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For the past couple of years, R’enlan has lived with a constant reminder of her first encounter with Zenos yae Galvus, that fateful night in Rhalgr’s Reach where countless people lost their lives and many were injured; she had been amongst the latter.
She was considered lucky to be able to walk again, let alone fight as she did, but if only she had listened to the healers at the time, she could have avoided the next two pain-filled years of her life. This injury, caused by his blade splitting her left femur in half had almost cost her her life on multiple occasions as well as her ability to properly fight with her weapons of choice. It forced her to seek out new disciples and new ways to fight, but nothing felt as right as a pair of good daggers in her hands.
She wanted that part of her life back, to feel that freedom again and not be held back by an old injury that could have been properly healed years ago.
With Zenos finally gone from her life, it was time for her to let go of that part of her.
R’enlan took a deep breath as the cool sea air surrounded her upon a ship back to Old Sharlayan after saying their farewells to Drusilla and the Lemures. Under normal circumstances she would have travelled back via aetheryte but her latest endeavour drained her, unable to trust herself to teleport safely across the globe in her current state.
Saying that the past few weeks were stressful was something of an understatement. She had joined the Lemures and helped Drusilla deal with Orcus, in exchange the woman helped her master the needed skills as a reaper so her own reaper avatar could be destroyed. The one that clung to her vulnerable soul after her last deadly encounter with Zenos, taking the form of the fallen Garlean heir and haunting her, taking control and nearly hurting those closest to R’enlan or worse.
She had intended to deal with the problem on her own, but despite nearly killing him twice in one evening after losing control, G’raha had followed her once he discovered her letter to him. She couldn’t have been more thankful that he went against her initial wishes and stayed by her side through all of this. He was there whenever she lost control, calling her back to them. Whenever she fumbled he was there to catch her. Through all the pain and suffering she was going through — both mentally and physically — he was by her side.
She was finally ready to move on. Move on from the pain, move on from the bad memories and regain her love for adventure, regain her true freedom , to be free from pain and reminders.
R’enlan had never allowed healers to take care of her leg after she snuck away from Rhalgr’s Reach to go to Doma, fearing what they might say and fearing they might take away her freedom. But she had grown a lot in the past couple of years and learned new abilities she thought impossible. Calling upon the teachings of Fourchenault, though it was not traditional healing as most Eorzeans would know, but one of a Sage. Even with her horribly drained aether she felt comfortable enough to perform this spell with relative ease.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she placed her hands above the old wound, through the aether she could see the torn muscles and slightly misshapen bone where Zenos’s katana had caused the majority of damage. Taking no chances with the limited supply of aether she had, she decided to be careful and smart about how she went about channelling it into the spell, starting with the bone. She couldn’t help but wince and hiss slightly as she felt it starting to mend, the pressure and tug made her fumble for a moment so she paused, centering herself. She wanted to do this, she needed to do this, she had to take control of her life again.
Taking a deep breath before continuing, she could already feel the pressure in her leg lifting immensely when she finished healing the bone, but R’enlan was not finished. She started to focus her spell on the old, torn muscle tissue that was damaged by Zenos, weaving them back together; the torn ends merged back together and finally relieved her of the last piece that linked her to him.
He was finally gone. Finally gone from her life for good and she made no effort to stop the tears of happiness and a laugh of pure and unbridled joy. She was finally free.
She took another deep breath, basking in the afternoon sun and the gentle sea breeze blowing her hair and drying her tears, feeling at utmost peace in that moment; something she had not felt properly in such a long time.
Her ear flicked at the sounds of footsteps approaching, she knew that presence better than anyone’s. Looking over her shoulder, her mismatched brown eyes met his Allagan red ones. He, no doubt, had witnessed what had happened, judging by the soft smile on his face. He knew what she had done. She knew how much it had hurt him as well, to see her like that, but he was now free as well, both of them were free and finally able to go on all those adventures that had been promised to him at the edge of creation and more.