XXXIV - Some Wounds Time Cannot Mend

For several seconds, Pan could hear nothing but the crackle of the flames.

Haku lay heavily in her arms, her head resting against Pan’s shoulder, while black smoke was already gathering beneath the temple ceiling.

Pan wanted to pull her closer, but even the slightest movement sent a stabbing pain through her side.

“Ngh…!”

Haku immediately winced.

“Pan, your wound…”

“My wound?!” Pan stared at her in disbelief. “Have you even looked at yourself, mm?!”

Only now did Haku seem to realize what state she was in.

The silver plates of her armor were cracked or deeply dented in several places.

Blood seeped from beneath her left pauldron, and one of the Erlking’s claws had torn a deep gash across her cheek.

But her scarf had fared even worse.

One side of the dark blue fabric had been almost completely scorched away, and some of its silver threads had turned black.

For a moment, Pan forgot all about her own pain as she stared at it.

It’s completely ruined…

By now, the fire was devouring the temple, and somewhere behind them a beam came crashing down.

Pan pointed toward the flames with a trembling hand.

“We need to get out of here.”

Haku nodded.

“You’re right.”

Carefully leaning on each other, they pulled themselves upright and stumbled over to Elda.

Pan knelt beside him and shook his shoulder.

“Elda?”

No response.

A jolt of panic shot through her.

He isn’t…?!

She slapped his cheek.

“Hey! W-wake up!”

His eye opened a crack.

“Don’t… shout so loud…”

Pan let out a breath of relief.

The corner of his mouth twitched faintly as he tried to sit up.

When he noticed the flames surrounding them, he paused.

“And the Erlking…?”

Haku and Pan exchanged a brief glance before faint smiles appeared on their lips.

That was answer enough.

“So you actually killed it. Incredible…”

With a quiet groan, Elda draped one arm over Haku’s shoulder while Pan ducked beneath the other.

Somehow they managed to get him to his feet.

“We did it together, mm,” Pan corrected as they limped through the smoke-filled temple. “If you hadn’t protected us, it’d have drained us dry by now…”

Elda merely scoffed.

When they finally reached the open temple doors, cold mountain air hit them.

Pan broke into a violent coughing fit as they staggered across the forecourt.

They had barely put any distance between themselves and the temple when part of the entranceway collapsed behind them with a thunderous crash, sending a wave of sparks swirling into the sky.

All three stopped and looked back.

Elda breathed heavily.

“Well…”

He gazed at the burning entrance.

“I sure hope this counts as completing the quest.”

They made it a few more steps through the deserted courtyard before Pan suddenly stopped.

“I… don’t think I can make it all the way back to Rubia…” she gasped, her face twisted in pain.

Her wound had already begun bleeding again.

Haku stared at her, worry etched on her face.

“Then… I’ll go ahead by myself and get help!” she blurted out.

She had already begun to turn when Elda grabbed hold of her.

“Wait.”

“What?” Haku asked impatiently.

“You can barely walk straight yourself.”

He pointed toward the battlements.

“The beacon…” he said quietly. “If we light it again, they’re bound to send someone.”

Pan and Haku followed his gaze.

“Sounds like a plan, mm…”

With the last of their strength, they dragged themselves up the stairs.

At the top, the wind whipped across the battlements.

The enormous stone brazier still held several half-charred logs among the ashes.

Beside it stood a squat wooden chest marked with the white-key emblem.

Elda kicked it open.

Inside were split pine logs, bundles of dry kindling, and oil-soaked firecloth.

“At least they planned for bad weather.”

Pan tore a few strips of firecloth and stuffed them between the charred remains of the wood.

Her hands were trembling so badly that she dropped the flint striker twice.

“Damn it…”

Haku knelt beside her.

“Let me.”

She took it and struck the flint again.

ZSSHHH

Sparks flew, and one of the strips of cloth caught fire.

The flame grew, then caught the wood, and within moments the beacon was blazing.

