Finding Jayler was an easier affair for Jay than she had expected, not that she was objecting. In fact, she was more than fine with it. She made her way through the castle quickly before finding him in the main area. With her conversation with Tuila out of the way, there was no reason for her to linger elsewhere, and she could tell that she and Jayler had a lot to cover.
A few moments after Jay arrived in the main area of the castle, the lights overhead flickered before coming on. It seemed that the magical core of the palace had been restored to its full quality once again. She sighed to herself, glad to see that such a feat had been accomplished so quickly. The last thing she wanted was to have to deal with the cold throughout the rest of the day. It was more bearable the closer to the inside of the castle that she got, but near the doors, it was notably bothersome.
"There you are!" Jayler cried out as he approached Jay, his face in a bright smile. "I'm glad to see that you're doing well throughout all of this. I was kind of worried that Tuila was going to be upset when she dragged you off like that, but you certainly look to be in one piece."
"We were able to understand one another after we started talking," Jay explained with a simple yet loose shrug. "That's the main thing that you need to know about that... Though I do think that we should talk about our dynamic personally. It's what we should have done a while ago, but I suppose that there's no time quite like the present when it comes to sorting out those matters."
Jayler nodded his agreement. "Yeah. I can take you up to my room. I'm sure that you already know where it is... I mean, you did sneak in that one time and all that," he commented. After a brief pause, he continued. "Speaking of that, why did you come into the castle that night? You said that you were on a mission, and I would imagine that you would want to focus on your job instead of coming to see me."
"I was lonely," Jay confessed softly, trying to not sound too detached. "It's been difficult trying to manage the mission, if I'm being honest. It's finally been taken care of, so it won't be an issue anymore, but it's still something that was rough to grapple with at first. I take it that you're going to want details about that, yes?"
"Of course," Jayler replied. He started walking away from the front of the castle, and Jay trailed after him. "I've really missed you since we last saw each other, you know. I mean, I feel like that's obvious given that I wanted to talk to you as soon as I realized that you were here again... I've been waiting for so long to see you again, but I guess that you got caught up in other things before we could see each other once more."
Jay winced silently. "Yeah... I just so happened to be dragged into something else important around the time that you returned to the Galaxy of Hyperion. It wasn't exactly convenient timing, but I'm glad that I was able to take care of it before things could get out of hand. That was what brought me here, as a matter of fact. I was gathering the other fighters that joined us during that battle. I'm sure that you saw them during the process of cleaning up after the fight ended," she told him.
"Yeah, I did," Jayler confirmed. "Well, I saw one of them. I think she said her name was Jubilee. She's kind of blunt, but I can tell that she has good intentions beneath that. In that way, she isn't exactly unlike Xia... You're going to have to tell me more about them if they're really as heavily involved with this as you're making it sound. I mean, if gathering them was your mission, then it has to have something to do with us. That's what I'm choosing to believe at this point, anyways."
"You would be correct... They're the rest of my Hanilia faction," Jay explained. "They're the Skylian Mages. There has only been one team of us since the ancient days when Lyloc was still alive, and we just so happen to be the members of that team. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to come together sooner, but it wasn't as if we had much of a choice in the matter. We were in a difficult situation. Some members of our group weren't aware that they were Skylian Mages at all, and out of the others who were left, they were involved with other obligations. At least we're together now."
"I want to hear about everything," Jayler told her as they arrived in front of the door to his room. He paused before looking in her direction. "I... I don't think I can say enough how much I've missed you. I mean, it was so much to hear about all at once during the previous war... That I had a sibling, you know. It was hard to have to go back home when I knew that there was so much that had yet to be done on this side of the barrier. How could I just return to normal life when I was part of something so much greater than just me over here? The war ended, and there were people counting on us for hope. I was hoping that we would be able to return sooner than we did, but... Better late than never, right?"
Jay smiled to herself and nodded. "Yeah... I guess that you're right," she murmured. She watched as he opened the door, and she trailed after him to the space within. It was just as she remembered it from the night that she had snuck inside, and she was glad to see that such a fact continued to ring true. She remembered this room from her days as a Skylox Hero protege as well. She could still see the faces of the occupants of the building when she closed her eyes.
