Reyna scratched Flow under his chin and he closed his eyes, his muzzle appearing to pull into a smile. The adorable little spirit usually kept her company while she visited his gravestone. It was a modest block of glossy gray-black granite, one of many in the memorial that were far more glamorous. The only engraving on it was his name.
DANTE ALEJANDRO MONTERROSA
A wisp of guilt curled around her heart, brief as a sudden but violent gust of wind. It had been years since she had visited. The first year after his death, she had come almost every day. For a decade after that, she was by his grave on his birthdays, remembering when she had given him another favorite album or another band shirt. Their gifts were repetitive, but that was not what was important to them. It had been for the glow on his face, the feel of his arms around her, and the warmth of his love.
The other times Reyna visited his grave was on the anniversary of his death. She would fight tears as she recalled the last time she held his hand and its receding warmth. Remember how his flesh gave under her lips as she kissed his cheek. How hours later he gave his last breath but not before saying how beautiful she still was. How he had known all along she had kept the Aqua Oscura flower from him, but it had been okay because he had also known she had loved him the best way she could and that was all he ever wanted. He told her to continue shaping this new world he was happy he had shared with her.
Reyna inhaled, holding the breath deep in her chest, feeling it swell her lungs and lodge in her throat. Her eyes were dry and had been for a long time. "I'm sorry I haven't been here awhile," she whispered, her fingers running over his name.
"You shouldn't feel sorry," a chorus of heavy whispers said.
She glanced to her right to see Umbra sitting next to her. The spirit had his legs crossed under him, green stones for eyes on Dante's headstone. Flow gave a throaty sigh as he stared at Reyna. She giggled at the little spirit before he raced off in to the garden that surrounded them.
"I already said I don't want to know," Reyna told Umbra.
"I didn't offer to say anything," Umbra said, and he appeared to smile. "I know you have made peace with Dante's death."
Umbra's appearance wasn't uncommon, but usually it was in the presence of Verden and Radi, a voice of guidance in their pursuit to help shape the balance of this single world. He had appeared to her a handful of times, and their meetings were usually silent. Reyna doubted Umbra remembered who he had been, much less that he was her brother, but she had come to appreciate his visits. He was, after all, the closest thing she had to the family she lost.
And so they both sat, quiet, staring at Dante's headstone.
"He hasn't returned?" Umbra then asked.
Reyna knew who he was talking about and a dull pang warmed her chest. "No."
"Then why did you return back to the castle?"
She sighed. "I have to take another one."
Umbra also sighed, an echo of exhales that went on forever. "Then I hope he returns soon. This is the second one you are going to take."
"I know. The first one was our mistake. We were uncertain of what we were doing and gave the dark blood power to someone too soon and to someone we didn't know very well. This one was honestly a surprise." Reyna scowled. "Which is such a disappointment because Verden is so tired."
"All the more reason for Mundus to return from his extremely long soul-searching journey."
"Yes, he does need to come back. You think maybe he just decided to nap for a really long time?"
Umbra appeared to smile.
Silence enveloped them and it was in silence that Umbra disappeared like a ghost.
Reyna stared at the grassy area where he had sat.
It had been years since she had been here at the castle. Though it wasn't called a castle or a palace or even a kingdom anymore. Its towers were gone as was its surrounding walls. The giant city that had gathered and grown around Auronmar's old fortress had been dubbed San Carrhaena. It was considered the capital of their half of the world, for the other half wasn't as enthusiastically populated yet. Even now, there was fear in the air for humans, the stories of genocide and the destruction of their home fresh on the mortal tongues for the purpose of remembrance and fresh on the demonic tongues for the purpose of dominance.
But there had still been progress. Reyna had been in their brother city of Nazonn as an ambassador. It was the main hub for demons with a small human population dotting the outskirts of it, something Reyna was hoping to expand inward. As always in places where demons prevailed, her dark blood granted her their respect, but her human nature still kept them at bay. However, that was exactly why she, as a human born, was there.
Cerus was her distant partner in this ambition born a hundred and fifty years ago. If Nazonn was the brother city to San Carrhaena, Roma was the sister city. It held the majority of the human population, and Cerus faced similar problems with them. Mortals giving his immortal face apprehensive looks. But at least he had Lina to help him with his worries.
