#Writing #BloodofSilenceSeries #DanceTillOurEnd #DTOE
The gods danced before my eyes, their clash lighting up the sky as it had for days now, though it felt like a fever dream detached from reality. Was that truly Venat and Elidibus? The question hovered in the backs of my mind always, but I dared not think on it too much.
Threats; that's what they were. Misguided threats to all that was and ever would be, and while I knew how it would end, I dared not speak a word.
Lands that stretched on forever. Skies one could drown in. The heartbeat of nature, silent yet strong. And at its heart, a people. Beacons of light and life. Laughter echoing from each and every corner.
But now?
The lands cracked and buckled--skies weeping as nature withered and died. The heart broken and shattered as wails of pain and loss echoed throughout the star. And in an attempt to fix it all, those shattered pieces were cracked and spread further. Sacrifices. More sacrifices.
They would feed it the star itself to recovered those broken pieces, but they were already shattered beyond repair. Souls without vessels; families without loves.
And She would take those broken pieces and smash them further until there was nothing left. No hope at recovery. A shattered dream of a paradise forever out of reach. What were we to strive for, if not the betterment of humanity and the star? What were we to live for if our dreams were always out of reach?
Perhaps in that reality my future, broken self had come from, that had to pass, but not here. Not now. There must have surely been a way.
"Cynthia."
"I knew you would come," I smiled, turning to face him. "You always do."
I wore no cowl or mask. Fitted in an orange dress, adorned with flowers and butterflies, shimmering in the night, I was a rare sight in this world of ours.
"Your robes--"
"Worry not, no one can see us." I waved a hand, sending a glow through the glamour surrounding us.
I gazed up around our surroundings. Withered trees, broken benches, and ashes of what was once a beautiful garden full of colour and life.
"Do you remember when we first met in this very place? We were practically children back then. It seems a lifetime ago."
"You were climbing a tree," he chimed in, "picking fruit. I remember thinking what a ridiculous waste of energy it was."
I chuckled. "And Hythlodaeus bade you give me a flower. After much convincing, I would imagine. Do you remember what it was?"
He looked around, frowning at the shattered remnants of this place. "Of course I do. It was a lily flower."
I smiled. "A symbol of rebirth. A promise to reunite, exchanged between lovers, and lain before one returns to the star. You must have been embarrassed," I mused.
"Yes, well it was not my choice of flower."
I chuckled. "And yet fitting nonetheless. Eventually..."
I moved closer to him, gently cupping his cheek and loosening his mask. "Dance with me, my love. We may not get another chance for a long time."
He seemed hesitant--shy even--but it melted away as I wrapped my arms around him, bidding a gentle melody play.
For a moment, when I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine it. Stars twinkling in a blue and purple sky. Spires stretching unto the heavens--their glow the most magnificent thing for miles.
Fireflies would dance around us as we'd hold each other, breathing in the calm, cool air of the night. The gentle sway of leaves; the distant whisper of those few still walking about the streets.
Now it was deathly quiet. The distant crackling of fires not yet put out, the smoke and ash filling my lungs. Where once our embrace would have been gentle and peaceful, we clung to each other as if we'd never get another chance.
"There is naught left for us here," I murmured into his shoulder. "Especially not for those we lost, but we owe it to them to build a new future for the living. That is what they would have wanted. What he would have wanted. For us to honour their sacrifice and move forward."
"You would abandon them? Hythlodaeus?"
I shook my head. "You know it will never be enough, Hades. Restore them, and no amount of aether you might feed it will sate its hunger. They will be replaced by the land, and once the land is bled dry, then what?"
"We will have found a solution by then."
I let go of him then, taking a step back. "Will we? No matter what we find, it will not restore things to the way they were. Our paradise is gone. Let the souls of the dead rest with its peaceful memory."
"Their hopes? Their dreams? All that we've achieved and worked towards? You would abandon that too?"
"They sacrificed themselves for the future, not the past. You may rebuild the husks of everything that was, but it will never restore the heart. Our knowledge, the people we lost, and everything we worked towards, will never be restored. Not for eons.
