WEIGHT OF THE SOIL

Lynne enjoyed the feeling of wind flattening against his cheeks, brushing past as he continued flying forward at leisurely pace. He emptied his mind of all the worries, momentarily enjoying the bliss of silence. As his consciousness returned back to him, his thoughts swam toward Thalia. He was fairly certain that Y’se would have already told Thalia his plans, and was even secretly hoping for it. While he was spinning in thoughts, the entourage following him wasn’t quite like it.

“So? Do you believe me now, huh?” Ryuuk asked Ely with a smug look on his face. “I told you I’d send you the gift of all gifts!!”

“You never said that though.” Ely replied plainly. “You just said you were sending me a human boy.”

“And what a boy he was, right?”

“He was actually rather pathetic when I first met him,” Ely said. “I’m the reason he’s so strong now.”

“… eh? He actually managed to undergo Draconic Nirvana without dying?!” Ryuuk exclaimed in surprise. “Even I didn’t expect that…”

“What’s a ‘Draconic Nirvana’?” the Spirit asked as he had slept through Lynne’s entire stay with Ely. “Is that the reason he’s gotten so strong?”

“Yeah, probably. As for what it is… uh, a ritual, I suppose?” Ryuuk said, grasping at words. “A form of purification? Uh, Ely?”

“… did you lose your brain alongside your strength since the war?” Ely mumbled, knitting her brows together. “He isn’t wrong, though – it is a form of purification. As Lynne is an Empyrean, only I could ever put him through the Draconic Nirvana. It’s unique to each element and, as for fire, it involves using my flame to ‘purify’ him in a sense. By going through it, his own flames grow in strength and purity exponentially.”

“The risks are pretty… monumental though,” Ryuuk said, looking oddly toward Lynne. “The base elements which Humans and Dragons use are rather different. While Humans draw strength from Laws that are infused in the Worldly Energy, Dragons gain theirs directly from the Source. While we say it’s a form of ‘purification’, it’s more akin forcibly ripping his connection with the Worldly Energy and connecting him directly to the Source. I’ve performed it several times, but no one actually lived through it. How did he do it?” he asked at the end.

“Lots of screaming,” the Sanguine God replied in his childish voice as his lips curled up in a smirk. “Cursing, begging, crying, more cursing… and generally never shutting up.”

“… I’m so glad I slept through it.” the Spirit commented.

“When did he acquire the two of you? His Soul was empty when he met me.” Ryuuk asked the Spirit and the God.

“… how would we know?” the Spirit said. “We don’t know when he met you, so we can’t draw a correlation between the events to put them into the proper timeline, marking all three meetings in succession and then calculating the length of time between each meeting.”

“… you’re a snarky fucking bastard, aren’t you?” Ryuuk mumbled.

“He’s spent the most time with Lynne,” the God said. “Can you blame him?”

“What about you Ely? Why are you following him?” Ryuuk asked.

“… he’s yet to fulfill the promise he made to me in exchange for letting me ride my back.” Ely replied vaguely, hinting to Ryuuk to drop the topic which he immediately did. Lynne suddenly slowed down and joined the rest.

“I sensed that my slaves are talking about me behind my back! Can’t be allowed!” he exclaimed as soon as he arrived, which prompted a slap from all four. “Khm, anyway, what were you guys talking about?”

“About how you behaved during the Nirvana.” Ely said faintly.

“… so, great battle, huh? Plenty exciting, lots of dead lads and gals, and we nearly destroyed the entire realm in the process. Fun times.” Lynne said.

“I heard there was a lot of noise.” Ryuuk said.

“We got really lucky, capturing those two alive and all. Good job you gigantic waste of space who can’t take a hint.” Lynne said, glaring at Ryuuk.

“Oh I can take a hint just fine. I just refused to do it.”

“Are you really planning on going to a Divine Realm?” the God changed the topic abruptly as he asked Lynne.

“… yeah,” Lynne said, smiling faintly. “I would have left long ago, were it not for a promise I made to this idiot.” he said, pointing at Ryuuk. “Besides, I can no longer play the ‘underdog’ role. I imagine there will be a lot of daggers pointed at me. It’s best if I distance myself for the time being.”

“… right, I forgot to ask you, where’s that monkey that was with you when we first met?” Ryuuk asked.

