The Flower's Secret
After defeating the Void Ravager, we continued deeper into the desolate forest.
We'd set out before dawn, but the sun was already beginning to set.
Yet, there wasn't a single flower in sight. Not even a healthy blade of grass.
Anxiety flickered across Lydia's face. But this time, it was Ceres who reassured her.
You don't need to look so worried, Lydia.
I'm not worried.
Despite her words, Lydia's voice had lost some of its usual confidence.
This was something I needed to face eventually anyway.
At last, the forest came to an end, revealing an empty field before us.
This seems to be the end of the Moonlight Forest.
Ceres' expression was composed, but she looked so fragile that the slightest touch might make her crumble.
Commander...
Don't make that face, Lydia.
I was prepared to find nothing here from the start.
After saying that, Ceres walked ahead, as though she didn't want us to see her face.
Lydia couldn't bring herself to stand beside her. She only stared at Ceres' slender shoulders and back, biting her lip.
We stood there in silence until the last traces of twilight faded and the moon rose into the night sky.
Ceres finally turned back to us, forcing herself to look as though she was fine.
Well then. Shall we head back?
Just as Ceres managed to speak in a cracking voice...
Ceres. Look!
...!
In an instant, dazzling white flowers began blooming beneath the moonlight.
The field that had been utterly barren moments ago began to glow, now looking as though moonlight itself had settled upon the earth.
Come to think of it, there was a question I once asked my sister, because the names made no sense to me.
Why was the forest where Sunblossoms bloomed called the Moonlight Forest?
That's when she told me the secret of the flowers.
Long ago, they were called Moonblossoms because they bloomed beneath the moonlight.
Flowers that bloomed not beneath the sun, but under the moonlight in the deepest reaches of the West.
Flowers that quietly waited for the moonlight to return, even after the stars and moon vanished from the sky.
Flowers that refused to take root anywhere but the West, not because they were too weak to sprout, but because they embodied the very spirit of the West.
It was something the Commanders before Venera had passed down...
Something that Venera had wanted Ceres to find here in this field.
You were right, Sister. They really were here.
On the way back, we stopped to rest for a while.
Ceres gazed up at the sky, still lost in the lingering emotion of what she'd seen.
Thinking about your sister?
Yes. Ah, but I don't mean that I still have regrets or anything like that.
We didn't even need to speak. We understood each other without words.
So this is just me rambling about little things.
It was hard. But I did my best.
I never cried, not even once.
And mint chocolate parfaits were better than I expected.
And still...
I'd rather have my sister alive and eating parfaits with me than have her be some great hero.
...Lydia. You're crying again.
At Ceres' remark, Lydia hurriedly wiped away her tears as she sniffled.
*Sniff!* I'm not crying.
Is that so? Then I guess I'll admit something too.
I've been afraid this entire time.
There were many other things my sister and I promised we'd see together once we reclaimed the West.
But I was afraid that if I actually went looking for them, there would be nothing left...
So I tried to forget those promises.
I told her to leave everything from then on to me... but in reality, I just felt like crying, unable to muster the strength to get up again.
But seeing those Sunblossoms today made me realize something.
I would have been all right whether the flowers were there or not.
Because I have you, Captain, as well as Lydia and everyone in the Western Liberators.
...Honestly, you're impossible.
Thank you, Lydia.
...You're welcome.
Ceres smiled as she comforted Lydia, who finally gave in and let her tears fall.
I think I'm finally ready to face the promises I made with my sister.
Those precious to us may be gone, never to return.
Yet, our feelings can still reach one another without ever being spoken aloud.
And now, I have so many precious things of my own.
I have everyone in the Western Liberators.
I have all the beautiful sights of the West my sister told me about.
And the dream we shared that day is still here.
Thank you, Captain. Thanks to you, I remembered what my sister and I fought for...
And I'm finally realizing just how precious it truly was.
There must be plenty of other amazing sights in the West besides the Sunblossoms, right?
Of course.
There's the Sunset Tower, one of the West's legendary hidden wonders.
And the Cliffs of Rion, known as the Lighthouse of the Stars.
The promise we made when we first met still stands, so let's go see them together.
And this time, not just with me and the Captain. Let's bring everyone else too.
Yes.
The night sky over the West, once shrouded in despair, was now filled with stars.
The hope Ceres and the Western Liberators had reclaimed for the West sparkled overhead.
I'm so glad... we reclaimed the West.