Chapter Text
Hythlodaeus' words echoed in Nyx's ears. It must weigh heavy, the burden of all those memories. Hah...If only they truly knew.
A voice cut through Nyx's thoughts. "I was wondering where you had disappeared to."
Looking back, Nyx saw none other than Y'shtola approaching her. "Is something troubling you?"
Nyx looked back at the crystal laying in her hand before softly replying, "...No, I think not."
Y'shtola momentarily furrowed her brow before letting it pass, "Very well then. I have everything I need. Let's hurry back to the surface."
Nyx nodded, pocketing the crystal as she followed behind her dearest friend. Silence grew as the two walked towards the aetheryte curiously placed within the phantom Amaurot, allowing Nyx to once again lose herself in thought.
A kendo sword cracked across a young Au Ra's head. "Again, child." Panting heavily, the young Au Ra struck her sword forth, and the memory shifted. As the blade cut the air in front of her, the once-child now-youth saw viscera splash the wet ground beneath her foe. A single cry sounded out and her stomach twisted further into a gordian knot. In the distance, explosions tore through the battlefield as Doman revolutionaries charged forward to meet Garlean occupational forces.
"For lord Kaien!" hundreds of voices cried out around her. She was unsure if she cried out, too.
Elsewhere, later, she heard her master speaking with another man. "How old is she now?"
"Some sixteen summers old."
"And already seen battle?"
"Enough battle to earn her a place at my side, for certain."
"Perhaps...Where did you say you found her again?"
"Near the Azim Steppe. It seems her people in particular enjoyed travel. Unfortunately, they travelled into the heart of what would be a battlefield ten summers past this very day."
"I see. Unfortunate, indeed. The Xaela are certainly renowned for martial prowess but her skill with a blade is yet impressive."
"So you would consider it, then?"
"I would consider it. I make no promises."
"Rose? Are you certain you're alright?"
Nyx wiped sweat from her brow, and feigned a smile. "I am certain. You were saying?"
Y'shtola quirked an eyebrow. "I've been quiet the whole walk to the aetheryte. And so have you."
"I am fine."
"You're covered in sweat. Did you have a vision from the echo?"
"No. I don't want to talk about it."
Y'shtola slumped ever so slightly. "Is it about Elidibus?"
Nyx stopped walking. Y'shtola turned to look back. "It...Is not. And is."
Y'shtola crossed her arms, and lightly tapped her foot. "I don't think I can understand when you speak in terms such as that."
"It's nothing."
"It clearly is something."
The silence grew uncomfortable, and Nyx could swear the air grew thicker with Y'shtola's growing annoyance. Nyx sighed, and sat upon a nearby bench. "Fine. Come here."
Y'shtola's expression softened somewhat, as she went to sit next to her friend. "You can talk to me, Rose. Really. You should be a bit more honest with me, of all people."
Rose stared into the distance, before gently placing her head on to Y'shtola's shoulder and closing her eyes. For a moment, she let herself get lost in Y'shtola's breathing before saying, "I have seen Elidibus' memories a few times now, and I'm wondering if perhaps I have been too harsh on him."
Shtola chuckled lightly. "You speak almost as if he were a child."
Silence grew. "He...Is always looking up at the others in his memories. As though he were smaller. Much, much smaller."
Realization seemed to dawn on Y'shtola. "Wait...You don't think that..."
"I do. I think Elidibus might have been a child when they used him to make Zodiark's heart."
The words hung over the two like a guillotine. Eventually, it was Rose who broke the silence again. "I suppose in some ways, I can relate to him. Thrust into such importance before he was even grown. Told he was special. Mature for his age, even, perhaps. What a load of garbage."
Y'shtola did not respond for some time. She seemed to think over her words again and again. "How old were you?"
Rose took some time to answer. A lump formed in her throat, making it hard to speak. "I'm not really sure, to be quite honest. I'm told I must have been about fourteen summers old."
"Do...You not know how old you are?"
"I do, relatively speaking. I was about six when I was taken in by a Doman lieutenant, so I must be about twenty-four now. The precise date of my birth is quite lost, though."
"I see."
"He...Elidibus, I mean. He was...Is, I suppose, so very dedicated to this cause of his. I'm not sure what it was either. The memories I see are so fragmented. It's clear he wants to save his world, but he goes to such...Horrible lengths to do it." Rose chuckled bitterly, "I forgot to tell you at first, but when I was rushing to help you he forced me to fight simulacra of our comrades. My dearest friends. My worst enemies."
"...Even me?"
Rose went silent long enough for the answer to become apparent. "Thinking back on it, it almost feels like something a child would do. Like some kind of tantrum. He claimed he would make me understand what I was stealing from him. From that angle, I can almost hear him calling out 'I'm rubber, and you're glue'."
Y'shtola snorted. "I think that's a bit far, don't you?"
Rose allowed a small smile to play across her lips. "Perhaps. I see no other way to make light of our horribly tragic foe, unfortunately. Perhaps, he would have allowed me to mourn him and his youth in another time."
Shtola laid her head upon Rose's. "Perhaps you should mourn him regardless."
Rose swallowed her tears, and shakily let out two words, "Thank you."
Shtola kissed Rose's head. "Don't thank me just yet. The battle isn't over."
"I know...I know. But, thank you regardless."
There was silence again for a time. "I've found myself wondering if what we're doing truly is correct, to be honest."
Rose quirked an eyebrow. "Really? Of all people, I considered you the most resolute among us."
"Are you certain you aren't speaking of yourself there, o Warrior of Darkness?"
"I'm merely doing what I'm told to."
Y'shtola shook her head. "You're doing quite a lot more than that, darling."
Rose went quiet for a time. "I must admit I have similar thoughts at times. That what we're doing is wrong, somehow. As if...Perhaps the ascians are right about the worlds we live in."
"Yes...I wonder that too. But then, I look at a certain someone and I remember all that has changed by her hand."
"Oh? And who is that?
Shtola playfully faked a sigh. "Who else could it be, but you?"
"Oh. I see."
A few moments more passed.
Y'shtola stood up, and looked down at Rose, determination shining in her eyes. "Rose?"
"Yes, Shtola?"
"I'll keep you safe, alright?"
Rose laughed softly. A gentle sound, quickly lost to time. "My thanks. Truly."