Whew... Ever since fleeing Fennmont (although Fayt was more dead weight while Ludger and Julius did the running), it's felt like fate's dragged him from one place to the next. Only after their big teleport to Helioborg have any of them had a chance to breathe... sort of. Chronos could warp here for another shot, but he hasn't yet.
Best to take solace in that than debate the mind of a Great Spirit who'd take a human psychoanalyzing him as the world's greatest insult.
Leia's been on bed rest on Jude's orders the last few days with supervised visitations due to Ludger's... problems. He's visited a few times, though he found himself clamming up on what to say beyond simple platitudes like, 'Glad you're okay'. That moment when Leia threw herself in front of Chronos' attack still replays in his head when he idles too much....
I lied to you, roped you into working against your home, and yet you still protected me. I'm grateful, but I don't understand what I've done to deserve it...
At the very least the break due to waiting for new deployment orders allowed him the chance to do something he's wanted to since meeting Leia. Perhaps it's good they chose a lab as their escape point since it left random metal bits to play with. Balan even coached him on the metalwork so he wasn't wasting materials or singing his fingers off.
Then the moment of truth. Just gotta walk in and do it. It'll be fine.
"Hey there, Leia," Fayt greets her as he enters their improvised recovery room. "Uh... Jude said you'd be able to move around by tomorrow. I bet you're glad you're almost free of the lectures not to futz around too much. After that... uh..."
Oh heck with the stalling. Swallowing the awkwardness down, Fayt hands Leia a miniature metal chest. He'd use a gift box, but his supplies are kinda limited.
"I got you a gift as thanks for... well, a lot at this point. Saving me, still talking to me despite of who I am, and enduring Ludger and Victor's unpleasantness are just a few I can think of. It's not much, but I hope it at least shows you're not the leech Victor kept calling you."
Inside the treasure chest is a simple silver brooch of the Rolando Inn's mascot with a few tweaks. The little guy's colors were changed to a yellow body, a black house-hat, and a royal blue apron to match Leia's outfit. It also adopted in its paws a pink staff so it too was battle ready like the proud wearer. He'll have to thank Atsuro's pet bird(?) for fetching him paint from Trigleph. The how will just be a mystery.
"Er, once you're better, you're free to go at this point. Just know that whatever you do, I'm gonna bring peace back to both our countries without destroying one or the other."
Back in Helioborg again… Leia looked at the familiar grey walls, remembering when they were full of hope. Back then, they’d thought they’d solve Elympion’s problems. Back then, they thought they’d be able to make the two worlds that hadn’t been in touch with each other for two thousand years get along.
Now, there was almost no way to keep Gaius from destroying all of Elympios.
And Milla wasn’t going to come back again, to save the day again.
Leia was stuck here, recovering from an attack by a new Great Spirit, the Great Spirit Chronos.
He wanted Fayt dead for the powers he as a human shouldn’t have had access to.
Powers of a Great Spirit, but not taken willingly…
She shuddered. It was almost like he was the reverse of Wingul, a human booster. He was a human spyrix.
All of that time she’d spent caring for him, helping him recover from the attack in the war and he was…
He was one of the ones who…
Still, even after that, did he really deserve to die? More death wouldn’t put a stop to this war. And… he wasn’t actually a spyrix, so if he stopped using his powers…
Her hands tightened into fists as her head started aching. She was thinking too hard about all of this, going in circles, around and around again, so she laid down and tried to close her eyes.
But that only made more thoughts
She hadn’t been able to do a single thing in this war, and now she was an invalid (again, again, again) and Jude had to care for her (again, again, again) when he of all people should have been the one out there trying to put a stop to it.
For Milla’s sake… For Rowen’s sake… they needed to put a stop to this.
How could she, weak as she was, do anything to help?
What solution could she bring that would find a way for everyone to live?
She heard the door open and her eyes popped open once again.
That voice… She’d recognize it anywhere.
She sat up again, though her head was still swimming from pain, and tried for a smile.
Fayt… For one who had once been only one patient among many to her, going back to her old skills as a nurse even after questioning if that was really what she would do with her life going forward, they’d had so much time to get to know one another. He’d been a kind person, just another innocent caught up in this war between countries—a war that their own actions had caused. By destroying the Schism between the two worlds, they had created the situation that led to this.
But on the other hand, if they hadn’t done that, the two of them would never have met.
Her voice when she spoke was light but there were signs it was forced. “Yep! Jude says I’ll be good enough to walk around come tomorrow! Then I don’t have to have him here hovering over me all the time.” He really needed his rest.
(But when would that happen?)
Still, she eyed him fiddling with the box in his hands before he finally handed it over. Was it some sort of Elympion medical device or something…?
She looked back up at him, eyes widening in astonishment when he said it was a gift. A gift, really? For her? But why? He explained, but it didn’t seem like anything needing of a gift. After all, if not for her and the rest of their group…
She opened it and couldn’t help a surprised gasp as the corners of her lips turned involuntarily towards another smile. This one was small, but didn’t have the same fakeness as before. “It’s cute…!” she said.
Suddenly though, her bottom lip was quivering and her eyes starting to water. She wasn’t sure why exactly, but it was almost like this one small act of kindness was enough to open the floodgates.
Leia sniffled, trying to hold it in as best as she could. “You really shouldn’t— I don’t want— This isn’t— It wasn’t your fault… in the first place. It was our— We were the ones who— It’s our responsibility. So I’m not going to— You can’t just— Don’t think I’m going to sit this out! I have to… I have to try and put things back together.”
For Milla. For Rowen. For Jude, who was even now suffering over everything. He’d been the one to convince Gaius to stand down and now everyone else was paying for his mistakes.
For all of the people she’d met since the Schism came down, all of the people of Elympios she might never have known otherwise.
For Fayt, so that he wasn’t solely responsible for putting an end to this war.
"I'll stay right here with you, to help out."
Whatever help even someone like her could offer.
