Chapter Text
Amphoreus, the eternal yet unknown world. A land that even the Aeon of the Trailblaze has never reached. Blonde hair flows along with the ocean’s wind and gloved hands gently trace the marble banisters.
Aventurine inhales the salty breeze as he gazes down upon the town below him: Its lights glimmer like fireflies from above the acropolis. Ships wade into and out of the harbor beyond while merchants pour out of the agora to greet them. Children laugh and run across the velvety midnight, chasing candle embers like shooting stars. This place is slow, quiet, and tranquil, fitting for a person like Veritas Ratio to be birthed from.
Speaking of which, he hasn’t seen the eccentric scholar lately, despite being the one who invited him to his hometown. He even told him that he’d meet him at the acropolis.
Ah, well, he supposes he’ll just stroll around here until he receives any sign of the scholar. Although he preaches that time is money, he decides that he can afford to waste precious minutes just staring out into the open sea where time appears to be stagnant.
He can wait just a little bit longer to discuss business with him.
His feet begin to move on their own as his fingers glide across the marble once more, its surface as cool as what he imagines the waves to be. He keeps absentmindedly wandering around, the lights of the citadel illuminating his path until-
“Once and again telling a story lost in time
the way it starts, and the way it ends…”
Aventurine pauses in his tracks as baritone notes reach his ears. For the first time in a while, Aventurine looks ahead and finds a tall figure leaning against the railing. There’s a flickering light cradled within his arms, as if he’s shielding it from the wind, not wanting it to go out. He’s murmuring something, humming? The Stoneheart isn’t certain. As he approaches closer, he can begin to make out more features from the silhouette: aubergine hair, muscular arms…
“Doc?”
…And those dashing dawn-colored eyes that brighten up when he looks at him. “Gambler?”
“Hey!” Aventurine jogs the rest of the distance between them, waving when they’re only an inch apart. “There you are! I’ve been wondering when I’ll run into you.”
“Ah, my apologies.” Ratio casts his gaze back down towards the flickering light. “I was… preoccupied with something today. I lost track of time…”
His eyes look listless as he stares into his arm, very much unlike the bright doctor that pushes his students to strive for greater heights. Aventurine’s heart starts to pinch at the bottom. Curious, the Stoneheart peers over to see what he has covered inside, only to find a small, pink candle held within the scholar’s embrace. White swirls and gold petals decorate the stump, making it look adorable.
“...I should probably put this out now.” Ratio sighs. “Give me a minute to-”
“Why do you have one lit in the first place?” Aventurine quickly interjects, eyes still observing the tiny flame waltzing over the melted wax.
Ratio stares at him in surprise for a moment before speaking. “...It’s just a ritual I do every year.” Aventurine watches as the candlelight light gently caresses the features of the Doctor’s face, like a pair of hands to hold his face in. Ratio closes his eyes. “It’s nothing of great importance-”
“Do you want to elaborate on it? The ritual, I mean” Aventurine leans against the railing, propping his head upon one of his hands. He can clearly see Ratio’s eyes darting back and forth between himself and the candle; enlightening him or snuffing out the request.
After a moment of silent deliberation, Ratio uncovers the candle, revealing more of the intricate details and decorations that embrace the wax base: Hearts, flowers, stars and arrows all rise from the bottom and converge at the top, leading one’s eyes towards the lit flame. “It’s a special day, for me personally. And on such days, it’s customary to light a candle.”
“It looks beautiful, Ratio,” Aventurine murmurs.
The doctor chuckles airily. “She would’ve thought so too.”
Aventurine’s heart stops and by the look of Ratio, so has his. “She?”
“Yes.” Ratio looks away and out into the harbor. Its lights are slowly snuffed out one by one as the stars continue their march. His violet curls fall over his eyes, only leaving a curled smirk as an indicator of his melancholic mood. “...My sister.”
