It wasn't until long after the sun had sunk over the horizon that the festivities in the palace began to die down. Lex was admittedly a bit sad when it all began to draw to a close. She was more than happy to be able to celebrate their victory, and she needed the distraction to make sure that she didn't start thinking about something dreadful such as the fact that she should have been back on Earth. She doubted that anybody was going to find out that she and the others were gone, but it was something that she would rather not risk.
Lex was on the way to her room for the night, still vibrating on the spot from pure excitement in the aftermath of the party, when she heard a familiar set of footsteps somewhere behind her. She stopped walking and turned to face the person that was following in her path, a light smile on her face. "I didn't think that you were the type to follow anybody anywhere, Zelda," she confessed.
Zelda appeared to be taken aback for a brief moment, but she collected herself again a beat later. "I was coming in this direction for other business. It has nothing to do with you, I can assure you," she said to Lex, though neither one of them was at all convinced that Zelda was telling the truth.
"Yeah. Sure," Lex snorted with a shake of her head. "I'm not here to judge you, if that's what you're afraid of. In fact, I just wanted to ask if there was something that you wanted from me. After all, there are a few things that I want to talk to you about, as a matter of fact. Assuming that you have the time for that at the moment, that is..."
"Of course I do," Zelda assured her. "I don't have anything going on right now, and the party's cleanup isn't going to be happening until the morning. For now, we all need rest so that we don't push ourselves over the edge. We all did a lot today, and the two of us along with the rest of our group did a lot to defeat Alba earlier."
"You can say that again," Lex nodded. "Speaking of the people in our group, do you know where Tavi is? I guess I just didn't expect him to not be at your side at a time like this. He is your second in command and all that fun stuff."
"He's already in bed. Tavi is far from being a night owl, I'm afraid, and if he doesn't get enough sleep, he's prone to becoming a bit of a grouch," Zelda chuckled with a shake of her head. "He was getting a bit overwhelmed by the party. For all of his openness when it comes to discussing tactics, he isn't the best in purely social situations, and there's only so much that he can stand before he needs to take a step back for his own mental health."
"I understand that," Lex laughed. "I know that Ocean and Luke can be like that too. To a lesser extent, Gemini is too... But it really is sweet how well the two of you get along. I can tell that you care about each other a lot, and I wish that I was able to be like that with someone. It's almost like you're siblings."
Zelda raised an eyebrow in her direction, and Lex laughed agin with a shake of her head. "Maybe I should work on being more subtle, huh? I guess this is my way of saying that I've thought a bit about our relationship, and I've decided that I want us to get closer," Lex continued.
"I see..." Zelda murmured under her breath. "If I'm being honest, I don't exactly know what I'm going to be doing when it comes to sibling-type dynamics. My relationship with Tavi became what it is purely out of a need of operational necessity, and it... It just sort of happened after our years of working together as part of the Fearbringer army. I fear that I may not live up to the expectations that you may have of me."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Lex assured her. "Seriously. It's not something that you really need to put all that much thought into. Things like this... They just kind of happen naturally. People don't have to actively try to make sure that their dynamics are fine. Even if we haven't been around each other in the past, I'm sure that we'll be able to figure something out here."
"I'm glad that you're so optimistic about it. I'm afraid that I've never been the type," Zelda said. "It's a nice change of pace, I must confess, though I suppose that's simply par for the course. I lived with the Fearbringer army for a long time, and when you're made to be a super soldier at the whims of a Lakinya, your outlook on life tends to suffer at least a bit."
"Then we'll just have to try and reverse all of that," Lex grinned. "Like I said, we'll just have to take this one step at a time, and that's not a bad thing in the slightest. Why don't we just focus on one day for now? And from there, we'll see what comes of the two of us acting like siblings. I feel like it's going to be a bit jarring for the others in the castle, but they'll just have to get used to that on their own time."
"Alright," Zelda nodded. "You're so much more open and personable than I could ever dream of being. It's... It's refreshing to be around someone who has such an upbeat outlook on life, you know. I do hope that we're able to get along despite our varying personalities."
