And this is what happens when I try to wrap up loose plot threads… out-of-character characters and lame dialogue. Well, I'm sick and have writer's block, so I have an excuse!
Themes are: Elle Theme – Silent Hill 6: Homecoming OST, Smile – Dark Symphony (deathaura40s), Walk Away – Darren Hayes, Deae Luna – Makkon, Saeglopur – Sigur Ros, Don't Let It Break Your Heart - Coldplay
Chapter 19: Don't Let It Break Your Heart
In the center of a semi-large clearing, the sound of boots and heels thudding against the path echoed in the forest. Soon, a group of seven individuals and a grand galf ran into view, pausing to catch their breath. The white-haired teen looked around as he panted, hands on his knees. "Where are you two…?"
Chloe walked a little ahead of him, peering down the pathway and shaking her head, "Strange… We should have found them by now."
As the group continued investigating the area, Geit loped forward, nose twitching as he tried to catch a scent. Then, the galf paused, lifting his head as if listening to a distant sound. His nose twitches as he sniffs, and he strides forward several steps to the end of the circular platform where a huge crack had formed in the crystal walls, broken shards littering the ground in one or two spots. Sniffing a few moments more, he whined softly.
Will noticed him, and looked beyond the galf at the broken wall. "There's a crack in the crystal…"
Geit then sat down and whined even louder, catching the rest of the group's attention as well. Moses walked over to his furry companion and crouched down next to him. "Hey, boy, do you smell Bubbles?" The galf barked in response, most likely a yes.
The group quickly gathered in front of the entrance, and Jay approached the entrance. He looked inside and down the passageway before turning back to the others. "It looks like the trail continues inside."
Senel nodded, "Let's take a look then…"
Carefully, the group walked down the dark passageway, Senel and Chloe in front unable to really see anything. Their long shadows covered the path below their feet, and the group was frequently stumbling forwards after tripping over a rock or something similar. Finally, Shirley unleashed her small blue teriques, which lit the way before them with an eerie but calming blue glow.
The crystalline butterfly lit the walls and crystal around them, causing Will's historian senses to come to light as he looked at the walls around them in fascination. "This really is fascinating… The earthquakes must have opened this place back up over the past month or so; the crystal is almost like glass it's so blue! Oh, and these stalactites hanging from the ceiling; they had to have formed thousands of years ago, but some event closed this place back up from the elements. Everything is almost exactly like it was a thousand years ago, or more!" He practically squealed when the light of Shirley's teriques lit up a rather shiny piece of crystal, flecks of white and gold sparkling inside like trapped air bubbles inside glass.
The others ignored him for the most part, though Jay examined the path before them and saw a thin layer of dirt upon the ground. Pausing to examine it (and making sure his other teammates wouldn't bump into him and send him tumbling down the path), he asked Shirley to bring her teriques closer to the ground he was examining. After one or two moments more, he stood back and turned his head towards them. "Norma definitely came down this pathway, and so did Walter. There are two sets of footprints."
The group looked ahead, and noticed that the path had begun to open back up, the walls spreading and the ground steadily growing more even. "That must be the exit." Shirley commented, sending her teriques ahead of them as Senel signaled everyone to continue.
When they reached the entrance, Senel suddenly stopped, the others trying their hardest not to run into him. "Hey, why'd ya stop?" Moses asked, looking over Chloe's shoulder to see why Senel had paused. He quieted when everyone else saw the huge crater in the wall in front of them, a bit into a large circular and well-lit room. Cracks ran all along the edges of the broken crystal, and huge chunks lay at their feet. Some of them looked as if they had been cleaved in half by some impossibly sharp blade.
"What in the world…?" Chloe started to ask, but a low groan from beside her cut her quiet. Grune had crouched down beside them, nearly doubled over as she held her head almost in pain. The quiet groan came from her.
"Grune, what's wrong?" Will asked in concern.
"Head… hurts…" The tall women gritted out before returning to groaning out a jumbled word. "Sch… …war… z…"
"What? You need to speak up Grune, we can't hear you." Jay insisted.
Shirley went to hold her shoulder and try to coax an answer out of her, but she stopped when she saw the state of the room behind the voluptuous woman. Scorch marks, craters and scratches all over the floor, some accompanied by the red splatter of blood. A feeling of cold dread spread through her when she looked towards the center of the room. Near the center near a slightly-raised dais there were two motionless people on the ground... One of them covered in blood. It was Walter and Norma.
Her hand unconsciously flew up to her mouth to try and cover the stunned gasp tumbling out of her lips. "Oh… Nerifes, no!"
x x x
Everything was white… Why was everything white here? Hadn't it been black before…? Or blue?
A blond man looked around himself in confusion. Everything was stark white; the exact opposite that black abysmal place had been. So bright it was nearly blinding. His attire had stayed the same, though without any of the bloody scrapes and wounds that accompanied the torn clothing. He fingered a large tear on the right side of his chest, right below his ribs.
