Gahh, finally. Epilogue complete. I'm only two months late, right? I shall now work on the sequel. I'm going to try and update more regularly like I did during the first half of DL.
A quick note since Ellie mentioned this in her review. I probably should have been a little more specific in a few details near the end. Since I'm doing a sequel though, things will be more clear (specifically with the Athanas/Azi/Van situation) later on.
Anyway, enjoy :3
Epilogue
Mira's heart felt as if it were made of lead, heavy and toxic. The sorrow dragging her heart was slowly poisoning her spirit. Clutching at a handful of tulips, she walked, or rather limped—she was too much of a coward to let Luzien break and reset her leg— across the eerie threshold into Glast Heim. As usual, the skies were a dismal gray and the air was stale.
It must have been beautiful once. Perhaps if the skies opened up to let the sun in, one would be able to see the city as a shadow of its former glory. It would never happen though. This city was cursed.
The city of the dead was no longer the same place. There was nothing here, living or undead. It was, however, the final resting place of Azrielle. She did not want anyone to fuss over her friend and have a second funeral in Juno or Prontera. Mira knew that Azrielle would have hated that. So, thinking of Azrielle's wants, the wizard decided that Glast Heim be the final place.
There was no speech and no prying eyes as she and Kaeru buried Azrielle just a few short weeks ago. She came back alone this time to say her proper good-bye.
She made her way down the stone streets to a small, long forgotten graveyard in the northeast part of the city. Off the main street, she followed a narrow path until she saw the rusting wrought iron gate. One half was closed and the other side had broken away from its hinges and leaned against the fence. The grass here was over grown, but green and soft. Almost pleasant.
She strode slowly past ancient, crumbling stone markers. The names carved into the markers were far too weathered to read. Finally, she came upon four headstones. First, there was a marker for the ghost. He had no body to bury, but Mira felt he needed a place of his own. The light gray stone did not bear his name, only the word "scholar".
Next to it was Azrielle's stone. Her name was engraved, but nothing more. The priestess never did like people to talk about her too much. She was really a simple person and didn't want people to fuss over her.
After her stone, there was her beloved Dark Lord. Mira wondered what his and Azrielle's relationship was like. It could not have been anything but turbulent.
And finally, one for the priest. On his grave lay a small bundle of pale yellow roses. Mariah must have visited. She was the only other person that knew of this forgotten cemetery.
She sat in front of Azrielle's grave; the soil was mostly settled, but still soft. "Wherever you are, Azi, I hope you're happy." She remained in deep thought for some time. Now that Azrielle was taken care of and Kaeru had his brothers to support him, she had one more thing that was clawing its way to the front of her mind.
When she had gone the previous week to Izlude, she couldn't stay for more than a few hours. It had been a reminder of her own tragedy. She blamed herself for not standing up to Alexander. She wondered time and time again why she followed that order. She could have gotten away before setting fire to all those people and buildings. Her dilemma, however, was that her mother and aunt lived in Izlude.
Neither she nor Vance had found any sign that their mothers were alive or dead. It seemed like a great possibility that the two women had been burned beyond recognition. On the other hand, perhaps they had left the satellite city. Still, no one could find them.
Until she had proof of their life or deaths, she would keep searching. She just hoped for the best.
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Kaeru sat on bench in the center of Izlude taking a break from his work. The wizard had since recovered completely from his wounds so he had been eager to lend a hand. The extensive repairs and rebuilding of the satellite city would take time and a lot of hard work. People had come from a variety of different cities to aid in the repairs so there was no shortage of help.
There was, however, noticeable tension between many people. Some that had come to help rebuild had also helped destroy it. As far as anyone knew, no one had made an issue of it since there seemed to be no confrontations.
The crisp autumn air was slightly chilly, but not enough to warrant a heavy coat. He actually found it rather pleasant. Lately he had done quite a bit of thinking. So much had happened during the last year or so that he never really stopped to process the events. Until the last couple of weeks, that is.
The thing that weighed most heavily on his mind was his mother. He had not wanted things to end the way they did. He didn't care that he had put an end to Alexander, but his mother was different. As much as he hated her for the things she did, he still cared about her well-being. She was his mother after all. This fact made his guilt even worse.
He buried his face in his hands and groaned. Would he never have peace of mind? He then heard two pairs of footsteps on the stone walkway coming toward him. Akio and Kieran no doubt. He lifted his head a bit and saw that his guess was correct. The twins wore a similar dark jacket and blue scarf, and the same grin.
"You all right, Kae?" Akio asked as they approached, taking a seat on either side of the wizard.
