The Four Broken Souls Of Atera.

by Sylif Daring Doo

The choice.

_______*Years ago.*______

"Young lady! get down from there NOW!" Shouted a loud male voice.

Out by Canterlot there was an estate owned by the Fairwind family, a noble house that dealt in politics, the estate was massive and the mansion itself was giant as well, and right now Gerald, a brown furred rabbit with hazel eyes, Seth and Alice's father, was outside with several of the staff looking up at the roof of the building.

Seth sat on the roof enjoying the breeze, she had a basic pair of blue pants and a simple gray shirt on, she had no knife scars or burn marks on her entire body. "Young lady!?" She called down. "Who do you think I am exactly!?" She questioned. "Have you forgotten your own daughter's name already Dad!?" She asked loudly.

Down on the ground Gerald growled in frustration. "I AM your father Seth! so get down here now!?" He ordered.

Seth resisted the urge to laugh as she smiled. "Why don't you come up here and make me!? or are you just going to have one of the employees do your job as a parent!?" She taunted.

Before Gerald could speak, another rabbit, one with dark brown fur and blue eyes walked up, she was Lisa, Seth and Alice's mother. "Seth! you know better than to climb up there! heavy storms are scheduled today! so come down before you get hurt!" She shouted.

Seth shrugged. "And miss out on the show!? No way!" She replied as she got up and ran to a nearby ledge and jumped up, she then climbed the nearby roof tiles and slid to the other side of the roof.

As Seth stopped herself from falling off the roof, she quickly sat down and look at Canterlot, where a firework festival was being held. "No way am I missing this for some tutor." She muttered to herself.

Seth closed her eyes and listened for any sounds nearby, she could just picture the look of anger on her fathers face when she came down, and it made her smile. "Ah. Seth......I suspected I would find you up here." Said an older male voice from her right.

The rabbits eyes opened and she looked to her right, she saw an old Pegasus with faded blue fur and a gray mane, his cutie mark was that of a wing by a cloud. "What's up gramps?" She asked.

The Pegasus flew closer and landed. "I heard the commotion and knew you had done something again." He shook his head. "So Seth, how long are you going to make your fathers life more difficult?" He asked in a patient tone.

Seth put her arms behind her head and closed her eyes. "As long as it takes for him to realize I don't want the life he is trying to put me on." She replied easily.

"Your father only wants what he thinks is best for you Seth, you have a good head on your shoulders and know what to do and say in order to get things done.......but you always revert to your rebellious ways after a few days......why is that?" The old Pegasus asked curiously.

Seth opened an eye and looked at him. "Because I hate it, I may be good at getting others to work together but i loathe doing it, there's no truth to it anymore, it's just manipulation no matter how you look at it." She stated, and suddenly a loud boom was heard over the city, Seth immediately looked at it with both eyes open and grinned widely. "YEEEESS!" She cheered as the fireworks boomed loudly and with incredible colors.

The old Pegasus simply watched the young rabbit girl and smiled, he then flew down, leaving the rabbit alone.

Seth continued to cheer until another loud bang was heard from the sky.......but this one was different, it was thunder and lightning, the young rabbit paused and quickly decided to get off the roof, she went to get down as fast as she could, the rain began to pour and Seth climbed down to another part of the roof.

The tile was slippery and Seth slid a little, she stopped herself and made her way down the roof.

A loud rumble shook the air and Seth took a deep breath, she quickly climbed down another level and made sure she was stable.

Seth walked slowly toward her next destination, it was a small open roof near the northwest corner. "Just be careful Seth....just be careful." she said, unfortunately for her, just as she stopped talking, a bolt of lightning struck and landed right on top of the house, she panicked instinctively and tripped, she fell on the roof tiles and slid all the way off the roof and onto the bare rooftop below as the rain began to pour heavily and the wind kicked up.

Seth landed hard and she gasped in pain, she breathed heavily and winced as she forced herself to stand, she walked slowly to her next destination, a small outcropping of stone which she used to climb up, she made her way quickly despite the pain and climbed down starting with the stone, she breathed shakily as she used small holes in the wall and window ledges to climb down, almost slipping on the way down.

She eventually reached the bottom and grunted as she landed on the dirt, she then slowly made her way to the front door, seeking to get help and get out of the rain, she winced with every step as she walked and her breathing became more erratic.

'I'm going to kill whoever scheduled that storm on the day of a firework festival.' Was all she could think until she reached the door.

The door opened quickly and a small rabbit smaller than Seth ran up to her. "Seth! your hurt!" The younger rabbit, Alice said, immediately helping her sister inside.

