Prologue - Broken Promises

A deafening rumble echoed through the halls of the Demon King.

With a sharp crack, fractures spread across the ceiling before chunks of stone and rubble rained down upon the ruined throne room.

Frinna tightened her grip on her greatsword, chest heaving. Pale blue eyes flashed beneath her gilded visor, crowned by a crimson plume.

“This whole place is coming down…”

The Demon King’s burning gaze swept over the two women before him, his mocking voice rumbling through the hall.

“Your companions have fallen, your plan has failed... and still you refuse to die.”

The words had barely left his mouth when his glaive came crashing down on Frinna.

“WATCH OUT!”

A silver shield met the strike with a deafening clang.

“Haku...” Frinna breathed.

The Swan Sword Saint stood before her, her upper face hidden behind a silver-feathered visor. White radiance rippled across her shield as cracks spread through the stone floor beneath her feet.

“You have to seize an opening,” she said without looking back. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t stop you.”

Frinna stared at the towering Demon King, then at Haku straining beneath the crushing force.

“But how...?”

“Trust me.”

With a cry, Haku drove the shield forward.

The Demon King staggered back a single step.

Frinna immediately surged forward, greatsword blazing.

“Pathetic...” the Demon King snarled, as a dark portal tore open beside him and a second glaive emerged.

Both blades swept inward, converging on Frinna.

CLANG!

Haku caught the left glaive with her shield and the right with her sword, her entire body shuddering under the impact.

“FRINNA, NOW!” she roared.

But the Demon King suddenly twisted both glaives, abandoning his attack on Haku to intercept Frinna instead.

“No!“ Haku gasped.

For a single heartbeat, her composure faltered.

I have to do it...

The feathers engraved across her armor shimmered.

One by one, they unfurled into brilliant wings of living light.

“Haku...?“ Frinna whispered.

The radiant feathers wrapped around the Demon King’s arms, chains of silvery light forming between them.

He roared and tried to wrench himself free, but he couldn’t move.

“What are you doing?!“ Frinna shouted. “You promised you wouldn’t use that power! Now you can’t defend yourself!“

Haku smiled sadly.

“I really hoped I wouldn’t have to.“

Her gaze drifted to the lifeless bodies scattered across the shattered hall.

“But there is no other way...“

The Demon King bellowed in fury, muscles bulging as he strained against the bindings.

He couldn’t break free.

Yet the blades he held could still move.

He twisted his torso, forcing one of his glaives forward.

SHNK!

The blade drove straight through Haku’s chest, bursting from her back.

“HAKU!!!!!“

Her body trembled violently, yet the glowing feathers only tightened as the Demon King’s arms remained locked in place.

“NOW!” Haku screamed, blood spilling from her mouth.

Frinna’s vision blurred with tears.

“B-but...“

“DO IT!“

Frinna clenched her teeth.

Then she ran.

With a leap, she launched herself into the air, raising her sword high overhead.

“HYAAAAAAH!”

The blade came crashing down, driving straight into his chest, green blood erupting from the wound.

The Demon King’s eyes widened.

“Why would you...”

His body shuddered, as the light binding his arms finally faded.

Haku collapsed to one knee.

The Demon King took one final staggering step before crashing to the floor.

He was dead.

Frinna immediately ran to her companion.

“Haku!”

Haku knelt where she had held the Demon King in place, the glaive still pierced straight through her body.

Her sword slipped from her trembling fingers.

Horror spread across Frinna’s face as she reached toward Haku’s helmet, slowly lifting the visor.

For the first time since the battle began, Haku’s silver eyes met her blue ones.

“See... Frinna. I told you so... You defeated... the Demon King. This world... is safe now... That’s... all that matters.”

Tears streamed down Frinna’s face.

“You idiot! You... you promised you wouldn’t use that technique this time! You said we were going to travel north together after this! To the hot springs in Vestergard. We... we haven’t even...”

A sob cut her words short.

Yet Haku’s smile never faded.

“Looks like... I couldn’t keep my promise after all...”

She met Frinna’s tear-filled eyes as her fingers gently brushed her cheek.

