Chapter Text
Since they day Dominura and Rimone visited the Ruins, they had flown together less and less. Often they made plans to fly, but just as often something else would come up, and it was put off for another day, and then another. Days passed, weeks, months, even years, and eventually Dominura could no longer remember the last time she and Rimone had flown their Simoun together. She supposed she should've been distressed by the realization, but she wasn't certain.
Standing outside, she raised a hand to touch the earthbound Simoun. Rimone was in the village teaching - she had become far more outgoing and confident in these past few years - while Dominura had remained behind to keep an eye on their small home. Sometimes she had thought of teaching too, but she had never been comfortable with the way the villages watched her with such reverence. Rimone, on the other hand, had begrudgingly accepted that the villagers would always view her as a divine being, and she once told Dominura that if they were going to hang onto her every word, she'd might as well take advantage of that and teach them everything she could. That was why the Emerald Ri Majon had brought them to this era, after all.
Dominura chuckled to herself. Of the two of them, Rimone had always been the more practical-minded one.
She pressed her forehead against the Simoun, feeling the whispers of the helical motors. Perhaps when its gem was lit again, Rimone would have a new Pair. At first the idea had troubled her, as she herself would never take a new Pair again, but eventually she had accepted the fact that while Rimone was old enough to journey to the Spring, she was also still young enough to put off that journey for another year or two. If she still wished to fly, she could choose a new Pair, one who was younger and not several years late to the Spring, and Dominura would accept that. She had too, if that would make Rimone happy.
Yet she felt her chest tighten. Although she and Rimone had not flown their Simoun in a long time, she had not yet either gone to the Spring to make that fateful decision. It was not a subject either of them brought up lightly.
"Dominura!" came a familiar voice and the clouds engulfing Dominura's heart seemed to vanish. She turned her head, and Rimone approached. Over the years Rimone had grown taller, although not as tall as Dominura, and her hair was longer and her body more mature. Her eyes, however, had little changed; they were still the eyes of a girl who was contemplative and sometimes too serious, and were always looking to the skies. On her arm she carried a basket filled with loaves of bread and exotic spices. Dominura couldn't help but smile; word had gotten out about Tempus Spatium's holy sibyllae, and people bearing offerings traveled wide and far to this tiny little village.
"Rimone," Dominura said, leaning against the Simoun for support. "You're back rather early today."
"Some of the girls will be flying for the first time soon, and everyone's excited," Rimone said, a faint blush upon her cheeks. "It was… overwhelming, so I said I needed to go home and rest."
Dominura put her hand on her hip. "Well, you are quite popular among the villagers. I imagine some of the girls even have their eye on you too."
Rimone shifted uncomfortably, but otherwise said nothing.
With a careful hand Dominura touched the Simoun. "Once those girls start flying, everything will change."
"I know," Rimone whispered with a nod. "This is the will of Tempus Spatium, and…"
"And…?"
A quiet smile came upon Rimone's lips. "Because we shared the knowledge of the Emerald Ri Majon, we'll meet again in the future."
Dominura mirrored Rimone's smile. When she had violated a Simoun to look inside, she had seen the destruction that knowledge had created, and still she had performed the Emerald Ri Majon with Rimone, playing right into the hands of fate. But as Rimone had said, Simouns also created miracles and blessings, and they had brought her and Dominura together. "Of course," Dominura said, her voice also a whisper. There would still be war, but even among destruction love could still blossom.
Rimone also touched the Simoun's helical motor, her hand brushing against Dominura's. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
"Yes, it has."
"Watching those girls reminded me of something. On the Arcus Prima, sometimes the other sibyllae would dance together before a maju session. But because of my height, it was hard for me to dance with any of them…"
"You have gotten taller since then. Would you like to dance now?"
Rimone's face brightened. "Yes, of course!"
With a smile, Dominura took Rimone's hand once Rimone had set down her basket, and she led Rimone to the clearing behind their cottage. Dominura put her free arm around Rimone's back while Rimone laid her hand on Dominura's shoulder, a sparkle clear in her eyes as she gazed up at Dominura. Holding Rimone like this felt so natural, and idly Dominura wondered why they had never danced together like this before. Simoun sibyllae were taught to dance, after all, as a way of perfecting Ri Majons offered to Tempus Spatium, and like Simouns, dancing was a privilege of the well-born, those considered blessed by the gods. Both Dominura and Rimone knew the rigid lines of society, and even in the past such unspoken rules could not easily be forgotten.
Even so, Dominura, who had never known her family name, and Rimone, who had cast aside her own family name, had come together.
Their dance was slow and careful, and more than once Dominura had to suppress an urge to glance down at hers and Rimone's feet. Unlike the chors on Arcus-class ships, the members of Chor Dextra had never danced together or used maju pools. As Dominura had once told Rimone years ago, Pairs among Chor Dextra were fluid and ephemeral, and if a sibylla was lost, Pairs were reformed without ceremony. To activate the Simoun's gem was enough. When Dominura had first stepped onto the Arcus Prima, the difference of how sibyllae of the skies were treated and respected was a brutal shock. The sibyllae of Chor Dextra had been little better than earthbound, always looking up at a sky they would never be part of. Even shattered, Chor Tempest had held more divinity than Chor Dextra had ever been allowed. Thus Dominura feared that Rimone thought her movements clumsy.
