Work Text:
The wind blew softly. My nose tingled with the smell of bright spices sold in the capital’s market.
When I lifted my hood just a little, my small, grey world burst into colour.
People talked. Some laughed. Some were full of joy, others quietly hurting.
Their faces painted a moment so beautiful it warmed me.
I loved walking through the capital streets. Every tiny detail taught me something about the world beyond mine.
Steps that once felt small now carried so much weight.
A sudden gust hit me.
I panicked and grabbed my hood, my heart shrinking with a fear I couldn’t name.
When I finally calmed down, a sigh slipped out—
—but to my horror, I had failed to hide the one thing that made me different… the thing that made people call me cursed.
Why?
Why am I the one being judged?
Why can’t you look at me as I am?
My chest tightened. I turned and ran.
I ran without direction, my eyes darting everywhere, searching for a reason.
Why was I so weak?
Why did I want to cry?
Why did I want to go home so badly?
And then… a star appeared in front of me.
“Emilia-tan.”
A silly nickname, one he gave me without hesitation.
We argued. We misunderstood each other.
But even then, that star shone a little brighter every day.
His light fell on me—every smile, every feeling, every clumsy emotion.
They sank into my heart like treasures I didn’t want to lose.
Soon, he became more than a star.
He became home.
“Mr Star, Mr Star,” I would ask him,
“Don’t you feel pain? Don’t you ever feel sad or angry?”
“I do,” he always said. “It’s part of who I am.”
And little by little, my cold heart began to warm.
I yearned for his light.
I needed the shelter he offered, the warmth he gave me in my darkest alleys.
His voice, his eyes, his gestures—each one marked my sky like the Seven Sisters.
But time is cruel.
We ran together.
Sometimes we tripped.
Sometimes we fell.
But we never stopped.
And somehow… I started to think he never stopped for anyone.
That he had guided many lost souls before me.
As his light carried me, I kept running.
My skin wrinkled.
My hair thinned.
My bones grew weak.
I could no longer run the way I once did.
I turned back…
But there was nothing.
Only emptiness.
I touched my chest.
“I feel like something is missing…”
A cold shiver spread through me as I looked up at the sky.
Thousands of stars shone above—beautiful, bright, dazzling.
But none of them could shine like that star.
And only then did it hit me:
If only I had looked back while I was still running.
My steps grew wider and wider.
My body felt light—so light it was as if every chain tying me to this land, to this forest, had finally fallen away.
I moved without weight.
Snowflakes drifted past my hands, but I couldn’t feel a single one.
As I rose higher and higher, the world below shrank.
The world that once felt so huge…
Now it looked so small.
Soon, the numbness reached everything—my arms, my legs, even my heartbeat.
I could no longer feel my own body.
I closed my eyes, and I knew…
I would never be allowed to open them again.
My soul—whatever was left of it—felt warm.
Even without senses, that warmth reached me.
Maybe… maybe it was a sign that Od had forgiven me.
Yes.
Od.
The same Od Mother Fortuna always prayed to, always begged to protect me.
I, Emilia—just Emilia—let go.
And I drifted away.
Emilia’s body cracked apart into pure mana.
Soft, shining mana.
It scattered into the air, gently pulled toward Od like a child returning home.
Spirits circled around the drifting light like butterflies.
Were they mourning her?
Or sending her off with respect?
It was impossible to tell.
Whispers filled the air, even though no sound was made.
Maybe… in some tiny corner of her fading heart, Emilia wished she could have stayed a child forever.
Goodbye…
Emilia-tan.