Galaxy of Hyperion: Mystic Heir

Chapter Forty: Speak

"I feel as if the first thing that I should do is apologize."

Zelda began the conversation softly, her voice almost impossible to hear above the overwhelming and stifling silence of the room. She shook her head and released a small sigh before looking up to meet Jay's eyes. "I understand that nothing I can say will ever be able to make up for what I have done. No apology will bring back the lives that were lost the day that the tablet of Sapphin was destroyed, and you lost everything that day. I cannot do anything to change what has happened in the past, but... I do want to tell you that I'm sorry for what has happened."

Jay looked away from Zelda, trying her best to process what she was hearing. Zelda's apology sounded sincere enough, but something deep down still made her feel nauseous at the idea of the words. "You're right," Jay finally said. "You aren't going to be able to bring them back. Nobody can bring the dead back to life. They're gone, and that means that they're never going to be returning to the world of the living."

"I was acting under Mersall's order when I destroyed the tablet and the lives of the countless Skylox Heroes that were found within the boundaries of its power. He was the one who demanded that they die, but that hardly excuses what was done. I was his proxy, but I was still the one who acted to harm those that you cared for so deeply," Zelda continued. "Your anger towards me is justified. I'm in no position to ask you to move beyond the past when you are the one who was most heavily influenced by what took place."

"No... You really can't just ask me to move on," Jay agreed with a shake of her head. The room fell silent once more a moment later. "But... I know that I can't remain locked in the past forever. There are issues with looking to both the past and the future. You must remain aware of the past without being trapped in it. You must look to the future without being ignorant of what has happened previously. Striking a middle ground is important to reach this destination, though as one could imagine... That's much more difficult than you would expect it to be."

"I'm not going to force you to forgive me in any way, shape, or form," Zelda reiterated. "I meant it when I said that. I was the one who acted in this way, and you have every right to detest me for what I did. But... I believe that you're also aware of the fact that we have to find a way to press on and fight alongside one another regardless of what has happened previously. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are fighting together to defeat Alba and the other Lakinya that are roaming the Galaxy of Hyperion, and if we cannot get along... It'll be much harder to find a way to pull through this successfully if we are unable to move past our enmity for one another."

"Enmity for one another makes it sound as if this isn't one-sided," Jay snorted with a shake of her head. "To you, I'm probably just some random person who you didn't realize would be caught up in the middle of your actions against the Skylox Heroes... But to me, you ruined my everything. I took up the disguise of the Silver Knight because I didn't want you to find me on the off chance that you would finish the job that you had previously acted out against the Skylox Heroes."

Zelda let out a hollow laugh. "It's strange, isn't it? We've both been so impacted by one another without realizing it... For the record, I was never able to conclude without a shadow of a doubt who you were when you donned the armor of the Silver Knight. I suppose that you did what you were hoping for in hiding who you truly were," she remarked. "At the time, I would have been upset to know that there was someone out there who had managed to survive my assault against the Skylox Heroes, but now... It feels inconsequential."

"Mersall is the one that we can blame for all of this," Jay pointed out. "He was the one who made it seem as if this was the best option. If I recall correctly, he was the one to train you into acting against the Skylox Heroes in the first place."