Fire Emblem: Children of Light

Chapter 10: A Talk

  Meru touches Aurelio on his right shoulder. A star-shaped mark appears, shining brightly through his sand-crusted shirt.

  "Do you see that? That is the Regnum Stellis. It means that you are a Child of Light, just as your sister is."
  "Does... does that mean I'm a dragon too?"
  "I'm afraid not." Meru chuckles. "It's a strange thing, the Regnum Stellis, not even I know of its origins. All I know is that those marked with it are bound by fate, bound to serve to uphold the wellbeing of their land in some way or another."
  "So me wanting to help the Vibestians, it's not just something I wanted to do, but something I have to do?"
  "There's more to it than that. Your mother and father were called upon to stop the chaos that was conjured by my brother; however, now that they have a kingdom, an era of peace and of unity to uphold, it would seem that that role now falls upon you and your sister. Nearly eighteen years ago your father sealed my brother away, but now his seal has began unwinding once again, and I'm afraid if it breaks again the world as you know it will cease to exist..."
  "But... If I may be frank, I-I don't want to fix the seal on some god." Aurelio says. "And I don't imagine Callista wants to either. Father should've finished his job instead of leaving it to us. Thinking back, I see now that I really only wanted to go to Vibestia to try and prove myself to him. It a was rash, selfish, impetuous decision and because of it I've brought my friend into ceaseless skirmishes. They've gotten hurt because of me. If I wasn't a royal, if I wasn't 'marked' or whatever, would they still have gone? Are they 'marked' too? I... I just want to go home where it's safe. I have people I care about, I don't want them to keep getting hurt because my brazenness. If this war is inevitable, then let it come to me, I'll deal with it then..."

  Meru sighs and wraps her arms around Aurelio, patting gently on his back. Her body irradiated with a motherly warmth.

  "You sound just like your father..." She says. "Aurelio, I understand. You're tired, you're afraid. I know not of fate, of the Regnum Stellis, they are out of my hands; but everything happens eventually, everything is inevitable. Allow me to help you. Let me be a light that guides you and your friends to safety. I only wish for you to be prepared."
  "But... This isn't me. Am I really cut out to be a tactician, a fighter, a prince? Why can't I just toss it all aside? Would that be impetuous? Why do I have to do this?"

  Aurelio's voice--slightly muffled within Meru's embrace--quivered. Now that he was talking about it, he was beginning to crumble under all the stress that slowly consumed him. It didn't nearly seem all that long ago that he was merely a young child playing games with Callista and Ian in the castle courtyard. Now that Aurelio was beginning to see some of the dangers of war, he wondered if he really wanted to be a tactician or if he just wanted to seem smarter than others. What did he really want to do? Was he really only meant to serve as a pawn in the gods' affairs? He wished that he was never birthed with a gift for magic and that his family never associated with deities. Why'd they have to rope him into this?

  "Meru, I-I don't want to carry all of this responsibility. I thought quelling a simple revolt would be an in-and-out job, but now I have to fight a god? I-I just want to go home where it's safe. I want to spend more time with my family. I-I want to love and be loved. I-I-" Aurelio begins to cry. Meru lifts him up and dries his tears.
  "We can't always do the things we want to do Aurelio. Sometimes fate intervenes, and to get to the things we want, we must fight. You wish to spend time with your friends and family, correct? I imagine they do to, but with the threats of war and encroaching darkness, none of them can rest easy. If you want a safe place for you all to live in, you must fight for it. Nothing comes easy. Inevitably is a part of life, it happens, but if you allow me to enlighten your path, I shall let your dreams of peace become inevitably rather than fantasy."
  "You're right..." Aurelio sniffles.

  Meet sets Aurelio back down on the shore and she crouches down. Lifting her finger, Aurelio's tome flies up into the air and hovers in front of them.

  "Aurelio, you know that I'm not truly standing before you, correct? Both the bodies of my brother and I are still sealed away at the Altar of the Gods. However, our powers irradiate out ever so slightly from our seals, allowing us to have minute earthly connections. My brother uses his weakening radiance to influence and infect the heart of someone who's lost, and from there he spreads his curse. Should he spread his curse enough, his blade will once again grow strong enough to break his seal--and if that happens, I'm afraid it'll break for good." Meru says sagely. "My radiance--my light--does the opposite. My light, the same light I've bequeathed upon your sister, heals. Aurelio, will you accept the last of my light and pave a path of healing through Sanasa, a path that may finally unify this continent once and for all?"
  Aurelio nods. "Yes. If fate wills me to fight, then I accept my fate. I just hope you guide me well..."

  Meru smiles and places her soft red lips on the front cover of the tome. Her body explodes into a plume of flower petals, and Aurelio watches in awe as each petal collides with one of the dancing wisps. Each hazy blue wisp merges with each ivory white petal, transforming into twinkling baby blue roses. The roses land on the surface of the water with a cool, gentle ripple, their shine still filling the room with an ethereal glow. One last rose floats gently downward and lands on Aurelio's tome. The flower begins to unfold, its silken blue petals scattering through the pages of the book until they're quietly consumed by the goddess' faint light. When the light finally subsides, the tome drifts down into Aurelio's hands. No longer an old, yellowed tome from the depths of the Royal library, it was now bound in glimmering gold. A large ruby red crystal was embedded in the center and a blessing was carved in the Manakete language on the tome's spine.

  "That is the Luxmerum, a holy tome forged from my own light." Meru's voice whispers quietly in his ears. "My child, I pray that it serves you well."

  Aurelio looks around the clearing. It was dead silent. No birds rustled in the trees. No insects hopped about in the grass. No waves lapped against the lake shore. Everything was placid. Aurelio looks out at the millions of roses sitting gently on the lake's surface and notices that there was no longer an unrecognizable stone statue in the lake's center. He sighs, his uneasy breath breaking the deafening quiet.

  "Come now Aurelio, you must steel yourself." He says quietly to himself, rubbing at his eyes. "I have to be strong, not just for me, but for them, for her. The time for crying can come later. I told myself that I'd help regardless of what happened, and dammit, I'm gonna help!"

  Aurelio puts his tome away, a quiet confidence and authority in his voice. He looks over and sees Galatea, still asleep in the sand. Her snow white skin twinkled dimly, the faint dew and perspiration on her body and in her clothes reflecting the light. Aurelio wondered if the whole exchange with Meru was only visible to him or if she was really that sound of a sleeper. He smiles and sits down beside her. They needed to leave, the group was likely gray-headed stressing about their whereabouts, but Aurelio couldn't just leave Galatea by her lonesome and he'd to wake her; she was likely as hungover as he once was, and if so, she'd need as much rest as she could get. He smiles and looks down at Galatea. He was completely in love with her and everything about her: her personality, her gentle demeanor and quiet bravery; her song, both the deep-rooted history and the newfound memories it invoked; the little things, like how her little white nose twitched ever so slightly as she slept. She made him feel so weak, struck immobile with emotion. It was a feeling he hated yet at the same time loved, it was feeling he was addicted to. Aurelio would do anything to be by her side forever, even if that something was as big as fighting a god or as little as dealing with the fact that despite the quiet tranquility on her sleeping face, Galatea snored like a bear. Aurelio smiles and runs his fingers gently through her hair. If going on a journey to reunite a warring kingdom and defeat an envious god is what it took to be with his little white haired bear, then he would fight with such fervor that even dragons would have no choice but to respectfully quiver before him.