“You have a sister?” Kaleidoscopic eyes dart from the candle to the doctor, then back again. “Then this candle, you- is she-”
Amphoreus, a land of seas and lights. It harbors many myths and stories of how those who are gone still live on within the memories of others; that even if you’re no longer of this world, just as long as someone remembers you, you won’t truly die.
“Ratio… “ Aventurine whispers. “This candle, your sister,” He squeezes his hands together, his throat pinching tight as he tries to ask one more question. “Is she…?”
Ratio stays silent.
“This… this is an act of remembrance, isn’t it?”
Ratio stands up straight, taking in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. “She was- is dear to me. There isn’t a single day where I’m not thinking about her.” He shakes his head as he glances at the Stoneheart. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that to you. You probably have something more important to discuss with me-”
The blond reaches for Ratio’s hand and squeezes it tight, stopping him in his thoughts and his actions. He looks up at him and watches how the firelight flickers across Ratio’s face. His eyes are glossier than usual. His lips are pressed in a thin line to hide how the corners of his mouth are downturned. Aventurine is sure that he would rather avoid talking about this altogether, that he would rather carry this aching loss himself before he’d share just how painful it really feels.
Yet, despite knowing that…
“Tell me more about her,” asks Kakavasha.
Ratio’s eyes widen, stunned.
“C’mon doc,” Kakavahsa’s head tilts to the side. “What was she like?”
A gust blows past them and Ratio cups his hand over the tiny flame. Embers fly up into the air until they fizzle out like shooting stars.
Ratio breathes once more. “She was curious,” He begins. “There was always a new interest for her to pursue, and there was always something that she was working on.”
Kakavasha moves closer towards him. The twinkle in his eyes urges him to keep going, to keep talking.
“Never once did she find anything boring. Even when I talked about something as dull as Newtonian physics, she’d always listen intently. She’d even ask questions about it.” Ratio takes in a shaky breath. Fingers ball beneath his palm as he further encircles the candle around his arms.
Kakavasha gently places the tips of his fingers atop Ratio’s knuckles. “Is that what you miss the most about her?”
“Indeed. It is what I miss about her the most.” The doctor croaks out, “But it’s only one of the many things that makes her absence so emptying.”
“Well, what else did she do?”
“...She liked archery, and she was great at it too.” Kakavasha can see how his lips curve into a soft smile. “She dragged me into it as well. I was never as good as her, I like to think I still retain a little bit of skill from those times.”
“Hmmm, I believe you still do,” The blond chuckles. “I’ve seen how well you throw that chalk. Don’t think I’ve ever seen you miss a target.”
“Heh,” Ratio hums to himself, “I suppose so.”
The seas crash against the rocks as the conversation grows silent. Both men stare out into the distance as the wind caresses their hair.
“My sister found beauty in everyone she met. There wasn’t a single person that she ever saw as unworthy.” Kakavasha turns towards Ratio, whose blazing eyes were already gazing at him. “She would’ve loved to meet you.”
Kakavasha smiles. “She sounds lovely. I’d love to meet her too.”
“...I hope you get to meet her as well, one day.”
Kakavasha raises his head as Ratio continues to speak. “She wanted to help humanity however she could. Her dream fostered mine and I wanted to be next to her as she strode towards her goal, but she encouraged me to help others in my own way…
“She took off with several of her friends on her mission,” Ratio swallows thickly. “...and that was the last I ever saw of her.”
Kakavasha reaches out for Ratio, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Doctor?”
“She went missing thereafter. I never saw her again.”
The wind howls stronger, threatening to extinguish the candle. “I… I didn’t believe it at first, I didn’t want to believe she was gone. There was no way someone as bright as her would just, just-”
One more gust and the fire is suddenly snuffed out, leaving the two entrenched in darkness.
“I just can’t believe that she disappeared...”
Ratio once again stares down at the candle. The swirling wax resembles a whirlpool, a void that engulfs the doctor whole and swallows the light from his heart the longer he looks at it.
“Ratio…?”
“I don’t want to believe that she’s dead.”