Reyna placed a hand on top of Dante's tombstone before walking away to visit the other markers that formed a dotted stone circle around a grand statue. It was smooth and magically untarnished by the elements. A faceless human and an anonymous demon stood next to each other. The white stone of the human was flowing into the black stone of the demon. Or perhaps the black was pouring into the white. It stood high on a wine colored pedestal, its shadow swallowing Reyna.
As she slowly walked around the tombstones, reading the etchings, pausing to memories, she held each name in her heart for a beat before moving on to the next one. In front of the monument was a giant gravestone with as many names that could be recovered from Blethinette and Lys' genocide, both human and demon. The other gravestones were devoted to single people, like Dante's. Those held names that weighed heavier on Reyna's heart. Some held bodies underneath their hardened, immortal words. Others didn't.
Gahn. Erian. Azul. Diorela. Michael. Anna. Auronmar. And even Blethinette.
She had dwelled here long enough. It was time for her to do what she had to do. Reyna weaved through the garden, following the copper pathways that showed off flowers and trees and shrubbery alike. There were other people there too. Families and friends picnicking on the grass, picking flowers, or simply strolling by as she was.
Occasionally, she saw a human and a demon walk hand-in-hand or talk together as if friends. A little boy and a little girl--siblings Reyna figured--ran by her. Their smoothed, brown skin suggested they were human, but the feathers that layered on their cheekbones, forehead, and shoulders showed demon in them too.
When Reyna excited the garden, she cast her eyes on San Carrhaena's citadel. She felt Verden and Radi in there along with hundreds of other people. If she concentrated hard enough, she could see the bugs, plants, and more, veins of magika and life flowing through them. Suddenly, she felt tired and didn't want to walk anymore.
She teleported to Verden's location which was her destination anyway. The room was tiny and sterile like a holding cell because that's exactly what it was. A man was held up against the wall. White tendrils, like grotesque fingers from the wall itself, wrapped around his head, covering his eyes. His neck, arms, and legs were bound as well.
Reyna stared at the man, remembering his name: Alvan. A few months ago, he had been given the dark blood power in hopes of soon replacing Verden. Out of the several candidates, he had appeared the best choice with his ideals of equality and actions that moved toward fulfilling those ideal, but two days ago he put forth his true plan.
Alvan had steaked demon heads in the parks of San Carrhaena. Skinned hybrid children and slain their parents. Disemboweled anyone that tried to stop him. All while flaunting his power for everyone to sense. Verden himself had showed up to detain him, making sure the illusion he cast Alvan in was painful. And now Reyna was here to take that power away from him by removing his living soul.
She didn't hesitate.
Reyna thrust her right arm through the man's chest. He gasped but the sound shriveled into the vacuum that overtook her. She was weightless, ethereal. Ribbons like comet tails dominated all existence, encasing her with a kaleidoscope explosion of life. And within it all, she saw the man's essence. Raw and hot. She reached out, her limb fluid coils of light that swam with the bending lights of permanence and continuation. Like sentient vines, Reyna's being latched around the man's existence, choking it until it was cold.
The vision broke, and Reyna was back in the white room. She withdrew her arm, an arch of blood splattering the floor and ceiling. It shattered into blue stars that disappeared before touching the ground. Just as quickly, it manifested again, a smooth, azure porcelain limb detailed with fingernails, lined knuckles, and tiny veins. She watched, or rather felt, as Alvan's spirit faded and ceased to exist.
It was Ayame that taught her how to do that. Before her memories had returned to the slowly restoring balance, Ayame showed Reyna how she had pulled out Mundus' soul.
"But make sure you don't die before the soul does," Ayame had told Reyna. "Because not only does the soul you're trying to take leave and, oh I don't know, go into someone else's body, you might end up screwing the entire world."
But now, Ayame didn't remember anything. Regret was a lead weight in Reyna's stomach knowing how powerful that young woman could've become, what she could've achieved.
"It would be easier to kill them," Verden said from the corner of the room. He sat on a chair, legs and arms crossed.
"But it's messy too, and messy things tend to cause more messes," Reyna said. She frowned at the fatigue on Verden face. White streaks nested around his ears and lines framed his worries around his eyes. He looked like his father each time Reyna saw him. "Verden," she said.
