^{If you have not played through to the end of Olderion, as in, you've not made it into Zoldaad yet, READ NO FURTHER! You have been Warned. For those who have, I feel like they just kind of skipped over the whole "Elle's Death" thing too quickly. Beyond that, Visions do not work the way Rain insinuated they did with with Arsha's wife. If they did, you would not be able to use them to battle the way you can. So those two issues ended up coagulating into the story below. Enjoy? ;P}

"Not all that is gone, is lost," his bereaved sister in law whispered to herself as she traced the inscription on Elle's pendent. Embracing her once more before exiting the house, Nichol left her to mourn in peace, and was surprised to see the group of outsiders waiting for him. Clenching his fist he strode over to Rain and snapped, "Why did you lie to her!?"

A look of surprise crossed the knight's face as he responded, "Why did I what?"

"Do not play coy with me summoner! You told her that you could only call forth Elle's spirit for a moment!" he shouted in a low whisper, not wanting to attract Arsha's attention from inside, "But I have travelled with you long enough to know better! Once summoned, it is almost impossible to discern a Vision from a living person, and it is rare that we travel without the company of a small multitude of visions at our side."

"It's not..." Nichol could not read the expression on Rain's face, "It's different with Elle," he said simply.

"Different because you wish it so?" Nichol snapped back.

"Perhaps," Lasswell cut into their argument, stepping up between them, "we should continue this discussion in a more appropriate venue," he said, nodding his head towards the house, where Arsha could be seen standing in the window.

"I am finished with this discussion," Nichol muttered, turning to leave, "I will see you all in the morning," he added, heading off to prepare for the upcoming journey.

Later that evening he was pulled from his own quiet mourning ritual whilst reviewing the maps and history of Zoldaad, by a knock on the door to his home. He was not expecting anyone, and decided to ignore it. After a few moments, he heard movement outside his study. Now they are breaking into my home? Angry at the interruption, he stormed to his study door and stopped in the frame at the sight before him. Standing in the center of his den was Elle, or Elle's vision to be more precise, and for a moment his composure shuddered, before he steeled himself to shout, "Where are you hiding yourself Rain!? This is unacceptable!"

"Brother," Elle's voice spoke softly from the specter.

"Do not speak to me as if you were still alive," he shouted at the vision, "I may not know to a satisfactory degree how this whole vision thing works, but I know I have already signed the documents for your burial in the family plot just this afternoon. Rain!" he shouted, "Summoner, reveal yourself!"

"I do not pretend to be alive Nichol," the spectre continued, "but it is not Rain that you should be yelling for."

Turning to yell at the vision, he was taken aback by the sadness on it's face, and his composure shuddered again. "Leave," he said simply, closing his eyes and controlling his breathing, "I do not wish to speak to the spectre of my deceased brother."

"I will leave if that is what you want," the vision said, "but not before you hear me out."

Taking a slow deep breath to steady himself, Nichol responded, "Then speak if you must. But make it quick. This night is short enough as it is."

"It was I that asked Rain to lie to Arsha," the vision said.

"What right do you!" he stopped himself from yelling, and continued, "What right do you have in dictating the way in which Arsha says goodbye to her husband," he snapped the words out.

"Do not restrain yourself from yelling, if you need to," the vision answered, "I've come to you after all, so that you may say goodbye as well."

"You avoid an answer, and beyond that, I have said my goodbyes," Nichol sighed, "and now I'm tired. If you have no more nonsense to harass me with, I'd appreciate it if you... Unsummon... or whatever it is you do."

"Even now, you still refuse to allow yourself to feel your pain? Even after I've died?"

"Why must you always do that?" he snapped before could stop himself, "Why must you prod at me when I've said I'm done talking?" He knew that this wasn't his brother, not really, and yet... "You don't know what I feel."

"You're right," the spectre said, "I don't. But I could, If you actually talked about it."

"You DIED!" he screamed at the vision of Elle, loud enough to rouse the neighborhood, "You went off on your own, and got yourself KILLED!" he continued to scream, his composure falling apart, "Luka left us, because she had to! Why did you Leave!"

"I didn't..." the despair on Elle's expression wrenched his gut, and Nichol, unable to maintain his composure any longer, began to sob.

He cried at losing a brother, who was too stubborn to wait for the rest of the team. He cried for a sister, that he couldn't help but feel he had lost, though he knew she was not gone. And most of all, he cried for a life, that he had taken for granted, and a family that would never again be whole.

Minutes, that could have been hours, that felt like days, passed before his sobbing subsided, and he was too weary even to stand from the floor where he had fallen. He was unsurprised to feel Elle's arms embracing him, slumped as he was upon the floor. "I'm sorry..." his brother whispered, the honest pain in his voice casting aside any doubts as to who he was speaking with.

"Why..." he hoarsely whispered back, choking back another round of sobs, "Why didn't you wait for us?" he managed to get out.

"The needs of the many..." Elle started, before he roughly cut in, "DON'T!"

"Don't quote me," he struggled to keep himself together, "Not now..." he rebuked the words he'd worn like a cloak to shield himself from... this.

They sat a while longer in silence, and eventually he regained control of his breathing. "Now what?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Now, it's time for me to go," Elle answered him, as he knew he would.

"This is the last time I'm going to see you..." he asked, or really, stated, as he picked himself up from the floor, "Isn't it."

"It's more than most people get," Elle responded.

Taking a deep breath, he fought the knot that threatened his composure, and not trusting himself with words for the moment while looking at the spectre of his younger brother for the last time, he simply nodded.

Elle turned towards the door, a movement that Nichol suspected was more habit than necessity, and took a single step away before pausing to say, "When you get back, and you've helped save the world, like you were always meant to... Give Arsha a hand with my daughter."

"I will... Wait!" he answered, but between one breath and the next, the room was empty once more. "You..." he felt the weight of bittersweet tears welling, and knew he was not done yet, "You were always the best of us, Elle..." he managed to get out before being overrun once more.

Rain felt someone grasp his shoulder as he boarded the train the next morning, and assuming it was Laswell, he playfully barked a, "What did I forget this time?" before turning to see Nichol wearing a peculiar expression. They stared at each other for a moment, before the strategist simply muttered, "Thanks," and passed him into the train.

"It appears you two managed to make amends last night," Laswell said, handing him a brush and small water skin that he would have sworn were already in his bags, "Though I cannot imagine where you found the time."

"I don't know either," he shrugged, "I guess he doesn't hold grudges," Rain replied, stuffing the misplaced items into a pocket where he immediately forgot about them, "That's good to know." he added.

^{AN: It's late, I'm tired, I'll do all the cross posting and "End Tagging" later. ;P (Almost A Year Later Apparently...})

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