“Haec victoria scribetur etiam in astris!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
She thrust herself forwards, delivering a heavy, wide and powerful slash across a massive area. Then, as the ground reflecting space below them seemed to be sucked into the opening the wide slash created, a small pause seemed to befall them all. After that short pause, the sound of cracking glass echoing across the horizon, the slash exploded in a massive area as it broke through what seemed to be the fabric of space itself. From the side that Terna slashed, it all seemed to be calm as an untouched lake, while on the other side the slash occurred, and the monsters were completely obliterated, along with the entire other half of the theater. The explosion seemed to have swept it all away as it extended far out, reaching and engulfing the entire garden. Surprisingly, as if Terna was in full control, the explosion only seemed to engulf everything but the withered flowers that stood dead in the garden.
No dust, no wind. Just a few seconds after, as if the fading slash sucked in the elements themselves, the scenery seemed to immediately settle down and relax once again. She was still standing atop that same stage at the center, rapier at hand. This time, however, instead of gazing at the empty auditorium seats, she was gazing upon the bright night sky and the horizon below, half of her tainted past missing from that same spot she used to be. She happily smiled as she gazed at both the stars and the horizon, bringing her eyes back to the flute. She relaxed her grip on it, the blade falling back inside and concealing itself. As she caught her breath back from her fast-beating heart, she turned back and started walking out the backstage, outside. She knew that the morning was soon to come, so she had little choice but to head back. Yes. That was the answer she wanted to give to them all. The yes that signified her heart to be given out to the same path they all chose to follow. Hours of walking were again ahead of her, but she did not mind. She simply got back up again and headed on her way. A little bit before she exited from the other side of the city, she had but to stop and gaze at that bench again. The bench in front of the fountain placed plaza.
“Leave me alone!” young Terna cried as she desperately tried to shake off Dante’s grip.
“It’s not the end! Relax!” he yelled back at her.
She finally got released from his grip, only to turn around and face him instead of running away.
“For you, it isn’t! Did you look at them all?! I hate the theater! I hate music…and I hate you!”
Dante paused as he blankly stared at Terna, “What?” he softly said.
“You all had to push me further and further! You just had to force me to do this! I’ll never play the violin ever again!” she yelled out loud.
Dante calmly approached her, “So…if I were to say that I never wanted to listen to your music again, how would you feel?”
Terna paused as she held her tears back for a brief moment, “I-I…”
“You think I wouldn’t know how it feels to be humiliated like this? I can hardly live with myself anymore, having to make a fool out of myself at school and that stupid military test for the Silver Lances…I hate it. I hate it so much…but I can’t help but like it. I don’t want to do something like this…I want to do it myself. In a way, I know exactly how it is to be pressured into doing this but…it’s necessary. So don’t beat yourself like I do. It’s not the end of the line.”
“Then…no. If I don’t have my music I…I don’t have anything. If I can’t write it down and sing it, if I can’t live up to it, I-“, she got her breakdown stopped by Dante once again.
“You’ll have us, no? It’s stupid but…I always feel good when I’m around everyone. Despite not really showing it…I’m afraid that I’ll lose you all one day because of it. I don’t want to but…I want to be more around you guys than even my own family at this point, despite my little sister being a part of it. So…much like I want to be with you, doesn’t everyone want to be with everyone else? Your music is nice, I always loved it because it made me feel good even when mom and I had awful training sessions. So…I don’t want you to stop making it. You can stop playing anything you want, but please don’t stop your music entirely. And when you eventually fail again, just come back to us…it’ll pass, right? You can’t expect to win every fight, at least from what I’ve been taught.”
In what seemed like an instant, Terna swiftly hugged Dante again, tighter than before despite her injured arm. She saw in him…in all of them, what she struggled to see before. Her music. The essence of what made her so passionate about her music was none other than those who supported her all the way.
“We…we know. I missed seeing you laugh and smile. It’s been two years but…we don’t care. We know what it is like. Angelica tells us too. You’ve been far away lately anyway…but I promise you that I won’t stop my music. I…I want a break. That’s all. I tried talking to Angelico too, to get him back with us, but…it’s ok. Mom always used to tell me how we would all need to go our separate ways anyway. But I want to see everyone again someday if that’s the case. I don’t want to forget again…” she teared up.
