Wave (7)
To Yuna, waves had never been a fond memory. For a child who had never seen the ocean, the word had only ever represented the hallmark of the man who slaughtered her parents.
And yet, she had seen it.
"Look closely, child. This is what a wave is."
Clear streams of water and blossoming white sea spray. A gentle murmur echoing against her ears. It was the man's innate ability, untainted by a single drop of magic.
To Yuna, the wave had been something terrifying—something to be hated. Yet confronting the cerulean sea that unfurled before her, she had found herself utterly entranced.
"My hometown was a tiny coastal village with a fine view of the sea."
"Your... hometown?"
There was no sea in Sallos Territory. This was merely land bestowed upon him, a fief he was obligated to govern after the war; his true home lay somewhere far away. Before the fighting broke out, he used to boast that he was the best fisherman in the village.
"Far from harming me, the waves were friends that pushed my boat along. They were truly beautiful things..."
The man had grown up beside the sea. The 'Wave' was the name of his innate ability, but to him, it had also meant a lifelong companion. He had lived with the ocean and its swells as his friends. Yet once cast onto the battlefield, he was forced to slaughter people using the very power that bore his companion's name.
"Didn't you ever miss home?" Yuna had asked.
She still held fond memories of the days when her parents were alive. She had loved that small, humble house. That modest life had been more than enough. Even if this very man was the one who tore it all away from her.
Yuna could never return to the place she longed for, but he was different. Or so she had thought.
"I hadn't the face to return."
He simply hadn't gone back. His hands were too stained with blood, his soul worn down far too ragged to ever return home.
"Still... Yes. Even if it is impossible for me, the day might come when you behold the true sea and its waves with your own eyes."
The man had harbored many fears. He feared taking lives, and he feared anyone who dared approach him. And above all, he dreaded confronting how twisted and unrecognizable he had become should he ever set foot in his hometown again.
"For the real waves will be far grander and more magnificent than these."
Though his ability could conjure a flawless likeness of a wave, it could never match the landscape etched into his heart. Memories were cruel that way.
Yuna had watched him. She saw the tragic twilight of the man named Charybdis. A sinner, tormented by guilt, forever barred from returning to the home he had yearned for his entire life. He would never go back. To do so would mean exposing a fatal weakness. Having already survived an assassin's strike once before, the young Yuna understood the weight of that reality all too well.
Then why was he telling her this?
"Do not despise the waves too harshly."
"..."
At those loaded words, Yuna looked up at Charybdis's face. His expression was astonishingly serene. Something about him had changed. That gentle smile belonged to a man who had braced himself for what must come.
"For a wave does not exist merely to block your path. It can push you forward from behind as well."
Yuna had already hardened her resolve to kill Charybdis. She remembered that he had treated her with kindness. By then, she understood what a pitiable figure he truly was. But in that moment, for the very first time, she caught a glimpse of the unyielding strength he carried within.
"When the day comes that you must set out on your journey with a storm at your back..."
That day, Charybdis Sallos had ascended to an Archmage. It was the moment he had finalized his resolve.
"...this wave shall become your companion, nudging your vessel onward."
Charybdis had written a letter. It was the humble plea of an old man who had begun to vaguely foresee his approaching end.
Blue waves surged. White foam blossomed like flowers atop the azure currents.
She remembered. She had never forgotten the words Charybdis had left behind for her.
"This is..."
Charybdis was struck speechless for a moment before the sea of blue that washed over his vision. It was as if the long-forgotten vista of his distant home was unfolding right before his eyes.
"To tell you the truth, I visited the sea alone after that day."
Yuna had looked upon the ocean. She had listened to the murmur of the waves that Charybdis had longed for so deeply. On that day, Yuna had felt terribly lonely.
"It left a bitter ache in my heart."
The sea and the waves were breathtaking. But knowing she had no one to share that beauty with was unbearably sad.
"How does it look?"
Yuna had captured the scenery of that day. With the magic Charybdis bequeathed to her, she had chosen to preserve that moment for eternity. Never once had she wielded this Wave as a weapon. Because she remembered the remorse of a certain man.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
Only when standing before the vast ocean had Yuna finally wept. The mask of a girl who had coldly calculated every choice in her life shattered alongside the crashing waves.
Yet she picked herself back up. She had lived her life determined never to repeat the regrets of the man she killed. She chose to become a jester named Safe Clown. Because she wanted to bring a smile to someone's face.
The road ahead would be long and agonizing. She might wander the world without ever finding a place to plant her feet.
And yet, that was fine.
"I wanted to show this to you."
Because the waves she saw that day had become the companions of her journey.
The miasma of death washed away beneath the azure torrent. The raging storm settled, replaced by the tranquil murmur of lapping water. Even amidst the swirling current, Charybdis made no move to resist. He stood dazed, entirely enraptured by the landscape of his homeland unfurled before his eyes.
"What... what was I forgetting?" Charybdis murmured.
Only upon witnessing this undeniable proof did he realize that a vital part of his memory was missing.
Who was this girl standing before him?
'The assassin who killed me... The villain named Safe Clown.'
He had clung to that sliver of memory to drag himself here.
Was that truly all? Charybdis questioned himself once more. Who was she? When and where had they met? How did she learn that magic?
Charybdis began piecing together the fractured shards of his missing memories. A mind riddled with gaps. Even though he had lost most of his memories regarding the girl, something still remained.
"Ah..."
Gathering those fragmented pieces, Charybdis looked back on his final moments. The instant he was slain. The cold, unfeeling eyes of the girl gazing down at him. And the emotions hidden beneath those seemingly ruthless eyes.
Now, at last, he understood.
"Yuna..."
Charybdis had not crawled back to this world for revenge. In his final moments, his greatest regret had been leaving this world without saying a single word to her. He had braced himself for death, yet he had never braced himself for their parting.
