She stood there as though she had stepped directly out of his memory. Her hair catching the light of his soul sea in strands of soft gold, falling loosely around her shoulders effortlessly. Her eyes matched, bright and clear carrying a depth that drew him in without trying.
He still couldn't quite believe it. But she was standing right there, right in front of him. Tyr was somehow still alive, and inside his soul sea no less.
'Its impossible! I killed her myself! I buried her myself!'
But while he was still struggling to understand what was happening, Tyr spoke again, her voice instantly pulling him out of his confusion once more.
"It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry to see you out of the blue like this, but there was really no other way I could do this."
Her voice hadn't changed at all either. It was still as soothing as ever, carrying that same gentle cadence that softened every sharp edge in his heart.
"You.. you're!!"
There was so much that he wanted to say to her, but in the end, nothing came out. Not even a whisper. He was too stunned to speak, to shocked to even make out the words that he wanted to say to her.
But more importantly, he just wanted to hear her. But that would quickly prove to be a mistake.
"I wanted to be able to say more... But leaving a recording in someone else's soul sea is costly for my essence."
Just as quickly as he was pulled out of his confusion, he was suddenly thrusted far deeper into it than he had ever been before. Her presence felt so vivid, it felt impossible to doubt.. and yet.
"A recording.. what?"
Before he knew it, he found himself taking measured steps towards her, and with every step, the more real she seemed to be.
But it was then that he noticed.. there was something odd in the way that she looked at him. No.. looking at him was the wrong way to describe it, she wasn't even looking at him at all, or rather, she was looking at the empty space in between them.
"I never told you about my awakened ability. Only my dormant. So I'll reveal it to you now."
His heart began to shake frantically, the tightness in his chest almost strangling him alive.
"I can leave recordings of myself in places, and impart them with messages. I can even do this with soul seas as you can see.. however, the target has to be especially close to me."
Pausing for a moment, the recording seemed to hesitate before uttering,
"Close enough that they'd open their souls up to me willingly. And even then, there are strenuous conditions."
The truth struck him like lightning, sudden and blinding, leaving no room for denial.
She really wasn't alive. She truly was dead, and the person standing before him wasn't even a person at all. It was just a ghost, a hollow echo that repeated the words of someone from the past.
Suddenly he felt loose in his knees, and before he could even reach her, he had already collapsed.
"I'm really sorry.. I should've told you about this in advance, but I kept this a secret from you for a reason. It doesn't matter now, though. If your seeing this, then I'm already dead."
Despite how overcome with heartache he was though, he immediately got to thinking.
'She must've placed this recording during that night then..'
The night where Azdin had suggested they put her out of her misery. The memory was still clear, the sounds of her whimpering in pain every day, and the sight of her infected wounds never closing.
It pained him seeing her like that, but it pained him even more to do the dirty deed.
He could still see it clearly, her blood staining his hands.
"Rather than just attaching it to the boat, I attached it here because I only wanted you to see this. Not Azdin, only you."
Her eyes dropped to the ground, showing her worry. If Hugo was seeing this message, then regardless of what had happened next he must've been in a position where he could die at any moment.
"If your seeing this.. then I guess your about to die, right? This is one of those strenuous conditions."
The recording she had left behind jokingly laughed, but it was apparent that it was forced.
"Of course, I can't help you. But that isn't what I want to talk about either."
And then, what she said next made him itch.
"It's about Azdin."
Just hearing that name immediately put Hugo on his ends. Out of all the things she could've talked about last, hearing it be about him made him somewhat irritated.
"I'm sure your already grumbling... But this is technically my will, even if it's not on paper. At least hear me out?"
But if it was important enough that she had to ask..
'Then I guess I have to hear her out, nothing I can do about it now.'
The recording paused for a moment to breathe in. Even if she didn't have to since she wasn't real, she did it anyway too seem more human.
And then she shouted,
"First of all.. Don't blame him for what happened!"
The sudden increase in tone made him jump up quite a bit, but it wasn't just that which surprised him. What she said next only added to his bewilderment.
"I heard you two argue.. and I'm sure you hate him quite a bit for what he did. And I'm going to tell you now that it wasn't his fault that I died. It's my fault for making that decision to save everyone, that's the reason I got injured after all. If I didn't drag both of you down, then you wouldn't be suffering like this."
"You shouldn't hold onto hatred like that because of me."
By now it was obvious, she wanted to try and fix whatever was going on between Azdin and himself. He didn't like the idea, but he wasn't sure about his feelings for towards it either. Tyr was talking about the Azdin she knew, before she died she would not know what had happened to him now.
Even then, just because he had forgotten didn't mean that he could be forgiven. Just because someone felt remorse for killing, did that make them any less of murderer? Just because Azdin had forgotten what he did, didn't mean he was any less innocent. Atleast, that was the way Hugo saw it.
'I'm not innocent either. For the rest of my life I'll have to carry the burden of killing her.'