Kaeru shrugged. "Other than the gut wrenching guilt and feeling that I'm going to hell for doing the things I've done, just fine."
The twins glanced at one another and back to their younger brother. "I figured that that's been bothering you," Kieran said. Putting an arm around Kaeru's shoulders, he tried to think of a way to ease the wizard's remorse. "You know, had you stood by and done nothing, Mom would have killed you. I'm convinced that she completely lost her mind. I'm just glad someone put her out of her misery."
"You shouldn't feel bad for anything you did. I'm pretty sure everyone did something they regret during the conflict. Including us." Akio paused in thought for a moment. He really felt terrible for being part of the hell their family put his little brother through. "It might take time, but you'll get past it. Besides, we're here to help. We have to make it up to you somehow."
Kieran nodded in agreement. "We were such jerks. I can't believe you want anything to do with us after all this time."
"You're still my brothers, regardless of how you've treated me in the past. At least you're trying to make up for it." Kaeru still had slight difficulty in trusting the twins completely. Thus far, they had been true to their words. It seemed that they really did sever ties with their father.
"Oh! Question for you Kae," Akio said, trying to switch to a lighter subject. It wasn't that he didn't want to discuss the current subject, he just felt that a little of it went a long way. "Your wizard friend, uhh…what was her name?"
"Mira?"
"Yes! Is she seeing anyone?" the knight asked with a hopeful smile.
Kaeru eyed him suspiciously. "Not that I know of. Why?"
"Thinking about asking her on a date," he replied slowly. He knew the two wizards were close and Kae was likely to be protective by the tone of his voice. He watched his younger brother as he appeared to mull over Akio's words.
"Good luck with that venture. Her standards are…high, to say the least. You'll probably have to do some work to convince her. Do not, however, do anything to her that I wouldn't be happy about. I might have to resort to drastic measures to make you regret it. Okay?"
"Yes sir!" the knight grinned, saluting Kaeru.
Kieran laughed as he stood up. "Anyone up for lunch before we get back to work?" Both brothers nodded and followed Kieran. He was optimistic that things would improve greatly over time for all three of them.
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"Ahem."
Luzien cracked an eye open at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Currently, he was contentedly napping next to a tree, snuggled in the warmth of his robe. "Mmm?"
"I'm pretty sure I didn't tell you to take a nap."
Uh oh. He didn't think anyone would miss one high priest out of all the others. Then again, this was Angela. He put on his most charming smile as he looked up at her. She did not respond as well as he hoped. She just crossed her arms and gave him and exasperated stare.
"Don't think you get to skip out on your fair share of work. You weren't even asked to do anything very strenuous, you lazy priest. Now, be a good boy and get back to work." She gestured for him to move, her patience thinning. He didn't fail to note that particular fact and hopped up. No wrath of Angela today!
He started to trot back to where he was helping, but paused and turned. "Say, Angela, are you going to be this bossy after we get married?"
Her eyes narrowed as she picked up a rock and hurled it at her dearest priest. He ducked and ran off laughing. "I may kill him," she mumbled to herself as she watched him leave. She had been feeling uneasy ever since the end of the conflict and she had yet to figure out why.
She did know one thing. The Lord of Death was never far. In her dreams, she never saw him, but she could sense him. It seemed like he was waiting for something. Could something be wrong and he was simply waiting nearby in case he needed her and Luzien's assistance? Angela could not be sure.
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In Niflheim, things were more of less the same. The Deviruchi hopped onto a chair and peered out of a window (one that was still broken) of his creaky old house. He was not sure why, but the Lord of the Dead had not left the mortal world. All he did was wait. The Deviruchi thought it peculiar. He wouldn't dare ask why though. Even he wasn't that stupid.
He was sure of one pretty big fact. He was quite disgruntled at the lack of business lately. Lord of the Dead was interfering. Mortals tended instinctively stay away from wherever he was at. In this case, it was Niflheim. He sighed and jumped down from the chair. He couldn't do anything about it. He just had to wait it out.
Still, the Lord of Death's presence had made the entire town go quiet and it was just plain odd. Niflheim was never a quiet place like Glast Heim so it was a bit disconcerting. Even now, the only sounds he could hear were the faint rustling of trees, the slow, repetitive clanking of armor, and the heavy hoof beats of the frightening skeletal horse Lord of Death rode.
A cliché saying came to mind. Perhaps it was the calm before the storm? He hoped there was no storm. But then, why would their Lord be here at all if there was not?
A/N: End. I've started on the sequel though. I need to work out a few details though. I can tell you, though, that the sequel will be much less "OMGOMGTHEWORLDISENDING". Probably a good thing. Unless people want that :o