Chapter Text
I cherished every day together. The time our family spent, a talk at the dinner table, a stroll through the woods, all down to the very last second. I thought the inevitable would never come, that our little paradise would last forever. Was life too good, or was I merely a blind idiot all along?
Maybe it's because I’m a healer. I’ve experienced life and have brought many back from the brink. A gift, they called it, what a cruel jest. What good is this gift if the one person I couldn’t heal was the one I loved? If he himself didn’t want it?
It happened on a fall evening. The same fateful day we met. It was the day of the beginning, and now, the day of the end. Pyra was inconsolable, crying her heart out. Mythra tried to act tough, but she too broke down by his bedside.
It was just me, standing there in silence, unable to accept it. How could I? He was the first to trust me, the one who helped me believe in myself. From that day on, after my confession, I was finally free. I had nothing more to fear.
Yet, that night, when I stood by his side as he passed, I once again felt afraid. I remember his eyes, an almost pitying look, as he told me one last time that he loved me. Did he already know that I alone would be the one in denial?
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it all! I could’ve saved you, why would you not want me to save you? We could’ve been together for so much longer. I don’t understand. Were you happy?
Were you truly ready to leave me?
Only a few days have passed since, and I still cannot get this thought out of my head. I could scarcely focus, even during today’s funeral.
Everyone made it. All our friends, all our family, from this world and the ones from beyond. What was supposed to be a small event quickly turned into a large gathering. Blades and humans alike showed up in droves to pay their respects to the hero of Alrest. All gathered in his memory.
Only now, in the aftermath of it all, I finally find myself alone.
As if it matters. Whatever peace that silence offers me is pointless now. I stare at his gravestone in front of where I sit, an eternity passing before my eyes. It takes a warm hand being placed on my shoulder for me to finally snap out of it.
“Nia.”
“Hey, you two,” I say without turning around. “Been holding up alright?”
I hear an exaggerated groan. “It's terrible. Rex said he wanted a small send-off, not some grand attraction where everyone comes and parades around us.”
“Mythra!” Pyra chides. “Be more considerate, she’s still grieving.”
“It’s alright.” I force a smile, knowing Mythra’s trying to make me feel better. Sarcasm as a facade to cover the pain, I emphasize with that idea better than anyone. “If any of those bastards disrespected his memory, they’ll have to deal with me.”
Pyra sighs, taking a seat beside me. “I know you two are joking, but it's for the better that everyone was allowed to come. Rex touched many hearts throughout his life, not just us, it wouldn’t do for us to be selfish.”
I nod. “That he did, never did stop either. Old man wouldn’t slow down no matter how hard you tried.” There is a reminiscent look on Pyra’s face as I glance at her. “Sometimes, I think that matters more than saving the world. Are most even here because he’s a hero?”
“I don’t think so. Not many recall his deeds anymore, the time before Elysium and the Age of Titans is all but a story now.”
“But it's not a story. We were there. Together.”
“Yes, we were. Hand in hand.” Mythra grins slightly, nudging her sister. “Well, maybe not us, or does it count if you share a body?”
I close my eyes, remembering those better times. “It feels like yesterday when you first split. I still remember you two sticking with each other like lost pups the days that followed.”
“Wah, you say what? I don’t remember that!”
“I do,” says Pyra with a somber smile, grabbing Mythra’s hand before she could turn away. “That was almost 89 years ago.”
“89 years…” I whisper, “where has all the time gone?”
We let that thought linger between us. Time really does fly fast, before you know it, the end has already happened.
A part of me wants to blame my longevity, each minute lasting a shorter time in the grand scheme of things. And yet, in my heart, I know it isn’t that. Because every lasting second mattered more than anything. I wonder if Pyra and Mythra feel the same.
I look over to them. Mythra is leaning against the tree to our side, deep in thought. While Pyra, well, she is far less relaxed. She’s fidgeting, completely in her own world as she taps her finger while staring at the ground.
“Is there something wrong, Pyra? You're doing the thing. You only do that when you’re hiding something.”
“Am I really that obvious?”
Pyra stops, as if looking for the words, before continuing. “To tell you the truth. There’s a favor I need to ask.” Our eyes meet as she turns towards me. “I want you to take my core crystal.”
