“Tell me,” Sol said. “What do you want to do?”
“It is the duty of the Oracle to aid the king of Lucis, so I―”
“That’s not what I asked,” Sol cut in. “I don’t care about the duty of the Oracle. I’m asking about you. The woman sitting in front of me. What does Lunafreya want to do? Y’know, stuff you like, that you’re into but didn’t get a chance to do before.”
“I . . . ” Lunafreya trailed off, uncertain how to answer.
“Isn’t there something? Anything you wanna do not because you have to but ’cause you enjoy it?” Sol quirked a smile. “Hobbies? Clothes? Fine dining?”
She’d never even considered experimenting with her clothing. All she needed were garments that were clean and chaste, inoffensive to the people she would serve.
Although, there might have been one exception . . . A wedding dress. She’d had one once, and she’d been eagerly awaiting the day she might wear it, for on that day, she would stand beside Noctis and . . .
Sol seemed to read her mind. “For example,” the younger woman said, “maybe you want to spend time with the king?”
Yes. She’d had one wish, which she’d hoped so desperately might be fulfilled but which had never been. She wanted to be with the person who was most dear to her, to spend her life together with the man she loved. She’d sacrificed that wish to her duty as the Oracle and had passed from the world with it unrealized. An empty, lonely, mournful feeling had filled her on that day. It had been so much worse than when they were torn away from each other as children in Tenebrae. She could feel the ache in her heart even now.
“I did once dream,” Lunafreya said, “of spending my days together with Noctis. That would have been more than enough happiness for me.”
“Well, look at that. So there is something you want for yourself.”
“But . . . ”
“So what’s the problem? There’s something you want, and now you’ve got a second shot at making it happen. How about instead of telling yourself you can’t have it, you forget about the gods and this calling or whatever and focus on what you want out of life?”
Lunafreya hesitated. It was in order to fulfill this calling that she had been granted life anew. If she abandoned her duty, could not the god who bestowed that life just as easily take it away? And there was another, arguably more significant issue.
“I know not what I am anymore,” Lunafreya confessed. “Am I human? A monster?”
She looked down at her open palms―the same palms that had drawn in more scourge than she cared to fathom. With a power like this, could she still be called human at all?
“I can’t give you any answers about what exactly you are. But I do know what you’ve done. If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead right now.”
Sol’s hesitation was marked, and her words carefully chosen. She didn’t try to claim that Lunafreya was human in a facile attempt to reassure her. But neither did Sol seem inclined to deem her a monster outright.
“If you ask me, I say to hell with all this Oracle stuff. Who cares about some damn calling? The Oracle died ten years ago. The person I see before me right now is just a woman. Her name is Luna. She’s crazy strong, but otherwise, she’s a person like anyone else, and she wants to be back with the guy she loves.”
On hearing Sol’s words, Lunafreya felt the burden weighing her down lessen slightly. She was not free of her worries, and the physical pain and discomfort persisted as before. Not a thing had changed about her present situation, but even so, she felt a surge of determination to go on.
“Sol . . . thank you for your kind words. Once again, I find myself in your debt.”
“Hey, could you, uh, cut it out with the ‘I’m in your debt’ stuff?”
“Why?”
She was reminded of the last time she’d said similar words to Sol. The younger woman had turned away then, clearly put out.
“It’s the kind of thing people say before they up and die on you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you really need me to spell it out for you?” Sol gave her a puzzled look, but then began to explain. “It’s a jinx. You don’t say all your thank-yous and good-byes, because if you do, there’s no regret left to hold you back from dying.”
Then, with a wrinkle across the bridge of her nose, she added, “Gods, how did you ever function before?”
“I understand now. I am again indebted for your thorough expla―”
“Stop already!”
Lunafreya, bewildered by her own mistake, brought a hand up to cover her mouth. Sol burst out laughing, and then Lunafreya was laughing too. She managed to keep her next thank-you silent, saying the words only in her heart.
It looked like Luna was feeling better. Maybe teasing out her true desires had helped put her mind at ease. She’d be fine for now, at least mentally―Sol had no idea what to make of her physical symptoms.
With Luna taken care of, the next thing to do was call Biggs and give him a rundown of what happened at Nohm. The outpost was critical to retaining their foothold in former imperial territory. Securing areas outside of Lestallum where people could live was one of the main goals of the Kingsglaive and everyone else who collaborated with them. So Nohm’s complete loss was something they couldn’t afford. They had to do whatever it took to make sure it wasn’t overrun by daemons.
The nearby ruins were of interest because of the contents of a report on the empire’s past activities. The ruins themselves were relics of Solheim, but apparently, one of the empire’s old daemon-infused creations might be lurking within them. The goal was to eliminate the potential threat from the area and, at the same time, assess the feasibility of using the ancient structures as a settlement. A safe, easily defensible location in the former empire where people could live would allow them all to make more efficient use of the resources found there, as there were plenty of materials in the region that could not be transported to Lestallum.
“Sol! Are you all right?! Where are you?!” Biggs started shouting the moment the call connected. Sol winced and pulled the phone slightly away from her ear.
“We’re safe in Nohm. But by the time we showed up, it was already empty.”
“We heard about what happened. Some of the hunters managed to escape. What’s it looking like now? The daemons still around?”
“We’re all right. Luna took care of the daemons. What about Mom? Is she with you?”