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Whispers falling silently, drift on the wind
But I hear you...
The wind shifted off the lake, bringing with it the scent of Lakeland Elf trees and lavender, and Aiko paused as a nostalgic warmth bloomed in her chest. A curious feeling, but not unfamiliar—there had been numerous such occasions in the past few weeks.
Our journey now a memory fading from sight
But I see you...
She had first noticed it in the little things.
When the light of the newly returned moon hit the sands of Amh Araeng just right, and the landscape seemed to shift before her eyes to the vestiges of a bygone era—an echo of a memory from another lifetime.
Unbroken, promises we made so long ago
You're still here...
When the silence of her room in the Pendants grew nigh unbearable, and she took comfort from the weight of a phantom axe she had never wielded resting against her shoulder.
Unspoken requiem for a river of tears
When she looked at the Crystal Exarch, and her chest tightened with a heavy, archaic sorrow that did not entirely belong to her—a persistent ghost haunting the edges of her own grief.
Flowing, winding, toward eternal sea
And yet our hope remains
When time after time she reached for her own fraying resolve, and she found a reservoir of steady, unyielding strength waiting for her—a borrowed courage from a man who now lived entirely within her heart.
Guiding, lighting the way
He had ever walked by her side since her arrival on the First—a once intrusive presence, certainly, but in his company she had unexpectedly found not only a friend but a fractured piece of herself she hadn't known was missing. The fusion of their souls in the depths of Amaurot had saved her life, but the aftermath had left her feeling unmoored.
No time for mourning...
The sheer weight of this world could easily have dragged her under. Yet whenever the burden of expectation threatened to paralyze her, she felt the phantom grip of a calloused hand on her shoulder—a silent, insistent push to take another step.
Turning, wending, always night follows day
The sun will shine again
Through victories monumental and moments heartbreakingly mundane, the truth of her new life finally settled into her bones. She was no longer walking a solitary path; she carried with her the spirit of a hero who refused to let her face the dark alone.
Walk on, never look back
Through you, we live...
Ardbert Hylfyst's life had ended long before Aiko came to the First. But with his final gift to her, she could go on living hers.
Tales of loss and fire and faith
Every word on our hearts engraved
Back in her room, within these four walls that had borne witness to countless heart-to-hearts between the Warrior of Light and the Warrior of Darkness, Aiko smiled to herself in the dark.
"Rest well, my friend," she whispered, placing a fist over her heart and bowing her head.
In the dark, you will not stray
Forge ahead till the end we pray
"I have the watch now."