PUER MORTIS (Child of Death)

22: Goodbye So Soon

“There’s an Elder Eldritch on earth?” Leilyn hisses out. Her facial expression is twisted in horrified disbelief, but her eyes shine with worry.

“Yes.” Chibi immediately replies. “But seeing as they didn’t come to oblivate me the moment I stepped into this galaxy, I’ll say that they don’t give a f**k about me, unless I have the intent to cause trouble. Like them.” Chibi jerk their neck at the Elder in front of them.

“So, we have nothing to worry about with the Elder on Earth?”

“No.”

Leilyn heaves a sigh of relief.

The Elder before them outstretches their hand at them once again, causing Chibi and Leilyn to release a grunt like noise and go tense in anticipation. Chibi’s wings are spread wide in preparation for flight. A black transparent shield appears, stretching far and wide – Leilyn honestly have a suspicion that it might even cover the whole galaxy – and the Elder halts once more. They drop down their shadowed arm, their grin disappearing for a bit. They stare at Leilyn and Chibi for a second or two, before finally flying away.

Chibi heaves a sigh of relief, while Leilyn sags on their antlers as the tension washes off of her.

“I always thought the great unknown of the universe will be peaceful and quiet. Now, I’m not so sure about that.” Leilyn deadpans with a flat look on her face.

Chibi snorts. “You have no idea.”

Leilyn heaves a deep sigh, sitting up straight. “Let’s go home. I have had enough scary encounters for today.” She looks around, shuddering as she notices the darkness around her. She wraps her arms around herself, a frown on her face. “Besides, I’m getting uncomfortable with the darkness right now.”

“Oh? Are you perchance scared of the dark, Lyn?” Chibi asks with a grin.

Leilyn splutters, a blush settling on her cheeks. “N- no! What on earth gave you that idea?! I am an assassin, we fear nothing.” She harrumphs, throwing her nose in the air.

Chibi snickers. “Oh, really? Weren’t you the one whose heart was pounding in fear few minutes ago?”

“As were yours.” Leilyn retorts blandly. “I could basically taste when your body went tense. The way you tried to dive away is a clear indication that you too were scared shitless.” She huffs.

Chibi chuckles once more, making a small smile to grace Leilyn’s lips.

Without further ado, the pair make their way home. Chibi opens a portal – the edges a hot red – and the view of earth and its moon is before them. Leilyn looks in awe at it, once again dumbfounded by the display of magik.

Chibi slowly flies into the portal and the two are suddenly close to earth. To further enjoy the last moments in space. Chibi takes Leilyn spinning around the moon. She holds their antlers tightly as they venture into the dark side of the moon. The shield around them provides a soft light, but Leilyn couldn’t help but shiver at the darkness.

To say Leilyn was disappointed was an understatement. Turns out there’s nothing really special about the Dark Side of the Moon. Just a few Martian space stations here and there – they are monitoring earth – and some few abandoned habitations by some aliens and such.

Also, there’s a huge a*s estate filled with minor moon deities and their servants on the moon. Now that… that was unexpected.

Looks like being cloaked by different entities prevented the Lunar Explorers or satellites from seeing the real image of the Further Side of the moon.

It took about ten minutes for the two to be done with the tour. Chibi also takes them cruising at the other side of the moon. When Leilyn sees the surface part of the Lunar Station, a proud smile stretches her lips. She still couldn’t believe that she was one of the driving forces of this great achievement.

Who says money doesn’t make the impossible achievable?

As they make their way to earth, Chibi does some acrobatic stunts in the air. Leilyn whoops in joy, laughing merrily as she has the fun of her life. The blood curling encounter with the Elder is shelved at the back of her mind, forgotten for now.

Chibi slowly stops their stunt, making Leilyn to frown - frown; she sure as hell didn’t pout – a little. Her frown deepens when she sees the reason; the clearly visual of earth.

“Oh… we’re back.” Leilyn says in a quiet voice.

The two slowly make their way into the earth’s atmosphere. Once they reach the breathing level, Chibi releases the shield. A cold gush of wind blow against them, making Leilyn to shiver a little.

It’s already night time and the moon is high up in the sky.

Leilyn's watch beeps and she raises her hand up. She taps it and a mini holo-screen with the time on it appears. It’s currently 10:45pm, meaning that they have been in space for hours.

Huh. Looks like time is really different out in space.

