Chapter Eight:

Her Little Sun

|i.|

Pain was a curse. One that spread and followed like a plague; it was never quite visible when one peered over their shoulder but it was always a tangible one. Those who were burdened with it could sense it's horridness. It filled the air with a toxicity and corroded their lungs. It clung to the ankles like weights dragging them down. It tainted what could have been an ethereal sight. It bittered the most succulent of feasts and turned it into ashes in their mouths. When one thought they had outrunned it, it would always be one step ahead to punish them for their naivete.

It left absolutely no solace.

Noé lost count centuries ago how many times she believed her plague eluded only to find it rearing its ugly head at the time she was to receive her punishment. It mocked her, telling her 'this is what you deserve for thinking you can leave me behind.' It riveted her, daring her to be delusional enough to attempt and escape again.

And this time it almost got its lesson through her thick skull.

Wrists grasped painfully in iron shackles with arms pulled apart, the length of the chains pinning her to dark and damp walls long enough to give her a choice; either not let her arms rest to slacken the biting on her wrists or fall forward to rest and let the rusted iron cut into them. Simple choice were it not for something else.

Noé's mind drifted slightly, the lack of sleep taking its toll anew, but just as her body began falling forward, the slight tug of the chains on her back jerked her awake and forced her to spread her arms as far as they would go to alleviate the pain that erupted from her back. Certainly, she knew exactly the decision she would make were it that simple. But it wasn't. Those chains—those hooks on her back pierced the base of her wing and along its length, and locked back around to the shackles on her wrists.

If she slackened her arms and fell forward, the chains would pull. She could feel every nerve, every bit of skin rip with the slightest draw. Exhausted of tears and throat shredded and hoarse from crying out, there was nothing but silence now.

In that solitary torture chamber, the curse she bore was her only companion. One that promised to drive her insane. And it almost did had it not been for the ray of sunlight that broke through those rotten stone walls and trod through flooded and pest infested grounds to reach her.

"By the gods…"

Was that a voice? It sounded like it. One she hadn't heard before though. It wasn't from her captors, nor from the ones who came to rip the feathers from her wing. Arms wrapped around her waist to hold her against a mix of cold metal and warm skin and lift her. The numbness of her arms faded and reversed to pain. The deafening crack of metal breaking metal loudly echoed and one by one her arms and wing fell freed and limp against her body. What became numbness after hours, days, and months, reverted to pain once more; Noé couldn't believe she still had it in her to scream. Or maybe that was just her crying inside her mind.

It must've been the latter because she heard his voice again—a man's gentle and soothing whispers as he carefully wrapped something around her whole body to settle her carefully against him.

"Shh," he quietly said, his warm breath grazing her cold cheek. "I've got you. You're safe now. You'll be alright."

Warm.

Tears pricked at the kindness that flooded from his words and they streamed down her cheeks quietly. Her mind failed to remember the last time someone held her so tenderly, so lovingly. The warmth spread and she felt herself melt against the cold metal and the warm cheek pressed against her forehead. The light that had poured in caught her eyes just as she felt herself melt away and gazing upward, she met eyes of the most beautiful blue. Like the sky she loved, the one she missed. All at once, her exhausted mind came to a conclusion.

You're the sun.

|ii.|

"I want to talk to you, Miss Noé."

Noé blinked owlishly back at Muu, her neck craning back from his being maybe a half head taller than her, and only after a moment did her puzzled expression shifted to show off a grin. "You're gonna scare off kiddies with that look on your face, cub."

Muu's crimson eyes narrowed. His gaze went askance for a brief moment before returning to her, steeled and undeterred. "Regardless of what you say, I'm to take you back to Lady Scheherazade."

Is he an idiot or just blind? Had he not seen how crudely they treated each other? Yes, perhaps Noé had laid things on rather thickly for the little magi but Scheherazade wasn't blameless either. And at the moment, going back to her wasn't what she wanted to do.

"You agreed to set things aside."

Yeah, but let me cool off some before I go back. If she went back now, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that her hostility would only continue to mount and explode sooner than it would otherwise.

Noé scoffed and turned halfway towards him. "And who's kind invite is this exactly?"

"Lady Scheherazade asked me to bring you back to her."

Oof, you are a terrible liar. The smug smirk that twisted on her lips made his eyes narrow further. "Now, lying ain't your forte, is it, cub?"

"I'm not—"

"You may think you know Hera-chan but, believe me, I know her better than you ever will. So if you'd be kind enough to let go." Noé tried jerking her wrist away from his grip uselessly at first. Putting more effort into her attempts but finding none fruitful, she found herself tempted to simply chop either hand off to get free of his hold. It took her a moment to remember that this was a Fanalis—half but still damn stronger than me—and that not even she could outdo him where strength was concerned. She let her head hang and sighed heavily through her nose before meeting his determined eyes again. "What do you really want?"

