Snap back to the present day, once more…

“So that’s how you found out about me, huh? Claire remarked to Elena, her arms still wrapped tightly around her mistress’s body. “Oh my, to think that poster meant so much to you! I’m amazed, if I’m being honest!”

“Heh. I’m just glad everything worked out,” Elena answered, smiling wistfully as she looked first at the newborn Sefir, before having her gaze rest upon her servant’s smile. “This whole Vizier of the Eye thing is my penance, Claire. Even if, uh…”

“What’s wrong?”

Elena shrugged her shoulders, and her smile turned into a silly grin.

“Hmm? For one, I’m forever bound to Lady Mezalune. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not a bad boss by any yardstick that I’m aware of, but even then I’m always afraid, y’know, that one day, I’ll just muck it all up. Make it all for nothing, in the end. It’s still a work in progress, possibly forever.”

“Perhaps you will,” Claire answered, thoughtfully. “But regardless, we’ll do our best with these hands of ours, won’t we?”

Elena nodded, and Claire released her mistress from their mutual embrace. Even then, the mortal warmth of her hands remained clasped upon the icy and deathlike chill of undead flesh wrapped beneath the softness of leather gloves.

“I suppose we will, eh? The last ten years have been pretty engaging, to say the least of it. Going round the world, killing this and that. Really lets you see a whole lot of things.”

Claire smiled at Elena.

“I’d like to be there with you every step of the way, Elena. Ever since Anna left us for Shadowgate, my quest is over. Maybe, I’ll find something else to live for if we go together!”

Smiling in turn, Elena nodded again.

“Of course. Oh, and on the topic of finding stuff...”

Standing up from the bench, she set her sights upon what had once been the Château de L’Enfer and its palatial gardens now vibrant with life and snow-swept beauty even from so far away.

“I’d like to go there,” Elena said, smiling as she pointed a gloved finger forward. “With you. We can have lunch after that. You don’t mind waiting, no?”

“Like I said, Elena…” Claire declared enthusiastically, smiling sheepishly at her mistress as her stomach groaned its disagreement. “Lunch can wait!”

 

---

 

Later, at the Cathedral of Saint Grinnaux the Brave…

Darkness and undeathly malaise had long been vanquished by the servants of the Central Church who had occupied this place in lieu of its former lords, giving way to the warm lights of scented candles and crystalline lamps. The great hall had been renovated and cleared of its decrepit furniture, to make way for many rows of wooden pews set before a large pulpit adorned with fresh flowers from the cloistered gardens outside.

In silence, Elena sat next to Claire, who remained deep in silent prayer before an image of Elicia anointing an elven sorcerer dressed in robes of red and gold. Immortalised forevermore in stained glass, the sorcerer was both tall and distinctly male, and she too, remained silent as she looked up towards it.

Quietly, she let out a sigh, careful not to interrupt her servant’s concentration. Everything in here was quite a bit to take in. The elven devata in hooded robes of white, gold, and purple, the colours of the Central Church, who had welcomed them into the Cathedral’s sacred ground, was already something quite out of the ordinary. And then there were five more just like her, elven men and women with knife-shaped ears no different from her own, going about their day and their duties. Try as she might, the idea of a fellow elf in holy robes, claiming communion with the living god of mankind, was still a little jarring.

Even so, she could not help but consider that her Archon mistress was right. Truly, the world had changed when Elicia brought it to its knees. And perhaps, it was a good thing.

Her thoughts then wandered, slowly, to the vivid memory of human and elven children she had witnessed playing in the courtyard on her way on, running circles around her favourite spot in the gardens with the white and gold pavilion that had been restored to its former glory, where one could easily relax for hours on end under the morning sun. Her former home had also become an orphanage for children brought from all over the Ecclesiarch’s dominion, wards of the so-called Saint Grinnaux. She could not help but wonder to herself if the children also enjoyed that little pavilion as much as like she did in her youth, or if they had found their own little slice of paradise unknown even to her, its former Countess, when she had left it all in the Ecclesiarch’s hands as part of her penance.

