After all this time… After every battle, we fought together. After all the victories… All of them lead to this moment… I thought I would be able to defeat him… So why is it that I’m the one laying here defeated?
The sound of metal swords endlessly clashing together filled a girl’s ears as she lay there with a gushing hole in her stomach. She turned to her side and watched her comrade and her enemy join blades together. This man was Reinhardt, well known as ‘The Shadow Knight’.
She spent practically her entire life training, enduring, and fighting countless battles to protect her world from this villain.
The sixteen-year-old outstretched her hand out to her companion.
I have to help her… I have to get up…
Not wanting to be useless any longer, Claire attempted to slowly pick herself up as she held onto the bloody wound in the center of her stomach. Surely, if this were any other human, this would have been impossible. Regardless of her efforts blood splattered and leaked down her hands preventing her from standing on her feet. She winced to the pain and that sound alone alerted the woman who was fighting the shadow knight in the meantime.
‘’Don’t try to fight right now !’’
The girl's eidolon Anastasia shouted at her more concerned for her safety than her own. An eidolon is a term used for warrior-like beings, with diverse appearances. Each one carries its own unique story, personality, and awe-inspiring powers. The one thing that they all have in common, however, is their unbreakable loyalty to the Envoy to whom they are bonded. Together, an Envoy of Gaia and their trusted Eidolon partner have the potential to be the most formidable force in all of the world of Gaia. Here, the eidolon ‘Maiden of The Heavens’ and the young envoy Claire were fighting the man who wanted to erase this diverse world from existence. There were still so many plans he had that the two were unaware of but they knew they had to do everything in their power to stop him.
‘’Your attention should be focused on me’’.
Reinhardt slashed his blade at the eidolon. The maiden of the heavens took a step back just in time before the sharp heavy blade struck her. Or… So it seemed…
‘’Oh. So, you still have your speed after all’’.
Suddenly, a bright red liquid leaked down the eidolon’s pale cheek. Anastasia’s eyes widened in shock. Realizing that she was close to getting distracted, she immediately leaped back. Her guard was still up and her heavenly sword still directed at him.
The silver-haired shadow knight grinned.
‘’Ah. I was mistaken. You are becoming weak after all.’’ With a look of satisfaction on his face, Reinhardt chuckled slightly.
‘’The life of that girl is gradually slipping away… And yet you, as an eidolon, still choose to fight alongside a dying mortal ?’’
He then began to pace back and forth, starting up a conversation.
‘’It’s not as if you eidolons have to join forces with such weaklings. Why not decide for yourself on how you truly want to live ?’’
The woman looked down at the ground with a mysterious emotion in her eyes. She began to contemplate his words. The only purpose of an eidolon’s existence is to aid an envoy. She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for an eidolon not to. Looking back up with sincere eyes, Anastasia spoke from her heart.
‘’The path I choose to live as an eidolon is completely up to me and nobody else. I chose this path, then for I have no intention of straying onto another. This girl…’’, she shook her head. ‘’No, this specific envoy taught me things which I thought I would never understand. She never gave up on me, then for… I have no intention of leaving her until I know her wishes have been granted. That is all I live for right now.’’
Knitting her eyebrows together as she glared at him with anger in her eyes, she continued. ‘’Her current wish is to destroy you… And if she is unable to do so on her own, and if not together, then so be it.’’
The two stared at each other as if ready to charge into combat at any moment, however with dedication and meaning in her voice, the eidolon had one last thing to say.
‘’If I must… I’ll make sure that I rip out your heart to accomplish that goal’’.
Silence fell between them and Reinhardt stood there with what seemed to be sad eyes. ‘’That’s… So heart touching.’’
‘’What ?’’ As if she couldn’t comprehend, the eidolon glared at him with a surprised expression on her face.
‘’Heh’’. A chuckle escaped his lips and the envoy remained on the ground staring at the shadow knight with blank eyes. She was deep in thought about Anastasia’s words. What started as just a plain chuckle resulted in booming laughter that practically filled the grand cave.
He held onto his stomach to endure the laughter and then after a while, he shoved his fingers through his hair.
‘’Unbelievable! Wow… Claire was already amusing but the two of you combined !? Really, this is truly amazing. I mean it. Have you ever considered comedy ?’’
‘’Shut the hell up’’.
A strained voice lazily spoke and as Anastasia quickly turned around Anastasia saw her envoy of Gaia standing there almost falling on her knees but bracing herself with her sword and shield in hand. ‘’Claire,’’ Anastasia mumbled with hope in her voice.
‘’Wait, what? Did you hear something ?’’ Reinhardt joked with the expression of a lost little boy. This time, at the top of her lungs the envoy; Claire repeated herself with frustration in her voice.
‘’I SAID SHUT. THE. HELL UP !’’
‘’Ohh myyy’’. He was bewildered due to her sudden attitude but put back on his poker face. ‘’Just to let you know, in case you haven’t realized it by now. The two of you are no match for me. Your power and speed will never reach one-tenth of my own. I won’t allow myself to be defeated by a weakling envoy and a brainless eidolon’’.
With gritted teeth, Claire charged at the shadow knight with her miraculous Gaia energy, her sword directed near Reinhardt’s neck.
By the time she reached him, she thought that maybe there was hope but the fact that he was just standing there with a smile on his face made her confidence disappear.
‘’Honestly…’’
In an instant, her eyes were wide open. ‘’How did you…’’
Claire added more pressure to her blade, but Reinhardt was not even phased. There he was, blocking Claire’s blade with not more than a finger.
‘’It’s simple really. I surpass you far more than you ever could imagine. I could crush you like an ant and you probably wouldn’t even notice.’’
Claire then gritted her teeth in frustration.
Dammit… I spent so much time and effort just to get this far… And now I can’t even get a scratch on him. How is it that I’m so weak?
She couldn’t help but fall into a state of depression and disappointment. She recalled everything she dealt with to get where she is today. There were times when she thought she was going to die and she felt that way at this very moment.