"You seem stressed all of a sudden," Jayler suddenly told her, and Jay started as she turned to face him. She hadn't realized that he had shut the door behind them and was watching her intently.
Jay hesitated before sighing. "Yeah... I guess you could say that I am," she replied. "This place was once the base for all of the Skylox Heroes. This was where we carried out all of our operations, and even if I wasn't one of them by technicality since I'm part of a different Hanilia faction... I loved being here with them. It was my home, plain and simple. This was the place that I grew up, and... I guess that I never thought I would see it change after they died. I came here every once in a while just to look around, but... I never expected that Tuila of all people would decide that it was a good idea to barge in here and make it into something new."
"Times change," Jayler told her simply. "I think that we both knew that already though... I mean, time is part of what tore us apart, brought us back together, and then left us to divide once again. It seems pretty obvious that it can have a major influence on your life." He chuckled to himself before shaking his head. "That's enough of that talk though. I want to hear about what you've been doing. It's... It's nice to be able to see your face for the first time without the helmet. I knew that you and I looked a lot alike, but seeing it is something completely different."
"It's a strange sensation to look at somebody else and see your face on them," Jay agreed as she began to laugh to herself as well. "I got used to it, at least to a degree, during the war on Daragon, but since I was wearing a helmet and suit of armor all the time, I guess that you never got that luxury."
"Nope," Jayler replied with a smile as bright as the sun itself. He shook his head and glanced up to her once again. "But I'm going to get over it. I think that I kind of have to. I don't want to be all weird and constantly stare at you whenever we're hanging out. I'm going to have to adapt to this... Having a sibling and seeing my face on said sibling. Who would have thought that this would be what I'd find in the Galaxy of Hyperion?"
"Believe me when I say that I never anticipated having a sibling until I was told by Lyloc," Jay assured him. "It... It's new to me as well. I'm not used to reaching out to people in general, if I'm being honest. It's been a struggle for me for as long as I can remember, but... I do want to get better about it. I think that we both deserve that much."
"It's a slow process," Jayler reminded her. "Everything takes time. It isn't like you can just wake up one day and suddenly be amazing at anything. You have to practice anything, and emotional connection is the same way. I mean, I handle things pretty differently from the other members of my team, wouldn't you say? That doesn't mean that any of us is specifically bad when it comes to emotions, you know?"
"Fair point," Jay agreed with a nod. "We'll just take our time with it, I suppose. That's all that we can do as far as I'm aware... But for now, I can tell you what I know about everything that's been happening lately. I don't know all that much about Alba, but I can tell you about my journey since we last saw one another. I've been able to gather the Skylian Mages, though I'm sure that you can already see that. This would be the perfect time for me to go into detail about that too."
Jayler sat down on his bed and gestured for Jay to do the same. He pressed his elbows against his knees and leaned forward, chin in his palms. "Tell me everything. I'm all ears," he told her firmly. Jay resisted the urge to laugh at the childish glitter in his eyes and the way that every part of him seemed to be filled with wonder.
In a way, that moment was everything that she had ever wanted. Jay had been so detached and passive towards the rest of the world ever since the Skylox Heroes were killed, but she was able to finally enjoy herself in a way that she wouldn't have been able to anticipate before she began to help out with the war on Daragon. For just a few precious seconds, Jay was given the chance to enjoy familial connection the way that most others did, and she didn't ever want this moment of pure perfection to end. When she did finally start talking, there was a smile on her face that felt more natural than any other grin that had ever graced her features, and Jay wondered if it was possible for anything to pull her down from this emotional high once it had started.
~~~~~
Ocean walked through the castle slowly, a frown on her face. Quite some time had passed since the end of the battle, and she still hadn't seen Lex anywhere around. That wasn't the most ridiculous thing to some others, but Ocean was aware of how talkative and personable Lex was. Most of the time, Lex thrived anywhere that there were other people around to talk with, and yet, she was nowhere to be found. Ocean had heard that Zelda had spoken with her earlier, but since Zelda was roaming around the castle again, that left no excuses for what had happened with Lex.
Ocean had almost given up on her search when she reached the top floor of the castle. She slowly pushed the door open to a room that was scarcely visited by many others. She knocked her knuckles against the wall beside the wood. "Hello? Lex?" she asked quietly, hating how loud her words sounded in the silence.
