Author's Note: This is the final chapter. If you would have preferred one long chapter as opposed to four smaller ones, please say so in your review. I'm still getting the feel for story presentation at the moment of writing. This one is longer than the others due to the last part being too short as a standalone ending.
Miletos castle had ultimately proved only a stepping stone as they fought their way into Chalphy to reclaim Prince Celice's ancestral home. Emperor Alvis had been slain, the Tyrfing was sitting in a sheathe at Celice's side and all were jolly at the realization that one of the master manipulators of many of their respective parents' ends at Barharra had finally tasted a long denied justice.
For Arthur it had brought a certain dread as Velthomer's now empty throne beckoned to him, its tainted legacy his inheritance from his patriarchal lineage. It had also brought little joy to Celice himself whom Arthur had last seen wandering towards the nearby beach, completely lost in his own troubled thoughts.
The Mage Knight could certainly relate to the feeling as the future loomed, clearer than ever and yet so very hard to swallow.
He was partially determined to return to Silesia, to work hard to repay the land that had shielded him from Freege, Bloom and Hilda in his youth. The grounds that had embraced him amidst his darkest days while its people, the few that saw him, reached out to help the lost child whenever they could.
He loved Silesia, that was his true home and, save for his links to Velthomer and Freege, he was ready to spend the rest of his days there.
Of course, joining a limber, exciteable pixie of a girl there was not something he would object to either. She fully intended to return to the snowy north as well and, despite their disagreements, she was dropping hints that he could follow her if he wanted.
The mural was falling perfectly into place, the tiny details all seeming to etch themselves out just where he wanted them to be. All except for one very large silvery haired section that seemed to be fading to a duller green with every passing day.
Teeny had spent the entirety of their Chalphy campaign and the preceding rest in Miletos within arms reach of the Silesian prince, staves and tomes ready to ensure his safety. Following the encounter with Ishtar, Teeny had changed ever so subtly. She now stood slightly closer to Sety whenever they walked together; dedicated hours every day they weren't in battle to the local arenas of the castles they occupied and above all embraced the life and people she knew could be taken from her any day during the chaotic scramble of their war.
She was all grown up and no longer needed a protector… no longer needed an older brother staring over shoulder and picking her up when she fell. After what felt like only scant days of bonding instead of the drawn out months of fighting, the lightning no longer needed his protective embrace.
Tears stung at his eyes at the thought but he did his best to prevent them falling, scrunching his facial features in a fierce glare to pin the tears in their ducts as moisture gathered around the edge of his eyes. It was in this pitiable state that Phee had found him in the day before they left Chalphy.
"Jeez, what happened to you?" she wondered, her blunt tone counterbalanced by the inviting touch of her hand wiping away the non-falling tears
He jerked his head away, unwilling to let her see him at his weakest, especially when the reason he was so upset was simple envy.
"Nothing you have to worry about" Arthur responded tersely, praying she'd just leave him to wallow long enough to quash his jealousy towards her brother
Phee paused for a moment, the memory of the last time she'd tried to help him off the battlefield still causing her to cringe as he stormed away from her brother about as angry as she'd ever seen him. The only time that was worse had been the glare he'd worn while battling towards Chronos Castle, rumours that House Freege's matriarch were stationed there fuelling his primal bloodlust.
But that was the past, and Arthur needed help. She never could abandon a person in need.
"Just tell me already. I won't laugh or anything, I swear"
Arthur grinned humourlessly, staring at her with a dead look in his eyes "It's not your laughter that worries me"
"Is it Teeny's?"
"No, well yes but… not in the way you think"
Phee scratched the back of her head, imitating a "thinking pose" she'd once seen Oifaye adopt when trying to recall his memories of the younger Levin during Sir Sigurd's crusade.
Turning over a few random ideas, she settled on the tried and true method of reasoning "Does it have something to do with Sety?"
"Less than it did" Arthur answered miserably, his emotions (which Phee regarded herself as good at reading) far closer to his sleeve than she was used to
Still, his statement didn't help much. If Sety wasn't the problem anymore, then she was stumped. Complex problems were not her forte as she preferred the certainty of sport and battle to the unquantifiable struggles of mind and organisation. Her eyes lit up as a new idea crossed her mind, one far more in tune with her thinking than her older efforts.
If she couldn't handle Arthur's more multifaceted dilemmas than perhaps she should try and find a simpler problem she could connect it to. Solve it piece by piece rather than as one convoluted mess.
