Sins and Meteors

The Council Leader continued to stare at the envelope lying before her.

She did not reach for it.

The envelope rested on the table, while everyone's eyes remained fixed upon it.

The Council Leaders.

The members of Gaya.

The guards.

Even Jinsu.

Everyone wanted to know what was inside.

One of the leaders cautiously broke the silence.

— "Leader... do you want us to inspect the envelope first?"

She did not turn toward him.

— "No."

Then she slowly extended her hand.

She picked up the envelope.

The moment her eyes fell upon its cover...

She froze.

No one could see what happened beneath the veil covering her face.

But the truth was that Yuha's expression had completely changed.

There was a small drawing on the envelope.

A butterfly.

She stared at it for several seconds.

She could no longer see the hall.

She could no longer hear the voices of the Council Leaders.

All she could see was that butterfly.

An old memory.

One person.

And a voice she had not heard in a very long time.

— "Leader?"

It was Eivo's voice.

Yuha suddenly snapped back to reality.

She raised her head.

Eivo was looking at her from where he stood.

— "Are you all right?"

She remained silent for a moment.

Then she answered in a calm voice, as though nothing had happened.

— "Yes... I'm fine."

She opened the envelope.

She took out the letter.

But she did not read it aloud.

She lowered her eyes and began reading in silence.

The first line said:

"Hello, Yuha. It's me, Thalen. I hope you're doing well."

She paused for a moment.

Then continued.

"If this letter has reached you, that means Jinsu is standing before you now... and that I am in a coma."

Yuha's fingers tightened slightly around the paper.

She continued reading.

"I knew I would have to use that technique. I had no choice."

Then came the next line:

"But don't worry... I'll return in the end. Thalen always comes back."

Yuha closed her eyes for a moment.

Then opened them and continued.

"Yuha, do not sentence Jinsu to death or seal him."

Her eyes stopped.

"Instead, exile him."

She kept reading.

Until she reached a single line...

She stopped completely.

"Do not repeat your father's mistake."

Her eyes remained fixed on the words.

She did not move.

Then she slowly raised her head.

She looked at Eivo standing before her.

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The letter was still in her hand.

And everyone was waiting.

Yuha waited several more seconds.

Then she released a long breath.

And said:

— "The charges against Jinsu will be dropped."

The hall erupted.

— "What?!"

— "But he's a murderer!"

— "He has a Yami inside him!"

— "That's impossible, Leader!"

— "That goes against every law of the Council!"

Voices rose from every direction.

One of the leaders angrily stood up.

— "Leader! That can't possibly be your real decision!"

Then he turned toward Eivo.

— "That envelope must contain some kind of threat or spell that affected the Leader!"

Eivo looked at him without interest.

— "None of your business."

The leader froze.

— "How dare you...?"

He raised his hand.

In an instant, he lunged toward Eivo.

But before he could reach him, another leader grabbed his arm.

— "Stop."

— "Let go of me!"

— "I don't recommend it."

The man glared at him.

— "Why?"

The other leader glanced toward the figure standing behind Eivo.

Toward Death.

The man slowly turned.

His eyes met the Yami's purple eyes.

His body stopped.

A chill spread through his limbs.

It was not a look of anger.

It was worse than that.

It was the gaze of a creature looking at something so insignificant...

Something not even worthy of extending a hand to crush.

The leader swallowed hard.

Then lowered his hand.

— "Fine..."

He sat down.

But one question remained in his mind.

How had Eivo obtained the envelope?

He raised his head again.

— "Then how did you get Thalen's envelope while he is in a coma?"

Eivo did not answer.

The leader continued:

— "Are you saying he wrote it before entering the coma? And how did the envelope reach you?"

Eivo calmly replied:

— "None of your business."

The man's anger intensified.

— "You..."

But Yuha's voice interrupted him.

— "Haljo."

He turned toward her.

She looked directly at him.

— "Silence."

He froze.

He felt the same chill that had seized him when he looked into Death's eyes.

He lowered his head.

— "Y-yes..."

Yuha turned her attention back to Jinsu.

Jinsu was still standing in place, unable to comprehend what was happening.

She said:

— "And you?"

Jinsu raised his head.

— "Did you know about this envelope?"

He shook his head.

— "No."

Then he looked at Eivo.

— "I didn't know anything."

He paused for a moment.

— "I don't even know why this bastard is defending me."

Eivo turned toward him.

He stared at him for several seconds.

Then said:

— "It's better if you don't know."

Jinsu frowned.

— "What?"

— "Who are you to tell me what I should or shouldn't know?"

Eivo continued staring at him.

Then said:

— "Your friend is in prison."

Jinsu froze.