Then the sound of a quiet breeze reached his ears, and a downy feather blew past his eyes. Under his feet, the white scenery began to drift away as the breeze picked up and blew away the cloud of pure white feathers. He brought his arms up to his face in reflex, but lowered them after a moment as a few feathers softly brushed against his face as they blew by. The cloud swirled around him before eventually fading away and vanishing into the scenery around him.
It was… a beach. He was standing in the golden sand next to a large boulder half submerged in the fine grains. The calm ocean waves lapped gently at the sand, and the sun shined overhead like it always had. At the end of the beach was a small forest, and a path ran up the hill where the trees parted.
Blinking in confusion, the blond Ferines stepped a few feet over to the large rock, his feet sinking slightly in the sand as he moved. He ran his fingers along the smooth surface, the previously rough stone smoothed over years and years of waves crashing over it. He looked up and opened his mouth to say something and hesitated.
Finally, Walter asked to no one in particular, "…Am I dead?" His tone sounded a bit resigned, defeated; ready to admit his status but not accept it willingly.
"Well, technically yes and no. You're in the in-between." A light voice answered from behind him, a musical voice that made his heart stop. He stood rigid and tense, not sure if he had heard the voice correctly.
It couldn't be…
Walter twisted so fast in place you'd think he had been in a battle for his life, but all that he saw behind him was a blond girl dressed in a blue and white dress, a yellow clasp resting below her collarbones. Her hair was done up in two high ponytails, and a thin, yellowish circlet rested atop her forehead. When she spoke again, her eyes seemed to sparkle with a laugh he hadn't the privilege to see when they were alive. "You know Walter; you don't have to look so shocked. Of all the people you expected to see on the other side, wasn't I the first?"
Walter visibly trembled, eyes wide and every mask and defense he had ever made up crashing before his feet like delicate glass sculptures. His heart was doing crazy things in his chest, and he couldn't breathe. "No… You're… you're dead, h-how…?" He gasped out finally after regaining control of his voice.
The girl gave him a sad look, "You remember what happened at the Altar of the Sea... To be honest, I hadn't expected things to go as they did. I didn't think you would die… and when I couldn't find you I was worried something happened to you halfway." She looked over him and continued, "Something did, I guess."
The blond's knees buckled under him, and he had to grab onto the rock to keep from falling the rest of the way down. "F-Fenimore, I… I-I'm... sorry." He exclaimed quietly, his voice threatening to crack. He had to blink hard, else they start watering.
Fenimore stepped over to him, and ran her fingers over one of his hands, forcing him to look at her sympathetic face. "You didn't have anything to do with my death, Walter."
Walter let out a bitter bark of laughter and stood back up, "That's precisely the point; I didn't doanything…" He finally gritted out, tone a bit rough as he swallowed down emotions he had kept away from most everyone. That she had so gently taken and unleashed just by being there. "I got there too late to save anyone, any of the people who sacrificed themselves to save Shirley, including you!" He stared out at the sea, away from the ghost in front of him. "You died because I wasn't there, and I couldn't protect Shirley in the end. I'm just…" His fingers on the rock clenched into a fist.
Fenimore grabbed his shoulder and yanked him around to face her. She gave him a level stare and a stern frown. "Don't say that. Don't you daresay you're a failure when you know you're not!"
The eren opened his mouth to reply, but she easily continued over him, "You saved me and Shirley in the Waterways when I thought for sure the Terrors were going to find and kill us. You lead that robot army against Vaclav's soldiers and won. You helped save Shirley along with Senel and the others. You helped protect Shirley when she was the Merines. And Nerifes is calm for the first time in centuries. The Ferines and Orerines are now at peace and you helped bring that peace! And that was all on your firstlife!"
Walter could only blink in silence as she continued her barrage against him, with a hand on her hip and jabbing him in the chest with her other hand at each point. "You became an idol for three little kids, helped out your new friends in a pinch, saved them on multiple occasions, helped my sister Thyra along the path to forgiveness and even learned to 'forgive and forget' with Senel! The old Walter would never have done any of those things and on top of all that…!" She leaned in close to him with a devilish grin on her face opening her mouth and singing out, "You have a girlfriend~!"
That last part made Walter actually speak up, however. "W-what in Nerifes' sake are you talking about!? She's my roommate, you dense girl!"
He glaredat her. He had actually glared at her! Fenimore couldn't help but giggle a bit. Of all the things he had complained about in her tirade that was the one thing he had chosen to spoke up about. "You care about her though, right?"
He crossed his arms, "Of course; she's my friend." Really, the first friend I've ever had…
"And you'd do anything for her?" He simply nodded in response. "So much you'd die for her?"
Walter grew quiet at the question, averting his eyes as resignation filled them. "…I already have."