‘’I already told you, little Claire’’.
As the shadow knight spoke those words, he took hold of Claire’s sword and snatched it away from her.
‘’Don’t get cocky in your ability as an envoy just because you got this far.’’
With squinted eyes, he looked down upon her as if he were a tyrant.
‘’As far as I’m concerned… You’re just a waste of space’’.
Accepting her fate, Claire just stood there with Reinhardt’s painful words echoing through her head repeatedly.
‘’Claire…’’ Anastasia said her name with a sweet, sympathetic voice.
‘’Don’t listen to him…’’ Her eyes began to shiver as if a tear could leak at any moment.
With uninterest in his eyes, the shadow knight tossed the envoy’s weapon to the side and with a pounding kick in the center of Claire’s wounded stomach, sent her flying to where Anastasia stood.
‘’Perhaps next time, you’ll come up with a plan before coming here and attacking me so recklessly.’’ He was just about ready to walk away but Claire stretched out her hand to her companion with helplessness in her eyes.
‘’Ana… stasia…’’ Claire spoke her name slowly with a strained voice.
Immediately bending down the ground to Claire’s level, Anastasia listened to what her envoy had to say. ‘’Yes, Claire?’’
Claire shivered as she raised her head to look Anastasia in her eyes.
‘’We need to… Combine our Gaia energy to defeat him…’’
Her eyes widened. Not just in shock, but in hesitance.
‘’Wh-What? No… If we do that… No! We can’t, I won’t allow it. You might lose your life if we do that.’’
Anastasia’s voice cracked slightly as she spoke those words and Claire could hear the obvious uncertainty but she refused to care. Grasping her wrist, Claire shouted at the eidolon with impatience.
‘’Let’s just do it !’’
Looking over his shoulder, was the shadow knight who grinned at what he overheard.
‘’Come now… Don’t be silly. Even with your powers combined, you won’t be able to defeat me. Just leave. You’ve wasted enough time here. If you value your life at all, you’d show yourselves out.’’
The shadow knight began walking away and Claire continued to glare at Anastasia with innocence in her eyes. The more Claire watched her, the more she knew that she just had to go with it. Then again, she knew as an eidolon of an envoy, she had no choice but to do whatever her envoy wished of her.
‘’Let’s just get it over with!”’ Claire yelled again, this time with a demanding tone. ‘’Synchronize your Gaia energy with mine !’’
With widened eyes, Anastasia did as she was told and accepted her envoy’s decision knowing very well that she couldn’t decline. It was obvious that she was hesitant, that maybe she was hiding something from Claire and that was true. The only reason she was so afraid was that there would be a dire price to pay.
☁
Life as an envoy for Claire was a difficult one. To become an envoy, the world of Gaia’s life source, known as the Gaia cube, must make a choice all by itself. It is not decided by a human or the town. This is a natural choice by the Gaia cube. Usually, the Gaia cube would choose someone ranging from the age of ten and up. It was rare to learn that the Gaia cube chose a baby as an envoy and that baby just so happened to be Claire. She didn’t come from a royal or wealthy family. She came from a completely average hard-working family. Loving mother and father and although she was an only child, she was still happy and lived a happy life up until Reinhardt’s wife Esmeralda fell ill. Even from a young age, people all over, in every region of Gaia respected her. Although it took her a long time to truly understand her role as an envoy she was still loved by many. It hadn’t been a long time since Anastasia was by Claire’s side. She was only thirteen years old when they met and the Maiden of The Heavens immediately took a liking to the teenage girl. However, Anastasia was not her first eidolon. There was Victoria, ‘Goddess of Ruins’, her first eidolon since she started to travel the world of Gaia at only eight years old. It had only been ten months since Claire and Anastasia finalized their bond and companionship as envoy and eidolon and at the moment Anastasia was bombarding her with questions.
“So you and Reinhardt lived in the same part of Navea?”
“Yes,” Claire answered simply with bored eyes as she roasted a piece of meat over a campfire.
“Wow. Did the two of you have any relationship at all ?”
“I used to go over and eat with them.”
Anastasia’s eyes sparkled at the information.
“I can’t believe it. Do you feel betrayed? Ya know… After all of that.’’
Claire thought about it as she kept her eyes on the chicken.
“A little bit. He changed a lot after he lost his wife. It was a bad time for the whole region of Navea. I watched and listened to everyone turning him down to get help for Esmeralda. I really wish that I could have been of help… Then maybe…”
The young Claire tightened her grip on the stick and Anastasia felt a change in her emotion. She placed a hand on her shoulder and the young girl stopped shaking.
“You blame yourself for his turn against humanity?”
“No. I just wish things happened differently. Then he wouldn’t have to be the guy I have to fight.”
Anastasia smiled.
“Sometimes the human will is stronger than anything. Whatever darkness Reinhardt has in his heart, is a darkness that cannot be explained. Because only he understands the pain he felt back then”.
Claire was now looking into Anastasia’s eyes and it was at that moment that the eidolon saw the innocence and purity of a thirteen-year-old girl whose fate was already sealed. She began to wonder, how could she have been this strong until now. Regardless, she could tell that she still had a lot to learn because she was still so young and naive.
“He’s powerful… That day when he reigned terror on Navea for disregarding him and his wife… I felt it… I didn’t even know something like the dark Gaia cube existed”.
“Hey”.
Anastasia called for her before her eyes fell.
“We will defeat him. No matter how long it takes. I’m sure we will.”
“But...I’m just…” Claire hesitated and then gritted her teeth. “I’m just a kid… I can barely fight.”
“Well, that may be the case right now, but there’s no point worrying about it. If it comes down to it, we can combine our Gaia energy… But I’m positive you won’t need to”.