"For you to tell me what you meant by saying that it wouldn't be her fault when you killed them 'this time around'. Did you really kill our people before?" Exotically lined eyes brightened, the crimson turning a much more vibrant carmine as his tone turned serious. "And if so are you a threat to Reim now?"

That he considered her such a thing flattered her and got her grinning again, forgetting her exasperation with his hold momentarily. "Not anymore. Like I told Hera, I'm not about to go plucking weeds that'll just grow back up anyway. 'Sides, cleaning scum off Reim's streets isn't my job, but by the way you're acting, it's probably yours."

"I can't trust your word."

True enough. Her smile turned playful out of the blue and she raised her free hand to show him the palm of it. Muu's brow knitted together and with his attention on it, Noé closed her hand and opened it to let the sudden spot of light she'd gathered in it to explode. The blinding light took Muu by surprise and his arms shot up to cover his face from the brightness. Taking her chance, Noé flashed out of the way and upwards towards the skyline before landing on the parapets near the manor's outside and used the pillars that rose from the ground to lean outward in Muu's direction.

She waved her hand and exaggerated each movement to pull his leg further as he glanced skyward towards her. "Not wrong but you might want to worry about the real threats out there, cub. Like that little magic city to your eastern coasts. Heard they're getting quite excited about visiting Reim and my guess is that it's not quite for sightseeing." Jutting two of her fingers out to him in solute, she winked and hollered a loud 'so long' before twirling on the pillar and flashing away.

Sandals hit the hard trussed roofs of another building and Noé spared a look behind her to make sure she'd left quite a distance between the cub and herself. Despite how well she knew she could run, she knew that if Muu was dogged enough, he'd find her eventually.

"Do you intend to hide?"

"I don't hide," Noé replied to Chief, her eyes on her feet as she hopped from wooden beam to wooden beam.

"And you don't run too fast either."

What in the hell?

Noé turned to find Muu jumping down from a higher, towering building that neighbored the one she was hopping around on. The corners of her lips lifted slightly and she scoffed as she watched him rise from crouching down.

"Impressive. Though I've gotta to say a few seconds slower than I imagined."

He didn't seem to find their current predicament as amusing as she did. "You can run all you want but I'm getting my answers."

"Uh huh," she drawled and stepped back only to flash onto the top of the nearby chapel's belltower. Her feet dangled and swayed over the edge of the parapet he now saw her on, her elbows leaned on her knees as she eyed him from above. "And you intend to catch me when I can just keep doing this?"

He didn't answer but the intensity of his eyes were enough of a reply. He wanted his answers and he was willing to chase her down for them. Guess that stubbornness from before didn't leave him at all.

"Alright!" she called enthused as she rose from her seat. "Let's play your cat-and-mouse game. If you catch me, I'll tell you whatever you want! Ready, set—" She flashed again and this time appeared behind him to shove him off balance towards the edge of the building. He didn't miss a beat and caught himself in time to stick the landing below where the crowded streets opened up for him. Loud shouts and words of concern came to the air but her laughter overrode them as all eyes turned to her. Noé, not minding the attention and relishing in it instead, shouted out "Go!" at the top of her lungs before jumping after him and flashing in midair, leaving nothing but sparks of white light in her wake.

—{ii}—

"Give the poor kid a chance, Noé."

Through her giddiness, Noé couldn't muster any response to Chief's plea but it did succeed in adding to her fit of laughter and her voice rang louder through the streets of the grand city. The crimson, orange, and gold hues of the setting sun set Remano ablaze and Noé basked in the light of the few remaining minutes of it as she slid down an aqueduct, her sandals taking the brunt of the wet granite and her feet reveling in the coolness of the water. At its end, she took the dive downwards to the streets below, tumbling at hitting the dirt roads and taking off on a wild run once more.

Her muscles ached, her lungs burned, and her throat was parched beyond measure, and yet there was no way she could stop herself. After three hours of playing around with the red lion cub, her high was as invigorating as the sky was endless. Noé toyed with many throughout her years but seldom did any humor her and less could keep up with her.

Muu had chased her through half of Remano, first catching sight of her in the market, then the casinos, then through the fields. Every time he found her he'd be a hair's breadth from catching her in his grasp but every time, she found a way to escape him and flash away once more with a sultry comment here and there to taunt him. But as the sun lowered and dusk turned quickly to dark, Noé knew that their little game would have to end sooner rather than later. Her swift escapes had only been possible because of the sunlight that replenished her magoi time and again through her flashing, but with it gone now, her reserves were only good for a couple more escapes if she so needed them.

Emerald eyes spared a glance over her shoulder and was met with the ever growing darkness that spread through the vacant streets. Exempting the homeless people that littered the quiet streets, Noé was alone with no sight or sound of her pursuing cub. Pocketing her hands inside her drape, she scanned the area to get an vague idea of where she was now. So much flashing disoriented her and it spotted her vision from the bright lights that blinded her with every escape.

Her fingers rubbed at one eye as she surmised her location. "Slums?"

"Remano has no slums."

