Aviantei

By: Aviantei

Part Fifty-Four: Salvation

According to the time on Lyserg's Oracle Bell, it was well enough into the evening to be considered nighttime, and the artificial sky of the Highlands Plant reflected that. Despite being a manufactured construct deep below the ocean, Mu moved at the same pace as the world above the ocean, and it was just another point on the list of wonders that Lyserg had experienced since arriving. If they weren't on a mission, he would have loved to investigate every single nook and cranny to see if he could even begin to get an idea of how things worked, but it wasn't the time for that.

Even a breeze slipped through the air, and Lyserg glanced to Ren sitting nearby on one of the expanses of grass. Many of the lights in the cabin they were occupying had gone out as the others made their way towards bed. A bit further off, Kalim was still awake outside his tipi, visible in the light of his campfire.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Ivy crossed the grass in quiet yet purposeful strides, her hand raised in a wave. Lyserg couldn't help but wonder if Ren had also noticed the tension that no longer plagued her shoulders or the faint warm light that had slipped into her eyes. Her usual jacket was gone, leaving her just in the long-sleeved button up, and her torn up jeans from earlier that day had been replaced by a pair someone left on the Island of Tokyo must've let her borrow, rolled up at the ankles to accommodate for the difference in height.

Ren, with his arms crossed, let out a soft yet still arrogant hmph. "I expected you sooner," he said, but he wasn't talking about her arriving to their conversation. "I'm impressed that you even bothered to hesitate, considering your track record. It's not like you to be so weak-willed, Ivy."

Lyserg let out a nervous chuckle. "Ren, isn't that a bit…?"

"Don't worry, Lyserg. He's right." Ivy sat down between them, hands resting on the knees of her now crossed legs. "That's the second time I heard something like that today. I deserve to get called out." Lyserg frowned at the self-depreciating smile curling over her lips. "I'm surprised that you're even talking to me so calmly, Lián."

"I told you, didn't I? That I'd wait." Lyserg's eyes widened; he hadn't heard about that conversation, but now, like always, didn't seem like a good time to ask. Ivy breathed out a laugh, and Ren's golden eyes almost cut through the dark as they flicked towards her. "That doesn't mean I'm not angry, though. You were going to let yourself get killed during your fight with Hao. What good would that do?"

Her expression guilty, Ivy looked down at the grass between her fingers. "Nothing, I guess. Then again, I didn't think I was worth anything else. That it wouldn't matter if I was gone." She glanced up, first to the cabin where her teammates were resting, then to Ren and Lyserg in turn. "I was wrong, though, wasn't I?" She shifted, pulling her knees towards her chest, looking the most vulnerable Lyserg had ever seen her. "You were right, Lián. I was burning. I wouldn't be surprised if I still am."

Without any other explanation, Lyserg understood. He'd recognized the same thing inside himself, whenever he was fighting his way through hell. Hatred, self-depreciation, hurt—they were all fires: useful if wielded well, but dangerous if you let them get out of control. Lyserg had been burning, too. That was why he'd manifested Mastema Dolkeem as his armored Over Soul, why he would be the one to take control of the Spirit of Fire now resting in the Highlands Plant's silo.

Ren didn't respond to Ivy, just listened, waiting for her to say what she needed to, and Lyserg followed suit. Ivy hugged her knees to her chest. "I know that the things I've done until now are awful. It doesn't matter if they helped me make it today or not, they're still a stain on me, and I can't ever escape them. Trying to run away from it all would just be like trying to deny a part of who I am, though, so I can't do that. But still—" She drew in a shaking breath, and the sheen of tears slipped over her eyes, even in the dark. "I think…I want to be saved, even if I don't deserve it."

Lyserg couldn't take it anymore; he scooted closer and pulled Ivy into a hug, his arms around her shoulders. She tensed at first before relaxing into the touch, her only movement the tremor of her trying not to start sobbing. "Sorry," Lyserg said but didn't let go. "Sometimes, you just need someone to hug you and tell you that things are going to be okay. I didn't realize that until Yoh did it for me, but it does help." Ivy nodded once against his shoulder, and her hands came up to hold onto the front of his shirt. "I stand by what I said before, Ivy. That I'm glad you're here. It won't be easy, but it's going to alright. You're going to be alright."

Ivy pressed a bit closer to him, and it wasn't until another set of hands landed in Lyserg's shoulders that he recognized Ren had created a loose group hug. "You sure have some nerve to talk so big when you look like you're about to fall apart yourself," Ren said, trying to sound as aloof as ever but not pulling it off. "Still, Lyserg's right, Ivy. You made the decision to change. That's the most important step." His chuckle was far too close for Lyserg to handle. "What was it that you said? About me waiting for nothing?"

Ivy scoffed, tossing her head back and landing a half-forceful hit against Ren's chin. "I don't recall asking for your smug-ass feedback. Besides, when did you get so touchy-feely, Lián-chan?"

"Consider this revenge for you getting in my personal space the other day."

Lyserg could feel the heat radiating off Ivy's face without even needing to see it. "Says the guy who was up in my space in the first place!"

"I wouldn't have to do things like that if you weren't so stubborn."