“Take your core crystal?”
“Yes.”
My blood freezes as the serious look on her face begins to make sense. “What are—you don’t mean you plan to…”
“I told you and Rex this once before, didn’t I?” she answers the unasked question. “That one day, I would like to die beside the one I loved.”
“But to give up the part of yourself that makes up your very being. Do you even know what would happen?” I keep staring, not believing what I’m hearing.
Pyra puts her hands to her chest, and a bright glow flashes before our eyes. I watch her grimace as she slowly pulls the core out. The green crystal flickers just a tiny bit as it is removed from its rightful home.
“I will no longer be Aegis,” she says in an almost freeing voice. “I want to travel to the ends of Alrest, see for myself all that we have done. Not as a blade, but as a human, the very same as Rex.”
“And without a core crystal, you’ll die.”
“In time. Then my body will be scattered to the wind.” She takes her core in both hands and wraps it in mine. Her hand is warm. Full of life. “When that day comes, when my light fades, I would like to be beside him, so we will be together once again.”
“But…”
“Please. You are the only one I would trust with my soul.”
I look her in the eyes, a blazing fire undulled by the passage of time. “I’ll do it. If that’s what you want, I’ll do as you ask.”
Pyra exhales her held breath before gazing up to the sky with a content smile. “Thank you, Nia.”
“And what about you?” I ask Mythra, who’s been silently watching to our side.
“I’m leaving too,” she responds in a matter-of-fact tone, as if this is something normal to say. “The world does not need the Aegis’ power, yet we exist all the same. Now that Rex is gone, I must be the one who safeguards this power to the very end.”
“Why leave? You can stay with us.”
Mythra shakes her head. “No. I can’t. Already I feel prying eyes, people trying to steal the Aegis for their own gain once again.” She waves her hand, light flowing through them, before a projection shimmers. It is unclear, marred by fog. “My power of foresight may not be as strong as it once was, even then I can still see that staying will bring our family nothing but harm.”
“You have your mind made up, don’t you?” I didn’t need an answer. Her face told me enough, a pragmatic determination that I’ve never forgotten. “How long have you been planning this?
“A long, long time. A lifetime ago, I made a promise to protect someone very dear to me, as well as the world around us. I was weak, unable to control my power, and so I failed to do both.” Mythra puts her hand on my shoulder, giving me a nod of affirmation. “That must never happen again, I owe him that much.”
“I see,” I say softly. “So you will walk a path separate from her.”
“Surprised? We aren’t the same person, you know?”
“I know. It's just, this is the first time you two will truly be apart, isn’t it?”
“Not just us.” Pyra pulls both me and Mythra into a hug. “We’ve all been together for so long.”
All. She didn’t need to say his name, we both knew.
I return the hug, melting in their embrace. The warmth fought against the emptiness, although that too will now pass. “So this is goodbye then? It ends like this.”
“I’m sorry, I figured all of this was the hardest on you,” replies Pyra. “Mythra said the more we delay the news, the worse it’ll be, but I was too hesitant. We’re… leaving after today’s funeral ends.”
“Today?” I whisper, my voice filling with more desperation. “What about Mio and Glimmer? Mio was always close with you, Pyra, she still visits every month from Bionis.” I look at Mythra. “And you, Mythra, Glimmer has admired you since the day she could talk!”
“We told them already. They understood.”
That is the last blow for me. The reality finally settles in with the finishing of Pyra’s words. “And I’m the one who doesn’t. A bloody fool I am.”
“Nia…”
“No,” I say simply. “Do not pity me. Even if I am the only one who cannot understand.”
After taking a pause, I look up. “If I am the one who remains, so be it. I will carry on his memory”—I smile at them—“and yours as well.”
Their expressions at that, is it surprise or sympathy? No, I realize. It is neither, it is understanding. They understand how I feel. I only hope, one day, I will understand as well.
For now, there is a comfortable silence as we all sit as a family, a remembrance of bygone days. The time we had spent with each other was so long yet so short. Every moment was as fleeting as a falling leaf, but beautiful all the same.
Daylight fades into the night, and so too do we. There is no exchange of words during the parting. After all, it isn’t goodbye, not yet.
We will be together one last time. And when that day comes, I will be ready.