Right. Reim was known famously for having few poor citizens with the exception of the slaves they harbored. Most of those in that lower tier still had jobs, albeit low paying ones, and could earn themselves bread and water to drink in the very least. The few homeless were either too old or too sick to work those low-wage jobs and left to their own devices all the same. Through her spotted vision, Noé caught the glimpse of a girl as she cowered against the shadow of a nearby pillar. Her malnourished body shook in the cool night air and there was no way her thin and dirtied clothes warmed her enough to withstand it. Noé patted the bag strapped to her waist and counted the coins through the pouch. Thirty. Most of them would be gold, though. Undoing the knot and taking the purse in hand, she walked over to the kid and crouched before setting it between the girl's feet. Sunken eyes the color of autumn leaves blinked up slowly at her and Noé's lips turned to a taut line, the corners wanting to show the ghost of a genuine smile.

"This should last you a month maybe. Get something to eat, rest up, and get yourself some work, darling."

Her voice, hoarse and barely audible, rose from chapped lips. "...why?"

This time the smile did come to her and she reached out to take the girl's hand. Though she flinched, she appeared a little too weak to fight back but Noé ignored that and caressed the back of her hand. Dirty, turning into nothing but skin and bone, but the blood she felt running through those veins was enough to tell her that she was alive.

Not well, but alive nonetheless.

"I don't need a reason." Her other hand reached back and took her gourd still half full of water and placed it down beside the bag, its contents shifting and clinking against each other. "Just promise you won't sell yourself either. Okay?" The girl waited until Noé stood back up and took a few steps away from her before nodding but as she did so, her eyes widened a bit at something behind her.

Noé found herself sighing lowly at hearing the haggard breath a feet behind her. "You're a tough one to shake off."

"I told you," Muu spoke through small pants, "I'm getting those answers."

"M'kay," Noé hummed, her throat feeling more parched by the second. Thinking it was time too end their little chase, she turned halfway towards him and noted the sleekness of his skin as the sweat fell down his face and along his neck gleaming in the torchlights of the streets. Must be tired too. She gesture her thumb back to the girl behind her and smiled. "Settle her in an inn and come find me afterwards. I won't run away anymore if you find me this time around."

Crimson eyes wide, he ran at her again, hand outstretched. "Wait—" But his fingers grasped nothing but white specks of light that gave the faint silhouette of her and lighted the streets in a faint orange glow before disappearing and letting the dark settle in once more.

—{ii}—

She didn't know how but she managed to find herself back at Regalia's temple, this time high in its bowls where there was no ceiling to shield from the exterior and where the only source of light illuminating the lush garden was whatever crossed the sky. Tonight that source was the full moon that shone brightly in the ebony sky dotted with flecks of stardust. The moonlight veiled the entirety of the gardens she was now in. It was simple but beautiful, nothing but beds upon beds of indigenous flora and all a spotless white that in the shine of the moon took on the sheen of pearls and its leaves and stems a bluish-green hue of flowing water.

Noé stepped carefully through the marked path, a faint pebbled way that met in the center as a circle and broke out into other paths leading in different directions. On either side of the path, margining it, were narrow streams of sparkling water that must be feeding the garden, she imagined. Coming to the center, Noé watched the small basin of water—the source that tore itself apart to give life to the rest of the magnificence around it. As it depleted and died, live flourished and surrounded it. Beautifully, mockingly.

Sitting down and leaning over the edge of the small pool, Noé took a deep breath before submerging her whole head into it. Despite what it fed, the water was crystal clear and clean; it didn't hurt her eyes when she opened them underwater nor did it taste strange when she took a gulp and pulled back out to swallow. The coolness both stung and soothed her throat and her hands sleeked back wet curls against the crown of her head to take a long drawn out breath.

"Was that necessary?"

"I'm thirsty," she drawled in a quiet voice before cupping her hands to bring the water to her this time.

"No. I meant giving away what you had to the girl."

"It's what I wanted to do."

"I don't believe she'll live long regardless of whose help she obtains."

"Whether she dies or not isn't my concern. All I wanted to give her was the choice between dying in comfort or in pain."

That quieted Chief's protest and Noé continued to wordlessly drink from the small pond. She wondered whether the water was being magically purified or something but lost her train of thought when Chief sighed loudly at the back of her head.

"Mercy for the sake of it is no mercy, Noé. It's nothing but a fool's task."

"Ah yes," she chuckled but the dark undertone of her sarcasm belied her enthusiasm. She submerged her head entirely this time and whipped her head out to let her wet hair slap her back and let the cold water drench her. Taking her auburn curls, she turned to wring it where the water would fall on the flowers. "The age old creed of the Vastago: Mercy to none but the strong."

"A creed you followed—"

Her anger mounting, Noé didn't hold herself back and slammed her fist on the ground beside her, crushing flowers to nothing. "One you backed down on when the 'strong' didn't suit your definition!"

