Sunset ^beta

Dominura stood alone in the Ruins. She had this dream often, of a place that meant both everything to her and nothing at all. Crumbling buildings towered over her, the remnants of a civilization powerful enough to create Simoun but not wisdom enough to prevent their own destruction.

Perhaps they had invented the Simouns specifically to go back in time to prevent their downfall, but Dominura knew all too well the past couldn't be changed. She had that choice, but had chosen otherwise.

She stepped forward, heading into the shrine. Even sibyllae could not tread lightly on these sacred grounds, but to be a sibylla of Chor Dextra was to renounce respect for Tempus Spatium. A shadow chor could not truly pray or be blessed, after all.

Even so, more than anything Dominura had longed to fly. To have a place to belong, she only had to lay down her life.

Around her were ancient Simouns, broken and forgotten. They were meant to be gifts from the gods, yet so carelessly discarded. Over and over the sibyllae of Chor Dextra had tried perfecting the Emerald Ri-Maajon, the ultimate prayer to the skies. If their sacrifice would prove it was possible, then it could also be accomplished by true sibyllae from proper families. Yet one by one they had fallen, and each failed attempt meant a new Pair for Dominura, until she could barely remember their names.

She froze, her feet almost touching water. The Spring lay before her, and in the center was the worn statue of Tempus Spatium. Gold flakes fluttered around her, and her body began to feel so very cold. She fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself. Still she wanted to fly, and she'd allowed herself to be used as a pawn by the military branch. As long as she could restore glory to Chor Tempest and claim victory, she would not be forced to the Spring and her wings clipped, they promised her.

She'd begun to despair that the Emerald Ri-Maajon was simply a legend, that she would never see such beauty, but in violating a Simoun, the ultimate sin, she had seen the truth, and what a terrible beauty it was.

Before her the Spring began to distort as her body fell apart. Gold filled her vision; the Simoun had shown her the truth, and finally she could complete the Emerald Ri-Maajon. The price of such beauty was simply the world.

A soft hand touched her cheek, and she opened her eyes. Rimone was beside her, and while Rimone had grown a bit in the year they had arrived in the past, her eyes still held that same innocence and wisdom. "Dominura?" she said carefully.

Dominura sat up. This familiar bed, this familiar home. Yet a mere year ago, she hadn't a place she could truly call home. A smile tugged at her lips; even if it was still dark outside, she rather liked waking and seeing Rimone beside her. "Rimone," was all she said in response.

Yet the worry in Rimone's expression only deepened. "Were you having another nightmare?"

"Mm, I suppose you could say that. It's nothing you need to worry about."

"But you haven't slept well these past few nights."

"Have I been waking you?" Dominura reached out to caress Rimone's cheek, strands of pale hair brushing against her fingertips; Rimone's hair had grown longer too. "I apologize."

Rimone sighed, pressing her hand against Dominura's. "That isn't the problem. Dominura, what's wrong?"

Dominura bit her lip, lowering her gaze; had Rimone's gaze always been so piercing? "It's peaceful here," she said, dropping her voice to a whisper. "The Simoun brought us to this place for a reason."

"I know that, and I'm grateful. But that doesn't answer my question."

"Goodness, you've grown forward." Dominura couldn't help but chuckle, faint as it was. "Lately I've been dreaming of the past, of Chor Dextra and what we left behind."

Rimone let her hand fall from Dominura's. "I suppose you've had a lot of time to yourself to think…"

Dominura moved to lay upon the bed again, resting her head on her pillow. "As I said, it's nothing you need to worry about."

Another sigh slipped from Rimone's lips, and she clutched Dominura's hand between hers as she lay beside Dominura. "I'll keep the nightmares away, I promise," she said, and her fingers were warm around Dominura's.

All Dominura could do was smile weakly and press her lips to Rimone's forehead, but when she did fall asleep again, Rimone's promise held true.

Dominura didn't necessarily mind solitude, but she was beginning to understand what Rimone had meant by saying she had a lot of time to herself to think. While Rimone went to the village to teach about the Simouns and Ri-Maajons, Dominura preferred to watch over their little house. She had accompanied Rimone to the village a few times, but could never get used to how the villagers revered them. If only they knew that in her own time Dominura hadn't been considered a proper sibylla and only allowed to fly a Simoun due to extenuating circumstances.

And how had she repaid that honor of being allowed to touch a Simoun? By violating it and seeing what no one was meant to see.