"I wouldn't worry about that. I mean, look at me and the rest of the Clan Leaders. Xia and Luke absolutely hated each other when they first started talking, you know. They had a history that just kind of set them up to not get along, and it took a while for them to break through all of that so that they would get along well enough to focus on the mission rather than on fighting with one another," Lex told her. "Well, if you want to be technical, Xia was the one doing most of the fighting, but the point still stands as far as I'm concerned. You know what I'm trying to get at. Sometimes, these relationships are a bit harder than you would have liked initially, but we got through it back then. I'm sure that the two of us will be much the same way."
"That does help out, I must confess," Zelda murmured. "There were arguments among the Fearbringers at times, but it wasn't as if we had to be around each other all the time the way that you Clan Leaders did. After all, Mersall had tricked hundreds upon hundreds of people into joining the Fearbringer army, and that meant that there were countless places for all of us to hide from one another if there was someone that we didn't get along with."
"We're going to find a way to work all of this out. I can promise you that much," Lex smiled. "All we have to do is focus on putting one foot in front of the other, and from there, everything should come together on its own. That's what I'm hoping for, at the very least, and if it gets to be harder than that, then we'll find a way to work that out too. We're intelligent individuals who know how to communicate with one another if we have to, after all. I'm sure that we can use that much to our advantage."
"I'm hardly the best at speaking with others, I must warn you," Zelda frowned. "I appreciate all of the praise that you are granting to me, and it means a lot to me that you think I'm capable of so much, but... I'm afraid that I still have a long way to go before I at all live up to your expectations, Lex."
"That's alright. No person is perfect, you know. It takes everybody time to reach their full selves, and that isn't a bad thing at all. I'm sure that we'll be able to handle it in due time. Besides, you're still learning, and that's fine. We're going to find a way to work this out... I think that you're being too hard on yourself, you know," Lex told her sister, crossing her arms over her chest. "I know that you're trying to be humble, but you don't need to be so harsh on yourself. You have a ways to go, sure, but so do the rest of us. This is a work in progress for both of us, you know. I've never had a sibling before either, so it's going to be a while before I'm great at handling this too."
"Okay," Zelda said softly. She swallowed dryly before she looked up to Lex once again. "I appreciate that you're so willing to give me a chance on this matter. It isn't the easiest situation for either one of us, but you're still putting in the effort to allow us to resolve it, and that truly does mean a lot to me."
"It's what family is meant for, you know," Lex grinned. "We'll find a way to work this out no matter what. It might seem difficult right now, but... That's what family is for. Blood related or not, family helps you to work through things that seem impossible at a first glance. They're there for you no matter what. In a way... I've found that in the Clan Leaders already, and I'm excited that I'll have someone else to consider this way now too."
"Thank you," Zelda told her. "I don't believe that there are any other words that I could use regarding this situation. I simply appreciate how much effort you're willing to put into something like this. It hasn't been easy for either of us, but you're still insistent on finding a way to make this work out. Your determination and passion are beyond admirable."
"I could say the same to you too," Lex commented. "But I don't want to keep you any longer than I already have. I know that you probably have to get back to your room sometime soon, and I don't want to keep you. I know that you're an earlier riser just like Tavi, and I don't want to keep you from resting."
"We'll see each other again another time," Zelda said firmly. She and Lex shared one more nod before Zelda turned on her heel and walked away. "Until we meet again, Lex."
Lex waved as she watched Zelda walk away, a bright grin on her face. She knew that there was still a lot for the two of them to work through, but it felt like they were already starting to make progress. It wasn't going to be easy for them to officially establish a sibling relationship, but they were going to put the effort in regardless. Lex was glad that they were at least trying, and it was a huge weight off her shoulders already. Somehow, it left her in an even better mood than before, and she hadn't even thought that was possible.
"Hey! Lex! There you are!"
Lex turned once again when she heard a voice coming from the other direction. Ocean was rounding the corner in a quick dash, a smile on her face. "I was wondering where you had gotten off to," Ocean told her. "The Clan Leaders and Skylian Mages are all meeting up in Lana's room. She invited us there so that we can all hang out and talk. I was sent to find you since you got away from the party before we could bring you along with us."