"Excuse me? I'm pretty sure this is what we call a case of pot calling the kettle black—"

Lyserg tried to hold it in, he would swear to it, but the giggle spilt out of his lips anyways, and he bent over a bit in laughter. It didn't take long for Ivy and Ren to give him twin disgruntled looks, and that just made him laugh harder. "Sorry, sorry," Lyserg said, wiping a tear of mirth away from his eye. "It just…feels so surreal that we can sit here and talk and argue about silly things after everything. I'm just glad…"

Ren huffed first, putting some space back between them, but Lyserg caught sight of the faint blush of embarrassment on his face even in the dark. "Well, you can thank a certain someone's stubbornness for that," he said, though his voice grew softer with his next words. "Ivy, if you want to be saved, then we can help you. Things like this…" Ren gripped tight onto his own arm before releasing his hold. "…they're not a matter of who deserves them or not."

Lyserg nodded. "Ren's right. You can have another chance."

"Thank you." Ivy paused a moment before wrapping her arms around Lyserg's middle for a quick squeeze, then she shifted backwards, out of the hug but still within easy reach. Her eyes were wet, but she didn't look sad. "You're both way too kind to me. But I guess, without that kindness, I'd just be stuck as ever, so…"

She trailed off, staring down at her hands. Lyserg wondered what she saw when she looked at them. Was it ash? Was it blood? Was she even seeing herself at all? "They raised me to be a weapon," she said again, though her voice was nowhere near as mocking as it had been in the halls of the Patch Stadium. "So I decided to turn that weapon back on them. I decided to be a weapon for Hao's sake but…" Her hand moved to her chest, where the small silver star pendant still rested. "He never needed a weapon in the first place. I was just too scared to try and be something else. I'm still scared. What if they were right, and all I'm ever going to be good for is destroying people?"

It was a heavy fear resting inside her, one that Lyserg didn't know how to reassure. All his life, he'd had the opposite fear: that he'd never be strong enough to destroy the things he needed to. Ren didn't look anywhere near as conflicted, and he undid the fastener in his collar so it was much easier to see the pale line of the top of his scar.

"Do you see this?" he asked, and Ivy nodded, the rest of her stock still. "I seem to recall a certain someone saying that she didn't want to leave it behind because she was a healer." Ivy drew in a near imperceptible breath. Ren tapped at his collarbone once more for emphasis. "Yes, you can fight. Yes, you have enough power to destroy things. But you can also fix people who are damaged. You can bring them back to life. You cultivated that power, so stop being so blind to it, you fool."

"'This power doesn't destroy; it gives,' huh?" Ivy's hand clutched tighter at her chest and she bit her lip. Lyserg recognized her mind as elsewhere, her gaze not looking out at the recreated highlands but instead something much farther beyond. "If it's at all possible…I want to help save Hao, too."

Ren did nothing more than close his eyes, leaving Lyserg without a cue to follow as the same conflicting emotions that had been in him since he heard Yoh talk about the possibility rising up to the surface like an ocean at high tide. Ivy wasn't saying that Hao didn't need to be stopped, but she still wanted something else for him. Yes, deciding what to do with Hao would depend on if they could even beat him, but what would be the aftermath?

What's the right answer? he asked himself yet again. What's going to be justice in this situation? What's going to be my justice?

Ivy seemed to recognize that she'd spoken aloud and quickly backpedaled. "Sorry, that was insensitive of me. I know that I can't ask you to extend anything like forgiveness to him, Lyserg, and I know you feel similarly, Ren. Hell, I'm pissed off at him, too, for not telling me about this whole mind reading thing—ah, that's not something you guys need to worry about, either. That's my problem. But still! I just can't give up on him. Not after everything he's done for me.

"I want…to be able to say that I'll be waiting for the moment he decides that he wants to be saved, too. That he realizes he's not any more alone than I was."

"And if he doesn't?" Ren asked, getting the question Lyserg couldn't bring himself to voice out in the open. "It would be nice if we could settle this whole thing without trouble, but I think everything up until now has proven that's not very likely." To Lyserg's surprise, Ivy nodded without any form of protest. "Yoh's going to try to fight him without hatred. And I know the rest of us aren't just going to go down. So when we get to that point, Ivy, what are you going to do?"

Ivy hmmed. "Are you worried that I'm going to turn around and fight you all instead?" The idea of going back to being enemies after at last making a breakthrough was enough so send a pang through Lyserg's chest. Ren neither confirmed nor denied the accusation. Ivy chuckled. "I think we've already proven that I'm not able to fight you two to the death, not to mention Issebella and Kaede would never let me get away with it. I'm not ever going to force myself to treat the people I care about like enemies again."

Lyserg attempted to swallow the lump in his throat. "So then…"

"What's that Yoh says? 'It'll all work out'?" Lyserg nodded, while Ren's face twisted in disgruntlement. "I can't say for sure what I'll do. It's going to depend on the situation, and planning too much will just hinder me. Whatever comes, I want to be able to act in the moment in a way that's true to my heart. That's what I decided. Though I'm not so certain I won't end up wavering."

