Work Text:
Fi floated happily in the air as Klaudia played her flute. The song she performed now was bright and upbeat, although the title eluded Ryza. It had been a while since either Fi or Ryza last heard Klaudia play, and it warmed Ryza's heart to see Fi so cheerful again. Over a year had passed since the incident with the Code of the Universe, and life went on as it usually did.
(Even if Ryza had yet to find an apprentice, much to her disappointment. Klaudia, on the other hand, was doing well for herself after forming a new branch of her family's merchant business. Their paths had crossed again in the Cleria region, and Klaudia had invited Ryza to travel with her a while.)
Klaudia finished her song with a flourish, and Fi let out an excited squeal. "That was wonderful!" Ryza exclaimed, clapping.
"Why, thank you." Klaudia smiled as she wiped her brow with her arm. "What about you, Fi? Did you enjoy it too?"
"Fiifii!" Fi said, waving a wing, and their star necklace jingled a little bit.
"Fi always loves your music best," Ryza said with a wide grin.
"And I always love performing for you and Fi." Klaudia sat beside Ryza on the couch and laid her flute across her lap. "It really is good to see Fi again."
Ryza glanced at the dark portal on the other side of the atelier. She truly was thankful for the dragon vein to still allow her access to the region of the Underworld— no, its name was Orim, she corrected herself. The various ateliers she had left around the world were connected by this dragon vein, and she wished she had been able to create a link to her atelier in the capital city of Ashra-am Baird so that she could more easily visit Bos, Tao, and Patty, but as she had told Dian on that day of parting, sometimes it was more fun to travel the slow path.
With a cheerful squeak Fi flew over to Ryza and Klaudia and plopped themself on Ryza's lap. Ryza giggled and patted Fi's head, feeling their soft fur against her fingertips. "You know, I've been thinking," she said. "Kala told us that Fi is a fairy of solace, and that those fairies sing to soothe the dragon storms."
"I remember," Klaudia replied with a nod. "Though it is hard to imagine ones as small as Fi standing up to such fearsome creatures…"
Yet Fi simply waved their wings proudly and let out a sweet, brief hum.
"But that's the power of music!" Ryza glanced down at Fi in her lap, and Fi watched her with that familiar smile of theirs. "Music is a part of Fi, like breathing, so maybe that's why they respond so much to your playing too."
"I'm not sure my playing would be good enough to soothe a dragon storm." Klaudia let out an awkward laugh as pink tinted her cheeks. "But thank you, Fi, truly."
"Fi!" they exclaimed, puffing out their chest.
Klaudia's fingers tightened around her flute. "Oh, I wish I could always play for you…"
That was the one impossible dream, Ryza knew. Though they could visit, Fi was a creature of Orim, and Ryza and Klaudia were of Orim's neighboring world. Even now Ryza and Klaudia could only visit a few days at the most as they had their own journeys to follow too. Wordlessly Klaudia laid her hand on Ryza's thigh, a light yet tender caress, and Ryza understood. Goodbye wasn't forever, and both friendship and romance could endure even when apart.
However, that didn't make the eventual parting any less painful.
The melody of Klaudia's song still lingered in Ryza's ears as the three of them retired to sleep; Ryza and Klaudia shared the same small bed while Fi lay snugly between them. The two women had been a couple almost half a year now, and being able to spend time with Klaudia like this often felt like a dream come true. Of course, there was a charm in the epistolary part of their romance too, and Ryza knew their paths would cross again and again as they continued to follow their own dreams. Maybe someday they could settle down together, but not for a long, long time.
When they were apart, Ryza treasured each and every letter from Klaudia, and when they could be together, she wanted to make the most of that brief time. She reached out to touch a strand of Klaudia's soft hair, and Klaudia stirred, still sleeping peacefully. She glanced at Fi between them, and her chest ached; but she and Fi would always live in different worlds. At least she could still visit, she told herself.
Yet sleep continued to prove elusive.
