CHAPTER 128: WHAT A PÆAN

Leva tilted her head, her beautiful, now-untainted eyes fixed on Eirin with a look of deep concern. "You’ve grown pale, dear child. You have given too much of yourself." Her feather, now soft and clean, gently grazed Eirin’s cheek, a touch of maternal comfort. "I cannot thank you enough, and I haven’t even learned of your name yet. We have gone through a journey together, and I have not even known the name of my savior."

Eirin smiled, a tired, weary gesture. "My name is—" she couldn’t continue talking, her voice dying in her throat, her body a sudden, hollow shell of exhaustion. She could feel herself losing consciousness, herself losing consciousness, her mind a dizzying blur of pain and cold.

"Child?" Leva’s voice was filled with panicked urgency. "What’s wrong? Are you alright?"

Eirin inhaled and exhaled, a desperate, gasping attempt to regain control. "I-I am fine. Just... tired." She looked at the bird, a silent, powerful gratitude in her eyes. "My name is Eirin Luxfield, and I’m a student in Senerra Academy," she said, looking at Leva’s eyes, watching them turn back into their natural, ocean blue color, the final vestiges of the miasma’s corruption gone.

"What a beautiful name you have," the bird said, her voice filled with an affection. She looked up at the sky, at the beautiful, untainted blue that was now visible to her, seeing how the sphere was slowly vanishing into thin air, a feat of impossible. The sight caused a ripple of pure joy through the birds. "You have saved us, child. All of us."

The Iphans, one by one, slowly woke up from their deep slumber, their eyes bright and wide with a disbelieving awe. Their red, corrupted eyes were now a clean, pristine black, their voices no longer screams of agony, but cries of pure happiness.

"I am alive!" one of them said, its voice filled with a joyous relief, as it flew into the sky, a magnificent, untainted form against the clear blue. The sphere finally vanished, the last residues of the miasma absorbed by Eirin, and it feels like her body had forgotten the feeling of warmth, of comfort, of life itself.

Eirin almost fell to the ground, her body a limp, shivering wreck, but Leva, with a graceful powerful movement, caught her and let her ride on her back, cradling her close. "Let us soar the sky for the last time, child," she said, a soft, farewell in her voice, and Eirin, as tired as she was, smile and nodded, her body finally finding a moment of peace and rest.

Leva soared into the sky, her wings beating with a powerful, rhythmic grace, and she warbled, a sound like a beautiful, melodic hymn to the heavens, a song of gratitude and joy that was music to Eirin’s ears. That was also when the other Iphans, waking up from their slumber, started flying around the nest, free and unburdened by the nightmares they went through. Their forms, once black and corrupted, were now a magnificent kaleidoscope of different colors and auras.

"Thank you!" The Iphans said in chorus, their voices, a beautiful, harmonious melody, filling Eirin’s head.

The sound caused Eirin to relax, the peace finally settling in, and she felt drowsy, her eyes fluttering closed. Eirin leaned her head against Leva’s back, causing the bird to chuckle, a low, loving sound.

Leva felt the presence of other people, of other students, in the distance. Her eyes, now back to their magnificent ocean blue, landed on the tiny figures of Calixta and Link, an understanding smile gracing her beak. She nudged Eirin gently with her head, a silent farewell.

"I might not be able to bring you home after all, child," she said, her voice filled with a knowing sadness, but Eirin was already too exhausted to even listen, her mind drifting into a deep, dark abyss of sleep. "Child?" Leva asked, a small, worried sound, nudging her again, a sense of unease beginning to creep into her.

Eirin didn’t respond, her body slowly slipping away from Leva’s grasp, her limp form a weight of lead. And before Leva could react, before she could do anything to stop it, Eirin’s body fell off, a silent, helpless drop into the emptiness below.

"Child!" Leva cried out, her voice a horrified, heartbroken wail that echoed across the vast sky.

