Number 100 Red Nova Sorcerer

Chapter 34: Silence

~.Present (Astral/Nova).~

"That's basically it," Ichigo states, relaxing in her seat. "Questions? Comments?"

"One," a hoarse voice by the door says. "Welcome back."

The three stand up with widened eyes. "Sei!?" they exclaim in alarm.

Crimson limps over. He's in a loose shirt and pants with comfortable, padded shoes. Ichigo, Crystal, and Coal all help him support his weight until he sits in one of the chairs in our room. 

"Are you not supposed to be resting?" Blackie asks calmly, but concern is clear in his eyes. 

"Lady Luck told me I should walk around to ease my muscles back into everyday movement," he says. "I'm prohibited from doing anything that will strain my muscles, though."

"I see. How are you feeling?"

"Like my whole body has been doused in my own fire, except ten times hotter." Crimson leans back in his chair and looks up at his childhood friends. "I suppose the fact that you three are here means that I can no longer fight, right?"

Crystal nods, biting her lip. "Yes. Um, by the way, how did you manage to get yourself in this situation?"

"Apparently, but not so surprisingly, it was a combination of my Light Step, using my Moon form, and the general strain of going into battle after inactivity." He chuckles ruefully. "I let depression get the better of me this one time."

"By the way," Blackie intervenes, lacing his fingers together, "how is Free?" Ichigo and Crystal seem a little confused by this new name, but Coal knows exactly who he is.

Crimson shifts carefully into a more comfortable position in the chair. "They say he should be fine. His body managed to keep him alive for so many years, but when the infirmary got a hold of him, his condition was critical. He should be fine with more attention, though?"

Blackie nods. "Okay, then. I hope he gets well."

Crimson gets up once more. "I will leave now. I'm sure they will be back, so keep getting stronger." Coal allows his friend to lean on his shoulder to help him out of the room.

~.Time Skip.~

The time that passes seems relatively peaceful. Nothing surprising happens at all, which is mildly disturbing. The silence does nothing to help anyone relax. Slowly, ever so slowly, life begins to go back to normal. The war seems to have ended, but it's too good to be true. It couldn't have ended so quickly, right?"

A knock on the door wakes me from my sleep the next morning. I open the door to see a Moon Number holding a letter.

"Who is it from?" I ask, tentatively taking it.

"The Humans," she replies. "They seem to want to end this."

I nod. "Blackie and I will go over this once he comes back." My brother is currently running an errand to make sure everyone is alright. He left much earlier in the morning, which leaves me in charge until he comes back.

"Yes, Prince Nova." She bows and leaves.

Not long after, one of the servants comes in with the breakfast tray. I tell him to set it on the table, that I will set up everything myself. He seems a bit hesitant to let me do this, but I assure him that I can, and I need some time to think about what could have caused the silence, anyways. When everything is set, I make sure the food doesn't get cold while Blackie is out.

He arrives with a small sigh some time later. "Well, it looks like everything is fine now." He removes only the cape and drapes it over the bed, sitting beside me when he's done.

"Blackie, the Humans have sent us a letter," I say. I hold up the paper for him to read, which he does.

My brother grimaces as he reads. "Peace? They want us to agree to peace? Why?"

"I believe Crimson once called this a 'peace treaty,' Blackie."

"An agreement not to fight. How noble of them, but will this really work? Some of the guards and villagers still have pent-up aggression against them. If we agree to this, we will have to hold up our end of the bargain just as they do theirs."

"I know, but I do believe this will be the end to this silly war. Should we bring it to the council to see what they think?"

"...Yes."

After breakfast, Blackie tugs a rope to ring bells around the kingdom; that is how the council meeting is called. We make our way to the room, picking up Crimson on the way to better translate the characters.

Once we get there, we all take a seat. "What is the purpose of this meeting?" one man gruffly asks.

"My brother and I have received a letter from the Humans." Blackie nods to Crimson and hands him the letter. "Translate it, if you will."

Crimson, who now wears his grandfather's old traditional clothing, takes the paper. "Of course." He reads over it, and then he reads it out in our tongue. In it, the Humans state that a group of all the world leaders have talked, and they decided to end this war. It requested their signatures and such so that they would be obligated to hold up peace on their side. It went on to say more political things, but the concept was simple.

Sign, and no one fights.

Everyone in the room talks about the pros and cons, and eventually, we come to an agreement. Blackie and I sign the paper.

~.More Time Skip.~

I look out the window to see Coal coming back into town with a familiar being in a red cloak. Coal had been visiting Bura and Amber, but he seemed to get well more with the red-cloaked brother of mine. Of course, it came as no shock when they announced that they were together and dating. Now that Bura is fully an adult and no longer under Sapphire's constant gaze, Coal convinced him to move here and live just as my late mother did; happily and freely among the Numbers. It must have taken a lot of convincing to let that being at the border to let him enter, but he must have caved in.

They walk back to Coal's house, holding hands and smiling. I grin slightly. At least they're happy. Am I bitter that Bura's living here now? No. We've made up, along with Amber. After all, they didn't really know better when we were kids. It's Sapphire who I cannot forgive.

In the afternoon, Blackie and I go on a walk to meet Free for real. For the past few years, the Sky Pegasus has been in recovery to get his body back to equilibrium, so we did not have many opportunities to talk. Now that he's better, we can talk.

"Do you really think they'll be here?" I ask as we walk along the clearing.

"Of course they are," Blackie laughs. "I saw them in the sky this morning, and they have yet to return to their house. It's only logical that they'd be here."

I nod. Sure enough, once we reach the clearing, I see them both up in the sky. Free, who now has full control of his wings, is flying in circles above Crimson, who seems to be sitting in midair. Blackie and I watch as Free sits beside Crimson. They hug and kiss briefly.

"Should we ruin the moment?" I chuckle.

"No." Blackie grins. "Let them finish before interrupting."