7. Reconcile/A Conversation

Summary: Dagran explains it all...Why he is still alive, and what exactly went on between him and General Asthar. Therius, Zael and Um can do nothing but listen and understand the circumstances that this brings to them and everyone else. Meanwhile, Tahirah and Callista discuss about issues concerning the co-existence of the Gurak and the humans, the past relations between Melodia and Lazulis, and even something a bit more personal to the both of them.

Characters: General Asthar, Dagran, Therius, Zael, Um, Callista, Tahirah, Zoran (mentioned), Mirania (mentioned), Yurick (mentioned), Lowell (mentioned), Syrenne (mentioned), Nuriel (mentioned), Arlynne (mentioned)

Pairings: Zaelista (mentioned), NurielxArlynne (mentioned)


The first thing Dagran didn't think was going to happen was that he would wake up at some heavenly place in the afterlife, like some bards and poets had spoke of during the cold nights when they had an audience willing to listen to them.

He honestly thought he would be in the exact opposite place; full of pain, loneliness, and the past completely haunting him. He deserved it, or at least he thought so, for manipulating Zael and his other friends, and even killing General Asthar. From what it seemed like, even Zoran of all people would be a better man than him in that case, even if Zoran did betray him and the mercenaries in the past, before Yurick and Mirania joined the mercenaries.

Instead of a heavenly place, or a hellish one, he woke up in a space that was completely white around him. It was odd, as he had no idea what this place was.

At least he knew it wasn't some hell. But he doubted it was a heaven, too. So...What was this place?

The sound of feet shuffling made Dagran turn towards it on instinct, and he recognized who it was immediately.

"General Asthar..."

The General stood a few feet from him, dressed in the regal uniform that he always wore. The dark eyes seemed to be of slight concern, and also of a bit of surprise.

"Dagran." The General's voice rumbled a bit, echoing in the invisible confines of whatever this place was. "So...You're here as well."

"Yes, I suppose so...Here with the dead." Dagran responded quietly.

"Not exactly dead, yet." Asthar corrected, crossing his arms. "This place is a road towards the afterlife. So, to be more exact, you're not exactly dead yet."

"But you are. Or at least, you should be." Dagran muttered under his breath, thinking back to when he'd killed Asthar. "I mean, you were 'dead' at least days or weeks before me..." He trailed off, temporarily glancing away from the older man.

The General chuckled a bit at this. "True, true indeed." He responded, appearing to smile a bit. "I should be already somewhere in the afterlife, but I suppose the road to that place is a long one." He paused, the smile fading, before speaking again. "Dagran...I understand your anger and your reasons to kill me."

Dagran felt the bitter feelings get drawn back towards him. "Your knights destroyed my home and my family, and you were responsible for that." He uttered through clenched teeth.

"They were not supposed to do that. I never ordered such a thing for them to do."

Dagran felt himself freeze a bit. What?

"They started a rebellion, and part of that was burning the villages surrounding Lazulis." General Asthar explained gently. "I was able to stop that rebellion, but...It didn't erase all the damage they had caused by then. I feel that...I know that it is, in a way, my fault for the villages' destruction, and as much as I know apologies might not be able to make up for all of that damage, Dagran, I am sorry."

Dagran didn't know what to do. Should he be satisfied that he knew what had really happened? Or maybe the General was spouting lies. He wasn't too sure, but eventually he chose the former option. Revenge and anger wasn't going to get him anywhere nice, as far as he remembered from his betrayal towards his friends. And maybe...Maybe General Asthar was telling the truth.

"I honestly don't know what to say, but..." Dagran paused, before finishing. "I'm glad that you told me what really happened. And..." This last statement was a bit hard for him to do, as he expected. He had all this anger and frustration towards the General, but he knew he had to let it go. "I'm sorry for killing you. And manipulating everyone else-I mean, my friends." He corrected himself quickly at the end.

The two were silent, before Dagran noticed a smile appear on the General's face.

"Thank you." General Asthar looked so relieved now. "I'm glad that you understand. And...I forgive you, Dagran."