“I’ve sent him to scout the Divine Realms a few months back,” Lynne said. “He’ll probably return sometime this week. Ah, we’re here…” Lynne exclaimed softly as he suddenly came to an abrupt halt, looking down at the peculiar set of trees.

Glancing at the body hanging from his shoulder, he sighed as he descended, while the other four remained hovering in the sky. Cutting apart trees and bushes, Lynne found a small opening rather quickly and entered. The cave was moist and cool, its opening widening the further one went, until it opened up into a round clearing.

Lynne immediately spotted a body gently lain against a small rock. Were it not for numerous wounds across her body, one would think she was merely asleep. Putting Grath down next to Hylana, he glanced around the cave. It was lit by the faintly glowing rocks embedded in the side walls, and toward its end was a small pond surrounded by flowery vines.

As he extended his arm sideways, a shovel appeared in his hand. Running through it with his fingers, he faintly nodded and headed over to the pond, crouching down for a moment as he touched the soil; it was rather wet, so he moved sideways, looking for where it was dry. He found two spots – at the opposite sides of the pond – that were relatively dry compared to the rest and began digging rather slowly.

He maintained the same pace for nearly two hours. Taking out the last bit of dirt, he nodded lightly and put the shovel down as he turned around and walked toward Grath and Hylana. Crouching down next to the latter, he gently put his hand atop of her head as glistening, clear water poured down. With a motion of his hand, he shredded her clothes and slowly closed up her wounds artificially. He then suspended her midair, taking out a silken cloth and wrapping her in it.

He found an old, worn out amulet amidst her clothes and put it aside as he carried over to the grave and gently laid her down. Returning, he repeated the same process with Grath, also finding a similar amulet, except golden in color. Swapping the two, he put Grath’s atop Hylana’s chest and hers atop his. After putting both their bodies down, he slowly moved the dirt and covered up the grave smoothly before taking a short pause, gazing at the two mounds of earth sorrowfully.

He then took out two flat boards of wood and carved their names slowly and skillfully, before embedding them at the top of the mounds, beneath a point where their heads were. Two solitary graves stood opposite of each other in a small cave in the middle of nowhere. Yet to completely settle, dirt still rolled down from time to time as the two graves evened out.

Lynne stayed standing in silence for nearly an hour without moving even a muscle. Eventually, he let out a long sigh as he shook his head faintly.

“I’ll remember you,” he said as he turned around. “’Till the end.”

Walking out the cave, he began covering it up again, shutting the entrance completely with thick stone and lying down several dozen formations to protect it from any future calamity. Taking one last glance at it, his eyes glimmered with determination before he took to the sky, rejoining the other four.

“Done?” Ryuuk asked.

“Yeah,” Lynne nodded, smiling lightly. “Let’s go home.”

“…” Ryuuk stared at him for a moment as he suddenly smiled knowingly, following immediately after him, the other three joining behind him.

“His promise,” Ryuuk slowed down alongside Ely and said. “Is it to kill you?”

“…”

“As I thought,” he said, smiling lightly. “You’re really heartless, aren’t you?”

“Like you’re the one to talk.”

“… you chose well,” Ryuuk said, diverting his gaze toward Lynne. “Yet didn’t at the same time.”

“You’re as cryptic as ever,” Ely said. “That’s why you nearly fell during the Great War.”

“… Darkness isn’t meant to be in the spotlight,” Ryuuk said vaguely, smiling. “I believe I fulfilled my role properly.”

“And you’re planning to do the same again? With him?”

“… no,” Ryuuk said after short silence, his smile turning bitter. “He’ll burn too brightly. There’ll be no place for me to hide.”

“We should talk to him properly once he leaves this realm,” Ely said calmly. “If he is to burn, he ought to know where to aim at least.”

“I had the same thoughts,” Ryuuk said, nodding. “The truth about the Great War that was… and the one that is to be. I can hardly wait to see his reaction.”

“… you were always easily amused by humans. Don’t you ever get tired?”

“How could I? Especially when paired up with someone who leaves me no time to be tired.”

“… if you say so.”

The group flew relatively slowly toward the Skyfire Paradise with Lynne at the very front, doused in silence and unapproachable atmosphere. The Spirit and the Sanguine God had retreated back into his Soul, leaving only Ryuuk and Ely as his companions. The night slowly approached, and with it a heavy feeling of being constantly watched. Lynne heightened his senses and remained on alert, constantly shifting his gaze around. Already, huh? He chuckled inwardly. Well, come then. I’m right here…