Claire was too lost in her thoughts about her situation that she couldn’t ask or even care about what Anastasia said, but it was something that would stick in the back of her head until it was necessary to bring it back up. The eidolon touched on the subject dismissively, hoping that if Claire was paying attention at all it would make her feel better to talk about it. Allow some hope to be restored when it came to defeating Reinhardt. Unfortunately, the eidolon hadn’t realized she made a mistake just by bringing it up. It was something she would regret for the rest of her days.
☁
Consumed with hesitation, the maiden of the heavens slowly placed her shivering hand into the hand of her envoy. Claire squeezed Anastasia’s hand and the two had their separate auras surround them as if it were a whirlpool. Claire’s radiant light blue and Anastasia’s sea-green Gaia energies seemed to have intertwined with each other. The two never attempted such a process before but Claire was passionate about her decision and that was all that mattered. As the two auras, intertwined into one, Claire seemed to have collapsed into unconsciousness.
Observing from over his shoulders, the villain Reinhardt watched the scene unfold with disappointment in his eyes.
How foolish… Reinhardt began to think to himself. They actually did it… Doesn’t she know what will happen to her once they revert?
Reinhardt started going over the process of combining Gaia energies in his mind and turned around to watch what was created from Claire and Anastasia’s combined souls, not feeling a hint of fear as he too was curious to see the process.
It has only ever been done once since the dawn of time. But the envoy’s soul and Gaia energy all flow into the body of the eidolon, forming a pure creature far more powerful than any envoy or eidolon in existence. Once the intertwining is complete, the envoy’s human body is no more than a shell… Are they really willing to throw away everything to defeat me?
The blue and green auras resulted in a swarm of teal Gaia energy. Anastasia’s eyes were no longer what they used to be. Both eyes glowed and beamed with a bright heavenly light and Claire’s unconscious human body remained on the ground. The mysterious being had her head bent back and faced the ceiling with her mouth apart. Her own Gaia energy entered through her. The magnitude of the Gaia energies made the ground crush below her. Even the shadow knight felt the pressure of it all as he clenched his free hand into a fist, gripping the handle of his sword. Although enchanted by the sight before him, he knew he couldn’t be distracted… Yet, he failed to detect any sudden movements. It was possible that at that moment, he might have felt a hint of fear.
Whatever creature was born through all those auras and lights, suddenly charged towards the shadow knight with immense speed. Reinhardt held up his sword in time to counter the strike of the heavenly being.
“Stronger indeed…” he smirked, “But you don’t quite know what you’re doing just yet”.
With a raise of his leg, Reinhardt planted a powerful kick in the stomach of the being. His kick was so vigorous that it sent her body flying to the walls of the grand cave which soon shook and sent gravel falling from the roof. Rocks and pebbles pelted upon her head but the creature seemed unbothered. Rushing over to him with full speed once again, the being made another plain attempt to at least slash through this man. This time, the shadow knight failed to see the path of the being’s heavenly blade. It was as if the very moment he blinked, she appeared before him with her blade directed at his arm.
“What did I tell you !?” He raised his voice as he held up his immoral sword, ready to counter the strike. “Don’t be so cocky!”
In an instant, the mute warrior was back to back with Reinhardt, her blade dripping with a crimson liquid.
It stayed silent for a moment. The mysterious warrior looked from the corner of her eyes watching the dumbfounded shadow knight stand there in confusion.
I was sure I saw the path of her sword to dodge that attack… Reinhardt told himself as he placed his hand over the scrape in his armor. He then saw the blood on his fingertips. And they even managed to cut through my armor…
‘’That’s cute’’ he commented with a chuckle and turned around to face the warrior before him. ‘’Fine. You want to go all out? Then let’s go all out’’.
The silver-haired man now had a smile on his face as he stepped his game up. The warrior stood there unphased despite the changes she sensed in the atmosphere. If Claire was alone, she would certainly be terrified. From the darkness of the cave, strange figures began to arise from the shadows as if they were coming out of a puddle. As the figures of darkness entered the world, the heavenly warrior observed that they were practically clones of the shadow knight himself. Resembling his overall figure and silhouette. She looked around in a panic, her eyes scanning the cave but no matter where she turned there were too many shadow clones to count. She almost didn’t know what her next move would be.
The eidolon part of the warrior knew to remain calm but the young envoy was in a state of anxiety. It was clear that anything Reinhardt did made her feel afraid. A conflicting emotion for both Anastasia and Claire in this kind of predicament.
With a grin, Reinhardt knew he had won the battle. All of the shadow figures vanished at a vigorous speed in the direction of the warrior. The envoy within her coward far too much to allow herself to do anything as she was paralyzed in place, allowing the shadow figures to charge towards her. As they did, the warrior was consumed by a sphere of darkness.
‘’It’s over,’’ Reinhardt said with stern eyes as he waited for the sphere of darkness to do its damage from inside… But still, something felt unusual. Nothing changed. He could still sense the Gaia energy of the mysterious creature. He knitted his eyebrows together in irritation. ‘’Just what are you doing in there!?’’ He hissed angrily and just then the orb burst into nothingness. The radiant warrior still standing strong, unharmed as bright green lights shaped in the form of fluttering butterflies were released from the burst of Reinhardt’s shadow orb.
Reinhardt was now clearly furious. They both charged into each other with a burst of immense speed, slashing the weapons together with the intent of landing just a single blow. Indeed both were powerful, but the battle had to come to an end.
The warrior’s sword suddenly glowed a heavenly white. Reinhardt definitely didn’t see it coming nor did he know what it meant but the very moment the face of someone he loved flashed before his eyes he knew he was being manipulated.
For a moment, the being took the form of a raven-haired pale-skinned, and ruby-colored lipped woman who held out her hand as if for him to take it. Her smile was faint but still beautiful in the eyes of Reinhardt.
‘’Es...merelda’’...
He choked on the name he dared not to speak in years but as more rage grew within him he came back to reality just in time for the warrior to quickly stab her blade into the gut of the shadow knight. In the same gruesome way, he once did to Claire.