Before Dagran could respond with a 'Thank you,' or something, the two noticed the light around them getting much brighter, now. Dagran had to blink several times to try to see Asthar properly, and Asthar was fading in front of him.

"What's going on!?" Dagran demanded, looking around as the space began to glow brighter and brighter. "What's happening!?"

"You're not dead, Dagran. You're going back." Asthar responded, his image continuing to fade. "Please, live your life well, and...Please tell Therius that I am at peace now."

Dagran could barely see Asthar, or anything else, except for the light. But, he knew he had to do what he had to do, and he responded to the request with two simple words.

"I will."


"The next thing I realized, I was awake, among the remnants of the village I used to live in." Dagran finished. "It took me a long while to get back to Lazulis, and I came back here because I needed to apologize. For everything. Even if apologies aren't enough."

"...So..." Um looked like he was struggling to interpret what had happened, and Zael immediately remembered the fact that Um wasn't the greatest at speaking or understanding the human language. "You were alive. You killed General Asthar. You almost died, ended up in some sort of afterlife and you apologized to the General for everything. And then you came back to life and traveled all the way to Lazulis to apologize for what you did. Am I getting this correctly?"

"Yes, I think that pretty much sums it up." Dagran responded quietly, letting out a sigh. "So...There you have it. Of why I'm still alive and all..."

Therius took a deep breath, before responding. "Dagran...I am glad that...General Asthar is at peace as he says. And I am glad that you both were able to reconcile with each other. Thank you, for...For telling me. And Zael and Um as well." He finished calmly. The white-haired soldier seemed satisfied with the very fact that the late General Asthar was now truly at peace.

Zael honestly didn't know how to react at first, but he managed to come up with something to say, after a period of silence. "Dagran..." Zael took a deep breath before continuing. "I...I'm glad you're back."

Dagran nodded, appearing to smile slightly. "I'm glad to see you, too, Zael."

Um didn't bother too much with words, and instead gave Dagran a tight hug. The once-dead mercenary was a little surprised at first, but returned the hug afterwards. "So...Maybe..." Um paused, before continuing. "You can stay at the castle for tonight...Maybe?" He asked, turning to Zael and Therius. "Or...I could bring him back to the taver-"

"Um...I don't think that's a good idea." Zael quickly spoke up. "I mean, Syrenne, Lowell, Yurick and Mirania would probably be too shocked to sleep if they saw Dagran. I mean, they just got over his 'death,' and...Well..."

"Yes, taking that into account, we should probably let him stay at the castle for the night." Therius responded, nodding once.

Dagran's eyes widened slightly. "Are you sure this is alright? I mean, I'm not sure if the other people in Lazulis Castle will be alright with it, or Callista-"

"We'll just sneak you in there. Pretend to be wounded and in need of shelter as soon as possible or something. I'm sure you can make something up." Therius responded, giving a facial expression that seemed to give approval towards him.

"Yes..." Zael trailed off, glancing around them. "Let's get back to the Castle and rest for the night. We can bring Mirania, Yurick, Syrenne and Lowell to the Castle in the morning."


"I'm glad that I could finally talk with you again." Tahirah started. She and Callista stood at one of the many balconies in Lazulis Castle, looking up at the stars quietly. "I feel like I need to touch upon three subjects, in particular...If you don't mind conversing about them so late in the night, of course."

"You can go ahead and start. I don't think they will tire me out too much." The Countess of Lazulis replied.

"Alright..." Tahirah paused. "The first thing is...Concerning the co-existence of the Gurak and the humans, actually. As much as I am glad to hear that you have made an agreement with the leader of the Gurak to have them exist with each other, I hear that there may sometimes still be conflict between them."

"I'm afraid that there will almost always be humans that dislike the Gurak, and vice versa." Callista responded quietly, turning towards Tahirah. "I believe, though, that through the Gurak and the human races co-existing in the same place that they will eventually turn to each other as friends, not enemies. It may be a slow process, but I'm sure that one day all will live in harmony."

