381. On the road, 9

(Rose)

The rain has stopped and the last clouds scattered.

I'm feeling exhausted and a little empty as well.

Because I've failed miserably.

I thought we were going to die.

Because I've had a glimpse at what Bleue became, so we could survive.

B - I can't remember everything clearly. It was the most violent time in my life...

And yet, parts of an uncontrolled grin remain frozen somewhere on her face.

After hugging me that day, Bleue collapsed and slept for an entire day, deeply.

At first, after she woke up, she had no recollection of anything. She just had the exhaustion worse than mine.

Her memories of her struggle and fears are coming back gradually. In flashes at times. And in nightmares.

Her moments of panic and feelings of doom.

Seeing herself, laughing in the middle of an inferno, is the most recurring sight she recalls.

I heard that laugh that day. It worried me too.

Many worrying shades surrounded us that day. It's been bad...

Thank goodness now it's over. Her feathers are slowly growing back as well.

And whatever happened, the foe is gone and won't bother us anymore for a good while.

No matter how beastly it was, or rather because it was intelligent enough like a normal beast and not a blind demon, it didn't fight to the bitter end, and fled when the battle was lost.

It knows now what we're capable of, which is valuable knowledge to avoid a pointless death.

As we got better and the sky as well, we released our flying ship back into the air.

We fed its components with the wine they enjoy, and the ship rapidly rose into the air.

Bleue found back her golden masks somewhere along the blocks in ruins. She keeps that trinkets attached to her belt as a trophy, a memento, or perhaps a reminder.

The copper ring of the judge is gone. She probably used it that day to change, like I would have done as well.

We leave all these worries behind as we sail away quietly. We're still all sore.

The weather is nice again however.

We sailed over the coastline all day long, looking for the place we've lived in before. Where have the shipyard gone?

Ana hasn't returned either since then. She knows where we should meet if she wants to come back to us. I think she just went away to avoid the rain and strayed a little too far. She'll come back in a day or so if that's all there is to her delay.

Bleue would have loved to have Ana at her side, but it's not her call anymore. Ana does what Ana wants.

Maybe she'll find a place she likes more than us someday.

I believe she still loves us enough to come back on this day.

But only Ana knows.

We're eager to meet back our friends again here.

To exchange on what we've all been through. And to learn more.

There's still so much to learn and so much time.

Bleue's tummy keeps a good size, slightly growing bigger and rounder, either as she's expecting or far more of a glutton now.

B - I'm both. It's really slow though. Good thing my wings keep my balance along my back.

R - As long as you're healthy, time doesn't matter much to me.

Since that day, Bleue lost the scars that were on her skin before, including the shape of her belly button.

Which means, oddly, that neither of us has any now. We shed human scars like baby teeth now...

We fly rather peacefully, the wind being calm and steady again.

~

Bleue wakes up abruptly in a cold sweat.

She shivers, holding down her elbows.

I turn around and hold her hand. We're sleeping together in the main cabin of the ship.

I can feel her anxiety in the air. A bad dream again.

R - What did you recall?

B - Its empty face... Blood all over my hands as they begun to fade into shades... And still, that insane laughter echoing inside of my head, waking me up like a yell.

R - You're not insane. You came back from the other side. It's a prowess.

B - It was... Terrifying. Opening these gates to the otherworld, it truly is opening the gates of insanity...

She's not really hearing me, still swallowing her bowl of fear from that bad dream.

Her depiction sounds about right unfortunately.

The longer you play with forces that can modify your very being, entirely, the more you risk damaging yourself beyond repair.

I'm honestly pleasantly surprised she managed to return entirely herself...

R - You had a sad taste of what that power from beyond really is about. It's not about being human. Nor god, but they can't realise it. It's not a fire easy to handle, and you did well. You can relax. It's over and I'm here with you.

I bring her head to my shoulder and chest. She slowly relaxes and calms down.

It's been a really traumatic event for her that day, even if she won.

It's been bad and scary for me too, but to a lesser extent for sure.

Though one thing I realise from what I was able to piece up together is...

I would not have been able to win that fight.

Even with my use of light...

That beast would have fought back in spite of the burn.

If I could vaporise entirely a ghastly being, flesh would not have vanished as easily.

And while I threw light at it, unable to control both my power and my body, that beast would have carried on, withstanding the burns. It would have grabbed my body and shredded it apart long before I could really burnt it to death.

Things might have played differently. I could have had a chance to win if I realised the qualities of my opponent in time, or managed to devise a better fighting strategy.

But I would have likely died that day, had things occurred differently.

That thing was defying our usual odds by a clear margin.

That demon was something else to everything we've encountered before.

The strongest of bodies with the strongest of otherworldly power, in good harmony. Something far more perfected than me and Blume ever were, and that foe had been created for a clear purpose we could just barely stand against.

Whatever that prophet of doom was... I hope it learnt its lesson and won't come back after us now.

Because I know it's still alive.

~

We reached our port town with the shipyard. Some floods still were settling here and there but the city was still mostly safe and spared.

We gathered a few more things we had left behind before.

We then headed north to the power plant.

As we flew over the swamps and woods, Bleue spotted something in the sky. She began waving at it, yelling cheerfully.

B - It's Ana! Ana!

Maybe an hour later, our flights had merged, and Ana cawing very loudly landed on the ship with us.

She looked tired and hungry.

Ana kept cawing a strong displeasure at us. She also pecked at Bleue's wings and my legs for hours. She's not forgiving us.

She refused to speak English all day long, only cawing how unhappy she had been lately.

It's been difficult for our poor bird as well over the last few days.

We made a stop to fish and spend the night around the river with chaotic flow.

Ana slipped like a child between Bleue and me in the bed, before cawing loudly again.

It made us other two laugh a little. She pecked at us, to teach us not to mock her. She can hurt.

Soon after, she was sleeping there in the most dreadful posture for a bird, right between us and the sheets.

B - Feels like we already have a foul-mouthed child with us.

R - I think she really missed us too.

She probably had been worried a lot too.

Bleue petted Ana's head, making one of her talons twitch.

We slept there together quite happily.

~

Bleue woke up abruptly because of a nightmare, as usual now sadly.

She sighed and went to wash herself down by the river.

I gave her some time before joining her.

Later on, we climbed the rope ladder back to the ship.

Ana was much happier once she had gobbled a few fishes whole.

A little later, we began sailing slowly the remainder of the distance to our destination.

We reached the abandoned power plant and anchored our ship there like before.

It was empty.

We settled there for a few days, while Ana went looking around for our friends.

Bleue noticed deep claw marks on some walls. They weren't there before.

Given the size and height of the marks, it was quite possible the crazed beast had come here first, where the call had been made by our summon, before tracking us down a little further.

Mushio might have seen some of that as well from a safe distant, and understood what it meant.

He is intelligent enough to understand what's the best course of actions to take now...

B - You mean he's never coming back, is he?

R - Probably not...

There's a death mark around us for forces he just recently begun to discern.

Were I in his shoes, I might have made the same choice.

Never get near them again. Turn away and never look back...

B - He could have left a note for us.

R - Probably... Knowing daiûas can speak, maybe he guessed they could read as well. Who knows? That's too bad.

B - Yeah...

A - Yeah...

We will miss them. But they are intelligent.

Intelligent enough to leave fast enough in the hurry, and never to return.

~