They returned to dawn breaking over a city that had been shaken, battered, and burnt. Yet, its people had stood strong. They had vanquished the evil, the corruption, and the rot from within their society and, though the cost had been great, they would be stronger for it in the long run. Ayla showed up and she played her music and the great beast that slept at the centre of their world quieted and returned to its slumber, pulling the pieces of its tower back together as if it had never stirred in the first place.
Yet, the cazenax of An Zenui, wondrous and terrible place that it was, remained a society divided. The Dowager's final poison would not fade so easily. While some had learned to see friends and neighbours in the sirrahi and other beings of the VOID, others' suspicion of anything to do with that place had only deepened as a result of the horrors they had witness on the day of Bloody Golden Skies.
The Traveler who had visited their city walked the streets and lived among them, for this was what she had wished for, in truth: a revolution of the people, imperfect though it was. She had not used her great power to interfere. This had happened all on its own... more or less. It had been led by a once-unremarkable man who had been inspired to lead, to right the injustices he had lived among for his entire life. She went her own way, satisfied.
So, too did Nyax-Acan - a man once known as Benedetto Corvi. Those years spent apart from his one-time peers at Ersand'Enise had forever changed him. Gone was the brash, petulant, puerile thug of his youth. The qualities that had always existed within him but never been nurtured now rose to the fore and shone through, tearing down the veneer that had long protected him from the judgement of others.
When a small group of stuzéts led by Egosto-Alguo came to him, now calling themselves the Sirui Hé, he knew what needed to be done. They asked to travel to some place where they might be able to build a free society of their own, from scratch, without any outside interference. He granted them their wish and... while some waited for Benedetto to return, most understood that he would not. This was how things were supposed to happen. How they were always meant to be.
And finally came Karan Harrachora himself, with a portal and magic, and an interest in a particular eeaiko girl and two cazenax they had met along the way. Many were the questions about what they had seen, and Tku's, among them, had not gone unnoticed and would not go unanswered in the coming days.
But there were matters to be wrapped up first. It was time to say goodbye. They stood there: a group of people who had been, varyingly, friends, acquaintances, and strangers a week and a half ago. They stood upon the grounds of the Shimmering Sails Sweetwater Stead as a blustery wind blew across the desert, carrying with it the scent of rare and welcome rain.
“Looks like a real good one,” remarked Samaxi,
“eh, dad?” Jascuan nodded. He smiled in his understated way.
“It does,” he agreed.
“It really does.”Ayla recalled how many people spoke about an experience being like hell, and given their recent ordeal of being dragged halfway there and ending up in purgatory, she felt entitled to her unique perspective on that saying.
There was much to think about, including her encounter with Hetraxa herself. It felt like there was something missing; the demon, the cruel and calculating mistress of her nightmares, appeared as a raging, mindless beast—an oversized demonic bug that had to be squished like the pest it was. She was strong, unbelievably so, but the fight left her feeling hollow afterward. Perhaps sometimes reality is not as frightening as your nightmares, she mused on the consequences of this.
As the others went their separate ways, Ayla used the opportunity to secure what she had discussed at the beginning of this adventure: arranging a trade deal with 4S Sweetwater to supply their product in Ersand’Enise. As she discussed the proposal, the Tuskers returned with their entourage of Sirrahi children, the civilians they rescued, and the beasts were able to find new homes. It was somewhat of a down payment for the supplies. Obviously, carrying sweetwater back would be a little difficult for a girl of her size, so it was only natural that Athos came with her, carrying the supplies and joining his new home in the city of magic.
Unfortunately, their tailor shop was destroyed, and it was highly unlikely for Nyan-Acan to find himself a set of boots, a hat, and a little cape. However, this is something she could arrange back home for the cat.
There was one last matter to resolve, one that she had held onto for a long time. She had always wanted an opportunity to really speak to Benny since that ordeal, but they were two different people. Even now, that was most likely the case, but he had shown them loyalty when none was actually expected. Perhaps she may never truly understand him, and this was maybe the last time they would meet in her lifetime at least.
