Character : Lilyanna Valkaria, Long Awaited Visit
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The north is cold as always.
The sun rose quite late on the horizon, and it will disappear a few hours quicker than every other place. This resulted in an unending night time, which can turn the air colder. Snow falling is a normal occurrence, and it always covers up to two centimeters from the ground, turning the north completely white.
With the sun rising in the distance, my feet landed on the snowy floor and deepened instantly. It seems like a heavy snowstorm had just struck this place last evening. I already knew that things would be really cold, so I brought alongside me two layers of a really thick jacket and long skirt.
My feet kept on walking under the cold weather that is slowly melting away due to the arrival of the sun. I made my way through the rubbles covered in the thick white layer of snow until I finally arrived at a really large mountain pile of building rubbles.
This rubble is only one of tens that is located in this ruined dark republic city. It is also the largest mountain pile, possibly because it was made that way by everyone who joined the search. The positioning of the rubble is what makes this mountain of building pieces so special, and that is because this is where we predicted she'd land.
This is a graveyard. In fact, this whole place is a graveyard, but we just don't really know exactly where the body is.
Since the explosion was so massive, it's natural for us to consider the possibility of her body disintegrating into dust. As a result, it will be impossible for us to make a grave out of her remains.
That is why we simply made the whole city her grave. This mountain rubble specifically is made larger because this is where we predicted her body would've landed if it did get destroyed by the explosion. This is where we guessed her remains will mostly be at, even though it could very easily be anywhere else.
However, finding all of her remains is purely impossible. We decided to simply end the months-long search for her body, and to just simply make the biggest mountain pile of destroyed pieces to be her grave.
Felicia Fiore, the Dark Knight of Fiordall who sacrificed herself over three months ago so that we all could live. I will never be able to forget such a wonderful person.
It's no wonder that Nathan would end up falling for her. She was just so lovely, even I oftentimes find her inspiring. Ever since I met her before the war, I've been making her my idol, someone I aspire to be. And as the war goes on, I became much closer to her, and we'd even call ourselves friends.
Which is why… it really hurts me. When she pushed us away so that we could escape the blast radius, it hurt me that I couldn't do anything at that time.
I could've very easily done the same thing. I just didn't have the courage to. I could've done something very complicated to push us forward, but I didn't have the ability to.
And now, here I am. Many months after her death, I still visited her.
"It's been a while, Felicia. Sorry for not visiting too often, these days." I said to the largest mountain pile of rubles in front of me, and my eyes stared at the golden sign that is placed right between me and the mountain pile.
'Felicia Fiore. The Dark Knight of Fiordall, Hero of Avenor.'
That is what the sign says, and I recognized that it's been a while since anyone came and cleaned the sign. Ever since it was placed here by the king and queen of Fiordall who came visiting months ago, not many people have been looking after it. Only I, who visits quite frequently, has been wiping the snow and dust off the golden plate.
I kneeled right next to the sign, and I took out a napkin from my storage bracelet.
"I got rather busy the past month. But, it seems like things in Avenor have started to calm down some more." I said while wiping the golden plate carefully, not wanting to dirty it.
"It's been three months since the battle ended. The people have now started calling us… 'Guardians'? I don't really know why, but probably because we've been contributing the most in protecting the land.
'Guardians of Avenor'… sounds very cringy, right? I wonder if this is how you feel when you get titled 'The Dark Knight'."
I finished wiping the sign, and I used my water origin to use the water from the melted snow to brush the sign slightly. I gave it one last swipe with the napkin before putting it away.
"The sign got really dirty… Sorry for not visiting after a month. I got assigned to a mission at Citus, the light federation. Oh, I met a girl with five origins! Isn't that crazy!? Someone who uses all five??
Everyone else is also quite busy themselves. Everyone went back to the academy after the battles, and we're currently on a short holiday before the final exams.
I didn't really join the classes the past month because I was away. Jonah and Nyssa went to the earth nation for a visit, and I'll be meeting them after this. Eric is… I guess he kind of disappeared? He never said anything, so he probably went back home to the lightning clan.
The only one more mysterious than Eric is probably Nathan. That guy… not even his family knows where he is at. No one knows, and even my sister sent out a search order to look for him. He just disappeared."
My throat hurts a little when talking about Nathan, and I coughed to clear my throat. However, this tiny act made it seem as if I was being pathetic, and I laughed at myself for being so awkward.
"I guess I just miss him! We've only known each other for a while, and yet I'm already missing him this much." I said while lifting my hand, and I touched the golden sign lightly.
"I also miss you, Felicia. It felt like two of the closest people I've spent the past six months with were just taken away from me…" Very carefully, I caressed the sign with sadness, wondering how things would've been had Felicia not died.
Naturally, Nathan would still be here, and he wouldn't have stressed himself to the point that it's this bad.
During the war, I got closer to Felicia than I ever got with Nyssa. It's true that I have spent a lot of time living with Nyssa at the academy, but that was only for a little over a month. The entire chaos with the dark republic lasted for over a month as well, but it made the days much more valuable considering the dread from the situation.
It utterly saddens me. It was painful watching her die, but it was more painful seeing Nathan so hurt from her passing. I cared about Felicia too, but we've only known each other for over a month. I just can't imagine how it was for Nathan who spent seven years with her.
And now, Nathan has disappeared. We're guessing it was because of something to do with the headmaster, but it seems like there is more to the story than it seems.
Hopefully… he will come back. Stronger and better, and has overcome Felicia's death.
"I missed you two. It's annoying that you two suddenly disappeared in such a short time. But, I guess that's just how life goes.
Hopefully, something can happen! Perhaps you can come back to life? Maybe give me a pat in the back and tell me I did really well? Like you always did.
Or perhaps… Nathan can come back from disappearing? Maybe finally accepting my feelings towards him? I know it sounds silly, but I really do like him. I hope you don't mind that if you're staying dead."
That was… meant to be a joke. However, it was actually a lot more painful to say than I realized.
"Two realities that I know are just completely impossible. Nathan coming back and tells me that he likes me too? Or you coming back to life? Something tells me one of those things is going to happen, and I hope you don't hate me if the former does happen!" I said jokingly once more, truly hoping that Felicia can really come back to life.
"There are tons of miracles that happen in this world. Nathan's personality and abilities are one of them. I've seen an evil demigod with two special origins in their bodies, and very recently I met with a young girl my age who can utilize five basic origins.
Considering all of those crazy things… then surely one of the two things I've mentioned must happen, right? Right?"
This joke… seems to be getting older. There's just no reply from the grave, so it seems quite likely that none of the two will ever happen.
I turned my gaze to the skies that are gradually turning orange due to the sunrise, and I closed my eyes to enjoy the warmth that is slowly getting there.
"Come back, Nathan. We all miss you."