The first time she took her hand to step outside the room with glass windows and stone walls, the world presented them a snowy wonderland, a half-sphere of translucence. Their footfalls lightly sank into the white-coated ground, admiring the flakes as they alighted upon their noses.
The last time she takes her hand brings them to a world of sandy borderlands, a half-sphere of overbearing, blinding light. Her footfalls tarry as they sink into the thinly populated surface, cursing every grain of quartz and talc as it parts underneath her step, and as the sun's rays bear down upon her brow. Syndra has no need to touch the ground. That, at least, provides her with some comfort.
"We've arrived." A dull announcement both of them have long realized, but still does not feel real, even with sun and sand surrounding them as far as eyes can see.
Silence from the sovereign, perhaps examining her surroundings, analyzing the magic in the air. The desert has a much thinner magical density to it, compared to the optimal conditions in Ionia almost meant for mages to harness their talent. But they have both read the stories, heard the whispers going around in marketplaces and on street corners. A powerful magus resided somewhere behind the dunes, a font of endless energy and centuries of knowledge. Learning from the ascendant would only multiply the catastrophic power she commands at her disposal, but in the expanse with nothing else to bear witness, it would suffice.
"A fitting domain for those shunned by civilization," Syndra muses, lips curling in disgust at the arid climate.
Irelia turns to the sovereign, attention switching from face to clothes to the hand she has recently released. She hadn't forgotten what she used to look like before the mages brought her into the temple. She won't forget what she looks like now, standing at the edge of the world, just another crossroads forced upon her. "Syndra, I…"
"Enough. You won. I - we - lost. How fickle the world works. I had always wanted to journey across the ocean, you remember."
Irelia nods. "We would travel to every nation, and taste the finest foods the continent had to offer. Leaving no stone unturned."
"And yet the only rocks I see now are the ones already crushed below my feet."
"Everyone agreed, even you. This is where you would be free. I see nothing but the blue sky for miles everywhere I look, and yet… this is a worse prison than any dungeon."
"Leave me, Irelia. The time for trading sentiments is long gone. If we continue to linger here, I won't find the tombs of the emperors before nightfall."
Finally, she has to turn her back on the mage and leave her to the mercy of the world. Despite locking herself away in a fortress hundreds of feet above the ground, Syndra never seemed too far away from Irelia. Always a presence looking down upon them, and although her looks often carried scorn and disgust, she still watched over her. No guardian angel, or devil, but a majestic creature all the same.
"I'll never see you again."
This line of observation brings out a moment of hesitation from Syndra, who deigns to glimpse back at the direction from whence they came, as if hoping to catch a glimpse of their island one last time. How miserable and damnable an existence they conceived for her, and yet she could not call any other place home.
"Your elders saw to that when they helped the Eye of Twilight drive a blade into his brother's heart."
No blame placed on the Kinkou, or even the Order, for failing to protect their master, but the council had stood behind Shen when the hour of reckoning had come. Syndra would carry that hatred past even the grave.
"You have a duty to fulfill. I have a path to follow. Lines don't always intersect. This world is too vast for paths to always overlap."
Irelia swallows, with difficulty. Continuing to stand underneath the sun's glare only magnifies the tension. Half a minute, she tells herself, or even less, and her friend will depart from her forever. She takes a step towards Syndra, deep breaths accompanying a resolute face, and pulls her into an embrace. Neither of them make any extreme gestures, no desperate attachment shared between them, and only the faint smell of jasmine that passes with her hair gives any value to the memories Irelia has perpetually repressed since they left Ionia.
"Keep yourself safe, hotaru. Never let your light run out."
The sovereign's eyes close; hands want to push Irelia away, though she does not particularly put any force into it, and they naturally pull apart.
"You must not think very highly of me if you still worry after all this time."
The smallest vestiges of a smile upon Irelia's lips. Syndra sees it, and returns the gesture.
"Goodbye, Irelia."
She doesn't wait for a response before taking off and becoming a speck upon the horizon.
Goodbye, sister.
A/N: Not literally sisters, but you get what I mean.
Hello. It's been a while. I've pretty much run out of interest writing for this website cause I've been on tumblr for the last half year. My url is bladeserenade if you want to check me out. I don't know if I can find the inspiration to finish Guns & Roses - I would definitely like to, of course, but my mind's been set on shorter drabbles like this. I'm fairly active though on tumblr, if you missed my writing LOL.
A short premise: Irelia and Syndra were childhood friends until the elders took her away, and while they were officially enemies, neither can muster up the cruelty to kill the other. Instead, when the final battle for dominance over the island happens and Shen slays Zed, they're forced to send Syndra away (her power is too great, but she wouldn't leave Zed alone with them). I was talking about ideas for Irelia and Syndra's relationship with MeltedJujubees and this ties into their story so you might consider this kind of an aside to their writing which you should definitely check out btw.
ps hotaru - firefly in Japanese c: