Atop the mountains once more in the outskirts of D'Avuzel laid Lyn and the others, resting sweetly and soundly from the festival's aftermath. The azure lights still made their mark in the moonlight as the partygoers continued to celebrate on behalf of their group.
After the group made their last remarks to sleep completely, they slept around a bonfire at their makeshift camp. The bonfire burned brightly with everyone huddled around it. Yet Alfaic was the only one who chose not to rest. He sat on the edge of the mountain where their camp was, reminiscing about the festival and his role in it. An endless sensation of joy seemed to dictate his emotions in the moment, reminding him of how happy Lyn seemed overall.
As he gazed up at the crescent moonlight, he heard someone from camp approaching him. He assumed it was Lyn and begun to turn around to greet her.
"The moonlight's absolutely beautiful, don't you-" He begun.
Yet he froze in his tracks immediately, stunned by the mere sight of his elegantly suited father towering over him. Aldion overpowered Alfaic's presence with his omniscient gaze, raising his index finger over his own lips in the process.
"Son of a-" Alfaic's voice rose in volume.
"Don't shout," Aldion commanded with his deep booming voice, turning his eyes slightly back at the bonfire located in the center of their camp. "Or the last of their memories will be their dreams."
Alfaic clenched his teeth and stepped backwards, gaining distance between himself and his father. "You would have killed them by now," He spoke in a hushed whisper, spreading his anger with every subsequent word. "What's stopping you?"
"What's stopping me... is my son." Aldion clarified.
Alfaic shook his head in denial, turning around swiftly as Aldion approached him. "I am not your son-"
"Anymore. I know. You've made that clear already, perhaps a thousand times over. But still I come, with the hope that my son will see reason," Aldion said, hovering his head around Alfaic's shoulder. He stared down at Alfaic, bothered by the lack of eye contact he distance himself with.
"Why are you here?" Alfaic asked, staring down at the cliff upon the festival.
"Another one of our kind was murdered just before sunset," Aldion said. "All under the behest of her free will."
"She was trying to defend herself from being killed-"
"How many more of our kind must die before you are satisfied, Alfaic?" Aldion mounted a pressuring question as he came closer behind him.
Alfaic kept a solid stare away from his father, keeping his voice hushed. "As many as it takes... until She is dead," He silently exclaimed, nearly spitting in his father's face. "Her influence will die with her. She'll be nothing but a memory."
"You know for a fact that what you say will never happen," Aldion said. "She's not responsible for any of this."
"You keep telling yourself that," Alfaic pushed up close to Aldion's face, looking at the bonfire in the distance. "But I'm not going to stand here and watch you feed lies to them."
"The only one who lies is you."
Alfaic turned back, refusing to see eye to eye.
"Do not tell me you can stand here and deny it," Aldion asked. "What you're doing is sending them to an early grave, all because of what you did. All would change if you would just come back home. She would be satisfied-"
"She's not changing her mind," Alfaic retorted. "Those times have passed. Now, if you want to kill them, then do it already. Pester me all you want. Nothing will change the fact that you're the reason why I left in the first place. After all of the things you did..."
Aldion approached Alfaic and forced him to look into his eyes by towering over him. "I want my son back," His voice began more hesitant, seemingly choking on his own pride. "But he won't even look at me."
He approached the edge of the cliff and gazed into the moon, just as Alfaic was. The cold wind blew his hair, sifting through his skin as he inhaled a breath of endurance. "Your mother and I used to watch the stars like this every night," He began, hoping his own son would listen. "She was so comfortable star-gazing like this, she became quite the artiste. She would sketch constellations, and play make-believe, hoping that she could one day grasp one in her palms. I always called her ridiculous for it, but I always hold onto this memory because she had a dream."
Alfaic stared off with him after sitting on a nearby boulder. He tried not to let his story intimidate him.
"A dream where she could watch the stars for infinity. A dream where we could one day, visit the skies to embrace one in our hands," Aldion continued, turning back to Alfaic with a melancholy expression. It was one that was inflicted with a slow, dull, and elongated pain that seemingly never went away. "Don't let her dream be for nothing, Alfaic. She's already given us passage."
"Then you tell me..." Alfaic began, voice deepening from the memories storming through his mind. "Why the FUCK is she waiting so long?!" He yelled.
Aldion stared at him in silence as the winds blew across their cheeks.
"Tell me then, 'Father,'" He continued, mocking his title. "If she wanted to do it, then why wait? Why put us on this endless voyage if she's going to eventually do it?!"
"She wants you by her side, my son," Aldion confirmed. He pointed at the bonfire in the distance. "She has faith in those two, that some day, they'll see eye to eye and understand. She is giving you mercy. Something that you haven't seemed to understand ever since the night you left."
"I had a reason to," Alfaic continued. "If she's going to play this game, then so be it. I'll make her death even more painful, and soon you won't be able to convince her to do it any sooner."
Aldion shook his head, disappointed by Alfaic's response. "She's still watching," He noted, turning his back against him. "She's always been watching. And if you continue to choose this path, then nothing can stop me or your brothers from ending your voyage."
"So be it, then."
"Just know this, my son," Aldion's voice softened. "I've lived for a thousand years wishing you could see reason. I won't wait any longer, even though those two are by your side. She's tired of waiting. It's only a matter of time before she forcibly comes to take it all away. So..."
Several flocks of ravens began to storm Aldion's presence, covering his entire figure. They flapped their wings rapidly and circled around him until he was fully covered in a mountainous shadow.
Aldion turned back for one final glance at his son. "Make your choice." He finalized, before vanishing in thin air.
Alfaic shut his eyes tightly, burying his head toward in his thighs until his face was obscured in the night. He lifted his right palm and placed it over his forehead, clearly shaken by the conversation of mystery between him and his father. After a long sigh, he gazed back at the moonlight and wished for tomorrow to happen.
In the distance, a short figure eyed them with a tattered blanket wrapped over her shoulders. Claire's revealed her face in the starry skies with a pale face of pure bloodlust and intent for vengeance. After extinguishing the bonfire's flame with her left hand, she disappeared in the shadows, and found it quite difficult to sleep that same night.