Equivalent Exchange

Nino continued searching for any trace of Pulse, any heartbeat, any movement that might have escaped his perception. But nothing happened.

Despite the pain coursing through his body, his expression remained calm. Deep down, he knew this was not the end.

Raysa held her daughter tightly against her chest, unable to contain her tears. Tenshi remained on his knees beside them, repeating his sister’s name between broken breaths.

Nino took a deep breath, then looked over his shoulder.

The last Primordial Stone remained where it had stopped, a few steps below. Intact among the pieces of stone scattered across the staircase.

Three followed his gaze. Her expression changed.

“No.”

Nino slowly removed his hand from Alicia’s and began to stand.

“Nino, no.”

He placed one hand on the ground. His entire body protested as he rose to his feet, but he turned toward the staircase.

Three tried to do the same. Her leg gave out. She pressed her sai against the ground and used it for support.

“Don’t do this.”

Nino started down the steps.

“Nino!”

He stopped. Three managed to take one step. Then another, dragging her injured leg as she leaned on her weapon.

“I lied to you.”

Nino turned his head. Three was breathing heavily.

“About the drawing.”

He remained silent.

“What I found in my family’s house... it wasn’t a drawing of us holding hands.”

Nino turned fully toward her. Three tried to smile, but her eyes were already filled with tears.

“It was a wedding.”

Nino didn’t respond.

“I was wearing a dress. You were standing beside me. It was a terrible drawing.” A short laugh escaped through her tears. “You were never good at drawing.” She lowered her eyes for a moment. “But there was something written on the back.”

Nino waited.

“A message.” Three raised her head. “‘To my dear Helen.’”

The silence around them grew even deeper. Nino frowned slightly.

“Helen?”

The tears finally rolled down her face.

“That’s my name.”

Nino repeated it softly.

“Helen...”

She closed her eyes for a moment when she heard him say it. Not Three. Not a number. Helen.

“It was your handwriting,” she continued. “I compared it to a mission report you wrote. You left that for me.”

Nino searched through his own memories. Nothing came. There was still only the same emptiness.

“Maybe you already knew,” Helen said. “Maybe you knew what he was going to do to us. Maybe that was your way of leaving something behind... in case everything was erased.”

“I wish I could remember.”

“I know.”

“I wish I could remember what we had.” He looked up at the sky.

Helen bit her lip and shook her head as more tears fell.

“This isn’t fair.”

Nino didn’t respond.

“We went through all of this. He can’t control you anymore. He can’t control me anymore. It’s over.” Her voice began to break. “And now, when we can finally be free...” She managed to reach him. “We could have a life, Nino.”

He looked at her.

“I could get to know you again,” Helen continued. “We could experience together everything we can no longer remember. The places we went. The things you used to do. The things I hated about you...” She laughed through her tears. “You could fall in love with me again.”

Nino raised his hand. With his thumb, he wiped away one of the tears running down her face. Helen took hold of his wrist.

Nino leaned closer and, with great tenderness, kissed her.

For a moment, there were no Stones, Colossi, or kings. Helen closed her eyes.

Her hand rose to Nino’s face, and they remained together for a few seconds that allowed them to live a lifetime that had been stolen from them. When Nino pulled away, he kept his forehead against hers.

“I would love to spend my life by your side.”

Helen opened her eyes. Nino looked at Alicia.

“But I can’t leave things like this.”

“Nino...”

“When no one else saw anything in me, she did.”

Helen began shaking her head.

“She believed I could be something even I didn’t believe I could be.”

Nino looked at her again.

“I’m someone’s Hero.”

Helen closed her eyes. Slow footsteps came from the rubble.

Orvain’s Hero was the first to approach. One of her swords was still in her hand, though she could barely keep her arm raised. Behind her came Lumeris’s Hero, missing one of his enormous gauntlets, while the other was completely cracked.

Leo appeared last.

His face was pale, and not a trace of his golden Pulse remained. Even so, he kept walking until he stopped beside the others.

The Heroes of the Four Nations stood together. Yet none of them said a word.

The Queen slowly climbed the staircase. Her eyes had already returned to their natural color. She passed Alicia and her family before looking at Nino. Then she looked at the Stone.

