Shooting Stars: Chapter 9
On the day of coronation, the Queen and her Grandis Knight should have originally accepted the people’s blessings together.
Yet my knight is standing coldly before me, refusing to stand next to me.
Since leaving Silvercord that year, there have been too many changes; it's hard to describe them one by one in detail.
From a knight to becoming the Queen, I walked a road that has also been full of ups and downs, until I finally reached today.
Xavier and his Backtrackers have long left the Lightseekers. They are even regarded as a group of traitors.
Once paths diverge, it will be hard to ever meet again.
MC: You all should know what kind of price Philos will have to pay should the Backtrack fail.
MC: The goal of the Backtrackers, I fear it has long been different from what you had told me that year, hasn’t it.
Xavier lowers his head and holds the hilt of his sword. Only then do I realize the star hanging on it has become the star-shaped knight badge I gifted him that year.
I don't know the reason for him replacing the previous tassel, but asking these sorts of questions now no longer holds any meaning.
Xavier: Master once said, a knight's sword must point in the same direction as the King.
Xavier: That line, I remember it too.
He lifts his eyes to look at me, and again it is that gaze that's impossible for anyone to refuse.
Except now, his once-clear gaze has turned .
Xavier: Whether or not you believe this, I have never changed.
He takes half a step back, and gives my hand a .
Xavier: May Philos be eternal.
Only a long time after Xavier leaves, do I return to my senses, and come to the balcony.
As far as the eye can see are the celebrating populace. Amidst the bustling crowd of people, I can’t seem to tell which figure is his despite trying.
Perhaps, he's already gone very far away.
At a time like this, I suddenly recall that year, that night he brought me out of that dense forest…
The light blade tears apart the darkness. He lights up my world like a shooting star, the only reality amongst all the illusions, the star that belongs only to me.
I wake up from a short period of deep sleep. That familiar figure is sitting before me, like he had never left before.
Kindled
Xavier: Finally awake.
Xavier: How are you feeling? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?
Even though he is so near, even though I can feel the warmth of Xavier's breath as he speaks, I still don’t dare believe everything before my eyes.
MC: Xavier…
I am pulled by a strong sense of unreality, and can’t help but reach my hand out towards him.
Xavier: It’s not a hallucination, it's really me. I’m back.
Xavier: Master once said, a noble knight should not perform sneak attacks.
Xavier: Alright… Noble knights should also not
Xavier: Since I was in the wrong first, if it relieves your anger, you can punch me a few more times.
Xavier: Can you stand?
Xavier: Slow down a little…
Xavier: If you can't walk, I'll carry you on my back.
Xavier: If you can walk, I can still carry you on my back.
He rescues me from the darkness, stepping on grass and leaves, walking in the forest with only the sound of insects chirping, the forget-me-nots on the ground emitting a soft glow.
MC: The flowers at the Academy should already have bloomed too.
MC: A pity… There just aren't any fireflies.
Xavier: This way, now there are.
MC: This is just light you created, they aren't fireflies.
MC: You’re lying to me.
MC: What are you looking at?
Xavier: Nothing, I just happened to see a shooting star.
MC: A shooting star…
MC: Xavier, do you still remember the planet Uluru?
Xavier: Of course. Our little planet.
MC: Say, do you think there will be a day where Uluru also becomes a shooting star and falls down…
Xavier: It won't. It's only a little more than two hundred years old, it's still a very young planet.
Xavier: The flowers on it should probably be in bloom and flourishing just about now.
MC: But the Wanderer incursions are so severe, sooner or later, the planet Uluru will also be discovered by Wanderers, and then turn into a place like Philos…
MC: Xavier, I'm tired… What if one day, I can't lift up my sword anymore, what do I do…
Xavier: If you’re tired， then sleep for a little while；I’ll keep you company.
Xavier: If there truly is nowhere else to escape to in this world, then at least… you can still escape to my side.
MC: …
MC: I don’t believe you, you always lie to me.
Indeed, he always lies to me.
For as long as I’ve known him, he’s told me countless lies.
For instance, he said with spring’s arrivalthere will be hope.
Said he wants to bring me to the little planet he had newly discovered.
Said he didn’t want to be King, but also didn’t want to let me stand by someone else’s side.
He even said when I miss him, he’d be back.
Said when I become the true Queen of Philos, it’d be his turn to be my knight.
The bard’s ode he altered on a whim has finally become reality, but on this day, as the people celebrate for me, he once again abandons me arbitrarily…
Under the fireworks, I turn around and leave the balcony, returning to the darkness of the main hall.
At that moment, a huge spaceship is currently taking off on the horizon, gliding across the horizon like a shooting star, disappearing into the night.
Footsteps echo emptily. There will never be someone accompanying me by my side again.
I know, in the end.
This time… He will never return.
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