Even after all that had happened, there was still more that was needed to be done. Celese was in need of change, and there was now only one person left in a position to instill such measures of change.
The fighting quickly concluded after the fall of the fortress lord. With nothing to sustain the operations of the fortress, most of it's functions just shut down, stopping the flow of enemies. Those still active were easy to finish off, putting an end to the conflict. Still, despite this, Lwyn still knew there was more to be done. She had yet to provide a conclusion to the world flow's destiny going forward, to shape the future of Celese as a whole. She also still need to figure out how she could locate the world's veil, so that she could finally apply her mother's core to it. She also had plans to hold a funeral tomorrow, honoring her mother and father's passing in the moment the world was saved. First, she needed a place to escape to, somewhere she could relax with her friends.
Lwyn opened the front doors of the Citadel Inn, leading the way for her friends. It sorta felt like she was revisiting her childhood, which might have been intimidating given the sort of unhappy lifestyle she had been left with at the time. Still, with everything else she had worked to overcome, she wanted to return to her roots, and relax in a peace that had ever been deprived from her. The young girl at the front desk jumped alert at the sound of the door, and turned to greet her new customer. Seeing Lwyn before her, the girl went stark pale.
"Hello, long time no see. Looks like nothing has changed, though I guess you've had a lot more customers than usual of late. We're looking for a place to stay the night, to relax after a long day of work. I don't suppose room 718 is available, that might be perfect. Oh, and please pass the bill up to my account at the Citadel, I trust nothing else will be required beyond that." Lwyn looked around after getting no reaction from the statue of a girl who was too terrified to breath. It didn't matter, she still remembered how stuff worked around here. She noticed that the key for 718 was still on it's rack, which was good news for her.
The innkeeper's son entered the room, now formally fully the innkeeper after his father's official retirement. He had heard some kind of commotion at the front, and went to investigate. There, he found Lwyn, still waiting for her key. The young innkeeper also went pale on recognizing the Arch-Magus' heir, the same woman who they had on staff as an adopted member of the family, the same woman they had mistreated all of those years. He noticed his little sister had also frozen in this situation, so rushed in to clean this mess up.
"Ah, greetings Lady Lwyn. We welcome you to our humble establishment. Is there..." "718, the key right there. Thank you, it seems the young girl has had a long day, possibly with all the commotion going on around here. I won't need directions, I still remember the layout of everything around here. We will just head to our room and make ourselves at home." The young innkeeper passed Lwyn the key with a nod, letting Lwyn pass into the halls beyond. Once they were passed, he started shouting instructions to staff while berating his sister for her neglect. Lwyn shrugged, it really seemed like nothing had changed in her absence.
As they were all getting settled into room 718, a maid rushed into their room, still shaking in fear. "Hello, I will be attending to you this evening, making sure everything is in order. Dinner hours have ended, but I'm certain that such esteemed guests could have an exception made for them. Is there anything you would want provided for you?" The maid's lines sounded scripted enough that Lwyn knew she was told to recite them. None of this was lost to Lwyn, she could still remember being in the girl's shoes. They were all very hungry, so the offer was not one they would care to dismiss. The girl returned shortly after with food, clearly exhausted by what was being asked of her.
"Ah, thank you for the food. Please, sit down with us, take some time to relax. It would be nice to hear how things have been going while we've been so busy." "I would, but I uh..." "Seriously, just tell him that room 718 has made a special request, he'll understand, especially considering the details. Oh, and feel free to enjoy some of the food yourself. I happen to know what the conditions are like around here, if you're the one they have picked to do rough jobs, you deserve the extra care. I was doing the same thing, not all that long ago, I know how it is. Back then, I had a customer offer to share her food, and it gave me the strength to keep going, so I just want to return the same thing in kind." Lwyn smiled gently to the maid in her gesture of kindness, Mhyl herself remembering the story Lwyn was talking about. It had been Mhyl who had made that gesture all that time ago, eager to help and support Lwyn against her despair. It seemed Lwyn was inclined to pay such a gesture forward.
Though some casual conversation, they learned that most people were generally worried about where things would go from here. The Qicir and Wyxir war was pretty much cancelled, and suddenly there was a new nation to worry about. Also, elves, lots of them, something most humans never have found themselves having to worry about before, even if they might have been neighbours all these years. Change was already happening, people just needed to figure out where it might take them. But was this really enough to pave the way for a better future?
After dinner concluded and their attendant departed, the four settled down for the night. Being so worn out from the day, everyone was eager to get some sleep.. everyone except for the one who was probably the most tired. Lwyn laid in bed, still subtly worried what might happen if she fell asleep. Would she lose control of herself again, or was she safe due to the death of her father? Lwyn held on deep into the night as a storm begun to gather, a downpour of hail without lightning. As the rocks started to break the silence of the night, Lwyn lost the energy to remain awake, with sleep quickly overtaking her, and in her sleep she found herself dreaming as she had before.