"That sounds fun!" Lex grinned, clapping her hands together. "It'll just make tonight even better. I was finally able to work everything out with Zelda, so I don't need to worry about that anymore. A little gathering with the Clan Leaders and Skylian Mages would only be the extra cherry on top to make it that much better. I'm totally in!"
"You were able to take care of things with Zelda? I'm glad to hear it," Ocean smiled gently. "I know that it was a matter of concern for you for quite some time, and it's nice to see that you have that weight off your shoulders now. I can already see a difference in the way that you're carrying yourself. Everything about you just seems a bit lighter, and... It's nice to see. I'm glad that you're feeling better now that this is off your list of things to do."
"And I'll feel even better being able to hang out with our friends some more," Lex remarked. "Plus, you'll be there, and I'm looking forward to being able to talk to you too, Ocean. Everything is going to be fun. Who would have thought that Alba being defeated was going to be such a good thing for everybody around here?"
"I'm glad for it, honestly," Ocean admitted. "Though I guess that's not exactly all that surprising... They've been causing so many problems for us since they first appeared all that time ago, and it's time for us to celebrate the fact that we're finally free. We've got to return to our regular lives again tomorrow though, at least for the time being, so we have to do what we can to enjoy tonight."
"Oh, the wonder of living a double life," Lex murmured with a shake of her head. "It comes with the territory, but it's a lonely path that we walk on. At least we've got a group of interesting mages to hang out with until we're able to figure out what it is that we're going to with our lives."
"And they're waiting for us, so let's get going," Ocean suggested. Lex nodded her agreement, and from there, the two began their quick and excited journey to Lana's room within the castle. They weren't walking for very long before they arrived outside the door, and chatter could already be heard from within the room. Ocean politely knocked before she was given a verbal cue to enter.
Once the door was pushed open, the sight of the people in the room became clear as could be. For the most part, everyone was sitting on the floor in a circle. The room was hardly made to fit twelve people, but nobody seemed to particularly mind. Xia and Jubilee were on the bed alongside Ronan and Arian while the other six Hanilia were on the ground. Ocean shut the door once both she and Lex were inside, and from there, they slid into their positions in the gap in the circle right beside the door, a space that had undoubtedly been left behind just for them.
"Finally we were able to find you!" Xia cried out with a shake of her head. "I was worried that we were going to have to send out a search party! You know, on top of having Ocean run all over creation to track you down."
"Sorry about that. I didn't realize anybody was looking for me to begin with," Lex confessed as she settled down in full. "All of that aside, why is it that we're meeting up like this to begin with? I don't think I ever heard that from Ocean on the way over here."
"There isn't even really a reason, if I'm being honest," Lana shrugged. "I just wanted everyone to be able to get to know each other. After all, we've been around each other for quite some time, but we were never quite able to talk to one another about how life has been treating us. I figured that now would be as good a time as any for all of us to start bonding and trying to get along."
"Out of the four Hanilia factions that are here at the castle, there are two larger groups and two smaller ones. I guess that it's only natural that we would gravitate towards each other at least a little bit as the smaller of the teams," Jubilee shrugged. "Plus, I'm sure that a lot of us would be able to teach you all a few things about your magic. After all, aside from Ronan, we're all trained fighters to some degree."
"I'm working on it so that I can become as strong as possible," Ronan chimed in with a nod. "But I would love to learn as much as I can. I'm up to the final level of magic, but I'm not really the best at using it when I have to. I guess that's just sort of a consequence of me growing up so far from the rest of the world, huh?"
"Perhaps so, but that's why we're going to work on fixing it while we're here at the castle," Lana assured him. "I guess that you hit that final level before you were sealed away in Cloudpeak's volcano all that time ago... But that's fine. We're just going to have to put some focus into this on our own time."
"You guys all seem to be really strong... You don't even need to transform. You're like a lot of the Draconic Superiors and Fearbringers in that way," Luke commented with a shake of his head. "I don't know how you do it, if I'm being honest..."
"After your magic hits a certain point, it becomes much easier to control and manipulate it even without transforming. Of course, we still do it in the heat of important fights to make sure that we come out on the other side alright, but we don't have to do it all the time," Lana said. "But I think that's enough talk about just fighting. we just got done with having to fight against Alba, and I think that we deserve a bit of time to take a deep breath and have fun."
