Chapter Text
The pain ripped through his chest violently as they were halfway through the public baths. He gasped, a hand clutching at his chest as he stumbled and crashed to his knees, thunder roaring in his ears. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear wailing – a heart-wrenching sound that reverberated through his bones, that shook his soul with the intensity of its grief.
There was a pressure on his shoulder.
“–non! Phainon! What’s wrong?”
And –
Oh.
It was him. The cry had come from him.
Clarity slammed back into him with the force of a tidal wave. Phainon gasped, his hand clutching at his chest, fingers digging into the fabric as though he could claw through the layers and reach beneath skin and muscle to where his beating heart lay.
“Phainon! Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
He glanced up, tears still spilling uncontrollably from his eyes.
The two trailblazers stared at him, worry pinching their faces. Caelus was kneeling before him, a hand gripping his shoulder.
There were no words he could say, nothing he could force past his lips except –
“Mydei.”
The name slipped from his lips in a whisper.
He turned his focus back inwards, not noticing the grim looks that the trailblazers shared with each other. Phainon hunched over, praying, wishing, begging any god out there – none, there were none, because they killed them all, because the gods never cared for them in the first place – that it wasn’t true. But even as he traced the bond, even as he threw his emotions into the bridge he knew had been there just several moments ago –
The only thing he received was an echo of the love that they once shared, a last message of belief and unwavering faith, a last call for affection that he’d missed, and –
Nothing.
It was an empty abyss on the other end.
He forced his emotions through, threw all his thoughts and memories at it, hoping to get something back even as he knew this was the final death.
Come back to me, he screamed internally, searching for the one who lit his world up when the darkness seemed too overwhelming. Mydei, answer me! Please – come back, please – I’m sorry, come back, I can’t do this without you –
A sob tore itself from his throat.
He slammed a fist on the ground, the anguish in his soul lighting every nerve on fire.
What was the point?
What was the point of this whole journey if he lost everyone? Aglaea, Anaxa, Trianne, Tribbie, Cipher – all of them had given their lives so readily for this miracle. And now – now Mydei was gone too.
What was the point of this entire mission – if there was no one left to finish it with him?
He heard the telltale sound of distortion that signified the Flame Reaver’s arrival, alongside the gasps of surprise from his companions.
So be it. He thought, gritting his teeth and pushing himself to his feet. Phainon let his lips curl back in a snarl, his eyes lighting with rage and grief as he summoned Dawnmaker, leveling it straight at the Flamer Reaver.
“Phainon –” Dan Heng started, concern flitting across his face.
“For all that you have taken away from me.” The Deliverer growled, vengeance threading through his every word, “I will make you pay a thousand-fold.”