Chapter 32: Back To Valemont

5th February, 1551.

1:45 AM, Royal Academy, Valemont.

I hit the ground of the Academy courtyard hard enough for the impact to travel up through both of my knees. For several seconds, I remained there, staring at the cobblestones and pentagram beneath my hands while the cold night air slowly replaced the suffocating atmosphere of the Realm.

It took me a moment to realize that the darkness around us was ordinary.

The Academy towers stood where they had always stood, their windows dark at this hour, while the gas lamps lining the courtyard cast their familiar yellow light across the stone. Above them was a dome that showed the clear night sky filled with stars.

Real stars.

I had almost forgotten what they looked like.

The thought brought a strange sense of relief, but it lasted only until I looked around the courtyard.

Arthur was standing several paces away with Mary and Theodore. All three of them looked exhausted, their clothes dirty and their faces pale from everything we had been through. Arthur noticed me first and let out a short laugh.

"Finally."

It was probably meant to be a joke, but there wasn’t much humor in it. He had been through the same thing I had, and the relief of seeing the Academy again was enough to make even him laugh.

Then he looked behind me.

His expression changed.

"Where is Eliza?"

I stared at him, my heart trembling.

My mouth opened, but no words came.

Arthur frowned, "Edmund?"

I lowered my gaze because I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.

The answer had been waiting inside me since the moment the portal closed. I had known that I would have to tell him. I had even tried to think of how I would do it while we were being dragged through that golden light.

Nothing I came up with seemed right.

How could it?

There was no gentle way to tell someone that their sister had chosen to stay behind so they could live.

"Where is my sister?"

Arthur’s voice was different now.

I looked up at him, forcing myself to face reality. After all, no matter how hard a man tries to escape it, all roads eventually lead back there

He had already begun to understand.

"Arthur, she..."

"Where is she?" His voice rose, his face pale, his hands on his forehead.

"Where is Eliza? Say something, damn it!"

I forced myself to speak and I told him everything.

The Great Horror. The Spire trembling beneath its presence. The portal and the realization that it could only carry four people. I told him about the illusion Eliza had created to fool us and how she had hidden the truth from us until there was no longer enough time for any of us to stop her.

I told him that I had begged her to come with us. I told him that I wanted to stay there in order for her to escape. I told him I never wanted to live like this. I told him that I never wanted any of this. I told him that she refused to anything I said.

I told him there had been no hesitation in her voice.

I told him what she had asked me to tell him.

I told him she wanted him to say goodbye, but she didn’t want him to spend the rest of his life feeling guilty about what she had done.

I told him she didn’t want him to think of her sacrifice as something he had to repay by living according to her wishes.

She wanted him to live for himself and not for her.

I finished speaking, readying myself for any shoutings I would receive from Arthur, readying myself for any kind of punches that would follow.

Arthur, however, did not respond.

He simply stood there for a few moments before slowly leaning back against the wall behind him. His legs seemed to give out, and he slid down until he was sitting on the ground.

Tears flowed out of his eyes, tracing down his cheek.

I had never seen Arthur cry before, even though he was a person who was usually afraid of things, I had never once seen him letting his tears out.

Theodore and Mary hadn’t either. I could tell from the way they looked at him.

Neither of them knew what to do and I wasn’t any better.

I remained on my knees, staring at Arthur as he covered his face with one hand. There were no words that could make this easier, and I didn’t trust myself to say anything without making it worse.

Theodore eventually walked over and sat down beside him.

He didn’t speak. He simply placed a hand on Arthur’s shoulder and stayed there.

Mary followed after a moment.

She sat on Arthur’s other side, her expression unusually subdued. Her eyes remained fixed on the ground for several seconds before she raised her hand and traced the familiar pentagon, the sign of the Shepherd against her body, touching her throat, the left side of her chest, her navel, the right side of her chest, and finally returning to her throat,

"The One who treats all souls equally;

Ruler of Death and the Afterlife;

We pray for you to hear our pleas;

Guide our captain through the silent passage, where all souls walk as equals.

May her soul rest in peace."

Theodore followed.

"May her soul rest in peace."

I looked at them before raising my own hand.

"May her soul rest in peace."

The words sounded strange coming from me.

Arthur remained silent for a moment longer.

...Then his trembling hand rose.

He traced the pentagon as well.

"May her soul rest in peace."

The courtyard became quiet again.

There were no cries from the Realm, no distant howls, no strange sounds coming from the darkness. Only the faint hiss of the gas lamps and the occasional rustle of wind through the trees.

It should have felt peaceful.

Instead, the silence made Eliza’s absence even more obvious.

The lamps suddenly flared brighter, illuminating the courtyard in warm light.

A soft metallic sound followed.

Clack!

I turned my head.

Someone was approaching from the Academy’s main entrance. Theodore noticed him at the same time as me.

"Mr. Draeus."