Truly it was, for all intents and purposes, renewal. The world that was once hers had been thoroughly refurbished and cleansed, and what once was, could no longer be.

“Nice place, eh?”

Elena looked at Claire, who grinned at her with a sharpness in her expression and words so hauntingly familiar.

“Claire?”

“Been a while, huh?”

“Wait. You’re…”

Claire nodded. Elena’s gaze took refuge upon the stained glass image of Elicia and Saint Grinnaux.

“Dunno, Elena. I’m still here, waiting for a special someone. Waiting for a silly girl.”

This was punctuated with gentle laughter, as Claire placed a hand upon Elena’s cheek. Her servant’s touch was strangely cold, and she shuddered a little.

“Yes. Praise Sophia, that she’s here right now.”

“Are you… truly?” Elena asked, carefully. “After so long, I didn’t think I’d ever...”

“Neither did I, Elena. I’m glad that I did what I did back there, because Eldia lives on.”

“And I’m sorry… that I… did, y’know! I’m sorry that I never said goodbye, that I never thanked you for everything you’ve done for me…”

Claire smiled and shook her head.

“You’ve done quite a bit, I’ll say. But if you’re really sorry, won’t ya do this one thing for me?”

“Anything.”

“Smile for me, Elena.”

Elena paused, and looked Claire in the eye. There was a feeling in her own eyes, a sensation and an urge to do something so faintly familiar, yet completely impossible in her current state. And then, with all of her strength, she smiled.

“I love you… brother.”

“Ah… it’s just as good as I remembered it to be.”

“Is it?”

“Well… it’s a little less cute. But you’re a big girl now, so it’s alright.”

Elena’s smile turned to a wry grin.

“Right, of course.”

“I’m glad…” Claire uttered. “Now, I can finally…”

“No!” Elena shouted breathlessly, as she grabbed at Claire’s arm as tightly as she could. “Stay a little longer, won’t ya? It’s been so long, and we still have so many things to talk about, and I still want to…”

Wistfully, Claire shook her head.

“I really have to go, silly girl. I’m sorry. The Veil beckons, and Elicia calls to me. Fitting, really, just like that picture up front…”

She began to lean back upon the wooden pew, only to suddenly break a smile at Elena’s sorrow.

“Ahh… but I lied a little. Won’t you do one more thing for me?”

“Anything!”

“Continue living and persisting, won’t ya? Live happy for me, for everyone who once lived and loved you. For yourself, and for everyone else who loves you and would come to love you.”

“I…”

“Silly girl!” Claire chided. “You have a right to be happy, like anyone else. If you’d do that for me, you’re forgiven. Hell, I’d still forgive you, even if you didn’t. But do it anyway, won’t ya?”

“Brother, I…”

Before Elena could finish her sentence, Claire fell completely limp upon the pew. Slowly, her servant’s warmth returned to her body, bit by bit with every passing moment. And it stung upon her cold flesh, more painfully than it ever did before.

“I’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

Elena looked at Claire, who returned her gaze concernedly before blushing a bright red at the sight of her mistress’s hands clasped upon her arm.

“Um… are you alright, Elena?” Claire asked gently, with words that now belonged to her. “I’m sorry, but I think I dozed off there for a little bit. Did I miss anything?”

Elena let go of her servant’s arm, and shook her head.

“You wanna go grab lunch? I’d kill for a cup of coffee, right about now.”

“Sure!”

On the way to the inn, with the tail of her red longcoat swaying gently with the afternoon breeze, Elena found herself moving alongside Claire with a skip in each step of her booted feet as they approached the town square and the ever-welcoming sight of the newborn Sefir. Even if what once was could no longer be, this final promise was definitely one to keep. For herself, for everyone, to see this penance of hers through to the end.

Rightfully, as it could ever be.