This is my first work ever, so please bear with me, as I am inexperienced. Any and all constructive criticism is welcome and invited.
"No…"
Milton was dead, and she was at fault.
There was no mistaking it. Malos' power was one of precise and destructive force. If he was to blame, there would not be any Milton left.
The revelation tears her apart. First, it was the selfless, honorable Hugo, the shield of their tireless endeavor, and his loyal retainers. The chivalrous Aegaeon, whose words were nearly as rare as his distractions. And elegant Brighid, who was a being deserving of all her respect, despite their many conflicts in the past.
She had lost three comrades already, but her heart now aches worse than it ever had before. The sassy, but sweet and innocent Milton, was gone. Milton, who she had known for what was essentially her entire life. Milton, who gave her life a meaning apart from the quest to end Malos and his treachery. Milton was dead. She killed him.
Her emotions drive her to a mindless state as she cries out once more, sobbing. If she were someone else, someone better, none of this nightmare of a reality would have occurred.
Her mind shifts to the center of her respect, the reserved swordsman that now stood next to his Driver, consoling her. Jin, who had taught her everything she now knows of the world's inhabitants. Why couldn't she be like him?
An image flashes in her mind, one of someone who looks like herself, but different. Someone she wishes she could be, the very image of perfection in her eyes.
Someone who can control herself.
Someone who will never sink another continent.
Someone who can handle herself around other people.
And, well, someone who can serve a decent dish.
She imagines this perfect being, and waits to be taken over.
Hesitation.
She thinks again to Jin. What would he think?
This isn't right. This is the cheater's way out. As he might say, creating someone to bear her burdens is selfish and irresponsible.
If Jin has taught her anything, others are not to be accountable for her mistakes. She must face who she knows she is, and fight to correct herself, no matter how difficult the task is.
Her eyes flicker open for a moment. They shut once more as she collapses into her Driver's arms and sobs.
"Mythra…"
"You're leaving?"
"Yes." A pause ensues from Addam as he struggles to find the right words. "The royal Spirit Crucible is in Leftheria. I believe it'll keep this sealed." Mythra grits her teeth as her mind shifts back to Milton. For the time being, both she and the sword must be sealed away to protect Alrest, and she recognizes this.
"I see." Only two words, but Lora's disappointment is clear.
After another pause, Addam continues, but in a different tone, as if rehearsed. "I have a request for you. I hear that a militia squad has evacuated to Spessia. Give them a message for me. Once things are calm, they should come to Leftheria. Okay?"
"Understood. I'll do it."
The two Drivers shake hands. The act is more than a formality. The handshake is a simple gesture, but represents their bond as both comrades in war and friends in peace. The trust between them manifests as a tranquil sensation that washes over them both as their hands part. They must now part.
A farewell is not needed. Addam turns around to leave, and Lora's group follows suit, marching in the opposite direction. As he passes Mythra, who had distanced herself from the group, he feels a grip on his arm.
"Mythra?"
There is no response. The Aegis stares longingly at her friends, who are now disappearing into the distance.
Lora, Jin, and Haze. Mikhail too, of course.
"Let's wait for a little. I won't ever get to see them again after this." Being sealed away is a necessity, but her heart aches at the thought of leaving them for eternity.
"Of course."
After a moment's wait, Mythra looks around again at the lush greenery of Gormott. It's so peaceful.
"They'll be fine without us, right, Addam?"
"They will. Lora is truly something special, she is."
Indeed she is.
The royal Spirit Crucible.
What seemed at first to be a small underground cave had revealed itself as a grand labyrinthine system of passageways. Paired with the ether absorbing particles in the air, it formed the perfect resting place of a weapon that should never see light again.
The Aegis and her Driver are silent throughout their journey downward. Perhaps it's the atmosphere of the Crucible. Perhaps it's the weight of their task. Perhaps it's something else entirely. Whichever it is, the two are in no mood for conversation.
After what seems like an eternity, the two finally arrive at the last room, a large chamber that looked significantly more important the rest of the Crucible. Stairs headed immediately downward onto a lower level, but more stairs were positioned immediately afterwards going back up onto a large plateau that appeared similar to the stage of a theater. The Tornan insignia carved into the back wall. A pedestal stands alone in the center of the upper level, as if waiting to be used for the specific purpose of holding the Aegis sword.
Addam approaches the pedestal, drawing the divine weapon for the final time. Like previously, it weighs heavily down on his arm and he fails to bring it up despite his struggles.
"Let me."
Mythra beckons to her Driver, who nods in acknowledgment. The sword is dropped, and its original source picks it up once more.
The weapon is positioned above the pedestal, but fails to lower. Hesitation and regret form in the Aegis.
After this, it's her own turn to be sealed away. Little time had been previously allocated to properly contemplate the decades, or even centuries, that will be spent alone, with no one to talk to. Now that it comes to mind, a tear drops from her left eye.
"Mythra?" Concern.
The Aegis takes a deep breath. This is a necessary course of action. This is for the safety of Alrest, as she always tells herself. The sword is plunged into the rock beneath.
"I'm fine."
"Right."
Mythra turns around, masking her anxiety from her Driver. She can read his own stress right off his face. It would be unfair to share her own with him as well. She sighs.
"This will need more protection than just being hidden, Addam."
"I know. I'll handle that."
He glances around at the interior of the room they are in. The pedestal itself could hold a trap. What it would actually be, he did not know yet.
Turning around, he recalls their journey downward. He could assign a guardian to the Crucible. He could hide the entrance itself. He could blockade the passageways. There were many options.
He had time to think about it in more detail later.
"Let's go, Mythra."
"Yeah."
The two head off to exit the way they came in. Addam looks back as they enter the hallway, eyeing the Tornan emblem once again. It has to be redesigned to some other symbol, one of his own design.
Beside him, the Aegis thinks forward to her own imprisonment. She takes another deep breath, reminding herself once again that her sacrifice will be for the safety of Alrest.
A deep breath in.
A sigh.
The capsule lies before her, beckoning for the Aegis to lie down and finally rest. Every moment after the battle against Malos at Torna has led up to this one. A month of mental preparation had been available, and yet, when the moment finally comes to be sealed away, her will falters.
She cries. Pathetic, considering that she was the originator of the idea in the first place.
Even still, she sobs. She sobs for Brighid and Aegaeon, whose future incarnations will never know the crime she committed against them. She sobs for Milton, whose life was cut short by the uncontrolled fury of her power.
But it is not just the dead that she sobs for. She sobs for Jin, whose few words corrected her many missteps, but failed to stop her in the largest misstep of all. She sobs for Addam, who wished for a daughter, but received a monster instead.
But it is not just her failures that she sobs for. She sobs for everyone else that she has bonded with that will soon be severed from her life. She sobs for the goodbyes that have been said, and those that will never be.
Mythra turns around.
"I'll miss you, Addam."
"You too, Mythra."
The Aegis steps backwards into the capsule. Mythra follows in due time.
When she next wakes up, her mistakes will not be repeated. She will make sure of it. Atonement will come not only from her slumber, but also her actions when she wakes up.
Her eyes close. They do not open again for five hundred years.
I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please review and let me know if I should continue this! As aforementioned, I appreciate constructive criticism. Other comments or questions are welcome as well.
Cheers!
