~*~Epilogue; Reunion on the mountain~*~
Kain stood on mount Ordeals and allowed the wind to bite his cheeks and move his hair as it wished.
"I'm sorry I won't be there on your wedding, Cecil," he said, silently, "but I need to be alone to make peace with what I have done."
In the middle of the night he had left Mysidia, where he and his friends had spent the night after returning to Earth. Without a word, he had gone away and left the others behind. He knew they'd understand.
However, he didn't know why he had gone to mount Ordeals. It had just felt right. This was a place for facing your sins and erase them. But he had no intention of becoming a paladin, and therefore the mountains were of no real use for him. Yet he had traveled here, maybe in despite of other options.
He looked at the forest growing below, the green ocean only held back by the vast chain of mountains by the horizon. It looked soft, peaceful. Not at all what he felt like.
Killing Zeromus and avenging Valvalis had only brought him a short peace of mind. Still his heart was bitter, and he could neither deny nor fight it. The pain was still there, and Kain was aware that maybe time only could heal it. Only time could smooth his bitter thoughts.
With a sigh, he put his helmet back on to keep the wind away from his face. It only reminded him of Valvalis.
There was no mending what had gone wrong, he couldn't have stopped her from fighting whatever he had said. She had been afraid of her master, and she hadn't been able to fight that back. Kain could understand her fear. Zemus had been a monster, and nobody could possibly have been able to fight him alone. It was the group's strength that had brought the victory. The dragoon tried hard not to imagine Valvalis desperately trying to defend herself against the power of the lunarian.
He turned around and started to walk over the cracked cliff. He really had no goal, though the top of the mountain seemed like a natural point. But that wasn't it. He had no business there whatsoever, really. Yet he walked upwards all the time.
There was a canyon ahead. Kain walked over to it and glanced down. It was deep, and pretty wide too. Cecil and his friends had been forced to take another way, for sure. But they couldn't jump like Kain either. He grinned a bit and took a few steps backwards. Just as he was about to start to run, he heard a loud screech and looked up.
It was a seagull.
So what?
On a mountain at least forty miles from the nearest ocean?
It screeched again, sounding exhausted.
People often scorned seagulls as ugly birds, but for Kain they had always meant the end of winter, the carriers of summer. They might be loud and not pretty like swallows, but they had the nerve and will to scream out that the warm season was approaching fast. They were strong, powerful birds.
But this one was very, very tired. It could hardly keep flying.
And with one last screech, it fell from the sky.
It was going to fall into the canyon.
Kain ran and jumped.
The small, white body landed safely in his hands, and his feet hit the other side of the deep crack.
"Don't worry," Kain whispered, suddenly breathing hard, "I've got you."
He raised his hands to the height of his face, carefully holding the saved animal. It looked straight back, and it didn't have the cold, sharp eyes of a bird. The white wings moved tiredly, the small head slowly rubbed against Kain's fingers. He dropped to his knees, staring at what he held.
"You…" he whispered, with a growing, soft smile, "you're alive!"
The seagull began to glow with a yellow, warm light, and it slowly started to grow. The small, bone-like legs became longer and thicker, the wings turned into arms. The beak changed into a nose and a mouth, long, blond hair flowed from the growing head. All of the feathers assembled to become a white-grey, short dress.
"I'm alive… love…" Valvalis whispered with an exhausted smile, "at least… sort of…"
Apparently the flight had drained all of her strength, but Kain could not stop himself from asking her to keep fighting a little longer.
"How?" he whispered, stroking her hair.
"Rubicant," she mumbled with fond bitterness in her voice, "as I was about to die… he used all of his remaining power to teleport me out of the giant… and I never had a chance to thank him…"
"He was an honorable man," Kain softly said.
"Yes… I must rest a while…"
"I'll be right here, love. Sleep as long as you need to."
She smiled tiredly and raised her hand to touch his by the helmet shadowed cheek. Then she closed her ice-blue eyes and fell into a peaceful slumber.
Kain stood up and carried her away from the canyon. The plateau he had landed on should be safe from the remaining zombies, so he decided it would be stupid to go anywhere else. To protect her against the cold wind, he carefully put Valvalis down behind one of the big rocks that laid here and there.
The cliffs weren't totally dead; there were moss and stubborn dwarf-spruces fighting for survival. Kain collected a few of the small trees that had been forced to give up and set a campfire since the sun was sinking. But before that, he rolled out his bedroll and placed Valvalis between the blankets.
Valvalis was not aware of any of this. As her body slept, recovering from the flight between Eblan and mount Ordeals, her mind tried to pick up the last pieces of her long lost memory. Zemus had robbed her of all the thoughts of her earlier life as she had become his prisoner and later minion. He had done so in order to control her easier, since she'd had a very strong mind. Even though she had fought him with all her might, the evil had become victorious. But now it was all returning to her, bit by bit.
