Becoming A God In Another World With My Crush
Chapter 33: Gone Too Soon

Chapter 33: Gone Too Soon

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The sun was high, but the temple felt cold, not the kind of cold that came with wind or winter but the kind that settled in your soul and stayed there. The kind that made you feel so...empty.

Maia’s body lay at the center of the courtyard, wrapped in white linen, her hands folded over her chest. Flowers had been placed around her, lavender, white lilies, and the pale blue blossoms she used to grow in the temple garden and a few more that Xander was sure didn’t exist in his world.

Vimea stood at the head of the pyre, her voice steady as she recited the rites, but her hands trembled with every word as she kept stopping herself from sobbing.

"May the stars guide you." She said, "May the gods receive you. May your soul find rest in the light."

Gaea stepped forward next, her jaw clenched, her eyes red. She placed Maia’s staff beside her...Vimea has explained that it was used to give her the title of the High Priestess, laying it down like a sword at the feet of a fallen warrior to be buried with her.

"You always did what was right," she said, her voice low and rough. "Even when it hurt. Even when it cost you everything."

Eli knelt beside the pyre, whispering a prayer in the old tongue. His voice cracked halfway through, but he didn’t stop.

Alyhana stood last, her hands were shaking as she stepped forward, her aura flickering yellow around her fingertips. She lit the pyre with a soft breath of magic, and the flames caught slowly, like even the fire didn’t want to take her.

"M–may the gods carry you gently," she whispered, her voice breaking as she sobbed. "And may you find peace where... we could not."

Xander stood apart from the others, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, his jaw locked, his eyes were fixed on the fire, but he wasn’t really seeing it. He was literally somewhere else.

’You were supposed to protect her,’

’You were supposed to be strong enough...’

’To protect her... protect her...’

’Protect all of us...’

Iris stood beside him, but she didn’t say anything. She just reached out and gently touched Alyhana’s arm, offering comfort the way she could.

The flames crackled and smoke rose, eating away at the flesh of someone who had so much faith in him despite everything that had happened.

Did he even deserve this title?

The sun had begun to dip behind the trees, Xander sat alone at the entrance, elbows resting on his knees, the Aurex Blade lying across his lap.

The courtyard behind him was quiet now, the pyre had burned down to ash. The scent of smoke still clung to the air, but the fire was gone. Just like Maia... forever.

His fingers curled around the hilt of the blade, he let out a shaky breath and looked up at the sky. The stars were starting to appear, one by one, like tiny wounds in the dark.

The stars were out by the time Iris came towards him, she didn’t say anything at first but then...

"You good, nerd?"

She sat beside him, knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around them. Her hair was a little messy and her eyes were rimmed red, but dry now.

"How’s Alyhana?" Xander asked, still staring at the sword as he ignored her question.

"She’s..." Iris paused, looking for the right words to say. "Trying her best...I guess, she didn’t say much when I asked her, she only said she’s glad Maia is resting now."

"She doesn’t mean that, does she?"

Iris shook her head.

"I’ve never...uh... seen someone die in real life before," Iris said quietly after a while "Not like that."

Xander didn’t look at her, he just nodded once. "I have."

She turned to him, surprised. "Who?"

He hesitated as his jaw tensed, "My dad."

The words came out flat. Like they’d been buried for a long time.

Iris blinked. "Oh." She murmured "I’m sorry, do you... want to talk about it?"

Xander shook his head slowly. "No."

Iris nodded, thankfully she didn’t push since the last thing he wanted was him talking about his traumatic experience while he was currently dealing with another.

"Okay." She whispered.

They sat there, shoulder to shoulder, the silence stretching between them like a thread that didn’t need to be pulled.

The stars above them blinked quietly. The wind moved through the trees. Somewhere in the distance, a nightbird called once, then went quiet again.

"I keep thinking about her voice," Iris said softly, to fill in the deafening silence. "How calm she sounded. Even when she was dying."

Xander didn’t answer, because he knew that she knew she would die hours before she did but let it all happened, but he decided to keep that bit if information to himself, he didn’t see a reason to share.

"She was brave," she added. "Braver than I think I’ll ever be."

Xander’s voice was barely audible. "She didn’t deserve to die like that."

The dining hall was lit only by a few flickering candles. The long stone table was set, but the food sat untouched bowls of stew gone cold, bread left unbroken as no one spoke.

Xander watched as Gaea and Vimea kept glancing at the seat at the head of the table, Maia’s seat—remained empty.

Alyhana sat with her hands folded in her lap, her eyes fixed on the plate in front of her. She barely touched it, none of them had.

Iris sat beside Xander, her fingers tracing the rim of her bowl, her thoughts clearly elsewhere as Vimea spoke.

"We...will be leaving at first light tomorrow," she said, "To a neighboring village, we don’t know when Jinx will return with reinforcement now that she knows about the Kaelhi."

"I’m sure she’s already sending ravens to the Beast King about what she witnessed," Gaea said, her eyes boring into Xander’s, "You should be on your way to the Shadow grove as well tomorrow before you get ambushed as well."

Xander heaved a sigh but he understood, remaining here was beyond dangerous. "Cool." He said simply.

"Pack your things, Alyhana." Vimea said... "All that you can carry, we aren’t sure if will ever return–"

Then softly Alyhana interrupted her voice barely above a whisper:

"I want to go with Xander."

Everyone looked up in shocked, but Xander raised a cup to his lips to drink the juice unphazed.

"I want to help." Alyhana said, despite everyone’s shocked expression, "I want to fight."