"I'm going to be leaving soon." The boy blinked, looking up from the chessboard and at the older woman, who was currently deciding which piece she wanted to move.
"Leaving? To where?" Lyza chuckled, deciding that her Rook would do.
"Where else would a White Whistle go? I'm taking my final descent. I'm going to the bottom of the Abyss." Jiruo stared at the woman, shock and disbelief on his face. "...It's your move Jiruo."
"B-but..." The boy stuttered, clutching tightly onto the Red Whistle hanging from his neck. "Y-you can't go! If you go to the bottom of the Abyss, you'll never be able to come back!"
"I'm well aware of that."
"And- and what about everything you've got here!? Your home, Ozen, what about me!?" Lyza's eyes met his, and she gave him a kind smile.
"I don't really have much in my home of value, I prefer advanture to settling down. Ozen... I'll be able to say goodbye to her when I reach the Seeker Camp on the Second Layer. As for you, I trained you myself didn't I? Not many get to say they were trained under a White Whistle, especially an apprentice Red Whistle."
"W-well..." Jiruo stuttered, his eyes brimming with tears. "What about her!? What about Riko!? You chose her life over claiming the Unheard Bell. Now you're just going to leave her?" Lyza's smile faltered.
"I went back for the Unheard Bell."
"But you chose Riko first! Now you're just going to abandon her!?" Lyza sighed, standing up and walking over to a nearby door, silently nudging it open to glance at the two year old sleeping peacefully inside. She silently shut the door, closing her eyes.
"The final descent of a White Whistle is the grandest of adventures. But there's more too it in this case." She turned to her young apprentice, locking eyes with him. "People have high expectations of you Jiruo, as the apprentice of a White Whistle. Just think how hard it will be for Riko as the daughter of one. Not only that, but if people find out who she is, that will only put her in danger. This is for her, so she can grow up and choose her own path without worry." She walked up to Jiruo, bending down to his height. "So, in my final act as your mentor, I have a mission for you. A very important one in fact." Lyza glanced toward Riko's room. "Take care of her, and keep her identity a closely guarded secret. Because I can't be here to do those things." She gave him one last smile. "Think you can do that?" After a moment of silence, Jiruo nodded.
"Ok, I'll protect her." He smiled. "But if she decides to go after you someday, I'll only chase her as far as the First Layer." Lyza snorted.
"If she beats you past the First Layer then I clearly should have taken her as my apprentice instead." She joked.
She got a good laugh out of the face Jiruo made.