With a silent sigh Ryza sat up and climbed out of bed as quietly as possible so as not to wake Fi or Klaudia. She wrapped a shawl around her shoulders and headed outside into the night. The village of Windle was quiet and Ryza saw only a few Oren sentries in the distance. Without the threat of the Philuscha, even the most hardened warriors of the village seemed more at ease these days, although many still expressed frustration at Kala's flighty habits. Ryza looked down at her feet, and was careful not to step on a newly-budding flower. Slowly but surely Orim was recovering, reflecting the memories Lila and Serri had shared with her.
She took a few more steps forward, the grass cool against her bare feet. She inhaled deeply, tasting the crisp night air, and stared at the stars above. In her travels, she had learned more of constellations, and she found herself wondering if the constellations here were the same as the ones in her home world. It was an odd thought sometimes, that she and Fi might not see the same stars. But they were still beautiful all the same.
Ryza let out quiet laugh. Sometimes the stars were said to sing, so maybe the stars of Orim sang a different song. She shut her eyes a moment, recalling the song Klaudia had played for Fi earlier.
"So this is where you are, Ryza."
She turned her head at the sound of that familiar voice, and Klaudia approached her. "Klaudia," she greeted with a nod. "I didn't wake you, did I?"
Klaudia shook her head. "When I saw you were gone, I figured you'd be out here."
Ryza let out an awkward giggle. "I just needed some fresh air, that's all."
"You're thinking about Fi, aren't you?" Klaudia said, folding her hands over her chest.
"Eheh, is it that obvious?" Ryza rubbed the back of her neck and again turned her gaze toward the stars. "When we first had to say goodbye, I thought it'd be for forever. So being able to visit Fi like this is a dream come true, even if it's only for a few days. I know that, and I'm grateful, really, but then I start feeling selfish for wanting more…"
"It isn't selfish." Klaudia reached for Ryza's hand and let their fingers lace. "Fi is very dear to you, so I understand how you feel."
"We're always saying goodbye and hello, aren't we?" Ryza managed a smile, thinking of Bos, Lent, Tao, Lila, Empel, and all their other friends around the world.
Klaudia drew Ryza's hand closer to her lips. "We'll always find each other again, one way or another."
"Fi looked so happy when you were playing your flute earlier. If I could just find a way to bottle up that music, Fi could listen whenever they wanted…"
"Oh, you mean like a music box?"
"A music—? Of course, that's it!" Ryza exclaimed as she clasped Klaudia's hand between hers, startling Klaudia. "Maybe I can create a music box that will record your playing and give it to Fi!"
Klaudia pursed her lips in deep thought. "I do have some music boxes as part of my wares, but I don't think they can record…"
"I'm an alchemist, remember?" Ryza smirked. "I'm sure I can whip up just what I need!"
"Right, of course!" Klaudia beamed, raising a hand to Ryza's cheek. "That's the Ryza I know and love!"
Ryza laughed again, and she drew closer to give Klaudia a quick kiss on the lips.
"Fi!" came a familiar squeal. Ryza released Klaudia and held out her arms as Fi flew toward her and bumped against her chest. Fi glanced up at Ryza, clearly pouting, and she couldn't help but giggle.
"Now, now, there's no need to feel left out," she said, patting Fi on the head. "In fact, me and Klaudia were discussing a little surprise for you!"
Fi cocked their head, blinking. "Fi?"
Ryza held a finger to her lips. "You'll just have to wait and see!"
Fortunately, Fi seemed satisfied with that, and the three of them returned to the atelier, and already Ryza was drawing up the semantics in her head for Fi's surprise.
The following day Ryza sat at her desk, a not-entirely blank piece of paper lying before her. Fi hovered closely, while Klaudia was attending a meeting to discuss trade opportunities with Kala. Earlier Ryza had purchased a music box from Klaudia's wares to use as the base, and while she had mostly figured out the rest of the ingredients and proper ratios, something was missing.