He stood, cutting off the same words she always found herself telling him for the past few decades. "I can still do this, Reyna. If anything, this just shows I should continue as long as my father had."
"Continue to do what, you stubborn bastard? Work yourself to death? You do know that's why you have me and Cerus and Lina and all the others to help advocate for equality, for this literal new world that's still bubbling into existence, right?"
Verden swept his arms like swatting away her words. "There are still several out there that see me as a king. Radi as a queen. There are human cults out there that see us a gods, Reyna. I have to be there personally to show them it's wrong. I can't stop."
Reyna leaned into Auronmar's face. "And there are towns where humans and demons not only live together but marry and have children. Haven't you noticed how this new generation of demons are more humanoid looking? That has to mean something!"
"I see you two are practicing your usual greeting," Radi said as she entered the room. Her black dress trailed behind her like a morbid wedding gown. A red handkerchief was tied around her neck, and Reyna was surprised that cloth was still holding together. The first time she had seen that cloth was when it was secured around the neck of a stuffed lion.
"Hello, Radi," Reyna said.
She stared at the corpse that the wall still held in its clutches. "Killing them would be faster," she said.
"That's what I said." Verden stared at Alvan.
"However, it is also messier."
"And that's what I said." Reyna stuck her tongue out at Verden.
He rolled his eyes before smiling at her, and that was enough for Reyna to hug him. "I've missed you, Verden. I was gone for way too long this time," she said.
"I've missed you too." He squeezed her in his arms. He released her and turned to Radi. "Did you by any chance see Ayame on your way here?"
"Of course I did," she said. "And before you ask, of course she is also on--"
"Reyna, I heard you were here!" Ayame bound into the room. She looked the same since Reyna first saw her, all traces of the warrior from lifetimes ago gone.
"Ayame." Reyna pushed the spirit's short black locks behind her ears. "You're lovely as ever."
She beamed up at her.
"Ayame," Verden said.
Radi turned away. "I shall see myself out. It shall soon become unbearable now that those two reside in the same room."
Ayame had thrown her arms around Verden's neck and his own had wrapped around her waist. The two looked at each other with eyes that saw nothing and no one else, their foreheads touching. That was the only time Reyna ever saw him truly smile.
Reyna made a face. "Yeah. I'm out of here too."
She followed Radi outside and in to the more lavished hallway. Reyna fell in step with the demon.
"What is that you want?" Radi asked her.
Reyna smiled more to herself than Radi, but it was a sad one. "Have you thought about stepping down as the pillar?"
She paused, glancing at Reyna. "You only push such an issue on Verden. Have I suddenly become not productive enough for your standards?"
"You look sadder each time I see you, Radi. I know that you have no intention of stepping down anytime soon, but after Anna died--"
"Enough." Radi's sharp tone was accompanied by a burst of her power that pushed against Reyna. Radi glared at her. There was a different sense of weariness in her eyes than Verden's. It was heavy, one that had manifested before she took on the role of a pillar.
Reyna answered with a flare of her own magika, not because she was looking for a fight but because she wanted Radi to listen and hopefully understand. "You haven't mourned, Radi. You just woke up the next day after Anna's death and you didn't stop working. I never saw you at her grave, and Verden tells me you never go."
Radi deflated. "I know she is gone, Reyna. And that is all I need to know."
"Just knowing it doesn't help if you don't accept it. I just want to offer the opportunity to step down and go see her. Go talk to her."
The demon kept her sights ahead and was quiet for a few seconds. "When shall you take your leave back to Nazonn?"
Reyna took the hint. "I'm thinking after a few days. I want to spend more time here with Verden and Ayame. And with you if you'll have me."
"Well it is quite nice to have a formidable opponent. I do not wish to rust in my years." A small spark ignited in her orange eyes.
"I feel the same way."
A few hours and a dinner later, Reyna found herself in her old room. It was the one Auronmar had manifested for her over a century ago. It had remained untouched if a little dusty. The sheets had been changed but some of her clothes also from the time of the war still hung in the closet. They appeared more like rags and the ones that hadn't torn when Reyna took them off the hangars looked like shriveled silhouettes. As she went through them, she was sure they didn't fit her even if she sucked in her stomach. Reyna still held a bit of a muscular figure, but her body was different from when she had been a younger woman.
