#Writing #BloodofSilenceSeries #DanceTillOurEnd #DTOE
For the first time since the Final Days, it was raining, though it did little to quell the fires that burned even now.
At the sight where Zodiark had been summoned, a monument was erected in honour of the sacrifices. Half walls stretching throughout the city, for they could not hope to fit them all in the plaza alone.
There were hundreds of names engraved on silver plaques, each with a mask sitting behind them. Masks once worn by those who were now lost to us.
It must have been some cruel joke putting the two I lost next to each other. Or perhaps they thought it was a kindness. It was not.
Gently, I ran my thumb over Hythlodaeus' mask in an attempt to wipe off the rain droplets. It was futile, for they came back near-instantly, and seemingly more in number. I sighed.
"I thought I might find you here," Altheia smiled in an attempt to comfort me, but I remained silent.
"I know...I wasn't there in Mum's last moments. I can't imagine how you must have felt, but..." she trailed off, attempting to rid Athens' nameplate of the rain. "I lost them too. And Athens... Well, he did as well. There's nothing left for him back home. Everything is gone."
She placed a hand on my shoulder reassuringly. "All of this is to say... You're not alone, Cynthia. We've all lost someone. Every single person here is bonded by that, and while it doesn't make it easier, it's a burden we can share."
I felt the tears gathering at my eyes before pulling her into a hug with a sob. "I wish I wasn't so helpless. There must have been something I could have done. There's always something! Always..."
"Sometimes sacrifice is the only path to solution," she murmured, pulling away to look me in the eyes. "Besides, you couldn't have stopped them if you tried. Athens was ever the worrier, but he'd do anything to protect you. He and Hythlodaeus gave their lives so you could find a way."
Altheia had long left me to brood in silence by the time I finally turned to leave. As I did so, however, I was met by an unexpected visitor.
"Elidibus..."
"I know it must mean little coming from me, but I'm sorry."
I stood in silence for a moment. "...Are they well? Can you feel them still?"
"They are."
"That's good then."
I said naught else to the boy, simply continuing past him on my way.
There were those who longed to forget; those who wished ignorance, as if returning to the past was a possibility.
There were those who wanted to restore those lost with the lives of the present.
Each of them wallowing in despair. Each of them wishing to erase the pain. To return to those halcyon days in paradise.
Some few wished to move forward, but they were all too few. The atmosphere was heavy with anguish and mourning, and the city was all too quiet.
Quiet, for there were so few left of us now that if we were to form a line, I doubted we'd reach the other side of the city.
I too felt our brethren's absence keenly. From the empty streets, to the absence by my side, and the pain weighing on my heart. The reminders were everywhere, and never in all my travels had I felt so lonely.
Would we be able to come back from this? If the souls of those sacrificed could not be returned, would we simply give in to despair?
Perhaps the greatest kindness would be to forget and start anew.
After all, what was left for us here? Everything we'd dedicated our lives to was gone, and so few of us remained.
Fresh minds would have hope. Hope that could deliver us unto a permanent solution, and see us spared despair's clawing embrace.
In our current state, I wondered if we'd not just await the inevitable were the Final Days to come again.
I frowned at the rubble, feeling the tug of her necklace from within my pocket. It was trying to resonate with something that no longer existed.
For like so many others, our home too had been destroyed.
"Close your eyes", I murmured, and she did so excitedly, holding her hands out in anticipation.
"This crystal is something of a gimmick," I explained. "It resonates only with specific aetheric signatures, and this one..." I placed the concept crystal in her hands, "requires two. Ours."
"You would have us form it together?" she asked curiously.
I placed a gentle kiss upon her temple in a silent affirmation. "You need only channel your aether into it. It will do the work."
There was a gentle glow as our aether mingled. It was warm and comforting, like collapsing into bed after a long day. I smiled at the sensation as I felt her soul reach out playfully towards me. It felt right. It felt like home. More so than anything else ever would.
When she opened her eyes, a shimmering key was around her neck. It was silver, covered in jewels that sparkled like millions of little stars. At its top was a fleur-de-lis--a symbolised version of the lily flower. A promise.
"Hades," she gasped, "you made this?"
"With some small amount of input from our dear mutual friend..." I murmured. "It suits you. I knew it would."
Her beaming smile was infectious.
"Ah, but there is more." I held a hand for her to take, leading her over to the door to our apartment.
"It responds to certain fluctuations in aether. Those generally caused by danger, longing, and distress. Should you ever find yourself lost, it will lead you home. If you are in danger, it will remind you that you have allies to call upon."
"It responds to emotions?"
"More so the bodily reactions to such things than the emotions themselves. A quickened pulse, or flicker of the soul. Such things are unique to every individual, but with enough time spent, and the ability of Sight, one tends to pick up on these things."
She blushed at that. The implication that I had studied her so thoroughly throughout our lifetimes. I chuckled.
"No matter where you go, or how long you are away, you will always have a home to return to. Remember this."
As she brought me into an embrace--tears gathering at her eyes--I placed a kiss upon her lips.
"Venat!" I called.
