AN

I just wanted to preface this with either today (March 2nd) or yesterday was TLO's anniversary. I can't believe that I've been writing for an entire year and I'm so glad that I did. I honestly don't keep up with projects for very long usually, and I think it's because of you all that I've gotten this far. So thank you all, and hopefully I can see this all through to the end (I've got a very long way to go if I write everything I have planned-). Without further ado, let's get to it!

~🌤~

Everything was blurry, nothing made sense. Miesall could not comprehend his sight. All that he could understand was the sharp pain that started from his chest and burned through his veins like a hundred thousand — no, a million— explosions all at once occuring all throughout his body. He was vaguely aware of how his magic pulsed, causing his body to converge. Far away, someone was saying something.

'—sall! M.... Ou—... ere? M... ll?! Wake... up!! Miesall, please!!' A familiar hand begged against his skin as he came to. He now had a loose hold on his vision, blurry but at least he could mostly point them as he wished.

Xelqua was there, kneeling on the ground. In his arms he carried a bloodied lump that jerked dangerously, often hitting him, but he didn't try to avoid it. Two different lights shot out of the person's chest like lightning; sparking in two colors that clashed together in a battle of their own. A Watcher's lavender and a Listener's lime green.

Just what was it that Xel was holding? A person, surely. Miesall took to his natural state of being, even as the pain left him not functional as he normally would be.

Where was his body, he wondered. More importantly, were those tears streaming down Xel's face? Why was he crying and why was he signing to him? Did he want to help this person? No... he was saying something about waking up. That only yielded more questions, questions he couldn't find the words for in his current mental capacity.

He tried to respond, he really did. Maybe it worked and maybe it didn't, but he couldn't see wherever he was and his receptors were so overwhelmed that he couldn't tell if his body had listened to his request. Even if it had, he honestly had no idea what he had replied.

"Miesall!" Xelqua exclaimed in both forms of communication. "You're awake, oh thank the Great Ones you're awake!!" He began quickly speaking, speaking so fast that the Watcher couldn't keep up at all. Something about... Allec, did he say?

His heart nearly stopped as he remembered how the Listener had dragged him into battle. His mind eye's replayed it all at once, including how the arrow had gone right through his chest, the source of the pain he felt now. Suddenly everything was coming together, making much more sense than it did before.

He studied the bloodied lump of a body in Xelqua's arms, trying to figure out the one piece that was missing: who that was. He watched on for a few moments, growing more aware of everything by the second. He couldn't help but notice the patterns of the convulsions seemed to match theirs. Unless... it was his body?!

Alarm rang throughout his entire body, causing him to shudder.

"Hey, hey," Xel said, lowering his head so he could speak into Salt's earwing. "It's going to be okay, okay? Just, just relax, okay? Here, your body is going to heal you like it always does! Look, I'll even help!" He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Miesall. Naive and inexperienced as he was, even he knew the outlook. Blatant lies flew out of tongue, flowing like a rushing rapid as he prepared his magic. In that moment, he clearly wouldn't have cared if he was sent to the Void for the rest of his days, he needed them both to believe it. Maybe then...

It took all that Miesall had to shake his head. 'Sun... you... can't.' he squeaked, his fingers lightly closing to form the first syllable. He couldn't keep it up though, forced to forgo signage all together.

"What? But Miel--" Xel whined. His tears continued to flow, and his throat tensed up almost as if someone was choking him. "I can-- I can heal you! I can... I can heal you..." Even as he argued, his magic subsided, his hands no longer glowing.

Salt took a harsh breath, grabbing as much air as he possibly could. Each breath was harder for him to obtain than the last, having to fight harder each time for it. "You... you... can't..." he whispered, his voice barely a whisper. He painfully moved his head to point his gaze directly at Xelqua. He was far to pale, far too weak. His convulsions had slowed considerably. The hidden meaning behind his words were left unspoken, but Xel knew them regardless.

"There-- there has to be something we can do!!" Xel exclaimed, panic rising in his already broken heart. He could not lose another friend. His heart simply could not take it, watching him slip away like this.

If he had been in good health, he would have given his student a lecture. One about how confliting magics caused damage to each other, in this case ultimately nullifying their ability to heal themselves. There was simply nothing that could be done. They were running out of time, each heartbeat growing fainter. It was all he could do to shake his head.

