Chapter Text
Prologue
My life seems to be in a constant cycle of endings and beginnings. Over and over again, I manage to find a way forward when things seem darkest, and over and over again, I fail, only to be born anew in some way. Part of me wonders if it'll ever end, especially now. I suppose, if it's going to end, now would be a great time. I'm dead, after all.
At least, that's what I assume is happening here. One moment, I'm kicking ass and taking names in the heat of battle, and now... nothing. I don't even remember what I was doing, or who I was fighting. The details of my life were fading away at a frightening speed. Faces, buildings, feelings, they were all flipping by like lightening, causing my eyes to widen. Each one dissolved as quickly as it formed; A flame dancing on my finger tip; the blue Grimoire; my father's magic; my mother's sad eyes; rain; the ocean; white fire moving faster than light; that smile; his smile-
Wait! Slow down... I don't want to forget... I don't want to die! Not as soon as everything started to go right...
Slowly, a new life started to emerge from the darkness. It was hazy, like a memory long forgotten. Long summer days spent out in the sun. The sweet taste of berries plucked right from the bushes, staining the skin of my pure white palm. Cool water splashing over my face and hair, laughter, smiles...
Death. Despair. Pain.
It hurts, it hurts... why would they do this to us... please... don't let it end...
Not as soon as everything started to go right...
With a scream, I open my eyes. My chest is heaving from what felt like a nightmare. The air around my body is cold as I sit up and look around, and my heart falls as I realize that I'm surrounded by absolutely nothing. So, I am dead? Is this place heaven? Maybe purgatory... I look down at my hands, which are very much still there. I still have a body. Despite the situation, I don't think this is death. This is something different. But what? Was this some kind of spell? Once again, I strain to remember who it was I was fighting when everything fell away. I could vaguely remember faces, but not any killing strike. I wouldn't go down that easily, after all.
Suddenly, I become aware of soft footsteps coming from behind. I twist around to see the source, my heart thumping. Another person, here? I wasn't alone?
The sight gives me chills. A being stands there, paused at the sound of my stirring. They're tall, thin, completely pale from their hair to their bare feet. Slowly, it turns around, revealing a pair of long, pointed ears, her hair tucked neatly behind them. She has red spiral symbols at the outer corners of each eye, rather than the symbol that adorns my own forehead. It's obvious from first glance that she wasn't human, but that wasn't the part that shocked me. This girl... she looks exactly like me. From her hair, to her eyes, to the shape of her face, and her stance...
"... You should go back to sleep, human," she finally spoke, her voice soft but still unmistakably mine. "I'll be taking this body, now."
I blink, still stunned to be looking at my long-lost alien twin. Her appearance reminds me of the beings they told us about in the fairy tales, beings who brought forth a demon onto this world. "Y-you... you're an elf?"
She doesn't respond at first, just narrowing her eyes slightly. "... yes," She finally answers. "Our mana is the same, so I'm being reincarnated. As soon as we reach the city, your soul will pass onto the next. So go back to sleep." She starts to turn around again. "It'll be lonely by yourself."
"Wait!" I yell, somehow finding myself on my feet. "I-I won't let you. I'm not ready to die!"
The elf sighs and peers back at me out of the corner of her eye. "Accept your fate, human. You saw your sin, didn't you?"
That flashback... The pain and despair I felt... that was Her death, wasn't it? She, and the others, they had been betrayed somehow, by someone close to them. Someone they loved...
"I saw your life as well." Her voice pulls me back from my thoughts. "Very interesting... You've climbed so high. You achieved everything you dreamed of." Almost instinctively, I clench my fist at the thought of her invading my mind like that. "You've experienced a fulfilling life. But you'll meet the same fate as the rest of the Clover kingdom." She turns around and starts to walk once again. "Farewell..."
"WAIT!"
This time, she doesn't stop. Before I reach her, she's dissolved into nothingness, and my body is no longer my own. I'm left alone, once again.
I'm not sure how much time passes. The elf told me to sleep, but I honestly don't feel like doing anything she tells me to do, so I just sit there in silence, slumped over. How did elves become involved in this, anyway? This was about the Eye of the Midnight Sun, and their leader Licht, right? Was their true purpose to resurrect the Elves all this time? If they bring another Demon to the kingdom, will we be able to stop it?
Supposedly, I'm about to die, so it's not like I can do anything about a rampaging demon. But, a wizard king defeated the first demon, so our wizard king could just do the same. Something tells me it wasn't that simple, though. With a frustrated groan, I draw my knees up and bury my face in them, reveling in the comfortable darkness while I wait for release from the land between life and death.
If this is the end of the cycle... I suppose that's okay. Maybe the elf was right, I did achieve almost everything I wanted to. But was my life fulfilling?
It was getting there... it was just getting to the good part.
There's familiar mana in the air here... much, much too familiar. I try not to think about it.
I hear a small sound and look up slightly. There, at my feet, a flower has grown, a cornflower with pretty white petals. I'm not sure how it got its roots into the ground, since there was no ground here, but it brings an unexpected warmth to my heart. Look at that... I'm getting nostalgic, I think to myself before reaching down and plucking it out of the ground. I hold it up to my face, rotating it slowly. Then, my other hand comes up, and I delicately pull one of the petals out. Then another. And another. Eventually, they all lay on the ground around my feet, the empty stem still balanced between my fingers. Empty, small, lifeless.
Then, something happens that I don't expect. A hand reaches out of the darkness, slowly. I don't move an inch as it approaches me and comes down to gently slip around my own hand, the one holding the stem. I assumed that it was just a figment of imagination, but it feels real. The hand has skin, bone, blood, it's alive... as alive as someone could be in this godforsaken place. Gradually, life comes back to the fallen petals, and they float back up to reattach to their stem. Finally, the flower is complete, made whole again by this mysterious yet troublingly familiar magic.
My hand loosens, allowing the flower to fall into his. My eyes don't leave my feet as he takes it and tucks it behind my ear along with a few strands of my hair. The petals tickle my face a little. He doesn't remove his hand.
I'm not the type of person who cries a lot. Not only would it show weakness, but it would cause those I lead to despair as well. But now... I can't stop. It's all just too much, and I can't hold a single tear back. I didn't want to die, not now, not this way. But it was becoming clear: Even if I did get saved, somehow, maybe it wouldn't even be worth it.
"You're not alone. When they save you, the others will be there to help you. Nozel. Charlotte. Yami. Mereoleona."
"B-but... But you- why are you here-?"
"Same as you... I'm waiting. I had a plan, but it's taking too long. I'm close to giving up hope that it will work. It was a long shot, anyway..." He sighed softly. "If they can't save you... it'll still be okay. I won't leave without you. We'll go together."
Together...
I can't bring myself to form words in this moment, despair starting to take over. If this was how the cycle ended, it was a horrible, bitter end. And if the cycle continued, I don't think I can keep up with it any more.
Will this be all my life has amounted to? Or will I have to start over with nothing, once again...