After staying some more time in the company of her dear sister, Nephthys, Nent chased her away ; almost embarrassed by the things she said to her.
She was extremely happy and grateful that they could spend some time together, after what felt like an eternity, with less tension between them than in the past.
However, that didn't change the fact that this was not where her sister should be at this moment. The whole point of her sister being her was to spend time with her family or more specifically with Anubis. Words couldn't describe the joy she sensed in Nephthys at being able to spend more time with her dear husband once again.
It was the kind of smile that she had seen on her after a long long time, way too long in fact. It was also the kind of smile she had forgotten how to make after the long centuries of bitterness and hatred that she felt deep within.
Knowing that being with her was making her miss out on the quality time she could be spending happily with her family, making that beautiful smile, she couldn't find it in herself to be selfish enough to make her stay by her side.
Thus she made her return to where she belonged, leaving her alone in this desolate place again. Loneliness and desolation, these were emotions she was deeply familiar with. The kind of emotions that she constantly experienced throughout these long centuries.
She sat there looking above at the sky, sitting by herself in that eerily comfortable loneliness. However, she didn't have to stay lonely anymore. Someone had come to keep her company.
“So you are here.”
Looking up, she could see Kiyohime approaching her from a distance. She was surprised to notice that she hadn’t even managed to feel her presence. It was clear she had been too distracted.
“What brings you here, Kiyohime?”
Nent asked while trying to arrange her messy hair. The cool wind had brought with it a strong gust that led to having her hair ruffled. She was just trying to fix things here and there when Kiyohime spoke.
“Sol asked me to look for you. He was worried that he didn't spot you. Seems like we should hurry if we want to eat something before Anubis and Fafnir devour everything whole.”
“Heh. Indeed, I can almost see it already. Sorry, but I don't really feel like eating now. Just don't have the appetite you see. You can go on by yourself. Tell Sol not to worry, I'll be joining everyone soon enough.”
Kiyohime ignored Nent’s words and sat on a rock beside the lonely phoenix. She gazed attentively at the sea, feeling more at ease than she ever had before.
“You were finally able to say goodbye to him, huh?”
Nent stayed silent, “Do you even care?”
“I do.”
The expression of surprise was evident on Nent’s face. So much so that Kiyohime couldn’t help but laugh out loud as though she had seen the funniest shit ever. Seeing her, Nent couldn't help but ask, a bit hesitant in her tone…
“I thought you hated me.”
“Oh I did. Still do a little, I think.”
Kiyohime stopped laughing as a slight aura of reminiscence flashed in her eyes, “You used me, made a mockery out of my feelings for you, then proceeded to abandon me when you discovered I had become useless for your goal.”
She continued, her voice calm and devoid of any emotions, “You made me miserable. Made me doubt my self-worth. Destroyed my confidence, crushed my pride. I even nearly swore off of any future relationship."
The more she spoke, the more ashamed Nent felt inside. Her head was down; she couldn't even look in her eyes.
“As if it to add insult to injury. After doing all this, you come back nonchalantly like it's the most natural thing in the world. Then you simply said sorry as if what you did to me wasn’t a big deal.
You acted as if all my emotions were a simple joke to you. Hahaha. Honestly, I don’t know I held myself back from striking at you then and there.”
“I…”
“Let me finish, please.”
Nent closed her mouth; intimidated by her aura. She didn't think she could feel that emotion anymore, but it seems like she has been wrong just like so many other times throughout her life.
“I thought that I would never have anything else to do with you. That our way would be completely different from one another. But then…”
She gave a bitter smile full of sadness and derision, “I would have never thought that we would have to share the same man one day.”
Even Nent released a helpless chuckle, one that was answered by a small smile from Kiyohime, “Funny right? But it is what it is. I still do not really know how I should define my relationship with him. But it is what it is. Nothing more needs to be said.”
“Why bring this up now?”
“Because as distasteful as it is, that Titan is right. Even if we do not like each other, we will need to work and support each other. All the members of the pride should do so in order for the pride to keep cohesion.”
“You are strangely proactive now.”
“I was passive in our relationship and we all know the result. For years and in fact, even now I keep wondering. What did I do wrong? What if I had done more. What could I have done better?”
“You have done nothing wrong. Nothing you did could change the end result. The problem was with me, after all.”
“I know. At least intellectually speaking, I understand that I have nothing to reproach myself. But feelings cannot be controlled by reason, can they? Most likely, I will keep those regret all my life. Like a scar that can never heal. But this is the past. Now that I have a second chance, I refuse to leave anything up to chance.”
Her eyes shone with a fascinating luster, one the Phoenix had never seen before, “I will be open and forthright about my failures. At the very least, if it fails, then I will have no regrets this time.”
“So, why tell me all that? What are you trying to achieve from all of this?”
“Because deep down, as stupid and dumb as it may sound coming frome… I want you to be happy.”
“...You…”
“My old feelings will never come back. But it doesn’t change the fact that I once loved you from the very bottom of my heart. I failed to bring you salvation but Sol was able to succeed. Now that you have a new chance, I hope you will find it in yourself to cherish it.”
“A second chance, heh.”
A second chance. Nent never thought that she would hear something like this. More so from Kiyohime of all people. It made her feel horrible.
“You really think I can have a second chance?”
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Once a glass was broken, it could never be the same even if it was repaired. But it was still possible to buy a new one.
Kiyohime could never really forgive nor forget. But she was willing to give a second chance. One final chance to Nent.
Kiyohime smiled as she stretched her hand towards Nent, “So let’s do this from the beginning. *Ahem* Hello, my name is Kiyohime, though everyone simply calls me Kiyo. Happy to meet you.”
Tears welled up once again in Nent’s eyes as she lowered her head, unwilling to show the unsightly emotions brimming on her face.
She remembered clearly that when they entered the dragon realm a few month ago, this was how Kiyohime introduced herself to Sol and the others. [1]
At that time, this greeting had not been extended to her for obvious reasons and all she had done then was respond in anger to hide her shame.
But now she could truly feel it.
The her at this moment was very different from the her of a few months ago.
If sending Hansel to the afterlife was a way to close an old book of her life.
Now was the time to write a new page in the book that would define the rest of her life. A new chance, a new beginning.
One that she wished to live without regret. Bringing up her hand, she shook it with Kiyohime, her tears now uncontrollably trailing down her face but a bright and light smile full of the energy that once brimmed in her innocent self was shining through them.
“I am Nent. Happy to meet you as well.”
The two shook hands.
Their words and actions were awkward. But a deep and dark weight was taken off their heart.
This was indeed a new beginning. Not just for Nent, but for Kiyohime as well.
It may have taken seven hundred years for one and five hundred years for the second, but it was still better now than never.
———
[1]: CH 194
AN: I can’t believe I have took Nent this far. Nent was first properly introduced in CH 171 as this slightly crazy woman that might be a traitor. Now more than 165 chapters later, I believe her narrative is basically complete and I think I did a pretty good job, what do you think? Rather than fluff and smut, vol 10 is more a volume of closure in a way. Closing the narrative of the characters who appeared in the Astral realm. Though we still need smut. XD
