Chapter Text
Upon arriving in the past, Rimone noticed a change in Dominura. A subtle, almost unnoticeable change, but a change nonetheless. The other villagers treated them as messengers of the gods and did not hesitate with their generosity, and while Rimone sometimes felt guilty for taking advantage of that kindness, the truth was that she wasn't used to this kind of rustic, simple life, so it had taken a while for her and Dominura to settle. Yet it was also peaceful, and Dominura's smile grew more sincere.
Thus the days blended together as Rimone helped the villagers clean the ancient Simouns scattered about and drew for them all the Ri Majons she could remember. Dominura sometimes helped, but more often than not she preferred to keep to herself, and she was always ready with a soft smile whenever Rimone returned to their little home.
One day, however, when Rimone returned home, she found Dominura attaching supplies to the wings of their Simoun. She gulped; it had been a while since they had last flown together. "Dominura?" she said carefully. "What are you doing?"
Dominura put her hand on her hip, and in her eyes was a determination Rimone had not seen since they had first met. "There's someplace I want to show you, and since I'm not entirely sure how long it'll take, I prepared some supplies."
Rimone stepped closer to their Simoun and touched one of the helical motors. "Where?" she asked. She supposed she should've been annoyed at Dominura making such a decision without her, but if it meant she could fly again, she would be more than happy to tolerate Dominura's stubbornness.
Dominura's lips curled into that familiar mysterious smile. "To the Ruins."
The Ruins, Simulacrum's holiest site. They were the remnants of an ancient civilization and from where the majority of helical motors had been discovered. Only a handful of religious officials were allowed on those grounds, and not even Simoun sibyllae could enter lightly. Yet Rimone's only question was, "In this era, would they be ruins?"
"Part of the reason for this journey is to answer that question, yes." Dominura let out a weak chuckle. "The other reason is that I want to tell you more about myself and the chor I was part of before I met you, and the Ruins are part of that."
"So you've been to the Ruins before." Somehow, Rimone couldn't say she was surprised. "When can we leave?"
"Tomorrow, if you'd like. We may be gone for a few days."
"Yes, let's leave tomorrow." Rimone smiled and her heart began to race.
Dominura laid her hand on Rimone's hair. "It's been a while since we last flew together, hasn't it?"
Rimone beckoned Dominura closer, and as Dominura bent, Rimone cupped her face and kissed her lips, not for the Simoun but for love, a kiss for only the two of them.
That night, Rimone was too excited to sleep, even as Dominura slept soundly beside her. They shared a bed, as they always did since finding this abandoned house on the edge of the village. Between her, Dominura, and Roatreamon's oversized plush, the bed was rather small, but Rimone didn't mind. She liked the feel of Dominura's warmth so close to her, Dominura did not shy away from Rimone as often as she used to.
She touched Dominura's cheek, and in the moonlight Dominura's face appeared genuinely peaceful. To Simoun sibyllae such as themselves, the sparseness of this village was a stark contrast to the luxury they had enjoyed on the Arcus Prima, and while Rimone's family hadn't been especially wealthy, they'd had enough status for her to be chosen as a Simoun sibylla. She wasn't used to such meager living, but because she and Dominura were treated with reverence by the other villages, as if the two of them were goddesses, they wanted for nothing. It was appreciated, but also a little lonely.
Would the other members of Chor Tempest realize what had happened to her and Dominura? What about her parents? She couldn't deny that she missed them all greatly, and yet…
Tears stung at her eyes. She couldn't deny that she had no regrets. Yet if she had the chance to do it all over again, she would still choose to perform the Emerald Ri Majon with Dominura and leave everything else behind. Dominura had chosen her, and she had chosen Dominura.
Rimone laid her arm over Dominura's waist and closed her eyes as she drew closer to her beloved Pair.
In some ways, while in the sky the Simulacrum of the past didn't look much different from the Simulacrum of the present. But Rimone had been born and raised in the capital city, near the Great Temple, and she hadn't realized just how little she knew about the country she had fought and prayed so hard to protect until she had arrived in the past. The sibyllae of Chor Tempest had gently teased Roatreamon for being a pampered rich girl, but in truth, save for Aer and Mamina, they had all been pampered rich girls fortunate enough to be born into the "right" kind of family.
And even compared to Aer and Mamina, Dominura was an outlier among other Simoun sibyllae, Rimone knew.