She bit her lip. No, none of that mattered any longer. Rimone had chosen her to perform the Emerald Ri-Maajon with and open the door to a new world. Because Rimone believed in her, she finally had the freedom to make her own choice, a choice that ensured they would meet again in the future. Thus Rimone had reassured her.

However, once Dominura finished her daily chores, she was often at a loss for what to do. Rimone enjoyed reading, but there were few books in this village, and having been a stateless nomad had left Dominura with gaps in her literacy unbecoming of a proper Simoun sibyllae. (Sometimes she regretted not spending more time in the library of the Arcus Prima, the first such library she'd ever been allowed inside.) She sighed. At least her cooking and sewing had improved.

Outside the small house she shared with Rimone, she saw no one else beneath the blue sky. Their house bordered a small forest, where sometimes she and Rimone foliaged for berries. Perhaps such a thing was supposed to be beneath a proper, well-bred sibylla like Rimone, but she always listened intently whenever Dominura told her which berries were safe to eat, and it wasn't often these days she could teach Rimone something new.

She approached their Simoun, and she realized with a start she couldn't remember the last time they had flown together. Once, she had tried to spend every waking moment in a Simoun, rarely touching the ground. She laid her hand on one of the helical motors, feeling a soft hum. They hadn't flown together in a while, and still Rimone stayed with her. She smiled; but maybe someday they would fly again, to demonstrate for the girls who wished to become Simoun sibyllae.

After all, she had yet to enter the Spring, despite her age. It was not a topic that either she or Rimone had discussed since arriving in the past.

Dominura inhaled deeply, tasting the early spring air, and a gentle wind tussled her hair. For a while she simply sat against the Simoun, staring at the green fields and blue skies before her. How long she spent like that, she didn't know. Time flowed as it always did, or perhaps it had frozen. Simouns could manipulate time and space, after all. She touched her pendant, both wings still intact; what would her fellow Chor Dextra sibyllae think of her now, finally having proven true the Emerald Ri-Maajon?

The sun drifted across the sky, and Rimone eventually returned. In the blush of the sunset, Dominura's breath caught in her throat, and she understood again why it was only with Rimone she had been able to complete the Emerald Ri-Maajon.

"Dominura," Rimone said, and in her arms she carried a basket and a book, and she handed the latter to Dominura. "I got this for you."

"A book?" Dominura said, accepting it from Rimone. On the cover was a drawing of various flowers.

Rimone nodded. "I put in a special order through the village chief, and it finally arrived today."

"Books are expensive, you know, especially in this era."

"There are advantages to being seen as divine."

Dominura could not help but chuckle at Rimone's blunt pragmatism. Perhaps they were taking advantage of the villagers' reverence, but Dominura knew how much Rimone missed the library of the Arcus Prima. "But why a book about flowers?"

Rimone sat beside Dominura against the Simoun. "Because I want to create a garden with you."

"A garden?" Dominura repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Rimone uncovered the basket in her lap, revealing packets of seeds. "You've seemed… lost lately, so I thought it'd be a good idea. I asked one of the village elders, and she suggested these flower seeds to start with."

"But why a garden in particular?"

"After so long of fighting a war, I wanted to create something new together, just the two of us."

Dominura touched the cover of the book Rimone had given her, drawing her finger long the stem of a flower. "Create, you say," she whispered with a weak laugh. "It would be beautiful…"

Rimone's expression brightened. "I've never planted flowers before. I know it isn't as simple as just putting seeds in the ground, so that book—"

"Are you happy, Rimone?" Dominura asked suddenly. She felt a little guilty for interrupting Rimone, as it was rare for Rimone to ramble so. She'd become more talkative this past year.

"That's…" Rimone bit her lip, lowering her gaze from Dominura's. "It has been difficult sometimes adjusting to life here, and I miss my parents and the rest of Chor Tempest too." She paused a moment, her arms tightening around her basket. "And it does hurt knowing we can't stop the war in the future." She raised her head, a faint smile upon her lips. "But we'll meet again in the future too, and we'll choose each other. So yes, I am happy."

"I see." Again Dominura touched her sibylla pendant. "That's good to hear."

"What about you, Dominura? Are you happy?"

