Eight Intertwined

187 - Kindling

The shrine fell silent after Mattias crumpled to the ground. He managed to raise one shaking hand to his chest to try and stem the flow of blood, but everyone already knew it would be a fruitless effort. There was no way to save him now, not that anyone would have tried. Even if Ophilia had wanted to use her healing magic, it was too late. Healing magic could not save the dying, and Mattias was well beyond that threshold. Just to prove it, the magical seal over the area shattered, and Ophilia felt her full arcane strength rush back to her fingertips. "This... This cannot be!" Mattias choked out. "You... An ignorant, naive, fool of a girl like you...!"

Ophilia watched Mattias for a long moment before she walked over to Lianna, flicking her dagger slightly to free the blade of his blood. "It is as you say. We are both ignorant, naive girls. But we both know the love of our father. His love gave us strength." Lianna looked up at Ophilia with wide eyes, and a broken determination somehow managed to fight to the surface of her gaze. There was a belief in the world to her eyes that had not been there a few minutes prior, and Ophilia couldn't help but believe there was never a sweeter sight in the world. 

Mattias seemed to think differently, and he let out a harsh bark of a laugh. When he did so, he choked out a small splatter of blood. "Love, you say?" He coughed once again. "So you cling to this 'love' of yours... And go on living... Ridiculous... I have no need... For such..." Mattias' strength abandoned him at last, and he collapsed onto the stone ground in full. Blood seeped from his wounds onto the floor of the shrine, and moments later, his corpse ignited with black flame. In a matter of seconds, he was gone as if he had never been there at all. The only proof he had ever existed was the pool of blood beneath where he had fallen. 

Ophilia stared at the crimson spot for a long moment before shaking her head. "What a sad man you were..." She shoved her thoughts aside when she looked back to Lianna, and she reached a hand out to her sister. "Are you alright, Lianna?"

"Phili, I... I..." Lianna tried to muster a response for a few moments, but the words would not come to her. In the end, she let out a shaky sigh, her hands cupping together in front of her chest. There were tears flowing freely down her cheeks, but Lianna didn't care enough to stop them. All she could do was watch Ophilia and wait to see what she did next. Lianna did not recognize the Ophilia standing before her as the girl she had grown up with. The Ophilia of the present felt like an entirely different person, refined and strengthened in all the ways Lianna could have been if she had been the one to carry out the Kindling. Ophilia had come a long way, and she asked for no recognition or applause after her change. 

Ophilia shook her head with something tired yet glad in her eyes. "It's alright, Lianna," she assured her sister. Lianna tried to choke out an objection, but Ophilia stopped her by squeezing her hand a little bit tighter. "You are alive and here with me. That is what matters." Lianna lapsed into shameful silence, staring at the place where her hand was interlaced with her sister's fingers. Lianna wanted to pull away, and yet, she wanted to stay there with Ophilia forever. She doubted Ophilia would have let her pull back anyway. They were together again, and Ophilia would not dare to waste a moment of their union. 

Nearby, Olberic dismantled the stone barrier that had been constructed over the townsfolk of Wispermill. Alfyn passed Mattias' trident to Cyrus, and the scholar took to examining it carefully. Cyrus couldn't help but wonder if the trident was meant to be Galdera's blessed weapon, but he didn't think it was. The trident was certainly imbued with the power of the fallen god, but it was nowhere near as powerful as the true weapons of the other gods. The only power that could outlast Galdera's dark strength was the magic of the twelve gods that had sealed him away. That was why the twelve godly weapons had maintained their strength even in the face of the magic seal Mattias had cast. Galdera could never hope to overpower the gods that had sealed him, and any blessings he gave to his chosen heroes would bear the same weaknesses. The trident was strong and certainly charged with dark magic, but it was nowhere near the same as the other weapons the travelers held.