“I’m sorry...”

With those final words, her last breath slipped away.

“Haku...? HAKU!!”

Frinna shook her friend’s lifeless body.

“B-but you... you promised...”

For a moment, only her cries of grief echoed through the hall.

Suddenly, Haku’s body began to glow.

A brilliant white radiance enveloped her.

“What’s happening?!”

Before her eyes, Haku slowly rose into the air, as though some unseen force were lifting her heavenward.

Her body twisted, and took on another form.

White feathers. A long neck. An orange-red beak.

“A Swan...”

It floated lifelessly in the air, still wrapped in blinding light.

Frinna squinted against the light.

“Ha-Haku...?” she whispered one last time, as though her voice alone could bring her back.

But the light vanished.

And with it...

Haku.

Silence settled over the hall once more.

“Idiot,” Frinna whispered, wiping at her tears, though they would not stop falling.

“You never understood...“ she whispered, “that it was never me who was the Great Hero...”

🌑 🦢 🌒 🦢🌔 🦢 🌕

Perfect stillness and harmony lay over everything.

Four moons, shining brightly in the cloudless purple sky, bathed the small pond below in a soft, silvery glow.

Only the gentle rustling of the wind stirring the violet leaves of the trees and shrubs along the water’s edge broke the silence.

Something drifted down from the sky.

As large as a snowflake, yet made entirely of pure light, it floated toward the pond.

The instant it touched the surface, the light burst outward.

It flickered, pulsed, and shifted.

Until at last it took shape upon the water, as the radiance faded.

A swan.

Its beak was tucked beneath its wing, its eyes closed as though asleep, drifting motionless across the still water.

At last, it opened its eyes.

Its long neck stretched upward as it slowly surveyed its surroundings.

I’m back again...

A weary sigh escaped her beak.

Which means another five hundred years before I’m sent out once more.

Her webbed feet glided gently through the crystal-clear water, carrying her absentmindedly across the pond.

Frinna...

Haku closed her eyes, but she could not stop the tears.

She was my best friend.

No.

She was more than that...

She thought back to the look of despair on Frinna’s face when they had been forced to part.

To the brave smile she had offered her, trying to give Frinna courage.

Only now could Haku finally let her mask slip.

And I truly believed this time I could do it without giving my life...

Haku shook her long neck, as though trying to shake off the thought.

But if ensuring the Great Heroes achieve victory costs me my life every single time, then so be it.

I can’t let selfish desires get in the way of that!

She had reached the edge of the pond and waddled ashore, passing the softly glowing flowers that lined its banks.

But the memories of the past years refused to leave her.

Frinna.

...

Haku stopped for a moment, looking thoughtfully at the otherworldly sky, the moonlights reflecting in her silvery eyes.

The Great Heroes.

Frinna was the fifth, wasn’t she?

The others must all be gone by now...

Oh!

Except for Valannia! I entered her world a thousand years ago. As an elf, she’s probably only just reached the midpoint of her life.

Her feet carried her slowly away from the pond, following a winding path up a gentle hill.

I still remember how no one wanted to join her party when she desperately searched for companions in Ordanza’fen.

When I pledged my loyalty to her, she could hardly believe it.

She actually thought I was some kind of maniac trying to fool her!

“Quack, quack, quack, quack!“

Her laughing quacks echoed across the hillside as she neared the summit.

But the excitement left Haku as quickly as it struck her.

I wonder how she’s doing.

I miss her raspy voice...

Once more, the faces of the Great Heroes she had fought beside rose before her mind’s eye.

Arevan.

Garatas.

Valannia.

Tholv.

...

Frinna...

Reaching the top of the hill, she gazed out across the vast plain, awash in moonlight.

I could never forget any of those adventures. And I have never regretted a single one of them.

She lowered her head.

The only thing I regret is that I couldn’t keep the promises I made.

To any of them...

Her eyes drifted shut as the gentle breeze brushed through her white feathers.

Perhaps it’s better if I never make a promise again.

When I meet the next Great Hero.

Five hundred years from now.