Chapter 24:

Epilogue

Over a million coloured windows


After their encounter with the Golem, everything passed in a blur.

Having witnessed their feat, the people hailed them as heroes, and they marched back into the capital among the acclamations of all the knights and citizens who were either still in the city or that had come out of the shelters. Celsian positively preened under the attention, waving to the crowd and sending kisses left and right, while Rutile seemed torn between basking in the glory of victory and hiding from it, because who knew what would’ve happened when he returned in Smaragdos; Ametrine behaved like just another day of work had finished, apart from the fact that there was some sort of levity to her step that before didn’t even exist and that she seemed way more carefree, but she was the one who put a hand on Opal’s shoulder and smiled reassuringly when Opal felt like it was wrong for her to be there.

“Hold your head high, Opal. It is fine if you do not want to be our Saviour, but, today, you are our hero” she said, squeezing her shoulder, and Opal was low-key surprised she didn’t burst into tears right here and then.

After they arrived at the castle and received an official acknowledgement and show of gratitude from Aventurine, complete with a ceremony as grand as they could afford in that situation, they were given four of the most elegant rooms in the whole royal palace, those that were usually reserved to guests coming from noble families, but they all found themselves in Opal’s temporary quarters anyway.

“Thank you” said Opal, when they were lounging on the soft blue carpet of her room, perfectly tranquil after what had been a long time. “For not leaving me.”

“Why should we have left you?” Celsian leant in Opal’s direction and circled her neck with her arm affectionately.

“Because I’m-”

“It was a rhetorical question, buddy.” She let Opal go, and smiled softly. “You’re yourself, and you’re our friend. It’s the only thing that counts.”

That time, Opal actually burst into tears.

*

After everything had calmed down, since she could still travel from one world to the other – she didn’t know what she would’ve done if she couldn’t anymore – Opal returned home to her parents, who were waiting for her and welcomed her back with open arms. A few days of pause, and she was back to school: she’d lost weeks worth of lessons and homework, as Toshiko had helpfully told her after giving her all the notes she’d taken, but Opal took everything in stride. Her classmates and teachers threw her a small party when she returned, and she was glad to be there again.

As far as her friends were concerned, it seemed like they would’ve been okay too.

Rutile didn’t go back to his old job – or in Smaragdos for that matter, to the despair of its residents –, but became a royal advisor at the castle, which worked out pretty well for him. He also had the pleasure to rip his marriage contract himself, now that his family couldn't be blackmailed anymore.

Ametrine got reinstated with all the honours into the Knights’ Order as the Commander of the Citrine Knights, that gained many more recruits pretty much overnight, and was very happy to distance herself from the Calchedonius, who had told the royal knights were Agata’s home was when they thought that Ametrine had betrayed the family’s principles.

Celsian received an official pardon for her crimes, or, well, at least the crimes regarding Opal: she should’ve technically served a sentence for everything she did before that whole ordeal, but it also had to be balanced with the honours that came from playing a central role in saving Kruos and, by extension, the entirety of Kristallia, so she got away with a few years of community service. She was assigned to Ametrine’s supervision, however, so Opal was pretty sure Celsian saw it as some sort of exciting experience, considering their new buddying relationship.

Last but not least, after her father’s strongly suggested abdication, Aventurine ascended the throne and became the new queen of Kristallia, her mother having died many years before. Her rule was shaping up to be a wind of change, and Opal was eager to see what the new monarch would have done.

Opal had been offered to become a royal advisor too, but she had politely declined: she wanted to finish high school and go to university, and then maybe travel around the human world, knowing that she would’ve been welcome in Kristallia at any time. It was probably still too soon to decide, anyway, so she would’ve thought about it calmly.

Now, in any case, she felt truly free to choose for herself.

*

Some time later, as soon as she discovered how to let other people pass through the stained glass, she returned to Kruos – the citizens, in any case, had overcome their hero worship after the umpteenth time they’d seen her appear from the glass, and were now used to her –. Her friends were waiting for her in front of the Cathedral of the Saintess, ready to be actual tourists for once.

“Hey, gals!” she exclaimed, waving excitedly at them.

“Gals, and Rutile. Where has the Rutile part gone?” he complained, frowning and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Delusions of grandeur, they tell me” Celsian commented with a grin, perched as she was on Ametrine’s shoulder.

“Oh, shut up.”

Opal snickered. “Hello to you too, Rutile.”

Ametrine light-heartedly shook her head. “How is everyone?” She had ditched her armour – and sword, for once –, wearing a straw hat very similar to the one she’d bought in Smaragdos, and seemed quietly delighted in anticipation of that occasion.

“They’re fine and very eager to meet you all.” Opal smiled, extending a hand toward them. “So, let’s go?”

Celsian, to the surprise of absolutely no-one, was the first one to take it. “Yes! I’ve been waiting for this moment for ages!”

Ametrine and Rutile, for their part, smiled and nodded. Opal couldn't see herself, but she felt like her grin was blinding.

When they reached the stained glass, she ensured that everything was alright.

“Okay, so, is everybody holding my hand? So that-”

“So that we don’t stay behind, yes, you’ve repeated that hundreds of times already.”

“Very funny, Celsian.”

“I know, it’s one of my many qualities.”

Opal rolled her eyes, but she firmly held their hands, circling their wrists with thin tendrils of stone for good measure, and brought them on the other side.

*

The rays of the sun were filtering through the coloured tiles of the stained glass, painting the world under a new light. Opal looked at Agata’s image, and then turned around, smiling: she didn’t see the Saintess when she looked in the mirror anymore, and it was an exhilarating thought.

Now, she could only be herself.

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