Yet Rimone's smile was true as she and Dominura danced, and that sparkle in her eyes only grew stronger. Their feet were soft against the grass as they moved and swayed, and soon enough Dominura felt as if she was following Rimone's lead. A smile tugged at her lips; it truly was wonderful to see Rimone so confident these days. Thus Dominura began to relax, Rimone's gentle hands guiding her.
Gold flashed across Dominura's vision, and she fell from Rimone's hands and to her knees, coughing harshly. "Dominura!" Rimone cried, reaching for Dominura's arms, but the exposed skin she touched burned, and Dominura jerked back, gold flakes falling from where Rimone had touched.
"I just… need to rest…" Dominura forced out between pained breaths. She tried to smile, although she knew Rimone would never believe that lie.
A pained expression on her normally calm face, Rimone put Dominura's arm around her shoulders and wrapped her own arm around Dominura's waist to help guide her into their cottage, and she was careful not to touch any exposed skin. Once inside, Rimone put Dominura to bed, beside that strange plush that had once belonged to Roatreamon, and as Dominura shut her eyes, a restless sleep came over her.
She didn't dream. Darkness surrounded her, like the void of a failed Ri Majon. She had glimpsed that void many times as it consumed the sibyllae of Chor Dextra one by one. That was the price of blasphemy; to fail a Ri Majon was to spit in the face of Tempus Spatium themself. Yet no generation of Chor Dextra had ever truly completed the Emerald Ri Majon. Only legends spoke of the mythical Ri Majon that could transcend time and space and open the door to a new world. The Emerald Ri Majon was sacrosanct, and only Chor Dextra would carry the burden of sin, hidden away in the shadows.
When Dominura opened her eyes again, night had fallen. Rimone knelt at her bedside, fast asleep. Again Dominura's chest ached; she'd worried Rimone far too often lately. With a trembling hand she touched Rimone's hair, and this time her skin didn't burn. She let out a silent sigh of relief, but then wondered if Rimone had noticed the golden flakes left in her wake. It was too clear a sign to be ignored, as she had seen it happen far too often before she had joined Chor Dextra; she was beginning to succumb to the curse of who had yet to make their fateful decision. All were born girls, all had to one day choose to become a woman or man, and thus an adult. That was how this world was, after all.
For a moment, Dominura thought of Aer and Neviril, and a sudden feeling of envy came over her, and she couldn't understand why.
Rimone stirred, opening her eyes. "Dominura!" she exclaimed, reaching out for Dominura, but her hand froze a hair's breadth from Dominura's skin, as if remembering what had happened earlier.
Thus with an assuring smile Dominura took Rimone's hand, their fingers lacing. "It's all right," she said gently. "I'm feeling better now."
Even in the moonlight worry was clear on Rimone's face. "What happened?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Dominura rose, biting her lip. As much as she wished otherwise, she couldn't lie to Rimone. "I've waited too long to go to the Spring."
Rimone's eyes grew wide. She too chewed her lip, her eyes darting back and forth, and finally she spoke again. "Do you not want to go to the Spring?"
With that question, time seemed to freeze. Dominura's fingers tensed around Rimone's; it wasn't as if she didn't know what she would choose, but why did becoming an adult hinge on such a narrow choice? In both the past and present Dominura knew of people unsatisfied with their choice, and those for whom neither woman nor man felt like the right choice for them. And to make that choice would mean she could no longer touch a Simoun… "I don't know," was all she said.
"'I don't know'?" Rimone shot to her feet, and Dominura had never seen such sorrowful rage on her face before. "Dominura, this isn't the time for that! If you don't go the Spring soon, you'll…!" She hesitated, unable to give voice to that dark outcome. "Let's go to the Spring together."
"No!" Dominura said, more forcefully than she had intended. "Rimone, you're still young. You can find a new Pair and fly a little longer with her before you make that decision."
"I won't!" Rimone cried, tears falling from her eyes, and her fists trembled at her sides. "I will never have another Pair besides you!"
Suddenly Dominura's hand felt too cold without Rimone's warmth. Seeing Rimone so anguished was painful, but she had to remain firm. "Listen to me," she said, trying to reach for Rimone, but this time her own hand hesitated to make that final touch. "I'm quite a bit older than you. We haven't flown together in a long time. I don't want to hold you back. The Simoun—"
"It's not just the Simoun I care about!" Rimone threw her arms around Dominura, her cheeks wet with tears. "Even if we don't fly together anymore, I just want to be with you, and only you! You said you need me, and… I need you too…!"