The burning of the right side of her face told Noé how ramped her emotions had become and she scanned her surroundings to see the fractured light around her. Light from the moon was much harder for her to control than that of the sun; both were natural but because moonlight was only a reflection given off by the sunrays, it meant more work to correct the refracted light before using it. But her volatile state of mind made things easier yet less controllable and resulted in mindless fractures in light that had no rhyme nor reason. All around her pillars of fractured light appeared and created a spectacle of shining blue and white light. A kaleidoscope of images reflected onto the sharpened pillars that pierced the earth creating split portraits of everything in the lush garden.

It took the ethereal veil of light and shattered it, but it was beautiful all the same.

Unlike me.

Her hand reached back over her shoulder to the limp wing that hung taut against the left side of her body. Lifeless, useless, unnecessary. Her eyes took in the cracked images reflected on the clear blue crystallized light and watched her own crooked reflection stare back. Every which way she turned, she found herself crooked and broken and twisted but she supposed that was an accurate way to describe herself.

Crooked from birth. Broken to pieces by life. Twisted in mind and heart by choice.

Sighing deeply through her nose, she let herself fall to the side not minding the prickling of her wet hair against her neck and face nor the images that reflected back from the broken pieces of crystallized light. In one swift motion, she turned on her back to stare up at the sky, not caring about pang of pain that shot up her wing from the pressure of her body on it.

Pain was good. Pain meant something. Pain kept her sane.

It reminded her that there were still things to be done before she could fulfill her promise and start the world anew.

"Gather them for me, Noé. Release me and we'll make the world into the paradise it was meant to be."

Soon, meistras. Soon.

The stars twinkling overhead blinked in and out, her eyes passing over each and every one of them as they did so and she reached up to it, palm open to reach out and take one from out of the night sky. Her hand closed over nothing but Noé brought it down to lay over the left side of her chest and over her heart.

"You always had the mind for abstract artistry."

Noé let that soft voice flood into her ears and tried emptying her mind of the anger that arose at the sound. Set it aside. Just for awhile. Thinking about the good it would do to make momentary peace with Scheherazade—both for her own sake and her goal—put her mind at ease enough to bite back the riled remark she had at the ready.

"Sorry about that," she apologized instead, lifting her arm to let it cover the upper half of her face. "Threw a tantrum."

"Two in a day must be a milestone for you."

A scoff left her, her chest puffing up at the small action, and she wondered if the magi was as cheeky with others as she was being with her. Noé doubted it. "Seems a lot of people set off to piss me off today. Can't really blame me for it."

"You've always been a hothead, Noé, regardless of what others do or say." The soft crunching of granite underneath tiny pattering footsteps approached her until Noè felt the cool silk of her stola brushing against her arm. "It's just who you are."

"You and Nadi loved me all the same."

Clothes rustled and the cool silk came closer, the tinkling of rings hitting each other ringing overhead. "I still care about you."

You never cared—

Noé quieted the loud thought that shouted in her mind and chuckled instead, the dry tone of it hanging onto the tails of that dark thought. "Residual feelings, I would say. You and I have had ours differences over the years and it makes us bicker like a pair of old ladies now." And that's exempting the one thing a million apologies could never mend.

"We are, though."

Noé chuckled under her breath at the jab and lifted her arm away from her face; sky blue eyes stared back down at her emerald ones as Scheherazade crouched down to lean over her. Her expression was devoid of emotion but the gleam in her eyes told Noé that the magi was enjoying their meaningless chatter, itself devoid of any emotional weight. It was just an idle talk between two old friends.

I hate to admit that I miss this.

An olive-toned arm extended and carded through long blonde tresses until it reached low enough to bring them close to press against her lips. Her emerald eyes looked from beneath her lashes and the ghost of a smile tugged at the edges of her lips. "Care to join me, Scheherazade?"

Baby blues fixated on her for a heartbeat until the magi turned to lay her staff down behind her and carefully laid herself beside Noé who released her hair and simply laid her arm between them. Both stared off into the night sky, blonde and auburn mixing like the sunset had a few hours before as they simply laid beside one another. Noé held one arm above her head while Scheherazade held one of her own across her stomach, both of them having one outstretched in the space left between them.

Carefully, Noé tapped the fingers of that hand and talked softly. "When was the last time you turned to look up?"

"Ages," Scheherazade admitted. "Too many things require my attention down here."

"You've put too much on your back, you mean."

"Reim is my responsibility."

"Not just yours," she corrected her. "Others exist to carry that burden with you."

"All who carried it with me as equals no longer stand beside me. Pernadius fought valiantly to protect it and died doing so. And I failed to protect what you loved most in this world and lost you."

This time, Noé couldn't help the venom that leaked into her words. "You chose not to protect him."

"You're right." The assertion got Noé to turn towards Scheherazade and see the tears that silently streamed down the side of her face. The magi turned to face her then, her eyes glazed over as tears continued to fall. Small, soft lips trembled as she spoke, "I chose to overlook their actions and at doing so condoned them and condemned your son."