"Ugh…" she groaned, tapping the desk with her quill. It wasn't enough for the music to mechanically replicate the notes, otherwise she wouldn't need to use alchemy in the first place. What was most important was capturing Klaudia's specific playing, after all. The song itself wasn't important, but rather who was playing it.
Fi sat on Ryza's head and patted her hair with a wing. "Fifi!" they exclaimed, clearly trying to encourage her.
"Thanks, Fi," Ryza said with a faint laugh. "Maybe I should look through my supplies again. If Empel was here, I could ask his advice on what materials would be best to use." She cast a glance at her bookshelves; maybe the answer was inside one of those books, but she didn't fancy going all those indexes in hopes of finding the right entry, and not all the books had indexes in the first place, much to her annoyance. She and Klaudia would be leaving Orim the day after tomorrow, so she needed to get this surprise done before then.
Just as she stood and was about to rummage through her collection of materials, a knock at the door caught her attention. She blinked in surprise; Klaudia had returned sooner than expected, it seemed. Thus she headed toward the door and opened it, and at first saw nothing.
"Puni puni!"
Startled, Ryza glanced down and saw that familiar pair of puni, both of them their regular shade of blue. "Oh, welcome back, you two!" she greeted. "Last time I saw you, it was back near the secret hideout!"
The two puni made their way into the atelier, and Fi flew over to the smaller of the two and immediately entered an animated conversation. (Not that Ryza understood anything beyond "Fi" and "Puni.") She hadn't expected to see either of them during this visit in Windle, although now that she thought about it, they were probably traveling via the dragon vein as well. She stifled a giggle; for puni, they were awfully daring, but then again, the older one had once followed her all the way to the middle of the bustling capital.
"Puni!" squeaked the puni in question as it made its way back to its usual spot near Ryza's alchemy cauldron. She followed it, and it opened its mouth, gently setting down the objects it had gathered during its travels.
Ryza could not help but smile; she had missed the unusual materials the puni duo sometimes brought back for her. (Once it was a dragon core, and she was still trying to puzzle out how they managed that.) "Why, thank you!" she said as she knelt beside the puni. "Now, let's see here…"
The objects today didn't appear particularly unusual - a shiny uni, elemental ores, icy grass - but then a crystal caught her eye. Crystals were common gifts from the puni duo, she knew, but the shape and feel of this one was like nothing she had seen before. She ran her fingers along the edge, far smoother than anything that should've occurred naturally, and although it felt soft against her fingertips, it wasn't brittle enough to break or chip. Carefully she held it to her nose, but while the scent was nostalgic, she couldn't pinpoint how.
The puni nudged her foot, and she giggled as she patted it on the head. "What a unique find," she said. "I wonder what I could use it for…" On a whim she held the crystal to the light and peered through it, and she finally understood.
Inside the crystal she saw the dragon valley of the Nemed region, somewhere within the sandy ruins. The puni duo approached carefully as they collected materials, and the images changed to them inside the Nemed region atelier, heading toward the portal made by the dragon vein. She watched the images play out, her mouth agape, and when she could finally bring herself to tear her gaze from the crystal, her heart still raced. She stared down at the crystal in her hand, and couldn't believe her luck.
"Fi?" Fi and the smaller puni both glanced at Ryza, and Fi flew around Ryza's head, cooing curiously.
Ryza closed her fingers around the strange crystal, and now it felt vaguely warm. "I think this is some kind of memory crystal," she said aloud. "Clifford told me about them once, but he thought they were only a legend…" She grinned at the puni duo. "Great job, you two!"
The two puni also grinned and wriggled proudly.
When Klaudia returned to the atelier, an excited Ryza immediately asked her to play Fi's favorite song on her flute. Klaudia was confused by Ryza's sudden request, as was Fi, but readily agreed. Thus Klaudia stood beside Ryza's cauldron as Ryza gathered the necessary materials while Fi floated above, watching closely. Ryza gave Klaudia a brief nod, and Klaudia began playing as Ryza put the materials into the cauldron.
