Chapter Text
In the ballroom of the Arcus Prima, Rimone had her collection of snacks and candy laid out before her. In a few days' time, the Arcus Prima and Chor Tempest would act as hosts for peace delegates from the Plumbum Highlands, but none of the sibyllae wanted to worry. Aer, Neviril, Paraietta, and Dominura were elsewhere, but Floe, Alty, Kaim, Roatreamon, and Morinas were gathered in the ballroom with Rimone. An ordinary scene, just like any other day on the Arcus Prima.
Among soft pillows, Floe leaned her head back, staring at the high ceiling above. "Why do we kiss to activate the Simouns?" she asked suddenly.
Alty gave Floe a pointed look. "Where did that come from?"
"I mean, think about it!" Floe clapped her hands together. "Who was the first person to look at a Simoun gem and think about kissing it of all things?"
Roatreamon tugged at her braid, a faint blush upon her cheeks. "According to legend, when the helical motors were first discovered, two priestesses came down from the sky in a Simoun and taught people how to pray to the skies."
"There's still so much we don't know about Simouns." Morinas chuckled as she touched her sibylla necklace. "Maybe those two priestesses were a couple if kissing is what we do now."
"That's rather romantic, huh?" Alty turned toward Kaim, and Rimone saw the wishful expression on her face. "What do you think, Sis?"
"D-Don't ask me!" Kaim snapped, scowling. "A-Anyway, aren't there more important things to worry about?"
"Aw, don't be like that!" Floe said with a pout. "There's no one else we can talk about this thing of stuff with!"
Rimone picked up a piece of chocolate. "We're Simoun sibyllae," she said without thinking. "We're closer to Tempus Spatium than anyone. But once we go to the Spring, we won't be able to pray anymore."
A somber air came over the group. It was a question every Simoun sibyllae asked - why could only maidens who had not yet entered the Spring fly Simouns? Rimone herself had asked that question often, but the only answer she ever received was that it was the will of Tempus Spatium.
Floe clutched a pillow to her chest. "Going to the Spring is supposed to be a wonderful thing," she said softly. "And if these peace talks go well, most of us will be able to go to the Spring by our next birthdays…"
Roatreamon smiled at Rimone, although Rimone couldn't ignore the traces of sorrow in that smile. "You're lucky, Rimone. You'll still be able to fly a Simoun for years to come."
Rimone opened her mouth to speak, but instead Kaim exclaimed, "Lady Para!"
Paraietta greeted Kaim with a nod as she approached the others. "The maju pool is ready for us now."
Floe stood and stretched her arms. "Where are Aer and Neviril?"
"They're already at the pool," Paraietta answered, and confusion crossed her face as she glanced around. "Is Dominura not with you?"
"I'll get her," Rimone said as she packed away what remained of her snacks.
"Thank you, Rimone." Paraietta waved for the other sibyllae to follow her while Rimone headed in the opposite direction alone.
Excluding Neviril, the regina of Chor Tempest, sibyllae shared their rooms with one other, and Rimone shared her room with her Pair Dominura. Naturally Dominura had arranged for it to be so using her strange influence; she was still rather pushy, but a part of Rimone was flattered that Dominura was so determined to be her Pair. However, outside of the Simoun, Dominura seemed to prefer to keep to herself, so Rimone still didn't know her very well.
As she followed the familiar hallway, Roatreamon's words still rang in her ears. Even if the war ended soon, she could still be able to fly a Simoun. She should've been happy. Yet she remembered the older trainees' jealousy when she had been chosen to become a Simoun sibylla. For many of those trainees, that had been their last chance to be chosen to fly a Simoun before they had to go to the Spring, and yet Rimone had been granted that privilege instead, despite her tender age.
She reached the sibyllae's sleeping quarters soon enough, and as she pushed open her door, she saw Dominura staring out the large window. Her dark hair shined in the sunlight, and on her face was a quiet expression Rimone didn't quite understand. Her red lips curled into a soft smile, one that carried a kind of peaceful sorrow, like resignation or acceptance.
Rimone swallowed dryly. Staring at the sky like that, Dominura longed for something more, just as she did. "Dominura?" she called out.
Slowly Dominura turned to face Rimone, her gaze as sharp as ever. "Ah, Rimone. What do you need?"
"Everyone's gone to the maju pool." Without thinking Rimone held out her hand. "I came to get you."
For a moment Dominura stared at Rimone's outstretched hand with an expression of puzzlement, but then that strange, increasingly familiar smile returned to her lips as she accepted Rimone's offered hand. "I suppose I should join you then."
