mass became clearer as they drew near, once noble beasts of beak and paw, cut and dissected. With faded eyes, petrified skin, and the color faded from their feathers, the flapping of their wings still beat with great power, tantamount to the freedom they once had. Once within range, the screeching turned from cacophony to harmony, locking open their talons, the avians released an immense horde of synthesized spawns. The ashen rain that swarmed down from the sky was an omen, tales tell to burn before it, lest your kin do the same. 

Like all the other troops, Aster’s face was noticeably tense, if not terrified. However, she still stood staunch as the right hand of Commander Gladiolus, his gaze unwavering from the front. Without hesitation, Gladiolus had the bugler signal defensive positions as the entities crashed down into the soil like thunder. There must have been hundreds of thousands of the fiends, spanning miles, creating a dark sea that now obstructed the horizon. 

As they quickly rose from the soil, the manufactured monstrosities bounded on all fours, donning hooked claws and teeth. Perfectly circular, mechanical, sharp black eyes blended into their soot-stained skin. Their rot-ridden flesh was said to be inlaid with gold to mask their viciousness, yet their gluttonous mouths belched misshapen remains of their victims’ stolen hearts. 

Neither man nor beast, the waves of the wretches were upon the frontline within moments, consuming each soldier in their grasp. They sank their teeth into Aster’s comrades, blood-curdling cries tore through the roars of battle as the venom spread throughout their bodies, causing their flesh to swell, then simmer and turn black. Their skin and flesh peeled like bark off a tree as the man-made horrors fed. Aster watched petrified as her people crumbled. Gladiolus solemnly roared the defense to advance; finally turning his eyes to Aster, his gaze was pleading. Of all the looks she knew to expect from dear Gladiolus, this was not one.

Meeting Gladiolus’s stare, Aster stood frozen. Failing to contain the fear that bled from her stomach into her chest. She looked forward again, watching the rampant, unbridled billows drawing near before glancing back towards her homeland’s capital. She had no choice. Steeling herself, sorrowing, Aster reached up for the final time, calling upon her mother as she rested amongst the stars. 

Needlessly, D’Ahlia waited for her offspring to finally accept the power that awaited her dormant in the cosmos. Even if she would be severed from her daughter, if Aster asked, D’Ahlia would bestow upon her the world, for too long has she needn’t to coddle her. As the horde surged ever further, D’Ahlia reached down with her power, this time fully enveloping her daughter; her words embraced Aster tighter than ever before.

My dear…

Every spell they utter

Curses your name

Calling and coercing

The devils, drooling over flame

Take flight and defy

Reclaim your virtue

As what’s lost does cry

Yet bleeds and burns through

Thus, I beseech thee a solemn vow,

Once left the ground

Ne’er come down,

From your beats, they cower

Groveling at your sound

Boast Pounding wings

Reimagining lines poorly drawn

Overwriting false kings

Against death, your new dawn

“Even as I am gone, bloom against death, my love. You will always be more”

A burning sensation arose in Aster’s back as her mother’s voice subsided for the last time. Her heart became like lightning, pumping, shooting excruciating pain throughout her body. Aster cried out, falling to her knees, releasing a guttural scream as her bones at her back convulsed. Her skin split, creating chasms oozing crimson between her spine and scapula as her new bloodied limbs emerged. Gladiolus witnessed the mutilation before him in speechless horror before ultimately averting his eyes. However, the volume of Aster’s torment still rang across the battlefield as the wings grew. Her eyes leaked tears of honey that stained her face permanently, matching the color of the feathers that eventually unfolded, catching the sunlight, and completing her metamorphosis. From sword bearer, to light wielder, the stars were her blood now, the kin that once surrounded her was no longer her own. Destined ascendancy, like her mother once was, Aster had taken her place in line to be anointed amongst the stars. 

The earth rumbled beneath her in response, and the surrounding soil sprouted lush flora, growing tall stalks that pitched upright as if in defiance. Aster slowly emerged from the ground, recovering from the agony and extending her new wings.The sprouting flora quickly spread outward under the once terrified soldiers; their armor became overgrown with thick vines, wrapping, bolstering their defense and morale. 

Aster promptly beat her wings and launched off the ground, rising high above the debauchery against humanity that began to slow as the soldiers now fought back with their previously untapped power. Gladiolus shaded his eyes as the sun gleamed through Aster’s wings, eclipsing the sun and illuminating her. The shimmering ascendant then spoke. Aster’s booming voice resonated like a harmony of past warriors; her words were heard by all as if entering straight into the mind. 

“Contrived demons, villainy incarnate, you bring hell to this earth and call it peace, you gloat that it’s warm on your side of the river… But when the bodies pile up, the fires spread, and the river parches… May the lives you burn fuel the endless hellfire that sets you ablaze forever.

Blooming even after death, we will always be more.”

Edited by Nevaeh Medina

Artist Statement: I chose bloom! I wanted to look at the concept through the lens of an intrinsic change, like it’s already residing within us, waiting to happen, and necessary, as situations out of our control may force us to change to make it better. I thought about how often forces outside our control may hurt us, the people we care about, and the things we care about. I thought about the value of using our skills and abilities inherent or cultivated to fight back, essentially, break the mold, grow into better versions of ourselves, and change life around us for the better.