He knew he was dying. It was an eventuality that all creatures needed to face, with exception to some of the heads of the higher species. It had been something he had known since before he could remember, and unlike an illogical human, he had been at peace with that. Happy for it, even, as it meant that he had completed his fate and got to be reabsorbed into his creators. Now that it was finally happening to him though, he found that that peace was nowhere to be found; that he was just as illogical as the humans he had observed.

As time raced on, or maybe slowly ticked on by, he wasn't sure, paradoxically, he grew increasingly more tired and energized at once.

Panic filled his veins, but even now, seeing Xel being such a mess, he couldn't bear showing him this side.

Time was running out. Each breath now was like climbing up two blocks at once, over and over again.

"Maybe if I quick kill you your body will reset and—" Xel blabbered, but Miesall shook his head again.

"It... won't work." Miesall forced out. While resetting one's body usually worked, this wound, crafted by magic, was permanent. He could tell because if it wasn't, it would have killed him on contact, not bring about suffering like this. His body was fighting to stay alive, which was an obvious sign that he would not respawn.

Xel blabbered on, suggesting other things like healing potions and doctors and whatever else. Even if it could help, they just simply didn't have the time to go gather the resources. Tired, Miesall allowed Xel to blabber on for a bit more. He had to stop it though... there were things he still had to say. So many things. Enough to speak for another hundred years, maybe even a thousand.

Miesall's eyes were flickering in and out out of existence now, his heartbeat seemingly linked to it. His other senses pulsed with it as well and his nature knew that this was it; no matter how much he fought, no one could ever beat death. The thought shook him to his very core. He needed to say everything now. His final words.

Once upon a time, he had prepared a speech for his death. Not a long one, just a few short sentences about how he was glad to have served the Great Ones to their purposes. He had spent years memorizing it, so that even if he was knocked senseless he would be able to recite it. Now, he decided that those words didn't matter. He decided to say new ones.

'Sun... shine...' he signed though his entire body protested. He lifted his hand to hold Xel's cheek, caressing it even though it caused him indescribable pain. He chose to sign with his other hand. 'I... I...' he tried to force his hands to comply, and they barely did. He lifted his pinky, his pointer finger and his thumb, letting the other two lay on his palm. He held it there, even though he was shaking. Then he brought his hand to his chin, letting it rest there for longer than it should have. He slowly reached out, gesturing to Xelqua.

"What—?!" Xel exclaimed as he grabbed onto Miesall's hand on his cheek. "No— no don't say that! You— you're talking like you're dying! You're not dying!! Watchers can't die!!"

Miesall's response was only a breath, a sort of laugh as tears rolled down. It was so like Xelqua to make such a factual error.

He wanted to say so much more. His thought had already clamped up. It was as if he could feel the power slip away from his fingers, then his hand, then his arm and then everything else. It would have slipped away from Xelqua's cheek, but the former human held it tight, squeezing it as if that could somehow pump life back into him.

As Miesall slipped away at last, the last threads of life vanishing, Xel let out a shriek, calling out the name of his one and only friend through his weeping.

~🌤~

Okay, okay, okay... before you all kill me...

When I first created Miesall, I was rather wary of using an OC. I apparently decided by chapter 2 or 3 already that he was going to play a major role in the series.Now, it really brought the question of what would happen to him when the plot progressed. Within the next few days, I ultimately decided to kill him off.

I didn't realize just how much people would like him. By the time it had become self evident, I had already built it into a central plot point, which branches out into so many things and— well, I hope you'll see what I mean soon. It was no longer something I could simply edit out anymore.

I didn't realize I'd like him that much, either for that matter. But it had to be done, I'm afraid.

So... let's celebrate him. (It's all I could think of, sorry ;-;) There's this one song that really reminds me of him. The main character very much has a heart like him and while the plot doesn't quite match up, I think the character is very like Miesall. It's about a spirit that doesn't understand humanity, but becomes close with one person regardless. Over time, they become everything each other has, but alas they end up far away from home and then fate breaks them apart.

https://youtu.be/3r5FJvWbZY8

Also I updated the playlist, so be sure to give it a listen as well: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHUDmMFxD9BynlPTswb5g_p_GpDfnX6st (I'll add this to the comments too).