Chibi slowly flies down and not too long later, Leilyn sees the outline of her house. Her heart suddenly feels heavy, because she knows that it’s time for Chibi to go.

“Chibi…”

Leilyn tries to say something, but she falls short on words. She just inhales and exhales heavily.

Suddenly, she feels a spell wash over her and shivers once again. Moments later, she feels her body getting light, and suddenly, she sees herself floating. She lets out a surprised cry, hurriedly grabbing hold of Chibi’s antlers. Said antlers start to shrink, along with Chibi’s body.

Leilyn’s suddenly holding hands with Chibi, the Eldritch grinning at her. They gently wrap a hand around her waist and draw her closer. The two freeze, suspended in the air.

Chibi’s appearance is that of when she removed the collar. Curled back antlers, long ears bearing emerald earrings, sharp canines; to put it simple, Chibi’s unearthly beautiful.

“Okay, once again, never do that again.”

Chibi chuckles deeply. The sound resonates deeply in their chest that Leilyn feels it. The Eldritch slowly lets go of her and stiffens in fear.

“It’s okay. I casted a flying spell on you. Just focus. Go with the flow. Feel the power covering you and use it. Imagine being a bird, free to roam the skies.” They finally let go of her hand. Without an anchor, she starts floating up. “Concentrate. Or you’ll float out to space.” Chibi barks out.

Their statement makes Leilyn go stiff a little, and once she remembers the darkness out there, she becomes determined. 

It takes five minutes for Leilyn to get a hang at flying, and once she has fully mastered it and is now flying around, Chibi slowly claps.

“Always exceeding my expectation, Lyn.” They stop clapping, a wide smirk on their face. Leilyn returns their smirk, hers filled with smug satisfaction.

Chibi raises a hand and a feather suddenly appears between their fingers. They enclose it in their fist, giving it a tight squeeze. When they open their palm, a necklace lays on it.

Leilyn blinks, eyes filled with curiosity as Chibi raises the necklace in the air.

“A reward for your achievement.” They said.

The necklace consists of a miniature black and white feather on a gold string.

Chibi hovers over to her and clasps the necklace on her neck. She takes hold of the feather and gives it a closer look. Chibi chuckles in amusement before telling her the components of the necklace.

Turns out the black part of the feather is black emerald – she never knew this existed today. Turns out that it exists in Chibi’s galaxy of captivation – and the white part is platinum diamond harvested from a dying star (wait, what?), and what gives the feather its sparkling quality is the ashes of crushed Angel’s bones (once again, what?).

The gold chain is made of petrified Aegrulum guts – Leilyn doesn’t know if she should be happy or disgusted that the entrails of one of the Ancient Cosmic Beasts made by The Beginning is wrapped around her neck – and casted on the necklace is an everlasting and anti-aging spell – the tiny circle can be found with a microscope.

Leilyn lets go of the necklace, and the newly transformed feather lay on her breasts. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.” She gives Chibi a bright smile, the corners of her eyes crinkling. The Eldritch nods, a smile on their lips.

Chibi snaps their fingers and music from nowhere starts to play. Leilyn’s head rears back and she starts looking from one corner to another, trying to find where it’s coming from. When she sees nothing, she arches a brow at Chibi.

“Magik, I take it?”

Chibi grins in answer.

Leilyn huffs, rolling her eyes. “Typical.”

Chibi flies back a little before giving a bow, a hand on their chest. “May I have this dance, my lady?”

Leilyn’s eyebrow raises higher, her eyes filled with amusement. With hundreds of etiquette lessons inbreeded in her from a very young age, she softly replies with a curtsy. “Yes, you may.”

Both she and Chibi straighten themselves at the same time. Chibi stretches out their hand and Leilyn drops hers in theirs.

The pair proceed in dancing in the moonlight; under millions of stars, with the sound of beautiful and tranquil music, led by harps and violins, resonating softly in the background. They glide beautifully in the air and Leilyn is twirled gently, her dress and hair swaying with the wind.

At a young age, Leilyn is taught the ways and lifestyle of high ranking aristocrats, and what it meant to be one. It was honestly the most difficult period of her life. Adding to her misery of begin molded into a high ranking maiden was her father’s a***e and the emotional strain meted on her.

Although horrible, those lessons proved to be useful in her remaining years. Balls and professional banquet proved to be heinous for anyone without any proper etiquette training. She’s good on her feet and never misses a step. Her childhood training, along with Sensei’s and various multicultural training from the other seven members of her Clan, made her to be the sophisticated aristocrat she is today.