It was that lingering regret that had forced his corpse back to its feet.
Surrounded by the sparkling blue waves, Charybdis whispered. Words he had never managed to convey began tumbling out without order or composure.
"Thank you."
He remembered that the girl's choice had been made for his sake.
"I am sorry."
He remembered the cruel burden he had forced upon her young shoulders.
"I understand."
He remembered that every ruthless decision she made had been out of love and mercy for him.
"I love you..."
He remembered that every moment spent with her had been pure happiness.
Yes...
"Even in the moment I drew my last breath, my heart never wavered."
There were so many things he wanted to say. Far too many. But this time, he refused to waste a single second searching for the right words. So he poured out everything flooding his mind, a jumble of raw, unfiltered emotion.
"My daughter... Yuna Sallos..."
With that, the waves subsided. And riding upon the gentle blue swell, the girl smiled brightly through her tears.
The waves receded.
Charybdis, who only moments ago had blazed with ghostfire as though he would tear everyone to shreds, collapsed to the floor like an ordinary corpse.
And having returned him to death's embrace, Yuna was crying.
"Yuna."
Tears streamed down her cheeks, a stark contrast to the brilliant smile lingering on her lips. Still, she would be fine. Her expression looked firmer, more resolute than ever before.
"I'm fine!"
"Yeah, looks like it."
I chuckled softly, pretending not to notice the tears pooling in her eyes. She had found her own answer. There was no need for me to tack on any clumsy comfort.
"Wait, n-no. Actually, I don't think I'm fine at all!"
Yuna suddenly reversed her declaration, shouting at the top of her lungs. What kind of nonsense was she spouting now?
Before the thought could even finish forming—
"Puhehe!"
Yuna wobbled on her feet, stumbled toward where I was sitting slumped against the wall, and threw herself forward.
"Whoa there."
Seeing her collapse with pinpoint precision aimed directly at me, I hastily scrambled and rolled across the ground to dodge.
Splat!
Yuna hit the floor face-first.
A pool of blood began to seep out beneath her.
Well, to be fair, she had been on the brink of death before we even showed up. Pushing herself past her limits in that state to send Charybdis back to the grave... it wasn't surprising that she had hit her breaking point.
Having slammed onto the stone floor with the dull thud of an overripe tomato hitting the pavement, Yuna grumbled into the dirt.
"...Why didn't you catch me?"
"Ah, sorry. Reflex took over..."
You know full well I'm not the type of guy to catch someone like that. Don't go pinning weird romantic expectations on me. I've already done more than enough today. I'm utterly exhausted here.
"Heave-ho!"
Yet Yuna remained as tenacious as ever. Dragging herself across the floor in that wretched state, she crawled over and stubbornly rested her head right in my lap.
This girl really was something else. In some poetic sense, one might easily mistake this for a romantic scene, but watching a girl soaked head to toe in fresh blood slither across the ground toward you was nothing short of pure horror.
"Hey, Yohan."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"Long as you know."
"Puhehe."
Yuna let out a silly giggle. It was the same goofy laugh she always had, but somehow, I could tell this one was straight from the heart.
I guess I've come to understand her a bit better, too. Good for us.
"Hey, Yohan."
"Yeah?"
Yuna reached up with her hand. Amidst the sensation of her soft skin brushing against my cheek, she offered a bashful smile.
"I think maybe I..."
Clink, rattle.
The sharp scrape of dragging chains cut through the air.
At that sound, the words died in both Yuna's throat and mine. My entire body seized up, frozen in place. All I could do was slowly tilt my chin up to face what lay ahead.
"Hmm... As I thought, erasing a portion of his memories prevented him from enduring for long."
Heavy iron chains coiled around his entire frame. An existence who appeared both like an old man and a youth, blurring the line between the living and the dead—I knew immediately who he was.
The master of Under Chain.
"In the end, it seems this one was never meant to walk alongside us."
The Great Sage, Faust.
Dragging countless links of iron that scraped against the stone, Faust approached and looked down at Charybdis's remains. Then, gently cradling the skull, he turned his gaze squarely toward us.
"Yet thanks to him, I have managed to reach you at last."
He was after me. I had known that much for a while.
And yet...
"Me...?"
I never dreamed in my wildest nightmares that he had orchestrated this entire catastrophe just to meet me. He resurrected Charybdis Sallos and pulverized half the Cradle just for a chat with yours truly?
How on earth was anyone supposed to see that coming?!
"Indeed."
At Faust's calm affirmation, I slowly lowered my head and exchanged a glance with Yuna. Having grasped the gist of the situation, her expression had hardened with desperate resolve.
"Ah..."
This is impossible. I can't see a single way out of this.
Damn it all.
I had let my guard down, assuming the Great Sage wouldn't be as immediately lethal as the other final bosses. To think he could slip past Olga Hermod, Lobelia, and the rest of their high-powered retinue to infiltrate this deep... The moment his name came up, I should have stopped and asked myself what his true endgame was.
Yuna hadn't been the only one blinded by the presence of Charybdis Sallos.
This was my blunder.
Which meant...
"Yuna."
"Yohan...?"
"I think this is the only way. Those who can live ought to survive."
"What are you saying right now...?!"
I took Yuna's head in my hands and gently laid it back down on the stone floor. She grabbed fistfuls of my coat and shook her head in frantic protest, but I had no choice but to pry her fingers off.
Right. Those who can survive have to survive.
"So then?"
The crisis of a lifetime. If there was no running away, then I might as well act like I owned the place.
"What business does the esteemed Great Sage have with someone like me?"
And so, staggering on trembling legs, I dragged myself upright and stood before Faust.
All that was left now was a pure gamble.