Wings - Chapter 8: Goodbye

-M-

It...

Mythril sat down, and only then noticed her wound.  She quickly ripped off part of her other pants leg and bandaged it.  In the meantime, she recounted as much of her dream as she could remember in her mind for the dragons' viewing pleasure.

-C-

'Sounds...nice.  Heh...I'll always...wonder...what you...would be...like if...you'd been...a dragon.  Lightning...you said...as your Heartsoul?'

Cryo snarled, and twisted his sister's face up so she could blink blearily at him.  His voice sounded oddly strained; not from physical pain, though.

'Stop using that damned weary talk.  You'll be fine!'

Celcia managed a tiny shake of her head, indicating her chest wound.

'That stone...might've...gone deeper...I...can't breathe properly.'

-M-

Mythril was close to Cryo and Celcia now.

Are... Celcia, are you going to be okay?

-C-

Celcia blinked at her, opening her mouth to force out that one word.

"Myth...ril..."

Then her eyes rolled up into her head and she went completely limp.

'Cel?  CEL!  NO!'

Cryo ripped off the ice he'd created and peered as best as he could into the wound, seeing more damage than he'd like.  

'She's not breathing!  Damnitdamnitdamnit!'

He jerked his face up to Mythril, dragon-tears beginning to roll down his face profusely.

'What do we do?!'

-M-

Without even thinking, Mythril had made her way over to Celcia.

I don't know!  I don't know first aid!

-C-

Cryo scrabbled helplessly at the ground next to Celcia's unresponsive body.  He cradled her head, not caring when her horns made a new cut on his forearm.  

'Cel?  Cel, please, don't do this to me, not now, not when we've won, please...CELCIA!'

He shook her slightly, and pressed his hand against the wound in her chest, thoroughly panicked.

'No, NO!  CELCIA, NO!'

-M-

Mythril was just about panicked.  There was Celcia, whom she'd just met the day before, dying in front of her.  And Mythril couldn't do anything to save her.  Her mind was chaos.  Her breath was short.  What a thing to find out at a time like this.

-C-

Celcia knew she was dying.  She couldn't quite figure out what to do about it.  

Dragons minds lived for quite a while after their bodies had died.  They always tried to survive; or at least locate another mind, purely for comfort's sake.  Normally, Celcia would contact Cryo and give a heartfelt goodbye.

But something else clicked instead.  Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she tried to find the one person who had shown her kindness and ask.  Maybe she knew?

'Mythril?  You there?  I have a question for you.'

-M-

Mythril suddenly tensed up.  She hadn't expected that!

What?!  Celcia?  What is it?

-C-

For someone who was dying, Celcia sounded really quite nonchalant.  Her voice sounded like an enthusiastic but clueless child.

'I reckon I'm dying, you know.  I have absolutely no idea what to do now.   Do you?'

-M-

I...

Mythril bowed her head.

I'm afraid I'm as clueless as you are.  I don't know what my father did when his time came.

-C-

'Maybe...meh, I have no idea.  Hey; tell Cryo to stop making such a scene, okay?  There's nothing either of you can do, I think.  I mean; I won't last long without breathing, right?'

-M-

...

Mythril turned back to face Cryo.

"Cryo, I... Celcia... you... I can understand your feelings, but there's no reason to dwell on the unavoidable.  Why don't you step back and take a deep breath."

-C-

'You don't understand, Mythril.'

His voice cracked, his tears not ceasing as he held his sister's motionless body.

'Celcia and I have been together since we were hatchlings.  We've always been together.  I don't know anything else!  What am I supposed to do without her?'

'He'll move on eventually. He'll be unbearable for a while, but then he'll adjust.  Nothing lasts forever, and he knows that.'  Celcia's voice was soothing as possible, and she suddenly spoke more frantically.

'Mythril, I have loads I want to say; but I don't have time for all of it.  Mainly...thanks.  Thanks for everything you've done for me - for Cryo.  You might think you're a shy, uninspiring winged horse; but you're brave, and the best flier I've ever seen by miles.  Keep it up, okay?'

-M-

...Thank you.

Mythril didn't turn away from Cryo.

"I've been in your situation, Cryo.  I lost my father years ago.  His death wasn't half as heroic as your sister's, but my mother and I still reacted deeply to it.  Within a day of the funeral, my mother had recovered from her grief and was living as normally as she could.  When I asked her how, she told me something I've never forgotten.  She said..."

She took a firm stance.

"No matter how tragic your life gets, it is never the end of the world.  The best course of action is always to pick yourself up and keep moving forwards.  Always."

-C-

'Hear, hear!' came a very loud thought in both their heads, and the sound of applause.  

'By the way...I'll miss you both.'

-M-

Mythril turned to look at Celcia's lifeless body.

I'll miss you, too, Celcia... and so will Cryo, I'm sure.

-C-

A sensation rather similar to a hug came over them both, and Celcia's mind began to drift.  She couldn't hang on much longer, and she knew it.  She kept the hugging feeling up as long as she could before offering a simple 'bye guys,' before severing the connection and passing on - this time for forever.

-M-

...

For a long time, all was silent.  Mythril put a hand on Celcia's lifeless chest; it was still warm, but the heat was quickly fading.

...Celcia...

-C-

Cryo remained staring at her expressionlessly for a while, cradling her to his body wordlessly.  

After countless moments, he lifted his gaze up to Mythril.

'I miss her.'

He gave Celcia a crushing hug, voicelessly conveying an unbearable grief, before lying her carefully down and moving backwards.

'We agreed to...do this if either of us died.  I'll freeze her.'

-M-

...

Mythril stepped back to a safe distance.

"Go right ahead."

-C-

Cryo stared at Celcia's lifeless body for a while longer, before merely opening his jaws and directing a steady stream of sparkling ice.