That familiar melody filled Ryza's ears as the shimmering liquid accepted the various ingredients, and the crystal in particular pulsed to the beat of Klaudia's song. It was still bright and upbeat, but now Ryza could also hear an undercurrent of melancholy. Gripping her staff tightly, she summoned her innate power as she stirred the liquid, allowing the materials to break down and rebuild. She shut her eyes and visualized the end result, letting the notes of Klaudia's music wash over her, and imagined the look on Fi's face when she was finished. A smile tugged at her lips; she had made powerful artifacts, drawing even the attention of the Code of the Universe, but that wasn't the reason she loved alchemy. She felt a kind of magic at her fingertips, and warmth blossomed in her chest. As majestic and technically impressive city created by those alchemists of old had been, it had lacked something vital, leaving it cold and lonely. She could never be that kind of alchemist.
"Please, work," she mouthed silently to herself. When Klaudia's song came to an end, a vibrant light erupted from the cauldron, embracing Ryza in a gentle warmth. She heard Klaudia gasp, and as the light faded, it congealed into Ryza's hands, and when she looked down at what she held, she smiled.
"Fi?" came Fi's voice as they perched on Ryza's shoulder and stared at the box in her hands.
"It's a music box," Ryza said. "The puni brought back a memory crystal, so I was able to use that and record Klaudia's playing, and well, let's see how it works!" She opened the lid, revealing crystalline gears, and it began playing the song Klaudia had just finished. Every note was the same, and both Fi's eyes and Klaudia's were wide as the two of them listened. Ryza shut her eyes, and so easily could she imagine Klaudia, beautiful and radiant, playing her flute so magnificently.
Again the song soon came to an end, and as Ryza shut the lid, Fi flew closer and brushed a wing over the music box. "Fi…" they cooed gently.
Ryza nodded. "That's right. Even when me and Klaudia aren't here, you'll be able to listen to her music whenever you want now."
"You truly are wonderful, Ryza," Klaudia said, tears stinging at the corners of her eyes, and she carefully drew both Ryza and Fi into a warm embrace.
On the final night, Ryza and Fi sat alone on the steps of the Garden of Solace. Fi was snug on Ryza's lap as they listened to Klaudia's song from the music box, those gentle notes filling the night air. The sky was clear, and the stars seemed to twinkle a little more brightly than usual, as if sharing their own song as well.
"Me and Klaudia will be leaving in the morning," Ryza said when the music finished; she would never tire of hearing it. "It's not forever, I know, but saying goodbye never gets any easier, does it?"
"Fi…" they replied, their large ears drooping.
"Maybe next time, if I can get ahold of another memory crystal, we'll create a new music box with a different song by Klaudia!"
"Fi!"
A faint smile tugged at Ryza's lips, and she leaned her head back to stare up at the stars. "And hopefully I'll have an apprentice to introduce you to…"
Fi glanced up at Ryza. "Fi?"
Ryza shut her eyes a moment, feeling the sting of tears. "You're a being of Orim, Fi. You're going to live far longer than me." She paused a moment, trying to find the right words. "There will come a day when I'm not able to visit you anymore. I'll teach my apprentice all about Orim, and I'm sure they'll visit you too, and if me and Klaudia decide to adopt any children, I'll teach them too… So Fi, even when I'm gone, you won't be alone, I promise."
Fi was silent as they hovered before Ryza, and they reached out a wing to touch her cheek, and she was surprised to discover she was crying. "Fii! Fififi!" they chirped, their gaze warm as their star necklace glistened in the moonlight.
"Oh, Fi," Ryza said with a faint chuckle. She set down the music box gently beside her, and pulled Fi into a tight embrace. "I am so, so glad I met you…"
She would continue traveling, sometimes alone and sometimes with others, for as long as she could. The world was vast, and she was thankful to share this small piece with Fi. They stood and left the garden to return to the atelier, where Klaudia waited.