Part 2
Sirene whistled as she left Ellren Serine. Winding up royalty was always too easy, but Syndra especially so. She heard Syndra shout something as she left, but it probably wasn't important. What Syndra had done with her soul was interesting, no doubt. Could she do the same with hers? Would she even want to?
Sirene busied herself on the long walk memorizing the strange flow of magic she witnessed in Syndra's body, how twisted and wrong it was. Eigengrau would want to know everything, and she never disappointed in that regard. Her soul had been twisted up and bound in the ley lines of the body, like a prisoner chained to a wall, and for some reason it got Sirene all excited at the idea.
Sirene stopped at the entrance to the graveyard outside the Inn. Thinking for a moment, she turned and entered. She walked past rows and rows of unmarked headstones, until she got to a very old, long overgrown section. Far in the corner, at the very back of the graveyard, were 2 pristine headstones, simply marked 'Mother' and 'Father'.
"I'm home." Sirene said, tears on her cheeks.
Sirene sat in front of the graves for a long time, not saying a word, until Eigengrau joined her.
"I thought I might find you here." Eigengrau said. "The centuries have done little."
Eigengrau surprised Sirene by sitting down next to her, her frost slowly pulsating as she did so. They both sat looking at the gravestones for several minutes before Eigengrau broke the silence.
"I found some clarity with your death date, Apprentice, but you will not like it." Eigengrau said.
Sirene didn't respond, but just glanced over at Eigengrau.
"I had to walk to the end of this kalpa to make it readable. Even then, the number was nonsense. According to the Book of Fates, right now at this moment, you have been dead for thousands of years. I may have made an error."
"What do you mean?"
"A moment. Sirene wants to explain it to you." Eigengrau said, standing up.
Sirene said nothing, but internally she was nervous. Why did Eigengrau not want to talk about it?
As the divine transmorgify shimmered and transformed Eigengrau into her alternate self, Sirene Ignitis, she was already crying.
"Apprentice I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Eigengrau shouted, hugging Sirene and repeating it over and over. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry..."
Eigengrau repeated it over and over for several minutes, tears on her face. Eventually she stopped, and was just hugging Sirene while crying.
"What are you sorry about?" Sirene eventually asked. She had never seen Eigengrau like this before, and it unnerved her.
"It's my fault! I messed up! That's why you're immortal!" Eigengrau wailed. "You died in 7518! I never noticed! It's why the entry was blank!"
Sirene felt like she'd been struck by lightning. That was a year before her parents died. She had been very ill that year, but got better. It couldn't be, she was supposed to have died at 19?
"Eigengrau, shhh, listen to me. Look at me." Sirene said, pushing away Eigengrau slightly and looking her in the face, staring straight into her eyes. "Does this mean right now I'm dead?"
"Well... yes. Your soul is special, being divine, and had to be collected personally. Since I never noticed, you kept living. Everything fits now I'm such a moron!" Eigengrau said, resuming crying. "I'm sorry!"
"Does this mean... I can go?" Sirene said slowly, the gravity of what Eigengrau was telling her starting to hit. "I can... see them?"
"Anytime you want." Eigengrau said, wiping away her tears. "Sirene I'm so sorry."
Sirene fell back onto the ground, overwhelmed. She spent so many years thinking she'd live forever, and now Eigengrau dropped this on her. As much as she wanted to just leave immediately, she still had unfinished business.
"I should wrap up my life first. I have unfinished business all over the world. I'll let you know when I'm ready." Sirene said, staring up at the night sky, the stars staring back at her.
Eigengrau laid on the ground next to Sirene and put an arm over her. "I'm a fool."
"A cute fool. But still a fool." Sirene said, with a small smile. "Tears don't suit that face, Eigengrau."
Sirene and Eigengrau laid all night in the graveyard, not speaking a word as they watched the stars pass overhead. Sirene thought back on her life, on all the people she befriended and lost, of all the reckless things she did, thinking she couldn't die.