She has always viewed dancing with a mathematical eye, always calculating her next step. In that process, she never truly let go and enjoy herself.

But now, under the bright milk moon, along with the twinkling of stars and with the soft wind blowing at her; she’s honestly enjoying herself. She lets herself go for the first time, and just simply dance. She doesn’t care to calculate. Her eyes and mind are on Chibi, who looks like a Greek divinity. The moon shines on their warm ivory tone skin, and their hair shine in the moonlight.

Soon, their dance comes to an end. The last seconds of the music sees them getting closer to the ground. As the music finally concludes, Chibi twirls Leilyn one last time, and the two finally set their feet on the ground.

Leilyn exhales softly, adjusting herself to the feel of land once again. She shivers as she feels Chibi’s spell washing off of her. She raises her head to look at Chibi, and her breath hitches as she sees them getting closer.

While she wasn’t looking, Chibi has shrunk in height. From a total 6’8, they’re now 2 or 3 inches taller than her 5’6.

She waits with bated breath to see what Chibi will do. She strongly stumps on the feeling of disappointment she feels when Chibi does nothing but place their forehead against hers, their eyes closing shut.

Leilyn freezes when she feels her body getting warm. It feels as if something is entering her very soul. It feels… soothing. She closes her eyes and basks in the unknown warmth. If she was to guess, it will be Chibi’s doing.

They stood like that for a minute or two. Chibi slowly moves away and Leilyn is disappointed when the warmth disappears. She slowly opens her eyes and is met with warm vivid violets, twinkling with mirth. Her eyes narrow when she recognizes the mirth in their eyes as mischievous.

“What did you do?”

Chibi smiles, fluttering their eyes innocently. “Why would you assume I did anything?” Their innocent smile stretches. It’s too innocent for her liking.

Leilyn gives them a flat look filled with bemusement. “Chibi, I have a Clan full of blood thirsty, mind f*****g rebels, and a mother and brother who tend to try to f**k with me on special occasions. That look isn’t going to fool me.” She says with a tone drier than the Wastelands. 

Chibi chuckles, fingers gently tucking some strands of rebellious hair behind her ear. Leilyn takes hold of the hand, giving it a squeeze.

“Chibi, I’m serious.”

They smile warmly at her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “Don’t fret. It’s just my parting gift to you.”

Leilyn blinks, before c*****g a brow at them. “Which is?”

Chibi just chuckles, eyes shining in amusement. “You’ll find out soon enough. Knowing her, she’ll feel my departure and will come here. Use it and defeat her.”

Leilyn at first doesn’t understand what they’re saying, but seconds later, her mind suddenly clicks. Her brows furrow deeply and her eyes narrow into slits.

Faerai.

Leilyn nods curtly in understanding. Chibi’s smile becomes brighter and Leilyn feels her heart beating loudly.

Honestly, Chibi’s beautiful. Looks like being an Eldritch automatically gives undefeated beauty as a bonus.

Chibi turns their head and looks at the night sky. Leilyn follows their example. With their hands still in each other’s grasps, the two gaze at the milky moon. They stood like that for three minutes, the wind softly caressing them as their eyes drink in the night sky. Once they have had their fill, they retire to the en. Well, to be precise, Chibi teleports them to the en in a swirl of red.

Leilyn blinks, a surprised non-committal grunt vibrating in her chest at the sudden change in surrounding. Leilyn looks left and right, realizing that she’s back home, on the en to be precise.

Chibi walks to the edge of the en and sits down in a meditative pose. Leilyn follows after them, sitting in a traditional Japanese style, placing her hands on her laps. The two continue to stare at the moon, a comfortable silence blanketing them.

Two minutes later, Chibi shifts closer to Leilyn. The Eldritch adult form evaporates in a swirl of red, giving way for their child form.

Leilyn raises up her hands as Chibi gently places their head on her lap, face facing upwards and an ear against her stomach. She blinks down at them, hands suspended in the air.

The Eldritch listens to her stomach for some few seconds, a small smile stretching their lips.

“Looks like the little one is asleep.” They chuckle, eyes closing shut. “And will be asleep for a while. Give or take three days.”

Leilyn’s brows furrow with worry at that. “Are they okay?”