He coughed up blood as his eyes flew open. The creature slid her blade out all in the same instant which brought Reinhardt to his knees.
‘’You…’’ He muttered with gritted teeth, his head lowered as he held onto his wound to prevent any further blood loss. ‘’How dare you!’’ He shouted with a raise of his head, his eyes enraged. ‘’Don’t think I don’t know about your little trick… Maiden of the heavens.’’ He stabbed the tip of his sword into the concrete, gradually pulling himself up from his knees. ‘’What do you call it? Illusional heaven’’?
The shadow knight began to chuckle as he looked up at his enemy. Even though he kept up his facade, deep down he knew he was defeated as soon as the being used the image of his dead wife against him. And then there she was again…
Esmerelda, Reinhardt’s deceased wife, approached him with her arm held out as if telling him to take her hand. The villain of Gaia had to restrain his urge to accept that hand because he knew it wasn’t real. Just some mind tricks the eidolon had up her sleeve. One of two of Anastasia’s ultimate techniques. He wanted to approach her but instead, he stepped back, gradually backing up to an edge that led to nothing but an abyss.
This was it. The shadow knight was cornered at last. As the heavenly warrior of two combined souls stepped in front of the shadow knight she placed her sword under his neck.
‘’Reinhardt’’, she finally spoke. Her voice echoed with the two combined voices of Claire and Anastasia. It practically sent vibrations through the ground. Not necessarily the most pleasant sound. Which is why she refrained from speaking before this moment.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
‘’It’s over. Surrender now.’’
‘’Heh… Surrender?’’, he chuckled and looked at her with a grin on his face.
‘’Don’t make me laugh’’.
‘’Then your reign of terror ends here’’.
Ready to decapitate the shadow knight where he stood with her blade already by his neck, she suddenly came to a stop.
‘’What? Can’t bring yourself to do it?’’
She didn’t respond.
‘’You envoys and eidolons don’t have what it takes to do what must be done. Which is why all of you are useless.’’ He spoke those words with the utmost rage in his voice that he ended up coughing up blood.
‘’Enough of this’’!
A familiar deep but feminine voice filled the air in the cave alerting both the shadow knight and the heavenly warrior. Rushing into the cave behind her were ten other templar guardians, there to provide backup in case something went wrong. The warrior knew exactly who this woman was. She bore a sword and shield with shimmering silver armor. Her bright red hair was out and down to her waist and her face appeared distant and stern. It was clear she was a woman who took her work seriously. Her name was Anya. And she was a royal guard in the city of Navea who often provided aid throughout Envoy Claire’s journeys. Her timing couldn’t be any better as her only mission was to make sure the legendary duo was still safe. She acknowledged that envoy Claire’s body was unconscious on the ground and Anastasia was still in good shape. Although she couldn’t break down the scene before her, she immediately understood what took place shortly before her arrival.
Could it be? … Did they really?
‘’Guards’’, she spoke with a hand signal towards Claire’s body. ‘’Gather Envoy Claire.’’ She demanded and in no time two guards jogged over to the unconscious envoy and scooped up her body. Making a swift exit out of the cave.
‘’You three.’’ She then commanded three other guards beside her.
‘’Apprehend the shadow knight right away’’.
The intimidating female guard met eyes with the unexplainable warrior and spoke to her with wavering eyes.
‘’You have done so much for us… Let us take it from here.’’
Even though she said those words, the warrior had to make sure the shadow knight was taken into custody by the templar guardians. She could never be at peace if she didn’t witness it with her own eyes.
Anya stooped to one knee and lowered her head, bowing before the heavenly being before her.
‘’Thank you for all that you’ve done’’.
Those words made the mysterious warrior feel relieved. She genuinely felt at peace with herself. Envoy Claire’s only goal in life was to defeat Reinhardt, hoping to prevent the dark and twisted plans he had in store for the world of Gaia. And that moment was now. There he was on his knees, severely wounded and still mentally plagued with Anastasia’s magical technique; Illusional Heaven. She dropped her shoulders accepting that there was no reason for Anastasia’s and Claire’s souls to remain as one. Allowing the newly established Gaia energy to exit her body for the first and final time, the being looked up to the ceiling once more, her mouth slightly ajar. A gentle swarm of her aura surrounded her as everything that made up Claire departed from the eidolon’s body. And in no time at all, Anastasia was just...herself. However, she stumbled. Her body felt excruciatingly worn out as she soon found herself collapsing to the ground in a state of unconsciousness. Anya watched the sight before her with shock on her face. Whatever she just witnessed was only confirmation of the fear she hoped wasn’t reality.
So it’s true… They must have been at their worst if it had to come down to this… Is there anything they wouldn’t do to protect this world?
Anya stood up on her feet with a soft yet disheartened smile on her face, knowing that the decision must have been a difficult one for both of them.
Thank you, for everything…. Envoy Claire.
☁
‘’It’s been two weeks…’’ Anastasia, the loyal eidolon of envoy Claire, returned to her normal self, watching the young envoy sleeping peacefully in a bed. Sitting beside her was the templar guardian, Anya. ‘’I’m getting worried…’’ she continued with a drop of her head, a dispirited and restless expression on her face. It was clear she must have been extremely exhausted after the battle with the shadow knight. Especially after combining Gaia energies with Claire, even if she was an eidolon. After that kind of experiment that she had never performed before she would be in just as much pain as Claire.
Anya acknowledged her concern with crossed arms and a gloomy face. Claire, who was in a deep sleep on the bed, was extremely pale. Every inch of her body was freezing to the touch. One could mistake her for a corpse, but there was still hope because of her infrequent breathing.
‘’Anastasia’’, Anya called for the eidolon who immediately raised her head and looked up at the red-headed woman. ‘’Please forgive me for asking this of you… But I believe it best to ask now before this has a different outcome’’...