Carefully Dominura cradled Rimone's cheek, feeling the soft flesh against her calloused palm. Rimone simply smiled and pressed her own hand against Dominura's, leaning more into that touch. Never before had anyone looked at Dominura with such affection, and the tension in her heart began to ease a little. "Even if I was just running away, I don't regret choosing you, and that we were able to complete the Emerald Ri-Maajon together means I made the right choice."

"You didn't run away," Rimone said softly. "The Simoun entrusted you with fate, and I can't imagine the courage it took to accept that burden…"

"You make me sound so grand. I only went along with the Simoun's wish to ensure that we could meet again in the future."

"Are you happy, Dominura?" Rimone asked again, raising her free hand to Dominura's cheek.

A faint smile tugged at Dominura's lips. "Yes, because I finally had the freedom to choose you," she said, and she bent to kiss Rimone.

The two of them stayed a while near the Simoun, looking through the book of flowers Rimone had gotten. There were many words Dominura didn't recognize and the archaic font was difficult for even Rimone to parse, but the illustrations were clear enough. "We can clear some plots for the seeds tomorrow," Rimone said. "It might take a week to get everything done."

"A week? Aren't you needed in the village to teach?"

"They'll be fine without me for a bit." Rimone shrugged, a bit too casually, and Dominura wondered if that was Aer's influence. "I want to do this together with you."

"Creating something new, just for the two of us…" Dominura put her arm around Rimone's shoulders to draw her closer. "If you insist, we can begin tomorrow."

Rimone beamed, a new sparkle in her eyes.

It took a few days longer than a week to get all the seeds planted. The work could be tedious at times and often Dominura found herself wondering if she would permanently have dirt underneath her fingernails, but still she found herself filled with excitement she hadn't felt in a long time. She and Rimone were creating something new without Simouns or Ri-Maajons. Some days other villagers visited them, interested in what they were doing, and other days Dominura and Rimone saw no one else but each other. Little by little they planted the seeds - according to the book, some flowers thrived better in shade, which Dominura had not known - and Dominura listened carefully to Rimone's instructions. At times it was sweaty, achy work, but with Rimone, Dominura didn't mind.

The hardest part was the waiting afterwards. Dominura knew flowers didn't grow overnight, and even once the seeds were in the dirt, their work wasn't finished. They had to water the seeds - not too much, not too little - and protect them from insects and birds. More than once Dominura worried their efforts would be for naught, and each time Rimone reassured her otherwise.

In between tending their new garden, Dominura, at Rimone's encouraging, sometimes joined Rimone in the village to teach young girls interested in becoming Simoun sibyllae. She still preferred to defer to Rimone's knowledge, but she rather liked seeing how endlessly patient Rimone was with the girls' eager questions. There was still much Dominura and Rimone didn't know about the Simouns themselves, and the eagerness of these girls to learn reminded Dominura much of herself when she was first allowed to fly a Simoun. But then she remembered the warfare these Simouns would bring, and she was left with a feeling more bitter than sweet.

("It is true that power often leads to ruin," Rimone said to Dominura afterwards, "and the civilization that created the Simouns was no exception. But still people recovered, and desire for knowledge can't be denied.")

The season passed, and one evening Dominura and Rimone sat outside among their garden. Rimone held Dominura's arm and rested her head against Dominura's shoulder, and before them some of the flowers had begun to bud. "Has it really been a year since we performed the Emerald Ri-Maajon…?" Rimone asked in a soft voice.

Dominura laid her free hand on Rimone's hair. "Has it felt so long to you?"

"I… I don't know."

"I suppose there are times when there is no other answer."

Rimone chuckled weakly. "Sometimes those girls ask complicated questions too."

"Even you don't know all the Simoun's mysteries." Dominura tucked a strand of hair behind Rimone's ear. "But that just means there's something more for you to learn, isn't there?"

"I'm glad," Rimone whispered, her hands tightening around Dominura's arm. "I'll keep learning and teaching those girls about the beauty of Simouns and Ri-Maajons, and year after year we can take care of this garden together…"

"Years, hm…?" Sometimes Dominura dreamed of gold, of a Simoun racing through the sky and opening another door. Maybe she and Rimone would take to the skies again, offering prayers to Tempus Spatium, prayers of peace and not warfare. But there was joy to be found below the skies too. Dominura slipped a hand into Rimone's and let their fingers lace; the garden they had created with their own hands was a legacy for just the two of them.

More than the Simoun or Emerald Ri-Maajon, this was what Dominura wanted with Rimone, a time and space only they could share.