Chibi open their eyes, gazing at her warmly. “Yes.” They nod curtly. “They’re just exhausted due to them lending you their power. For them to even do so at a developing stage, in the womb no less, is baffling outstanding. They sure as hell will be powerful in the future.” They chuckle humorously.

Leilyn hums. “Should I be worried?”

Chibi laughs. “No. You’ll both be perfectly fine. But try not to tire them out before that three days is up. They might sleep longer than that. Exhaustion is not good for one so exceedingly young.”

Leilyn hums again.

Chibi lets out a wide yawn, tears gathering at the corner of their eyes. “Well, looks like I’ll be following the little one’s tactic. Time for me to get a shut eye.” They turn their head, face facing the woods.

The wind softly caresses them, ruffling Leilyn’s silky curls. She slowly lays her hand on Chibi’s head, and starts carding her finger through their soft, silky locks. A small smile gracing her lips as they hum in contentment. She starts to softly hum a hauntingly beautiful song, eyes on the head on her laps.

After five minutes of peaceful humming, Chibi finally speaks up, whispering softly.

“Lyn… thank you.”

Leilyn shuts her eyes tightly, turning her face up and taking in a deep breath before exhaling shakily. Her fingers are still running through Chibi’s locks, never once stopping.

“You’re welcome.” She says with a pained filled smile. “Now, sleep. You’ve earned it.” She slowly opens her eyes.

The Eldritch gives out one finally hum before they go still. Chibi starts to evaporate, body turning into red speckles of dust, flying into the air from their feet first. When the evaporation finally reaches their head, Leilyn whispers loudly;

“Oyasumi (good night), Chibi.”

And they’re gone, red speckles flying into the air and disappearing into the night sky.

Leilyn’s hand is suspended in the air, fingers twitching. Her lips are still stretched in a pain filled smile, eyes squeezing shut so as to stop the incoming tears.

Fucking eyelashes.

She inhales shakenly, setting her arms on her laps once more. The dark red copper head woman meditates for a minute or two, getting back her composure. She calmly opens her eyes, staring blankly and unseeing at the sky.

Leilyn stays outside for twenty minutes, staring into space. She numbly makes her way into her house and up to her room, Zoranne silently locking the door behind her. She reaches her room, the door sliding open for her. She pushes one side of the duvet away, and slowly lay on the bed. She lies on her right side, face turn towards the balcony. Dull agate eyes stare at the pillow on the floor, eyes taking in the purple scarf on it.

All of a sudden, her eyes become misty and fogy and before she could realize what was going on, a tear slide down her eyes. Another one follows its lead, then another, and another, until Leilyn full out starts crying. She turns on her bed and lies on her back. Her hands raise up and gently cover her face, trying to stop the tears. A choked sob escapes her lips and she sniffles deeply.

Cosmos be damned hormones.

Leilyn softly sobs into the empty room for five minutes, unable to control herself.

This is the second time she’s feeling such deep lose and emptiness. Not even her ex fiancé almost killing her, or remembering that she was sacrificed and killed got her this worked up.

‘I thought I’ve curbed this habit of becoming attached to people and things so quickly.’ Leilyn muses internally, her lips parting a little to give way for a shaky laugh. ‘Honestly, what’s with my family and fast attachments?’ 

Leilyn turns, once again lying on her right side and facing the balcony. She folds herself into a fetal position; her left hand lying on her breast, fingers clutching her the jeweltised feather; and her right arm wraps around the left side of her waist. Her sobbing ceases, although silent tears still run down her face.

This is why she tries not to get too attached to people. Everyone dies in the end, and everything will one day fade away. She tried so hard not to get attached to Chibi, but it proved futile. Add to her unbalanced hormones and her long buried personality inherited from her mother rising up from the grave, she fell head first.

‘Sensei will be highly disappointed in me for getting involved with a loss cause.’ Leilyn chuckles mirthlessly, closing her eyes, which have no more tears to give. ‘I can already hear his lecture.’

With the feeling of disappointment, self-loth and unbearable pain weighing down on her chest and mind, Leilyn falls into a deep, dreamless sleep, hand still clutching her necklace.

××××××××××××

Hey, minna san~!

I honestly don't know if this chapter is sad or not. I honestly wanted it to have some feels, but with my heart cold and dead at the moment, I sure as hell don't know. Tell me what you think.

Also, when I imagined and wrote about Chibi's and Leilyn's dance scene, I was listening to Cendrillion - the one sung by Nico Nico Chorus. Gods above, that song got me through a lot lol.