Anastasia’s silver orbs wavered to Anya’s serious tone and demeanor. She could detect that whatever was on her mind was bound to be an uncomfortable conversation. She remained quiet, waiting for the lead templar guardian to get to the point.
‘’You both… Combined Gaia energies together… Didn’t you?’’
The two of them glared at each other, intensity bubbling between them. Anastasia nearly became defensive to the question. But instead, she remained calm and kept her mouth shut. ‘’When I saw you standing there with that beaming glow in your eyes; especially seeing the shadow knight on his knees, I thought I had witnessed the most horrifying creature before me with a power far greater than the shadow knight or any threat in Gaia history… However… I suppose there is no avoiding this…’’
Anya hesitated as her eyes fell upon the sleeping envoy Claire.
‘’What are you implying?’’ Anastasia squinted her eyes at the human, thinking she had no place to wonder about her and Claire’s affairs.
‘’Did you inform her about the consequences of combining Gaia energies?’’
The eidolon’s defensive and angered demeanor vanished and turned into a startled one. Her eyes were wide as she froze to the question, knowing well what the answer was. She knew… She knew that what she had done was a mistake… There was no way she could tell Claire; her own envoy the missing information she intentionally kept away, so how could she say it out loud to Anya? As her eyes fell upon her envoy Claire, Anastasia decided not to answer the question.
‘’I see…’’ Anya let out with a drop of her shoulders, unexplainably disappointed in the eidolons' decisions. How reckless of her…
‘’Combining Gaia energies results in the envoys' soul entering the body of the eidolon… Creating a creature mankind has yet to explain. Still, there is a dire price to pay for the human envoy… The envoys' soul returns to the body…’’ Anya gulped down the hesitation of her next thought, her eyes landing on Claire.
‘’But the Gaia energy… Vanishes…’’
Anastasia shut her eyes and clenched her fists, just hearing those words, but Anya carried on.
‘’Leaving the envoy… A normal human being… Deprived of all the Gaia energy that made them an envoy in the first place…’’
There it was. The confirming words Anastasia didn’t want to hear. The words she thought she could avoid some way, somehow. Though hearing it from someone else, made her realize that it was idiotic to have thought that. Claire would have realized the major difference within herself. Anastasia would have never lasted long retaining that bit of important information to herself.
Anya, expecting better of the eidolon knew she couldn’t leave the situation unattended. She had to let Anastasia know that what she did was wrong. She averted her crimson eyes upon the eidolon, her gaze bitter and full of displeasure.
‘’You realize it will be much more difficult to tell her this...Right?’’ She spoke harshly, her eyebrows knitted together as if she was scolding a child. Anastasia, an eidolon that was supposed to be nothing but loyal to her envoy, kept a secret from Claire for years. Neglecting to inform her that she could lose her envoy status forever. Anastasia herself was disappointed. The fact that a human had to scold her for her dishonesty and neglect made her feel nothing but shame. Regardless, she let it happen. Accepting that she placed Claire in this situation and that it was simply unforgivable.
‘’It certainly shouldn’t have mattered how hesitant you felt to tell her. As an eidolon, a loyal comrade to an envoy, You are expected to do what is right by the envoy. Telling the truth and leaving nothing out is what you should have done.’’
Anya finished. The whole time, the eidolon remained frozen in place. Her fists clenched and her eyes closed.
Standing up from her chair, Anya looked down upon the eidolon as if she were the scum of the world. Anastasia felt the pressure weigh upon her. She didn’t even have to meet eyes with the templar guardian to know that she was deeply judging her.
‘’Now you must face the consequences of your actions and explain to her the changes she feels once she awakens on your own’’.
Making a swift exit out of the room, Anya disappeared. Leaving the eidolon in a state of self-hatred and depression. Anastasia finally looked up at the pale and unhealthy face of her ex-envoy.
Damnit…
The eidolon cursed to herself as she dropped her head between Claire’s neck and shoulder. A single drop of liquid leaking out of one eye.
Who would have thought… That an eidolon like me…
Could still shed tears…
The feeling the eidolon was enduring was a mixture of different negative emotions all involving her choices concerning Claire. The worst emotion of all? Regret. Anastasia began to wonder how she could temporarily escape her emotions. Humans certainly had a fairly good way of doing such. Gradually closing her eyes in defeat, the maiden of the heavens accepted the situation for what it was. Although Eidolons didn’t require sleep, it was a good thing they could achieve it. Otherwise, Anastasia’s thoughts would destroy her inside and out.
It was now nearing 7 pm. The crimson orange hue of the setting sun seeped into the bedroom of the now late envoy Claire whose closed eyes twitched to the warmth upon her skin. Steadily and uncomfortably opening her eyes, Claire found herself questioning her location as she observed the unfamiliar room she was in. She acknowledged her surroundings and established that she was safe. Although she wondered where she was, her immediate thought was why her body felt so drained. As if someone snatched the life right out of her. She felt a pressure weighing down upon her shoulder and from the corner of her eyes, she could see a sleeping Anastasia. A face she was relieved to see.
Why do I feel so …
Distracting her from her thoughts was a knock on the bedroom door. She could feel that her body had zero strength to bring herself to sit up from her pillow. Still, she dismissed it and convinced herself that she didn’t want to wake up her eidolon.
The person on the other side of the door let themselves in.
Right away, Claire recognized the person's face. It was a middle-aged man dressed in a religious robe who stepped into the room with a tray of food in his hands, a warm smile on his face but his overall expression appearing concerned.
“Priest Salamon”... with a raspy and unusual voice, Claire softly spoke the name of a man from her childhood. She then established that she was in her home region, the city of Navea. Seeing a familiar face that reminded her of home put her at ease.
“Envoy Claire”, he addressed as he approached the bed, placing the tray of food on the nightstand. “I see that you’re doing well… I’m glad.”
