[ Idalia's POV ]

When everyone left me, all I could do was sit there and helplessly stare down at the ashes in front of me, feeling empty and dead inside. Although I told Stella and the others that those people were former comrades, I didn't tell them that the people I just killed were also my friends.

The one that spoke up before was Claudius, a kind-hearted, honest boy that usually saved me from the mischievous antics of my other friends. Whenever I was down, he would appear with some of his soft plushies at hand and offer them to me. Of course, I immediately accepted them without hesitation and hugged them. I once did ask why he had plushies though and while blushing, he told me that "they provided him some sort of comfort, especially since he was always alone before he met us".

As for the others near him, there was Val, Flora, and Victoria. Val was a quiet, lazy male that typically hibernates the day away. He's pretty carefree and played along with any of their antics whenever he was awake. Flora, on the other hand, was an upbeat, mischievous girl that tended to mainly prank and sass the people she likes. ...which unfortunately meant that we were usually victims to many of her antics. Victoria was a hardworking, serious lady that might as well be considered the "mom friend". She also always seemed to be taking pictures of anything we do, much to my dismay. Whenever we told her to not take a picture, she would cross her arms over her chest and pout.

With a depressed sigh, I shook my head and forced myself to pull it together, realizing I was getting distracted. ...I wonder, will Sol, the Fire God, forgive us for our transgressions? I thought to myself as I got out a few empty pouches that I had on me. If he does, perhaps...all of us will be able to meet again in our next lives. Of course, if Sol will permit it...

I opened the bags and silently scooped up the black residues with my trembling hands, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. ...however, even if that were the case, what am I supposed to do now? I know that I'm supposed to redeem myself for what I've done but... As I tried my best to put all the ashes in their own separate bags, I could feel my heart breaking bit by bit. Nothing I do will reverse any of my comrades' deaths or anything that's happened. The only thing I have left precious to me are these memories of them. For example, there are the ones with Aegle... In an instant, a memory from back then suddenly came to mind.

"Look at her. That girl is so awkward and quiet that it's almost pathetic," the orange-haired male said as I clumsily helped out Aegle with her preparations for the phoenix rite, silently listening to her passionate lecture about the fiery bird. "Honestly, why the hell is someone so brilliant like Aegle with a person like that? Is there something I'm not seeing?"

I tried my best to ignore what he was saying to his friends but I couldn't deny that I felt self-conscious being with her. After all, she's a talented, outgoing gal that could achieve so much while I, on the other hand, am just an average, meek girl that could barely scrape through life. No matter how hard I try, it always feels like it's never enough when compared to her. It didn't help that a lot of people kept saying that I should be more like her too. Though, before my train of thought could get any worse, I suddenly felt someone gently bonk me on the head.

When I looked up to see who did that, I saw the redhead looking at me with a sad smile on her face while holding a roll of paper with her left hand. "I know it's difficult but please don't forget what I said, Ida," Aegle remarked. "Despite what everyone is saying, you shouldn't be comparing yourself to me. The one you should be comparing yourself to is the past you. Tell me, would the past you be doing these kind of things with me?"

"...not really," I admitted quietly, then quickly averted my eyes elsewhere out of embarrassment. "I mean, the past me didn't have any friends to hang out with and was too much of an awkward mess. If anything, I would probably be in my room, reading some books or playing some video games to pass the time."

"Then that means you improved!" she declared happily, grinning. "It's certainly not as dramatic and quick as our beloved phoenix but it's still progress! For example, you're actually making an effort to talk to me compared to the you back then who hardly ever responded or said anything!"

"But that's only because you were fine with being a shy, quiet person like me!" I refuted as I glanced back at her, frowning. "You know how things are in Ignifera! People like me aren't exactly welcomed here, especially if they don't have some sort of fiery ambition and radiance..."

Upon hearing that last sentence, her grin turned back into a melancholic one for a second but it quickly reverted to being upbeat. "And the two of us only met each other due to you voluntarily joining the Fire God's Phoenix!" Aegle pointed out. "Instead of doing the usual, you did something you normally wouldn't, causing your life to change as a result of that single choice!"

Finding myself unable to say anything back to that, all I could do was sigh in defeat and nod in agreement. "It kinda sucks that we haven't really managed to make some changes to society though," I mumbled out as I got a few of the fire crystals for the ritual. "No matter what the organization does, it still hasn't managed to make a dent regarding how Ignifera is."

"Yeah but all we can do is keep trying," the girl answered with a small laugh. "Giving up now will just make all of our struggles pointless, after all. That said, I hope none of us resorts to violence when our peaceful attempts keep failing..."

"Aegle! Don't jinx it for us!" I complained as I nudged her, causing the girl to laugh harder in response.

"It's fine, it's fine! As one of the leaders, I'll make sure that never happens!" she exclaimed. "Besides, resorting to such violent extremes to cause changes goes against the doctrine that Ignifera has! It'll undo everything that we've done!"

"...well, if you say so..." I grumbled to myself while Aegle walked away and crouched down, a few special fiery chalks at hand.

With a sigh, she got one of the chalks and threw it at me, which I managed to barely catch. "Anyways, let's get back to work. This yearly ritual is pretty important for us Igniferians so we can't keep fooling around," the girl remarked as she used the chalk to convert the sand into foundation for the ceremonial spells. "The last thing we would want is a Guardian spotting us and then giving us a long lecture because we're not putting in enough effort. Right?"