Please, do not subject them to that pain. Let us honour them by building a brighter future for them to find when next we meet under a clear sky."
"You only say this because you did not approve of Zodiark's creation. You did not have to shoulder the guilt, or bid your last goodbyes. It was not you who is responsible."
"You think I don't lament them every waking second? Of course I do!" I cried. "Every night I wonder what I could have done differently. If only I'd been a little faster, a little stronger; if only I'd paid more attention and noticed the signs, then maybe everything would have been different."
My fists clenched. "It was me who let my mother die. It was me who didn't make it in time to save my father. It was me who abandoned Pandæmonium and did not take the risk to look for survivors. It was me who couldn't find an answer, and stood helplessly as Hythlodaeus and my own brother were sacrificed. And it was me who was too cowardly to be there."
"But above all," I whispered, "it was me who allowed you to become like this. Tainted and enslaved to our supposed savior... But worry not, my love, for it will not last much longer."
"What are you--"
I smiled, removing the fleur-de-lis key from my neck and placing it in his palm.
"We will meet again, of that I am sure, for my home lies with you," I murmured, placing a final kiss upon his lips. "The beacon to this wayward butterfly's wings."
I stepped back, watching as the sky lit with the first blow. The time was nigh.
"Our goals may not align, Venat," I said. "But our intentions are the same. I cannot let us fall to despair."
Raising a hand, I ignored his protests, frantic and desperate. Glitter lined my arms and face, lily flowers adorning my hair and weaved between braids. The train of my dress expanded, with more butterflies adorning my arms as wings--large and magnificent--sprouted from my back.
My eyes opened, now towering above Hades in my transformed form. I made ready to take to the skies.
"From here, we start anew."
Soaring through the skies, I mustered all the strange I had and placed myself between the two deities. I screamed upon the impact as they both seemed to falter.
"Cynthia! What are you doing?"
"The future you spoke of," I panted. "I cannot let it come to pass."
"You must leave this place, Azem," came the booming voice of Zodiark. Yet I could still hear Elidibus through it all. "This is not your fight."
"Those of us left...will never stop lamenting the past. They will chase it and chase it, until they finally realise that theirs is a hollow dream, and fall to despair. For us to live...for us to find hope again, and rebuild even a fraction of what we lost...we must start anew, unburdened by the past."
"That will not be nearly enough," Venat spoke. "Man will ever pursue paradise, and once he as reached the clouds and finds there is nothing left, he will fall to despair. His wings must be clipped."
"There you are wrong," I smiled, "for I have faith we will see it through, and I cannot allow this to be our end. If you would oppose me, then come." I raised my arms, bracing for impact once again. "May the victor write the tale, and the vanquished become its villain."
We could but look on in awe as the spectacle unfolded above us. Over and over, the two clashed as she stood between them, striking them with every blow in an attempt to zap the last of their stamina.
My hand clenched around the necklace as I ran towards the encampment among the rubble. "This is madness, we have to do something!"
Fandaniel watched blankly as the fight unfolded. Silent but frowning.
"Let her die if that be her wish," Lahabrea spat. "A fool, she is. They both are."
"None could hope to vanquish the power of so many combined without an entity of equal such capabilities. This altercation will be done on the morrow, and we will live another day under the dutiful gaze of lord Zodiark. I am going to bed." Nabriales shrugged, returning to his temporary shelter.
"You would all leave her to die? She was our comrade!"
"Was," Igeyorhm chimed in. "She's not our problem anymore, and I for one am not particularly keen on aiding someone intent on destroying Zodiark. She is reckless, and she betrayed us all."
"You have our verdict," Pashtarot said. "Whatever you do of a personal accord is not our business, but do remember we are already one short. We do not need to lose another, Emet-Selch."
My teeth clenched in irritation at how readily they would cast her aside, and yet I could not wholely blame them. "Fine," I uttered, summoning Grani at my side. "I will do it myself."
I didn't make it far into the air before a high pitched noise pierced my ears. I gripped my head in pain, trying to keep my stead from going haywire.
"Stay where you are," Elidibus called, holding out an arm. I felt myself unable to move from that very spot. "Do not interfere."