After about half a minute of that, he relented; and Celcia was enshrouded in a crystal tomb.  It sparkled and shone with the sunlight, and she looked oddly smug; as if she'd won a huge battle.

'The ice is permanent.  It'll stay there forever, and no dragon will disturb it; it's not in our ways.'

Cryo hid his face from Mythril, fighting with himself to not cry again.  'They'll probably leave a mark of respect; a scorch-mark or a claw scratch beside it.  ...I'm sorry you had to be there for that.  I...don't think she would've...wanted you to see that.'

-M-

"...I..."

Mythril looked at the frozen Celcia for a moment.

"No, there's no reason I shouldn't be present for this."

She glanced at her watch, and jumped a bit.

"Holy cow, have we been gone for that long?  My mom must be worried sick about me by now!"

-C-

'...What?!  My sister's just been killed and all you can think about is the time?!'  

For a moment Cryo looked so furious - teeth bared, breath misting, claws extended, wings open - that she thought he might even attack her; but he recoiled, deflating completely.  He wrapped his tail around himself, and sat down next to Celcia's grave, resting his head against it.

'You're right.  Maybe you should go, then.'

-M-

Mythril was completely silent for a moment.

"I... don't know the way... I was asleep for a good deal of the way here... and I'm not sure which direction it is from here..."

-C-

'Head up into the wind...ah.'

Cryo pressed his forehead against the crystal, and stood.

'I think she'd be disappointed if I didn't take you home.  I apologize for bringing you into this.  Quagmire wasn't your fight, and all you got was a slashed knee, bruises over your entire body and watching my sister die.'

-M-

...I... you...

Mythril looked directly at Cryo.

I don't regret coming.  You might've both been killed without my help.  But after I'm home do you think you'll be able to handle yourself without Celcia?

-C-

His voice was cold, harsh; unemotive.

'I'm just going to have to, aren't I?'

He walked past, tail dragging, before leaping into the air and heading directly upwards.

-M-

Mythril quickly snapped to attention when Cryo took off.  She quickly opened her own wings and followed him.

-C-

Cryo said nothing, but his anguish was clear behind his stoic mask.  He refused to give Mythril eye contact, and slipped into the current easily, flapping hard to increase speed.

'You'll have to sleep on my back again.'

There was no childish thrill, no trace of his apparent crush.  He was devoid of emotion, and was stubbornly refusing to break free from that.

-M-

Very well.

Mythril matched Cryo's path, and quickly resumed her position directly above his back.  From there she eased herself down, just as she'd done the night before.

-C-

Cryo said nothing, but kept on flapping, allowing her to rest on his back.  His shoulder complained horribly, but he bore it.  He would get Mythril home safely, no matter what.  That much he would do for the brave creature.

-M-

Once Mythril was secure and in position, she took a moment to look around at the landscape whooshing by around her.  As the ocean passed under her and Cryo, she began to close her eyes.

-C-

'Mythril?  Mythril.'

Cryo rolled his shoulders gently, urging her to awaken as the city lights glittered up at them.

'Mythril, you've been sleeping for an entire day.  You're home now.'

-M-

Huh?

Mythril opened her eyes.  She'd had another dream.  In this one she was Celcia, dying in front of Cryo and herself.  It was so vivid... she could even feel the chill as Cryo had frozen her.

She looked down.  Sure enough, the scenery was familiar.  She pushed herself off Cryo's back and opened her own wings.

I... thank you, Cryo.

-C-

Cryo bit his lower lip, feeling the hotness that signals the arrival of tears in his eyes again.  Blinking furiously, he hovered, wondering what he should do.

Should he fly her to her front doorstep of those odd caves they all had?  Should he turn away now, offering nothing more than a simple goodbye?  Should he simply fly away and forget everything that had happened, abandon the canyon, leave Celcia's grave, fly away forever?

He had no idea what to do now, and he was unwittingly leaking all these thought processes to Mythril as he stared at her, almost pleadingly.

-M-

...

Mythril looked at Cryo.

Don't let the past break you up.  You can continue to live no matter what happens.  Don't abandon a life you enjoy because of one little disaster.  That's what my mother always said.

-C-

Cryo drifted to the ground, and faced her as she landed.

Tentatively, he drew her into a hesitant hug; merely a heartbroken goodbye, a desperate act to show gratitude and to thank her for everything she'd ever done.

For him and Celcia.

'I'll never forget you.'

He lifted a palm and blew into it for a second, before pressing a permanent ice shape into her hands, staring into her pale blue eyes.  It was the shape of a scale, the size of a palm.

'Something to remember me by.'

-M-

Thank you.

Mythril stared at the shape Cryo had pressed into her hand for a moment.

I guess this is goodbye then.

-C-

Cryo remained staring into her eyes for a while, before lifting a claw to gently wipe away a tear that had formed on her cheek.

'Don't forget me.  And don't forget Celcia.'

Then he turned away and launched himself into the sky, wings beating in spite of his shoulder wound, and he did not once look back.

He knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave, and it was better for the both of them if he left.

He thought about sending her last telepathic message as well, but smothered that urge too, severing the connection to her mind and entering the wind current.

He would never return from the Dragon Mainland; he would remain there for the rest of his life.

But he would always remember her.

-M-

...I won't.

Mythril watched Cryo as he left.  She didn't move from her spot until he was out of sight; then she began towards her house.

Once there, she rang the doorbell, and after a moment Elizabeth opened the door.  Upon seeing Mythril, she grabbed her up in her arms for a hug.

"Mythril!  You've been gone for days!  And you look awful!  What happened?"

"Mom, we won... but not without casualties..."

"Come in and tell me everything.  Spare no details."

With that, Mythril made her way into the house, and Elizabeth closed the door.

(END)