She made her way toward Benny, as she looked up at him. She couldn’t think of the words she wanted to say as she gazed at him, only doing what she could do best. She moved to give him a hug and squeeze him.
“Thank you, Benny, for your help, here and for what you'll do in the future.” She leaned up to peck him on the cheek before breaking the embrace. She would leave him to ponder the intricacies of temporal magic paradoxes in his own time.
Benedetto, too, was something of a removed figure, until Ayla came to speak with him, fresh off of a conversation with Samaxi and her elder brothers. To her surprise, perhaps, he hugged her back, and tightly.
"Thank you, Ayla, for your help and..." He trailed off for a second.
"Never stop being good, okay?" the separated.
"Never stop being a light for other people. You have more power that way than you ever will by destroying. It took me ten years in the wilderness of the past to learn that, but you got me started on that path." He swallowed and his face became pinched. His eyes shone and he took a couple of deep breaths.
"Fuck.... this wasn't supposed to be hard. I wasn't supposed to care.".
Then, as the sun sat atop the horizon like a great, overripe peach, there came a portal. It sparkled and swirled. Benedetto stood beside it. He had already said his goodbyes to Zarina, to Ayla, to Marceline, Fiske, Yansee, and Evander. He and Desmond eyed each other for a moment, for they were both old friends and old rivals at this point: more similar than either would ever have wanted to admit.
"Keep fighting the fight, Desmond." It was all he could manage. He was, even now, having his doubts about the necessity of the course he had chosen.
"Read about me in your history books, okay?"He turned to the sirui hé.
"You all know what comes next," he announced. Their goodbyes were finished. Many took last, anxious looks back out at their home: the only one they'd ever known. Final, rushed goodbyes were spared for the humans and cazenax they would be leaving behind.
"It's time for us to go." But, then there came something unexpected. Evander stepped forward. "I think I'm going to go with you, actually: just for a little. Just for a year, to help you get settled." He shook his head. "Can't leave you with just Benny here, can I?"
At least a couple others tried to dissuade him, but most accepted it. He was implacable, as he had always been. Instead, they said unexpected goodbyes. In theory, he would return. In practice, who could say? Life is the experience of the unexpected, after all. One by one, they disappeared: Egosto-Alguo, leading them through, Poto-Mits and Cazelui, Stela and Sazan shepherding the kids along. Then, finally, Evander and Benedetto. All at once, the portal wavered and winked out of existence and it was dark and cooling. Zarina began to feel her expanded form deflating. Marceline and Tennaxi wrapped shivering arms around themselves.
Then, a new portal appeared. From it emerged Karan Harrachora, Arch-Zeno of Ersand'Enise. He regarded them for a moment, evaluatively, before nodding.
"In one week, you did more good for the world than most people do in a lifetime," he said simply, a mysterious pouch hanging from his hip. The Cazenax watched warily before easing. Classa eyed the strange man with suspicion, her more childlike nature seeming to have returned, as if the effects of her wish had worn off now that its paramount lesson was learned.
"Come with me now, back home." He smiled in faint satisfaction, taking a deep breath of the desert air through his nostrils. His gaze fell upon Tennaxi, Samaxi, and Yansee.
"Oh, and you too, or... you three," he joked.
"You show much promise: far too much to be anywhere else but at Ersand'Enise."The portal yawned open. Classa hugged Zarina and Tku one last time before Zox picked her up and held her as if she was a little doll. He bid farewells of his own: brief but meaningful, while Naxos chattered on, dabbing tears with a kerchief. Josca, Buinats, Cozoban, and Cozezast did not have anything too longing to say. They would be there in a couple of weeks for the Trials. Jascuan, the old man who had started it all, slept peacefully as they said goodbye.
BlackRoseSiren,
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Aeolian,
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Force and Fury
