Namesake
The last few hours had been very difficult for Alys, remaining bed-ridden and getting more and more pain with each breath that she tried to take.
And slowly, after her last words to each of her companions, she knew she could not do much against the hideous thing that was burning her from her insides.
She had done whatever she could have done, and she was with the last people she had liked, and some that she had loved. In her sticky situation, it was more than enough.
And so, she let go. Slowly, her eyelids started weighting more than what she could have ever imagined.
And after a while, nothing pained anymore.
She couldn't tell what had really happened, but she was certain that it had been something good for her, and bad for the rest of the guys around her bed.
She felt lighter, she felt no pain… and she wasn't in a bed.
Chaz must be trying to crush some walls in anger by now, she thought.
She stared at herself, and she was wearing her Hunter's uniform, once again, and had a little bag by her side, from where she could see her slicer showing a little blade, coming out of the bag.
She grabbed her things and started walking around that strange place, that reminded her of the Motavian oasis, but this one was bigger and had other trees other than palms.
She walked through those woods, and could see a group of houses not so far from her, but they were too strange to her. They seemed out of her world. The doors opened by themselves, and the materials were too shiny and transparent-like.
On another spot, the houses were egg-like, of brilliant colors like blue, or orange…
It was an unsettling place for her. It reminded her of the talks at Piata University, where some folks talked about the mysterious ancient technology. And it was too reminiscent of the Nurvus place where they freed Demi.
So, it hadn't been a tall tale, all along. Who would have said it?
She kept on walking, and could see some normal looking houses. A familiar sight, at last.
And not so far from them, a slim figure waiting in the road ahead.
Alys kept on walking. When she got closer, she found out that the figure was that of a female teenager, who had in her eyes the hint of a millennia old knowledge, despite her youth. She had a strange armor choice –an armor over a pink dress and trousers was something to remember-, but it still gave off a powerful vibe.
The girl welcomed her with a smile. It was as if she had been expecting her to come.
Alys didn't say anything at first, since she was too busy trying to figure out where she had seen that girl before. She knew she would want to die when she realized it.
"Welcome to Elsydeon, Alys", the girl said. "I hope you are feeling much better than lately"
"I'm doing well, thanks", the newcomer said. "I'm trying to see if I can recognize where I am, but I'm at a complete loss"
"I'll explain to you in a bit where you are, but you are safe, and everyone's fine out there, by the time being"
In two words, she told her everything she was eager to know.
"Leave your things in the house you like best and then we'll have a small walk"
Alys did so, choosing the first place she found, considering that she wouldn't have many neighbors around yet.
"Ready?", the teenager asked her, as soon as Alys was on her way to the road.
Alys nodded, still speechless.
"Well, let's talk now", Alis proposed. "You must be wondering why do you think you've seen me before, but can't recall from where, am I right?"
"Absolutely"
"That is because you must have seen my statue in Termi", she said, and after a small pause, she continued. "I'm Alis Landale, the ancient heroine…"
Then, it all made sense to her. Even if she wasn't so discussed about as before, she was still mentioned in History classes and never-ending debates about her existence being real or just a nifty story with a teaching.
Alys stared at her in surprised, and managed to mumble something not so coherent, "I haven't been quite devout when alive"
"Rest easy. I'm no deity, but a pissed off gal who had her brother killed by the big bad guy at the time, and who happened to find out something bigger behind"
Alys nodded, impressed. "You make it sound way too natural"
"Well, before it was something even more shocking, because our images were a bit on stone and people sort of had us in a pedestal… Now, your generations got to the other extreme point that barely believe that we had existed once"
Alys thought about her life for a second, and wondered if she would turn into a myth at the Guild, or someone else would take up her position as most efficient Hunter and she would fall into oblivion.
Not that she could do much about it.
"Realizing some little things as soon as getting into this side?", Alis said with a slight smirk.
"Everything becomes so clear and so fast?"
"Yup"
"Is this Heaven or Hell?"
"Neither of those"
Since Alys seemed a bit lost at the news, Alis decided to gain her trust in some trivial way.
"We are almost namesakes", she said, smiling friendly.
"Yes, I don't know why I got a "y" in the name… must have been an error at the Registry Office", Alys shrugged.
"I'm sure it happens a lot"
"Dunno", Alys shrugged "I couldn't ask my folks when they were around"
"Me neither… besides, there have always been quite some rumours around my brother and I, if he was my real, blood-related brother, or just my foster family's son…"
"And why don't you ask him now?"
Alis made a small smirk. "Now, I just enjoy being around him, just like before, when we were alive in Palma… Guess that you just ask when you don't have them around"
After a small pause, Alis added. "But whatever it may have been, blood-related or not, I'm sure I would have done the same if I had the opportunity to go back in time to that moment".