But she wasn’t doing well. She could feel it in her body. Something was wrong but she didn’t dare to question it. After all, she had just experienced something spectacular. Something extraordinary that she couldn’t explain. Something she was eager to discuss with her eidolon.
“How long has it been?” She asked the priest with distant eyes. “Since… The battle”.
“Two weeks…”
Only two weeks? The teenage girl thought to herself as she began to realize that wasn’t nearly enough time for her to be out to explain why she felt the way she did.
“Anyway,” the priest began. “You should eat something. I’m sure you must be starving.”
Claire smiled. “You’re right. Don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t mention it”, the girl began to chuckle but soon entered a fit of frantic coughing which alerted the already concerned priest.
“By the way, the entire city is holding a celebration in your honor tomorrow. Hosted by the royal Belenus family..”
Claire’s smile remained but the priest soon caught on to the fact that she was uncomfortable. She wasn’t too contended with the idea of attending a celebration so soon… She wasn’t even sure if she was worth celebrating.
“Well, thank you for all that you’ve done, Envoy Claire. May you finally find some peace.” He bowed his head and shortly after, exited the room.
Taking a breath, Claire dropped her shoulders. Having that conversation, trying her best to appear presentable, let alone speaking, took an immense amount of energy out of her. She needed a moment to breathe and relax her body just to compose herself. Now that no one was around, she knew she could be herself and finally have a discussion with Anastasia.
“Hey”, Claire called for the sleeping eidolon beside her. “Wake up.”
The young Claire shifted her shoulder, hoping whatever movement she made was enough to awaken Anastasia.
“Stop it”, a warm, gentle and soothing voice filled the air with an added giggle, a pleasant tune to Claire who quickly smiled as Anastasia rose from her shoulder.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in so long,'' Claire spoke first, excited to see the charming face of her eidolon.
“It has felt long hasn’t it ?”
She responded but Claire could easily detect her uneasiness. It wasn’t the right time to address it though. There was something the two wanted to discuss face to face more than anything. Both of their minds were on the same idea. How miraculous it felt to have shared the same body… The same thoughts… See and feel the same thing. Joining as one together…
‘’We did great back there.’’
Claire said, her face full of joy but Anastasia’s eyes wavered as guilt began to consume her. She wanted to be as excited as her envoy but it was simply impossible.
‘’I couldn’t believe how strong I felt just being you’’...
Anastasia’s eyes widened at Claire’s words.
‘’What? No, no. It felt amazing just being you.’’
The two of them giggled together as they both recalled the feeling.
‘’Hey’’, Claire interrupted. ‘’I could really use a hand sitting up right now…’’
The fact that Claire had to ask was enough to shock Anastasia and keep her thoughts permanently on the fact that she was to blame for Claire’s Gaia energy-deprived body.
Could it really feel that bad to lose Gaia energy? How long would it take for Claire to regain natural movement in her body? Anastasia couldn’t let the topic remain a mystery to Claire any longer. She couldn’t bear even hearing the strain in her voice. Doing just that, Anastasia took hold of Claire’s arm and swung it over her shoulders, pulling Claire up to the headboard of the bed so that she could sit up straight. Jumping right back into their previous conversation, Claire continued with ecstatic eyes as she recalled everything she felt that day being one with her eidolon for the first time ever, and unbeknownst to her, the last time.
‘’Reinhardt was totally scared when he saw us like that. It felt so cool to be stronger than him…’’ Claire had to rethink her words and began to doubt her own abilities. If she had to feel stronger by combining her Gaia energy with Anastasia, then she certainly wasn’t strong enough to take him on alone. Regardless, she didn’t let it bother her. Because through and through, they won the battle. The war she was destined to win since birth. ‘’Can’t lie though, I felt pretty bad when we used the illusional heaven technique on him…’’
As Claire realized she was the only one talking, she looked up at Anastasia, whose face was as stiff as a brick. No smiles, no joy… Certainly not sharing the same cheerful emotions as Claire. There was something far more important to discuss. Something she couldn’t keep to herself any longer.
‘’Ughm… Is everything okay?’’ Claire finally asked, worried that she would get some answers to explain the numb and empty feeling in her body. After all, it’s not like she was entirely oblivious. She could tell that she wasn’t herself but figured it might have been temporary.
‘’I…’’ Anastasia managed to choke out. She tried her best to maintain her calm demeanor. ‘’Have something to tell you…’’
Claire stiffened up to the hesitation the eidolon displayed before her. As far back as she could remember, Claire had never seen Anastasia this concerned and distant before.
‘’Go ahead. I’m listening’’.
‘’I didn’t think you heard me that day when I brought it up... ‘’ Anastasia began. ‘’So when you demanded that I combine my Gaia energy with yours I couldn’t believe it… I wondered where could you have possibly heard that from…’’
The eidolon began to hug herself as she drew closer to the point.
‘’But you heard it from me… An awfully naive and foolish eidolon from three years ago. And clearly, nothing has changed.’’
Although Claire understood what she was referring to, she was entering a state of confusion.
Anastasia finally brought herself to look into her envoys' eyes.
‘’There’s something I’ve been keeping from you… Something I should have told you a long time ago…’’
Claire waited patiently for the eidolon to speak those words that had been plaguing her mind all day.
‘’If an envoy and an eidolon combine their gaia energies together… The envoy loses that Gaia energy permanently.’’
Anastasia took a deep breath before formally announcing it, before rubbing salt in the wound.
‘’You’re no longer an Envoy of Gaia’’.
Anastasia remained frozen in place but not nearly as frozen as Claire who didn’t blink, whose gentle expression didn’t change. She just sat there as if she were a statue but it was clear that once those words were spoken her thought process was shattered into billions of pieces. Anastasia couldn’t tell what the late envoy was thinking… If she was thinking at all. The dark circles under her eyes certainly didn’t make her appear any less broken and damaged.