Her family, her father who had been a warrior of the Dragon, as well as her brothers. Her mother had been a maiden of the Wind before she had fallen in love with Valvalis' father. Their names were still vague, but Valvalis knew she'd grasp them sooner or later.
It had been very long ago, very long. She didn't know how long, but it was surely a couple of centuries… Zemus had frozen her age to keep her strong.
She had begun her magic training as a small girl, hoping to become a maiden of the Dragon, a female warrior with great skill in both weapons and magic. She had been a fast learner and grown to her great power, which had surprised many. There had been words about making her a warrior of the Great One, the finest of all titles. All because she could use the sky's magic better than anyone else, and could jump as high as any man. Her future had been bright.
Then the Darkness had come.
It was a mysterious creature wearing a cape, killing everyone it met. Undead monsters had followed its paths, making life a torment of fear for the living. Together with many other warriors, Valvalis had gone to fight this creature.
Of course it was Milon. He had been much stronger back then.
After a long battle Valvalis had been the only one standing, and her undead friends were attacking her as well as Milon's other "children". Valvalis had unleashed all the power she had in an attempt to kill all of the undead and the source of them. She hadn't won, no, that was the last thing she had done. The undead army had fallen, but so had she, while Milon still was standing.
He had taken a revenge worse than anything else; bringing Valvalis as a gift to his master. What had followed was a long and painful battle between the woman and Zemus, and she had fallen again, becoming his slave. Her mind had been so tightly bound that she had changed it herself to keep sane, becoming the monster her master wanted her to be. After Zemus had defeated her she had sought a way to free him totally, together with the other three fiends.
However, Zemus had found his own way. All he needed was for FuSoYa, who had bound him, to loose a bit of his bone hard focus. A little split concentration was all it would take to break free. So in order to turn the lunarian king's mind to something else, Zemus had sent his own mind to control one single human and bring him to power on Earth.
Valvalis had no idea who Golbez once had been. She had shared Milon, Kainazzo and Rubicant's disbelief and disgust as they were sent to Earth to play the servants of this puny human, but they obeyed since Zemus was their master. They had helped Golbez in any way they could, doing away with people standing in his way and replacing them to increase the controlled human's power. They had started to collect the crystals in order to awake the giant of Bab-Il, because that would shake FuSoYa gravely.
Everything had worked due to the plan. Then it had dawned on them that Cecil, dark knight of Baron, was the only other lunarian on Earth. Golbez brother. That could be a problem, if he was allowed to live.
Kainazzo had made up the idea of having the dark knight go to Mist and take care of the summoners; Zemus knew the power of the espers and didn't want them meddling with his plans either. After that threat was gone, Cecil would be killed easily.
Valvalis had gotten the order to follow this other half-lunarian to Mist and make sure he didn't make any mistakes or turned around. It was then she had seen Kain for the first time, and he had made something scream inside of her, some lost memory wanted to escape its chains. Now she finally knew why. It was his ability to jump and his armor that had reminded her of her earlier life. "Dragoon" was just the developed title of "warrior of the Dragon". Valvalis had watched this puny human with growing fascination and brought him back to Baron alive as the last summoner had called upon the Titan. Then the fiend of Air had gone to Golbez, no, Zemus, and asked him to spare Kain's life. She had said that it was because he was a strong fighter, who could be useful. In reality she was confused and wanted to understand why she felt that way.
When she had seen him hanging on the wall in the cell, beaten and helpless, the memories had fought even more. He had reminded her of herself that time, as she had been bound by Zemus long ago. Of course she hadn't been aware of that then, she had only known a strange compassion. Somehow, she had liked the dragoon.
As he had called her a monster it had hurt her very deeply, and that had confused her even more. For many years she actually had believed she was a monster, but as Kain said so, she was hurt. Then he had said that she was beautiful, somebody gave her a kind (even if it was in twisted way) word for the first time in ages.
The confusion had grown and bent in fear for her master. Yet, as she saw Kain beg Golbez for mercy, it had shocked her. For a moment she had remembered how she had been enslaved.
And her master had confronted her, scaring her half to death. But she couldn't help that Kain somehow healed the one she really was, and that last surviving human part of her knew more than gratefulness towards the warrior. She couldn't help it, and definitely not fight it. Rubicant had tried, but she could not love him as he loved her.
As Kain had been able to break free, Valvalis had exploded because of her own pain. The dragoon had the nerve to almost send her to Zemus again, and he was even able to break free from his bounds. This twisted bitterness and jealousy had driven Valvalis into rage, and she had attacked. It had been hard to keep fighting as Kain begged her not to but she'd known that she wouldn't be forgiven if she stopped, and by then nothing else seemed to matter in any case.
