Marika stretched in relief as the trio surfaced once more, emerging back near the Atlus expanses, only a few dozen miles from the capital again. Her eyes drifted across the great fissue that was just behind them. She still had no idea what had caused the massive crack across the land, not in full. It had obliterated many graces she had once thought, still stood and destabilized the very nature of magic since its upheaval. They had found some forms still functioned, long trained, and well kept spells, but the majority either became useless or too exhausting to wield.
"It's almost like there is something pressing upon the will and flow of the cosmos again, just as Radahn had." She said softly as she let her eyes drift across the rift.
"Hey." A hand laid on her shoulder as Cinder drew back her attention. "Come on. We still need to find our moron."
"You are rather dismissive of her intelligence..."
"I have seen that woman stare for an hour at a wall."
"...Why?"
"I asked."
"And she said...?"
Cinder cleared her throat and took on a voice shockingly similar to Luna, down to the tone in her voice. "Well, I got bored and noticed the wall had some detailing. So I spent an hour memorizing it so I could repair it easier when it chips."
Marika just kind of stared at Cinder for a while. "...Ya, that sounds like my moron."
"See?" Cinder chuckled.
"She spent nearly a month when we first arrived just exploring mines for weaponry materials."
"She is very prone to tunnel vision, but not without reason." This made Marika raise a brow.
"Well, yes, weapon materials."
"To better protect you with." This made her smile a little, releasing just a bit of the mystery of Luna from her.
"Yo." shouted Kimisa nearby as she finished plucking berries off a tree. All of them were somewhat haggard of clothing and planned to snatch, forage, or take whatever they could from the first person to make a bad decision. "Are these safe?" She walked over, showing a handful of berries to Cinder. They were wild from an erd flower, but she had never seen them bare berries before.
"Dunno." The fiery lady said. She took one and sniffed it as the shorter girl made a face almost like the whining expression of a child, which made Marika further confused, given this girl had priorly devoured a spirit like a snack. At least, that had been her telling of events.
"I will take the risk." The small verdente said with a rather determined stare.
"You aren't wasting what sugar and flour I found for something that could make your stomach hurt." She spoke to Kimisa now like an elder sister or a mother would to a child. If this was indeed the family her beloved knight had come from, she couldn't see an end to exciting days should they all end this breathing.
The two began wrestling for the berries, Kimisa chomping rather adorably over Cinder's arm as she yelped and rolled to get them away from the small and increasingly childish woman. It all had Marika giggling as she watched, covering her mouth. After a while, however, she figured she would break the tension.
"Here," she said gently as she plucked a berry from Cinder's fingers, "I will try it." She popped the small golden berry into her mouth and chewed. It was warm and sweet somehow, but it also held a slightly earthy flavor that gave the juicy texture a real natural complexity. She swallowed and waited for a few minutes as the two wrestling dorks sit frozen in place, watching. It was utterly delightful. "Oh, yes. These are perfect for some cookies!"
Kimisa exploded and tackled Marika happily. Cinder fell from the now broken limb lock with a laugh. Marika was startled at first but soon fell into giggling herself as she fell backward to the feral hugs of the childish darkling. "Yes, yes. We shall make these into cookies for you."
Kimisa kicked her legs a little, giggling happily against the golden queen's bosom before hopping up and busying herself with constructing a little oven of rocks. Marika righted and dusted herself off just as a warm gust blew across the plains. It was faint, but for a moment, she caught the scenr of her love. Of strawberries and blood. A soft little wisp carried on fading warm air, but it was hers none the less. She was alive. She knew that for certain.
...
"So, tell me more of this... Nisabu, yes?" Marika nibbled at the campfire on a small bit of the cookies she had made. Kimisa had taken some coaxing to share, though only so much as to make a show of it. Marika doubted she actually was that greedy. It had felt more like a game to her.
"He is Luna's best friend." Cinder said very matter of factly. "Things haven't been goin great on the other side. Some folks were lost to this quest." There was a sad and somber tone to her as she nibbled at a cookie herself. Dinner had been just some vegetables, which Kimisa had heavily protested, but eaten once the threat of witholding treats entered.
"I see..." She spoke gently, but there was a mixture of joy and pain. She wept inside to know the extent of how luch her knight's heart had been broken when she fell apart upon the Haligtree.
"This world is chronologically separated from her body. This is a part of her soul, but the whole her is still home. As far as we know, this journey was done already, but somethin told Kimi and I we had to see for ourselves."
"Yeah, and I am glad we did." Kimisa continued for her between viscious cookie chomps.
"So... time is... more flexible for you?"
"It is more like a big, timey, whimey, ball of strange... winding... Shtuff." Cinder answered, only leaving Marika even more confused and Kimisa being sent into a fit of giggles.
"As for Nisabu, he is likely the reason this place hasn't seen her just... drop completely. A decade-long pact of love was shattered, and the version of her here didn't even know until it cracked all at once. Nisabu is why she hasn't succumbed, alongside Hannah. Another dear friend." She continued with a soft, reverential voice. There was a warmth to how she spoke of this man.
"What is the nature of their bond? Of all of your bonds to this man?" She asked. She didn't care if it was love. Any chance at monogamy was long gone, and Marika had long since had so many casual partners during her reign that even suggesting it now would be a joke at best. Besides, this kore open, linking form of love that Luna had taught her of felt more fitting for her. More... accepting.
More of who she truly is.
"Do you want our answer, or Lunie's?" Cinder asked after the two had exchanged slow, sideways glances. This perplexed Marika, for she would assume them one and the same. Luna was not one for lying openly to others, from her experience.
"Both, perhaps?" She said with a curious smile as she leaned back against the stone she sat on. Her hands settled behind her, getting herself comfortable. They wouldn't be traveling until dawn.
"Lunie says they are the closest of friends, bonded to their cores." Cinder answered in a strangely practiced way.
"And, you all?" Marika quirked a brow, and her smile grew a little with curiosity.
"They are very clearly depserately in love, but Lunie is a blind daft fool to her own emotions. She is going to marry my brother someday, and it will be adorable." Kimisa answered, smiling a tiny yet precious smile. "Luna is my wife, too."
"Mine, as well." Cinder said, smiling to Marika.
"Both...of you?" She said rather shocked.
Cinder nodded. "Her and I both were made from the same experiment. Different labs, but it's hard to share that pain with anyone but someone who understands." Cinder rested her hand lightly on Marika's as she moved to sit with her on the rock. She felt, for the first time in Millenia, some sense of a community she hadn't had to enforce.
"And she saved me from an evil cult as an infant when she was just a child herself." Kimisa added. "There is no one who truly understands pain or love like she does. She has experienced the depth of each extreme, as have many who call that place our home."
"What place is that?" She asked softly. She turned as Kimisa sat down on the other side, offering a cookie.
"Serenity."