Meanwhile, all Claire could feel was emptiness. Both physically and mentally. However, as her heart banged against her chest, she wasn’t sure how to react or respond. Anastasia was someone she admired, loved, cherished, and looked up to. She found her to be superior in every way, even if Claire, herself was the envoy in the relationship. Ever since Claire started her journey as an Envoy of Gaia, she wasn’t sure what her future had in store for her… But she definitely didn’t imagine she’d ever lose her envoy status, especially at the hands of her own eidolon. An eidolon that neglected to tell her what she needed to know before making such a crucial decision. Did it ever even occur to Anastasia how the young Claire would feel to find out this way? Especially after the fact that it already happened?
Was this… Betrayal? Is this what heartbreak and betrayal felt like?
As a storm of brand new and questionable emotions for the eidolon stirred within the late envoy Claire, all she did was sit there. Paralyzed and broken by the information she just heard and was deafened.
Finally, some movement. Claire dropped her head. Unable to keep her solid gaze upon the eidolon any longer. Anastasia couldn’t comprehend what she was feeling. Considering there was no longer an envoy and eidolon pact between them, neither of them could sense or feel nor understand each other the way they once did. And perhaps… That was a good thing. Because the new impression Claire had of Anastasia was one the eidolon would never be able to live with.
‘’Claire’’. The eidolon called for the girl. She raised her hand to bring it to her shoulder but before she could even touch her, Claire decided to speak.
‘’So that’s how it is…’’
She mumbled to herself and then tried to move her hand but all she could really do was wiggle her fingers.
‘’Hm. I should have let him kill me’’.
With a faint smile on her face, Claire bluntly spoke those words clearly enough for the eidolon to hear but mostly for herself.
Anastasia dropped her shoulders, stunned to have heard those words.
‘’I’m sorry…’’ Anastasia dared to mutter but for whatever reason, despite all the emotions bubbling inside of her, Claire looked at the eidolon.
‘’I can’t say I regret it.’’
Anastasia’s head flew up in shock, her eyes wide open as her eyes met with Claire’s.
‘’What?’’
‘’Joining my powers with yours was an honor. That experience is something I will remember and value for the rest of my life… I’m glad that in my final moments as an envoy, I was able to spend it with you…’’
A singular tear slid down Anastasia’s cheek as she listened to those words. She was afraid and certain that Claire would disown her… Not that it mattered. Claire was only human now. Without her envoy status, Anastasia was not allowed to remain by her side. But she couldn’t care. There was no one in the world that the eidolon loved most.
‘’S-So… You’re not mad ?’’
Claire’s temples pulsed to the question, which Anastasia did not notice. She glared at her with a broken expression of a smile and a mixture of anger but Anastasia was far too oblivious. She was too excited and relieved to know that Claire wouldn’t be rid of her after hearing such heartwrenching information.
‘’Why would I be mad?’’
She lied and at that moment Anastasia flew herself into Claire. Wrapping her arms around her shoulders as she placed a cheek on her neck.
‘’Oh, Claire. Thank you so much…’’
Even if Claire could return the embrace, she wouldn’t. Whoever was laying in that bed after discovering she was no longer an Envoy of Gaia wasn’t Claire. She couldn’t even feel the warmth of Anastasia’s body upon her as the life in her eyes began to darken. Marking this day, the once unbreakable and legendary duo, Envoy Claire and Maiden of the Heavens, Anastasia, was now broken. Whatever they once had for each other was something they knew they could never get back, because Claire certainly wasn’t the person she once was.
It took nearly a month for Claire to regain some movement in her body. Anastasia was by her side the whole time. There to pick her up when she fell, cheer her on, fetch meals for her, and simply be there day in and day out. However, Claire was pushing her away. Avoiding her touch, her gaze, her kindness, and her affection and Anastasia felt it. Still, she insisted on taking care of her. One morning, Claire went out on her own with the intent of running her own errands and trying to figure out what needed to be done… Because everything felt wrong. As if something was missing. And it was true. The Gaia energy that made her who she was, the Gaia energy that she was born with was missing from within her. Gone forever, never to be seen again. Claire just wasn’t herself and she wasn’t sure how she was going to cope with that.
The young Claire stepped into what seemed like an average house but it was a headquarters for several Templar guardians. In her possession were her weapon, the sword, and shield that she started fighting with when she was ten years old. The door she wanted to enter was closed but she could hear the muffled voices of Anya and another guard named Andre on the other side of the door. With no real intentions of eavesdropping, she did it anyway as soon as she heard Anastasia’s name.
“Anastasia didn’t tell her !?”
The man shouted with anger in his voice. Claire could hear stomps approaching the door as if he was ready to charge out of the room.
“Andre, stop.”
That voice belonged to Anya.
“You just got back. You can’t just go barging in there. They have enough to deal with on their own. God knows they don’t need us getting involved in their business”.
Claire appreciated that Andre would have taken a stand for her and faced the eidolon. When she thought about it, she realized that this was her home. Everyone either grew up with her, raised her, or just knew of her. It came as no surprise that someone would cross the line for her. In this case, she was open to just about anyone scolding the eidolon. She herself couldn’t dare to do it. All she could think about was if Anastasia was going to keep secrets, if their relationship was going to end up like this anyway, she might as well have died on the battlefield with Reinhardt.
Deciding she didn’t want to hear anything further, Claire didn’t knock, she simply let herself into Templar Anya’s office.
“Oh, Claire…” Anya spoke with surprised eyes. “What brings you here so early?”
The young girl approached Anya’s desk.
“I came to return these.”
That was all she said as she suddenly dropped the weapon onto the desk.
“I see no use for it anymore.”
Andre and Anya gave each other concerned looks.
“Ugh”, Andre started. “So, what do you plan on doing next ?”
Claire shrugged dismissively to the question. But that was a lie. The truth was she wanted to run away from Navea.
“What is there for me to do?”
She answered Andre’s question with a question expecting an actual answer out of curiosity but continued with a real response.
“My body has no Gaia energy to be of any real use.”
