Chapter 525 - The Empyrion (2/2)
”Did you imagine his aspiration was this big when you joined him?” she asked.
”No,” Y'nn honestly replied, shaking his head. ”I imagined he would make his own plot of land and defend it, but… this… haah, I've really gotten old.”
”… truth is, I don't think he intended it.” Y'elleve said, surprising Y'nn who turned to her.
”What makes you say that?”
”Because I never saw that kind of greed in him, nor his actions,” she replied. ”I believe that, had he not been provoked, he would have merely kept the Holy Grounds in check, rather than outright destroying them and taking over.”
”…” the silence fell between the two as Y'nn turned to deep thought. It was possible. However, he was not interested in deliberating. Either way, tomorrow come, the world would see a complete upheaval. From the age of Kings and Emperors, they would enter the age that hadn't happened since the Skyhaven Era – the age of a single ruler.
**
Hannah sat on a rather chilly floor, cross-legged, her dazzling, emerald-green eyes focused on the meditating figure in front of her. Lino had the countenance that she could not recognize. Whatever happened in the short period she hadn't seen him had changed him completely. Her lips curled into a perfect smile, her eyes turning crescent. She wondered how it was physically possible to love someone so much. Despite well over a decade having passed, he still stirred her heart just the same as when he suddenly kissed her for the first time.
For him, she realized, all the sacrifices were worth it. And, she knew, he was the same. To love so much, and to be loved just as much. For good part of her life, she thought it impossible. What was it about him that thawed that coldness?
”—I'm still too weak,” she said. ”I can't help him.”
”Then grow stronger. Just like us…”
”… you remembered wholly?”
”No,” Astrum replied. ”But enough. It almost feels fated for you two to end up together.”
”Hm?” Hannah quizzed.
”Makes me a bit jealous, to be honest,” the robotic voice suddenly cleared as the white-trounced smoke split from Hannah's front, forging a sitting figure in front of her. It was a woman whose height shouldn't be possible, sitting leisurely, glancing at her with a kind and loving smile. ”You won his heart, while I failed.”
”—e-eh?!” Hannah exclaimed. ”Astrum?! What the hell?!”
”For so long I silently stood by the side,” instead of answering her, Astrum continued, sighing. ”Waiting. Waiting for his heart to wane, for his eyes to look away from her and onto me. Just once. I managed to pull his gaze just once. How is it possible Hannah?” Hannah met the pair of glistening eyes squarely; they were brilliant in their radiance, so much so that Hannah felt it put hers to shame. ”To love someone for eons upon eons?”
”… w-what are you talking about?” confused Hannah asked, startled by Astrum's expression.
”Elta told me, time and again, it was futile; she had him whole. But, I never gave up. I believed firmly that, one day, he'd recognize me. And I was right,” Astrum chuckled joyfully, almost like a young girl. ”Unfortunately, it was just before I was to forget everything. The first time he stuttered trying to say my name… Reli…”
**
”… it is enough,” a voice of an old man muttered into the wind, followed by lengthy laughter from the lungs. A straw-made hat hung over his head, concealing his features, and hemp, loose clothes completed the image of a farmer. ”You might experience some difficulties, but you'll endure…” he mumbled, his eyes gazing toward the frigid plateau currently occupied by three imposing figures. ”You're the first, Lyonel,” his gaze pierced the realms of reality and landed on the unknowing Lino. ”Who exceeded my expectations. I wonder,” he hummed a low tune as his body began distorting, the straw-made hat fluttering for a moment before flying off, revealing the bald head beneath. ”Will you endure until I give you an army?”
His lower body was the first to vanish, slowly crawling toward the top of his head. The wind-carried particles lit up the invisible world as the last of him began to shudder and shred; his eyes, brows, and his forehead. The engraved number fluttered momentarily, turning into a burning haze, as '6' vanished, alongside any trace of anyone ever having been there.
END OF VOLUME XXI