Chapter 249: A Tale Through Ages, Part
Countless days, countless nights... she’s walked through the forest all on her lonesome, and through it all, she’s finally done it. Every inch, every mound, every flower, every tree, and every fallen leaf... she’s found them all.
There was nothing left to discover, nothing left unseen. If she so wanted, she could wander the rest of her days blind living here and never once have to worry about ever bumping her head into a tree.
With confidence, and a little swell of pride – it took a long time, but now was the day she could truly call this gigantic, sun-hiding, darkness-loving forest her home.
So what now?
That’s always the question, isn’t it? From one eternity to the other, what next? Boredom was like poison, and she was running dangerously low on cures. But such are the tribulations afflicted on the easily bored.
Unfortunate that she couldn’t just sleep forever. Sleep was never boring, dreams never were...
Maybe she could try once more for a nest of her own. All the other birds kept looking at her from up on high all smug and snug in their little home of sticks and leaves. She’s been putting up with this display of one-upmanship for far too long already.
.....
It’s settled, that’s what next – what use was there knowing where every stray twig was if you weren’t going to do anything with it? Might as well make something out of it.
After all, 3507th time was the charm, as they do say.
In a blink, and a fleeting flash of orange – her arms outstretched turned into feathers, and with a gust of wind, her talons drifted off the ground, leaving behind a charred imprint of feet etched onto the dirt as she soared ever higher into the air.
First thing to do as all birds do was to find the perfect tree to make do. After that comes the true undertaking.
And indeed, after two days of grueling hard work and unwavering resolve, she’s barely even scratched the surface. Those other birds were nefarious, deceptive... they made it look far easier a task than it actually was.
It was the sticks, it was always the sticks!
How is it that they could hold such weak, brittle little things in their beaks without outright snapping them in half in an instant?! It had to be magic. It was the only possible explanation.
How could else could she have amassed such a humongous pile of discarded twigs while they all sit content and in peace with homes made from the same stupid things?!
Witchcraft. Birdcraft. It had to be.
As she was thinking this, all alone perched atop her branch, two things suddenly happened in a simultaneous fashion.
First those nests that she looked on with envy, every single one – abandoned. Their owners in a loud flutter from up high, speeding through the tall trees, one of them even whizzing past her and spilling her pile to the dirt.
Then there was the other thing, sinking her piercing beady eyes to the forest below... a heavy rustling in the thick foliage, and a peculiar smell in the air, it was not a smell that belonged here.
A cloaked, hooded figure in brown emerged from the trees. A visitor. She didn’t expect visitors anymore.
From up here, a pillar of fire could so easily do the job, but... she was curious, and the smell was somewhat alluring. Besides, her sticks fell. It’d be unfortunate if they ended up being stepped on inadvertently.
She dropped, her wings already into arms, her talons into legs before she even hit the ground. Her black beady eyes already a burning crimson as she stood and stared at her impromptu visitor in brown.
No reaction. Not even a gasp. They usually gasp.
“Well, you don’t seem like you’re lost,” Ria said, producing tiny wisps of flames at her fingertips. “So what brings you here? For your sake, I sincerely hope it isn’t me.”
Still so still.
“On the contrary...” spoke the hooded figure, a firm, familiar voice sounding out loud. “Yes.”
Her flames puffed quickly away into smoke after that. “I know you, don’t I?”
“I hope so,” The hood was pulled away – a pair of horns protruded, and a pair of crimson red eyes gleamed right below it. “Then again, I’m not entirely sure if you do.”
What was it? What was the feeling? Shock? It was more than shock. Ria felt something more than that, something much more fervent, wild – excitement, that’s it.
She felt aroused, enticed... and who could blame her? Certainly no one could, not when such a sleek jaw is paired with such slim hollow cheeks, and those lips... oh, those lips, they look so soft, so full and plump. This face that faced her was a face designed to take breaths away, and it was sculpted to absolute perfection as she had predicted it would have oh so long ago.
It was also a face all too familiar.
“Ruria!” Ria exclaimed, blinking widened eyes at her. “I – this... this... I wasn’t expecting you...”
She looked older, much older since she saw her last, taller too. There was an air of maturity, an air of elegance to her presence... but there was also an air of coldness, an air so distant that stood out most prominent of them all.
For one, there was not a hint of a smile. Not anymore.
“It’s... it’s been quite a long time, hasn’t it?” Ria spoke when she didn’t. “Five years, right? Or was it six – really I forget these things.”
“Eleven,” Ruria said at once, looking at her sharply, “I haven’t forgotten yet...”
Ria blinked hard. “I... okay, I messed up there. I didn’t mean it like – ”
“Save it,” Ruria raised a hand. “I didn’t come here to talk about it, I’m okay. Don’t force the small talk.”
“No? Okay, shame then,” Ria tried for a smile. “Was about to ask why the cloak, hood, and everything... it’s really unlike you.”
She didn’t get a smile back, but she did get an explanation for it, spoken dully and rather impatiently. “I have red skin, Ria. I have horns on my head and a tail on my ass... and I smell. And unlike you, I don’t have a forest to hide myself in.”
“Eee... you’ve gone jaded over the years, I see,” Ria said, grimacing. “I don’t like that. I remember you being so... so not... you.”
Still as dull, still as impatient, she spoke back, “I grew up, Ria.”
“Yes,” A sad frown, an even sadder sigh. “It seems that you did.”
This experience, this interaction – it’s probably the most she’s ever been caught off-guard since... well, since their last interaction. But the surprises didn’t end there.
With the return of a familiar face, came also the return of a familiar discussion in a familiar place. The old stump, with her feet swinging, Ria listened, clinging to the edge of her seat.