"A beautiful speech." Tahirah murmured quietly, half-smiling at her. The smile faded away as she continued. "If only I could say the same between Melodia and the Reptids...Things are stable for now, but there are still some conflicts occasionally back at Melodia that almost erupt into rebellion or even a possibility of a war. I was considering that I should have stayed back in Melodia instead of coming to Lazulis this year, but it would have been rude to turn down the invitation, and again, things between the humans and the Reptids back in Melodia are stable for now."

"I see..." Callista paused, before continuing. "Do you wish to continue on this subject, or shall we move to the next subject you had in mind?"

Tahirah paused, crossing her arms, before answering. "I believe it would be best if we simply moved on. It is a dismal subject, and I do not think it would be suitable to carry on with that one any longer."

"Agreed." Callista replied, nodding once in agreement before asking. "What is the next?"

"It's our relations between each other, or to be more specific, between Lazulis and Melodia." Tahirah responded, a smile appearing again on her face. "I am glad that Lazulis and Melodia has been in harmony with each other, since the agreement. It's been how long since then...Fifty years, perhaps?"

"Yes, I think around that amount of time..." Callista smiled back at her. "I am also glad that our kingdoms have been in such good relations as well. I do hope that continues."

Tahirah seemed to pause glancing away from Callista, before nodding. "Yes, that would be pleasant if it continues." She murmured, before uncrossing her arms. Her right arm touched the railing of the balcony while the left arm dropped to her side. "One more subject...Basically, it's about the both of us." She turned towards Callista as she continued. "I noticed that you were not feeling well...And I saw that you were with the doctor earlier today. Is there anything wrong?"

Callista blinked, before responding promptly. "Oh, no, actually...I thank you for your concern, but it's nothing terrible I assure you." She responded, putting her hands together. "Actually...I'm..." She paused, glancing downwards temporarily, before finishing. "According to the doctor, I'm... About two weeks pregnant."

Tahirah's eyes widened in shock. "You are with child...?" She trailed off, extending an arm towards Callista. She then grasped one of Callista's hands, a wide smile on her face. "That's wonderful, Callista..." She paused, before asking. "Does Zael know yet..?"

"No, I was going to let him know in the morning, as well as Therius and the others." Callista responded, also smiling. "I do hope Zael can take the news well."

"I do hope so. I've heard stories of men that have fought the most dangerous beings and still faint as soon as they hear that they will become a father." Tahirah joked, and the two chuckled with each other at this remark. Tahirah let out a quiet sigh, her smile turning to a slight frown. "Speaking of doctors and pregnancy, I also discovered something during the past year. I am not under some sort of strange illness, I assure you, but...I've discovered that I...Cannot bear children..."

Callista immediately felt terrible inside. Being unable to bear children was not a good thing for a woman, especially for those in nobility. Many suitors would turn her down because of this, because she would be unable to produce an heir. And it was especially terrible for Tahirah, considering that she is the last live descendant of her bloodline. If she was unable to bear a child, the bloodline would be unable to continue and would vanish into nothingness. And in the world of nobles, blood seemed to mean everything in that matter.

"I'm sorry..." Callista trailed off quietly, unsure of what to say.

Tahirah let out a sigh, a saddened smile forming on her face. "You are very lucky, Callista, that you will be able to let your bloodline continue into existence, and that you have Zael, who loves you and will help you raise the child well, I'm sure. But as for me, I will most likely wither into non-existence, with my bloodline as well. Alone."

"Tahirah, I'm sure that there is someone out there that would love you, no matter if you are able to bear children or not." Callista tried to reassure her, clasping her hands gently and looking at her straight in the eyes. "Arlynne cannot bear children, either, as I remember you mentioning to me before...And Nuriel still loves her despite that."

"True." Tahirah responded, nodding a little bit. She appeared to be blinking away a few tears. "Thank you, Callista...For your kind words. And for holding this conversation with me. It has been so long since we have last spoken."

"Yes." Callista agreed, smiling back. "And we have all the time right now to keep speaking with one another."


Author note: Super-long oneshot this time, because I felt like it. :) And I haven't updated this in a little while, either... (cringe) Sorry about the delay in updates...I hope you readers enjoyed this one.