Epilogue: The World
It was winter.
Kayura was astonished at how fast the days passed in the mortal realm. Things never moved this swiftly in the Dynasty and that had resulted in something akin to immortality for anything living there. Including Kayura, there were many times when she was under Talpa's manipulation that she wished the ways of the Nether world weren't so.
Kayura realized her thoughts were rambling and pulled her mind back to the present. The trail before her was rutted and made more perilous by the black ice that coated its surface; every bit of concentration was needed to ascend this hill safely.
Keeping her mind on the earth beneath her feet kept her thoughts away from what awaited her on its peak and for that she was grateful. This was the first time she'd been here since the Ronins prevented Talas from breaching the barrier between realms and infecting this world with his demon army. The Nether realm had since returned to being just another parallel universe sandwiched between the mortal world and another.
Kayura had not heard from Mia or the boy Yuli since then either. It came as no surprise, there was no way the woman could have contacted the Dynasty anyway. Kayura had come back to check on her once but she had found the mansion sold and no sign as to where Mia had gone.
It saddened Kayura to see that but she supposed that the memories would have been too much for Mia to bear.
As the crest of the hill came into sight, Kayura thought back. She'd pulled the last tarot card long ago and was not surprised with what she saw. The World was the representation of wholeness, the symbol of fulfillment, and the very epitome of accomplishment. That was how she had known the Ronins succeeded in their mission; Kayura had not doubted it then. But when the armor bearers had failed to come back…
Kayura felt her eyes become a little misty and she hurriedly wiped away the moisture before it was too apparent. Cursed pride, Kayura thought, though no one was there to see her cry anyway.
Five stones, situated in a neat line across the hilltop, dominated her vision as it grew blurry once again. Done bothering with her defiant tears, Kayura approached the first stone and laid a single red rose at its base. She continued this way until all the stones bore a flower at their foot and stepped away to examine her work before turning and starting back down the hill.
That might very well be the last visitor that those graves would ever get. No one knew they were up there save Kayura, the warlords, and Mia. But Kayura and the warlords were far too busy in the Nether realm to make frequent trips to the human world, especially for little more than to visit those graves, and Mia had effectively disappeared.
So Kayura departed, leaving behind only her footprints, and her tears, in the soft powder snow falling to the ground…
Seems like only yesterdayBut it started long ago
Trials, tribulations
And notes in the autumn nights
Didn't know way back then
What brothers we really were
Letting the time pass quickly
And watching it go
We stood together
And we made each other strong
We tried to comfort ourselves
When the nights were long
We held back the tears
When they needed to flow
But where we once stood
Lie only footprints in the snow
Even when it was hard
To find a smiling face
And when others would leave us
Without a trace
We never thought about tomorrow
Or what she might bring
Never stopped to realize
That we might not always sing
Seems like only yesterday
God, where'd the time go?
Where we once stood
Lie only tears in the snow
* * * * *
Yes, I know, it took me forever and a day to finish this fic but at least it's done.
The lyrics are from a really old Vertical Horizon song called 'Footprints in the Snow,' I thought it was too appropriate to pass up.
Disclaimer: *Writes 'I don't own Ronin Warriors' on a piece of paper and burns it*