LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 108 – Solitude of the Long-Lived
"For those blessed - or cursed, some might argue - with a long existence, it is imperative that one either finds themselves partners who share their lifespan, or else make themselves comfortable with solitude, lest they go crazy over it. I myself have mostly gone for the latter option for most of my existence so far." - Nec Aarin, The Bone Lord.
Palace of Bones
Tohrmutgent
Lichdom of Ptolodecca
3rd day, 4th week, 11th month, year 90 VA.
Ever since she became Unliving, time had always felt like they sometimes just slipped between her fingers for Aideen. Another half a decade soon flew by behind her as time flows onwards.
For what it was worth, the past six years had allowed her to find some closure, as she slowly put the guilt she felt over the plague behind her, and spent those years staying close to what family she had left instead. It was good that she had done so too, since otherwise she would have missed the chance to do so forevermore.
She had returned to Tohrmutgent shortly after the lichdom finally lifted off the quarantine requirements five years ago. And it was the next year that she received news that her old friend was on her last legs.
As she hastily made her way to La Fiachna, she made it in time to accompany Akeshia on her deathbed. What brought her old friend down was nothing sinister, but simple old age. In the age they live in, it was rare for people to live much older than their sixties on average, and Akeshia was seventy one, much like Aideen herself, even if her appearance never changed from the day she died five decades ago.
Her old friend's final days were peaceful, and tranquil. She was there, as was Maebh and Clovis, and their four children, and Akeshia was even occasionally in the mood to joke with Aideen. When she passed on, it was peacefully in her sleep.
Aideen grieved along with her niece and her family, but by now, she had been more used to such losses. She was also well aware that Akeshia wouldn't be the last of her family to pass on before her, especially since grandpa Aarin's guess that she might well be functionally immortal seems to hit close to the mark.
It was not the only such loss she suffered over the past few years anyway, as just the year before, Diarmuid too passed on. That left Aideen as the only one from her generation of the family that still "lived", though she took solace that at least she wasn't alone.
Even on his deathbed, her older brother - eighty at the time of his death - remained stoic, and mostly asked for Aideen to look after his daughter in his stead. After all, Éirynn, being a half elf, likely still had centuries of life ahead of her.
When her brother passed on as well - thankfully peacefully - Aideen found herself with few tears to shed at his wake and funeral. It was not that she had grown calloused, or that she did not grieve for Diarmuid's passing. She had just accepted the fact that she would live to see people she cared about pass on by now.
When the now orphaned Éirynn asked for Aideen to tutor her in the fighting arts, Aideen was instantly reminded of herself shortly after Faerghus' passing. The younger girl had similarly wanted to try to distract herself from the grief with training, so she obliged her niece.
Mimia had tagged along to keep Éirynn company. Those two had bonded from early on, and had rarely been apart from one another. She did hear that they both had intensified their physical training after the close call at La Fiachna over two decades ago, and wondered how well those two would acquit themselves.
Éirynn wielded a polearm called a bardiche, with an ax-like blade that had a pointed end capable of stabbing mounted on both ends of the wooden pole. It was a weapon that paid homage to both her parents in a way, and she did wield it well, as far as Aideen could tell.
Mimia on the other hand, had a pair of unusual tonfas in her hand. They were bladed, which wasn't an all too uncommon thing, but what made them unusual was how the blades were designed. The blades were thick and sturdy, wider than her forearms, and extended a bit past her elbows, and they were mounted with the flat side facing her arm, allowing them to be used as narrow shields as well. The edges were sharpened though, and she could see the weapon slice through unarmored flesh with ease when the half elf girl whirled them around. They were also sturdy enough to take hits from her staff.
That said, since she could heal injuries, and the girls did ask for her to train seriously with them, so she spared them from any coddling. By the end of the day, both girls has had many of their bones broken and reset many times over, that Mimia even looked at Aideen with some dread.
It was in such a way that she whiled away her time over the past year and a half or thereabouts. Training with Éirynn and Mimia, occasionally helping out as a healer when she was needed, visiting Maebh and her family at La Fiachna…
During those visits, and especially as she noticed Maebh's visibly aging visage - the girl was in her forties now after all - made her all too aware of her niece's mortality, and how short a time most people have on this world. In a way, it put some fear of attachment into Aideen, as she knew than chances are people she was attached to would leave her behind in time.
Éirynn and Mimia, despite their approximate average lifespan of five centuries or so, still paled when compared with potential eternity, and such a fear was one reason Aideen mostly kept to herself and her few remaining families, as well as her grandpa Aarin.
She had thought she would be satisfied enough with such a life, but before too long, she found herself proven wrong, as she met the man named Artair deVreys...