Dominura laid her hand on Rimone's hair, and she couldn't help but notice how Rimone's thin shoulders trembled. In all the time they had been together, she had never seen Rimone so vulnerable. Even when they had first met, Rimone had carried a wisdom beyond her tender age, but only because of her potential as a sibylla; if not for the Simouns and the war, she could've been a normal girl. Politics and war had stolen her childhood. Dominura had stolen her childhood, trapping her in the past. Yet now she clung to Dominura, her eyes filled with the love and longing Dominura had never dared to hope for. But maybe it wasn't so surprising; after all, on that fateful day, Dominura had told Paraietta in no uncertain terms that Rimone was her Pair, and together the two of them had performed the Emerald Ri Majon, leaving behind the war, the Messis, and Chor Tempest.
"Rimone," Dominura said gently. "I'm a coward. I took advantage of your youth and genius to make Chor Tempest stronger. I knew where the Emerald Ri Majon would take us, and still I asked you to help me, because I wanted to run away. From the war, from the military faction, from… everything. I was a coward, and because of that, I tore you away from everything you ever knew. Knowing all that, can you still say you need me?"
Rimone raised her head, and although tears still fell from her eyes, her smile was sincere. "Of course I can. It's not just that you're my Pair - it's because I love you." She touched Dominura's cheek and pressed her lips against Dominura's; a kiss only for them, not meant to be shared with the Simoun or Tempest Spatium, just one of many such kisses over the years. A kiss only for them, and no one else.
And with that kiss, nothing else seemed to matter. Not Dominura's past, not her cowardice, not that she was nearly a decade older than Rimone. If Rimone said she loved Dominura, then Dominura saw no reason to disbelieve her. After all, that honesty was why she had fallen in love with Rimone, and as her heart felt lighter, she was more than happy to accept any love that Rimone offered to her.
When their lips parted, Rimone rested against Dominura as her fingers intertwined. For a bit, silence lingered over them like the moonlight, and Dominura wanted to enjoy Rimone's warmth so near to her. She could touch and hold Rimone, and she didn't want to take that for granted. If she didn't go to the Spring, there may come a day when she would no longer be able to touch Rimone, and she feared that most of all.
Rimone stared up at Dominura through half-lidded eyes. "I do miss my family and the rest of Chor Tempest," she said, breaking the fragile silence. "But I don't regret any of this. I'm glad I'm here with you, and I'm glad we could ensure that we'll meet again in the future."
"Because of you, I could live again." Dominura threaded her fingers through Rimone's hair. "But… is it because of me you haven't gone to the Spring yet either?"
"Mm." Rimone made a noncommittal noise as her gaze fell and her body tensed against Dominura's. "I know I'm old enough, and the girls who chose not to become Simoun sibyllae have all gone, but…" She shook her head, a weak smile tugging at her lips. "I could ask you the same thing. Is the reason you haven't gone to the Spring yet is because you still want to fly with me?"
A faint chuckle fell from Dominura's lips. Rimone could be refreshingly blunt at times. "When I was the only one left of Chor Dextra, I could've gone to the Spring. But I didn't. I chose to become a pawn so that I could join Chor Tempest, the greatest of all chors. And then I met you." She was silent a moment. "It has been a long time since we've flown together, hasn't it…?"
"A very long time, yes." Rimone lifted her gaze. "You're not very good at answering questions, are you?"
Again Dominura chuckled. "No, I suppose not."
"Do you still want to fly?" Rimone's voice fell to a whisper, but her eyes sparkled in a way Dominura had not seen in a long time.
"Perhaps." Dominura stared out the window at the night sky, stars visible against the darkness. "We could fly to another world, vanish as suddenly as she appeared."
"We'll become legends, divine priestesses who performed the ultimate Ri Majon."
And the word "ultimate" sometimes meant an end, Dominura thought to herself. "Let me think about it for a few days," she said, planting a kiss on Rimone's forehead.
Rimone smiled. "I'll wait for you, I promise."
In the end, Dominura and Rimone took to the skies one last time. They had shared all that they could, leaving the past in the hands of this generation of Simoun sibyllae, the first of the modern era. Once again, they performed the Emerald Ri Majon and vanished, leaving behind only legends. Years passed, and although few could claim to have seen an Emerald Ri Majon, the knowledge remained innate in the hearts of any maiden who wished to become a Simoun sibylla.
Through time and space Dominura and Rimone flew, guided by myriad colors. The Simoun's gem shined brightly, and the silver trail they left in their wake sparkled more strongly than ever. The skies were endless, and an infinite number of prayers surrounded them. With each kiss Rimone and Dominura shared, eternity began anew.
Before them flew another Simoun, one of a modern design. The cockpit opened, and a girl with blonde hair styled like the ears of a mouse waved eagerly, and in the other seat her Pair simply smiled, a gentle, sincere smile. A familiar melody echoed, like the rustle of the wind.
"Aer!" Rimone exclaimed, and Dominura could only smile as they flew closer, and her heart finally felt at peace. With her beloved Rimone, she could fly anywhere.