Act in the moment in a way that's true to your heart, huh? For a simple sounding concept, it was a difficult ideal to uphold. Not one didn't need to just know what their true desires were, they had to be able to act on it without hesitation. But if she can try it, Lyserg thought, focusing on the weight of Elizabeth strapped to his arm and clenching his fist, I can at least give it my best effort.

Ren nodded, likewise acknowledging Ivy's resolve. "I think," he said, "being able to keep going after you've wavered is even more important as never wavering at all."

He was speaking from experience, Lyserg realized, starting to smile. All three of them—no matter what kind of strength they wielded in battle—had wavered at some point, questioned their ideals and their resolve. And despite all that, the three of them had still made it long enough to sit together under a night sky and talk. The rest didn't matter because they'd all come together—them and all their other companions as well.

And now we're walking the same path forward. Though there wasn't any guarantee of where that path would end up, that thought alone felt like enough for now.

"Aviantei-onee-chan…" Ivy reacted first to the call of her name, and Lyserg turned to see Opacho standing amongst the grass, rubbing at her eyes in tiredness. "Can't sleep," she said. "Too loud."

Ivy was on her feet within seconds, and Lyserg caught a mere glimpse of her soft expression before she'd walked far enough that all he could see was her back. "Is it the others?" she asked, scooping up Opacho into her arms. "Onee-chan can beat them up for you if I have to. Don't you worry."

Opacho's head bobbed as she wrapped her arms around Ivy's neck, but it was more from tiredness than a nod. "Can hear…too noisy."

Ivy glanced back to Lyserg and Ren, looking apologetic. "I'm gonna go take care of Opacho, okay? If we need to, we can talk more tomorrow." Lyserg nodded his understanding, while Ren gave a similar if not more curt gesture. "You two better make sure you get some sleep, too. We can talk big all we want here, but if we're running at empty tomorrow, it's not going to matter."

"Don't misunderstand who does and doesn't need your services as a babysitter," Ren said. From the look on Ivy's face, she understood that he was just being difficult for the sake of being difficult. "At the very least, if you're going to lecture us about needing rest, you should do the same."

"Good night, Ivy," Lyserg said, combining a translation and his own sentiment into one. "We'll see you in the morning."

She looked a bit surprised before her expression softened more, what might have been a fresh rush of tears starting to form in her eyes. "Good night, Lyserg, Lián. I'll see you in the morning." And with those quiet words, she adjusted her hold on Opacho and started to walk back towards the cabin, humming a soft melody while a sweet plant-like aroma filled the air.

A sigh of relief spilled out of Lyserg's lips after she was gone. "That happened, right? I haven't just been dreaming this whole thing?"

Ren snorted. "Of all things to dream about. Yes, this happened. Considering that she came all the way to the bottom of the damn ocean, I don't think you need to worry about her disappearing on us, either." Lyserg dipped his head; the paranoid part of him had been thinking just that. "Of course, me saying that doesn't prove this is reality or anything. You'll feel a lot better if you stop overthinking things."

"I dunno," Lyserg said, managing to still sound teasing despite the fact that he could still feel the warmth of Ren's palms on his shoulders. "Considering that you of all people were showing physical affection, maybe this is a dream."

"How about I hit you to prove that it's not?"

Lyserg held up his hands in surrender, and Ren relented, lowering his fist. "Still, I am glad. I didn't think we'd get the chance to talk to her like this at all. It's just been hard to watch her from a distance. So I'm glad that she's started to open up." Ren didn't disagree right away, which was enough to let Lyserg know that they were of the same mind. "Ren, before, you said that the best thing we could do for her was know that she's a person, not a weapon. And, after all that, she knows it, too. So what's the best thing we can do for her now?"

Ren didn't respond, sitting there in deep contemplation. Lyserg tried to think of an answer, too, but he wasn't sure if anything he considered would be worthwhile. As expected, Ren came up with a solution first. "Well, we've managed to get her to open up and trust us, haven't we?"

Lyserg nodded.

"Then that just means the best thing we can do now is make sure we're still worthy of that trust moving forward."

Making sure I'm worth her trust… Lyserg looked up to the artificial sky above, and then made a promise in his heart:

No matter what happens tomorrow, I'll still be there for her. No matter what.

Past all the Plants was the final resting place of the one to become Shaman King. It would take several hours of a near comatose sleep to become one with the Great Spirit, but the moment was close enough at hand. And in that seat, the bones of the previous winner moved aside, Asakura Hao sat, the cool stone pressing against his skin—the last sensation he'd ever feel on his physical body if all went well. All that was left to rest and wait.

The faintest voice, the softest call of the elements whispered past him, and Hao allowed himself a few words in response before his eyes fell shut.

"Good night."

[Author's Notes]

Local enby author way too out of it from getting their wisdom teeth out earlier in the week to maintain anything like a rational schedule.

Thanks to SuperaturalxCam and LyriaHart for the follow and review!

In case you haven't guessed, we're getting into Kan Zang Bang true manga end spoilers starting next chapter. I assume you wouldn't read this far if you haven't gone through that material, but just in case.

Praise be to 2021 animated Tao siblings; that is all.

Next Time - Part Fifty-Five: "Love." Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[04.18.2021]