“It all depends on that kid. If he continues to think of Virgo on the other side, and if Virgo realizes her feelings on her own...then we could consider bringing him back here after death as one of the argonautai. But I have no intention of pushing them one way or the other. It’s completely up to them,” explained Lufas.
Now that they’d come this far, no one wanted a bad ending for anyone. No one would benefit from it. So, if the two of them still felt for each other even after their paths split, then Lufas planned to bend the rules of the world a little to help them out. The one thing she didn’t want was for Virgo to cry, so if she wanted, then Lufas could send her to Japan, or she could simply return Sei to Mizgarz after his death. Lufas planned on respecting their will, of course, so it was all up to the people in question in the end.
“Well, let’s just wait and see for now,” said Lufas. “What will those two youngsters come up with?”
“You talk as if you’re old,” Dina said.
“I am way older than they are. How many hundreds of years do you think I’ve been alive?”
“But Miss Lufas, you would only be sixteen or seventeen in human years if you factor in the fact that you were sealed outside of time for a lot of that.”
“Huh?” Lufas asked, after a moment of stunned silence.
The heaven-winged grew up fast but aged slowly. They reached their late teens, where they had the most energy and strength of their lives, very quickly. After that, they almost never changed, so it was very hard to tell what age they were from their appearance.
All this time, Lufas had calculated her own age as being around her early twenties in human years, but taking away the time she had been sealed, she was quite young. Lufas herself seemed very surprised upon hearing this, showing the strange sight of her counting with her fingers as she tried to calculate her age.
＊ ＊
“Nooo!” Pisces wailed. “Why must We remain on Mizgarz?! This’ll mean We’ve been practically nonexistent until the very end!”
“Honestly, all I can say is that you just joined too late...” Sagittarius explained.
“You basically only ever show up right before the final battle,” said Aigokeros.
“That’s just because you all left us for last! We’ve been in the ocean this entire time, so you could have just gotten us first! Also, put on some pants already, you shit horse!”
On the other side of the Argo, Pisces, who had become one of the few members of the Thirteen Stars to remain on Mizgarz, was throwing a temper tantrum. Sagittarius and Aigokeros were trying to calm him down, but they weren’t having much success.
However, this had to be done. In the end, Pisces commanded a large area of the ocean and its denizens, thanks to his kingdom, something that none of the other members of the Thirteen Stars had. Having him ignore all this and move to the moon would only inconvenience his subjects, and the moon was a bit too small to move his entire country there. Even when they had been crammed into the Ark, Skíðblaðnir was the only country that seemed terribly cramped.
Orm and Terra, along with the rest of the devilfolk, watched this fit from a little ways away. The fairy siblings, Pollux and Castor, were also nearby.
While watching Pisces wail and scream, Saturnus heaved an exasperated sigh. “The Conquering Twelve Heavenly Stars were supposed to be the very definition of fear for us...but looking at them now... They somehow seem like real fools...”
“They actually are a gathering of fools,” agreed Pollux. “Though we’re the Thirteen Stars now.”
The two of them sighed once again. As fellow common-sense-having, responsible individuals, they seemed to get along surprisingly well.
“Well, we’re not much different on that front. Aren’t I right, certain someone who went flying off the handle and got themselves killed for no reason?” Saturnus said somewhat mockingly after turning around. She was looking directly at Mercurius, who had died in Draupnir.
There was a pause before Mercurius muttered, “Sorry about that.”
Though he looked unchanged, he was now a member of the argonautai, a being who was basically the polar opposite of a devilfolk. Pollux had just barely been able to think of Mercurius as a hero after hearing how he had died, so he was able to come back and was thus able to uncomfortably turn away in response to Saturnus.
There were other losses from the devilfolk, like Jupiter, but he had apparently wished to enter the cycle of rebirth. His exact words had been, “I want to begin a new life where I can forget my fear of that golem, Libra.”
“By the way... What about Mars?” Saturnus asked.
“Sorry. No matter how I try, I just can’t think of him as a hero,” Pollux replied, apologetic.
Saturnus agreed with Pollux though. Yeah, it’d be impossible for me too. Mercurius could be considered a hero, given some changes in perspective, but Mars had been an idiot no matter the point of view. She felt like she could even see Mars’s annoying smile up in the sky as he asked, “When’s my revival?”
Saturnus shot a magic cannonball up at the place she imagined Mars to be to get rid of him.
“No, that’s more than enough,” said Orm. “We owe you one for this.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You don’t need to feel indebted to me for that,” Pollux replied.
Though Orm’s words had been gentle, Pollux was cold in return. She wasn’t doing so on purpose, of course. It was just a habit that had formed over their long years of knowing each other.
“Also, if you call that a debt, then I’m way more indebted to you. How many times do you think you’ve helped me feel better whenever I’ve been depressed over all these years?” asked Pollux.
“Hmm... Well, that’s...”
“Actually, I’ve been wondering about this for a while now. Why have you always been so nice to me? We were supposed to be enemies, at least on the surface.”
“That’s... Hmm, I wonder why?” Orm averted his gaze uncomfortably in response to Pollux’s question.
Seeing this, Saturnus came upon the answer faster than Pollux. Rather, she stumbled upon it. I see, I see. So it’s like that, huh? No wonder our king was always so worried over the Fairy Princess.
As she realized this, Saturnus was assaulted by a feeling of lethargy.
“Ah, so that’s it. I guess even the Devil King is just a man in the end. Oh my... I never even got to the stage of lost love...”
Though Saturnus had never said it out loud, she had feelings for Orm. However, such feelings were nothing but rude to the man who was her ruler, so she’d hidden them. That was why she’d never had the opportunity to have her heart broken; she’d never stepped up to the stage in the first place. Even so, this realization still left her shocked.
“Saturnus... You...” Mercurius trailed off.
“Yeah, and? Is that so bad? All this means is that I lost without ever getting in the ring. We’ve both been saddled with some terrible roles, haven’t we? It’s great that you got revived, but it’s not like you could confess now anyway either. Right?”
Mercurius could say nothing in response. He had unrequited feelings for Luna. She’d never even noticed him though, and now, she and Terra were a couple. There was no chance for him to get between them any longer. The same went for Saturnus. It was all over by the time she’d come around to her own feelings of love. Pollux had yet to realize anything though, so she didn’t exactly have no chance at all... Still, there was no need to start this contest between the Fairy Princess and a common devilfolk. Saturnus could see the writing on the wall.
“I’m drinking these feelings away tonight,” Saturnus declared. “I know you’re free, so join me.”
“I shall. I feel like drinking today too,” said Mercurius.
The two brokenhearted devilfolk turned around and immediately left.
As an aside, they would marry in a decade, but neither of them knew that at the moment.