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I shuddered at the thought of that and quickly ran up to her, not wanting to go through that kind of thing again. When I turned to her to ask about the ritual book, I couldn't help but notice that she was clearly holding back the urge to laugh, a grin on her face. I immediately felt my cheeks become hot and hurriedly looked away, embarrassed.

"D-don't laugh! We'll probably get in trouble, especially since you laugh so loud!" I exclaimed as I searched for the tome, trying to avoid looking at her. "A-anyways, give me that guide thingy so I know how to draw the runes!"

"Alright, alright~!" she answered and handed me the item I requested. "...though, is my laugh seriously that loud? Oof, no wonder some people tell me to keep it down whenever I have a laughing fit."

Upon recalling her embarrassed face as she grinned at me while rubbing the back of her neck, I felt a strong pang of guilt. With someone so lively and radiant, you would expect them to have a happy, fulfilled life. ...yet... I tightly clutched the bags to my chest as another memory surfaces.

All I could do was stare at her dead body as the others prepared the cremation process, my eyes red from all the tears that I've shed. I could hear some of the people nearby mumbling to themselves about something but I couldn't bring myself to care. Eventually, I heard footsteps getting closer to me so I snuck a peek to see who it was.

I saw Claudius walking up towards me, who was wearing a black suit while holding a lion and a phoenix plushie. Upon seeing the second stuffed animal, it felt like I was stabbed right through the heart. It was the one toy that Aegle was always so fond of, to the point that the blonde wondered if he should just give it to her. Whenever he asked her though, she would always say no, especially because of how alarmingly difficult it is to get. She would also say something like "it gives me an excuse to see all of you whenever I feel down".

When the boy stopped right beside me, I immediately turned my attention back to him. "Hey, need a plush in these trying times?" he asked quietly with a small sad smile as he offered me the soft, squishy toys. "I brought the phoenix one to be burnt along with her but you can hug it for a bit if you want."

I stared at the fiery bird for a bit, my heart conflicted. "...can an item be brought along with them to the 'Holy Land of Flames'?" I questioned and the male shrugged.

"Not sure but it won't hurt to try, right?" Claudius answered, then glanced at Aegle with a melancholic look on his face. "...besides, I want to give it to her to keep her company until the day all of us can meet again in the next life. She always tries to be optimistic and upbeat for our sakes but she gets lonely pretty easily, you know?"

I couldn't help but laugh a bit upon hearing that last sentence. "Yeah, I'm very aware of that. It's one of the things she admitted to me," I answered with a sad smile. "She told me to keep it a secret but guess she's a bit too obvious, huh?"

"Unfortunately for her, yeah," the blonde said as he turned to me, gracing me with a gentle grin. "No matter how hard she tries, she's just that bad at lying."

"Her soul is still here though so she might be hearing all of this though, you know?" I remarked, giggling. "She's probably gonna give us an earful if we see her again."

A familiar female voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere, pretty close at that. "It's fine, it's fine! Her memory is kinda shitty so there's no way that'll happen!"

While Claudius said "oof", I tried my best not to laugh at that sass. "You're 100% gonna get a lecture for that, Flora," I said as I glanced at the pink-haired girl nearby, who was wearing a black mourning dress. "Pretty sure she'd say something like 'I'm writing that down to make sure I remember that, you little piece of shit'."

"...man, my sudden arrival didn't even spook you two? That's disappointing. Guess you guys got used to it..." she mumbled to herself, then shook her head as if lecturing herself and grinned at us. "Anyways, if that's the case, bring it on, princess! I'll give you the slip every damn time, girl!"

"My, my, it seems when the others appear, things become more lively and upbeat," another familiar voice commented, sounding both amused and happy. "I admit, I wanted to do something to alleviate the gloomy atmosphere somehow but I was too preoccupied with the preparations to do anything. Val is here too but he arrived too early so he decided to sleep to pass some time. The ritual isn't about to start yet anyways so I don't see the point of waking him up yet..."

"Wait, hold up, seriously? He actually came here super early, Victoria?" Flora asked and the black-haired lady nodded her head. "What the fuck, I thought he would be the last one to arrive! That means I'm the last one to get here!"

"Were you so busy scheming that you lost track of time or something?" he accused as he glared at the mischievous girl.

"Oh come on, there's no way that I would be trying to prank you guys during a cremation funeral!" she exclaimed while pouting. "I'm not that troublesome! At worst, the only thing I would try to do is surprise you guys by sneaking up on you! You know, to distract you lot from the sad feelsies!"

Before Victoria could stop the two from bickering with each other, I suddenly heard the sounds of the chains rattling, pulling me away from my reminiscing. ...guess that means I should get going. I wasted too much time thinking about the past... With a sigh, I forced myself to get up from where I was sitting and ran towards the entrance leading back upstairs. As much as it pains me, it's all in the past. ...all I can do is move on and hope we'll be able to meet again in the next life.

As I ran past the ashes of the corrupted people that Stella and the others have defeated, I couldn't help but cry. ...indeed, this place that I called home is no more now. I'm back to being all alone again with nowhere to go.