The Guarded Princess

XCII

Heaps of golden locks tangled themselves along the floor as the white and gold garments laid upon the ground around her. The golden accessories in her hair had loosened and her face had dried with tears yet, they continued to roll down endlessly. It had been several days since she locked herself up in the palace where Kouen laid and not once did she come out. No one caught a glimpse of her and not a trace of her was to be seen but no one dared try to enter. Even those closest to Lucy and those who cared about her the most didn't dare enter, only closely guarding the outside of the palace.

Lucy didn't mind any of them for the only thought on her mind was Kouen and the last moment that she spent with him. She clenched her hand as the Phoenix Bangle upon her hand gave a slight shake, its golden color gleaming in the candlelight. The rukh gave a soft flutter before disappearing and for the first time, Lucy moved. Placing her hand on the ground, she lifted herself up with much effort as she stood before Kouen's coffin, a solemn yet tender look in her eyes.

"Kouen, never will I be able to make up my debt to you and never have I encountered someone like you," she said. "For all the things that you gave me, I can't return a single one."

Her lips quivered as a lump formed in her throat.

"But," she started as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Even if it's only one thing that I can do for you, I will do it."

Her chest began to give off a white light and she held her hands out before her, the white lily appearing out of her chest and floating gently to her hands as it gave off a pure white light. The petals opened and a white orb floated above it. It was the Nine Realms Heavenly Lily that Tomoyo had gifted her on her birthday and it was the one thing that could be used.

"No matter the sacrifices."

The rukh fluttered wildly around and a flash of white light surrounded the entire palace before dimly dying down, leaving the palace dancing in dim white light as golden trails and specks could be seen flying around. Her honey chocolate eyes stared at the small golden trails and closed her eyes, a tear running down her face. He was still here. Setting her attention back on the flower, she poured all of her magoi into it as the orb gathered all the golden particles, reforming it back into one piece. The three petals of the Heavenly Lily began to slowly fall out as it made its way to the orb, enveloping it as it bloomed into the true form of the Heavenly Lily. Its radiance was mesmerizing and the rukh fluttered around it. Lucy smiled before a sudden urge rose in her chest as she tumulted to the ground, coughing up a patch of blood.

She reached out for the lily and gasped out blood but even so, she relentlessly held her hand out as it came floating down in her palm. Her eyes softened as tears rolled down her face in pearls, staining her face even more. Smiling, golden-white wings sprouted from the side of the lily as it flew into the air and out of the palace. It soared high and above into the skies and heavens, a golden phoenix and dragon rising as a pair from the lily, its heavenly shriek heard throughout the realms before it came together and nestled in one another's embrace. The rukh fluttered around them before they slowly disappeared into golden sparks, streaks of gold trails spreading out in the sky in a heavenly scenery.

"Kouen..." she crawled over to him and propped herself up on the edge of his coffin, tears rolling down her face as it mixed with the blood at the corner of her mouth. "I've always been the one receiving from you so this time, being able to give you something, it's the only thing that I ever wished for. Your wish is my wish and to be able to grant it for you," tears rolled down as she smiled. "I'm really happy."

Her tears landed on his face and she continued to sob, knowing her cries of anguish and torment would never be heard by him, just like how she couldn't hear his.