"Yea, totally not my fault though." Seth said, wincing as she felt a sharp pain in her leg.

A group of the house staff ran up to the sisters and immediately took her to her room, with Alice following behind.

All Seth could think of through the pain was why the storm was scheduled for that day, and why no one stopped it.

_____*The present, Firefly's house, Ateran Merchant district.*_____

The storm still raged on outside, leaving Karak, Seth, Alice and Shade alone in the building, Seth was still in her room hiding and the others were all out in the living room.

"How long is she going to hide?" Shade wondered.

Alice sighed as she leaned back on the couch. "She's been jumpy in thunderstorms ever since she almost got hit by lightning years ago, but it was never this bad.....must be the withdrawal symptoms." She said quietly.

Karak shook his head. "Either way, we can't do anything to help her, this kind of withdrawal can only be handled by the one suffering from it, meaning it's up to her whether or not she wants to be helped." He said as he reclined in his chair.

"Hey, you said you went through this yourself right?" Shade asked.

Karak nodded. "In a different way, but yes." He replied.

"Could you maybe.....tell us about it?" Alice wondered curiously.

"No, because if I tell you my story, you won't like what I have to say." Karak replied as he closed his eyes, the thunder rumbled outside. "All we can do is wait." He said.

Shade and Alice shared a concerned look and then looked at Karak. "Can you at least tell us if it gets better?" Shade asked.

"Eventually, at some point, for me it didn't get better until I was reunited with Firefly." Karak replied simply.

Alice went into deep thought after he said that, she thought of everything that Seth did for her, how many times she covered for her or gave her an alibi for a crime, she sighed and stood up. "Alice?" Shade said, looking at her with confusion.

"I owe her a lot Shade, I'm going to help her for once." Alice said before walking to Seth and Ren's room.

Shade went to get up but Karak spoke. "Don't bother." The demon said. "This is between sisters." He added, Shade sat down reluctantly and waited with an impatient expression.

Alice knocked on Seth's door. "Seth, can we talk?" She asked.

After few moments, the door opened and Seth's panicked face was revealed. "Um.....sure." She said shakily as she stood aside.

Alice entered the room and Seth closed the door, the younger rabbit found the light switch and turned it on, the dim lights barely illuminated the room. "We need to talk." Alice said.

Seth shakily sat down on her bed. "Yea, I was about to say that too." She replied, she looked up at her sister. "You first."

Alice sat down on the bed and took a deep breath before speaking. "I don't know what you're going through, I won't even pretend to understand it either because I would just be lying to you." She said. "But I do know that you're in pain, mentally and maybe physically, and definitely emotionally, I.....I just want you to know that you aren't alone, we are here for you and more than anyone, Karak does understand, but if you ever need me, you know I'll help." She said.

Seth didn't say anything at first.....as if she was thinking about something, she was silent for so long that Alice got up and went to leave. "Wait." Alice paused and looked over her shoulder.

"I.......I'm going to see doctor Terrance." Seth stated quietly.

Alice's eyes widened in surprise and shock, she walked over to Seth and knelt down. "Why? you've wanted nothing to do with him for as long as you've known him." She asked.

Seth bit her lip and clenched her shaking fists. "Look at me Alice.......I'm a nervous wreck on the verge of snapping and trying to kill again, if only to silence the voices, I want......no, I NEED to go back, I can't tell Ren, she wouldn't let me out of her sight if she knew this, Karak would probably mention it without a care, Shade would probably not stop me same with Firefly, and I don't know what Syrin would do, please Alice.....i can't stay like this." Seth pleaded, her eyes starting to tear up.

Alice was silent as she pulled her sister closed and hugged her, she said nothing as Seth silently cried into her shoulder, this went on for a few minutes until Alice spoke. "If you are absolutely certain, I won't stop you......just come back to us ok?" She said quietly.

______*the next day, outside the Atera health institute, 1:00 PM*______

The city was bustling but as Seth looked around, she could tell that there was no soul in this part of the city, everyone had a look on them that said they were drained, the park was laughable and the local businesses didn't seem very alive.

Seth took a deep breath and walked forward towards the detox center, it was just the same as the last time she was here, the grounds were nice and well maintained, the trees and grass were green and alive, there were stone paths and benches and a pavilion to name a few things, it was relaxing to look at.

Seth eventually reached the door and took a deep breath to steady herself. "Sorry Ren." She whispered to herself before opening the door.

Author's Note:

A short chapter, but still important.

Now I get I'm focusing a lot on Seth, and that will change, but for now here you go, enjoy.