Much to Ocean's surprise, Lex was actually inside as she thought, and the girl was sitting in a chair with a dull expression that made Ocean feel sick right off the bat. She didn't think that she had ever seen Lex looking that hopeless before, and she did her best to shove aside her anxiety that spoke of her worst fears as she approached the other girl. Lex barely seemed to notice Ocean until after she had sat down beside her.
"Are you okay?" Ocean finally forced herself to question when she was settled in. Her eyes were filled to the brim with concern, and she was left resisting the urge to reach out and take Lex's fingers between her own. Perhaps the thought of the theoretical gesture was for Lex's comfort or perhaps it was for her own.
Lex glanced up when she heard Ocean's voice, and she swallowed dryly. Her eyes were haunted and dark. "Hey," she said simply. She didn't say anything after that, but Ocean could tell there were a thousand thoughts swirling through her mind. Ocean couldn't tell if Lex was afraid of speaking or if there was something deeper to it, but she was going to at least try to figure out the answer to such an inquiry.
"You didn't answer my question," Ocean pointed out as she moved a little bit closer, still giving Lex enough room in case she was uncomfortable with the close quarters. Her hand slowly drifted closer to Lex, and while she didn't fully take the other girl's fingers between her own, the gesture made it clear that the offer was on the table in case Lex wished to follow up on it.
Lex hesitated before letting out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Ocean, I... I learned something a little while ago, and I really don't know how I'm supposed to feel about it. I guess that I just needed some time to think it over, but no matter how many times I think about it, I can't find an answer for what I'm supposed to feel about it," she confessed.
"There isn't a right way to feel, you know," Ocean pointed out. "Your response is justified no matter what it is. I don't know what it is that you heard, but... If you want to talk about it, I'm here, and I would be more than happy to listen. You've always been so confident and bright, and... I don't like seeing you this way. You deserve better than to feel so held back by the weight of the world around you, Lex."
Lex looked at Ocean carefully before reaching out and embracing the other girl in a hug. "Zelda told me something," she finally forced herself to say. "She said that she's also a Child of the Deadly Flame, and... She mentioned that we're sisters. She heard as much from the original Fearbringer, Yeryph, who spoke to her prior to her rebellion with the other Fearbringers who act as the current generation of Hanilia. She didn't have the chance to properly tell me about it until now, and... I don't know what to say about it all. I know that I should be happy to have a sister after believing that I was an only child all this time, but... I don't know. It's just hard for me to describe."
Ocean stared at Lex in surprise but forced herself to hide it as quickly as possible. She didn't want to bring any extra stress to her companion, after all. She glanced down at her feet after the two had pulled away from their hug. "Yeah... I can see how that would be overwhelming for you to learn about out of the blue like this," she agreed softly. "But you know what? You don't have to give her an answer right now. You aren't obligated to respond to her questions no matter what you think. Zelda isn't going to push you for it if she really cares about you as her sister."
"She said that she didn't want to push me the wrong way, yeah... But I don't know. I guess that it's just so much for me to take in all at once. When this happened with Jayler, I was nothing but supportive since I knew that was what he needed, but... Everybody else is fine with Zelda and the Fearbringers fighting with us. I thought that I was okay with it too. I was so sure that they were fighting for change, and I wanted to believe that they had evolved and come to understand things in a new light," Lex explained.
"But since you're learning about this all of a sudden, you're left wondering if there's something else that you should be thinking about here, right?" Ocean prompted. When Lex nodded her agreement, Ocean began to continue. "Lex, it's okay to have conflicting thoughts about this. It's a lot to take in all at once, and nobody is going to hold it against you if you need to take some time to process everything. This is a private matter, and it's okay if you have private thoughts about it all. Jayler might have broadcasted what happened with him and his sister, but you aren't Jayler, and that's okay. You don't need to compare the situations when there's a lot of extra complexity to the two different circumstances."