"We won't be going back to Earth until tomorrow morning, so we might as well try to enjoy all of this while we have the chance to do so," Gemini agreed. "I get the feeling that we're going to be working together quite a bit from here on out. After all, there are many other Lakinya that could be out there."
"We never quite found out who specifically Alba was looking for, but we do know that it was a Lakinya. That means that there are still others for us to take down," Jay said. "Twenty-two appears to be the number for the time being. That's a lot of Lakinya, and it seems like we're going to be at this job of ours for quite a while. After all, it's been a few months, and two of the Lakinya have fallen, but that number is only going to start adding up as time goes on and more Lakinya resurface. We're lucky that the two that have shown up have been so slow about it, because they're incredibly dangerous. If more than one of them appear at any given time, then we're going to be in a world of hurt."
"But that's not important right now. We have a lot to think about that isn't related to combat. We just survived the battle against Alba, so we should try and relax," Arian pointed out with a weak smile. He let out an anxious chuckle as he shook his head to himself. "Sorry. I'm a bit nervous having to think about that right now. I want to learn more about you all though. You Clan Leaders have been moving back and forth between Earth and Hyperion so much that we haven't really been able to slow down and talk to you about everything that you enjoy doing and all that."
"We're..." Jayler began to say as he glanced around at his other teammates. "We're just kind of ourselves, I suppose. I know that's not the best answer that I can give, but it's the truth. We look after one another the way that teammates should, and we do what we can. We are pretty curious about what the Galaxy of Hyperion has in store for us though. Everything that we've done so far has been almost exclusively related to business for defeating Mersall and Alba, so it isn't as if we've had much time to see the sights or get around to have fun."
"Then we have to change that right away!" Jubilee proclaimed proudly. "There are great places all around the galaxy for us to spend time. I know of the best shopping spots and the perfect places for vacation. You tend to overhear a lot of that in my line of work as a bartender, after all, and it would be selfish of me to keep that knowledge inside rather than sharing it with the rest of you."
"Given what we've accomplished, I think that it would be nice for us to take a break for a while," Lex murmured with a smile. "I mean, we're still going to have to travel back and forth between Earth and Hyperion because of our situation, but it would be nice to settle down for a little bit to talk about having fun. I think that we deserve it after all that we've done up to this point, huh? I don't think that any other kid our age can really boast having accomplished so much over the span of their teen years, huh?"
"You can say that again," Ocean agreed with a laugh. "I would love to take a chance to relax and see what else the galaxy has in store for us though. We'll have to see if we can make plans for that soon. After all, we're still new to all of this, and it feels wrong for us, teenagers, to only be spending time fighting."
"We're more than overdue for a vacation. Everything was supposed to be relatively relaxed and peaceful after we got back to the galaxy in the aftermath of the war on Daragon, but then, we were sucked into another conflict before we had the chance to fight back. If you ask me, the time has come for us to relax and see how happy we really can be," Xia grinned. "It might be kind of hard to manage given our situation, but we'll find a way to make it so that we can travel back and forth for at least a little bit of vacation time. We could take advantage of spring break, if we wanted to."
"You all seem to be about sixteen years old," Colt murmured under his breath. "In other words, you're close to being out of high school over on Earth. That means that you will be free to travel back and forth between the Galaxy of Hyperion and Earth soon enough. Even if you can't teleport freely using your own magic, this will be much more freedom for you than you've experienced up to this point thanks to getting older."
"I don't know what we're going to be doing with our lives after all of high school is done, if I'm being honest," Jayler confessed. "We've got other goals with life on Earth, and we still don't know what it is that we're going to be doing with our futures. I guess that only time will be able to tell what happens from here."
"We're getting ahead of ourselves. For now, we're talking about taking a vacation, and we all need it desperately," Xia cut in, undoubtedly trying to change course away from the topic that had distressed the rest of the Clan Leaders not too long ago. "Yeah, this is going to be a lot to manage, but we've also worked to kill two of the Lakinya. I feel like managing problems between worlds and the finer details of doing that is going to be inconsequential by comparison."
