Over the Horizon
Fina wakes up on the ground, and she immediately realizes that her face is wet with tears – not her tears, but a particularly annoying lizard's.
"GAH! That sticky feeling on my face is gross!" she shouts as she suddenly punches upward.
With a bloody splat, Dakka's nose explodes, and he flies back. Instead of howling in pain, Dakka leaps onto his feet and runs forward – screaming in joy, "You're alive, my Queen!"
For some reason, Fina gets annoyed here. "Don't ever call me 'Queen' again. My Name is Fina."
Dakka runs forward and scoops the Queen – sorry – FINA up off the ground and hugs her tight. "I thought Haalfrin killed you!? You looked so bloody! I couldn't feel you breathing!"
'Where is Haalfrin, anyway?' Fina's thoughts are interrupted when she becomes aware of her husband's warm chest, and for the first, time, she feels happy to be held. She closes her eyes and contents herself in her husband's embrace.
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"Haalfrin…?"
"Yes, dear?" comes Haalfrin's emotionless reply.
"I think they're ignoring us," Freyya says with crossed arms.
Haalfrin rubs his eyes in disbelief. "Never mind that. How did the Queen come back to life? Her spirit feels golden, not silver. That DOES mean she's alive, right?"
This would normally be a stupid question, since knowing the different coloring between a living and dead spirit is as basic to a spirit mage as "1+1" is to an academic student.
Indeed, the Queen had clearly died, so how did she come back to life? Obviously, it was Felkawyn's doing, but why would the God of Remaking do such a thing?
Freyya and Haalfrin spend a few minutes musing over that God's possible reasons for doing this, but neither of them ever realize the truth.
What IS the truth here?
It's that Felkawyn simply forgot to remake her as a "dead" person since "dead" is a special modification to the soul.
Sure, the White God had turned her spirit silver, but that was before it had mended her soul; her soul still had the Traits of a living person, not a dead one.
So, when Felkawyn shattered her soul and Remade it, she was Recreated as a living person.
Of course, if Felkawyn had realized its mistake, it could never be bothered to care. To a creature like this, being polite is good enough; why expend extra effort to do everything 'correct' on a soul so completely unrelated to it?
"Well, at least Dakka looks happy," Haalfrin mumbles. "Do you think… that the Queen is going to cause any more trouble?" His hand is firmly on his sword hilt as he says this.
As Haalfrin is considering the dangers, Fina and Dakka both walk up to Haalfrin, and Fina bows to him. "Thank you, Haalfrin."
This makes Haalfrin a little uncomfortable.
"Haha! No need to look like you just swallowed a bug!" Seeing his facial features squirming, Fina can't help but give a cheerful, hearty laugh.
Seeing the playful gleam in her eyes, Haalfrin is, understandably shocked speechless again. 'Is this really the Queen?'
Seeing him shocked, Fina waves him down and says, "No need to wonder anymore. Felkawyn put my soul back together. I thanked you earlier because I'd have never met Felkawyn if I didn't die."
She then looks up at her husband with a stern face. "Now, I saw those injuries on Haalfrin's face. I know you hit him a couple of times after I died. I'm alive now, so there's no need to be angry anymore." She then squeezes his hands. "But thank you for hitting him. You did that because you love me, right?"
Perhaps it's because he knew all of her Fragments better than anyone, but Dakka isn't at all surprised by her warm attitude; he's just relieved that his wife doesn't have to have that vacant stare in her eyes anymore and that she can finally feel what all of her 'children' had been feeling all this time.
Fina then turns back towards Haalfrin and Freyya, and she says to them, "I can feel that the residual Death Aura is almost gone, so I suppose I need to say goodbye to Freyya while I can." She gives a deep bow. "Farewell."
Freyya squeezes Haalfrin's hand, and she puts away her black lantern.
Freyya then laughs and scratches her head awkwardly. "Well, I guess I'll be returning to the Death Realm without a Soul for the first time."
With that, she dissipates into black mist. Feeling her hand disappear, Haalfrin frowns. The lonely and empty feeling of not having his wife always around him would only hit him later; for now, he's barely comprehending that she's gone.
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With Freyya gone, Haalfrin talks with Dakka and his wife a little longer. Unlike before, talking to 'the Queen' isn't stale or painful.
In fact, she has a voice now that makes people feel very comfortable, yet she has a powerful authority in her gentle eyes that compels others to obey – not through force, but through an invitation that no one would wish to refuse.
This, Haalfrin knows, is a common trait among people with exceptionally strong Spirits. The true nature of their Spirit shines through their eyes and affects everyone around them – instilling their Will on others.
Essentially, people will naturally bend to do what you want if you have a stronger Spirit than them.
If a person has Evil in their heart, then those with weaker Spirits will feel pressured to obey – pressured through fear.
The purity in Fina's eyes, on the other hand, isn't like a howling wind that tries to push others where she Wills. Rather, it's like a warm glow that attracts those who seek comfort.
One can't help but feel compelled to obey her – not because you feel you HAVE to obey her, but because you feel you SHOULD.
Frankly, looking into the Queen's eyes, she feels far more royal and regal than any king or emperor he's ever seen.
And thus, it's ENTIRELY because of her Spirit that Haalfrin finally opens his heart to Fina and chooses to accept her – something which he had never dared do before.
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While Haalfrin is lost in his own thoughts about Fina's eyes, Fina herself rubs her stomach and asks Dakka, "Now that I have a whole soul now, do you think this body can finally get pregnant?"
"Before we worry about that, we need a place to live," Dakka says. "We had a castle before, but Haalfrin went ahead and blew it up."
"Well, no use in waiting around. Let's go find a place to live." Dakka offers before transforming into his dragon body.
Fina jumps atop his head and says, "Sure. I'd like to be called 'Queen Fina' one day, so I'd like a place with lots of people."
"Sure thing. Pick any kingdom you'd like and I'll give it to you."
"Silly!" Fina slaps the top of Dakka's skull. "What's the point of invading a country? It's better to create a place that a lot of people will want to live in. What's the point of ruling a country that's burning and falling apart, or that's filled with starving and unhappy people?"
"My bad. My bad," Dakka rumbles happily as he flaps his wings – lifting himself up into the sky. He cranes his neck down one last time to look at his friend. "So long, bro!"
With that, Dakka lazily flies towards the horizon, and his figure is hidden by the blinding sun, which is just starting to peek over the mountains in the distance.
One of the last things Haalfrin hears with his magical hearing is Dakka saying, "So, how about we go visit my grandfather for now? He has a pretty big home, so we'll have somewhere to sleep at least while I look for a kingdom for you."
"That's good enough, Dakka."
After that, those two are too far away for even Dakka to hear. With those two chatty voices gone, the only thing left for Haalfrin is the cool breeze and the silent sky's soft whistling.
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Finally feeling isolated and alone, Haalfrin falls on his butt and leans back - resting his palms on the ground behind him.
In utter silence, the man absentmindedly stares at the sunrise – still unable to reconcile how unreal it feels for this war to finally be over.
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End of Volume