Not knowing how to react anymore, despite getting into that scenario in the first place, Dante froze at the moment. For his good luck, Anya showed up from the side.
“Aha!” Anya jumped at Terna.
She grabbed Terna and swept her off her feet, taking her and pinning her on the ground.
“Anya, what the hell?!” Dante said in surprise.
“No more running for today! This is my Unconditional Love Takedown! Reinforcements are on the way!”
“W-Wait, Anya!” Terna tried to stop her.
As she was about to plead for mercy, Angelica jumped from the bushes and crashed right on top of Anya and Terna.
“Double down!” Angelica laughed.
Anya drooled as Angelica slammed on top of her, “What bliss…”
“I swear if you snuck into your dad's wine cellar again…” Dante facepalmed.
“I did a little bit of sneaking…” Anya nervously laughed, “Not a lot.”
“Come on, big bro!” Angelica grabbed Dante’s hand and pulled him onto the pile.
Terna struggled, “Okay…thank…you guys…”
As she was about to go towards the light, Hikari ran at full speed, being left behind in the commotion.
“Guys, wai-ah!”
Hikari tripped and fell next to the pile everyone else had created, knocking them off as they all fell on the ground.
“Ow...sorry!”, Hikari apologized.
“Thank you…” Terna breathed heavily.
“That, was, awesome!” Anya wagged her tail, “Let’s do it again!”
“Relax, we will eventually!” Angelica chuckled.
Dante sighed, “I swear, you guys are so…whatever.”
They all laughed their pain away once again, like they always used to do. It never mattered how dark the sky would get, how many scratches or bruises they would get hurt with, how many tears they would shed. As long as they got to see each other’s faces, they knew they could lean back and laugh it all away. She kept walking outside the destroyed city, going towards the sea that she loved so much. The Watch, they called it. A cliff that looked right ahead to the endless blue ocean, separating a big half-moon beach at the bottom with its shade she wanted to see that place once again. One last time…one last time. She would remember the thing she left behind on that day. The last memory she remembered of her home.
“Go, go! Come on, let’s go!” Viola dragged them both along the field, fending off against monsters while she could.
“How the hell are there so many of them?!” Gaz desperately fought back.
“M-mom! Dad!” young Terna cried out.
“It’s okay sweetie!” Viola shot down several monsters, “Just a minor….inconvenience!”
“Let me help you!” Terna tried to go to the front.
Just then, a massive monster shook the ground as it appeared from below, crushing the earth before it and letting out a massive roar. Tall as a building, it raised its hand and took a massive swipe at them all, taking down with it several other monsters, as if it didn’t care whether or not it was an enemy.
“Wai-gyah!” Gaz took the hit for Terna.
Gaz managed to save Terna just in time, hugging her before they were both tossed several meters back.
“Oh, you bastard! That’s it!” Viola jumped high up in the air, “Take all of this!”
She started shooting light arrows up into the sky several times before landing back down and entering a heavy snipping position, dragging the string of her bow as far back as she could. She fired a shot with immaculate power, completely penetrating the monster in front of her straight through, and devastating every monster behind and around it, as a heavy rain of light beams fell from the sky, taking most of them out. She hurried back at them both, worrying for the worse.
“You guys alright?!” Viola frantically asked.
Gaz grunted as he got up, leaving Terna unscathed. No visible wounds could be seen on his body, leading Viola to breathe a sigh of relief.
“D-Damn…they’re everywhere.” Gaz panted.
“Dad, are you ok?!” Terna yelled.
“Yeap, I’m good, don’t worry! Just need to find my footing again and we’ll be off.”
Just then, a massive explosion of fire seemed to occur in the middle of Dirunon, raising smog high up in the air.
Viola looked at Dirunon with a grim sight, “Dammit…Cecilia is still back there with the kids…”
“No…Viola, please.” Gaz looked at her.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“We must go save them, I can’t let everyone back there! I can’t!” Terna yelled.