As she said that, she didn’t realize she indirectly offended the human guards before her, who still served a purpose without Gaia energy. But they understood her anyways. After all, she wasn’t like them. She was unique. Someone who was born with Gaia energy. They couldn’t imagine what it felt like to have a piece of themselves vanish from their existence.
“I will probably return home”.
“Well…” Anya began with a nod of her head, indicating that she understood.
“I’m sure everyone will accept your decision.”
“Indeed”, Andre interjected. “You’re still our envoy of Gaia. With or without your powers”.
Claire stood there, expressionless of the kindness the two guards displayed. Even though she knew it would be polite to respond, the Gaia energy-deprived Claire didn’t care as she turned her back, prepared to exit the office, knowing she would never see the two of them again.
“Goodbye”.
That was all she said as she departed swiftly from the Templar guardians. Under different circumstances, Claire would have been far more affectionate but there was no room for affection when her main concern was figuring out who she was as a person.
Making her way through the city of her home Navea, one last time, Claire had an idea to start over somewhere new. Somewhere she could try to have a fresh start. As she walked through the city, she passed on some mental goodbyes to people she recognized and places she used to love. Her parents crossed her mind but she didn’t even want to go home and visit them, though she promised herself that she would sometime in the future. As she drew near the ocean by the docks, where ships and boats of all kinds were aligned, she could see a small sailing boat prepared for the purchase. It was perfect for her to sail away and escape from her past.
“I’m here.”
She stepped behind a man who turned in a panic. “Oh.” He held out his hand waiting for his fee.
Claire placed a coin pouch into the hand of the man, inside of it was the exact price for the boat.
“It’s all yours,'' the man said as he handed Claire the rope that kept the boat set to the dock.
With no further words exchanged, the man vanished and Claire wasted no more time getting in. She didn’t have anything with her other than the clothes on her back and it didn’t matter. All she wanted to do was set sail towards a new life.
“Claire”!
Footsteps could be heard tapping against the ground in a hurry as a familiar voice shouted her name.
Claire, however, didn’t have to look up to know that it was the eidolon she had full intentions of leaving behind.
Coming to a stop by Claire’s mini sailing boat and hopping right in, Anastasia’s eyes were watery as she tried to look at Claire even through the blurriness in her silver orbs.
“Why? Why did you disappear like that !?”
Anastasia yelled as the tears leaked down her cheeks.
“Where are you going?!”
She yelled again with a stomp of her foot.
“Why were you going to leave me here…”
That was the last of the Eidolons questions as she dropped her head in defeat. Unable to control the flow of her tears.
She already determined Claire wanted nothing to do with her… But to this extent? To the point of just leaving without a goodbye? Abandoning her as if she were nothing?
Heartbroken, Anastasia was glued in place, her shoulders shivering as she stood there, crying.
“I’m not your envoy, Anastasia.” Claire began, her voice emotionless. “You aren’t obligated to follow me around. You’re free to do as you please”.
“Damnit, Claire! I don’t care about any of that!”
Anastasia yelled once again as she shot her head back up to face Claire. Civilians on the dock, distracted by their banter but overall minding their own business.
“I never have.” She let out with a sigh. The eidolon approached the unphased Claire and scooped her icy hands into her own.
“I’m willing to break the rules for you, Claire… Doesn’t that amount up to anything?”
Claire didn’t answer as they both glared at each other. A vast difference in emotions and expressions between them.
“I… Want to be by your side…” Anastasia began to squeeze onto Claire’s hand, hesitant to speak her request.
“So, please… Let me come with you”.
Silence fell between them as all that could be heard were the sounds of the water splashing against the boats. As Anastasia tried to search for an answer in Claire’s distant eyes, she found herself dejected as Claire gradually pulled her hands away.
However, Claire untied the rope from the docks, and just like that the boat began to move. Its sail flapping with a single gust of wind. Anastasia certainly didn’t expect that but she would have preferred words. Still, she couldn’t complain. She was relieved to know Claire accepted her into her brand new life, even if she didn’t want to.
“I can’t promise that the road from here on out will be any interesting… All I’ll be doing is living an ordinary human life.”
She brought her gaze to meet Anastasia’s before speaking her next words.
“Are you sure you want to join me ?”
The fact that Claire even spoke to her or looked her way meant a lot to the eidolon as she wiped away her tears and began to smile.
“Of course, Claire.” She giggled to herself as she recalled the fear she felt just seconds ago. “I’m never going to leave you”.
In the end, the legendary duo successfully defeated the shadow knight and restored balance to the world of Gaia… Temporarily. But with that came a price to pay. The envoy lost half of herself that day on the battlefield and she soon came to realize that she was an entirely different person. Claire had learned, accomplished, and experienced many different things throughout her journey as an envoy. She was forced to mature ahead of her time. As she took a seat on the floor of the boat, curious to see how her new life would unfold, she sailed upon the ocean with her eidolon Anastasia, still at her side. Always and Forever.
A familiar face along with a soothing, reassuring voice flashed in her mind. She began to think about her first eidolon, Victoria, who was forced to be a mother figure throughout the beginning of young Claire’s journey. She recalled that this is exactly what she wanted for her. Just being able to live as a human. Back then, she was too young to truly understand. She was too lost in the moment, but she remembered her words so vividly from that day.
“It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t live long enough to see you grow…
But having spent time with you, a child with envoy status, holding the weight and responsibilities of protecting this cruel world made me realize that this is no way for a human to live…
If by chance it ever happened, I want you to remember that losing your envoy title doesn’t have to be a bad thing… I know you would never do this, but even if you decided to turn your back on this world... It would make me happy.
You’d finally be able to live as a human…
Grow as a human…
Die a human death…
That would be the greatest outcome of losing Gaia energy… The greatest outcome of escaping this life. So… I want nothing more but for you to live as an ordinary human…
This is my final wish for you…
Farewell… Claire.”
F i n