Symonne sat high atop Rayfalke Spiritcrest, in front of what she presumed was the grave of the dragon she heard about. Someone went and put down some flowers. She decided it must have been the Shepherd's doing, and recently, too, as the plants still held their color.859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wZvzTYeb4
"Not for long," she mused drearily, "never for long."
She heard a gasp and turned to find one of the Shepherd's seraphim behind her, the girl calmed down considerably, though, almost disappointed as she realized who she was looking at.
"Disappointed?" Symonne sneered.859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKk0bZNxtW
"Hmm! I suppose with that attitude, I should be." the blonde twirled her umbrella and too a few more steps in those boots that seemed a bit too big for her.
"What's that supposed to mean? Am I just supposed to act like nothing happened? Like you didn't kills Lord Heldalf?"
"No, I meant that our words haven't sunk into your head yet...whatever." she sat next to Symonne, merely tolerating her presence, she could tell.859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08OvDBrzZ5
"Your kin?"
"What's it matter to you?" was the indignant reply, then the girl turned back to the gravestone and softened, "Brother...he's my brother...he turned into a dragon, didn't even recognize me, he was that far gone...too far to be purified...this is the kind of world you strove for...now tell me, would that have been worth it?"
"Anything's better than...being who I am...when I'm somewhere, the most miserably unlucky things happen."
"You'd rather be a monster, then?"
"I...already am a monster. Why aren't you with the Squire, and where's the Shepherd?"
"How should I know? I only recently returned from...what I though would be my death." she turned away from Symonne and regarded the stone again, "You said you saw Rose; where?"859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduwgfL1ZGM
"I don't know, that bridge where she and Sorey fought." Symmone wished she had bothered to learn the name of the city, but she was glad Rose told her that piece of trivia.859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVtxyJaYBP
"Ladylake." the earth seraph stood up and turned around, twirled her umbrella impatiently before turning halfway around, "You're coming with me."
"Why do I have to go?" Symmone bit.859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fiFxBhylU
"Because, if someone visits, they're liable to have a boulder spontaneously land on their heads, you honestly think I want to deal with that?" she turned fully around and let her umbrella fall on Symonne's head, holding it so it was balanced like a bridge between Symonne's head and the earth seraph's hand, "You said you were miserably unlucky, and your domain spreads just beyond the mountain. My blessing should be perfect health, so anyone in your domain might not be as bad off as they would have been without my presence."859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIt1nkjGKZ
"I wish I could let your domain overpower mine, it would make my life much easier." Symmone muttered as she followed the earth seraph back down the mountain, "What's your name, anyways?"859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHn3imqLCF8
"For me to know," the earth seraph smiled, "and for you to maybe find out."
"That's a bit of a mouthful, how about you I just call you 'Maybe', since you emphasized it so much?!" Symmone snapped.859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nrAkQyItS
"How about you just call me Edna, since that's my name?!" Edna huffed and crossed her arms, "Honestly, you're worse than-"
Symmone turned around around, watching the silent earth seraph as they journeyed down the trail, "What...worse than what, Heldalf?"859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIszksck0T
"Meebo." Edna sighed, "I wonder if the others survived."
"I hope they all...hmm."
"Say it and I'll throw you over the side of the mountain." Edna said, glaring at her companion.
"I actually don't care one way or the other." Symmone shrugged, "I didn't realize how little I cared until now."859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQPvxez3xI
"Worried about them?" Edna smirked.
"N-no, I just said that I don't!" Symmone protested.859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyv3yI8NPYg
"The more vehemently you deny it, the more I'm starting to wonder...do you feel guilty?"
"Guilty...why would I feel guilty?"
"In a way, they saved you, but if it was left up me? I'd have just left you there to rot on the cold, hard floor, but someone picked you up and dusted you off again...in spirit, anyways." Edna kept walking, even as Symonne stopped, beginning to wonder if the earth seraph could be right, "Are you walking or what; Ladylake isn't getting any closer, you know!"859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo60vEpStLS
Symonne silently followed, and Edna enjoyed the silence for the rest of the journey.859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzoNb5Bsj1J
Rose honestly didn't know what she was doing, honestly, she told herself, somehow one thing just led to the other and before she knew it, she was ordering another helping of tofu.
A few of the costumers glances sympathetically fell upon her as she pushed the block of white from one end of the plate to the other, when someone pulled up a chair beside her.
She growled inwardly, but managed to keep her outward expression down to a deep frown, reach was better than the scowl she felt rising, "Please just leave me alone, I'm not interested in talking to you or your paper or anyone."
"I...Rose, are you okay?" the voice asked slowly, cautiously.
Rose pushed her chair back and stood quickly when she instantly placed the voice, "Alisha-" Rose swayed her arm back behind her, casting a glance back at the princess, adding a twist to her wrist to get through to the former Squire that she had something to discuss.
"Rose, what's going on?" Alisha inquired, turning to face Rose as she closed and leaned against the door.
"Wallowing in defeat, Alisha," Rose choked back a flood of tears and covered her mouth with her hand, "Sure, Heldalf's beaten, b-but--everyone's gone, Alisha...gone."
"Rose," Alisha let out a shaky breath and looked around the room, "surely you can't mean--Seraph Lailah, Mikleo...Edna? A-anyone...no...reply." Alisha stepped back, alarmed as Rose fell to the floor, fighting back sobs, "Rose-"
"No, seriously, on the inside...I'm happy, I knew...I knew this is what it came down to!" Rose cried, slamming her fist down on the carpet, "I just didn't think it'd be so...so hard...even Sorey, in the end he--Sorey pushed me down and broke the narrow...basically a bridge leading to the island where we fought him, and he...he can't ever get back up here!"
