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He never realized just how many stars dotted the black canvas they call the night sky. The amount of times he would look up at this sky, he never saw fit to count. But now…he had all the time he had left.
Clive raised his hand to his vision, seeing that it was no longer the color of the fair skin he once had, but paler. Grayer. Turning to stone before his very eyes, and feeling as much. Heavy, yet unmoving. It pained him, despite having no ability to stretch the limb, or the fingers upon it. Such is the Crystal Curse.
And by his hand, he will be its last victim.
As he laid there, feeling the waves lap at his legs, he pondered the future. A world where magic was so widely used, now bereft of it. How will the people respond? The bearers who were so cruelly taken advantage of? How will the world go forward now that those who were considered only useful for their magic are no longer capable of using it?
He expects it to get worse before it gets better. There will be confusion. There will be rejection. People thrown onto the streets, the bearer’s mark still marring their cheek despite its meaning carrying no weight anymore. Would they be able to go back to their families, the ones who, for some, put them in that exact spot?
But once humanity gets beyond that, there will be unity. Resources otherwise provided by bearers will needs be found elsewhere, and that requires everyone to work together. Sides never thought possible to meet will join each other for the betterment of them, their families, and the generations to come.
Eventually, magic will become a thing of fairy tales. All who have seen it, who have used it, will be gone, and those who have only heard of it from their sires will turn them to stories to tell the little ones. It will become a myth, something to be thought of as fiction.
He found that world to be a better one. Perhaps not exactly the one he and Cid had envisioned, but one that will be better nonetheless.
Clive took in a ragged breath, his eyes glazing as they traveled across the stars, their beauty a sight to behold. But none will compare to that of the moon that hung so high in the sky.
An ivory orb, shining its light down upon the darkened world. By its side, the red moon had ceased to glow, calling an end to the eras of magic. Yet the moon remained.
In its silver veneer, he only saw the hair of the one he loved. Jill.
For so many nights they had stood on that balcony in Rosalith Castle, gazing up in the night sky, sometimes in silence, other times not. And that night that she prayed for him to the moon, just before the events at Phoenix Gate, created such a shared connection between them.
Every night since that fateful night, he had looked up to the sky, to the sea of stars, and pondered if Jill was looking at the very same. It brought him great comfort in the dark times of his enslavement.
And now here he was, gazing back up at it, perhaps for the last time. He pondered over the maiden once again.
“Can you see it, too, Jill?”
Her tears have long since dried. They stained her cheeks as she now sat there, on the edge of a balcony in the Hideaway. Her blue eyes were tinged with red as the tears had stung them so. Yet she kept them on the moon.
There should be celebration over the birth of Edda’s child, and while Jill felt that joy, it has become dampened. That which they called Origin had fallen, and her love had yet to return to her. Seeing the red moon die seemed to have cemented the fact that Clive will never come back. Will never be by her side once again.
She cried for so long, her throat had become sore. She even found it difficult to speak, only a croak of her voice able to emit from between her lips. So now she sat in silence, unable to move.
Slowly, she lowered her gaze upon the heavy head that placed itself upon her lap in comfort. The furry head of Torgal, warming her legs. She took a hand and brushed it across the top of his head, flattening his bushy ears.
With that touch, he raised his head some, looking at her with his big yellow eyes. They shone with concern for her. He had howled to the moon when she first ran out here, as if he too understood his master was no longer alive. Now all he did was his little whine.
She took his face in both her hands, leaning in to rest her head upon his. He nuzzled her, trying his best to comfort her in this sad time.
Jill remembered when he was just a pup. A tiny thing that she could hold in the palms of her hands. A rambunctious little thing that managed to find his way into trouble, usually getting him, Jill, and Clive in trouble around Rosalith Castle. But no matter how harsh the reprimand, they were always back at it the next day.
Now here he was, sitting before her a grown canine. One of the final living connections between her and Clive.
As she sat there, running her fingers through Torgal’s fur, she heard someone approaching from behind, their boots creaking the wooden floorboards as if it were some announcement of their arrival.
“That Gav is such a nuisance. Couldn’t keep quiet for a single moment,” Mid strolled up by Jill’s side, her arms crossed.
“Nonetheless, the babe is sleeping with Edda, if you want to look.”
Jill looked up at the young woman, her smile wide and bright as the moon that shone upon it. Her pose was still filled to the brim with confidence, but in her eyes there was something else. Similar to Torgal, there was concern.
The former dominant of Shiva only shook her head. She spoke, but her voice was low thanks to her previous cries, “I think not. I am in no state for it.”
“Mm...right.” Mid turned towards the water, seeing as the moon’s light danced upon the rippling surface. She stepped closer to the railing, resting her arms upon it.
“You know, there’s no real amount to the requests I’ve laid upon Clive’s shoulders. I’m sure at some points he felt like yelling that if I needed so much, I should just get it meself. But all of those things he brought me turned into something fruitful, to help everyone. All except one.
“Clive tried to help me build some sort of…flying ship. And no matter how hard we worked, now matter how many pieces he brought back to me, it ended up failing anyway. Couldn’t tell you how much of a failure I felt at that moment, but…it subsided. Despite the loss, I figured it’d be better if such a dream wasn’t fulfilled, so that it wouldn’t become the bane of another’s existence. So everything I worked for, I’ll be digging away, for others to find and make their own dream. Work for others to continue when their time comes.”
Mid looked at Jill, offering her one of her witty smirks. “We all lose something, Jill. And I haven’t a doubt there will keep being losses, but…we must push on for those to come after us, aye? So all that hard work wasn’t for nothing. Even if it’s something as silly as a treasure hunt for some schematics.”
Jill exhaled her chuckle, lifting a hand to wipe the dried stains of tears from her cheeks. She sat up straighter, but still remained seated with Torgal.
Mid continued. “Everything Clive, and you, and me dad…and everyone else here have done for those less fortunate…it’s opened up a lot for the future. And even if Clive does not return, there’s still you. As he carried on the legacy of my father, you can carry on the legacy of Clive.”
With that last sentence, Mid stepped away from the railing, reaching down to give Torgal a small scratch on the chin before she walked off.
Jill’s eyes landed on Torgal, staring at him as he stared back. Her mind went over the words Mid offered her.
The loss of Clive has left a ghastly hole in her heart, but it was not fatal. She will awake the next day and be fine, despite the empty spot next to her. And each day after that, she’ll get up the very same. What matters is getting up.
All she could do now is move on, and pave the way for the future. A future that would not have been possible without Clive.
It will become easier and easier to swallow the pain, though it will never truly vanish.
However, on those lonely nights where she will miss his warm embrace, she will be able to look up at the moon, the very same one they confessed their love under, and remember the great man that freed Valisthea.
Even now, as she gazed up at it, she could feel his arms wrap around her.