But Leon blocked her, “No, Alice,” he said. “Wait.” His crimson eyes still gazed at the angel at his feet, but what lay there was no longer a fiend consumed by darkness.
“…Surely not.”
As Rheinhardt lay on the brink of death, Leon saw just a flicker of the shining light his friend had once possessed.
And then Leon witnessed a miracle. Something he’d only thought possible in dream.
“You…never disappeared, did you? Your mind’s always been in there…!”
Leon gazed in wonder, and the angel lifted his face. The azure light drained from his eyes, until they became a burning crimson, the same color as Leon’s. The fiend had left him, and Leon’s brother had returned.
“Rheina!”
His whole body began to shake. Leon could only stand and stare. How long had he awaited this moment? How many times had he dreamed of finally atoning for his sin?
Leon didn’t know if he should be allowed this moment, but he didn’t care. He had to say it. That he had stood by and watched his friend die.
“R…Rheina! I… I’m…”
He had to hurry. His friend’s life could slip away at any moment. If Leon missed this chance, there would never be another.
And yet the words would not come. He was afraid. Afraid his heartfelt plea would be rejected. Leon silently cursed his own cowardice.
And so it was Leon’s fellow apprentice who broke the silence.
“…I really…messed things up, didn’t I?”
“No,” Leon replied. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all my fault. Please—”
Please…what? Forgive me? thought Leon. Surely, it wasn’t that simple. How could he dare speak those words now?
But Rheinhardt saw the guilt eating away at his partner. “I’ve always been watching you,” he said with a bittersweet smile. “I was trapped, deep inside, but I could still see. I think…this is God’s way of giving us one last chance to make things right.”
Rheinhardt was ever softhearted. Always and forever. It would have been easy to leave his curses and frustrations with his troublesome younger peer. However, he rejected hate…and chose love instead.
“The fiend… It didn’t represent what I really thought. I never blamed you, partner, not once.”
Even as his body melted away, even as death drew near, Rheinhardt did not falter. A kind smile spread across his face as he said…
“Stand tall. You’re our family. Our pride.”
Within that one small utterance and the gentle look in his eyes was everything Leon needed to hear.
“I’m sorry!” he said. “I failed you! I swear, I’ll make it better. I swear, I’ll be a better man! So, please…”
Please.
Please, rest in peace.
“As long as you’re still here, partner, I have nothing to fear.”
He was disappearing. Rheinhardt’s time on this earth was running out. But he was determined to leave nothing but love-filled words in the mind of his earthbound brother.
“Listen, partner,” he said with his dying breath. “You don’t need to come here with me. Hell’s only big enough for one of us. You live. Live…and be happy. You got…that…part…ner…?”
Leon’s pride, his shining hope, died not as a fiend but as a paragon of humanity.
“…May your rest be eternal salvation.”
With a prayer, Leon picked up the Testament stone at his feet.
“Even if your body is no more, old friend…”
Rheinhardt’s soul would always walk alongside him. No matter what pits he walked through, Leon would never be alone.
“That’s right. We’re always watching over you, Leon. Rheina and me, too. So be strong, my successor.”
As Leon held the holy sword, it somehow seemed to lose its luster. After seeing things through to the end, the curse that bound Claire’s mind had finally been lifted, and another grand soul made its way up to heaven.
Leon cast an eye toward the clear blue sky. “Just leave it to me, Master,” he said. He felt that somewhere up there, she was smiling down on him.
“That’s the end, then, isn’t it, Master?”
“…No,” said Leon, shaking his head.
“It’s only the beginning.”