"Damn you!" I cursed. "Elidibus!" I yelled. "There'll be nothing left of her, you have to stop Him!"
"Our hopes..." I heard him murmur. "Our dreams... My duty... I will vanquish all who stand in our way. For the good of the star."
"Elidibus, stop!" I bellowed.
I could see her, tattered and broken. She struggled to stay aflight with tears in her wings as she gripped her arm close. She had almost certainly shattered multiple bones, but nonetheless, she raised a flower into the air, releasing a thick fog.
I could only watch as the two beings readied again, drawing back, further and further as they gathered magic. And then, in the blink of an eye, they lunged forward and she screamed.
It was ear-piercing. Like shattering glass, but so, so much more wrong. An unbearable sound, like chalk on a chalkboard. I couldn't see a damn thing, and I struggled to hold my balance as the earth shook.
"Emet-Selch!" Lahabrea called. "Find out what's going on."
Even with my Sight, all I could see were faint outlines of souls through a thick fog. An unnatural fog, for such a thing should have little affect on my ability to see aether.
Beside me, Elidibus hunched over, trembling with wide eyes as his mask lay knocked on the ground. "Zodiark, he...he..."
"Something isn't right," I uttered. "I can hardly see a thing."
"My soul..." Lahabrea grimaced. "It feels as if I'm choking."
I felt it too. The overwhelming, suffocating pressure. So unbearable that choking yourself alive seemed the more swift and painless option. I could feel my very mind slipping, as if something was dragging it away.
Coughs and moans echoed in every direction as people struggled to breath, let alone speak. I squinted at those by my side, trying to make out every small detail possible.
Small cracks ran down the seams of their very being. Their souls struggled under an invisible force, and like glass, seemed as if they'd burst at any moment.
Gritting my teeth in a forced silence, I mustered what strength I could into a beam that cleared some small amount of the fog. Just a little ways away lay Cynthia, limp and motionless. If I could, I would have rushed to her side, called out her name, and lugged her to Emmerololth, but it was all I could do to stand there and watch as I fought the tears at my eyes--the pressure building at my throat.
Zodiark too was there. On His knees, battered and bruised, and towering over her, but there nonetheless.
Hydaelyn gripped Her sword, lodging it into the ground as She used it as leverage to stand. Gripping an injured arm, She limped over to Zodiark, dragging the weapon across the ground. She frowned at Him--almost seemed to pity Him for a moment--but She raised the sword nonetheless.
"Emet-Selch," Lahabrea bit out, barely even audible. "The rift. We have to..."
Elidibus held out a hand, channeling his aether into a small portal. "This...is all I can do."
Whatever fog Cynthia had let free was stifling our aetherial circulation. While not enough to kill us, it was plenty to cut off all but the most talented of mages from their magicks. We had little more power than newborn babes.
I searched for somewhere--anywhere the flow of aether was strongest. Motioning a few metres to the right, I nodded to my companions.
They channeled their magic, making it grow in size. Alas, even with my own aether, it was not quite enough, and we were too far away to make it with our limited ability to move.
Zodiark struggled to His feet--no doubt affected by His heart's current predicament, as He sent another blast of magic towards Hydaelyn.
She dodged, taking to the air once more. "No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise," She exclaimed. "Henceforth, he shall walk!"
Before I could even blink, I felt an aetherial tug, and went tumbling through the darkness.
Heed me...child of the future.
Ours is a harsh and unforgiving world. I see that now.
We claw and scream; flail and fight, all for it to be meaningless in the end.
Though we try, we can never escape this fundamental truth.
Sooner or later, the veil is lifted, and we are reminded of the pain. The blood, and the loss, and the silence it brings in the aftermath.
Even so, there is...a beauty in this world. Hopes and dreams that give our lives meaning. People and places that make life worth living.
These are the things worth protecting. The things I failed to save.
For every success, there will be failure. For every day, there will be more lost to us.
For every beginning, there will be an end.
So treasure it while it's there. Fight for it, even if the end is inevitable. Let these things be the meaning to the meaningless.
This, I pray you will learn, in that distant, hopeless future.
- The dying wish of a fallen traveler