Deliverance

by the Legendary Armor

Truly this pain was nothing new.

How long now had she been in a tightly woven web of sorrow? Too long... too long. The memories now were not clear, but still lingered in her fading consciousness, laced with regret and a sense of loss.

A monastery... isolation of the maddening sort, and but a few rays of light to keep her sanity. And then, when some could be trusted—a dear young friend, lost one day to fate... and a divine, radiant knight, pulled away by strings of cruel chance. It was as if the gods did not wish her light, did not wish her happiness...

Manipulation. Betrayal. Fear. There was too much, too much she could feel from those fading memories... those who wanted her dead, those who aimed to use her... a whirlwind of blood and war, and the one she may have loved if the circumstances had permitted...

...if his hands, and Ivalice, were not so bathed in malignant crimson.

Such terribly fake smiles and mockery, a false joy upon an unwanted throne... There was nothing real left to her, and there had not been for such a long, long time. She was worth nothing to anyone—she was merely someone to be used, not someone to be loved.

How fitting it was the blade of the one who'd said those words to her, who'd used her more than any other had, put her where she was now... how fitting that he of all people finally delivered her from this cold and vicious world.

Yes... this pain was truly nothing new.

The chilly stones beneath her cooled her warm cheek as she stared into the distance, her vision darkening. She was so warm... so warm, but it was fading as the worn stones beneath her shined with ever more red. A tear fell down to further change the rock as she closed her eyes... a sense of relief, of escape, filled her jaded soul.

She embraced the darkness... for it loved her as surely no other ever had.

(...end...)