Fenimore was silent for a moment, and then tugged on his sleeve to make him look at her. "Walter, you gave her a promise that you'd protect her, right? You can't fulfill that promise if you stay here." She let go of his sleeve and stepped away a few feet, wringing her fingers together and staring down at them. "You know, all people who come to the in-between have a special privilege others don't get. They get to choose their fate, either in the real world or on the other side…"
"Then what was that time I spent in the black abyss after I died the first time?" Walter couldn't help but ask. If this was the realm in between worlds, then what was that place he spent perhaps days in without noticing?
Fenimore looked up at him, "You were special… You got chosen by someone to have a second chance, and if you succeeded in your task, you got to stay for good. And you eventually found out what you were supposed to do: save Norma from an untimely death. And you did it… until you died. Now you're here because of that, and you can choose where you want to go."
She looked at the ocean, the calm waves lapping at the shore the only sound breaking the silence besides their voices. "You can go back to Shining Blue one last time, and this life shall be your final one. If you die, you're dead; no second or third chances. But you'll live without any barriers, without any rules or trials. It would be as if you were still on your first life, with all the freedoms and joys, pains and sorrows included."
Fenimore looked back at him, the sparkle in her eyes returning as she smiled. "Or, you can choose to come with me into the other realm. A limitless world where all is at peace, and the souls of the dead live in pure tranquility. I've met many people over in that place, from friends in my old village, my distant relatives, elders, even the previous Merines who brought about the first Cataclysm years and years ago. And… one other person I know you'd want to meet." She trailed off.
Her eyes grew sad suddenly, sad and resigned, as if she already knew his answer. "What would you choose, Walter? Life or death…?" With me or her?
A faint breeze drifted down the beach, making Walter's bangs flutter out of his face as he looked at her with clearly conflicting feelings in his eyes. He felt torn between two people, two lives he couldn't possibly keep both of. It was depressing. It was painful. It was… surprisingly easy, he found. The truth was, he had made a promise to Norma he wouldn't abandon her, and he didn't break his promises. That was all it took.
He walked those few feet towards her and looked at her defeated expression. She knew his answer just as much as he did. "I don't break my promises, Fenimore. Never have, never will."
Fenimore nodded softly, rubbing at one of her eyes. "I know you don't, Walter. That's what I love about you." The other Ferines froze in place, but she didn't notice as she dug into one of her sleeves for something. "Now, I know I put it here somewhere… Where is it?"
Suddenly, she felt a hand close around her wrist, pulling her back until she collided into someone's arms. She felt his fingers caress her face, and then his lips collided with hers.
Fenimore felt completely helpless and on top of the world all at the same time. One of his arms wrapped around her waist and the other slid to the back of her neck, gently caressing her skin. She felt warmth flooding through her, and soon relaxed against him as her eyes closed. Their lips locked together as she ran her hands over his shoulders to wrap around his neck. Fenimore's fingers trailed up to run through his hair, and after what seemed like eons Walter's mind finally snapped back to attention again.
Finally he broke the kiss, his forehead leaning against hers with an expression of pure longing and frustration on his face. "You… have noidea how much I had wanted to do that." He said, his voice rough and breathless.
The girl in front of him blinked a few times, before smiling sadly and reaching into her sleeve again. Finally pulling away from him, she showed him the pure white feather clutched in her fingers, soft down fluttering in the breeze. "Here... This feather will take you back to the Crystal Forest. Take it."
Almost reluctantly, Walter plucked it out of her hands, spinning it slowly in his fingers. Suddenly, the slight breeze that had been blowing around the beach had picked up into a strong wing that whipped around them. Looking behind Fenimore, he saw a small stream of white weaving in the air like a strange serpent. A small cloud of feathers had formed and slowly gathered around them, circling silently and twisting around in spirals.
Fenimore grabbed one of his hands and made him look at her watering eyes one last time. "This is my blessing to you, Walter... Go live your life on your own terms, and no one else's. Go find your happiness!"
Finally, he felt her fingers slide out of his, and she became hidden behind a cloud of white. He felt like he was falling, moving so fast he felt like he should have hit the ground at any moment. Closing his eyes for just a moment, everything just stopped. It took him a moment, but when he opened his eyes again, the cloud of white feathers was gone, and he saw a face staring at him with worried eyes.
x x x
When she had awoken rather abruptly from a scream, Norma noticed all of her friends were standing around her, and for some reason seemed very upset. After she had sat up, she felt a wave of dread wash over her as she saw Wally lying nearby, Will and Shirley crouched over him with their fingers lit with the glow of their healing eres.
She realized he had come to rescue her again, but this time it hadn't seemed like he'd survive to give her a lecture or a smack over the head. Or that relieved face whenever she pulled out of whatever she got herself into. Or that smile the rare times he joked or teased with her, or actually seemed happy for once. The moment she realized that, she felt like she had lost Sven again.
She had activated her eres and tried the most powerful healing spell she knew but it seemed to drift right through him like it did Stella. No no no, you can't do this, Wally! Don't you dare die on me, you jerk! You have to help me find the Everlight, and I need to show you how to cook properly and… Her mind screamed at him even as her eyes watered and blurred her vision. You said you wouldn't die like Sven. You promised!Her heart felt heavier and she swore she saw a black wisp flicker across the room.
