To Be Together

Change was never easy. More often than not, if it arrived abruptly, it became even more difficult to guide and accept. Familiarity and the comforts of what was planned would be forced to accept that now something entirely new and different was arriving. Having spent her first life in Japan, Sayane knew quite well that tradition and continuing with norms had its place. But Ilarios had to change.

The Silence was all but gone. Erosc’s expeditions were sweeping the remaining Silence cities, clearing out whatever holdouts remained. Some surrendered. Others perished. Every day, thousands more were added to the care of The Revolution. As Sayane and the others entered the grand square of Haven, she wanted to revel in the splendor of the alien world around her, but she found herself unable to forget all of the souls currently following her.

Tens of thousands had made the journey. They had as many prisoners as they did Revolutionaries. Sayane hoped there would be enough space for all of them. But the stabbing pain just below her stomach betrayed her fear that other problems awaited.

Haven was certainly large enough to host them all.

It was hard to believe that such a massive city could exist with the crystal fissures, but everywhere Sayane looked, she saw new swaths of floating districts and ether-infused waterfalls. Arches bent outward all around them, lined with color-shifting ribbons of glowing neon. Cyan and white ether flowed along aqueducts, then rose upwards along the curved walls. Every step they took sent ripples of incandescent humming brightness out from beneath their feet.

“What wonder,” Attis remarked as he tapped his foot.

Sayane smirked at the subtle wag in his tail, then joined him with a few taps.

When her toes struck the ground, the ripples layered into Attis’s, changing color and building in speed.

“What wonder,” she agreed.

What inorganic architecture there was felt intentional and integrated. Even the machina and cabling had been carefully woven into the existing spaces with minimal interference. The only strangeness that stood out to Sayane was that everything seemed still and isolated. Many rocky edges were covered in a noticeable coat of dust, and most of the once-radiant tapestries were now faded or torn. It felt like the city had been mostly forgotten for some time.

“Has this place been isolated since The Silence came to power?” Sayane asked.

Kol shook their head.

“Not isolated. Forgotten. Haven was once a spiritual epicenter for Ilarios. Beings would travel from around the world to seek the wisdom of the mages and bear witness to the Etherfont. But when your kind were extinguished, and magic faded, no one had need of us anymore.”

Their words were spoken with a hint of disdain that Sayane did not miss.

Above the caravan, several currents of glowing specks flowed like before. Their radiant streams wove between hanging bundles of shining stone. When the bundles clinked into one another, new pulses of pink and yellow brightness shone out with a delicate chime. Even though it was dark, everything felt bright.

Sayane glanced back at the multitudes following them.

“Well, you’ll be well occupied now!” she offered with a smile.

“I know,” Kol replied in a neutral tone, leaving Sayane biting her lip to hold her expression.

“Have you decided on how your host shall be divided? I understand we have many Silence among the throng,” Kol asked.

“Former Silence,” Azag corrected.

Kol glanced back at the sea of bodies as they waited for an answer.

It was a question Sayane, Attis, and Azag had been wrestling with for some time. Every time they had stopped to set up temporary camps, the Silence prisoners who were not loyal to The Revolution had been quarantined to their own containment zone. The Silencers who had heeded Azag’s call were integrated into the fold, but all three of them had noticed that with time, those former imperials had been ostracized and left separated.

Another stabbing pain cut through Sayane’s insides, and her palm pressed to her belt as she stifled a groan.

“I believe that the non-renouncers should stay separated, for now,” Attis spoke first.

“They are not yet loyal to us, unlike the others who asked to join us. I fear if we force them into the embrace of our comrades, blood will be spilled by both parties.”

Sayane exhaled and nodded. JPop fandoms were mostly tame, but she had known a few trainees who had become KPop idols. Once, one of her friend’s fandoms had been forced to sit beside a rival group’s fandom, and the event ended with nine assault charges. If people could come to blood over pop music, Sayane knew that a century of brutality would certainly bring out the worst.

“I fear it will be for their safety as much as ours,” Sayane admitted.

Azag agreed.

“That one council member called for all of their deaths, even the renouncers. And I do not think it was an empty threat. We will need to be mindful of who we allow to guard them.”

The three of them paused. It was true that violence was far nearer than any would like to admit.

“I can do my best to speak with the other Council members. I am familiar with them all. Some might be open to softening, but we must accept that many will hate The Silence with their dying breath. And not just the Council,” Attis sighed.