Alys wondered about it. She would do the same, just like the younger girl. Her life was so full of meaning being a Hunter, that she couldn't think about a life without them on it.
Well, maybe her Afterlife, if that was when she was standing.
"Then why am I here?", Alys finally asked.
"This is a place where the souls of the warriors that have perished in their fight against Dark Force and the Profound Darkness gather, in order to keep on looking after Algol after our deaths"
"Dark Who? I was fighting against Zio when I got hit by that odd thing"
"The evil monstrous face above Zio is one of the Darkness' incarnations"
On one hand, Alys felt better because she hadn't been killed by some petty wizard, but on the other hand, it meant that things were way more complex than what they had expected.
"Don't worry, Rune and Chaz and the rest will be able to defeat him, eventually"
Alys stared at her, and decided to let her self-protection behind. If those people were going to be her Afterlife companions forever and ever, it was best to be sincere from the start.
"What about Rune? Will he be here when…"
Alis smiled lightly. "Lutz's have a little problem to be completely here, but they have seasons when they stay with us"
"Lutz?", Alys asked, surprised. "Everything you say seems new to me. To me, he was an Esper, and that was already too much!"
"To put it simply, a Lutz is the most trained Esper with a certain mission…"
"Leave it there for now", Alys interrupted the girl. "It's too much information for a day, and I don't know if I want to listen to what may come next"
Alis smiled at her, encouragingly, as if trying to tell her that it wouldn't be so terrible, but Alys just kept on staring at her surroundings.
It was much nicer than old sandy Motavia. The weather was really nice. She would learn to love the place sooner than expected.
But there was still something bothering her.
"But why am I here? I didn't even know who we were battling against! I thought it was just Zio's fault", Alys asked, nervously. It was something out of her reach to understand.
"No one knew what we were against at that moment", Alis comforted her. "I thought I was against the King of our Universe in our time, but just a regular Palman, nonetheless. I hadn't expected other forces involved"
"Rolf and the others were expecting to battle a giant computer, not an alien force and an evil spirit, too. That ended leading to the Great Collapse, as your people knew it by now"
"And the people in Palma weren't expecting to blow up, and to have to board strange spaceships, that may still be wandering in space, like the one you found near Nalya"
"Everyone thought that it was a man or a bunch of men's doing", Alys said, thoughtful.
"Exactly"
Alys looked down, embarrassed. "But I hadn't done much… I tried to take on a bad guy, and I failed miserably"
"You had rescued Chaz from the streets first. And had helped Rune in his training in Motavia before that. You'd always been ready to help someone in need, as they did with you at the time, even if you managed to gave a completely different vibe to the rest of the people, that one of a money-grubbing woman, who loved too much to have some cups of alcohol…"
"Wait! I didn't get drunk that frequently!", Alys shouted, embarrassed.
"Let's say that not, but I knew you were starting to feel embarrassed about your real self, so I had to save the situation, somehow", Alis shrugged, a big smile on her face.
Even if she had lived way too many things, there was still a teenage light deep in her eyes, and Alys could make in her head a small image of the girl in her innocent, civilian time, alongside her brother and their friends.
"Aren't you too nice to be the one in charge?"
"The one in charge has to be tough, but also understanding, and able to see what his or her people are going through"
"I thought it was the Afterlife that gave us Seer abilities"
"I'm afraid not"
"No, I'm better off that way!"
Alis chuckled, entertained.
"So… welcome, namesake", she said, a bit formally.
Alys stared at the sky and the woods around, and wondered about her new companions, but prayed for the best.
"Thanks, namesake"
They shook hands, sealing a new companionship
"And what's our mission now?"
"We stay watching over Algol, until we are needed again. We still don't know how we will be able to help the living ones, but I'm certain we'll find a way to let them know that we are supporting them"
Alys smiled. "That would be wondrous"
The certainty of feeling together with a departed one… that had to be a blessing for the living one. And a small relief for them, that their love and strength had finally reached them.
"I know"
After a small silence, Alis shook her head. "Get ready, I'll introduce you to the rest of the gang!"
Alys smiled and followed Alis, who despite her youthful appearance was still wiser than many together.
Not for nothing she had been the Heroine of Yore.
And not for nothing she had been the one busy taking care of them, without them knowing.
Alys felt her Afterlife would be something to look up to. And so, gave the first steps towards it.
The End
Notes: I've wanted to write something in the lines of this, but never got much further than a vague idea. And the other day, when I was outlying a drabble (Me? A drabble? Hahahaha!) for PS's 30th anniversary, I started writing this, from one go. It was strange, it doesn't happen so often. Was it exactly as I had planned long ago? At all, but I have to take advantage of the Muse's visit and write under her influx haahahhaa. So, I decided to take advantage of the nifty situation that the translators of SEGA had planted for doubts' sake (in Japanese Alys is called Lyla/Ryre, and this would make no sense). See you!