sranks | GRATUITOUS DEATH AHOY

[Her prayers are answered in the worst way they could have been. Alear hears the familiar sound of that warping magic before she hears him properly, feeling his hand on her and...

At first, she can't respond. Everything feels like it's draining from her at once, her blood upon the ground and the last visages of life, memories--she attempts to move one of her hands to try and stand, but she only manages to flip her head so she can at least look at him, her breathing ragged, wheezing, and wet.]

G...Griss...

[Alear coughs, and blood comes up and out of her mouth as dribbles down her chin. Even so, she tries to smile despite it all.]

I--I hear you. I promise, I...I was...careful...

[Moving her is a bad idea. Hell, from what little he can see from where she moved, Sombron got her good. She's damn lucky she's still alive.

...Which means there's only a limited amount of time left before she bites it.

It's that thought that spurs him to pour healing magic into that wound, to try to seal it. To try to undo the damage that's been done. But between using a fair bit of his own magic to warp this far and his inability to pinpoint the exact injuries to heal, he's expending a lot of magic, way too fast. It's already immediately, painfully obvious that it won't be enough.

But he tries anyway. He can't stop trying.]

Dumbass, you think I care about that!? Just—

[Whatever it was he was about to say gets roughly cut off as his voice abruptly breaks. Griss's breath comes in ragged, like maybe he's the one who just got stabbed rather than Alear. He hasn't pushed himself that hard on the healing - which just causes him to double down on it. It still isn't enough. It isn't enough and his hands are shaking from the strain and it won't be enough, but he has to keep trying because to do otherwise is to let her die—]

Griss...

[He pours and pours and pours into Alear, who may as well be a broken cup at this point. No amount of healing magic is managing to seal the wound, and if it weren't for the gambit that Zephia had done with her ring earlier, they wouldn't even be alive for this much.

But it means there's no escaping, this time.

Alear is going to die here, and she hates it. She hates that Griss has to watch. She hates that Griss is going to keep trying, and trying, until his hands are numb and until he knows there's nothing that can be done and beyond that, and she doesn't want to leave. She doesn't want to.

For once in her damn life, she's wanted to live for herself because of him. Alear didn't want to be simply the Divine Dragon to someone; she wanted to be herself. She wanted to be Alear, whatever that meant in the end, and at the end of their road, there's nobody else she would have wanted by her side other than him. To maybe see what this new world would bring them both, for fixing it so.

But now...Alear sees his shaking hands, and as she coughs again, blood staining the ground, she doesn't have much time. She's going to die here.]

...I know. I'm sorry. [It's feeble, like she's that lost child from so long ago.] I don't--I don't want to leave either, Griss.

[And for the first and last time, Alear allows herself a selfish emotion as tears form in her eyes, and she can't even bring a hand up to hold his, to stop him from draining himself entirely--but she can't move. It's taking so much to even speak right now.

But she has to try.

...]

I...

You...know I...love you, r-right?

[Using magic is akin to draining water from a well. Eventually, you'll reach the bottom of the well, where there's simply no water left to drain. Griss reaches that point far too quickly. He casts, but no magic comes to his fingertips. He casts, but no spells try to knit Alear's wounds closed.

There isn't any denying it. Alear's going to die.

Slowly - agonizingly slowly - Griss lowers his hands before abruptly deciding that he can't just let go like that. They both seize one of Alear's, grip painfully tight despite how badly his hands are shaking.]

Do you think I'm fucking stupid? Of course I know that.

[The words are rough, ragged, colored in some emotion he can't place.]

That's why you gave me the damn box, isn't it? 'Cause it was supposed to be a promise - for whatever future we'd build together, yeah?

[For a future that won't come, because Sombron stole her from him.]

[She still feels the pain of Griss gripping her hand so tightly within his own, though it registers like a dull ache. She couldn't stop him even if she wanted to, and right now, she genuinely wouldn't even consider it.

Alear looks up at Griss as his magic runs dry, and for all of his work, he at least bought minutes. Minutes that she listens, that she knows it's a little silly to feel almost put out by him finding her out so quickly, but knowing that her emotions have come through even in a time like this...in everything they've been through, she's even more firm in her decision. She loves Griss so much.

And she's so horrifically grief ridden, that he had to be the one to see her like this at the end of her road.]

Yeah. It was. [Alear keeps her gaze on him, though her eyes start to droop, slow but sure--she doesn't have long, even with the time he's bought her.] I never knew...what would happen. But facing it...with you? It felt so much less scary. It felt...

[Alear feels herself chuckle a bit, and though tears form in her eyes, she doesn't let herself cry. She can't. The Divine Dragon must always be strong, even in death.

But man, if only for a moment, she wishes she could.]

It felt like...it made the future worthwhile. Like something...I wanted to grasp. With you.

To have someone who could just...see Alear--see me, rather than the Divine Dragon.

[Her voice betrays her when she speaks again, cracking just a touch.]

...I wanted to do so much.

[She doesn't cry, not yet. Always the strong one, always doing her best not to make things harder on anyone else. Cry if you want to, he almost says, because it's not like you'll be able to in a few minutes.

Griss bites it back. She doesn't need the reminder. Hell, who is he kidding, he doesn't need the reminder. There's only a short time left, and then—]

I know. I know, dammit, I just... didn't figure it out. And maybe if I had things would've gone differently or maybe I would've been by your side or... hell, I don't know.