His name is— "Say his name, Hera. Give him that at least."

But her plea went ignored. "I know what I let happen cost you dearly and for that I'm sorry."

"I've heard your apologies for ages, Scheherazade, and you still don't understand that it isn't me you should be apologizing to." Masking her mounting emotions, Noé faced the sky once more and traced each star with her eyes. "He liked looking at the stars. Said he liked imagining what it'd be like to fly into the sky and touch them. That he would fly one day to collect them in bottles to gift to us."

The dryness of her throat couldn't be blamed on the seal this time around, and Noé swallowed the lump obstructing it and chuckled thinking about her little boy. Even thinking about him now, she could hear his sweet voice as he told her about the many things he would do with those stars. "I'll give one to Auntie Hera, and one to Nadi, and the brightest one will be for you, moti."

This time a sob escaped alongside her chuckle and the pricking tears blurred her vision. "Elior's the best thing that ever happened to me." She took a deep breath to deny her emotion from getting the better of her and rushed to wipe away the tears from her eyes as she sat up from their place. "And now he's the brightest among the stars."

He'll forever be my little sun.

Noé bent her legs and brought her arms forward to lean on her knees and let her head rest on her open hands. The rustling of clothes didn't take much of her attention but the touch of Scheherazade's hand on her shoulder repulsed her. She shot up, standing in a flurry of pearl petals and pillars of light that fractured further until they broke apart into nothing.

"He is the last thing I will lose to this world. I intend to cleanse it of the darkness that it harbors in his honour. This world needs kind-hearted souls like him, not the vermin that infest it now."

"Noé," Scheherazade spoke softly, rising as she did and stretching out her hand to touch her only for Noé to take a step back. "You can't rid the world of every wrong in the world. It's impossible."

"Maybe it is—" For me, anyway. "—but that isn't going to stop me. I intend to make this world better, this time for the people who rightly deserve it."

"You are no god to make that choice."

"And neither are you, great magi. Not you nor the king vessels you choose," she added. "You may be a being placed on this earth by a divine hand but you aren't exempt from erring. You are human just like the rest of us."

"That being the case, it applies to you as well. How do you even intend to do what you claim?"

"By ridding it of the pest that's Al-Thamen for starters."

Scheherazade's gaze lowered and she bent down to pick up her staff once more. Now that they stood before each other they no longer held the semblance of old friends. Now they were mere strangers—the magi of Reim and a traveler that threatened her country. The least of the evils, though, was the fact that Reim wasn't at the forefront of her list.

"The abnormality from the east?" she asked.

Noé nodded and stared off towards said direction. "I haven't been there in years but from what information I got, it seems a great deal of what I'm dealing with stems from there." She turned back and languidly pointed her finger at Scheherazade. "And by the sound of it, you're dealing with another branch of it coming from that magician country."

"Our intel isn't clear about whether it is an issue originated from the organization or simply from a country wishing to defend itself."

"You plan on attacking?"

"The emperor's wish is to further the empire across the sea."

An incredulous eyebrow lifted from Noé. "And you're just a follower of those orders."

"My concern is Reim's prosperity. Nothing more, nothing less."

"...right." Taking a deep breath, Noé looked up to the sky to calm herself, "When is this taking place more or less."

"Approximately less than year."

A grin came to her and she looked down at the magi with that ferocity shining in her eyes. "That you're telling me this so willingly leaves me wondering what exactly you're plotting."

"I'm not plotting anything. Only hoping to deter your bloodlust away from us and in another's direction."

Returning briefly to her playful demeanor, Noé laughed at her way of describing it. She's not wrong, though. "Relax, Hera. Reim is somewhere close to the bottom of the list as things stand. Just be sure to not piss me off and it won't move from there."

"How reassuring," she replied, sarcasm pouring from the drawl of her words but their meaning true all the same.

"Hey, be grateful here!" Noé pouted childishly. "I'm being really nice when taking everything else into consideration."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind—"

The loud steps of something running through the halls cut the magi's words short and took both of their attentions when Muu strode exhausted out of his mind through the open gate of the garden. Scheherazade's brow knitted slightly in confusion but the low whistle that Noé let out told her that she must have had something to do with that. Turning to her, Scheherazade tilted her head perplexed. "What is the meaning of this exactly?"

"Cub and I were playing a game," Noé replied with a smug grin. "And he just won."

"L-Lady Scheherazade." The loyal soldier saluted her but his eyes darted between the magi and herself as if expecting another of her fits like the one from that afternoon.

"He wouldn't be wrong to think that seeing how easily agitated you tend to get."

Noé didn't deem it worthy to reply to that and instead smiled sweetly at him. "Looks like you got me. Took you long enough though. I thought Fanalis had a great sense of smell."

Though he still couldn't figure out where his attention should be, he strode closer wanting to assure himself that if something were to happen, he'd be ready to stop it. "It took time to find your scent when you kept disappearing."

