Many Partings

Quill was the first to go.

It came as no surprise to anyone, least of all him. He’d known since H’esper gave
him the many gifts of farsight that his time would be up eventually. He had seen his older self
enough times to know what it meant when he could see him without even laying a talon on
the Spear of Oracles. 

Aarakocra didn’t live long, but Quill was more than pleased with what he’d done in
the last 20 or so years. He’d made the best friends a bird could ever hope for, be the loyal
squire to a Knight fit for myth and legend, he’d travelled to the edges of reality to face down
dark gods, and in return he’d seen his home prosper and bloom, the vision that he’d once
seen of the Valley of Storms in a time of peace was well on its way to becoming a reality.
He’d planted the seeds of this new world, and now he trusted his friends and the world
they’d built to see them through. 

His body was placed upon the highest peak overlooking the valley of storms, high
above the Temple of H’esper, a place of calmness and silent vigil he’d spent many hours in,
watching over this new world. Sentry laid him down to rest, his frail avian body so small in
her arms. Her loyal squire, it was he who had woken her up and brought her to this world,
and she would be there to put him to rest. The Stormchasers, their loyal crew, and countless
others who Qillek Ad Khollar had meant so much to had gathered to mark his passing.

It was Sentry’s time next.

Passing on the Prime Matrix to another, a new Prime rose to usher forth the
Guardians into this new world, one that Sentry had helped build and could now pass on,
confident that their futures were in safe hands. Like with Quill, they could tell long before that
the time was coming, and the moment was prepared for. At Sentry’s request, they returned
to that same peak where a collection of bones overgrown in moss and flowers now rested.
The once mighty Sentinel Prime, now returned to her original form of Sentry, knelt down by
the remains of her faithful friend. There was a tearful goodbye for all, no one more so than
for Petal, the last light of Solwynn, who breathed deep sobs to say farewell to her ever-loving
Guardian. Her Majesty’s Rose in hand as she relieved Sentry of her duty at long last. 

Sentry, one final time, held Starbreaker aloft. A solemn vow spread across the
guardians present. A promise of unity mixed with the sadness they had learned all too well
during the war against the Red Star. Sentry would not be lost forever, but the saviour of the
Guardians had long earned her rest. She knelt, Starbreaker piercing the earth, and gave a
nod to Lucius. They had always had a special bond, his ability to connect with Matrices had
drawn them ever closer and now she had asked her old friend one final kindness to her.
Sentry, this time, would go to what came next on her terms. Surrounded by friends and loved
ones and at peace. She would never know the terror or loss that she had felt in Solwynn’s
fall again. She would be free, after centuries of waiting. Lucius placed a hand upon the
Matrix, tears shining like prisms as they rolled down his cheeks. The light of the Matrix
flowed into the Gauntlet as Sentry took one last look at her friends, and there she would
stay. A smile carved upon her face, the Knight and her Squire reunited once more.
As Lucius released the energy into a showering spray of kaleidoscopic light, at Sentry’s
request Nova V’ger scribbled down coordinates and notes, making a map for if any should
need Starbreaker again. 

Next came Nova.

The end had been coming for a while. Obvious to anyone who knew her as soon as
she stopped volunteering to go on all the research trips herself. Ever prepared, Nova V’ger
had a precise and detailed plan in place for her funeral, to a level of detail that those that
remained weren’t entirely convinced she hadn’t timed her death deliberately. There was to
be a meteor shower passing over Aerois in the few days after her passing, a new novelty to
Aerois since the cradle had fallen, and it felt only right that Nova would end her days among
the stars, untethered and able to explore forever. 

Thalia flew them up in the Twinstar. She had barely aged a day but in this time of
grief all the years seemed to erupt out from her soul. A grey muzzled big cat nudged at her
hand as they stood in the cargo bay. Aila carried Nova’s body to the capsule, she had
insisted. She placed her friend down and tore a small piece of fabric from the scarf around
Nova’s waist. There she tied it into her greying red hair, along with an Aarakocra feather and
an evergreen vine. As the meteor shower started, they allowed the capsule with Nova’s body
to drift out into the Astral sea, joining the wondrous mass of rainbow lights as they danced
across Aerois’ atmosphere. 

They played the recording Nova had left, an apparent 110-minute speech, it started using
the meteor shower as a metaphor, but in a so very Nova way it quickly collapsed into an
impassioned ramble, explaining the exact science of the event they watched. At long last,
after decades, they all listened to the entire lecture. Happy to hear their friend speak to them,
with a voice filled with love and excitement, one last time. 

Then it was Aila’s turn.