So it was like that, that the group finally saw Walter open his eyes and inhale a breath of air. And almost immediately afterwards, he shut his eyes in pain and grumbled out a low "Oww…" So, she would normally be pleased about her supposedly-dead partner-in-crime coming back to life, right?
"Wally, you jerk!" Norma quickly leaned over and smacked the blond over the head, causing him to reach up and hold his head with the arm not across his middle.
…Apparently not.
Shirley had been close to tears of sorrow, then tears of joy before settling into shock at Norma's actions, after which Jay quickly grabbed her arm so she wouldn't hit him again. "N-Norma…" She mouthed, eyes wide in confusion.
"Norma, what's gotten into—" Jay started before he was interrupted by an indignant blond, who ten minutes previously had been bleeding to death.
"What in Nerifesis your problem, Norma!? Why did you hit me?" Walter yelled angrily, the smack rattling his head and making the throbbing headache from his concussion even worse. He tried sitting up, though the pain in his chest threatened to push him over again.
Norma didn't notice, ignoring his frustration and pain for a moment to snap back. "We all thought you were dead!"
"Well, obviously I'm not if you didn't notice—" Norma escaped from Jay long enough to smack him over the head again, interrupting him and making him bring his other hand up to clutch at his head. "Aargh… Stop hitting me!"
Will's patience had frayed enough over worrying over Norma before and Walter just recently, and had enough of their bickering. He paused in his healing to walk around the injured blond and clock Norma over the head. She immediately yelped and crouched down to the ground holding her head in her hands. He gave both of them a stern look before running a hand over his face in exasperation. "Honestly… Both of you, cut it out. We've all had enough things going on and your bickering isn't going to solve anything."
He looked over at Norma first. "Norma, it's good to see you're alright, so the antidote must have worked." Then he turned to the blond Ferines, crossing his arms, "As for you Walter, this is probably the first time we've met since the Wings of Light..."
"Probably." He responded, his arms returning to his chest and relieved to find he had been healed enough the wounds had closed.
Will looked the battered and bloodied blond over and sighed, "I'll ask questions later, let's just go home." He offered a hand, and after a hesitant moment Walter took it.
As Will had been talking to Walter, Norma had been looking around the place, remembering her original intent of coming to the Crystal Forest. The Everlight. She heard the oldest member of their group say something, and ignored it to examine the strange-looking dais in the center of the room. Suddenly, with the sound of trickling water echoing in her ears, she saw a huge white symbol glowing on top of the flat stone. It was in the shape almost like an eye, with a circle in the center and two folded lines nearly joining at either end.
This caught the attention of the others rather quickly, and Will quietly exclaimed, "What in the world…?"
Norma stood still in front of it, her expression of surprise slowly fading away as she hesitated. "Maybe… maybe we should do what it says." She clasped her hands together in front of her and bent her head forwards just a bit, letting her hair fall in front of her face.
After a moment, the strange character disappeared, and with the same watery sound three more appeared around the group. The different members of the party were curious of the glowing symbols, but Norma didn't stray from where she stood. Her expression held insecurity in it.
Chloe looked back at Norma from the shape in front of her; a solid circle with two curved lines on its sides, with the tips pointing out and away. "What are these?"
"They're Relares." Walter answered, gazing over at one glowing shape comprising of five dots in a cross-formation.
"Norma, can you read it?" Will asked, gazing at Norma as she continued to look at the last symbol in front of her.
She nodded, pointing at the one in front of Walter, "Disaster…" She turned to the one in the center of the three, "Fire…" Finally, she looked back at the one she had been staring at since they appeared: Two bent shapes which almost touched at one end, similar to an arch. "And future…" Her head slumped forward, her posture reflecting her doubts and fears.
"Norma?" Shirley spoke, looking at her in concern. Will and Chloe, looking over the symbols at the time, turned back to look at the treasure hunter.
Norma turned to face them. "If my research is correct, then… this has to be it." Doubt began to seep into her voice, making her words waver.
"You don't look very happy about it though." Will responded, crossing his arms.
Her shoulders slouched as if someone placed a heavy weight on them. "If… if the Everlight isn't here, then… Then I have no idea what else I can do."
Senel seemed to sense the fear and insecurity coating the air around her like a fog. "…You're scared." He asked, more than stated. He seemed to voice what everyone else began to feel about Norma's doubts.
Norma nodded sadly, and quietly continued. "If it isn't…" She hesitated. "If I learn the truth, I don't think I can hold onto my faith anymore. I don't think I could believe in my dream." Her eyes strayed to her feet, eyes watery and afraid. "If… if I turn back now, and don't confirm what lies beyond this point, then I can still hold onto my dream." She straightened to face the others, but her expression was forlorn and lost. "If the truth is going to be cruel… then I'd probably be better off not knowing at all."