Viola stuttered for the first time in ages as she looked at Dirunon and back at Terna and Gaz. Two choices…she knew that whichever she took, it would lead down entirely different paths…so she chose.
“Terna…sweetie, come here.” Viola kneeled and levelled herself with Terna, “I promise you, on everything I have, I will save your friends, ok?”
“Viola, what the hell-“, Gaz was stopped by Viola’s sign
Viola then looked back at Terna, “Terna…listen. I can’t do much more than to give you this. I just want you to never forget one, and only one thing…no matter where you go, no matter where you think your home is, you can always and I mean always lean on to others. Those same friends of yours…I’m sure they’ll never forget you as you do the same for them. Here…”
Viola gave Terna her jacket, silky smooth with a purple color, the letter V on it, warming her up before looking back up at Gaz, nodding at him. Terna, still not realizing what was about to happen, was given back to Gaz as he approached Viola, whispering to her.
“Please…Viola doesn’t. She…me and Terna will be-“, he was interrupted once again.
Viola quietly chuckled, “Gaz. There are many reasons to do this for. I could escape with you and leave everyone back once again, but this time letting them die at the hands of the Horsemen and the two brothers. I’m sure that I wouldn’t be able to live knowing that…and even then, when she grows up, do you think that when she finds out that I purposely took away the one thing that kept her going, she will ever forgive me? I wouldn’t be able to live with that either. Despite it heavily looking against it, I’m…I’m doing this for her. Cecilia was right in the end. You never know when exactly you’d be ready to give it all up, or for who, but when you do…it’ll feel right. I found her on an empty field on a farm…and yet this little girl helped me in her own way to realize that there’s much more out there than what little I thought of there being. As far as me going back…I know it’ll end up in ‘that way’. It always does. But as long as I know I’ll leave you and her behind, a part of me will always be present with you and in this world. I hope that one day, you both manage to forgive me for what I’m about to do…both options are really ending down the same path for me. But I’ll always face them the way all Valkyries did. Chin up, chest pumped full of air and hands fighting till they bleed out.” she hugged Gaz.
He couldn’t bring himself to answer her back, rather than to simply hug her. From their side, a now crying Terna realized what was truly about to happen, eavesdropping on them throughout Viola’s entire final words to them. Despite her tears and the clenching of her somewhat healed hand from that broken violin, she seemed to be frozen in place, simultaneously accepting and rejecting her stepmother’s decision. Viola then slowly stepped back down to Terna and wiped out her tears.
“Honestly…I won’t be able to lie to you about this. I like it. The fact that you cry that is. Despite having no clue, despite always telling you the truth about the fact that we weren’t even supposed to be this way…I’m glad. No…I’m proud. I’m proud of you in every conceivable way. And right now, I couldn’t be any prouder. So no matter what you say or what you do, you’ll always be my sweet little daughter. And through those tears of yours, I’m certain that you’ll forever remember me. I love you.” Viola brought Terna closer, hugging her one last time before starting to shed tears of her own. As
Viola shed her tears, Terna then surprised her. She didn’t do the same. She was for once powerful and firm as she hugged her stepmother back, only to tell her one single thing back.
“I love you too…forever.” Terna softly told Viola.
In a weird turn of events, it was then that Viola was the one crying in front of her own stepdaughter instead of the opposite, Terna soothing her all the way through. She was afraid of death, not because she was about to face it, but because she didn’t exactly knew who and how that might affect them when she left them behind. But somehow, someway, she then knew that she had finally left behind something in this world other than mere power and destructive skills that won wars and toppled entire nations. She left a silver soul and a golden heart. That to her was far greater than all her millennia-long feats combined together. And as she got back up on her feet, she looked back at them both, only to reminisce in silence as she gazed at both their faces to remind herself of what she was doing this for. She wiped her tears and replaced the expression on her face with a smile as she turned around and prepared to take off, back to burning Dirunon. And as she finally took off and Gaz approached Terna to take her away, that’s when she started to shed her final tears for her stepmother again. Not sniffling, no heavy breathing. Genuine tears of sadness. Despite the urgency, Gaz let her weep her pain away, as he looked over the horizon for the coming monster hoards, hunting down everything in their path. Not long after, Gaz had to snap her out of her trance as they looked downwards to see a maniacally approaching monster hoard filled with everything Enmities and Shadowers had to offer coming towards them. Gaz grabbed Terna and pulled her behind him, starting to shoot down as many monsters as he could with his gun.