— "What...?"

He did not understand what Eivo meant.

But before he could ask, Yuha interrupted them.

— "Enough."

Everyone turned toward her again.

She raised the letter in her hand.

Then said:

— "The verdict has been decided."

The hall fell silent.

— "Jinsu..."

He looked at her.

— "You will be exiled."

Several voices rose, but she did not allow anyone to interrupt.

— "And you will remain under Eivo's authority indefinitely."

Jinsu's eyes widened.

— "What?"

She continued:

— "You will not return to the organizations."

Then:

— "And you will never enter the Imperial Territories again."

She paused.

— "Not until the Council itself removes the sentence against you."

Silence filled the hall.

Then she said:

— "This case is closed."

The hall erupted into shouting.

Anger.

Objections.

Accusations.

But the verdict had been given.

And despite the uproar, it was clear that most of those shouting now...

would forget about it after some time.

As for Jinsu, he was still trying to understand what had happened.

Eivo looked at Yuha.

Then said:

— "Your judgment is sound, Leader."

He pointed toward Jinsu.

— "This bastard won't be able to do anything as long as I'm around."

Then he smiled.

— "Even if Kaizen himself were to manifest."

Yuha looked at him.

— "Then I hope you're right."

Eivo did not answer.

He began descending.

As soon as he neared the ground, Death began to disappear slowly.

Its enormous black body dissolved into a massive purple cloud.

Its wings vanished.

Then its hair.

Then its eyes.

Until nothing remained.

But before he left...

Eivo's eyes met Jinsu's.

For only a moment.

A very brief moment.

No one noticed it.

But Jinsu did.

It was a different look.

Not contempt.

Not anger.

Not mockery.

It was something Jinsu could not understand.

(Did... he just look at me?)

Jinsu found no answer.

One of the guards unlocked Jinsu's restraints, then pushed him toward the exit.

Jinsu followed Eivo out.

Moments later, they left the hall in the carriage.

But...

Not everyone had left.

Yuha remained behind, almost alone.

She stood there.

The letter was still in her hands.

She lowered her eyes to it.

There was another line.

A line she had not read aloud.

"Yuha, I hope you will fulfill this request."

She stopped.

Then continued reading.

"Jinsu must not be sealed."

Then came the line that made her breath tremble:

"Think carefully... they may be sins or meteors, Pudding."

Beneath the line...

There was a small drawn smile.

And beside it...

A butterfly.

A tear fell from Yuha's eye.

Then another.

She quickly wiped them away, almost angry at herself for allowing them to appear.

She stared at the letter.

Then clenched her hands tightly over her knees.

Her voice came out trembling.

— "You idiot..."

She fell silent.

Then closed her eyes.

— "Why are you always like this?"

She tightened her fists.

And for the first time in years...

The true sorrow behind the face of the Council Leader appeared.

— "Come back to us..."

Her voice trembled.

— "Come back to us, Thalen."

Inside the carriage, Jinsu sat in silence.

He rested his head against the window and continued staring outside.

The city slowly faded behind him.

The angry voices of the people disappeared in the distance.

The Council Hall was gone.

The trial was over.

Yet he could not stop thinking about one thing.

Thalen.

Jinsu lowered his eyes.

His hand was still trembling slightly.

He did not know why he felt such a weight in his chest.

He had been on the verge of being sealed.

Perhaps everything would have ended there.

But Thalen...

Even while trapped in a coma...

had saved him once again.

Jinsu raised his hand and covered his eyes.

He murmured softly:

— "My lord..."

He stopped.

For a moment, he could not finish the sentence.

Then he said:

— "You saved me again... I don't know what to do."

His voice trembled.

He tried to hold back his tears.

He pressed his hand against his eyes, then took a deep breath.

— "Why do you do all this for me...?"

There was no one to answer him.

Only the sound of the carriage wheels moving along the road.

Jinsu finally opened his eyes.

He raised his head.

And looked out the window again.

The sky slowly moved above him.

Somewhere far away...

Thalen was still lying in his coma.

Jinsu did not know what would happen to him when he awoke.

He did not know why Thalen had risked everything for him.

And he did not know that there were secrets far greater than that trial...

Secrets that connected Thalen to him in ways he could never imagine.

But Jinsu knew one thing.

He could no longer think of Thalen as merely his lord.

Thalen had become someone to whom he owed his life.

Jinsu closed his eyes.

He tried to hold back his tears, but his voice betrayed him.

— "Please..."

He paused.

Then whispered:

— "Come back to us, my lord..."

He pressed his hand against his chest.

— "We need you..."

He fell silent for a moment.

Then the final words escaped him in a quiet, sincere, broken voice:

— "I need you."