Before someone could speak up and try to change her mind, black wisps of smoke began to appear all around her body. Rising off of her arms, the mist surrounded her and shrouded parts of her legs. The party members took a startled step backwards as Norma tried to brush the mist away from her arms, "Huh? Wh… what's going on!?" She ran away from the spot she was in, but the mist followed her like it was tied to her. She frantically brushed at her arms and legs, but the mist wouldn't go away. "This stuff is following me! W-what is this stuff? It won't come off!" She exclaimed, her voice high in distress.
Recognizing the black mist from all the times before, Walter's fingertips began to glow with a violet light. Before anyone could comment on it, Norma turned back towards the entrance of the cavern and ran away. "Wha…?!" The blond raced to the bottom of the sloped tunnel, stopping right by the crater at the foot of it. "Norma, stop!" His eres flared, and he took off up the stairs with a speed that made it seem he wasn't as injured as he was. The others didn't hesitate in following after them.
The group found Norma just outside the cracked entrance of the tunnel, looking at a ghostly version of herself. The figure could have been her twin, save for her grey appearance and blank, emotionless face. Norma took a few steps back, "What the!? There's two of me!"
The rest of the party members readied their weapons. "Careful, Norma! It's another one of those things made of the black mist!" Senel shouted, his fists glowing brightly with his eres.
Walter didn't wait for the being to attack first, and rushed forwards to slam a fist into it (much as he tried to ignore it had Norma's face.) The figure seemed to float to the side, dodging the Ferines' attack and bringing out an exact monochromatic copy of Norma's weapon, dark mist swirling around the end as it charged a spell.
Senel and Chloe were right behind the blond with their own attacks, Senel throwing a punch then Chloe swinging her sword widely after his attack trying to initiate a combo. The apparition sidestepped Senel's attack, but didn't see Chloe's sword until it had already hit, sending the apparition flying towards the edge of the platform.
"I swear, this isn't my fault!" Norma cried, fumbling for her straw as her fingertips began to glow yellow.
"This ain't the time to be making excuses, Bubbles!" Moses yelled back as he and Jay took center position, flinging their attacks at it while the other crystal erens charged their spells.
Up in front, the three erens were busy landing one hit after another on the twin, landing hits after one had already swung, protecting each other's weak points. Finally, the figure got its footing again, and ducked under a particularly fierce punch from Walter. Crouching down, it used the usually flimsy straw and swung it like a bat, sending the blond flying back towards the other team members. "Walter!" Senel yelled, looking back for a moment to see if he was alright.
Using the brief pause in the fight, the apparition swung at the other two iron erens with the backswing, sending the two comrades into a pile near where Walter landed. It brought the stick back up in front of it and the mist swirled around it as it charged a spell.
Senel pulled himself back to his feet, and looked over towards Chloe, but she was already up on her feet and charging back into the fray with Jay and Moses at her side. He turned to try and give Walter a hand, but saw him clutching at his chest again, in the same spot the torn bloodied hole had been. "Hey, you alright?" He asked, offering a hand out to pull him to his feet.
The blond just waved his free hand at the white-haired leader, "I'm fine, just keep fighting!" He responded quickly, and left it at that. Senel hesitated, then nodded and ran back into the fray after slurping down a gel.
Walter gingerly got to his feet, looking back at his hand to make sure he hadn't started bleeding again. He gave a small sigh of relief when it came away clean, but his chest still hurt like hell.
Suddenly, a sparkling green light surrounded him for a moment, and the pain in his chest receded. Looking behind him, he noticed Norma casting a healing spell over him. He smiled in her direction in thanks, and then began chanting his own spell.
As the iron erens tackled the apparition into submission, preventing it from casting spells, the crystal erens casted spell after spell. This was how the fight progressed, a brilliant show of teamwork until the being eventually fell to the ground and did not rise again. The Fun Bunch Plus One watched as the being disintegrated into black mist, its feet vanishing from view and continuing up until the ghost's body had vanished, leaving the smoky cloud behind. Soon after, the mist faded away until the floor was completely empty save for nine figures.
As they let themselves relax a little after the fight, Jay crossed his arms in thought. "First Will, now Norma. This marks the second time we've seen this."
Walter looked over at him, "This has happened before?"
He nodded, "Yes, in the Waterways a week ago. This was while you and Norma were unconscious."
The blond shook his head, "I thought the black mist could only appear from monsters, from what little I heard from you all."
Will stared at the spot where the misty being had vanished. "The mist hadalways appeared from a monster, and I thought my double in the Waterways was a rarity. But this time…"
"Sooo… Bubbles' a monster?" Moses asked to no one in particular, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Of course not!" Norma spoke up, waving her arms at him in irritation.
Suddenly, Grune doubled over, holding her head like she was in pain. "Ohhh…"
Shirley held her shoulder, "Grune, are you ok?"