Lwyn bolted out of bed, still thinking herself trying to stay awake. Was she fine? The room however was still and silent. She recalled it was hailing just a moment ago, so went to look outside. Outside she saw the falling hail, frozen in the air as if lost in a moment of time. She tried to open the window, but it was invincible. She went to the door, but it was also frozen. Something about this was familiar. Without even turning around, she took a deep breath with her eyes closed, feeling somehow aware what was going on.
"Yhse, are you there?" "Of course, we did promise to stay together, after all. There is no way I would miss out on this... I mean, this is our.. my responsibility." Lwyn nodded, still not turning to face the Yhse in her dreams. They did promise, and this was her responsibility. Even more accurate was not referring to the accumulation of Yhse and Lwyn in plural, she was one person. Knowing that though did make this whole confrontation a bit stranger. Lwyn finally then did turn around to face Yhse, seeing her much like herself, but wearing that night-gown once again from the Fortress. This was almost a complete reversal of the previous dream she had just like it.
"So why am I split in two again? Pretty sure we worked this out in a dream I had before." "Mostly. I mean, at this point I'm still getting a lot of blame as Yhse for everything that happened to your friends.. and I mean your friends, even they seem to not want to be Yhse's friend. It's fine, all things considered... Right, back to the point. You know that you are both Lwyn and Yhse, maybe, but I'm a bit different in this case. I mean.. uh.. how do I explain this?" "Ah, the flow of the world can't speak to me, so you're speaking for it. Because the flow can speak through dreams, as I remember." "Yes! Exactly! That was it. I should have trusted that I would understand." Lwyn might have caught on, but she was still finding it weird to talk to Yhse like this.
"So, what do we do..? ..and yes, I mean all of us. Everyone, really. All the changes so far.. I know so many things are already going to change, but..." ".. but it's not enough, yeah. Father actually did manage to do a lot of damage in his hard work, if things are left like they are.. things will actually get worse. I'm going to need to come up with an answer for all this, to find a way things could get better. Something integral to the world has to be.. remade.. before anything can start moving forwards." Lwyn nodded, even if Yhse didn't answer her question. There probably wasn't much value in vocalizing her questions, not only because she was thus basically asking herself.. but also because as an agent of the world's flow, Yhse was not in a position to provide the answer herself. Lwyn would basically have to tell Yhse.. to tell herself her answer, and the world would listen.
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Her father's cause was fueled to spite hatred, and also in spite of hatred. He might have thus also been consumed by such spite, but only because he had the wrong solution for the right problem. She pondered the details of that hatred once more, with people left to struggle in their solitude. They were bringing people together, but that might not end such struggling, such was actually in turn why everyone was afraid. Everything was too different, everyone was afraid. The four of them were probably the scariest of everyone, four beings of insurmountable power that no one could even dream of standing up to. She could even remember thinking of herself so lowly, and in that moment wondered at how fair it was that things had just changed.
She had gotten here only because she was fated to be here. Sure, it wasn't even a gentle journey, it was full of hardships that she had to climb along the way, but it would have been absolutely impossible for anyone else to do it because none of them were fated to do so. It was a bridled chain of destiny, binding her to it, and binding everyone else from it. She meanwhile had other friends who had struggled through with her, tried their hardest to contribute, and were left hard-pressed to keep up. They just weren't gifted, and it was impossible to defy such limits, even with the hardest of effort. Frankly, that was probably unfair.
Actually, that might be the entirety of it. The world blessed a chosen few with the gift, which blossomed those select people into a form of greatness of its own design, leaving everyone else to suffer. She had experienced life without the gift, and then life with the gift, she could see the measures on both sides. Earth didn't have the gift, instead it's resources were equally available to everyone, had they just put the effort to attain it. That root of model might be the best example to take, to not be so biased with the gift, to make the full extent available to everyone, but to challenge every single person to devote themselves to their gift in order to master it.
It should not be easy to achieve this mastery, not even as easy as it was for them, taking a life-long process of learning. In fact, they could even reuse other contexts, she had a book that passed on a touch of the world's flow, why couldn't records of study provide ways to accelerate the advancement of others? This way, the world would be able to advance, grow, and evolve it's own kind of science towards the future, much like Earth's technology. Actually, having instruments of the gift, like the cannon they had made for Ehryinae's gift, that could provide ways for people to share their gift, to grow as a community, and to build a growing form of unity.
