In the next life, just after learning who she was, the Guardian of Light was silent, she hadn't expected to leave the white and gold halls of the Sun Palace with such pain weighing her down. She wanted to cry her heart out to the newly realized Guardian of Darkness, but they hadn't known each other very long now, and was afraid to be pushed away because of a mistake she made half a century ago, but the pain she felt showed in her countenance, and her girlfriend wouldn't let her suffer alone.846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGv7uEkNuRS
"Tell me." she whispered, taking one hand in her own, "Tell me everything you saw in there, I didn't get to see much from my last life, I think I blocked some things out."
"I-I can't say...I just can't..." she stared into the piercing violet eyes, then abruptly pulled the guardian into her arms, "You died, okay?! You died and I killed the people responsible, had them turn into monsters, left the people in a moonless night that lasted for who knows how long, and...and I know you'll hate me for that, I know you will...I became a monster...you deserve better than that."
"Sounds like you're the one who deserved better, cuz I couldn't imagine life without you, and you had to live it...how old were we then? My last memory was of a battle, and you holding me in your arms...we weren't much older then than we are now."
"T-that...when I carried you...that was the last time we spoke until we met each other again in this life..."
"No wonder my heart broke when I you were holding me so tenderly...I was leaving you here...I'm sorry you went through that alone."
"But all those people-"
"For hurting you like they did...turning them into monsters is understandable...but do you still want to be a Guardian even knowing what happened?"
"After that, I spent all my time working on a magic blade, to fight monsters and I made a vow to protect you, I intend to follow through now and forever...especially when I think of the day we said goodbye...I won't lose you like that ever again." she pulled away with a sniffle and stared deeply her love's violet eyes, "Are you sure you're really okay with me?"
A silent hug and a nod that she felt against her shoulder was the only answer she needed, but it wasn't all she received, "You weren't a monster, just an angry young woman who couldn't let her lover's killers get away, and who knows, they might've hunted us down by now if it hadn't been for that. Didn't I promise not to leave you again? I'll be here for you, no matter what, I know you could never become something I hate."
After they returned to the surface, they found the other Guardians being beaten down by the Elemental Priestesses, who had bound their magic to bloody pendants to keep their privileges from being revoked, they cast the Guardians out and labeled them monsters, their leader--one who called himself the God of Justice, Sage Vindicatus Skatodi and mastered light powers--had led them to Yggdrasil's roots in a dimension the tree had created between the underworld and overworld known as the Everworld, often simply called the boundary. There they had taken the Infinity Crystal that had kept the two worlds safe from the portals that threatened to swallow both worlds into the Everworld.
All at once the Guardians saw the future of the underworld, and foresaw the event known as the Shattering, which would recur and shake the underworld for centuries until the Summer of Death, when Yggdrasil's Everworld dragged the two worlds into the vortexes it guarded that had been destabilized, and conglomerate the worlds in a violent act that would end with the elements running rampant and the crystals exploding, in the end Yggdrasil would sit atop the chaotic heap, the field of the Everworld sitting on the border of the underworld and overworld, monsters and humans and light and dark would intermingle wildly, none would be spared from the destruction.
An explosion followed and the Guardians--now abhorred and called demons--were locked in the underworld, just outside of the Everworld was guarded by human forces.
No one wanted to be the Infinity Guardian, the pair resented their existence and whenever they found each other, revealed their identities only between themselves.
"We don't know where they are now, but they always return to us in the end, they somehow find a means around using the overworld path to the Everworld." Feyerous smiled and shook his head, "I guess we won't see them again until they're older, even if one of us Guardians learns dark and light powers, we could only break into the underworld, to leave the underworld we'll need to find a path previously created in the overworld, use a teleportation crystal, or fight our way into the overworld."
"So, is that where the story ends?" Foce inquired, her fingers spread out to hold both temples at once, "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting all that...I always thought the Infinity Guardian was one person."
"Only Vindicatus knows, I suppose even the Elemental Priestess of this era are in the dark." Banshee remarked, slowly dipping back into distant memories, "In the end, we lost track of time, our suffering was all we could see...we just wanted back into the overworld, where it was always safer, but the humans have no place for us there...if you'll excuse me, I'll go take a tour of the place."
"I'm just gonna sleep, don't let my snoring startle you." Feyerous chuckled, settling into the couch.
"Well, I think I'll go eat something!" Jessie sat up and instantly fell back down, and sighed before trying again, slower this time, "Hey, Foce, you hungry? Eh...where'd she go off to?"
Sarah pointed at the stairs leading up to the deck, "She went out as soon as Banshee got up."
"Thanks." Jessie turned and started for the stairs, managing to walk faster than she expected.
She glanced around and spotted Foce laying on the wall, staring out at the landscape below. Jessie silently joined her some distance away, and idly wondered what it'd be like if the Shattering stopped, how it'd be to live in such a world.
"They really are some of the most beautiful creatures." Foce suddenly remarked.
Jessie turned to her curiously and Foce pointed at a distant hill, or what remained of it after a large island fell and leveled half of it. The island itself had cut deep into the land before it finally ground to a halt. There were strange creatures Jessie didn't recall having seen before, a number of the made a thin circle around the others, which puzzled the the hero greatly.