“Every single one?” She could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Terestra did?”
“It’s not entirely confirmed yet,” Ruria said, pacing with her arms crossed. “But how else would they all suddenly drop dead? It had to be her, she killed them all.”
“Yes, but all at the same time?” Ria still had her lips wide open. “Not so much of heroes if every single one of them can die so easily. How could one person -”
“She’s no ordinary person,” Ruria said quietly. “Surely he’s told you that already, hasn’t he?”
He did. Countless times before, he did. She just drowned those words in with all the meaningless others, because they didn’t mean anything back then.
“She got rid of everybody she deemed a threat to her reign,” She continued. “That’s why I came here, I came to see if... well, clearly not. How could you be? You haven’t done anything to try and stop her, and I doubt you ever will.”
Resentment so brazen she could almost taste it. That’s okay, she’s allowed to resent. She did too, after all. It’s normal.
“So no heroes to go against her...” Ria pondered for a moment. “I presume the Seven Churches are shaking in their boots right now... are they even doing anything or are they just kneeling, praying the Divines would save them?”
“From what I hear – they’re doing something unprecedented. They’re trying to bring in more heroes to contend with her.”
“Bring in?” She furrowed her brows. “Like... recruiting? Do they have stalls set up where anybody with a rake can just enlist or something?”
“Their summoning legends,” Ruria said. “Heroes of old. Guess they figured since the past is brimming with individuals that have already earned their moniker – why not just have them deal with it?”
‘I see... and so far?”
“They tried Celes, they also tried Keltus – ”
“Ah, I remember Keltus,” Ria interjected. “Handsome but not very bright. I remembered trying to get a good look at him, and he mistook me for the sun coming down. I think I terrified him.”
“That’s him.”
“Who else?”
“Morris, Trevor, Ophiane, Gale – and plenty more, I’m sure,” Ria stopped pacing. “The point is, they’re not having any successes as of yet.”
“What a surprise.”
“Each day, Terestra grows stronger and it’s only a matter of time before she crosses the seas and expands her reach here too.”
“Hang on, haven’t I heard this conversation before?”
“Yes, of course, you did. My father tried to warn you years before, but you wouldn’t give him the time of day!” Ruria suddenly snapped. “Now things have gotten worse, and it’s going to get much worse, and I doubt there’s anything either you or I can do about it.”
Ria didn’t say anything this time, too wary of the next sudden outburst that might occur if she did.
“And I’m not even going to try and convince you to try and help in any way anyway. It’s a waste of time. One – because if my father couldn’t, what chance do I have? And two – I frankly don’t give a damn.”
“You don’t?”
That was a surprise to hear... but at the same time, not really. Those eyes of hers might still glimmer, but they no longer sparkled like before.
“You know, I used to wonder as a kid why was it that you refused to leave the forest, why you won’t go outside and see the world with us,” Ruria slowly shook her head. “I don’t wonder that anymore. Now, I see what you see.”
Ria could only sympathize. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“This realm is most probably done for,” She said unperturbed. “But there might still be hope for. If they do manage to summon a savior, maybe. But I won’t be holding my breath. I’m... I’m thinking of leaving.”
“Leaving?”
“It’s a last resort. If this realm is truly lost – I’m not going with it, that’ll just be pathetic. I read my father’s books, some told of other places... other worlds... they don’t describe then in detail, but – ”
“I know what you’re talking about,” Ria glanced sideways. “You’ll need a prodigy of a Magus if you ever want to pull off such a feat.”
“I have my eyes on one, but again – I won’t do anything just yet. There’ll be plenty of years left before things get that drastic, and even then, they may never will.”
“Okay, so why are you telling me all this in the first place?” She asked, launching herself off the stump. “I thought I’d never see you again. Suddenly you’re here, and you’re speaking so cynically – talking about things being hopeless, and going somewhere so far away. Not exactly the reunion I have in mind.”
Ruria didn’t hesitate to reply at once, “Because if I’m leaving this place, I want you there with me when I do.”
.....
Maybe a bug flew in her ear. “Say what?”
Oh, wait, they’d shrivel before they even do.
“I spent most of my childhood here, and you’re the closest thing I have to having any fond memories. I don’t like you, but I don’t have to like you to care – if things were different, perhaps you might be something more to me. But as things stand – you’re just something sentimental... something to look back on, and if I can’t find happiness in the present, then I guess the past has got to do.”
Maybe, perhaps, it was an army of bugs instead? Bee-lining with the intent to skew with her hearing. The things she was saying, the way she was saying them... was this really the same smiling, cheerful little girl whose eyes never seem to stop shining with wonder?
Who was she kidding? Of course, she was. She knew she was. After all, in a time so very long ago now... she was that same bright-eyed little girl from before.
They were the same young... and they were the same now.
Both eyes crimson, both eyes heavy.
Guess their names weren’t the only thing they have in common...
Ria quietly sniggered. “You’re talking about me... like... like I’m just an accessory or something – like some kind of necklace you’d have draped over you or something along the lines.”
“Yes,” Ruria said flatly. “That’s essentially what you’ll be to me. Just an accessory.”
“Ouch.”
“Yes, ouch.” She blinked just as dull. “What do you say? When the time comes, will you come with me?”
This wasn’t really a decision you’d mull over for just a second, but that’s exactly what she did. She didn’t think too hard, she didn’t think too much... she didn’t even think at all.
The prospect sounded harsh. All her life she lived, only to end up being just a souvenir from an age come to past. Harsh, indeed. But if anything, at the very least it wouldn’t be boring.
“I’ll be sure to pack my nest along,” Ria replied.
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