Chapter Twenty-Five: Mistakes and Salvation

Once I had again gone through the bright flash, I found myself on a floating island. A white sky surrounded me in all directions, and the ground I was standing on was blighted white. In the distance, across several more floating islands, I could see a white castle. I hopped across onto another floating island, dust stirring in my wake.

No sooner had I set foot on the other island when a group of Luce attacked me. I easily warded them off with my Dragon Blade. Then I hopped across the islands until I was close to the castle, slaying Luce all the way. When I was only a couple islands away from the castle, I was overcome by them. I continued to slash at the creatures, but more and more continued to come.

In the end, I was in the center of the island, acrobatically dodging their attacks and doing my best to attack in return. After 15 minutes or so, there was a parting in the Luce, and he appeared.

Jin.

The Luce halted their assault for the moment. Jin walked toward me, slowly. There was something different about him, though. I couldn't place my finger on it.

"So, you've returned." Jin said as he walked up to me. "Didn't expect to see you again."

"Well, of course I'm back! You didn't really think I'd stay in the realm of darkness forever, did you?" I asked him with a shrug. He now stood in front of me, a bit taller than I was.

"Roy… letting you live was my greatest mistake…" he muttered. Then he turned around and put his back to mine as the Luce stirred to action again. "… as well as my salvation."

"So, I saved you while you saved me? Hah! Kinda funny…" I replied.

The Luce began to attack us. Jin used metal blades he could conjure from the metals in the floating island, while I dual-wielded my Soubasune and Dragon Blade. We continued to slay the Luce, despite their seemingly endless numbers, and eventually there were only a few Luce left. I left our position to attack the Luce on the outer edge of the island.

After slaying the dozen or so Luce that littered the edge of the island, I turned around to see Jin stuck through the stomach by one of the Luce. I quickly blazed over there to save him, slaying the Luce. Despite my best efforts, after evidencing and being the cause of so much death, I knew what would happen to Jin.

Jin lay on the dusty ground, clutching his stomach. Gasping for breath, he told me his final words.

"Roy… I don't regret… judging you any more. You've shown me… that even light… is fallible. In the end… I died for a worthy cause. Justice." He told me, then let out his death rattle.

"Justice…" I thought, holding his corpse. How does one define justice? What is justice? Pondering these things in my heart, I took the last few leaps to the castle gates.