"What exactly was this 'game'?" Scheherazade asked more perplexed than before.

"Tag~"

"She had me chasing her around the city," Muu corrected. Noé blew him a raspberry and pouted before putting her arms behind her head. "Either way, I found you and you gave me your word to tell me what I want to know."

Scheherazade became quite intrigued then at that and turned to Muu this time with her question. "What exactly is this that you want to know, Muu?"

The poor cub flustered at this and stammered through his choice of words in an attempt to explain himself. Noé watched intently, amused by his sudden boyish embarrassment and chuckled in the end making Muu more self-conscious than he would have been otherwise.

"No, you're right," Noé said with a clap of her hands as she took purposeful strides towards the Fanalis. "I gave you my word and I take my promises seriously." Her steps stopped short in front of him and she locked gazes with him while he took his time to recover from the arduous search. "You want to know what I meant when I said what I did?" Muu nodded slowly but the way he looked at her told Noé that he might be regretting his question right about then. Too late to back out, little cub. Noé clasped her hands together, fingertips touching meekly and her sickly sweet tone belying the words she said.

"Well, even if I told you, I don't think I could put it any better than your dear magi here could." Noé teasingly tapped his cheek with her hand before glancing over her shoulder and gesturing at Scheherazade. "So go ahead, ask her. Ask her about the promise she made to me and how she broke it. Ask her how she watched a crowd of merciless animals she called 'her people' ravage and murder a helpless eight-year-old child."

The atmosphere turned sordid and the silence that rang through the garden weighed on their minds heavy as lead. Muu was left speechless when Scheherazade did nothing to refute Noé's accusations, not even lifting a finger to stop her from talking either.

Noé relished in her words but at remembering once again, her mood soured and her head hung as she continued. "So, to answer one of your questions, yes. I have killed Reim's people before. I slaughtered every single one of them after what they did. And I would kill them again if given the chance; their lives will never be worth the smallest of fractions when compared to the life of my precious boy."

That said, Noé glanced over her shoulder to Scheherazade who hung her head in shame and regret. Good, she thought, but far too late for that. Not wanting her emotions to take the better of her, she turned back to look at the cub that stood with his gaze lowered too as he stared at the ground as if mulling over what she said. He might think it's a lie, that she was doing and saying all those things to antagonize her like she did that afternoon.

"It'd be reasonable to think that I just made all this up but I'm not," she muttered under her breath as she faced opposite of him and stood by his side. "And if you ask her, she will tell you the same. Regrettably, it's something we both have to live with."

For a very, very long time.

"...see you," she whispered faintly and waved a hand over her shoulder as she walked out of the garden and used what little magoi she had spared to flash as far away as she could from them.

|i.|

There hadn't been anymore tears left to cry. Or at least she had thought so.

Her whole heart had shattered the instant she saw the mangled mess they made of her little boy—nothing compared to the carnage she left behind of the animals that had taken him from her. She had spent herself in tears holding the bloody remains of her son, his body still warm as she held him close and prayed to whatever gods where out there to give him back. That he deserved nothing of what her life had given her; that he deserved nothing but the kindness and love she never had. But the gods were ignorant of her pleas and took her boy from her and left his soulless carcass behind for her alone to mourn. Soul torn to shreds, she took him away from the massacre and took him home while whispering sweet nothings to try and quiet an imaginary cry that haunted her mind.

How many times had he begged them to stop? How long had he cried for her? How much pain had he been in until it finally ended?

The sheer number of questions that kept rushing into her mind served only to drive her close to madness but never quite enough to push her over the edge. She was still sane, she knew the sobs she heard weren't Elior's—they were hers.

Her tears didn't stop and the tightness in her chest only became greater as she wrapped him in his teal blanket and took him to the back of their home. That small garden that they had started together would now be his resting place. The thought swam along with her sorrow and tears as she mindlessly dug deeper, deeper, and deeper until she deemed the hole deep enough for—

Don't think. Don't think. Don't think.

The mantra repeated and let her labor through this hardship on her own through the anguish that she felt root itself into her heart with every second and every thought. But as she held his small body in her arms readying to lower him inside to finally rest, her hands refused to let go of him. Her cries began anew and she slipped back to a seat cradling Elior close to her. Her hand searched through the blanket's openings until it found his hand, still bloodied and cut, and took it in hers. Any second now, she told herself, he would squeeze it back like he always did. Sobbing at the mere thought, she fully uncovered him and stared down at her little sun.

She tried to see her sweet boy as he'd been before but through blood and bruises and cuts, she only saw what they had done to him. Skin like hers marred and stained a deep scarlet. Dark black hair torn at places and matted against his scalp. And his wings—the only semblance left of them was the muscle and blood that protruded from his back from where they had carved them out.

They tore her little boy to pieces. They butchered him like an animal. They showed no mercy to a defenseless child—

So she showed none to them.