She understood.

“You’re planning to do the insane thing I think you are, aren’t you?”

Nino nodded.

“Yes.”

The Queen remained silent. Nino stepped away from Helen and took a step toward the Stone.

A hand grabbed his arm.

“Then let me do it.”

He stopped. Three tightened her grip on his arm.

“The world still needs you.”

“Helen—”

“No.”

She took a deep breath.

“You’re a Hero. Look around. Look at everything you’ve done. All these people are alive because of you. The King spoke about the dangers in the lands beyond the nations. Who knows what threats are waiting on the other side? The world needs you now more than ever.”

Nino tried to respond, but she continued.

“I’m expendable.”

He froze. Then he raised a hand to her face.

“No... You’re not expendable.”

Helen held his hand against her cheek. She closed her eyes. The tears returned.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this...”

Nino gently stroked her cheek with his thumb.

“I can’t lose you.”

Her voice nearly disappeared.

“You’re all I have. I don’t know what I’m going to do if I lose you.” Helen opened her eyes. “Can’t you see?”

Nino kept looking at her.

“I can...”

Helen held her breath. A faint smile appeared on his face.

“For the first time, I can see.”

His one good eye was swollen from the wounds of the battle. She pressed his hand more tightly against her face.

“I spent my life fighting and hunting innocent people. Obeying because someone told me that was what I was supposed to do. I could see with both eyes...” Nino lightly touched the eye he had lost. “But I was blind.”

Blood slowly ran down the side of his face, mixing with the dust covering his skin. Everyone listened closely to his words.

His smile remained.

“It’s ironic... If there is a Creator, then I’m grateful for the way He chose to save me.” Nino looked at Alicia. His smile grew. “If I have to sacrifice everything I have so that she can have something, then so be it.”

Helen began to cry again. Nino slowly let go of her face.

“It took a blind little girl to make me see.”

This time, she didn’t try to stop him.

He descended the final steps.

Past the Queen. Past the three Heroes.

Soldiers and even Shadows watched from among the ruins. He stopped before the last Primordial Stone.

Nino looked at Alicia one last time. Then he touched the stone.

The world disappeared.

There was no palace. No war. No pain.

Only darkness.

The same voice echoed through the void.

WHAT IS YOUR DESIRE?

Nino closed his eye.

He saw a girl sitting inside a wagon, a blindfold covering her eyes.

Do you have a name?

He could still feel her small hands holding onto his shoulders as they walked. He remembered the moment she helped him save Arvendel.

You’re... my Hero!

He saw Alicia open one eye for the first time.

So that’s what you look like.

“My desire?” Nino smiled. “An equivalent exchange.”

The darkness enveloped him.

Minutes later, Alicia gasped.

Raysa screamed.

The girl’s body moved in her arms.

“Alicia?!”

Tenshi raised his head.

“Alicia!”

She breathed again.

The sounds returned first: her mother’s crying, her brother’s voice, the wind passing through the ruins. Then came the light.

Alicia opened her eyes. Both of them.

Raysa covered her mouth with one hand.

“Your eyes...”

Alicia blinked.

The world was before her. Whole. There was no longer darkness on one side. Light, shapes, and colors filled everything.

Tenshi hugged her.

“Alicia!”

Raysa wrapped her arms around both of them. Alicia remained still for a few seconds, trying to understand. Then her eyes widened.

“Nino?”

Raysa stopped.

Alicia looked around.

“Where’s Nino?”

No one answered.

She pulled away from her mother’s arms.

“Nino?”

Then she saw him: A few yards away, Helen sat among the rubble with Nino resting in her lap. One of her hands slowly ran through his hair as tears fell onto his face.

Alicia stopped.

“No...”

She stood. She ran. For the first time, she could see every step in front of her perfectly.

“Nino!”

Helen turned toward her. Alicia reached them and fell to her knees.

Nino didn’t move.

She looked at his face. At the man who had carried her when she couldn’t walk. Who had shown her the world before she could even see it.

Alicia reached out and touched his face. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Nino...” Her voice broke. She tried again, but for a moment, nothing came out. Then she smiled through her tears. 

“Thank you, my Hero.”