That still didn't change her longing for jeans and a t-shirt. An ambassador had to wear formal, pretty clothes. Her dress was simple and above her knees, but nothing said authority like something "flappy" and that's why she wore a shin-long, thin jacket she modified one day when she got bored. She had cut off the sleeves and trimmed the front so it opened wider to show off her dress and hosiery. The collar was sewn together like a choker so only a jewel posing as a button could open and close it.
She threw all that on the floor and settled into the pajama pants and huge gray t-shirt she had left during her previous visit. Reyna let her hair down from its half updo and ran her fingers through it, scratching her head as she did.
A squeak froze her movements. She looked at the door as it slowly opened, and Flow jumped on her bed. She smiled and picked up the pup. "You're probably bored out of your mind. You miss Cerus, don't you?"
He tilted his head and flicked one of his ears.
"Yeah, I'm sorry he's been so busy. Lina too, right?"
He released a small whimper.
She placed him on the bed and scratched his head. "Don't worry. They'll be back soon and be disgustingly cute together with you again. You know they'll never leave you alone. But until then, you're welcome to sleep here with me."
Flow nodded and settled by the foot of the bed, curling into an adorable ball of fluff. Reyna slipped under the covers, a warm nostalgia washing over her, but even that wasn't enough to lull her to sleep. It was too hot. She figured about an hour passed before the heat won, and she took off her pajama bottoms, relishing the cool freedom of wearing only her underwear and a shirt. Still, sleep didn't come.
When staring at the dark ceiling stopped being fun, Reyna got out of the bed, careful to not disturb the sleeping Flow. She opened the window, the memorial garden taking up her entire view. It was empty as was everything else around her, giving off the distinct feel of a desolate palace. She sighed.
It was true. So many still viewed Verden and Radi as a king and queen instead of simple leaders. Not that Reyna blamed them too much. It was easy to place people that literally held the world together on the same level as royalty or even as deities. But they had made progress, even if it felt like they had taken several steps backward when they first started. The fact that there were humans and demons living together, working together, and in some cases even loving each other here in San Carrhaena was proof of that. As much as Reyna hated to admit it, she knew once this generation--tied to the one that remembered genocide and a destroyed world--died, acceptance would be in more abundance.
She jumped out the window, the grass tickling her toes and the spongey earth cushioning her soles. It wasn't until she saw the quiet sky full of stars but no moon that she realized she had jumped because she felt the pull. A string around her heart tightened like someone was yanking on it, calling her. With each tug, her fever, its core behind her ribcage, pulsed and spread.
It was a lie though. If he was really here, she would've sensed him. Reyna could tell down to the inch how far everyone within a 200 mile radius was from her. Beyond that, she could feel the lively but vaguer magika clusters of towns, cities, and even rural dwellings. It had taken her years to sharpen her ability to sense magika to that level and just as long to control it so it wouldn't overwhelm her.
Point was, she was confident in her ability to sense him as soon as he stepped foot within her honed radius, even more so as he approached her. Which was why when she heard someone laughing, she yelped, the surge of surprise now such an alien concept she felt like she was experiencing it for the first time. The sound gripped her heart only because it had been there before from long ago. It burst in her chest, violent and hot, but also pleasurable and satisfying. The fire burned her up, and she felt a release.
She saw him smile at her.
"Is your sole piece of clothing that oversized shirt?" he asked.
Reyna crossed her arms, the grin on her lips out of her control. "No. I'm also wearing underwear. It's actually really comfortable."
"Such is good to know."
"Don't steal my look now. I don't think you could pull it off."
He chuckled.
Reyna walked up to him. The starlight hid half his face in shadow, but his stupid smirk was the same. "Mundus," she said. "It's about time you came back."
Originally, I had planned to have this chapter as a sort of short epilogue, but then it just grew. I wanted to explore what was going on with everyone a bit more along with how this new world was adjusting. Plus, I also wanted to write some more Reyna and Mundus which will be featured in the next chapter. This story is coming to an end, as you can see here and that next chapter is probably going to be the last one. We're close to the end of this damn trilogy, and y'all honestly helped motivate me more than you know. :D
Enjoy the two drawings below made by catou15! Erian and Azul & Verden and Ayame <3