They walked the corridors in silence for a bit, and Dominura's hand was warm in Rimone's. She wasn't sure why she still held Dominura's hand, but it was too late to let go either without drawing attention, she supposed. Glancing up at Dominura, Rimone thought of asking Dominura why she kept apart from the other members of Chor Tempest or why she hadn't yet gone to the Spring despite her age. However, Rimone instead said, "When we in the ballroom, Floe asked us something. Why do we kiss to fly the Simouns?"
"Just as Tempus Spatium has two wings, Simouns have two helical motors," Dominura said after a pause. "So perhaps a kiss is mean to display the bond between paired sibyllae."
"A long time ago, two sibyllae descended from the sky in a Simoun and told people how to pray to the skies. That's what Roatreamon told us."
"So the legends say." Yet as Dominura spoke those words, her eyes grew clouded. "Rimone, what do you know of the Emerald Ri Majon?"
"Um…" Rimone's fingers tightened around Dominura's. "It's a legendary Ri Majon. It can open the door to a new world, but nobody alive now has seen it performed."
"And yet we know how to draw the glyph." Again Dominura smiled, that strange smile Rimone couldn't quite read. "I wonder what lies on the other side of that door."
Rimone and Dominura reached the maju pool, where the other members of Chor Tempest were already dressed in the pale bodysuits. Dominura and Rimone helped each other into their own suits, and as they dove together into the airy pool, Rimone remembered a certain legend of two ancient sibyllae who had performed the Emerald Ri Majon and disappeared into light long ago. Neviril had tried to perform the Emerald Ri Majon with her former Pair Amuria, to bring that legend to life, but they had failed and Amuria had been lost.
As she flew beside Dominura, leaving a smoky trail in her wake, Rimone's eyes drifted to Aer and Neviril. Everyone knew the legend of the Emerald Ri Majon, but none could say they had seen it completed. Rimone flew upwards, and Dominura followed. Myths and history - no matter how much she read and studied, sometimes she simply couldn't tell the difference.
That night, Rimone couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, and when she gave up trying and opened her eyes, she saw Dominura staring out the window of the room they shared, much like she had done so earlier. Against the moonlight, Dominura appeared almost ghostlike, and in her eyes that sense of longing had grown more obvious, but what she longed for, Rimone didn't know, nor did she know how to ask.
Finally Dominura noticed Rimone's gaze. "You couldn't sleep either, hm?"
Wordlessly Rimone stood and joined Dominura at the window. As the Arcus Prima sailed through the night sky, few clouds lay below. As sibyllae, the sky was their domain, and rarely did they need to set foot on solid ground. Yet, eventually there would come a day in which they gave up their wings for good. Rimone laid her hand on the window and asked, "If the peace talks go well, will the war end?"
"That depends." Dominura crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you think?"
Rimone's fingers curled against the cool glass. "I don't know."
"An expected answer." Dominura smiled ironically. "You're still young, after all."
"If the war ends, will you have to go the Spring?"
"Perhaps." Dominura leaned her head back, catching strands of moonlight on her red lips. "What about you? If the war ends, what will you do?"
"I…" Rimone stared out the window at the stars filling the night sky. "I want to keep flying and drawing Ri Majons in the sky."
"Then you should sleep now. We have an important day tomorrow."
Yet Rimone didn't move as she watched Dominura return to her bed. Rimone still didn't understand Dominura, but for better or for worse, they were a Pair, and never again did Rimone want to lose a Pair as she had her instructor and feel so helpless. So she climbed into Dominura's bed and pulled herself closer to her mysterious Pair.
Dominura's eyes grew wide. "Rimone? What are you doing?"
"You're my Pair, aren't you? So this is all right, isn't it?"
A weak chuckle fell from Dominura's lips as she laid her hand on Rimone's hair. "What a stubborn girl you are. You know I'm just using you to make Chor Tempest stronger, don't you?" Her smile darkened. "After all, why do you think a girl as young as you was allowed to become a Simoun sibylla during a war?"
Rimone tensed; all her life adults had praised her genius, and her own pride would have accepted nothing less than Chor Tempest, the chor reserved for only the greatest sibyllae, and in that chor she had found someone who wanted to be her Pair. "That doesn't matter. You chose me because you need me."
"Yes, I suppose I've placed a great burden on you. As long as we fly together, our prayers may bring destruction. Are you fine with that?"
Rimone closed her eyes. Young as she was, even she knew war brought about death and destruction, and many enemy soldiers had died because of her. Was it right that someone as young as her was a sibylla? Or just desperation? "I told you, as long as we can draw Ri Majons together, that's all that matters," she whispered, unsure if Dominura could hear her.
And if Dominura did, she made no reply, only rolling onto her side and turning her back to Rimone, and Rimone tried not to feel hurt.