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Ash drifted down over the world like black snow and the acrid taste of smoke still filled Ultear’s mouth. She wasn’t sure how long it had been. Maybe half an hour? Gray was still crying off to one side. Her bones felt like they were still rattling from the demon’s roars even though they had been silenced.
It had been an accident. Ultear wasn’t sure how a massive monster could sneak up on an entire town, but it had. They had been buying groceries. That had been only hours ago. Just hours ago she and Lyon had been teasing Gray about taking off his clothes in public again and playing keep away with Gray’s shirt while her mother bought bread and vegetables. The ground had shaken like an earthquake, and the world had descended into pandemonium. Gray had seen Deliora and lost his mind. Ultear had thought he’d been getting better over the last year, but even together she and Lyon hadn’t been able to hold him back. Hadn’t been able to stop him from challenging the demon. It didn’t matter either way in the end. No one could stop Deliora, but no one could escape it either. They were all going to die. And then Lyon had tried to do something stupid and horrible and brave.
He had tried to save them all.
“Do you even know what that spell does to the caster?!”
“Of course I do! It’s the only thing that will stop Deliora – someone has to! But I can’t lose any of you! And- And if I do this, I’ll accomplish my dream, right? I’ll surpass you! I’ll surpass you, and I won’t lose my family again!”
But her mother had made a different decision and knocked Lyon unconscious instead.
“Ur, no!”
“No, don’t!”
“It’s alright, Gray. I’ll always love you with all my heart, Ultear. Please, take care of your brothers for me.”
“Of course I will, just please don’t leave me!”
“I’ll never really leave you. Any of you. I’ll keep you safe. The world gave you back to me, Ultear, and it was the greatest gift I could ever be given. I was given two more years with my precious daughter and students. I couldn’t have been happier. Now it’s time for me to repay that debt. Take care of each other. Live and grow and be happy – that’s all I’ve ever wanted for all three of you.”
“PLEASE! NO!”
Ultear couldn’t cry. She hadn’t cried once in the past two years. But she wanted to cry. She wanted to cry so badly it hurt.
“Wh-what happened?” Lyon sat up slowly. “Where’s Deliora?” He caught sight of the glacial prison now surrounding the demon. “No. NO!” He was up and running, his face crumbling into devastation. “Ur! No! You were supposed to live! You and Ultear and Gray were supposed to live!” Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he screamed and hit the ice which had once been Ur over and over again with his bare hands. “How can I ever surpass you if you’re not alive?”
Ultear moved mechanically, grabbing Lyon by the shoulders and pulling him back before he hurt himself further. He slumped against her and sobbed.
“It’s all my fault.” Gray was still hunched over on the ground, staring at his knees. “If I- If I had just listened to you- Why did I think I was strong enough to take on a demon?!”
Ultear shuffled close enough to grab ahold of Gray and drag him into the hug as well.
“If I had run into the masked people from the Bureau, I would have done the same thing,” she murmured as he turned into the hug and clung to both her and Lyon. “It’s not like you went looking for it – Deliora attacked us. Barely anyone who ran actually escaped. Mom-” Ultear’s voice caught in her throat and she gulped. “Mom sacrificed herself to save us.” Her eyes were burning. “It was her choice.”
But I wish she hadn’t.
No one voiced the words, but all three of them clung together all the tighter. And for the first time in two years, tears flowed freely down Ultear’s face.
“What do we do now, ‘Tear?” whispered Lyon. One of his hands was fisted in Ultear’s shirt, the other in the collar of Gray’s jacket.
“What do we do?” echoed Gray.
“We-” Ultear hesitated. “We head west.”
Her mother had spoken of powerful wizards to the west who were much stronger than her. Maybe they could find one who would help them. Maybe her mother had been wrong, and there was a way to reverse the iced shell. She pulled Gray and Lyon a little closer to her.
Please, take care of your brothers for me.
Ultear had made a promise to her mother, and she would keep that promise even if it was the last thing she did.