She straightened and let her hands fall back to her side. "…I felt like I almost remembered something from long ago…. Have I forgotten something really important?"
"Have you?" Chloe asked, not expecting a clear answer to her question.
Grune didn't answer, but perked up as if listening to something. She turned with a smile and bowed to… nothing. "Nice to meet you, Shadow." She greeted pleasantly.
The Fun Bunch Plus One stared at her, expressions ranging from surprise and befuddlement, but mosty confusion.
She waited a moment, and then said, "Oh, I'm so sorry." She gestured towards the invisible entity she was speaking to. "Do you know anything about me, Shadow?" Another moment passed, and then she scratched her head in thought, "Oh, that's true… Oh my, I just don't know what to do."
The team was silent again.
"Neither do we…" Shirley spoke, and everyone silently agreed.
A long few moments passed, with Grune nodding every now and then. After a while, she knelt to the ground and picked up something. "Oh, now I have Shadow's seed. I should plant it somewhere nice." She rose to her feet and placed what looks like a seed into the urn on her shoulder.
Senel saw Norma off to the side and asked, "Norma, what about the Everlight?" The others jolted out of their confusion at Grune's strange conversations and turned back to Norma.
She hesitated in saying anything, then finally lowered her head in submission, "I guess… I have to do it." Taking in a deep breath, she stepped forward a few feet and pumped a hand in the air with confidence, "Alright then, let's go!"
"Charge!" Grune chirped loudly afterwards, making any who didn't expect it jump.
Norma turned back to Grune with a smile on her face, placing her hands on her hips and nodding in pride. "I've trained you well, G-Girl!"
x x x
With Shirley and Norma lighting the way with their eres, the Fun Bunch Plus One entered the large cavern again. The symbols seemed to sense their presence, as they reappeared around the pedestal in the center of the room. This time, flickering flames seemed to lick up from the floor underneath them.
Norma looked over the three carefully, one at a time. "Disaster', 'Fire' and 'Future' huh…? Well, I already know the answer." She walked up a few steps to the pedestal and turned to Moses, "Hey Red, can I get you to do something for me?"
Moses twitched at the sound of his name. "Hmm? What do you need?"
"Probably to dive into the flames." Jay answered, his voice completely deadpan.
"Like hell!" Moses stomped his foot down in refusal.
Norma stared at him for a moment before turning away to look at the symbol again, "Tch."
Moses stared at her, bristling in anger, "Wha' do ya mean, 'tch'!? Is that what you really wanted!?"
"Probably…" Shirley couldn't help but giggle, which set off Moses even more.
Walter rolled his eyes, "The flames are just an illusion. If you choose the right one you won't get hurt."
Jay held up a hand near the symbols for a moment. "I can feel the heat from them quite clearly…"
"Well, it wouldn't be a very good illusion if they didn't, would they?" Jay turned to give a dirty look to the blond, who just raised an eyebrow.
Norma rolled her eyes. "Red." She got his attention, the pointed at the left-most symbol for 'future'. "Go throw a spear through the flames."
The bandit hesitated, but shook his head and pulled out one of the javelins from the case on his back and hurled it through the dead center of the symbol. The moment it touched it, the metal turned white-hot and the wood blackened into charcoal. It sailed through and disintegrated when it hit the floor. Charcoal stained the crystal floor and the red metal point bounced along the floor, singing the floor as it did.
"It burned just fine… How can it be an illusion?" Jay paused after he spoke and gave Walter a smug look, which he ignored.
"So you can't fool it by throwing junk through it…" Norma thought aloud.
"Hey, that ain't junk!" The owner of the junk protested.
"Now it is…" Jay mumbled to himself.
Norma was silent, looking at the flames and the useless pieces of metal and charcoal behind it. Her expression changed to one of doubt and fear, "Will I be all right even after I learn the truth…? Can I stay the same after this, like I've always been? Is the Everlight really just ahead of me?" She asked herself.
After a few second of her asking herself these questions, black mist suddenly streamed back and surrounded her form again. She started out of her thoughts and the party jumped at the sudden reappearance of the mist again. "W-what the? Why is this stuff back!?" She turned to the others with desperation written all over her face, "Teach, JJ, tell me what's going on!"
"I have no idea!" Will answered back after folding his arms in thought.
"Neither do I," Jay replied after him with a shrug.
Chloe looked at the two, "I just love how nonchalant you two are about this."
Meanwhile, the mist had materialized back into the ghostly version of herself. "Ahh, the other me is back too!" She looked at the team for help, but paused when she saw they all had their weapons out. Sweating a bit, she exclaimed, "W-well? Help me!"
After a moment or two, Senel noticed the being wasn't attacking. "…It doesn't seem to be aggressive."
"Ugh… What is this...?" Norma asked as she slumped down to her knees. "I feel absolutely horrible… What… what is this feeling? Doubt…?" The mist began to swirl out of her darker than ever, swirling up her limbs and shrouding them from view.