"I'm sorry to hear about-"
"I still hear their voices under his, armatized, firing shot after shot, attacking Heldalf with themselves, and somehow...somehow, at the end, when it was just me, no seraph to armatize with...I somehow wasn't smashed under his claw...Alisha, it took all four of them...to stop Heldalf...and then Sorey had to go, too...all part of the plan, I know, but...I just...hoped to handle this...loneliness better."
"So those plates stacked on top of each other-"
"Drowning in sorrow and tofu, pretty dumb, huh?" Rose let out a bitter laugh and turned her gaze up to the knight before her, "I met Symonne again...you don't know her...I wonder here she's gotten off to." Rose slowly stood up, and leaned against the door's frame, hiccuping.859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWW4j3uhUfq
"Look...I can stay if you need company until you're feeling better."
"Nah, it's fine, you've got better things to do...though I wouldn't mind if you swung by to drop off breakfast."
"I refuse-" Alisha began, "to abandon you or anyone else, the strength of a--huh?" Alisha watched as Rose leaned over, laughing, "W-what's so-"
"I'm sorry, it's just...you're so adamant about taking care of me, and then that quote, when I'm hardly a citizen of Hyland." Rose chuckled.
Alisha smiled and held her forearm, "I see no reason to limit the duty of a knight to just one place when so many need help."
"I know how that feels...even if I'm not a Squire, I still feel the need to play the part...even with Heldalf gone, the job's never done, right?" Rose took a breath and opened the door.
"You're leaving the inn?" Alisha called out.
"Just like I said...I want to find a Prime Lord, from what I've seen in the Earthen Historia, there will always be a need for Shepherds," Rose turned around, smiling, "thanks for hanging out with me, by the way, I think I needed the company...especially since you're a fellow former Squire...I guess I'll see you the next time I'm in town!"
"You're leaving town?" Alisha stood alone for a few seconds before shaking her head, "You'll still need a someone to travel with you, though."
Rose stepped out of the inn and wondered where to start first, "I should check if Uno knows anything first."
On her way to the sanctuary, she heard Alisha running up behind her, panting as she closed in on her, "Hey, Alisha, what's the rush?"
"I've decided...if you're going to...find a Prime Lord, then I...can act as your Squire...though I may not actually...Sorey was going blind because of me." Alisha managed between breaths, "Maybe we could just not make me a Squire and pretend we did?"
"I could pretend to consider," Rose smiled, "or I could just ask what we're doing standing around, let's go!"
"Ah, so where are we heading?" Alisha asked dutifully.
"Well, I figure if anyone would have a clue where I could find a Prime Lord, it'd be a seraph, and I know where one lives, Uno."
"Guardian Seraph of Ladylake." Alisha nodded, "Good plan, let's hope he knows something."
"If not, I'll scour the whole world until I become a Shepherd." Rose looked up at the darkening sky, "After a stay at the inn, I mean."
"Are you sure you're ready?" Alsiha worried, stepping in front of Rose, "You've been through so much, maybe it's a little soon to start on another journey."
"I know what you mean, but the only way to know if I'm ready for...a different Prime Lord, different...maybe different Sub Lords," Rose fell quiet for a while until her hand rested on the doorknob, "the only way I'll know is if I try."
Alisha nodded in silent agreement before finding her next words, "I suppose that's true for everything in a Shepherd's life."
"It is...which is why I'm glad to have a familiar face on this journey."
"But remember, not a Squire...more like...a traveling companion." Alisha reminded.
"Of course, I'll call you my Squire anyways, though!"
"Until you get a real one, you mean." Alisha saw the confused look on Rose's face and smiled, "I'm not leaving even then, though."
For Zaveid, there were better ways to wake up, than in a tree in Falkewin Hillside with little recollection of how he came to be where he was.
"Ugh, I had a weird dream...there were women everywhere...too much beauty and then-" his thoughts were interrupted as her slipped off the limb he hadn't realized he was resting on, and continued the thought after he hit the ground, "and then I fell out of a tree...yet there are no women."
Zaveid dusted off and tipped Dezel's hat over his face, he wondered if there were other survivors as he spotted Symmone and Edna strolling away from Rayfalke Spiritcrest, "What is...Symonne? That's unexpected." he mused, "Where's everyone else?"859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkwKNvXMq8
Zaveid decided to follow from a distance, undetected all the way to Ladylake.
Mikleo woke up outside the Vivia Aqueduct and took in his surroundings. His thoughts were still cloudy, but he recognized he was in Ladylake, his first thought was to find Sorey, until he remembered his plan, "No Malevolence...he must have fused with Maotelus by now." Mikleo closed his eyes, and decided to visit the resident Guardian Seraph.
It was the best plan he could come up with, see if Lord of the Land Uno knew the whereabouts of anyone else, and try to meet up with them, just in case they thought he was dead. Mikleo didn't know what he'd do now that his best friend was gone, surely he'd wake up one day, but if there was a way to hurry that up, he wanted to find it.
Mikleo remembered what Sorey told him, back in Elysia, "There's still places we haven't been to-"
After today, the water seraph decided he would explore what there was in the rest of the world, for him and Sorey both.
Author's Notes: So now they're all meeting up in the Great Sanctuary of the Sacred Blade, and Zaveid's trying to be all sneaky, while Mikleo wants to say his goodbyes and head off into the unknown.
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