Aftermath 1: Sparrow's Sacrifice
“You let them go,” Sparrow said, peering up into the luminous glow of the bird-Arweinydd.
~Yes.~ came Zeni’s quiet answer. ~I realized… It’s what Zemi would have wanted.~
“But won’t Lady Zazo be angry? Wasn’t her plan to capture the Sygnus?” the girl folded her hands in her lap around the dim, crackling shape of Incrytan.
~Perhaps. But she will get over it.~
The chamber was silent now that everyone else had left. Where they had gone, Sparrow didn’t know. Didn’t care. There wasn’t much for her to be concerned about in the living world anymore. The one person in all the world that she had fought to save was now dead.
~Suzume, are you certain this is what you want to do?~ Zeni’s words were sad and quiet.
“It must be done. Incrytan is bound to me now,” the winged girl’s breath came in quite rasps. “There is no going back on it.”
Incrytan had to be destroyed.
Things had gone too far. With the rest of the Crystals destroyed, and their energies welling within the heart of the Key Crystal, there would be no reconstructing what once was. Not that there was a need to anymore. Not with Lucci gone.
So in the midst of the confusion with Sygnus, Sparrow had willed her final wish as the Watcher of the Arweinydd Zeni. She had asked that the bindings between the one called Golbez and Incrytan be broken and that the Crystal’s burden be put on her own shoulders.
Son of KluYa. Grandson of Zemi Dreigiau.
He was completely unaware. The last thing that she wanted to do was leave him weighed down with more guilt. All that he had found left of Incrytan was a small shard of crystal that had broken off during the Sygni battle.
Golbez had taken it with him. She had let him believe whatever he wanted to about it.
You do not deserve the death of a Crystal’s binding. Your life has just begun upon the Blue Planet.
Sparrow didn’t know why she chose to spare the Sygnus-Half. Maybe it was because she had watched him lose someone who was just as close to him as Lucci had been to her. But unlike him, Sparrow didn’t think she could continue in the world without her once best friend.
As to not make it a selfish act of sorrow, the girl offered heroic excuses for her actions instead.
“The only way to fully release Lord Zemi is to destroy Incrytan,” Sparrow said somberly.
~Yes. I know. However…~ the Arweinydd trailed off.
They had been companions for so long, Sparrow knew it was hard for Zeni. Despite what others might say about Arweinydd, the girl had discovered that they were creatures capable of both friendship and love.
“I’m sorry Zeni.”
~No. It is I who is sorry, Suzume. I wish that I could have saved Lucci, too.~
“I know,” Sparrow said, slowly getting to her feet. “You’ve been a good friend to me.”
Zeni was silent for a moment. Then she fluttered her wings, ~I will help you with your final desire. If you feel that it must be so.~
“I’m tired,” the girl told her. “It’s been so long. Too long… too long not to have brought him back. Lucci wanted me to be good. That’s what he told me. The only good I can do for this world is in this.”
~I disagree. But I will defer to your will if you believe it’s your time.~
Sparrow took a short glance around the chambers, swallowing back the rising dread that welled within her throat. Then she slowly lifted Incrytan between both hands.
“Lucci… The world has changed. You and I, we were put here a very long time ago, for a purpose. I just can’t understand why some continue on while others must die,” she lowered her head in a motion of deep sorrow. “And now, the world no longer needs us. I must have faith that we can leave it in their hands. It’s time for us to rest.”
A tiny flicker pulsed within the heart of the Crystal, tracing her hand’s outline lightly.
Sparrow closed her trembling eyes, “I hope that I can meet you in the Mists.”
Incrytan’s power was warm upon her skin. Growing warmer. And warmer until there was only a searing blast of heat. The girl bit back any exclamation of pain. She had rarely cried in her living years. She wasn’t going to cry in her final moments.
The Crystal’s shatter screamed through her mind. Even through closed eyelids, the light was dazzling. Consuming. Just as the light and flame became unbearable, everything fell dark and silent.
For a long time there was nothing.
Then there was a soft, damp feeling. Something touching her hand. A quiet voice speaking her name.
Her vision fought to clear in the hazy shift of white. What stood before her took her breath in a quiet gasping whoosh.
“Lucci?”