A SIMPLE MOMENT FROM FIVE YEARS AGO
A starry night sky hung over Orario.
The sort of night where the starlight was brighter than the moonlight.
“It’s quiet…”
Alize was staring up at the sky from a window in the home.
If the starlight was tranquil, then that meant they would not hear the cries of people and the laughter of villains today. Maybe they had been pulled into the clear night sky.
Sensing on a gut level that the city was at peace for the moment, she left the window and went to the center of the sitting room where the two of them were waiting for her.
“It’s been a while since just the three of us had a drink.”
Lyra had plunked down on the sofa and was already drinking. She had what looked like a cheap ale, while Kaguya, sitting in the chair across from her, had a small cup of cold sake. Alize sat on a different sofa, while a glass of fruit wine—one she had made together with Astrea—rested on the low table.
“You know why. Practically everyone is out on quests. Even that no-good elf.”
Most of the familia members were in the Dungeon. Astrea was meeting with other deities, and Lyana and Noin were accompanying her as guards. Today, the captain, Alize, the second-in-command, Kaguya, and the strategist, Lyra, were focusing on their tasks. Lyana and the older members of the familia told them to take a break at the end of the day.
“You say that, but something’s gonna happen and we’ll get called out for it,” Lyra had joked, but to their surprise, for once Orario was actually a bit peaceful.
Ever since the battle two years ago, order had been improving in the city. Astrea Familia’s home, Stardust Garden, was tranquil enough tonight that they could even feel like today was a sort of advance payment of the lasting peace that would come someday.
“It’s like going back to when the familia first started! I was there, then Kaguya joined, and then Lyra tagged along, too…” Alize smiled as she thought back to the familia’s formation.
And with a bright smile, she innocently delved into the history better left forgotten that was always a part of old memories.
“It was rough then! You were both way sulkier than even Leon was!”
“Cut it out already. At the time, I…”
“Me and Kaguya were both pretty twisted…”
Kaguya gazed awkwardly and Lyra grimaced. And Alize, who lived every day of her life brimming with confidence, cocked her head peerlessly.
“What do you mean, ‘were’? You both still are, right?”
“Who asked you!” Lyra shot back.
“It took forever before the two of you bowed down to my pure and righteous persuasion!” Alize smirked. “Hmhmph, but of course, I’m known for my perseverance!”
“It was not you,” Kaguya said with a glare. “Lady Astrea’s hand melted my heart.”
But the three of them broke into smiles again after a moment. They shared a different sort of ease compared to when they interacted with Lyu and the others. They enjoyed a lack of restraint born from long acquaintance and many shared hardships.
Declaring their gathering a sweets party, Alize laid out the pumpkin cake that Maryu had made, the raspberry cookies Celty had made, the bottle of crystal drop candies that Asta had hidden.
“I want something salty.”
“Me too.”
Answering Kaguya and Lyra, and still overflowing with confidence, she took out a salty Jyaga Maru Kun, but immediately…
“Not that!”
“It’s too heavy!”
After a bit of squabbling, the three of them freely picked their own preferred refreshments to enjoy.
“So? What’s the best topic to go with the drinks?” Lyra asked as she downed the contents of her wooden cup.
“Leon, of course!” Alize lifted her fruit wine.
“Is that really ‘of course’…?” Lyra was exasperated. “Though I suppose the baby of the familia is still the dodgiest at the moment.”
Setting aside the question of actual strength, Lyu was undeniably head and shoulders above the others in Astrea Familia when it came to being a topic for conversation.
“She made it through the battle two years ago, but she is still a rookie. She came at me the other day, so I turned the tables on her.”
It happened when Kaguya and Lyu were alone together.
“You have to be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the greater good.” That was Kaguya’s belief. And Lyu objected. When the elf had angrily asked her how she could accept a peace that assumed the sacrifice of some, Kaguya had shut her up by forcing her to face the reality of an Orario that was still not saved even though so many sacrifices had already been made.
“Ideals and reality…you were a bit nasty with that, Kaguya.” Still smiling, Alize, who had caught part of the conversation, chided her a bit. “You even brought Adi into it.”
“It’s true.”
Adi Varma, the younger sister of Ganesha Familia’s Shakti, had died in battle two years ago. Right in front of Lyu and Kaguya. It was because of that that Lyu had become even more sensitive to sacrifices. Adi had been quite an influence on Lyu, and really a powerful anchor. Alize herself had thought before about just how big a shock it must have been for Lyu when she watched her pass away before her eyes.
Justice will go on. Even having understood and accepted the truth of those words that Adi had left behind, that the stars that had faded had not been in vain, Lyu refused to accept that they were a necessary sacrifice and struggle toward a future without sacrifices. Even when hit with harsh realities.
Alize would call that Lyu’s good point, while Kaguya resolutely declared it Lyu’s flaw. And listening idly while propping up her head, Lyra’s conclusion was they were both right.
“And you and Lyra both spoil her, so what I’m doing is just about right,” Kaguya chided back, sipping her sake and declaring that she believed in a merciless whip. “I hate that naive little elf.”
“Agh, agh, what a pain. Keep it up and you’ll have the gods and goddesses talking about that tsundere thing again.”
Lyra thought Lyu’s fastidiousness was annoying, but Kaguya’s hatred of ideals was not any better. As far as she was concerned, the two balanced each other out.