“We have several distant orbhalls where they could stay. Some could be made to have no one enter or leave,” Kol offered.

Attis shook his head.

“We are not trying to make them hate us even more by condemning them to rot in isolation. No, we will need them to be near us. Where we can tend to them. I hate to say it, but the work will be on us to bring them around.”

There was a pause, and Sayane noticed Azag tapping his finger on his cane once again. Thoughts moved through him with a slow, noticeable tenseness as he wrestled with a decision.

“I… I think I can lead the outreach to them,” he sighed in acceptance.

Sayane was almost shocked by the offer.

“What?” she asked.

His grip tightened on his staff and cane, as though he almost hated the idea.

“I spoke with more imperials than any of you, since they thought I wasn’t a part of The Revolution. Several knew me by name. I am, I am at least more familiar with their culture and imperial structures than you all. And maybe if they see me trying to… forgive them… even after everything their empire did to me…”

He stopped and Sayane immediately moved to him.

“I’ll go with you, if you want me to,” she offered.

“Always,” he replied.

Attis patted Azag’s leg and wiped his eye.

“It’s a noble thing, lad,” he said.

“Aye,” Can-Mo agreed.

Hearing Can-Mo caused Azag to look up.

“Can-Mo, I actually have a request for you. I’m not going to be like Erosc and put you on the spot. But I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to help formulate integration ideas for those who renounced the empire? We need them to feel like they are a part of this new world with us, not outcasts.”

Sayane found herself moved by Azag’s logic. For so long, he’d presented himself as cold and indifferent as he hid away in The Underworld. But it was just to hide his wounded heart from the world that had harmed him and never trusted him. No matter what persona he’d adopted, he was still the caring, gentle being who had piloted Esca to save whoever he could. He was the caring, gentle being who had taken Sayane in when she was at her lowest.

At that moment, he was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Can-Mo gathered his words and patted his vest.

“I… I am just a tailor, Great Guardian. I am not worthy of such an honorable thing, even if I would do it with the utmost hope at healing all of this.”

“That’s why you are perfect, Can-Mo,” Azag countered.

“I agree. You and Attis lived in the world before and during The Silence’s reign. You know all of the good and the bad of what was. And you want to see something better. I can’t think of anyone more fitting,” Sayane said.

A nervous tentacle reached out for comfort and Sayane stepped into its embrace.

“But I am afraid…” Can-Mo admitted.

“So am I,” Sayane agreed.

“Aye,” said Attis and Azag.

“I’ll go with you too, whenever I can,” Sayane offered.

“-I’m pretty good with crowds,” she added with a smirk.

Can-Mo let out a deep chuckle and patted her shoulder.

“Well! I accept. And I daresay we’re all going to need some new clothes!” Can-Mo sniffed as he did his best to clap.

Sayane and Attis let out a cheer, and Azag merely shrugged.

“Can-Mo clothes! Can-Mo clothes!” Sayane cheered as she looked at her stained, bloodied, torn garments.

Indeed, it was time for a refresh. Her first outfits and costumes had been perfect for life in The Underworld and their time on tour. But it was time to enter a new phase. Whatever awaited, she knew that Can-Mo’s vision would be splendid.

“We are in accord, then?” Attis asked.

Azag and Sayane put their hands forward. Can-Mo’s tentacle joined them and Attis jumped to the center.

“We are in harmony!” they said as they raised their hands.

Attis landed on the ground, ears up.

“I’ll disperse the word. Once we are done, I will meet you at our new chambers. I believe we shall be neighbors.”

“Yay!!” Sayane cheered.

In the midst of everything, she hadn’t even thought about what sort of living situation she would have. Through the entirety of her time in Illarios, she’d been in close proximity to Attis and Azag. She had shared a bed with both or either of them almost every night, and now she found herself not wanting to be alone, especially from Azag. To her relief, his subtle touch in that moment gave her hope that such things had been planned for.

“I’d like to stay with you. If you’d have me,” Azag sheepishly muttered.

Warmth flushed through Sayane’s face and chest as she turned red at the words. Soft flutters moved across her stomach as the light from above shifted from pink to vermillion.

“I wanted that,” she admitted.

“Is there a room large enough for the two of us?” Sayane asked Kol.

Kol let out a confident snicker and held their hand towards a nearby dome.

“I think you will be satisfied,” he smiled.