Penance

Surrounded by flames, blood, and the smell of death, a lone man stands before a woman of unprecedented beauty. She stood still, her posture straight as an arrow but behind her cold vestige was an undeniable sense of grace that would put even a goddess to shame.

Arthur and Alagarasi both wore black, as though they were both in mourning - but to those who knew and to those who experienced what had happened in the past, mourning was but the tip of the iceberg.

The man, who was as cold as the woman in front of him, was betrayed by his passionate eyes. His posture and bearing screamed rage and apathy but his eyes were yearning.

The empress stared at the brigand with a pensive look on her face. She continued to stand still and the silence was deafening. Perhaps if someone was to look at this from an outsider's point of view, this might even seem romantic but in reality, tension lingered in the air.

"It's been years, my love."

The woman started to remove her gloves. She was art in motion but alarm bells were ringing in the man's head. He knew that the woman in front of him was an apex predator that stood at the top of the world. She had no equal and she inspired confidence for her allies and fear in her enemies' hearts.

"This was a long time coming."

The man started walking towards the woman.

Noticing the approaching man, the woman extended her arms forward, as though asking to be embraced by her longtime lover. Her cold facade slowly broke into a smile as bright as the rising sun.

Arthur and Alagarsi were at two extremes. The brigand was by the door, slowly walking towards the empress. The empress was near her throne, which was made of a type of special ore called Orichalcum.

The surroundings were bright and the decorations were hopeful - which were a stark contrast to Algarasi's mourning-like clothes.

Arthur's walk slowly evolved into a run as he drew his sword from the empty space in front of him.

His sword was a magnificent longsword. It didn't have any special gems on its hilt but it had special inscriptions on its blade.

Seeing the familiar blade and the man wielding it, the woman's smile grew even brighter as her seemingly silent heart started beating faster.

"You've come for the ark of eternity." The empress started walking towards the brigand. "Come. Take it. It's yours. I've always been yours."

The man inserted mana into his body as electricity crackled around as he started running faster than physically possible.

In what felt like an eternity, time suddenly came to a stop as the man plunged his sword into the woman's heart. The woman felt pain but her smile never left her face.

The man pulled the sword from the woman and it vanished into the void.

They stared at each other's eyes and the woman started to fall over.

Seemingly snapped out of his stupor, the man caught the woman in his arms as he wiped her tears.

No words were exchanged between the two of them but the man kept his eyes locked with hers. In the end, the woman relented and drew the man in closer. She gave him a deep kiss and all of the yearning and love inside of her flowed out like the blood from the wound in her heart.

Covered in the blood of the woman, the man kept a straight face but his mind was burning with panic and fear.

"So what does it feel to kill the woman you love?" Algarasi's voice was soft but it was powerful, dignified, and regal.

"That's an unfair question - you gave me no choice!" Arthur's voice was deep but it sounded pleasant to the ears. It betrayed his stoic image but it also fit it to a tee.

Algarasi smiled. Her eyes scanned the audience chamber. "I have grown so powerful that the world was no longer enough to contain me."

Her life flashed before her eyes and the happiest years of her life weren't when she became the most powerful ruler the world had ever seen, it was when she was living with this man during their younger years. They were poor but they were happy.

They had a horrible childhood that would have broken even the strongest people but they survived.

They grew up in a world plagued by war, famine, and greed and they chose two options that pit them against each other. The man chose to right the past while the woman strove to change the future.

Both decisions came at the cost of the most precious thing to them both but they knew each other so well that both knew that neither would stop until they had succeeded.

The empress caressed the man's face with her bloodied hand. "Was this really the right choice?"

Algarasi's eyes started to blur and her vision dimmed. "You have to understand that I too had no choice." The woman scrunched up her face in pain. "Perhaps the only way to avoid this horrible end is if you were to truly change the past."

The man's face betrayed his inner turmoil. He had no idea what the woman was talking about. She was effectively his wife, his soulmate, his lover, but he knew nothing about her.

His thoughts ended abruptly as the woman plunged her hand inside her chest and pulled out her heart. Except it wasn't really a heart. It was a ball of light whose radiance blotted out the light in the room - it was a paradoxical phenomenon but it was a strange item in the first place.

The colors were inverted and time came to a stop, but Algarasi's breathing slowed to a crawl.

She held the orb as though she was cradling an infant. "Arthur. This was what I was hiding from you."

"Al. What is it?"

The woman handed the orb to the man. "Treat it as my heart. It beats only for you." The woman chuckled at her own joke. "That is the ark of eternity. It is the condensed magical essence of that woman Artesia and my own."

"But Artesia is dead! I saw you kill her with my own eyes!"

Alagarasi laughed, "I was always Artesia but at the same time, I wasn't."

Confusion? Fear? Relief? All of those emotions were eating away at Arthur's heart. What the hell is happening here?

"Al. What are you talking about?"

Alagarasi looked weak and small. She produced a small wisp of light in her hand as she pressed it towards Arthur's temple.

After a short period of time, tears filled Arthur's eyes.

"Why..why didn't you tell me?"

Alagarasi chuckled, "it's too late isn't it? - I suffered in silence but you were at the very least happy with the ideal version of me - that woman, did you love her?"

Guilt filled Arthur's heart. "I did. I still do."

Alagarasi smiled, "then good. You're loved by two women so you need to live for two women. Use the ark of eternity as you will."

"I love you, Arthur." Alagarasi slowly closed her eyes. "You....need to live."

At that moment, Arthur could briefly see Artesia's visage behind Alagarasi's dying light. And he knew what he had to do.

"I love you, Al. I love you Artesia."

Arthur held Al's body close to his and he stabbed his longsword in his chest.

"ARGGGHH!"

The pain nearly killed Arthur immediately and he was dying from blood loss and trauma.

I need to do this!

Arthur ripped out his heart and with his final moments, he placed the ark of eternity inside his chest cavity as he died hand in hand with Alagarasi.

The empress and the hero had a smile on their face even in the final moments. But that's a story for another time.