"It seems not much has changed, has it?" came Dominura's voice from above Rimone.
Rimone's fingers tensed around the controls. She almost said, "I don't know," but stopped herself in time. "We're always flying above everything. In the Simoun, in the Arcus Prima, in the Messis, so I can't really tell if things have changed or not."
"Well put, Rimone." Dominura chuckled softly. "Simoun sibyllae are treated as sacrosanct, apart from these mortal lands."
"We're not goddesses," Rimone muttered. "We just pray to the skies, that's all."
Eventually the land below them grew more brown than green, and against the horizon Rimone saw what she thought were mountains. However, as the Simon flew closer, she realized the ridges were the outline of a crater, as if something large had struck the earth long ago, and within that crater were… buildings?
"These are the fabled Ruins, the holiest site of Simulacrum," came Dominura's voice, clear as day. "It seems I guessed correctly in which direction they were."
"The Ruins…" Rimone breathed, her eyes wide. Buildings really did lay below her and Dominura. People had lived here once, a long, long time ago.
"Let's head near the north," Dominura said. "There's something I want to check."
Carefully Rimone and Dominura guided the Simoun to the northernmost point of the Ruins, and the Simoun transformed to safely land on the rocky ground. Dominura opened her cockpit first, and then took Rimone's hand to help her climb down from the auriga's seat. Rimone almost said she didn't need help, but she found that her longing to feel the touch of Dominura's hand was stronger than her desire to appear mature.
Once her feet were on solid ground, Rimone's breath caught in her throat as she gazed at the structure before her. Tall, worn pillars lined toward a cavern entrance, almost reminding her of the Great Temple, and it felt both foreboding and sacred. "Is this a temple?" she asked aloud.
"Of a sorts," Dominura answered, and Rimone couldn't help but notice her fingers were trembling. "Do you want to go inside?"
Rimone bit her lip. All her life she had been taught the Ruins were Simulacrum's holiest site, the source of the divine Simouns. To set foot on these sacred grounds without good reason was tantamount to blasphemy. But Dominura had brought her here for a reason, and she trusted Dominura. "Yes," she said firmly.
Hand in hand, Rimone and Dominura entered the ruined temple. Inside were more stone pillars lining the path forward, and enough light came in from above for Rimone to see. In the shadows she spotted Simouns of the same make as the abandoned ones in the village, and while one part of her wanted to examine the ancient Simouns more closely, another part of her said to leave them in peace.
Soon they came to the end of the path, to a large opening almost the size as the village. At the head of the clearing was a statue of two wings, and a hole above allowed light to shine directly onto said statue. Rimone had seen such statues before, but rarely with both wings so clearly intact. "Tempus Spatium," she said without thinking.
"Your readings theorize that Tempus Spatium and Animus of the Plumbum Highlands may once have been the same god," Dominura said. "And both deities are always depicted with wings."
"Is that why Simouns can only be flown by pairs?"
"That is one theory. After all, Simouns have the power to manipulate both time and space."
Rimone returned her gaze to the winged statue before her. "How long has this place existed…?"
Dominura glanced down at Rimone. "In our time, this path leads to the Spring."
"What?" Rimone turned to face Dominura. "But that's impossible! The Spring is near the Great Temple!"
A grim smile came upon Dominura's lips. "For Chor Dextra, the Ruins were the training grounds to perfect the Emerald Ri Majon. Over the years, all the failed attempts caused a distortion, and now the Spring exists in two places at once, defying the laws of reality."
"But that can't… How can…?"
"As I said, Simouns can manipulate both time and space. We both know that all too well."
Rimone tried to visualize the Spring before her, but she had never actually seen the Spring, only heard about it from her parents and read about it in books. The place where all maidens went someday and made a choice, and where sibyllae lost their wings. "What about Onasia?" she asked. She had only seen Onasia once before, during a religious ceremony. "She's the keeper of the Spring in our time, isn't she?"
"Onasia is…" Dominura bit her lip, as if hesitating. "I don't know. She is real, I've seen her, but somehow… perhaps she exists outside of time too." She touched Rimone's shoulder. "It's been a long flight, so we should eat now, and then I'll tell you more."
