Chapter Text
Alear huffed as she stormed away from Alfred, still angry about what he said to her. Alfred had come seeking Alear's help to go back to Lythos but she refused, thinking that while she was legally declared dead she felt unneeded and wouldn't have any need to go back after her mother's death. Sombron was the current ruler and going back wouldn't have proved or changed anything according to the dragoness. It wasn't until the blond reminded Alear of her late mother Lumera that she lashed out at him which led to their argument and ended with her storming off.
"He's wrong," Alear huffed as she briskly paced around. "I can't go back. What would it prove, anyway? It won't change anything. You can't change the past."
"You said that you'd always be here for me!" The exiled princess snapped at the night sky, as if Lumera's spirit could hear her. "But you're not, and it's because of me. It's my fault. It's all my fault."
Unbeknownst to the young woman as she choked back her tears, a man with brown hair dressed predominantly in white was chanting. Alear heard the chant and stalked away, seemingly annoyed by it which elated him before he followed after her. As the blue haired girl sat down to look at her reflection in a nearby pond, Leif took this chance to throw a rock in the pond then chanted again.
"Come on, will you cut it out?" Alear grumbled before walking away, prompting a laugh from the brunet.
Leif laughed again, "Can't cut it out. It'll grow right back!"
"Creepy guy. Will you stop following me? Who are you?"
"The question is: Whooo... are you?" The taller man countered which startled Alear.
"I thought I knew, but now I'm not so sure," the former Lythosian princess sighed.
"Well, I know who you are. Shh. Come here. It's a secret."
Leif gestured for her to bend an ear then started his weird chant a third time, annoying Alear even more.
"Enough already. what's that supposed to mean, anyway?"
The shaman chuckled, "It means that you're a shaman – and I'm not."
"I think you're a little confused."
"Wrong. I'm not the one who's confused; you don't even know who you are."
Irritated, Alear asked with sarcasm dripping from her voice, "Oh, and I suppose you know?"
Leif nodded with a thoughtful smile, "Sure do; you're Lumera's girl."
Surprised by the answer, the princess turned to him before he waved with a simple "Bye!" and ran off. Alear chased after him until she found Leif sitting on a rock in a meditative pose.
"You knew my mother?" She asked.
"Correction-- I know your mother," Leif replied in a monotone voice.
"I hate to tell you this, but... she died. A long time ago."
"Nope. Wrong again!" The brown haired man jumped off the rock he was on and laughed. "She's alive! And I'll show her to you. You follow old Leif, he knows the way. Come on!"
Leif disappeared into a forest thicket with Alear following not far behind. The former princess had to duck under low hanging branches to keep from getting smacked in the face, or avoid getting caught in vines just to keep up with him. Eventually they made it to a clearing with a small pool of water near some reeds where Leif directed her to look into it after parting the reeds with his staff. The dragoness peered into the pond only to be disappointed by her reflection.
"That's not my mother, just my reflection."
The shaman shook his head before motioning to the pool, "No. Look harder."
As Alear did so ripples began to form, distorting her reflection into Lumera's and a deep rumbling noise could be heard.
"You see, she lives in you," Leif said.
Alear was awestruck as the wind picked up. In the air a huge image of Lumera formed from the clouds and appeared to be walking from the stars. The image looked ghostly at first, but steadily gained color and coherence.
"Alear..." Lumera's voice quietly echoed through the starry sky.
Alear looked up at the sky, having heard the voice, "Mother?"
"Alear, you have forgotten me."
She shook her head, "No. How could I?"
"You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me," her mother's ghost continued. "Look inside yourself, Alear. You are more than what you have become. You must go back to Lythos and take your place as Queen."
"How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be."
"Remember who you are. You are my daughter, and the one true Queen."
Suddenly the late Divine Dragon Queen's spirit started fading as she repeated, "Remember who you are."
"No. Please! Don't leave me," the younger woman pleaded.
"Remember..."
"Mother!"
"Remember..."
"Don't leave me."
"Remember..."
Alear is then left by her lonesome as a single cloud left where Lumera's ghost once was, another gust of wind blows around her hair and clothes. Soon afterwards Leif showed up beside her.
"What was THAT?" He laughed. "The weather is very peculiar tonight, don't you think?"
Alear agreed, "Yeah. Looks like the winds are changing."
"Ahhh. Change is good." Leif nodded as he rubbed his chin with his free hand.
"Yeah, but it's not easy, I know what I have to do now. But, going back means I'll have to face my past, I've been running from it for so long."
All of a sudden Leif reared back and bonked Alear on the head with his staff.
"Oww! Jeez– What was that for?"
The shaman laughed again, "It doesn't matter; it's in the past!"
"Yeah, but it still hurts," Alear grumbled as she rubbed the sore spot on her head.
"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or... learn from it."
Leif swung his staff again as he prepared to hit the princess again, but Alear was ready this time and ducked, the staff missing her head by mere inches. She was not going to receive another bump to nurse tonight.
"Hah, you see! So what are you going to do?" Leif asked.
"First, I'm going to take your staff," Alear replied before grabbing the man's lance, snatching it from him then tossed it in the grass.
Leif gasped as he went to retrieve it, "No, no, no, no! Not my staff!" When he turned around, he saw Alear smirking at him and asked where she was going.
"I'm going back!" The princess called from over her shoulder.
"Good! Go on! Get out of here!" Leif cheered as he laughed, hooted and hollered after her.
A few shooting stars zoomed across the night sky as he held is staff above his head. It made the shaman happy that the former princess of Lythos was determined to go back and claim what was rightfully hers as the true Lythosian Monarch.