Lex stared at Ocean in silent shock for a long moment, trying to find a way to phrase her response. She eventually let out a laugh and reached up to rub at her eyes with the heel of her hand. She didn't seem to have noticed that she was crying at all until it was too late. "Thanks so much for everything, Ocean... I don't know what I would do without you," she confessed. "All of this is just a mess. How am I supposed to respond to this? I want to be able to go back to normal, but... What even is normal anymore? How can anything return to the way that it was now that I know about this? I feel like I have to give a response to Zelda sooner or later. Hell, I might want to do that just because I'm desperate to stop thinking about it like this. It's only been a little while since I found out, but... I feel like such a mess already. I don't know what to do about it all."
"You deserve to take your time right now, Lex," Ocean assured her, placing one hand on the small of the blonde girl's back. "I mean it. Take all the time that you need to figure out how you feel. Nobody is going to ask for an answer right off the bat, and if Zelda says that she's willing to give you time, then I think that you should believe her for your own peace of mind. You're struggling with all of this new information, but you aren't in this alone. If you want to tell the rest of the team, then let me help you through it. If you would prefer to keep this between us, then that's okay too. Whatever you decide, you have my full support the whole way through. Everything is going to be okay. I'm going to make sure of that. We'll get through it together."
Lex rubbed at her eyes again before letting out a sound that seemed to be halfway between a choke and a sob. "I don't know what I would do without you, Ocean," she whispered. "When my emotions are flying in a thousand different directions, then you come right in and ground me like nothing happened in the first place. I really wonder where I would be if I didn't have somebody like you around to keep me from falling apart out of the blue. Things sure would be a lot more stressful without you."
"I'm just happy to help you," Ocean confessed honestly. "I think that this is what you need right now, and since that's the case... Well, I want to do what I can to pitch in. You're my friend, Lex, and friends do what they can to help one another. I want to make sure that you're feeling alright, so here we are. Does this help you to feel better at all?"
Lex nodded intently. "Of course it does. You always know just what to say... I don't think that anybody else would have been able to help me out as much as you have in this situation," she said simply.
Ocean felt pink rise to her cheeks, and she hated how easily she was embarrassed as she forced herself to look away from Lex, unwilling to bear the humiliation of having the other girl see how nervous she was all of a sudden. "I'm just doing what I thought would be best... It really isn't that big of a deal. In fact, I think that you would have been fine if anybody else helped you out."
Lex's hand suddenly came up to cradle at Ocean's chin, and Lex forced the taller girl to look her in the eyes. "Ocean, I know what I said. You handled this with a lot more tact than everybody else would have, and... I think that this is exactly what we both needed. Things have been chaotic lately, but... This is the peace that I required to be able to calm down. I get the feeling that it's the same for you too," she explained firmly.
Ocean let out a small laugh, hating how obvious it was that she was nervous about being forced to speak to Lex this way. "I sure am bad at this, huh? I came up here to try and help you out, but you wound up being the one to make sure that I didn't feel bad," she murmured, feeling humiliation start to mount in her stomach. It was like a rock that threatened to pull her into the ground.
However, if Lex noticed this, she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she shook her head. "It's okay. We both helped each other out, and that's what friends are for. You said it yourself earlier, and I don't think it would be right if I let you contradict yourself like that after everything you did to help me out here today," she told Ocean firmly.
For a few moments, Lex and Ocean were simply staring at one another, their eyes locked firmly. Bright blue met deep sapphire, and for a few brief seconds, nothing but the two of them mattered. Zelda's confession of blood relation meant little, and the recent attack on the castle was nothing more than an afterthought that neither one of them wished to address for quite some time. They were there together, and that was all that they really needed to concentrate on.
Lex leaned forward slowly and pressed her lips against Ocean's, leaving the black-haired girl with eyes wide in shock. However, that didn't mean that she at all protested the motion. In fact, part of her had wished that she would somehow muster the courage together to do something similar; Ocean was the shy type, rarely acting on her own wishes unless someone pushed her to do so, but Lex had the boldness that Ocean lacked. It seemed that Lex understood what Ocean was quietly seeking, and all it took was a moment for her to follow up on the silent promise and deliver.