"Norma, the black mist is coming out of you again!" Shirley exclaimed.
Norma's head slumped forward. "Ugh… I feel… depressed."
Walter finally spoke up, a violet glow flickering around his fingertips, "Norma, don't lose sight of yourself. Remember why you came here in the first place." He stepped forward while he spoke, feeling black mist swirl around his feet.
She raised her head as something clicked inside her mind. "…Is the mist coming out because I'm scared?" The mist darkened around her, as if answering her question.
"It's getting thicker…" Shirley remarked.
"Embrace your feelings… You have to accept your feelings, Norma. Don't turn away from them." Grune continued, holding her arms out towards the shrouded girl and walking closer just like Walter.
"My feelings… I have to… accept them." Norma repeated quietly, her face turned away from the rest of the party.
"That's right." Senel replied, as he and Shirley approached as well.
"You're going to find the Everlight, right? You're going to find your dream." Shirley spoke up.
Will followed the others, "All the work you've done up until now was not for nothing. It would be if you just quit now…"
"That's right…" Norma commented, and the pace of the mist slowed as it swirled around her.
"Just trust in what you believe in…" Jay responded.
"And if anything happens, we'll all be there to back you up." Chloe continued.
Moses stepped up next. "Yeah. There's nothin' to be afraid of… If it ain't here, you can just keep lookin'."
"We'll all help you look for it, too." Shirley finished with a smile.
The mist stopped pouring out of Norma's form, and she became a bit clearer to see through the mist.
"You told me something, shortly after we first met. That it didn't matter how long it took, or what trials you had to go through. You would chase your dream and find the Everlight, no matter what." Walter locked eyes with her, and smiled, "Even if it isn't here, you won't give up. That's not the sort of thing the Norma I know would do." Not the Norma I died for would do…"It wouldn't matter if you spent your entire life searching for it; you would anyway. …Because what's the fun in having a dream if it's easy to get?"
Norma looked down for a moment, and then a small smile lit her face as she stood back up. "…You guys are right. I'm supposed to be the treasure hunter, right? This is my job!" She looked up to stare at the ceiling. "If it doesn't work out and the Everlight isn't here, I can just look somewhere else. I can just try again, right?" She smiled, "Yeah… yeah!" She looked back at the group, then the shadowy version of her. "I'd forgotten something really important."
"I've been searching for the Everlight because I wanted to, not for anyone else's sake, not even my master! Somewhere along the way, I forgot about that… About the fun of chasing my dream." She closed her eyes, and her fingertips lit with the golden light of her eres. "Give me a hand, ok master?" A golden shroud of light enveloped her, causing the other party members to step back a few feet and cover their eyes.
"The answer is simple." Sven's voice echoed through Norma's mind. "The answer is very simple." She could see his face, grinning at her like the goofball he was. His eyes shined with sincerity and pure joy. "It's because I believe the Everlight exists." She felt a large hand ruffle her hair lovingly, and his voice seemed so close that he could have been right next to her. "No matter what anyone says, I will continue my search for the Everlight, no matter what." Her teacher smiled at her as his form transformed into the golden light around her. "For that… is my dream!"
Her eyes opened, and she grinned, "I've found my dream too!"
Her fingers began to shine.
"I have no more doubts! I have no doubt anymore, master! I won't run away from the truth; I'm going to believe in myself!" Norma shouted to the world, looking up at the golden light around her. "I will find the Everlight… no matter what!"
She raised her hand into the air, and her finger started shining gold. The brilliant light surrounding her became blinding, and the room became stark white as the light flashed through the room, disintegrating the black mist with a blinding spark.
After a few moments, the light began to flicker and diminish, and when it disappeared, Norma stood in place, her fingers flickering just a bit. With purpose and determination in her eyes, she walked over to the leftmost symbol for 'future' and touched it. The symbols stopped glowing, and a pink light began to shine underneath her feet.
"…It really was an illusion." Will said finally, as he brought his arm down from his eyes.
Jay rubbed his chin in thought, "But Moses' spear burned."
"Perhaps the whole room contains some sort of mechanism." Will replied, crossing his arms.
Norma turned back to them and waved her hand at them, "Come on, guys! Hurry it up!" She turned back to the pink circle and her body warped away.
The other party members looked at each other for a moment and followed her. They warped one by one, arriving in a new area of the Crystal Forest. The ground beneath their feet was similar to the cavern from before, but trees and crystals alike sprouted up from around the platform they stood upon. Water trickling around them, and a quiet stream of water could be heard splashing into a pool from far away. The air was so still it echoed with their every footstep.
They saw Norma in front of a pedestal, her hands together in prayer. This time, five symbols appeared around the alter, all different from the previous ones.
She gave them all thoughtful looks as Chloe held out a hand and asked, "Can you read them?"
Walter rolled his eyes, "Of course she can." It wasn't out of annoyance that he said this, but of fact.