One of the many things her powers allowed her was to hear when somebody thought of her, and what had passed through Kain's head as he had jumped to kill her had been a wild series of painful thoughts, a mess of things he wanted to scream in despair… and a growing feeling he couldn't help. He had also begun to love, even at that early rate.
He had thought that he killed Valvalis, but he hadn't. Her body, yes, but her soul was given a new place almost immediately. Almost as if Zemus had known his minions needed to go through death and then get new bodies to become slightly stronger. He had prepared for such an occasion.
And then, in the giant…
Kain had been thinking of her, and that was what fought Golbez back in his attempt to enslave the dragoon's mind. Valvalis had been outraged for a while, scared that Zemus would know…
And he had asked her not to fight again. He had been all too right about Cecil's strength. But Rubicant had sent Valvalis away with his last powers, just before he died. He had loved her as well, and it hurt Valvalis that she hadn't been able to return his favor. He had been better than Kainazzo and Milon, but she had foolishly lost her heart to a just as foolish dragoon.
It was impossible, but it was true. Kain was the one she loved.
'I thank you for everything, Rubicant,' she thought even in her sleep, 'I owe you my life. Rest in peace, my friend.'
She had been very weak after the fight with Cecil, but had hid in the mountains of Eblan, meditating and sending her mind after Kain. To her amaze, he and his friends were really going to try their luck and skills against Zemus. Valvalis had given all the strength she dared to send to Kain to help him in the battle she had once lost.
And they had won. Kain, Cecil, Rosa, Edge and Rydia. They had done what seemed impossible. Zemus was dead, and Valvalis' mind could begin to break free completely. Soon it would all be back, and she would be herself again; the human woman who had been among the finest of Dragon warriors. (Allowing a small game with words here… author's note.)
She had followed the dragoon and his friends back from the moon and to Mysidia, even though her spirit had been weakened. As Kain had left the magic town and gone towards mount Ordeals, Valvalis had sent her mind back to her body and managed to turn herself into a seagull. Then she had flown as fast as she could, crossed the oceans, mountains and forests, just to reach the dragoon. He wasn't only the one she loved, he was also the only one she possibly could turn to.
Valvalis hoped that Kain would love her true self just as the fiend of Air. The only main difference would be that she no longer feared to love him. Everything could be perfect, at least she hoped so. She didn't want to hurt Kain in any way. He was the key to her freedom, he had helped her to become more human again.
She was still the fiend of Air, which was a problem. Even if she was weakened, that was who she was. That hadn't changed at Zemus dead. It meant that she wasn't completely human yet.
But that could be mended.
It had been forgotten, but once mount Ordeals hadn't been a place to only become a paladin and find the strongest of spells. It was a place where one could mend one's body completely, find the true self if it had been lost. The pure power here could turn her back into a true human. She'd go through any ordeal, face anything, to become what and who she had been all those years ago. Not only for her own sake, but also for Kain. He deserved better than a half-monster. Even if she risked to loose her magic powers. It was worth it.
Valvalis opened her eyes and looked at Kain. He was sitting down by a campfire he had lit, for the moment deep within his own thoughts. The two moons were almost hid by the clouds above, but their light was still reflected by his armor that laid beside him. Now he only wore a simple shirt and pants, which the flames painted yellow and red. As Valvalis whispered his name, he looked up and smiled warmly, as she had secretly wished that he would do for a long time.
"Are you feeling any better?" he asked.
"Yes," Valvalis smiled back, "thank you."
She sat up, pushing the warm blanket away. Then she stood and walked over to him, sitting down by his side. Carefully, he put his arm behind her shoulders, and she leaned against him, wrapping her own arms around him.
"We're both fools, aren't we?" she mumbled.
"Indeed, love," he whispered, "we are."
She would tell him about her life as a human, that she had been a dragoon, only with another title. She would tell him that she could become human again if she went to the top of the mountain. She would tell him everything he wanted to know. But not right now. For the moment it was enough to feel his warm arms and listen to his breathing, watching the fire and knowing that he loved her whoever she was. It was all she asked for right now.
And it was the only thing that Kain wanted too, watching her calm face. He turned his head and kissed her hair, as he once had wanted to kiss Rosa. But Rosa was happy with Cecil, and Kain was happy with Valvalis. She looked up at him and smiled warmly, and he held her tightly, determined not to let her leave him in any way again.
The end.
Author's note:
There's a sequel, which I personally find better than this one. It's called Rydia and Edge (Yes, I hate titles!). I'll start posting that soon. Chances are that when you read this it'll already be up ;)