CHAPTER 544

WEIGHT OF THE PAST

The sky settled and the colors faded; the energy of the unaccounted was gone, and the world seemed to calm. Primul stood at the edge of a tall cliff, a lithe smile on his face, a gourd of wine in his hands. His legs dangled off the edge, his dark hair fluttering in the hazy wind. He knew it was over; they had won. He didn’t know the price of the victory, but it was not on him to wager it. Taking a sip, he let the cooling sensation trickle through his body.

A shadow suddenly stepped into his shade and rose up, standing next to him. Ty glanced at the seated figure from the corner of his eyes before looking back up toward the sky.

“We’ve won.” Ty said in a low tone.

“Hm.” Primul nodded. “All’s well that ends well.”

“… what now?”

“For you,” Primul turned sideways, smirking faintly. “It’s about time you stopped trying to make that lass jealous and state your heart, no? Even that cowardly Rio stepped up. Why can’t you?”

“… her heart’s not mine, I’m afraid,” Ty smiled bitterly, sitting down and taking out a gourd of wine as well, taking a sip. “Not all can have their happily-ever-after, Primul.”

“… tell me about it.” Primul chuckled, shaking his head. “Oh well. I’m sure you’ll find a woman yet. If not, you can always pretend your cultivating art forbids you or something.”

“Haii, do you really think I’d sink that low?”

“I at least don’t think you’re above it.”

“Puh, what a cruel guy…” Ty sighed, shaking his head. “What about you?”

“…” Primul remained silent, prompting Ty to do the same. There was an inexplicable glimmer in the former’s eyes, a shine the likes of which Ty couldn’t recognize. His countenance cooled, strangely, and the air about him seemed to deflate. “It’s my time, junior.”

“…” Ty remained silent, words stuck in his throat, before sighing. Taking another sip of the wine, his dreary eyes looked toward the distance. “Can’t you reconsider?”

“Ha ha ha,” Primul burst out into laughter for a moment, startling Ty. “Time ain’t something that’s in our capacity to reconsider, Ty. It pushes and pulls as it wills.”

“… hah,” Ty scoffed, shaking his head. “You haven’t even said the goodbyes just yet.”

“… I’ve settled all my affairs,” Primul said. “Found a successor, watched the world I nearly destroyed be brought back to life and beyond, and I contributed, however little, to its inception. I don’t have any regrets.”

“We all have regrets,” Ty said. “You’re not above them.”

“… perhaps,” Primul paused for a moment and glanced at Ty, replying after. “None, however, large enough to weigh me down. Do you know why I came here?”

“Why?”

“One of the few memories I have before becoming an Empyrean is of my father and me standing on a cliff like this one, overlooking a massive sinkhole,” Primul said, taking a sip. “At the time, I couldn’t have been older than thirteen, fourteen. Even though I can’t remember his face, I do remember him whipping out his cock and taking a piss into the sinkhole, with me following right after.”

“…” Ty’s mind burst for a moment as he nearly stumbled and fell, shellshocked. “You… you’re not gonna ask me to whizz with you, right?”

“Ha ha ha, no, no,” Primul shook his head, laughing. “I can’t for the life of me figure out why that memory remained so imprinted in me. He didn’t say anything or do anything besides pissing into that hole, and neither have I. Yet, among all the things I could have remembered of my childhood, that one scene is the most striking.”

“…”

“That’s the sort of a person I ended up becoming,” Primul said, taking a sip of the wine and sighing. “Looking down at the world, pissing all over it. When I first met Lino, I couldn’t figure out what made him so different than me. I saw it, in his eyes, the same madness that reigned over my heart. I saw that he was not above his emotions, above losing it. Yet, come rain and fire, he never surrendered over to that thirst. When I saw it, I knew he would become someone far larger than life. The world will continue down its lane; even he won’t pacify it. Rather, it is impossible to pacify our base desires. He can’t restrain them, so he’ll let them be.”

“…”

“I think that’s what most of us, in the end, lacked,” Primul said. "The just wanted to uproot the entire world and make it better, even by force; the corrupt didn't care either way and just fanned the flames in the end. He lets it be. He lets the world struggle, and he lets people fight for whatever they wish, be it for good or evil. I hope you'll continue to watch over him for many eons to come."