"...Noé…"

She shook her head already knowing what Andromalius would say. Her hold on Elior tightened and she hummed through her cries his favorite lullaby.

"He's gone, child. You must lay him to rest."

"I-I can't," she whimpered, kissing his forehead as she wept, her tears mixing with the drying stains of blood on his face. "He's—h-he's scared of t-t-the dark."

"Where he is, there is no darkness."

Where he is…?

"Look up."

Mindlessly, Noé did as she was told and looked skyward to see the thousands upon thousands of starts flickering in the night sky.

"He's among them now. The many who have lived before us took him and hold him as dearly now as you ever did in life."

"...h-he's there…?"

"Yes, Noélia. He is. There is no pain there, there is no sorrow. Only joy. And there he will be the day you too pass on. He may be lost to you in the flesh, but not in spirit—he is a part of you, he will always be a part of you." Small lights flickered in the corner of Noé's vision and she looked down to see hundreds of them illuminating the small flourishing garden and guiding the way to the grave she had dug. "This separation is momentary, child. Today you part, but one day you will meet him again."

Though her words did little to quell the aching, Noé took Andromalius' words for what they were worth. If anything, they were a hope that she could hold onto. Unconsciously, her body moved. She covered Elior back in his blanket and walked to bury him. She carefully laid him down assuring him that there was nothing to be scared of. Not anymore. That he would soon be flying above in the sky he loved so much and that he would be able to go and gather as many stars as his little heart desired.

Dirt on dirt, it piled and piled and obscured his body until there was nothing but a mound of unevenness left to show where he laid. Unable to keep standing any longer, Noé fell to her knees and finally fell back from the exhaustion she had ignored for longer than she should have.

But even as she tasted the blood from her parched throat and felt the pain from her own injuries, nothing compared to the anguish her heart felt. Tears spilled over from her eyes and down the side of her face as she stared blankly at the sky. And in her sorrow and anguish, Noé couldn't help but abhor the sky above her.

Be it the softest of blue of mornings, the orange-crimson of sunsets, or the dark ebony of night, she would never again come to love the sky that took her sweet, little boy away.

A/N:

Guess the last 'preview' I gave will end up being broken into separate chapters. I was going to add more to this one but I felt like if I did it would break the punch this one gave. Hench why this one is relatively shorter than normal. I will continue following the preview I gave last time though. Most of it anyway.

Also, finally some more things revealed. Still not the biggest ace I have hidden under my sleeve. Those will come later -w-)b

I'd like to thank some wonderful people this time around! Thank you to Dovesery, Nanouchy, and Icy Cream for the favorites and follows, and also to Avi and Yoruno Aozora for the reviews! Ya'll are wonderful people and I love you to pieces :D

Now, before I go, I want to give you guys a little taste of a new story I just published. It's for Boku no Hero Academia and it's something that I've been wanting to write for a really long awhile now. It'll be sharing a slot with both TM and CoU. Don't worry though, I'll keep things up because I love every story I write! So far I've been capable of keeping a (somewhat) good upload schedule for them and I want to add a third one on something I've been holding back publishing.

If that piques your interest, go ahead and read on. If not, skip ahead to read on the preview for next chapter :)

"START!"

A handful hesitated at the signal but within a second most of them sprinted into the arena for the test. Nagi didn't let herself fall behind and ran at a leveled speed while being mindful to head in any direction besides the one where everybody else went.

Point based means we're fighting against time and each other. Which means that the less crowded the place, the more chances I have of—

Her train of thought and strut came to a screeching halt when at exiting an alleyway a one-pointer robot skidded from the adjacent road, leaving burn marks on the street and a stream of smoke from its burnt tires. A metallic head with an eye-camera swiveled around before honing down on her; the eye turned from black to red and a robotic voice came from it.

"Target acquired."

"Hey there," she called out, her tone enthused as she grinned at her luck. Not missing a beat, Nagi flicked her index and middle fingers against her thumb in the robot's general direction. The metal on her right bracelet lost its solidity before becoming a liquid in the blink of an eye and shooting out. In the instant it took to close the distance to its target, the metal sharpened and solidified into a thin arm-length spear that pierced the eye of the robot. Sparks erupted along with smoke a moment before it dropped down malfunctioning. "That's one."

The screeching of wheels made her pivot to find a bunch more ganging up against her. A wild smirk spread across her lips as she flicked the same fingers on her left hand to make the left bracelet liquefy out of shape and solidify into another spear to send flying at the robots. Two fell the same way the first did but the third managed to dodge her spear and charge her way. Using the first one she'd put out of commission as a ledge, Nagi ran at it and used it to jump out of the way of the attack before swiping both her hands downward at the robot. At her command, the metal spears turned in midair and shot back at the robot while simultaneously morphing into slick sheets of metal. The two struck inches from one another and slid right through, decapitating the three-pointer robot.

Yeah, she thought with great glee as she landed behind it, if I keep up at it like this, passing'll be a piece of cake.