Rimone simply nodded and followed Dominura out of the ruined temple, and she suppressed the urge to look back over shoulder, suddenly afraid of becoming lost in time. Once outside, they returned to the Simoun and unpacked some of the food and water. Carefully Dominura started a fire and hung a pot over it, stirring the broth every so often. Rimone thought of offering to help, but she knew little of cooking, and since arriving in the past, Dominura often seemed to enjoy cooking, and she had improved quite a bit.
As if reading Rimone's thoughts, Dominura chuckled lightly. "Before I became a Simoun sibylla, I had no choice to learn how to cook, even if I wasn't very good at it. Being a nomad left me little other option."
"How did you become a Simoun sibylla? If you weren't…" Rimone began to say, thinking of Aer and Mamina, but stopped herself, not wanting to insult Dominura's heritage or family.
"If I weren't from the right kind of family?" Dominura finished, smiling at Rimone's stricken expression. "But that's precisely why I was chosen to join Chor Dextra."
Rimone knew her knees to her chest. "In all the records of Simoun sibyllae and their chors that I've read, I don't remember any mention of one called Chor Dextra."
Dominura's hand around the stirring spoon faltered just slightly. "Such information is not so easily found by regular sibyllae."
As silence fell over the two of them, Rimone gazed at the ruined buildings all around them. Deep in the earth, this place had once been a lively city, hidden away from the rest of the world. Perhaps the land itself had once been fertile and covered in lush greenery, but now little remained, and only brown stretched as far as the eye could see. Yet Rimone longed to explore each and every one of these buildings, even as Dominura had told her not to wander. More than that, however, she feared leaving Dominura alone in such a still place forgotten by time. Irrational as it was, she worried that Dominura would vanish if she let her Pair out of her sight.
Right now, that look in Dominura's eyes was too much like those days on the Messis…
The aroma of a hot stew filled Rimone's nose as Dominura held out a bowl for her. "Here you are," she said. "You've been awfully quiet."
Rimone accepted the bowl from Dominura, being careful not to burn herself. "Being here in the Ruins, the holiest site in all of Simulacrum, and you tell me that the Spring exists in two places at once… it's a lot to take in." She glanced up at hers and Dominura's Simoun. "Once, this place was alive, wasn't it?"
"Yes," Dominura replied as she followed Rimone's gaze. "Once, a long time ago, a civilization greater than ours thrived, creating vessels that could control time and space. However, war and famine eventually brought that ancient civilization to ruin, and their knowledge was lost. No one remembered the purpose of the vessels once called Simouns. Lands grew dry and cold, and yet humanity still clung to survival. One day, two maidens descended from the skies in an ancient vessel, and by the grace of the gods they shared knowledge of the Simons so that humanity could pray to the skies once more."
"And we were those maidens," Rimone said with a soft chuckle. "Though I don't remember being so grandiose."
"Such is the nature of legends." Dominura took a spoonful of stew into her mouth. "You should be flattered."
Rimone followed Dominura's lead, also taking a spoonful of stew. "Oh, it's good!"
"Even though it was a necessity, I wasn't very good at cooking before I became a Simoun sibylla, and as a sibylla, other people cooked for me." Dominura's smile grew prideful. "But now that I have someone to cook for, it's good to hear I've gotten better."
"Maybe I should learn how to cook too."
"Whatever you cook, I will happily eat." Dominura set down her spoon and stared up at the sky colored in sunset. "For a long time, I thought of this place as a kind of paradise."
Rimone shifted closer to Dominura as a sudden chill came over her. "You're not originally from Simulacrum."
Slowly Dominura shook her head. "The borders between Simulacrum and neighboring countries aren't so well-defined, and thus there are regions that don't belong to any country. I was born in one such region, and for much of my early life I only remember traveling and never had a home of my own. I could not speak Plumbum, so I wasn't welcomed there, but although I could speak Simulacrum's language, its citizens did not look kindly on stateless nomads."
"Stateless," Rimone repeated, the word unfamiliar on her tongue. "I'm sorry, I don't know much about the frontier regions."
"That is hardly surprising," Dominura said, and Rimone couldn't miss the haughty bitterness in her voice. "For years we traveled, unwanted and unwelcomed, passing down songs of a promised land blessed by the winged gods. We didn't have access to Simulacrum's Spring or Plumbum's. One by one our numbers dwindled, and eventually the religious officials of Simulacrum approached those of us who still lived with a proposition."
Rimone remembered this part of the story. "They gave you a home in exchange for your life," she said, recalling Dominura's words on the Messis.
