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“Now more than ever, we must walk as one. Will you go and take Alisaie’s hand?”
Moonflower didn’t know what to feel. One by one, all of her closest friends and companions had sacrificed themselves so that the rest could move forward. When Thancred disappeared, she’d believed it was simply a coincidence, a difficult loss but one they had to accept nonetheless. It was a damaging blow to hear that they had clung to life, therefore were laid low easily, but Thancred… Thancred had managed to walk far enough to disappear. He did not feel the same attachment to life that they did. How long had he suffered that way? How long had he hidden his detachment? She had believed that he was recovering from losing Minfilia, but perhaps the pain ran deeper than any of them might have guessed.
Then Estinien willingly stepped forward and was whisked away into nothingness. He died, right before their very eyes. But… sacrifices must be made, right? Another way could be found the next time they were faced with an obstacle, right? So Moonflower shed a few tears but promised herself that she would remember him once they returned home. How his aloofness did not stop him from forming strong bonds with the rest of the Scions, how his grave voice showed his unique way of caring. Estinien had not sacrificed himself for nothing, and she would honor him.
Urianger hinted that it was his turn next, and told G’raha it was essentially payback for keeping his secrets on the First for so long. Moonflower’s eyes widened as horror set in. Urianger was going to die. Urianger. He’d never had a chance to relax, a chance to be free from secrets and heavy burdens. Why did he have to go? Why was there even a next time? How could they not get off the ground and fly to the enormous dead star above them? Urianger didn’t deserve this.
When he told her and G’raha he had come to the conclusion that he ought to sacrifice himself next, Moonflower was chillingly reminded of a mystery novel she’d once read. A group of people were picked off one by one and in the end, no one was left. This mirrored that novel, or at least the fact that they were dying off one at a time.
Except Urianger didn’t go alone. Y’shtola went with him. Her parting words were to wait to use her power—in fact, that she must not use it, or everything would come undone. Y’shtola, her friend and mentor, the one she respected like her mother, was leaving too. How could Moonflower go on with G’raha and the twins? Y’shtola, no!
But then there were four, and G’raha and Moonflower were the adults. They had to keep it together, lest the entire group collapse. Estinien had been Alphinaud’s friend, almost like an older brother, and Alisaie was deeply attached to Urianger. Y’shtola and Thancred had been their mentors and advisors from the beginning.
Moonflower clung to G’raha’s hand, not wanting to lose him. During their time on the First, he had become her rock, and she had fallen in love with him. If he went too…
He did.
She collapsed to her knees, very nearly giving up. G’raha wanted to go to Ishgard with her, to ride the wind and go beyond their wildest dreams. He wanted her to trust him, and she did—she trusted him beyond rhyme or reason. If he said it wasn’t the end, it wasn’t the end. Yet that didn’t mean she wouldn’t fall apart without him.
It was only the twins, her dearest, closest friends, her favorites, who kept her steady. Yes, she had Alphinaud and Alisaie. She would protect them and keep them safe. She would die before she would let them be injured. All these years, all this time, she had made sure to step between them and danger. The strong needed to protect those who were younger or weaker, so that they could grow and blossom and be able to stand on their own.
Moonflower grasped Alphinaud’s hand, then reached for Alisaie’s. I will protect you. I will protect you. She squeezed their hands and another tear came to her eye when she felt them squeeze in return.
Together, the three of them walked up the beautiful crystal bridge that G’raha’s sacrifice had created. Even now, after putting that life aside and throwing himself wholeheartedly into his newly-granted life as a Scion of the Seventh Dawn, a part of G’raha Tia was still crystal, intrinsically tied with the Crystal Tower. She wondered, if they were truly going to see each other again, how he would respond when she told him. The crystal bridge glittered and made musical sounds as the three made their way ever higher, signs of his love and belief that they would succeed.
They found emptiness and Alphinaud came to the worst, dreadful, terrible conclusion.
The danger slipped around Moonflower’s shields, or maybe—maybe it was that the twins stepped outside of her protection, of the safety of her arms, and chose to die for her. They had grown, reaching for the sun, sturdy and strong. Alphinaud and Alisaie were adults now, and they were going to give her one last chance to defeat Meteion.
“Alphinaud, please, please, please, don’t do this!” Moonflower wept, taking his hand and holding it tight. “I can’t—I can’t do it without you. Not you and Alisaie, not you! Never you!”
He had a sad smile, one mirrored by Alisaie as she drew to his side. “I believe in you, Moonflower. I wish that I could have gone until the end with you.”
“Don’t give up hope, Moonflower,” Alisaie whispered. “You will win.”
Moonflower took her hand too, but found it wasn’t enough. She wrapped her arms around their shoulders and cried, her mind thinking frantically for any way to save them. Not these two, please not these two, anyone but these two!
Alisaie broke away first from their hug, their shelter, and dragged her brother. If they were going to do this, it was best to get it over with, no dilly dallying. Then they were gone, swept away by Meteion, and Moonflower was alone.
She wandered her way up in a daze, her feet dragging, her entire body heavy. She thought about giving up, about giving in to the despair that had dogged their entire journey, but Alphinaud and Alisaie’s faces swam before her mind’s eye. The last, the most precious, they had sacrificed themselves for her. She would not waste their sacrifice, and all the other Scions before them, by giving in to Meteion.
When they opened their eyes again, in a field of glorious, iridescent flowers, Moonflower wept with joy and ran for the twins, sweeping them into her arms. “You were the ones who kept me going, in the end. You always have.”
Alphinaud and Alisaie hugged her tight. And when it was time to follow Meteion into the Dead Ends, they held Moonflower’s hand.