[Maybe there's a world where Griss was able to save Alear, but it isn't this one.]

You've been givin' me a whole other reason to live. You know that, don't you? A reason beyond pain and Zephia. You make me actually wanna look towards the future, and see what it holds.

You mean so damn much to me, Alear. I love you too.

[She needs to know that much before she goes. So even though he hates putting it so plainly, he does it anyway.]

...Don't beat yourself up, Griss. It's...not your fault, okay...?

[Alear listens as Griss continues to speak, though the words feel like they're blurring together at this point. She's going to die soon. She's going to die on the man she gave a reason to live, a reason to be, and the guilt is eating her alive. She wishes she knew what more she or anyone else could do, but...

Hearing him say that he loves her so plainly gets her eyes to widen briefly, and she loses the battle to keep her tears inside. She'd spent so long worrying about forcing her feelings onto him, and he loved her all the same.

And so, Alear smiles. Gripping his hand as tightly as she can, with the last of her strength.]

...Knowing that I've done that for you...it fills me with more joy than I can express. Thank you. Thank you.

[She doesn't care who sees her; let them. They can finally see the delicate little girl she's been hiding.]

Can I be...selfish, and ask one last thing?

[Despite it all, despite how horrifically painful this experience is and knowing he's going to have to go on without her, Griss smiles when she lets her tears fall. Let her cry, she damn well deserves it. He can't manage it - he's not sure he knows how to, no matter how badly he wishes he could express his grief in a way she'd obviously understand - so let her do it enough for both of them.]

'Course, Alear. Anything you want.

[He just wishes he could do something - anything - to change her damn fate.]

Don't join me anytime soon.

[She wishes she could change her fate too. She wishes this didn't feel so cruel to ask of him, after all that's happened and how much this will hurt.]

You--deserve this chance. To live your life as you want it. So...please do. Please experience it...please enjoy it to the fullest.

And...at the end of your road...when we're finally back together again, forever...tell me every single story. It doesn't have to be hours long, but...I want to hear everything. Every little detail. I want to hear everything that you get to experience with this new chance.

And...when we meet again, let's make our own stories together. That way we'll have plenty to keep Zephia occupied when she comes along, too.

[Alear's eyes start to close. Not too much longer, now, and even her grip on his hand feels faint.]

...Promise me that? Please?

[She asks the impossible of him. Not that Griss planned to run off and die immediately, but the idea of living a full life - of him having stories to share and a life worth living... How the hell is someone like him supposed to do that? How the hell can he promise her this, when it's the only thing that'll give her peace now?

He doesn't have long to debate. He knows what he has to do. Still, Griss huffs a sigh.]

You really aren't makin' it easy on me, huh. Alright. I ain't ever gonna be a good person, and I'm not even sure I'll be someone with a life worth livin'. But I'll make sure I get a ton of damn good stories - so when we meet up, I'll keep you entertained for hours.

And... And you'd better have some good ones for me too, okay!?

[His grip tightens on her hands again and his voice gets louder, as though maybe that can chase her to where he can't follow.]

So just— Wait for me, okay! And don't you dare forget!

[It's with the last of her strength that Alear chuckles a bit.]

I'd much rather you be yourself, silly. That's who I fell for. I'll hear every story, even the ones about pain. I promise. I promise all of that.

And I'll never forget. I promise. I...

[Alear wishes she could say so much more. Say how much she loves him again, even as he shouts down the dark tunnel she's found herself in. She wishes deep down that she could stay with him and make beautiful stories alongside him so much. She wishes she'd been more careful, that her father hadn't gotten the better of her. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to maybe see if there was something to all he was babbling about, or at least properly repay him for everything he's done.

But Alear finally goes slack and dies, perishing with a smile on her face--and if Griss looks closely, their pinkies are locked together, slack though they are now.

She'll wait however long it takes for him. Seems like that much she inherited from her mom.]

[For a very long time after Alear dies, Griss is still. There's much to be done, and Zephia snaps to attention, rallying the others around her to handle the aftermath of Sombron's defeat.

He's not really sure how he gets from point A to point B, or any other point in between. It feels like he's lost in a fog, unable to fully pull himself free of it until he's met with the sudden, startling clarity of Alear's funeral.

It's a massive mourning for the Divine Dragon. There are so many people here who loved and cherished her as a figurehead and it makes Griss sick. He leaves, and waits on the edge of the isle for Zephia to find him.

I know it isn't what you wanted to see. She says by way of greeting as she joins him, sweeping her hair and skirt out of the way as she sits beside him.

She wouldn't want that crap either. She just wanted to be Alear.

And yet she wanted to help everyone she could. Zephia reminds him gently. I'm sure she would be happy to know that the nations are doing well now. Even Elusia is finally playing nice.

Griss scoffs. Am I supposed to care?

No, Zephia reaches out to ruffle his hair, but she'll want to know when you see her again.

It's that reminder that sees him keeping a closer eye on those former allies of the Divine Dragon. It's that reminder that keeps him focused - on finding and gathering new stories for her. Stories of her friends and allies and companions, but also of himself and the things he gets up to.

It never really feels like enough, but he tells himself that each experience will be worth it to share with her someday, just to see her smile light up the room again.]

GRATUITOUS DEATH AHOY

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