Waving her fingers closer to her, the spears responded almost satiently and flew over to hover over either of her shoulders. Once she had them back, she went off on another sprint across the arena striking any and every robot she encountered. The secluded area she went to started her off with a good number of points, but as time dwindled down and fewer targets remained, Nagi found herself eventually coming into the battlefields of other people. Fortunately, her style was long-range attacks that with the flick of her fingers or the wave of her hand, allowed her to swipe points from under the unsuspecting or otherwise preoccupied. Avoiding the ones that ran at her after stealing their points or the those that tried nabbing points away from her, she stopped only when she was unable to withstand the burning of her lungs any longer. Damn her shit endurance. But with the the points she racked up, she knew she could afford the rest.

"One minute remaining!"

The announcement got drowned out by the massive destruction that came from behind her that blared so loudly that Nagi found herself covering her ears from the noise. Eyes grew wide as she looked over her shoulder to see what caught everybody's attention and made that horrendous sound. A gigantic robot strode forward decimating the makeshift city; taller than any of the buildings, it made light work of the roads and edifices that it came in contact with. It's stupidly large size and the sheer amount of destruction it caused told her one thing right out off the bat: Zero pointer. There wasn't any point in dealing with the huge chunk of junk. There really seemed to be only one prudent choice to settle on like Present Mic had told them.

Though she decided to take that suggestion for what it was worth, Nagi stopped short just as she turned to retreat when the cries of help reached her ears. The source she found after briefly scanning about were some of the other kids that had been caught in the rubble made by the robot's entrance. Despite seeing that others were trying to help and hurry to get them out, Nagi felt divided. She didn't merit in helping them; surely the school wouldn't allow serious damage to befall their examinees. It was only logical to think that they'd be forced to stop the robot if it came even close to harming them. But the another part of herself—the one she didn't like one bit—told her that she couldn't just leave them be. A good number of kids had gotten themselves trapped in the frenzy and the ones helping were slower than the robot. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that it'd get to them before they could rescue them and haul ass out of its way. They'd be crushed.

It's not necessary. It's not necessary. It's not necessary.

"We don't help people because it's our job. We help people because we want to protect them."

Clicking her tongue, Nagi checked the area around them the sense of urgency driving her to think desperately on her feet. Fighting it was out of the question. That thing was humongous and even if it was a robot made of metal, she didn't know it's exact composition. To make any assumption could end with fatal results, if she guessed wrong.

Then if I just stop it...

She let that random thought sink before nodding to herself and going with it. Yeah, stopping it wouldn't involve fighting...but it would require a lot more than the couple of flimsy spears she could make of bracelets. Good thing this was a modeled city. Nagi ran past the kids trying to help those out of the rubble and along the sidewalk with her hand outstretched while heading straight towards the robot.

"Hey, stay back! That thing's gonna kill you if you fight it!" a girl shouted. Her amber irises against the black sclera of her eyes struck Nagi's photographer eye but it was needless to say that now wasn't the time.

She pushed the urge back, rushing ahead while shouting back, "I'm not gonna fight it! I'm gonna stop it!"

But that would greatly depend on how much of the metal she could scavenge from the building. As her fingers ran across the concrete, she felt its coldness against them but her Quirk felt beyond that and sensed the small traces of it in the mixed alloys that made up the beams of the framework. But it was far from enough.

Come on, I need more than this!

Flicking her other hand outwards to the building on the opposite side of the street, one of her spears pierced and scraped alongside the concrete of its wall to allow her Quirk to search it as well for the metal. Not iron, not steel. Come on, Yuuei, don't disappoint me by having made these shit buildings out of scrap metal! And they didn't. On boths sides, her Quirk finally found the titanium lingering in the framework, the heaviness of controlling it weighing on Nagi's every muscle fiber, and with that much of it, she could certainly stop the zero-pointer. Letting go of the building but not of her control, she ran up to the middle of the street to stand between the robot that kept a steady pace towards her and the kids stuck behind her.

Holding her arms wide open with her fingers outstretched, she forced her muscles to move the gigantic load she amassed. Her arms drew across her body and after the lag added by the weight, her Quirk followed suit. The buildings and the floor trembled underneath her feet as they were torn from their foundations, the concrete falling from its framework as the titanium she took from them jutted out like spikes from a trap. The spikes were slow to form but hard enough to pierce the zero-pointer all through its body once they did. It's engine revved as if trying to escape from its prison but after its futile attempts, died quickly after with sparks flying and smoke fuming from its head. It had one last moment of sputtering before it slumped over completely broken.

"Time's up!"

There you have it! Go right ahead to Golden Repair to read the whole chapter if you liked what you read and start this new journey with me, friends :)

Now, let's end this chapter for now. Again thank you all for reading and hoped you liked this chapter (along with the shameless self-promo x3). Next time, it's time for a reunion with a little priestess and some training shenanigans for Noé. For now, hope you all have a lovely day/night and that you stay tuned for the next chapter! :D

- Evie