“There’s too many of them!” Gaz struggled.
They kept being pushed further and further to the edge of the cliff, eventually reaching its peak. The waves below raged on as the hoard did the same, trapping them between their own two choices.
“Terna! Honey, you’ve gotta jump!” Gaz yelled back.
She jolted as she looked behind her to see the raging waves hit against the sand. A long drop…but what was the better option?
“Terna, go!” Gaz yelled again.
She mustered all her courage and took her leap of faith. She closed her eyes and let herself go off the edge. Not before long, the cold air bouncing off her skin turned into the touch of the cold ocean below, engulfing her in an instant around its veil. Such calm beneath the raging waves. She didn’t hurt but rather felt as if she was freed from a horrible end. But before she could lose herself to the currents hitting against her skin below, she felt a grip on her stomach. Gaz promptly picked her up after having jumped after keeping the monsters at bay, swimming backward towards the shore. The distance being small enough, he quickly reached the sandy beach below the cliff. He cried something again and again, but Terna was far too lost in her trance to remember or even know what it was in the first place. She just sat there…waiting for the sunrise behind the thick cloud of smog.
Being brought back to her current reality, she once again stood at the tip of the cliff, facing the sunrise off coming from beyond The Watch. She spread her arms apart, as if she was embracing the morning sun. She once again took that same leap of faith, this time diving straight into the ocean below. She pierced the surfaces and dove straight into the sea below. Calmness. She was never hurt by the surface of the water no matter the height…she never feared a thing about the ocean. This time, she opened her now golden eyes to see down below. The sand and the rocks mixed perfectly with the corals and the fish on the floor of the watery veil.
The currents below touching her skin once again in that same familiar way slowly turned her over, as she gazed at the surface above. Behind the first rays of sunlight, she could also see the sides of her being engulfed by some sort of cloud…hairspray, that’s what it was. The salty waters of the ocean started to slowly chip away at that same pink hairspray she was forced to wear and alter based on her outfit those days. Now, that last part of her old self was too, taken and washed away. The paint slowly started to reveal that monochromatic black hair hiding below it, finally giving her the final change to her old self. It was as if the butterfly went back into a caterpillar…but really, in what way did the transformation occur? Only she would know. A relaxing look was put on her face as she let herself go into the same currents she couldn’t before. Minutes, hours, she didn’t know how much of it passed. She stayed there, motionless as a dead body, frozen in her head's empty space.
A few rays of sunlight hit her face from over the horizon of the ocean, as she slowly opened her eyes, facing upwards at the rocks above, the cliff above her covering her up. She had dried out from the daring dive she took…odd. Has it really been that long that she slept for? She got up on her feet again and looked around. She approached the serene waters of the beach and looked down at them. Their reflection was like a mirror, it seemed as if she was looking down at an image she hasn’t looked at for years…herself. Somehow, someway, she knew that this wasn’t the end. She knew that ‘she’ could go above and beyond, and despite coming back to look the same, would be entirely different. She turned around and started walking at the base of the cliff…and there she saw it. A jacket. An old, casual jacket, sitting on the sand below as it refused to be taken away by any wind or rain that would come before it, protected by The Watch above.
As she slowly approached and picked it up, she tried smelling the fabric for any remainder of scent that could remind her of that day…but nothing. It had all been washed away. However, she reminded herself of one last, little thing. She started digging below the sand that the jacket was placed on. She didn’t have to do so for long, as she soon found what she was looking for…the notebook. That same old notebook she used to write every single thing, her thoughts, her thoughts, clip her music sheets between its pages…she picked it up and looked at it for a brief moment. Opening it only brought a smile of excitement on her face as she saw the old songs that she used to once write down to remember. Memories, faces, all began to run through her head again as a tear of happiness rolled down her face. Some of the pages were of course unable to be read. Time had already done its number on it. But she didn’t care…what was broken could now be fixed, as time worked in both ways. A last fond memory of here played before her eyes.