“…I talked to her about the difference between knowledge and wisdom, but I wonder…”
In addition to arguing with Kaguya about ideals and reality, Lyu had also come to Lyra to talk. Her lesson was the middle way. The path of both carefully observing and discerning reality while also constructing it for herself. Having continued fighting for so long as a weak prum, Lyra turned knowledge into wisdom as a tool for dealing with the unknown.
“I wonder if she’ll grow like this…or will she get hit with Kaguya’s reality and fester…” Lyra murmured to herself.
“She’ll fester, of course. Over and over,” Kaguya responded with the exact same attitude as before. “So long as she remains that high-minded.”
Before Lyra could sigh, Alize chuckled.
“But you and Lyra are both teaching her all sorts of things for when that time comes.”
Ideals and reality. Knowledge and wisdom. In the end, that was all it was. They were coming at it from different angles, but Kaguya and Lyra were both advising Lyu, the greenest of them all, so she would be able to stand and face the difficulties that would block her way in the not-too-distant future.
Whether she realized it or not, Lyu was always being guided.
“Just like Adi said…justice will go on.”
“…Hmph…”
“Same goes for you, doesn’t it, Captain?”
Kaguya stubbornly looked away, refusing to admit it, and Lyra held out her empty cup with a smile. And then, as if she had thought of something funny…
“Hey, what if…what if we got another new member of the familia?”
“As the captain, I would love to see another pure, beautiful, righteous, and passionate person like me join the familia!”
“The thought of another you is a waking nightmare…” Kaguya’s voice sounded exhausted as Alize’s chest swelled in some misplaced pride.
“Don’t change the topic,” Lyra smirked. “If the familia got even bigger, can you imagine Lyu teaching a junior something? Pretty funny, right?”
“…Heh-heh.” Kaguya stifled the laughter that thought brought. “That is perhaps the best thing anyone has said tonight.” With her fastidiousness, she would be a demonic instructor. She would end up spinning her wheels because she did not know how to compromise. At least so long as she remained like she was now. That would make her juniors dejected and their reaction would only make her angry. But also, she had weak defenses, so one of her juniors might catch her on something, too. What would she do then? Maybe stand out under a waterfall and swing her sword all day.
All in all, it was a funny idea.
“But I think that’s fine.”
And, for once, Alize had a sisterly sort of smile.
“Leon would definitely be awkward, and it wouldn’t work out well at first, and I’m sure they would clash, but…I’m sure she would get closer than anyone and guide all the new kids.”
“…Well, probably. There’s no way she’d give up halfway.”
“If anything, she would stick herself into things that did not need to be touched and take on pointless extra baggage. The pinnacle of foolishness.”
Three people and three reactions. But what they all had in common was that they believed while Lyu would make mistakes, she would still try to do the right thing. Though they kept talking more, on that one point at least, neither Kaguya nor Lyra disagreed. They all knew it would be pointless to deny it.
Lyra rested her hands behind her head.
“It’s just a wild fantasy, so why are we getting so fired up over it?”
“That’s just the appeal of Leon!…That’s also why we’re worried about what’ll happen to her, too.”
Alize’s voice was cheerful at first, but partway through, her smile drifted into something quieter.
Lyu’s fastidiousness and precariousness were two sides of the same coin. Though it was surely unconscious, she was always dreaming of ideals, even in these dark times. The fate that awaited those who sought after ideals was a broken sword. That Lyu still chased after her ideals, even after experiencing that fate once when she had to face her friend’s death, was foolish, and it meant that her future was a scorched plain.
Kaguya did not hesitate to say that, and Lyra did not deny it. Though they hoped that moment would not have to come, there was no proof it would not. And what would happen to Lyu when her ideals shattered was something the three of them did not know, and maybe even the goddess they loved could not say.
Alize’s comment caused Kaguya and Lyra to fall silent.
The first to break the silence was, of course, Alize. She was, of course, the one to say what all three of them were thinking.
“Hey, what do you think’ll happen to Leon after this?”
““…!””
With a serious look, but a smile in her eyes, she asked, “What sort of justice do you think Leon will find?”
There was a shooting star.
Outside the room, where they could not know, it traced a beautiful arc across the dark night sky. But people looked up, following the track of the shooting star, and made their wishes.
“I’m sure…no matter where she ends up, she’ll be saying something hardheaded as ever.”
“Yes. I can see her stupid face now, immature as ever, brandishing a foolish justice.”
Lyra’s and Kaguya’s answers were the same. Whether a new member joined the familia or not, Lyu would still be Lyu. No matter what complaints anyone might have, no matter how anyone tried to reason with her, her wish upon a star would never change.
“Yeah…” Alize closed her eyes. “I’m sure Leon will hold fast to a beautiful justice that’s a fantastic pipe dream…”
She could see an image on the back of her eyelids. Lyu was surrounded by people Alize did not know. Perhaps they were workers at a tavern who always drove her mad. Or maybe they were a different familia who had been helped by her and were helping her in return. Or perhaps they really were juniors who adored and looked up to her.
And, as if watching over Lyu smiling there, Alize and the others were there at her back.
“…Together with our hopes and dreams…”
As she slowly opened her eyes, her red hair rustled. And as Kaguya and Lyra watched, she smiled like the sun shining down on everyone.
“All right, a toast!”
Taking the glass of fruit wine, she looked at them.
Lyra grumbled about what that had to do with anything as she poured herself another cup of ale. Kaguya smiled and held up her cold sake.
“To the sword and wings of justice?”
“No.” Alize winked as the two of them moved closer. “To the hope that Leon finds!”
There was a clink of glasses.
It was a simple, ordinary moment that the fairy would never know.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login