Now, what had bothered her about Teeny and Sety's relationship that Arthur could relate to? She had dismissed it as a "big brother thing" earlier but now she was taking the opposite approach. What if, just what if, he was empathising with her own longing for her brother's total attention?
"Are you jealous of them?"
Arthur averted his eyes in shame, refusing to answer but all that did was encourage Phee. If it had been a stupid suggestion, he would have belittled her for it, it was his (highly critical) way of helping her cover her weaknesses and improve herself. Avoidance meant she'd hit closer to the mark than he'd liked.
"Are you worried… she might leave with him instead of you?" Phee voiced aloud, privately jumping for joy at the tense nod of his head that left his eyes covered by his loose hair "Okay, I think I get what's wrong now"
"Heh" he snorted in response "I somehow doubt that"
Suppressing her natural instinct to sock him in the arm and walk away in a huff, Phee simply smiled sympathetically.
"You're upset because after spending at least a decade looking for her, you're losing her again but this time it's of her own free will. Am I close?"
Arthur's head fell further as he groaned obnoxiously, one hand massaging his aching temples tenderly "Am I that obvious? Even you can see it"
"Hey, I'm only trying to help!" Phee responded, pouting haughtily "Besides, it's not like anyone else here knows you well enough. Or cares enough for that matter. You're always kind of a pill, so… your secret's safe enough"
"Thanks for the comforting words. Glad to know, you have such a high opinion of me"
"Hey, it's true… you act like this all the time. You can't hold it against people for not noticing. Do you know how much Teeny and I worry about you when you get all moody?"
"But you just said-" Arthur began before Phee screamed in frustration, throwing her arms in the air as she vented
"I said only I KNOW you well enough to figure out what's wrong. Teeny does care what you think. Hell, you're her hero, the one who talked her down and brought her into Celice's army" Phee's narrowed eyes softened at his shocked expression, her tone following suit "She's smart enough to figure out what would have happened if you hadn't"
Arthur shuddered at the thought of a girl in her early teens lying in a broken heap somewhere between Lenster and Melgen, her bright lavender eyes dull and unseeing as they stared emptily into the sky.
Seeing his unease, Phee decided to press her advantage and finally get him to just deal with his problems instead of constant burying them under his sullen attitude.
"Go talk to her. Tell her what's wrong and get some closure"
Arthur had been about to flatly deny the request but the sight of her wide and hopeful emerald eyes swayed his opinions and he found himself nodding submissively, tensing when the overjoyed Pegasus Knight jumped forward to embrace him tightly. His heart began to beat erratically at the close contact, his arms instinctively enveloping her just as firmly.
He decided to relish the way she fit snugly against his chest. The overwhelming rush of happy emotions almost made him feel things might just turn out alright after all.
Arthur approached a tall but nondescript wooden door, mentally giving himself a pep talk before knocking.
It was true that many in the Army were sharing quarters, as was to be expected while castle hopping through enemy territory, but the more high ranking nobles actually received their own rooms. The Grandellian nobles (those of House Dozel, House Freege etc.) were not included in this illustrious rank.
However, Teeny had spent many a night with the Silesian royalty that graced the army's presence, Sety and Phee sharing a room in one of the higher towers ever since the elder's arrival. Phee had told Celice that she preferred the chilly altitude to the earthen floors below and had jumped at the opportunity to occupy the elevated residence.
Perhaps it was just altitude sickness that was knotting his stomach, but Arthur wasn't hopeful.
Rapping the door softly with his knuckles, Arthur leaned back, feigning indifference while praying to any deity that would listen that the room was empty. Unfortunately, his plea fell on deaf ears as the door was pushed open and a silver haired head leaned out through the crack.
"Big brother!" Teeny shouted gleefully, throwing the door open and puling him inside before closing the door "It feels like I haven't seen you in ages, where have you been?"
Arthur took one last moment to prepare himself before exhaling deeply "That's why I'm here. Sety's not around, right?"
Teeny blinked confusedly "No, he left a little while ago. Why, are you two fighting again? Is that why you're avoiding him?" her concerned face only made the words he had to say heavier as they tried to climb up his throat
"No, I think we're done with our arguments" he said hesitantly, his heart falling as she beamed at him approvingly
Realising what he had to do only became harder every time she smiled at him, like he was the most important person in the world, and the last thing he wanted was to avoid his confession out because he was too weak to be honest with her. So he swallowed his hesitation, bore his lavender orbs into her own and started rambling his tangent before he could stop himself.