"I'll have you know ma'am, this is private property. You can't just come barging in like--"
"I need to speak with her. Let me through!"
"Protocol dictates that I ask your name and occupation. We are undertaking research here of the utmost discretion!"
"Fuck protocol!"
"Your name ma'am."
I groaned, beyond irritated at such a hostile welcome. "Cynthia Kore. Vagabond. Now if you'd please just let me through?"
I could feel them scrutinizing me beneath their mask. One did not simply declare themselves a vagabond. People didn't wander aimlessly without reason. There was always some intention--some allegiance or reason, be it research, personal interest, or otherwise.
"Why does that name sound familiar..." they murmured, pouring through some document that I could only assume was a list of individuals allowed through. "Alas, I see no mention of you here. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to lea--"
"Come now, my friend," came the voice of the one I was seeking. I could feel the weight of the situation lifting already as I breathed an exhausted sigh. "Surely you must recognise my protégé? And taken after her mentor, it would seem..."
I almost winced at that last part. I could feel the frown dripping through her tone.
"Lazy Azem?!" they startled. "B-but your robes--"
As if catching on to the situation, they quietened themselves immediately.
"Now then, I somehow doubt you've come to join us. Come then. Let me here what you have to say."
She led me to a more secluded room. One where privacy was all but certain.
"You plan to shatter Zodiark, don't you?"
She froze. "However did you come to that conclusion?"
"Don't bother trying to hide it from me. I remember what you said about the shattered world of the future. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together when Zodiark is to become the law of our star."
She turned to me with a smile. "I should have known you of all people would figure it out. But by your change of outfit, I take it you opposed his summoning..."
"I did."
"Then I can't imagine you're going to stop me."
"Not necessarily."
"Then what is it?"
"I want to know what your plan is. What are we to gain from shattering our very existence?"
She hummed, carefully considering her words. "This calamity...was built upon despair. Our greatest weakness, and that which we have toiled to be rid of. But we never succeeded. Not really... All we did was delay our inevitable downfall."
"What has that got to do with any of this?"
"For us to overcome the Final Days, and despair itself, I would have us live alongside despair, that we might learn to embrace it, and forestall our end. I would clip our wings, thereby preventing us from creating another paradise to cower within."
"And what makes you think living alongside despair won't just quicken the process? Were the Final Days to return, it would be far worse than this. Why would anyone want to live in such a world?"
"Because it is our only hope."
Such unfounded, reckless logic. Such a thing would only quicken our downfall, I was sure. What was there to live for in a world of despair? Why look towards another day if it too will invite sorrow?
What a pointless, miserable existence that would be.
How could we trust those diminished creatures of the future with vanquishing the Final Days, if they--after so many years--had still not found a solution, and had no choice but to come to us?
Whatever curiosity she had developed for that "Fira" must have been clouding her judgment, for I could find no sound reasoning in any of this.
That it seemed reckless, even to me of all people... Truly, I felt like the roles were reversed. Any moment now, the crease between my brows would deepen twofold, and my hair would turn white.
"I cannot allow you to take such drastic measures. We need not learn to embrace despair to overcome it. Better that we eradicate it entirely."
"And how do you suppose we do that? Such a thing is impossible."
"Right now, the world is wallowing in sorrow. We find ourselves bereft of purpose, and with holes in our hearts left by those who are no longer with us.
This pain in my breast... I would not wish it upon anyone. And so we must erase this, and start anew. Rebuild what we lost from scratch, that we no longer feel the pang of its loss."
"You would erase our memories? But to do so on such a large scale..."
"Would cost me my life, yes. And a great deal of preparation besides." In spite of this, I smiled. "It is my gift to all life on Etheirys, both now and in the future. That of innocence, and ignorance. That of hope, without the clawing weight of despair."
"Only we are capable of finding a solution to the Final Days, and we must do so at the peak of our potential, with hope in our hearts, and knowledge in our minds. For all my misgivings about Him, Zodiark will never waver. He will guide them upon the hopes and dreams of those who came before, that they might build an even brighter future upon the ashes our sacrifice."
Venat shook her head solemnly. "You would be inviting our doom."
"So would you."
"If you erase us, so too will you erase the knowledge needed to eradicate the Final Days. To recreate it would take eons, if it is possible at all in whatever amount of time Zodiark will grant us."
"You would erase us and inhibit us."
"You to not know the full extent of the knowledge we have uncovered; nor that of my plan."
"Then please, enlighten me."
"I cannot."
"Why? If either of us is to end it all soon enough, then what have we got to lose?"
"The calamity facing us is far beyond the scope of this star. That knowledge which I have, I cannot share until the time is right."
"When will it ever be right?! Nothing is right about this!"
She removed her mask, looking at me with a sadness in her eyes that I couldn't quite place. "One day, when you understand what it is to live life in all its imperfections, you will complete your final lesson, and I will tell you. I promise you that."
Placing her mask back upon her face with a sigh, she motioned, sending a magical signal to her comrades. "It is time for her to leave. Should she change her mind, however," she turned to me once more, "she knows where to find me."