they search for an immortal man made dead as though it were not the most devastating hours of their lives. where her companion sees hope, she sees ignorance. kyle lopez was more than their top champion. he was their shield. he was their advantage.

now war is on the horizon and the skies are red with ill omen. she brushes away some of the ash from her suit. somehow it still gleams under a thin layer of grime.

"we'll need more than hope to find him," she says and sighs. "but don't let me ruin the mood, hm?" several of her dragons circle the airs above, searching for signs of life, and reminding the people that they're there. they'll protect them.

"you still haven't come by the draciary," she says. "you should see it now. it's not the estate, but it's a wonder." pride colors her words, the tilt of her lips.

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

"i'm never free now," she says, but amends lightly with, "but for you? always. i'll have Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki send you my schedule for next week. we'll be sending some of the dragons out to neighboring towns to bolster defenses so i'll be there a decent amount of time."

he makes his point more apparent and she rolls her shoulders, turns her head to stretch out a kink in her neck. 

"surviving doesn't seem so important these days. death isn't as irreversible as it was before." he's living proof of that. 

"the border - hm. we haven't spoken since i went. alex, i met my mother. not sophia. my birth mother. she was waiting for me in the border."

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

and yet to see the impossibility makes the lines blur. the fear of the afterlife is still there; how could it not be? that's human nature. but many in hoenn have witnessed the progression of souls, have spoken with people long dead and gone. 

everything is different now.

"yes," she says, "and my aunt. i learned of my history. i learned my name. my heritage. but i didn't - i didn't know her, not until father winter came." despite the memories and years now stuffed into her too-small body, she accepts dionysus' trickery as what it truly was: a gift.

"i got to see what life would have been like with her in it. as her daughter." she smiles. "we knew each other, you and i, as kids in that life."

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

"to us?" she repeats. "we were best friends. thick as thieves. you and me and roy and...fernando. we saved him on mt. silver. he was different. kinder."

she picks her way around rocky crags and wipes sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

"we hated the lavish parties our family threw. squirreled away whenever we could to get away from them, but we never ran from our responsibilities. i taught you draconid. you never died. you were my best man at my wedding."

the color drains away from the kaleidoscope she peers down and she snaps back to herself, suddenly sheepish.

"it was a good life. a full life. we were happy."

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

"in some ways," she says, "it does." she marinates on that thought, pressing her thumb to her lips, tasting salt. "but i feel like i'm still lucky. i got to live that life. a long part of that life, but they were never my choices. i don't know. i think i like this world, even if it's a little broken, because i'm a little broken too, but at least i can help mend it."

it's sad, the way he says it. she's so tired of her could-have-beens and never-will-bes. she can't live like that anymore. there is here, and there is now, and she can still be a temple to those memories, but eventually her knees must unfold from prayer. her lips must break their vigil. 

"there's still time in this world. maybe not much, but we can make something of it, i'm sure."

ALEXANDER STONE

☉