“… you could as well.” Ty said.

“…” Primul said nothing, setting down the gourd of wine by his side and glancing at Ty with a tranquil smile. “It’s been an honor, junior.”

Just as Ty was about to reply, Primul pushed himself off the edge and flew. Ty's arm stretched out instinctively, but he held it back, in the end, merely sitting on the cliff and watching the tiny body falling deeper and deeper into the abyss. His lips trembled for a moment as the figure faded, swallowed by the eternal darkness.

“… tsk, what a coward.” A familiar voice spoke from the side, causing him to glance; Lyn stood upright, arms crossed over her chest, gazing down into the abyss.

“…” Ty said nothing, merely taking the gourd Primul left behind, putting it away, and getting up, dusting off his clothes. “Help me find a big slab of stone.”

“…” Lyn said nothing, turning around and meeting his eyes. “Is it true?”

“… it’s rather ill-mannered to eavesdrop, no?” Ty smiled bitterly.

“… buy me a dinner tonight,” Lyn said, moving back down the slope, locking onto a rather large slab of stone. “And not that cheap ship you usually eat; I want some high-end crap.”

“…” Ty remained silent for a moment, stunned, before coming to and following after her. “Do you know any prayers?” he asked.

“Huh?” she glanced at him strangely. “Maybe we can honor him by whizzing down?”

“…”

“Oh, wow.”

“… ugh, shut up.” Ty struggled inwardly; his heart trembled strangely as he suddenly uncovered a deep-seethed fetish he was unaware of up until now. “Isn’t it kind of depressing though?” he asked, sighing. “A legend… fell just like that. Someone who terrorized the world and evoked fears in the billions of hearts died in the middle of nowhere.”

“… isn’t that a given?” Lyn shrugged as the two reached the slab, both beginning to chisel at the edges. “No matter how holy the saint, or unholy the tyrant, both equally wind up dead eventually. It’s how it ought to be, if you ask me.”

“…” Ty said nothing, slowly shaping the stone into a child-sized grave, crouching down and simply carving ‘Primul’ into the stone’s surface.

"If anything," Lyn said as the two picked up the stone, carrying it back up the slope and toward the cliff. "I respect him more for not making a grandstanding out of it. He lived out the remainder of his life trying to right the wrongs, and as he saw the dream of his coming true, he realized it was a time to say the last goodbye. The last hurrah, if you will."

“… hoh? I never took you for an idealist.” Ty chuckled as they reached the top, putting the slab down before digging a couple of feet into the ground.

“… it’s hardly idealistic,” Lyn shrugged. “If anything, it’s bittersweet.” She sighed, glancing down into the distant abyss. “He always kept his distance from everyone. Even in his last moments, who bid him a farewell? A random lad he’s maybe spoken to twice before. Quite a depressing way to go, really.”

“…” Ty said nothing for a moment, settling the grave and pulling the dirt back over into the hole, cementing it and getting up, gazing into the abyss as well. “I think… he was content with it. At the very least, he will no longer be remembered just as someone who murdered and caused chaos everywhere he went. For better or worse, whether he wanted it or not, he found a way into the hearts of many people. Whether he realized it by the end or not, he was no longer an outsider, a temporary help that he wanted to be. Rather… he was a friend.”

“… tsk, I didn’t think you were a sentimentalist. I might just have to cancel our date…”

“Ha ha ha,” Ty laughed freely for a moment. “No takebacks, I’m afraid.” He chuckled. “After all, his dying wish was for me to get a girlfriend. It can’t be that you want to renege on such a heavy wish? Tsk, tsk, I didn’t think you were that cold, Lyn…”

"… using the dead to blackmail me?" Lyn arched her brows in exaggeration. "Wow, I did not think you had it in you, Ty. My respect for you just shot right back up."

“… good god, you’re so fucking bizarre…” Ty sighed, shaking his head.

“… let’s give him a moment.” Lyn said, closing her eyes.

“Hm,” Ty nodded, closing his eyes as well. “He deserved it…”