The wail was also heard by a boy whose eyes had just opened. Shade’s eyes, a brilliant, terrifying combination of black and red, opened with a start, a sudden, sharp intake of breath. He was awake, his body purged of the exhaustion by Calixta’s healing, and the wail of the Iphan, the sound of loss, had broken through the barrier of his unconscious mind.

Shade’s eyes now filled with a ferocious, animalistic urgency, scanned the vast expanse of the sky. Trixtan, who had been sitting beside him, his eyes closed in a moment of quiet prayer, jumped, startled by Shade’s sudden return to consciousness.

"Dude! You scared me!" Trixtan said, holding onto his chest, but Shade ignored him, his focus a singular, unbreakable point. "Look, the sphere vanished! We can go as soon as—" Trixtan couldn’t finish what he was saying as Shade rushed to the sky, a streak of fire and wind, his movements a blurring of motion.

Shade’s wind, usually a secondary element he uses, was now boosted by his flames, a primal surge of power that launched him with an impossible speed. His eyes, a terrifying, beautiful mixture of black and red, glowed as if in an agonizing, desperate excitement.

Shade scanned the sky, his eyes a searching beacon in the vastness. And then, he saw it. A faint, almost invisible glint of blue and pink, a fall star of pure mana, and an animalistic roar of recognition tore from his throat.

The trail, the one he had followed for days, was there. Shade rushed towards it, his body a missile of pure speed, and soon he found himself catching Eirin’s falling body with his arms, a gentle, precise embrace. He pulled her closer to his body, her head resting on his chest, a soft, protective gesture, just as Leva appeared, her form a picture of relieved terror.

Leva tilted her head, her beautiful ocean blue eyes staring at Shade with a knowing curiosity, as if dissecting him, her gaze traveling from his glowing, fierce eyes to the soft, gentle way he was holding Eirin.

"A Pæan?" Leva said, her voice a telepathic question. "Are you a friend of Eirin?"

Shade raised an eyebrow, his protective, possessive instincts flaring up. "Were you the one who took her? The one who put her in danger?" he asked back, his voice low and menacing, a silent threat.

Leva chuckled, a soft, low sound of amusement. The wariness and protectiveness Shade showed gave her amusement. "I did, indeed. I must apologize, but I must also thank Eirin for saving my kind, and myself," she said, her voice a calm, serene song inside Shade’s head. "I promised her I shall take her back home, but you must have come here to fetch her. And I believe she would be in safer hands with you, Pæan."

Shade stared at Eirin’s sleeping face, her pale, exhausted features a picture of ethereal beauty. He gently pushed a stray lock of her hair out of her face, his gaze filled with a complex mixture of fear and possessive adoration.

"What did she do to become this tired? To give so much of herself?"

Leva tilted her head and she smiled. "It is a secret we females must keep, my friend. A secret between a savior and a guardian. A secret you will soon learn for yourself."

Shade’s forehead creased, his dark, intense eyes fixed on the retreating form of the majestic bird. He didn’t understand her last words, the cryptic message that has been delivered to his mind with such a finality. "What does that mean? What secret are you talking about?" But Leva chuckled as her eyes landed back on Eirin’s sleeping face, a final, loving look.

"Take care of her for me, Pæan," Leva said, her voice a final, fading whisper in his mind. And with that, she soared away into the endless blue sky, a magnificent streak of purple and white, a symbol of freedom.

Eirin’s eyes, a beautiful, luminous amber, opened for a bit, just for a moment, her gaze landing on the soaring bird. A small, tired smile touched her lips as she waved her hand goodbye, a silent farewell to the majestic companion she had met.

Then, as if all the energy had been sapped from her, she fell asleep once again, her head drooping against Shade’s chest, her body a limp, trusting weight in his arms. Shade shook his head, a faint, exasperated smile touching his lips.

"What a pain in the ass," Shade muttered, his voice a low, fond murmur, his arms tightening protectively around her. He then shifted his weight, his feet finding purchase on a swirling vortex of wind he had created, and with a powerful push, he rushed back to where the others were.