Young Terna dug a hole, “Hnnn…come on.”
Gaz curiously looked at her, “Um…what are you doing?”
She didn’t answer but kept going. Once she finally formed a satisfactory hole, she took it out. Her notebook. Gaz then realized what it was all about.
“Wait, Terna…why? Don’t you like your music anymore?”
Terna had yet to give an answer as she placed the notebook inside the hole and began burying it. Once she was finished, she got up and looked at Gaz.
“You always used to tell me how to look forward and experience new things…and this is it. There’s no reason to procrastinate while I know what will happen in the end…this is what I wanted to do ever since two months ago, on that show day. Anya left a day after while playing dumb with us to not make us sad, Angelico is stuck with Golden Lances and
Dante with his Silver Lances while Angelica is stuck with the Sister Knights and Hikari is at the Temple all the time now…I can’t see a single thing that remained between us all. I held on to this but…there’s no reason for me to do so anymore. Nobody will ever see this again…” she sniffed.
Gaz slowly approached Terna as he looked down on that hole, “Yes, we did tell you to not be afraid to experience new things. And times change, Terna. Sure, everyone is busy, but does that make you all less of a friend to each other? It’s hard for me to explain this to you now, and it will take a while for you to understand it on your own but…it’s done. Whatever you said or did will forever be a thing. Trying to change it in such a way…it won’t work. You left behind you a part of you for them to remember, and they did the same. However long it takes, if you’re brought back together, you’ll still be friends. And even though you might not even recognize each other because you’ve grown up, does that mean that the core of that relationship has changed? I know it will always be hard, especially for your age, to change circumstances based on what life brings before you but…even with what life does bring before you, that, like many others before it, will be left back for you to look at, cherish, make an example out of and reminisce.”, Gaz softly exhaled, “It hits me hard too, the way I now have to remember you stepmother but…you are now before me. You’re what life brought me, and her, and we will make the best out of it. All that I can ask of you, because I know I’ll not be able to make you change your mind now, is to remember this. Remember this hole before you have to go down it again to remember it all. I lived however long I did and have my own experiences to look back to…and I want you to do the same. Not simply bury them away.”
Young Terna stuttered as she looked back and forth between Gaz and the hole she had created to bury her pain. It was then that Terna took Viola’s jacket and spread it out, placing it on top of her whole. In what seemed to be stupid to others, both Gaz and she knew the meaning behind that move. Not just to mark the spot…but to protect it. Despite her passing by the coming morning, Viola would still be there, in a way. She would protect the past as she would pave the way to a better future and like an angel, stay with those memories till even the end of days, until Terna could trace it back to the source.
Now standing tall above it all, she dusted off the old jacket before wearing it. Around her size. How much she had grown since then…she tightened her grip on the notebook cover, fearing that some of the pages affected by that drop in the water so long ago might slip away. She wanted to hold onto it all for once…and as she looked at the same sun rising once again, as it did for all those years, she finally understood the meaning behind her stepfather's words so, so long ago. She could never change the past. Who she was, was forever established long before that day when it all went away came to be. It was the past she could never change but rather embrace as where she started. She didn’t have to feel sad or happy, but rather look back at what made her be the way she was. How she came to be. What she chose from the options coming before her would only help to build a longer road left behind for her to trace back onto.
She thought she had lost it all, only to realize that the ‘all’ she meant could change at any given moment. But even when she would lose it all, she would still have a home for her to go to. Home will always mean a million different things, like many other words. To some, it’d be family, to others, it’d mean a roof above their head. To her, it was her friends. Those who helped shape who she was and who she would forever be. And like the passing of time she could never stop, she would follow the home she placed upon them till the end of time, as the years came by and the future came into fruition. Yes. That’s all she needed to say. And as she climbed up from that pristine beach below, all she needed to do was deliver her answer back to them. Her journey, however long it took, would finally start alongside them.