Lex let out a chuckle and shook her head. "You might just have a point there, Xia. I think that we can talk about our dream vacation spots for the night. We're still celebrating, after all, and we deserve to continue riding that high as long as we can. If there are any hot spots that you guys think we should check out, then we should totally go for it," she declared.
"I could show you to the City of Steel," Lana offered. "It's a robotic city that I constructed. I've been around for a long time, so I've had more than a little bit of free time to take advantage of in terms of creativity. It took a long time to put it all together, but sometimes, all those years pass by in the blink of an eye for people who live as long as I do."
"Wow," was all Luke could whisper, his eyes going wide. "I know that you've definitely gotten my attention by saying something like that, though I suppose that's just kind of how it goes... You and the rest of the Skylian Mages have lived for a long time, haven't you?"
"We have. We're immortals by all definitions given that we can't really die of old age," Jubilee chimed in. "But mages in general do live for a very long time. It isn't all that uncommon for mages out there to be alive for over a hundred years. It's actually pretty uncommon for there to be reincarnations of the Hanilia because of the fact that we live for so long. It comes with the territory, I suppose."
"Wow," Jayler muttered with a shake of his head. "We're from Earth, so I don't know if that applies to us in full or not, but I think that it's pretty interesting to hear about regardless."
"Oh, it still applies to you for sure. You don't need to worry at all about that," Colt said. "It applies to every mage regardless of if they come from a mage bloodline or not. You're mages by reincarnation, at least in most cases, but that doesn't change the fact that you're mages. You have magic running through your blood, so you'll be around for a long time."
"In most cases?" Ocean echoed. She glanced over to Lex and nodded as the pieces fell together. "Ah, I know what you're talking about. That makes sense."
"That wasn't all I was referring to," Colt told her, his eyes narrowing in her direction. He wasn't exactly upset, simply much more intense than he had been previously. Ocean tilted her head to the side, but Colt's gaze was unwavering. She seemed to be able to pick up on the fact that there was more for them to discuss on this subject again at a later point, but she didn't seem to want to speak of it openly for the time being.
Xia cleared her throat, and that was the only thing capable of cutting off the intense stare down between Colt and Ocean. Both of them looked away from one another before turning their attention in Xia's direction. "I don't think that we're doing enough to think about what we're going to be doing for our vacation. We've still got a bunch to talk about, and I want to hear about some of these dream locations before we go home tomorrow. I need something to daydream about for the next few days, you know?"
Colt looked down to the ground once again, something stoic claiming his eyes as he did so. Unlike him though, Jubilee didn't seem to be at all bothered by the change of subject. "I agree! I know that there are quite a few spots in the city near here that are great for shopping if that's something that you're interested in. Regasys isn't exactly the best place in terms of tourist attractions, but it does have tons of history. Daragon is... Well, it's still recovering from the war, so I doubt that there will be too much for you to look at there in terms of getaway spots, but I know that there are nice beaches elsewhere in the galaxy," Jubilee explained. "There are just tons of nice places for us to take into consideration."
Jubilee continued to chatter about vacation spots for quite a while afterward, and the rest of the group eventually began to offer their feedback on what they thought would be the best in terms of location for their inevitable attempt at escaping the pressures of daily life. Lex simply smiled down at the ground in front of her for a short moment, listening to all that was happening around her. She was glad that the rest of her group was settling into themselves around one another. She could tell that this was going to be the start of something longstanding, and she was already looking forward to it.
The day had been a bit chaotic, but Lex was glad that it had happened. Alba would never be able to cause problems for them ever again after having been buried beneath the icy remains of their own cavern, and Zelda and Lex had been able to work out their issues as well. It felt like something out of a dream in a way, but Lex knew there were shadows watching out of the corners of her eyes. Still, she knew that much could wait. For the time being, she was going to focus on all the good that she had in her life. She deserved to be happy for just a short while longer after all that she and the rest of her group had accomplished. Worries were for another day, and Lex was more than happy to make them wait for a while as she enjoyed herself with her friends.
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Oh boy next week is the last chapter! A!
-Digital