Moving on. Moving forward

Nicholas slowly opens his eyes, feeling dizzy. He finds himself sitting inside a humble church, claimed by nature. Its roof is partially ruined, allowing shafts of light and motes of magic to sneak inside as the only illumination. Branches and foliage spill into the building, merging with the pews, creating a view that is beautiful yet simultaneously feels post-apocalyptic.

Leaning by his foot lies his sword. On his lap rests his cape, carefully folded.

A set of negative emotions weighs heavily on his mind, making his head throb. Gradually, he begins to remember what happened and brings his hands to his face, unable to believe that what had occurred moments ago wasn't just a nightmare.

"You are lucky I was the one who found you first," a familiar voice speaks playfully.

He turns just enough to see Gilkrana by his side. She gently caresses Guava’s hair, watching the peacefully sleeping girl with a caring expression. Without taking her eyes away from her, she continues:

"The great tree disappeared, Goddess Harmonia's presence is gone, and the keys for her resurrection are either nowhere to be found or bear no more power. My clan wants you dead, you know?"

"I… I’m sorry. If only I knew things would end like this."

"You misunderstand me. Unlike my people, I am not a follower of that deity. All that matters to me is that I was ready to mourn the loss of my two little gems, and somehow one is still alive. Giovanni was right about his friends being extremely unpredictable," she declares this last part, shifting her gaze to him to see his reaction.

At the mention of the name, Nicholas's eyes widen, and he gives her his full attention.

"You know Gio?!"

She chuckles, amused.

"Indeed."

"Do you know where he is? What is he up to? Is he okay? Is he really some sort of god in this world?"

He barrages her with questions, surprising Gilkrana with his lack of knowledge.

"I see you don’t know the whole picture yet. Don't worry, all of your questions will be answered soon."

"Please, you have to tell me what you know!" he insists.

She makes a gesture with her hand, instantly summoning an unnecessarily opulent, humanoid creature of wood from the ground just to cover his mouth.

"Shut it. You will wake up, Guava. It's been a while since I last heard from him, and there is only one person I know he would trust to share his plans with. Someone whose whereabouts I have no idea of, so don’t bother asking."

He gives a muffled sound of disappointment.

"However, I do have a small token I promised to deliver to one of his dear friends. Here, I recommend activating it when you go back to your companions. It’s a recording that can only be seen once."

Gilkrana pulls a hand-sized wooden cross from her dress and gives it to him.

Nicholas thanks her, his mouth still covered.

"There is also a favor I would like to ask," her gaze turns back to the girl resting on her. She wipes away traces of dried tears from Guava's cheeks, making her flinch slightly. "I’m sure that is your plan to begin with, but I’ll say it anyway. I want you to take Guava with you."

His response is, once again, a casual bunch of incomprehensible words.

"This precious thing will have a very hard time if she stays. She’s not actually an elf, and my people will never accept her. The purpose of her existence is to be merged with a deity that no longer exists. She’s a divine being with no divinity, a living creature with no meaning. Give her one. You humans and your short lives are good with that."

A few more barely audible sounds.

"I knew I could count on you. Now, leave before the elves come here. I made sure the path leading to that hole you came from is clear."

The creature summoned by Gilkrana releases him and leaves as fast as it appeared.

Nicholas stands up and, after a long time, puts on his hero cape again.

"It will be far from perfect, but I’ll make sure to give her a place to call her own. I promise."

His determined look upon making that statement makes Gilkrana’s heart unexpectedly skip a beat. He picks up Guava and spins abruptly, making a stylish exit from the scene as his cape swirls in the air, unintentionally striking the elf's face.

She pays no mind to it, watching him with a smirk as he walks away.

"Heh, maybe I should watch them a little closer. Just to make sure he is taking good care of her, of course."

Gilkrana melts into a dark, black mud, infiltrating Nicholas’ shadow as he leaves.

–—//–—

Returning home, he's promptly welcomed by Tien and a worried Pietra, who scolds him for leaving without warning.

"Wait, I remember telling Zalaxander that I would leave," he defends himself.

"Sorry, Master Nicholas. I'm still frozen. I tried to inelegantly yell a few times, but silence can be quite a depressing answer after a while. I’m a disgrace of a butler!" the autonomous armor apologizes dramatically, shouting from a distant hallway.

Tien looks away, feeling guilty.

"It’s okay, Zal. You did well!" he shouts back, reassuring him.

"Enough about that! Explain what happened and where is Asai?" Pietra points a finger at his face.

"The girl with him is not Asai…?" Tien murmurs to himself.

Only now does Nicholas notice her eyes are closed.

"Pia? How can you—"

"See you? I can’t. The bonds connecting us are still clear as day, though."

"I see…"

"That was mean."

"Oh, dammit. Sorry, I—"

"I’m joking. Unless you don’t explain yourself. In that case, I’ll beat you accordingly if you don’t."

The fact that she’s more worried about his safety than about her eyesight touches him.

"Let’s go to Kai’s. A lot of things happened. I’ll tell you everything there," he tries to hide his sadness.

Both of his party members notice, growing anxious about what he’ll say.

As they arrive at Kai’s room, they find him sitting on his bed, awake. He has some minor wounds he didn’t have before.

"Hey, guys," he casually greets them.

"Are you okay?" Nicholas expresses his concern for him.

"I made him talk," Lirika speaks, her voice serious. She’s leaning her back against a wall. "This moron has been hiding something very important from us for a long time."

"Was beating him necessary?"

"I just had to show him some cleavage, and he spilled the beans. The beating came afterward."

"I’m sure it was deserved," Pietra nods.