"See, venomwings always stay in a swarm, but they live on the ground during the Shattering. When the Shattering hits, they tear off their wings and lay them in a pile, they take shifts protecting the swarm inside the circle, the few venomwings that keep their wings fly out short distances to find and bring back food, and if food is scarce, they eat the wings from the pile, some of the stronger ones leave on long hunts and chase herds of herbivores into fields near their camp."
Jessie smiled at Foce, "So they look out for each other, then...I hadn't expected that from monsters..."
"Monsters are just animals that use magic, think about it like that, and it's only natural that they need others to be around them, others like them, who can fly with them."
Jessie stepped to the side a bit closer to Foce and stared out at the camp of monsters, "I'd fly with you, if I only had wings."
Foce smiled turned as the hero beside her let out a loud yawn that startled the vampire, "It must be time for you to rest, huh? I have no idea what it's like outside, but I could believe the moon would be out in the overworld right now."
"I guess so..." Jessie reluctantly turned to walk away, "what about you?"
"Mm...guess I am a little tired." Foce stepped back, eyes still fixed on the distant, broken hill until she closed her eyes and turned a way, "I wonder...if this is how a lonely venomwing feels."
The same thought haunted her thoughts whenever she closed her eyes. Every time she reached out in her memory, the pale haired girl would turn to dust and leave only the headstone, sword, and rose petals as evidence she had been there.
She thought a walk would clear her head, but she couldn't go any further than the door to Jessie's room. As much as she didn't want to be like the Guardian of Light and lose someone important to her, she knew she would lose the strange human to time one day. It was simply a question of when that would be and how close they would be when that time came, it was already too late for her to ignore the feelings she had for the hero.
Foce couldn't find a way to move forward or back, she could neither knock on the door nor leave it alone, so she lay against the door and closed her eyes. She was surprised when tears started slipping out from between her eyelids, and even more so when she heard a rustle, a creak, and footsteps that ultimately led to the opening of the door she had been leaning on.
She turned and looked up at the tired and perplexed brunette, she couldn't tear her eyes away but she couldn't find an explanation, so she stared, stuttered as she rubbed her eyes against her arms.
"Couldn't sleep?" the question was simple enough, and helped her collect her thoughts.
"Nightmare...not quite, though, I never fell asleep...it must be odd, since I'm a vampire, but I don't really like the dark..." Foce stared at her feet and wiggled her toes absentmindedly, "I was gonna walk around on the deck, but...something stopped me here."
"If something's on your mind, you can talk to me about it." Jessie offered, crouching down beside the vampire.
"I lost a friend once, I must have hid my memories in the darkness and fell into a corner somewhere, because...as much as I want to remember her, I can't find her voice...it's like I made myself deaf just because I couldn't handle the long, sad song anymore...I miss her...I just wanna go back!" she cried, throwing herself into the nearest shoulder, tensing slightly when two hands fell on her back and shoulder, "I want to turn back time and forget any of this happened, I keep praying that it's a dream and I'll wake up, but then I realize I never even went to sleep!"846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNMSCgtHZU
Jessie closed her eyes and rubbed the white haired girl's back slowly, "Foce...I wish this was just a nightmare."846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8rArBl7xn
"Talking with you really helps, that you know all this...I feel a bit better."846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MT6Rxd9Ia
"Mm...what was she like?"846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpMBwHwgdT
"Strong...I mean, she was weak and frail, but persistent, so she was strong in a way that only she could be. She was fun loving and gentle...brave, too, she was unafraid of the dark and...and she led me into a dark room. It was dusty and forgotten, and she gave me a present, it was under boxes, left half covered in dust...that's odd, why am I remembering that now?"846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0f145kXVw
"Well...you're talking about her, maybe that's helping?"
Foce nodded uncertainly and sniffled quietly, "But I'm afraid to go on...I don't know why."
"Maybe you don't want to finish," Jessie whispered softly, hugging the vampire warmly, "because you don't want to know what happens next. I understand that, you want to stay in that moment. Foce...if you don't want to get close to me-"846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGGOqqlFIG
Foce held Jessie tightly, that was enough to convince the hero that there was no need to wonder, "I'm not ready to remember, but I don't want to forget, either. I'm stuck in this place because I can live as long as no one kills me." 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHStLaG6Q7J
"I don't...know if you'll feel that way later...about forgetting me." Jessie found herself in a paradox of her own, there was no way Foce could remember her and still be happy, she wanted both those things for Foce, but she was sure that those two realities wouldn't be able to coexist.
"Do you want me to forget you, Jessie?" she looked up at the stormy blue eyesas she spoke, "I know I'd want you to remember me, I'm sure no one wants to be forgotten...so if you stay with me, despite what I am...I will do my best to honor your efforts to be friends with a vampire...I only ask that you help me remember."846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nJA087Ur8
"I'll do my best, Foce." Jessie promised, smiling to herself when the purple eyed girl slowly drifted to sleep on her shoulder. She tried to wake the sleeping woman and when she didn't wake up, decided to carry her to bed, since there no way she'd be able to carry Foce as far as her own bedroom, then lay on the floor and closed her eyes. It wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought it'd be, but she couldn't say she looked forward to making this a permanent arrangement, though she had a feeling it might turn out that way.846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvS1LaSNIvx