Dominura was silent a moment as she stared at the bowl of stew in her hands. "With war brewing, both the religious faction and the military agreed to revive Chor Dextra. The Emerald Ri Majon is the most powerful of all Ri Majons, but also the most dangerous, so it wouldn't be proper to use well-bred sibyllae as test subjects. Thus Chor Dextra is always composed of unwanted immigrants."
"That's so horrible…" Rimone whispered. On the Messis, Dominura had once said as much, but she hadn't truly understood the gravity of those words until now. She had become a Simoun sibylla with her parents' encouragement and enjoyed learning new prayers, but more and more she realized how little she knew about Simouns and their sibyllae.
"It is, isn't it?" That strange smile returned to Dominura's lips. "But to be accepted, to be blessed enough to be chosen as a Simoun sibylla - at the time, that was enough for me, no matter the reason for my choosing."
"Then you knew all along that the Emerald Ri Majon allows sibyllae to travel through time." Rimone touched her own sibylla pendant, both wings still attached. "The Simoun even showed you what would happen, and still you performed the Emerald Ri Majon with me."
"Yes. You wished to perform the ultimate Ri Majon, and I would oblige any of your wishes. You said it yourself - if we had chosen differently, we would never meet. Everything begins with us."
Again the two of them fell silent, and Rimone ate more of her stew, although it had grown cold. She had never cared much for politics or government business. She had only wanted to be a Simoun sibylla and draw beautiful Ri Majons for Tempus Spatium. But it was only because of those politics a girl as young as her was allowed to become a full-fledged Simoun sibylla, wasn't it? Or was she a soldier? The high priestesses called such thinking heretical, but both Aer and Neviril had said they were fighting a war. That Plumbum priestess had sacrificed herself for her religious beliefs, using the peace talks as a cover. Beliefs were political, and sibyllae used vessels of the gods to battle. Maybe Rimone had simply been too naïve, too sheltered to notice the politics.
Even so, she still just wanted to offer prayers to the skies with Dominura.
When Dominura finished her stew, she spoke again. "I just remembered something. When we were on the Messis, you said my song reminded you of Aer's locket?"
Rimone nodded. "When you open it, you blow into it and it plays that melody. She said she received it from her grandfather."
"Grandfather, hm? I did hear that there was one survivor of the previous generation of Chor Dextra. Perhaps it was him."
"Aer said he was a Simoun sibylla once. If he was a member of Chor Dextra, then he had to have been a nomad like you. Maybe he even learned some of Plumbum's language while traveling."
"When you told me what her name meant, I did wonder why Aer had such an odd name. Some may think it strange to name their granddaughter after a foreign country's religious concept, though."
"But once, a long time ago, Simulacrum's Tempus Spatium and Plumbum's Animus may have been worshipped as the same god."
"The only gods we worshipped were those who could guide us to the promised lands." Again a heavy sigh fell from Dominura's lips. "Maybe these ruins were the promised land we were always searching for. Maybe a Spring once existed here and dried out a long time ago. Chor Dextra's meddling may have distorted the memories of this place and created a false illusion." She smiled darkly. "Ah, I'm rambling again, aren't I?"
Rimone shook her head. "It's fine. I want to know. It's interesting that the reason the Spring might exist here too is because of the Emerald Ri Majon recalling forgotten memories."
"But because Simoun sibyllae themselves are mortal, the memories are imperfect. Still, one may ask, why memories of the Spring?" Dominura paused a moment. "What do you think happens to those who never choose a permanent gender?"
"That's…" Rimone frowned, her thoughts moving quickly, but she was forced to admit, "I don't know."
"It's been a while since you've said that, hm? But I'm not surprised - that kind of thing simply isn't discussed." Dominura shifted, moving closer to Rimone; the temperature had fallen with the sun. "For nomads, finding a Spring isn't simple. My parents must've, but they passed away when I was young. Among those I traveled with, none of us could find a Spring, and eventually the older ones began to fall… ill, you could say. They became weak and their skin a transparent blue, and by the end, little of their bodies remained but gold specks. Those of us who were still young believed that would our fate too until we were chosen to join Chor Dextra."
Rimone stared at Dominura, and suddenly Dominura seemed much older, as if timeless. "Chor Dextra is no more, and we aren't part of Chor Tempest either anymore. Why haven't you gone to the Spring yet?"