When Lex pulled away a few seconds later after the brief kiss, there was a gentle smile in her eyes and on her lips. "Thank you for everything," she whispered softly, reaching down to take Ocean's hand with her other hand. Her thumb stroked gently at Ocean's cheek, and the Clan Leader of Light was left stuck in place silently as she tried to navigate her response to this situation. She had enjoyed that far more than she expected, and something emotional at her core seemed to scream with satisfaction and finally being satisfied after so much time. Ocean hadn't realized how much she wanted something like that to take place until Lex finally acted on it, and she didn't know how to respond. All of a sudden, she was the one stunned silent with no way to properly react to the world around her.
Neither Lex nor Ocean wanted to be the one to move, so they instead chose to continue sitting there in the quiet silence. Ocean leaned forward slowly, and their foreheads pressed together carefully. They chose to not close the distance beyond that, understanding that they didn't need to. All that mattered was that they were together, and even if they didn't understand anything about the rest of the world in that instant, they knew that they didn't have to.
~~~~~
By the time that Jay had finished her story, Jayler's eyes were bright with enthusiastic energy. "Wow," he said simply. "It sounds to me like you've all had quite the adventures together... And you ran into one of the Ice creatures that Alba created. We heard about that briefly a while ago, but... I didn't realize that you were the one behind all of that."
Jay shook her head as she looked down at the ground. "I had no idea that Cryai would be involved with Alba. It wasn't as if we had any evidence of that at the time... Oh, well. At the very least, we're aware of it now. That's enough for me. We might not know entirely what Alba wants, but I get the sneaking suspicion that it's only a matter of time before everything that they're seeking is revealed. Nobody can say for sure if this is going to be a good or bad thing, but... Well, it's going to take a bit of patience, but we'll be able to work it out," she told him.
"I'm sure that it's all going to be fine," Jayler agreed with a wide grin. "In fact, I'm proud of us for coming this far... Everything seems like it's going to be a lot easier now that you and the Skylian Mages are here. It sounds like most of the members of your team are really powerful, and we can use all hands on deck at times like this, especially given that Alba seems to have the power to simply create armies out of nowhere like this."
"Artificial life has always been a unique subject," Jay began with a shrug. "That's how most of the members of my team were created. It takes a lot of effort and experimentation to get it right though, to actually create a being that behaves in the same way as a regular person without being influenced by outside forces."
"Cryai was an attempt that came close, but at the end of the day, he was still a puppet for Alba. He did their dirty work by keeping Ronan hidden in Cloudpeak, but it seems to me like he lacked any true motivation of his own when push came to shove," Jayler remarked.
"Alba doesn't seem to be interested in creating actual people that can think and live for themselves as far as I can tell. Alba wants to have control over others, and that's all that matters to them," Jay murmured. "But we're going to be able to stop them before they can do anything beyond what has already happened. They've shown their power to us today, but if we can prepare for their next assault, then we'll be able to fight back and show them what they're truly up against. The element of surprise won't be able to save them forever."
"I guess that we do have an advantage at this point," Jayler chuckled. "I mean, we were already able to topple Mersall, and even if there's still a lot left for us to accomplish, I think that's a great first step. Not everybody is able to say that they played a large part in taking out somebody who had been causing problems for generations and hiding in the shadows as an immortal fighter all this time."
"I'm looking forward to being able to defeat Alba once and for all," Jay said confidently. "We need to rid this world of the Lakinya that have done so much to threaten it. The fact that they're alive... If Mersall and Alba have recovered their previous levels of power enough to return to full strength, then that means that we have to be ready for the others to come out of the shadows as well. There are too many factors for us to simply shrug off this situation as unimportant."
"But we're going to be fine," Jayler declared. He reached out and took Jay's hand between his fingers. "I mean, we're here together, and that's what matters most to me. We're able to fight alongside the rest of the Clan Leaders and Skylian Mages on top of having the Fearbringers and Draconic Superiors here. That's a large group, and I don't think that Alba is going to be able to fight back against something like that forever. In fact, I'd like to see them try."
Jay nodded her agreement. She wasn't entirely sure where the future was going to be headed, but she knew that she was going to be okay no matter what came her way. "Yeah... They won't know what hit them," she agreed, and her fingers squeezed against her brother's gently. Jayler returned the gesture, and Jay smiled to herself, feeling home again at long last.
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I was pretty sure that I would be holding off this update until tomorrow but here we are!
-Digital