Jastir stared at Alkiz.
"Please, tell me you didn't try to fight him?", Jastir groaned.
Alkiz let his eyes drop to his feet.
"Are you serious?!", Jastir yelled, "Do you have any inclination of how close you were to death?!"
Alkiz didn't move.
"Argh, I wish you didn't do that…", Jastir murmured.
"I- I…", Alkiz stuttered.
"You said you didn't kill him. Was that a lie?", Jastir asked.
"No…", Alkiz said.
"Then who did?", Jastir asked.
Songbird had woken up on a golden path. His mind had whirled and his head had spun as he had tried to find any clue as to where Ty had gone. He eventually decided to set out to find Alkiz. He unfurled his wings and took off towards the Estrid village.
"Uh…", Alkiz murmured.
Jastir sighed.
Jastir stepped closer towards Alkiz and opened his arms. Alkiz felt tears come up, welling in his eyes as he stepped closer and felt Jastir's arms wrap around his smaller form.
"Alkiz! Are you here?", a voice called.
Alkiz felt his body shake, a sliver of fear slicing through his mind like a hot knife through butter.
"What's wrong?", Jastir asked.
"Alkiz?!", the voice called again.
Alkiz whimpered.
Songbird burst through the door and looked around the room. His smile faltering when his eyes landed on Alkiz and Jastir.
"I, ugh…I came to find you", Songbird said, suddenly sheepish as all the attention was turned to him.
"I can see that", Alkiz murmured, his voice muffled by Jastir's clothing.
"Um…I'll just leave you now", Songbird said as he pulled the door shut behind him.
"Who was that?", Jastir asked.
Alkiz made an 'uh' sound.
Jastir suddenly smiled creepily.
"Oh, I see. He's your boyfriend, isn't he?", Jastir said.
Alkiz blushed madly.
"H- he's not my b- boyfriend", Alkiz stuttered.
"Oh, but I disagree", Jastir smiled down at Alkiz.
"Ty please help me", Alkiz pleaded.
"You know, I think Jastir might just have a point", Ty said, looking away.
"Guys…", Alkiz whined.
Jastir turned them around so that Alkiz' back was facing the door. Jastir pushed Alkiz off him and watched the other stumble towards the door.
"Go get your man", Jastir said quietly, "Alkiz!"
Songbird, hearing the shout ran in to save his friend. He opened the door and almost immediately caught Alkiz in his arms.
"Ah! Um…thank you…again…", Alkiz said.
"You…uh…keep falling for me, huh?", Songbird said, trying to make light of the situation.
"Oh, shush you", Alkiz mumbled.
"Oh, that's right", Jastir said, his fist hitting his palm as if remembering something, "now that you've got something to ground you. Do you know who killed Camen?"
Alkiz tore himself from Songbird's arms and kneeled on the ground. Songbird swallowed and looked Jastir dead in the eyes.
"I did", Songbird said.
"You? Well you're not an Estrid so we can't punish you by Estrid laws, nor can you become the nest Estrid elder", Jastir said, "at least give me an explanation."
"Well…", Songbird trailed off.
Jastir felt his hand come up and pull down prom his forehead to his chin.
"You really have no idea what you've done, have you? Just tell me why", Jastir groaned.
"Well, I kind of guilt-tripped Alkiz into fighting Camen. Then I saved him in a dream that crossed into reality", Songbird tried.
Jastir sighed.
"So you did fight him?", Jastir asked turning to Alkiz now, a lone eyebrow rising in question.
"I never said I didn't. I just said I didn't kill him", Alkiz said quietly.
Jastir just sighed and turned to look at Ty who just shrugged in reply to the look. Ty smiled at the two who had finally reunited. He felt his heart ache and he looked down at the floor. Songbird looked at Ty and remembered his promise.
"I'll be right back. I have something I have to do", Songbird said, before taking off down the hallway and into the white abyss of the Aether sky.
The others watched him go.
"You know that since you were the one who initiated the fight, and because he isn't an Estrid, you're going to pay the penalty for this", Jastir finally said, his heart heavy with the decision.
"I know, but that's something I'm willing to do", Alkiz stated as he approached the door to the hallway.
Jastir and Ty moved off, quickly catching up to the green eyed Estrid.
"What happens now?", Ty asked.
"Well, that's for the Estrid's to decide. We are a democracy after all. Every new leader is selected by the public as a whole", Jastir said, rattling off about the history of the Estrids.
Songbird halted at the small pool of gold tinted liquid. He reached a hand into the liquid, watching as it encased his limb. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander to thoughts of Sky. He felt his mind being pulled and pushed, prodded and poked until his mind went blank. He opened his eyes a few minutes later and saw Sky, knees to his chest and head heavy with tiredness. Songbird sighed.
"You really trusted me that much, huh?", he asked quietly.
He reached out a hand as Sky fell on his side. His hand came in contact with flesh and he released a small pulse of energy. Songbird waited a moment before he heard the sound of an Estrid.
"Can't save him this time", the growl came.
"Don't need to. This time, he wanted it", Songbird replied as he turned on his heel and soared into the blue sky above.
-0/0/0-
I hope you all have enjoyed the story to its fullest. This chapter will probably be the second last. Meaning, the next chapter will be the last one I write for this story unless I do an epilogue. But that will only happen if you guys want me too, or if I find the time to do it. Either or.
Have a good morning, afternoon, evening or other.
Chaos xoxo