"Why, indeed. You of all people should know the answer to that. It is because we are no longer part of a chor that I truly understand what it means to be a Simoun sibylla. If you wish to fly, I will fly with you, because you are my Pair."
"What about your previous Pair?"
Much to Rimone's surprise, confusion was clear on Dominura's face. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, when you were with Chor Dextra. You had another Pair before me, right?"
"Ah." Dominura didn't answer immediately, and Rimone worried that she would refuse, but soon enough she spoke again. "We didn't have set pairings, not quite. Every time we flew, our dux would try different combinations to see who came closest to completing the Emerald Ri Majon. Pairs couldn't be set in stone, as eventually someone would be lost, and then another. But we couldn't stop. We had a duty to complete the Emerald Ri Majon, no matter what. To one another, we were replaceable, tolerating each other enough to satisfy the Simoun's gem. Over and over we tried and failed, until there was no one left to fly with me."
There really was so much Rimone didn't understand, she found herself thinking as she listened to Dominura's words. How could Dominura speak of something so tragic so impassively? This was the dark side of Simulacrum, a country that treated Simouns as divine and sacrosanct but also discarded Simoun sibyllae as mere pawns. "That isn't right…" Rimone said, her shoulders shaking. "You're a Simoun sibylla."
"But not the proper kind of Simoun sibylla who came from the right family." Yet there was a wishful tone to Dominura's voice. "Even so, I was needed. I could've gone to the Spring, but I was told if I could mold Chor Tempest into soldiers, I could still fly a Simoun, and I loved Simouns too much to give up flying. And…"
"And?"
Dominura closed her eyes. "How could I go to the Spring alone? I still hear their screams. One by one they all fell. It was the fate we chose for ourselves. Because we were willing to die, we were needed." Tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I don't understand. We were only bound by circumstance. So why… why does it hurt so much now…?"
Rimone raised a hand to touch Dominura's cheek, tears slipping between her fingers. "Because you miss them," she said simply.
"I… miss them…?" Dominura repeated, much like a child would. "We were… never close, but…" She shook her head, though the tears still fell. "There weren't many of us left, and all we had were each other… Ah, how could I have forgotten…?"
"Dominura," Rimone said firmly, taking Dominura's hands between hers. "It's all right. I'm here with you now."
"You and I… we've lost so much, haven't we?" A broken smile came upon Dominura's lips. "Oh, Rimone, my sweet Rimone…" She let out a loud sob as Rimone caught her, and Rimone's shoulder soon became damp with her tears.
Over and over Dominura repeated unfamiliar names, as if reciting a mantra or prayer, and all Rimone could do was hold her tightly and gently stroke her long hair. With each name Dominura spoke, Rimone repeated them silently to herself, trying to commit them to memory. No public records existed for the fallen members of Chor Dextra, so it was the least Rimone could do. For Dominura's sake, she would ensure they were never forgotten.
Eventually, as the stars grew visible against the darkening sky, Dominura rested her head in Rimone's lap as Rimone threaded fingers through her hair to soothe her. Silence fell over them, and neither thought of moving. In these forgotten ruins, it was as if they were the only two people left in the world. But if there was anyone Rimone could spend eternity with, she would choose Dominura always.
Dominura stirred, and her tears had dried. "I've almost forgotten why I brought you here in the first place."
Rimone giggled. "You wanted to tell me more about yourself."
"Oh, I did, didn't I?" Dominura also laughed, a softer, far more subdued laugh. "You're so young, and yet I burden you with so much."
"It's not a burden. You're my Pair."
"Thank you, Rimone." Dominura closed her eyes. "Thank you."
Rimone touched Dominura's cheek, feeling that gentle warmth against her palm, and she began to sing, much as Roatreamon had sung for her on the Messis. She wasn't very good at singing, nor did she remember all the lyrics, but she tried her best. Dominura simply listened, saying nothing, and Rimone kept singing, her voice echoing across the ruins. Perhaps even their Simoun was also listening.
In the sky, Rimone could also swear she saw a wake left behind by a Simoun, the glyph of a Ri Majon. But maybe it was simply her imagination.
She took Dominura's hand into hers, brushing her lips against the back of it. "Thank you, Dominura," she said as she pressed Dominura's hand against her cheek, "for choosing me."
In the morning, they would fly together again. She would fly with no one but Dominura.