"Hey!" Kai protests loudly. "Urgh, my head still hurts…"

Before anyone could help him, Lirika rushed to his side.

"I told you to take it easy!" She reaches for her bag and forces him to drink an orange potion. "Your mind is still in shambles and your soul is fracturing."

"We can come later after the two lovebirds are done," Pietra jokes, faking irritation.

"Huh?! What do you mean by this?!" Lirika, embarrassed, unintentionally makes Kai choke.

"You can’t hide it from me. Your bond with him is vibrating such a cute shade of pink," she snickered between her playful words.

"Stop looking through me!"

Lirika leaves a fainted Kai behind to shake Pietra in a mix of embarrassment and annoyance.

"Your friends are weirder than Asai told me," Guava whispers to Nicholas, hiding behind his cape the whole time.

He gives her a head pat and smiles, reassuring her that she’ll learn to love it eventually. He gazes back at his group being silly and breathes deeply before talking.

"Guys, please," he calls for everyone’s attention with a solemn tone. "I don’t want to break the mood, but a lot happened, and I need you all to hear me carefully."

The room fell silent, everyone giving him their full attention. As he was about to start his explanation, Kai recovered from almost choking to death and spotted the new member hiding behind him.

"Why is Asai green now?"

Nicholas instantly breaks down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably and making shameful noises.

Everyone looks at Kai at the same time with disapproval before going to console him.

"What have I done this time…"

A sharp leaf, thrown from out of nowhere, almost hits his face, leaving only a shallow cut on his cheek. Kai swears he can feel a deadly stare toward him.

"Okay, okay! I apologize!"

After composing himself, Nicholas shares his sorrowful adventure in the Forest of Ossau, complemented by Pietra telling what she saw inside the palace in Fesolgu.

Guava introduces herself, claiming she will do her best to be as useful as Asai before being ruthlessly lavished with affection.

At last, Lirika explains that Kai can see the spirits of people who died near him, and his collapse occurred because too many poor souls are haunting him at once now.

"When she states 'every spirit,' does she mean literally...?" Pietra asks, curious.

"Yes."

"How many can you see now?"

"Yes."

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm not. Lirika is giving me medicines to ease the pain and make me deaf temporarily. I can hear what you're saying now because the effect is wearing off."

"Gladly, my brother is not among them. As an exorcist, I'm sure he was immune to this curse you bear," Tien declares proudly.

Kai looks at Xien's spirit, who was there the whole time.

"Don't you dare tell him," he intimidates Kai aggressively.

"Yeah... He is definitely resting in peace..." Kai lies, tearing up in fear.

"Don't worry, I'll use the new power of my sword to patch you up."

"Don't phrase it like that ever again."

Nicholas puts his right hand on his uncomfortable friend's head, holding his sword with his left. A few seconds later, a hidden symbol of what seems to be an unbalanced scale appears on the hilt of his weapon, and the blade exhales a green aura. Kai has the inexplicable experience of feeling his soul being healed.

"That is amazing!"

"Good. I'm so glad that it's working."

"Steady now, don't lose focus. If you lose your concentration, the balance of harmony may end up tipping, causing catastrophic consequences for us," Guava warns.

"What kind of catastrophic consequences...?" Kai's concern is evident.

"Asai's powers were a good representation of it. Reality tearing itself apart, abrupt disintegration, cessation of existence—"

"Thanks, you can stop now."

A few minutes later, the process is complete.

"The ghosts and their voices are still here... It’s way more bearable now, though. And the pain is gone as well. You saved me for real."

"Don't mention it. Your turn, Pia."

"I don't know, I was kind of looking forward to making uncomfortable jokes about being blind."

"Shut up and come here."

Nicholas does the same healing process with her. However, it's taking much longer than expected. While they were still at it, Zalaxander enthusiastically opened the door.

"Hello, my good masters and Mistress Pietra! Look who's finally free of its prison!"

All of a sudden, a rift opens inside the room, ripping both space and time. It sucks the armor butler's entire right arm and disappears instantaneously.

Zalaxander’s helmet calmly looks at the hole where his arm once was, then back at the people in the room.

"Can someone give me a hand?"

"Oh?! Did something unexpected happen? I didn’t see that coming!" Pietra does a silly smile after making the situation worse.

"Stop it. Both of you." Tien facepalms.

"Hmm, her blindness was caused by the abuse of an ancient, divine power, right? Maybe it's better if we heal her periodically to avoid this sort of disturbance from occurring again," Guava proposes.

"I agree! Let’s keep an eye out and be careful!"

"Pia, don't... Just don't..."

"Despite enjoying the self-deprecating jokes, now feels like a good time to change the subject," Lirika mentions. "I was able to contact some old acquaintances who can help Kai gain better control of the ghosts in his sword and probably aid Pietra as well. There's a powerful wizard among them who is willing to see what he can do. They live in Lapeci."

"We're going to the capital of magic?! I’ve always wanted to go there!" Guava claps her hands enthusiastically.

"It's an awful place filled with arrogant people. Don't get your hopes up."

"Since it's a famous place, I bet there’s a shortcut there in Suzuki's domain," Pietra points out.

"Good. There's something I would like to do there."

"What is it, Nicholas?"

"A funeral for Asai, Suzuki, and Xien. Maybe even for Maruxiang and Jiangzui. They deserve that much, and I feel if we don't do that now, we won't have another chance anytime soon."

"Giving them a proper farewell sounds like a good idea. Before we go, shouldn't we check the message on Giovanni's cross, though?" Kai suggests.

"We can listen to it along the way to save time," Pietra suggests.

"He would be sad if he saw you not taking his campaign seriously."

"I don't see how that's my problem."

"Pietra, for the love of God..."