It was perhaps surprising, in the end, how Aila passed. It was not in battle, or in some
trek in the wilds. The mighty warrior, the stormborn titan of strength, passed peacefully in her
sleep. She was in her home, in one of the cities that now stood in Aelseraph, where
members of the Aerdeithe clan now resided. The skies wept that night, with terrible thunder
and lightning clashing across the sky. Beasts howled through the darkness and the trees
shook from the wind. The world itself seemed to mourn the passing of Aila. So too, did
Lucius. 

He ventured to Aelseraph on the Stormchaser, a more fitting ship to send off Aila he
could not think for there was no greater storm he had ever seen in the world than the storm
of love and strength that flourished inside that woman. The Wild Elves, as strange a name
as that was starting to seem for them now, had their customs and so Aila was placed into a
longboat at the coast. All gathered where those whose future had been secured by her
strength, whose children no longer had to fear the night or the storm thanks to her. Her hair
was filled with wildflowers and her body adorned with the greatest gifts that could be
mustered. At her waist still sat a great belt of leather and gold and wrapping her body was
tartan of orange and red and black. This was to be the send-off worth of more than even a
Thane, for who had given more to the Wild Elven future than she who now set off into the
shallows of the ocean. 

As the longboat set out, a great volley of arrows flew out across the water, blazing
flame streaking like shooting stars across the sky. One found its mark, setting the boat
ablaze as the bowman, an old scarred wild elf with swirling flame dancing up his arm. The
boat passed on, reaching the horizon where it blazed like the setting sun, until it too passed
on. 

Finally, at long last, it was Lucius’ turn.

Old age had been coming for him for a while. Many glamorous and other magicks
had kept him the perfect picture of his age, or perhaps a couple decades younger, but there
were aches he could no longer ignore, a large scar across his chest where it now struggled
to breathe. He wandered the halls of the palace in Gusthaven, looking at the memories and
life that he had built with Prince Aridan, the work they had done to bring Gusthaven into the
future and continue to make it a centre for progress and kindness.

He took one last walk through the city streets. So much had changed since the war.
The introduction of Valkyrian technology had allowed Gusthaven to expand and grow like
had never been thought possible. Astral ships, both Aerosian and Valkyrian passed by
above him. Children played happily in the street, children to whom the Sundering, Kalus
Starbane and the Valkyrian Empire, and the Red Star were all just stories, pages in history.
As different as things may be, there was one route he’d never forget. It had been some time,
and many things had changed since he had returned to this place decades ago to find a ruin
but having the Skyprince for a husband had allowed many perks, one of which was the
return of his family’s estate. But no manor house stood there now, no mark of wealth of
grandeur. Instead, here was an academy, The Norfir Art Academy. A place dedicated to the
arts and creation, sponsored by the Elenasto family and the City of Gusthaven to ensure all
had access to education within its walls. They did an exhibit every year, a display of the
graduates’ skills and talent, and every year Lucius had made sure to go every single day to
let them know how proud of them he was. But he was old now, and that ache in his chest let
him know that he would not be here for this year's show. 

It was time to go soon, but one last journey. 

He passed through the city once more until the familiar docks came into sight, as did the
familiar grey ship moored there. 

The Wolfpack, the originals that is, had all passed on by now, as had Oriya and Howard. A
new crew worked the deck and the sails, but as he walked through them there was a
change. A small crackle of power from beyond. The new faces changed into wolfish grins
and rough laughs. A boisterous orc stood at the helm and a poor frantic halfling tried to sort
lunch orders. There was the familiar hum of the engines and a soft ethereal voice
announcing they were ready for take-off. Errant rocks soared past members of the Wolfpack
with a distant shout of success echoing in Lucius’ ears. There was a clatter of pots from
below and a dismayed cry and the sound of someone far too large and metal trying to be
very delicate. As he reached the door for the captain’s quarters, he even could have sworn
he saw the glint of a spyglass from the Crow’s Nest.

Entering the cabin, the world settled back into the new. Maps and charts were upon his
desk, the world would always need the Stormchaser and heroes to man it, but as he sat
upon his chair and felt that pain in his chest, he knew that was no longer him. Centuries ago,
they had all been offered godhood. The chance to live forever and never lose each other.
But Lucius knew that things were not beautiful because they lasted. It was the fleetingness
of life that made things beautiful. As he closed his eyes, he thought how lucky he had been
to have lived the life he had, even with all he had lost. 

His eyes shut, and Lucius Virion Eluin Elenasto breathed easily once more. He knew not
what awaited him now, but as he heard a familiar flapping of wings, he knew one thing.
He was going to see his best friend again.