And that was why he hated Azdin. For forcing that burden upon him when he's the one who should've taken it himself.
It sounded selfish, and he knew that too. But the pain he had felt since then far outweighed whatever shame it carried.
The echo of Tyr continued though,
"For as long as I could remember, I could feel the torment of others. Even before I awakened, I could tell what someone was feeling just by the expression on their face, even if they tried to hide it."
This peculiar talent of hers was both a blessing and a curse. Being able to know how someone truly felt, was not always what they wanted her to know. So Tyr simply knowing that truth, had often hurt her more often than she liked.
But at the same time, it was only because of that talent that she could understand people in a way that others could not.
"Azdin's feelings were especially deep and cruel. Out of everyone in that place, I've never seen someone with as much animosity and hatred as him. It was bad enough that my Aspect couldn't soothe it completely, but the tendencies he had which stemmed from them— as well as his strength, made him unapproachable to others."
As she spoke, her expression seemed to change ever so slightly. Small shifts of fear breaking through her calm demeanor, which failed to escape from Hugo's notice.
It steeled his understanding of Azdin even more, and he believed that Tyr didn't like him either.
"And yet.. without a single doubt in my mind, I can say with confidence that he truly did feel compassion."
And once more, Hugo found himself completely stumped.
"He may not seem like it, but he really did value both of us. In his own unique way. If our positions were swapped, I'm sure he would've refused to kill you too. Even if it were just you two present on that boat."
'And for that matter, your the dying one.'
The echo seemed to pause for a moment, before continuing,
"I guess what I'm trying to say is.. please be patient with him. He isn't the heartless person that you believe him to be. It was because he saw me suffering, that he believed killing me was the best thing he could do for me, and it was because he was scared of having to kill me that he had a heart."
"I'm sure you think that doesn't make it right, that he shouldn't be allowed to suggest such a thing if he couldn't go through with it himself. But I want to tell you that it really did come from a genuine place. He didn't do it out of malice, and he truly did consider both of us as friends that entire time."
The recording halted her words. Seemingly giving Hugo time to think.
The revelation wasn't all that surprising in a way. He had always known that Tyr was truly too kind for a place like that, and she believed in putting others before herself if she could. But even this was.. too far fetched for him to believe.
Hearing it come from her herself though, left no room for doubt.
'She's forgiving him?'
He wasn't sure before.. but now...
'She was okay with dying?'
Now that he knew this..he began to question himself. But unlike before, he was truly able to answer them.
Was it selfish of him to watch her die slowly then, knowing that she wouldn't be saved it time? Was he the only one in the wrong the whole time? Was it his duty, as the one who was closest to Tyr out of the two to do the deed himself?
His eyes had been opened to an entirely new perspective. He felt that a weight that had been holding him down this entire time, had finally been released.
Looking up, he finally rose to two feet, and stared at the recording of Tyr once more. In the beginning, she seemed so full of life..
But now, she seemed faint. Transparent.
A sign that the recording of herself that she had left behind was at last coming to an end.
"Next... Let's see. Your planning on taking revenge, right?"
Hugo stilled, the question landing without surprise yet striking deeper than expected. He was firm about how he felt about that though, and his mind wouldn't change even if she asked him to quit.
It was those people responsible for her death too.
With this, Tyr seemed to agree for once.
"Well, I can't ask you to just go and give up. But at least promise me something. Don't do it alone. It's too dangerous.
She sounded protective, almost pleading as if she were trying to reach him before he could turn away again. That thought had crossed his mind once or twice, but he believed finding them to be a nuisance.
But maybe he didn't need to find all of them.
Azdin was still here after all.
"Find the others, wherever they may be. Tell the world what had happened to you, and seek justice for everyone that died. Don't just make it about personal revenge, everyone must be involved."
And so, the recording was at last coming to it's ends. She had begun to truly fade, her voice growing quiet, and her presence vanishing from his soul sea.
Still, she had one more thing that she had to say.
"And lastly I.."
As she finished uttering her words, she stood there silently for a while, simply smiling. Hugo could do nothing but watch her one last time too.
And then, she faded away once and for all. That was it. She was truly gone now, and he would never see her again.
His shoulders trembled, uneven and restrained as he struggled to hold himself together. No sobs came, no voice, but tears fell helplessly as the anguish overcame him all at once.
But even so, while her last words had filled him with regret and reminded him of the sorrow he had for her, she had in turn inspired something new within him. At last, the confusion he had felt all this time had been resolved, and now, everything had become so clear to him amidst his tears.
How he truly felt about Azdin, and what he wanted to do in the future too. He was certain about it all now.
And in response to all of that, a profound change within the depths in his soul began to take place. Something deep inside of him began to unravel. Something he had been anticipating for a very long time, yet hadn't quite reached.
But now the wait was over. The determination to fight once more, and the power to do so, had at last fallen within his grasp.
At last, it was time to wake up.