"Everyone needs to have the gift, that's the only way. Hatred will always stir when people are forced beneath others, and never allowed to grow. The way things are, there is no room for anything to improve. Only by letting everyone in equal share their gift with others is there any hope for all of Celese to go forward." "Ah, yeah, I understand. The whole.. uh.. artifact idea sounds pretty good, letting people make instruments of the gift, can totally see Thanrie getting into that. I wonder if Mhyl will devote herself to making tomes of the gift and fill her mother's library with them. Qheria.. she would..." "Qheria obviously would be the most keen on making sure people shared everything properly. You could totally see her taking her Shieldbearer background into a sort of gift-based law enforcement. Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure what would be required of me in the process. The citadel has always trained people who had the gift, making sure that people understood how to use it properly. Clearly that won't end, instead even more people would need such training, everything would have to be expanded upon to account for a world full of the gift. As the Arch-Magus, I'll need to lead such lessons into the future." Lwyn full-well understood exactly how much responsibility she was putting on her own shoulders, but making such a decision for the entire world would only mean she would have to be responsible to bear it into its future. Her grandfather had laid the foundations, she would see it into its future.
Yhse nodded her approval, accepting the whole proposal not only for herself, but for the world's flow as well. In that instant, the laws of the gift were inexplicably changed, with the seeds of the gift sown in every living person, both human and elven. The seeds were each small, but with the potential of immeasurable growth. Every individual could unlock their potential, but they would first need to reach out for it, their gift remaining potentially dormant otherwise. Those without the ambition, the hopes and dreams for a better future, would find themselves leashed by the limits they only imposed upon themselves. This would not lead to any dramatic forms of change, it would be a slow ongoing progress lasting not just years, but generations. This was only the foundation for a new Celesi future, one where everyone would need to work together to prosper from.
With that, in her own dream, Lwyn started to feel tired. She considered it a strange feeling, how does one sleep in a dream? Regardless, she went back to her bed, Yhse already gone when she turned around. She settled onto the bed, with sleep quickly taking her this time. When she awoke, it was still dark, and the hail was still roaring, but she felt like she had already at least gotten a lot of sleep. She knew then that a lot of time had passed, and morning would quickly approach. She would then have to share her final decision with the others, and start on their futures.
Today would be the funeral, and then they would probably have to each go their own ways. The citadel would need a lot of changes if it was going to accommodate the new Celese, it would need to provide learning for people everywhere, not only of all three human nations, but even for elves. Unlike her father, she knew this would not be resolved simply by expecting the elves to learn Izhaethyx, she would ensure there was opportunities to learn in Elaethyx as well, exactly as Ehryinae had long ago predicted. Just as she was both elven and human, so too did she expect the citadel to welcome both elves and humans in equal measure. She would need to figure what else would be needed of the citadel, how else the citadel would need to adjust to what changes would come. She would also need to start research on the veil, to finally fulfill her last promise to her mother.
Meanwhile, she knew the others would be busy too. Thanrie wanted to be part of the establishment of a new nation. They didn't even have a capital yet, although the spot at the lakeside now vacated by the Fortress might prove to be the best place to build upon. It would make for an excellent city, but only with a lot of time and effort. With the Fortress's fall, it was time for the new crown to unify that nation and build a foundation for its own future prosperity. It would be a lot of work, but Thanrie was probably going to be alright. She wasn't alone, not only due to being set for marriage at some day not far over the horizon, but because she still had friends who she could count on. Lwyn knew at least that she would make sure the Citadel would try to support Hyxir as best it could.
She doubted she would be alone in this, with Qheria set on her own heroic path. Somehow, Lwyn doubted Qheria would be just returning to the shieldbearers, Qheria's interest would aspire about as far as her influence. It wasn't hard to see the extent of her possible ambition, working to encourage further unity between both Qicir and Wyxir.. and probably including Hyxir, especially once you involve Rhyde. Compounded with her own estimates on how Qheria would react to the changes of the gift, you could totally see her all over the place getting work done, helping out everyone in the process and leading everyone of all nations into the future.
Well, maybe not all of them, considering Qheria couldn't speak Elaethyx. Mhyl however was the prime candidate for connecting the elven and human nations in unity, considering how motivated she would be to that cause. The biggest barrier to everything would still be caused by languages. Mhyl still could not read Izhaethyx at all, let alone write it, and her spoken quality of Izhaethyx still had a lot of room for improvement. Lwyn herself would have to do her own research, as the Arch-Magus she would need to actually be capable of reading and writing Elaethyx, something she still had no ability with. She could totally see Qheria being left to endure her own Elaethyx lessons too as a result, and maybe even Thanrie would end up joining them as a form of royal study.
In matters of language, they had to consider the future of other languages, the ones they gained from Earth. English had been their personal staple though their adventure, but it might be time to consider sharing some of their knowledge, making records of things such as the other languages they know, so that such information would not be lost. This might not include simply the languages they know, there was some merit in passing on other forms of knowledge, especially considering how the gift will grow to depend on both written records and with tools created and shared in its purpose. The four of them have been left with a lot of knowledge, all things considered, and it might not be good to let all of it suddenly go to waste.
Pondering such thoughts, sleep took its hold over Lwyn once more, leaving her to complete her slumber until morning would arrive. As all four of them awoke once again, sunlight split the dawn of a brand new day.