Instead of responding to them, Norma pointed out each symbol and listed them off, "'Annihilation', 'Trap', 'Underworld'… Also 'birth' and 'slaughter'." She grinned and looked at Chloe and nodded vigorously, "Can I read it, she asks. Please… this is nothing." She clasps her hands together. "Alright then, here goes!" She straightened, turned to face the symbol for birth and ran into it, vanishing and leaving a pink teleporting circle behind. Most of the group was startled, but relaxed soon afterwards.
Will stepped up to the portal, and then faced the party. "Let's follow her." With no other comments, then group nodded and walked through the portal one by one, vanishing away to a new area yet again.
x x x
The teleporter sent them to a new place, with a small path of crystal leading up towards a large circular room. At the top, a large blue sphere was incased in ice, tapering down towards the bottom into a small glassy stone. Blue crystal curved and spiraled out from around the room like twisted pieces of blown glass, or tiny stems of ivy.
The others found Norma awed and nearly in tears as she stared up at the huge icy sphere. "It's the Everlight… It exists… It really exists…" She spoke aloud.
Chloe shifted in place, "…I feel a very strong power. I've felt this before somewhere…"
"It's the same as Nerifes." Shirley replied.
As a few of the others spoke, Walter looked up at the sphere, "…Who would have thought the Everlight… was actually a Tear of the Sea…" He turned and saw some sort of scribbling on the wall, and walked over to it in curiosity.
Soon after Grune stated how pretty it looked, the others noticed some sort of writing on the wall. Senel pointed it out to Norma, "Norma, look at the wall!"
Norma finally looked down from the Everlight to stare at Senel, "Senny, what are you getting so excited about—" She stopped when she saw what he was pointing at, and nearly took a step back in shock. "No way… That's… It can't be…! But… there's no mistaking that writing… I'd know my master's writing anywhere…"
Walter stood in front of the writing in front of him on the opposite wall in silence, eyes moving slightly from side to side as he read the first sentence of the letter. Then he turned to look at Norma with a pensive expression, "…Norma. There's some more over here…" He stepped aside a few feet to let the group see the writing on the wall and turned to look up at the giant blue sphere.
"Ooh, let me see!" She ran over to the wall, the party following her every move. She looked down and her eyes widened, but didn't say anything.
Senel took a few steps forward to examine the writing, "It looks like Relares."
Norma looked up for a moment… and then her eyes squeezed shut as tears began to fall from her face. She brought her hands up to her face as she started sobbing.
Chloe took a step forward, "Norma? What's wrong?"
"Master… Master, I can read it. I studied really hard, and I can read your feelings…" She said brokenly.
"Norma…" Shirley said quietly.
"I studied so hard so I could catch up to you… I can read it all… all by myself…" A sob ripped its way from her throat, and she collapsed to her knees, her head in her hands as she continued to cry. "M-master…. I…. I…"
Walter turned back and walked the few feet over to stand next to her. "Walter…?" Senel asked.
"I made it, master! I came all the way here, just like you!" Norma cried, tears dripping down onto her clothes as she sobbed.
Senel looked over at the Ferines next to Norma, who was gazing at her with a look he'd never seen before on him, "…What does it say?" He asked hesitantly.
Walter held out a hand and fingers gently brushed against her quivering shoulder, "Do you mind?" He asked quietly.
"Yeah… it's ok." She responded, swallowing down her cries just enough to speak clearly.
He nodded, and turned to crouch in front of the wall to read the scratched Relares writing. He brushed his fingers along the symbols as he began to read. "It says, "To my dearest student…"
x x x
Aaaand all that is left is the Epilogue. I apologize again for the wait, but was it worth it…? I hope so.
Anyways, Notes on the Relares symbols (this part is incredibly boring!)
According to the Relares chart Namco listed on the site for ToL, the first three symbols in the game was for hes, kes and zes; translating into curse, fire and curse/stab. The first didn't seem to coincide with 'destruction', so I changed that with pes, 'explosion' or 'to destroy'. I also changed zes since it didn't seem to have anything to do with 'future', so I also changed that for tes, meaning 'gateway' or 'birth/beginning'. Since Norma was going to finally find the Everlight and start a new part of her life without chasing after it, I thought it suited much better. Just goes to show you how much I pay attention to the bits of Relares in the game, he he… I got lazy on the latter ones though.
Reviewer Responses:
Shiroi Iyasu: D-dead fic…!? On this? Never! And yes, I did have to kill him off (for a little bit). Honestly though, this was so hard to write I was half-tempted to slap a 'bad end' ending on this story and be done with it. Wouldn't have been fair to all of you readers though! Stick around, just one more to go!
Guest: You got your chapter, no worries. Thanks for the review!
pipou-desu: Ah… yeah, the six months was from my not writing, and considering your review was from early July… it's been a while, I'm sorry! As you could see though, he's just fine! ^^ Thank you so much for your compliments! While this one wasn't my beeest, the next one will, since it's the ending!