Orange flames rose high above the walls of the convent.

“We did it…”

All three sank back against the base of the brazier and simply sat there for a while as the wind swept over the battlements.

“How long do you think it’ll take for someone to get here, mm?” Pan finally asked.

Elda shrugged.

“The guild clerk said the last relief force didn’t set out until the next morning, didn’t he?”

“So at least a day…”

Pan’s gaze moved from Haku’s wounds to Elda’s, then down to her own.

Will we even still be alive by then?

With a sigh, Elda slipped a hand into the tattered pocket of his coat and pulled out his cigarettes.

Most of them were crushed or had fallen apart completely.

But one had survived intact.

“Must be my lucky day…” he muttered before getting to his feet and lighting it from the beacon.

Elda blew the smoke into the air, and for a while, no one said anything.

***

Later, as the sun began to sink toward the horizon, bathing the convent in orange light, Pan looked over at Haku.

The scorched scarf still hung around her shoulders as the Sword Saint stared thoughtfully into the distance.

Because I want to stay with you.

The words kept coming back to Pan no matter how hard she tried to focus on anything else.

She shouted that pretty loudly...

Did she really mean… with me?

Pan’s face grew warm despite the cold mountain wind.

But then her gaze fell on Haku’s wounds, and the warmth vanished just as quickly.

And she still nearly got herself killed just to defeat that thing…

“Hey, Haku…”

“Hm?”

Pan hesitated, and suddenly her throat felt tighter than before.

“That ability you used in there…”

Haku froze.

“Have you... always been able to do that?”

“Yes…”

“And… did you use it in the other worlds too?”

“I did.”

Pan felt her heart begin to beat faster.

Could that be the ability… the one she used to…

“Please promise me… that you’ll never use it aga...”

“No.”

Pan stared at her.

“But…”

Haku looked at her, sorrow in her eyes.

“Pan…” Her voice nearly broke. “I can’t make that promise. Because if there’s no other way to win… then I simply have no choice.”

She slowly lowered her head.

“That’s my purpose.”

Pan pressed her lips together.

The pain in her chest suddenly hurt more than any of her wounds.

She… she still intends to die if it comes to that?

Her fists clenched.

But I thought… she said she wanted to stay with me until the end?

So by 'end' she means... 

Until she sacrifices herself again?

Pan sprang to her feet.

“And that’s it, mm?! You’d rather throw away your life than... than...”

She stopped.

The battlements suddenly seemed to tilt beneath her, and she had to lean on the base of the brazier.

“Pan?”

She blinked hard, and for a moment, Haku’s face doubled in front of her.

“I’m… feeling a bit... dizzy.”

She tried to straighten, but a wave of nausea rolled through her so violently that she nearly toppled sideways.

Haku caught her immediately. 

“PAN!!”

Blood from Pan’s wound stained Haku’s hands red.

“So... tired…”

Haku’s hands tightened around her shoulders.

“You have to stay awake!”

“She’s lost way too much blood for her size,” she heard Elda say anxiously, though she couldn’t tell where his voice was coming from.

Suddenly, an enormous shadow swept across Haku’s face.

Something was circling high above the convent, its dark shape passing again and again across the orange evening sky.

What… is that…?

Her breath caught when a deep beat of wings rolled over the battlements.

Pan forced her eyes open again, but her vision was blurred.

The beat of wings grew louder as something descended, each stroke sending gusts rushing across the stone.

She could soon hear boots striking stone.

A figure appeared, a long cloak whipping behind them as they came closer.

W-who?

Something metallic on their chest caught the light.

Pan narrowed her eyes, struggling to focus.

Haku’s Triskelion pin?

N-no... that's not her...

Her eyes closed again.

Around her, the muffled voices of Haku and Elda grew louder, as though they were arguing.

And a third voice she couldn’t place.

The last thing she felt was the cold air ruffling the fur on her face, brushing against the tip of her nose.

Then something lifted her into the air.