Epilogue: 1 Year Later
Clearsight stood at the top of a large hill outside of the Night Capital, looking out over what had been for so long her home. She sighed as her eyes traced the familiar buildings of the largest Nightwing city, catching glimpses of ones she recognized. Her parent's house, the library, the town hall—all were at least somewhat visible from where she sat. Of course, what couldn't help but draw her attention most of all was the nearby Night Palace.
The magnificent structure was eye-catching on a normal day, but today was even more so. Ribbons and flags fluttered from every terrace, torches and lanterns shone in every window like hundreds of stars, and every bell that the palace contained was ringing joyously. Inside, Clearsight knew, was a celebration that would rival the greatest in Pyrrhia's history. It wasn't every day there was a royal wedding, after all, and even more rare was it a king taking his queen...and from a different tribe, at that.
Yes, inside the palace, Clearsight knew that King Darkstalker was enjoying the festivities with Indigo, his new bride. The engagement had been announced quietly at first, long ago, basically as soon as he'd become king, but had since become far more public. There had been a waiting period, of course, between Darkstalker getting the kingdom's affairs in order and organizing the occasion (which had also given time for some of the confusion and even outrage over his choice of mate to cool down), and as such the anticipation for the event had grown quite a bit throughout the kingdom as dragons got ready for the festivities. Clearsight knew there would be no shortage of merrymaking this night, and perhaps for the next several nights. But that was for other dragons—not her.
For her part, Clearsight was just relieved to finally be moving on. Her "two months" that she had devoted to being the king's top seer had quickly grown to three, then six, and before she'd known it almost a whole year passed by without her doing what she'd said she would and leaving the kingdom to explore other lands and skies. Even though Fathom had been pushing her to go, she'd still stubbornly stayed in her visions, doing her best to plot out the very best futures for her tribe.
That was over now. Tonight, she finally made good on that word to become an adventurer. She would finally leave the Night Kingdom behind and see what other wonders Pyrrhia held.
From the doors of the Night Palace, Clearsight caught sight of a dragon flying towards her. She was pretty sure she knew who it was long before she recognized the drake, but a flash of green scales removed all doubt. All she had been waiting for to take her leave was Fathom, and now that he was here, they could finally go together.
"We're missing a wonderful party," he told her as he landed, a large satchel around his neck, "It took all my willpower to drag myself away from it. There was an entire table at the feast devoted just to cooked crabs, Clearsight. A whole table for crabs!"
She rolled her eyes at her friend's enthusiasm but smiled. "Well, I guess I know what holds your attention for these kinds of things," she joked.
"Of course that wasn't everything," Fathom huffed, grinning, "The ceremony was wonderful, Clearsight. Indigo looked beautiful, dressed in those elaborate Nightwing wedding veils. I've never seen Darkstalker smiling that widely, nor looking so dressed up himself with all those polished scales."
"I can only imagine," Clearsight said, but her voice wasn't quite so enthusiastic.
"Queen Diamond was there, as I'm sure you know," Fathom went on, "And so was Indigo's father. I sat next to him during the ceremony—he couldn't seem to believe his daughter was actually marrying a Nightwing, let alone a king," he laughed, "And that's not to mention the music, the decorations, the food I was able to snatch before I left…it was all so fantastic. You should have been there, Clearsight."
Her smile from earlier quickly faded. "Yeah, well," she sighed, "It's not really something I cared too much to see."
Fathom deflated a little bit at that. "Oh," he said, his excitement from moments earlier gone, "I know you're still hurt over what happened, Clearsight, but was it really enough to skip his and Indigo's special day?"
Clearsight looked down. "Maybe, maybe not. But…it's hard. For so long, I thought I would be the one he married, that he loved. I saw so many futures, looked forward to them…it's still hard to believe they'll never happen."
He set a wing on her shoulder comfortingly. "I know what you mean," he told her, "I really do. I always imagined that I would be the one standing across from Indigo on her wedding day." He paused, then smiled. "But you know, seeing her there with Darkstalker…she was happy. And that was all I ever wanted for her, to be happy."
She swished her tail. "I guess you're right," she huffed, "But still…"
"I know," Fathom nodded, "But I'm happy for them. I'm sure they'll have a very wonderful life together."
"They will," Clearsight confirmed after a pause, "I've seen more than enough of the future to know that. They'll bring each other a lot of joy and happiness, and the Night Kingdom, too."
"Oh?" Fathom asked, prompting her to continue with a tilt of his head.
"I mean, it will take a while for the Nightwings to accept her, of course," Clearsight shrugged, "But after she helps secure a strong trade alliance with the Seawings and negotiates the end of the border conflict with the Sandwings that will happen a few years from now, they'll warm up to her. And if they handle the big hurricane in a decade right, their popularity will only grow. It will bring them closer together, too, the more they go through. Before long, Darkstalker and Indigo will be even more inseparable than they are now, if that's possible."
"You warned them of the hurricane and stuff right, didn't you?" Fathom asked, "In your 'Book of Clearsight', as Darkstalker called it."
"Don't call it that, it's not some sort of religious text or anything," Clearsight rolled her eyes, even though the title did seem accurate; almost the whole past year had been spent recording as much as she could see in the future with any certainty for the Nightwing's use. It filled up pretty much a whole leather-bound book (the expense of which Darkstalker thought was justified) and contained as many of the disasters or potential disasters that she foresaw as well as her suggestions on how to handle them. "But yes, I did. The tribe should be well warned of the worst things to come between that and Darkstalker's own future-seeing."
"Good," Fathom grinned, "And you think Darkstalker will listen?"
"I hope so," she huffed, "But I'm sure he'll have his own ideas, perhaps different solutions. Who knows how much of the stuff will be avoided altogether, or what else might pop up? Regardless, I did my best for him and the tribe, and from what I see, the tribe will be more than fine."
"Darkstalker and Indigo too, I presume?" Fathom asked.
"They'll live very long, happy lives together," Clearsight nodded, "Perhaps even longer, if she agrees to that immortality spell, but even then they won't rule forever before giving the throne up to their son—or daughter. I'm still not completely clear on that one. But I do know their dragonets will go on to do great things and make them very proud, and I think all Pyrrhia will consider itself better off for them. And Darkstalker and Indigo will be hailed and remembered fondly in the history of the Night Kingdom."
She paused, then shook her head. "But then, what do I know? Seeing a future is a far cry from it happening, and choice is a powerful thing. Who's to really say what a future will hold, and perhaps a single action can change everything for better or for worse."
"I certainly hope not for the worse," Fathom said, then adjusted his satchel and made a gesture to the air. They took off as he continued. "It sounds good for them, the future you described."
"I'm sure it will be," Clearsight said, casting one last look back towards the palace as they flew north, beginning their journey to who knows where, "And for what it's worth, I really do wish them the best. But all I'm saying is that there's more to life than looking into the future and waiting for it to happen. There's something to be said for doing it and experiencing it yourself. Darkstalker always told me that, and I think I see it now. I think I'm ready now. Wherever the winds take us, Fathom, I'm willing to follow. It's time for me to finally start living in the present."
A/N: And so the story reaches its end, after nearly two years and 200,000 words. It's been a journey, guys. Thank you for sharing it with me. I will be posting one more "chapter" after this (like, immediately after, so that you probably already saw it) with some notes about the story and a few acknowledgments that are due. But as for the tale, this concludes the matter.