"You've seemed very happy lately. In fact, so happy that I've changed my mind and think you and Sety are right for each other after all. I thought I was protecting you butIwasreallyjustjealousands elfservingandshouldreallytru styouandmyalliesmo-refromnowon" finally stopping to breath, Arthur managed to cool his rapidly overheating pace and sigh in a more reasonable register "Do you understand?"
"Ehm, I… kinda… missed some of it. H-h-hope y-y-you don't mind repeating. Please" her shy persona rarely surfaced when it was just the two of them, her confidence in that solitude having peaked in Thracia, where she had not stuttered even once without outside interference
Groaning, Arthur buried one his face in one of his hands and forced the words out, like dogs kept on shorter leashes, much slower "I was jealous of Sety. I wanted to keep you all to myself because after searching so long I guess I felt… entitled to your time. And I was wrong"
"What are you trying to say?" Teeny asked, putting one hand on his shoulder, the same comfort he'd offered her the first time they'd spoken off the battlefield "Take your time. We have all night if you need it"
Nodding gratefully, he replied with a bit more conviction "I didn't want to lose you again. I forced that feeling onto Sety because I didn't want you to realise that I'm not quite as noble as you seem to think I am. I actually managed to delude myself into thinking it was for your sake and not…" Arthur sighed one last time before finally emptying the emotions he'd been holding back since Thracia in a single word "… mine"
Glancing upwards hesitantly, Arthur tried to place what he saw swimming around in her lavender irises, attempted to but failed as it floated somewhere below the surface and Arthur's perception.
Reading her silence as shock, he felt like a stone had dropped in his stomach, his head falling to stare at the ground while silence seized his lips. He had nothing else to say and Teeny had been left speechless, there was nothing left to do so he turned to leave swiftly, desperately trying to escape the increasingly suffocating atmosphere of Sety's chambers.
Teeny's hand had shot out to wrap around his wrist before he could flee, the tightness reminding him of the death grip she'd had when they first reunited. Quashing any external nervousness, Arthur turned back as stoically as possible, attempting to embody the ideal older brother she deserved rather than the arrogant and immature one she'd received.
Teeny shook slightly before her other hand tentatively reached up to wrap around Arthur's shoulder while her right hand only increased the pressure on his wrist to pin him in place.
"I understand" she began uncertainly, her eyes wide and pleading as she stared into his own quivering gaze "I was worried about being separated from you as well. I'd already lost Mother and… those people"
Her hesitance pulled on his heart strings just enough to bring his free arm around her shoulder in a comforting manner, her body leaning heavily into the offered limb.
"But… I couldn't live like that… and neither can you" her sudden fierceness caught him off guard as she glared up at him defiantly "We both have our own lives and nothing we do can change that. But we never have to be apart like we were then again either!"
Arthur actually felt himself cowering slightly, an old memory of what his mother yelling at him for making the new baby cry again just after they'd reached Silesia surfacing briefly from his sea of consciousness. Those same burning eyes that held so many painful memories, that made him want to wipe that emotion from that beautiful face and make sure it never returned again.
"If we end up on opposite ends of the continent, then it won't matter because I'll drag myself across thousands of miles just to make sure you don't forget about me" Teeny grinned cheekily (the flash of teeth bearing the damning evidence of a certain Pegasus Knight's influence) "And don't you forget it! Er, please"
The absurdity of such a petite girl marching across the Yied Desert and through Silesian snowstorms just to see him had him laughing alongside her as the two separated joyously, a sort of understanding reaching the two.
Arthur's life would eventually diverge from hers but unlike before this time there would be no tears, no screaming and pleading. Only the understanding that it was temporary and that they would meet again, and that this pattern would repeat until one of them could no longer draw breath.
Embracing his sister once more, Arthur caught sight of the plain roof and watched as several bright figures painted themselves upon its surface.
A lightning sprite embracing her fiery lover as they glanced across proudly at their electric blue offspring embracing figures of the wind tinged with green. However, the scene was breathtaking for Arthur for a rather different reason.
Joining the younger creatures of the storm was a thread, a rather thick chord that pulsated with life and warmth. He had missed it among the chaotic scramble of the elements but it was there now, and as his thoughts scraped together the background of his previous musings that same line seemed a permanent fixture.
Smiling wider than he could ever remember, Arthur closed his eyes in bliss and loosened his grip on Teeny, just the tiniest bit.
