The next day arrived and I woke up from a horrible nightmare. I gasped for air and sat up quickly then heard Chaos's voice in my head. I held my head and grunted softly.
"I can help you revive your fallen brother. Like I've said in the past...you need my power. You need me to survive in this world.." Chaos said.
"Get out of my head...I don't need you..." I muttered under my breath then got out of bed.
Claire heard me and opened her eyes then sat up, rubbing her eyes. She looked at me and crawled to me on the bed. "Ryoma..? Is everything okay?"
"Claire I want to ask you something...Can you use your Reborn Flames to revive my brother?" I asked.
"Ah-" Claire didn't know whether she wanted to tell me the truth or lie to me to make me feel better. She looked down and closed her eyes.
I looked back at her and she looked back up at me then smiled sweetly.
"Yes, I can. Use my Reborn Flames to revive your brother.." Claire spoke softly.
I smiled at her and held her cheeks then kissed her forehead. "I knew coming here was the best idea. I'm going to go get ready right now."
"Yeah, you do that." Claire blushed and smiled at me then her smile faded after I had left to take a shower. She slapped herself and pulled her hair. "What the heck is wrong with you Claire...! You lied to your husband's face..! Now he's going to be expecting me to be able to revive him....."
Inoka was feeding the animals and walked over to Nebula and pet her. "Good morning my lovely..~ Did you sleep well?"
Nebula snorted softly then yawned. She wagged her tail slowly and whinnied.
"Still worried about your master? I'm still worried as well. I kinda miss him being happy. His happiness made my sister happy and made everyone around him feel good, but...I know he'll come around." Inoka smiled.
I walked out of the castle with Claire in a happy mood. They noticed my chipper attitude and Claire gave them a nervous smile. Inoka and Nebula followed us.
"Seems like he's back to normal again." Inoka said.
"Claire said that she could revive my brother. It's a total win win. My brother comes back and Yesha is saved since Alastor couldn't take down my brother. I don't think Alastor knows Takeo is dead, but I know once word escapes he will head straight to Yesha." I looked at Inoka, smiling.
"...Mhm!" Claire nodded quickly and gave a nervous smile.
Inoka and Nebula frowned slightly at Claire. I got on Nebula's back and Inoka called Phoenix. Pyroc transformed into her original form then Claire hopped on her back then we all flew off to the island. Nebula landed at the island and the others landed behind her.
I got off Nebula and walked to where I buried my brother. Claire trailed slowly behind, holding her arm. Inoka followed as well and crossed her arms. I used the Crest of Therris to unbury Takeo. Claire looked at him and looked at me, seeing my hopeful eyes. She came too far to back down now. She let go of her arm and sat down on her knees next to Takeo. She held out her hands then her Crest shined on her chest. Flames surrounded Takeo's body then flaming feathers fluttered around his body then the flames disappeared.
"Eh? What happened?" I looked confused.
"It failed." Claire said as her hair covered her eyes.
"What...do you mean?" I asked.
"...I'm sorry, I can't revive him. My Reborn Flames aren't enough to bring him back. His soul is already gone. It's been longer than ten minutes. I can't revive him...Only the Goddess of Rebirth can revive him and she doesn't show up often...or at all for that fact." Claire explained.
"But you said you could do it...Do you mean to tell me you lied to me in front of my face?" I looked at her with a frown.
"...I lied to you. I just wanted to make you happy...I'm so sorry Ryoma." Claire said and her body shook, expecting me to yell at her.
I closed my eyes and used the Crest of Therris to bury Takeo once again then I rubbed her hair then walked off. "At least you tried..."
Claire looked up and was surprised I didn't yell at her. She looked back and noticed me getting on Nebula to return back to Pyroc. She hurried to Pyroc and got on her back. Inoka got back on Phoenix then they flew after me.
Nebula landed at the Ranch then noticed Pyroc and Phoenix land afterwards. I got off Nebula's back and summoned my bag then set down a few apples and carrots for her. I rubbed her mane then walked towards the castle.
"I won't lie to you, sis, but you messed up big time. You've got to fix him again.." Inoka said then got off Phoenix. "I can't really say anything to him...and it seems he's out of options."
Claire got off Pyroc and looked down. "I just wanted to see him smile again. I wasn't thinking at all, but...I can try to cheer him up again. No matter what it takes.."
Claire hurried back to the castle and looked around for me. She rushed into her room and saw me sitting next to the window and she closed the door. She walked over to me and sat in front of me then held my hands. I looked at her and she looked at me in the eyes.
"I'm so sorry for lying to you, Ryoma. I honestly from the bottom of my heart, just wanted to make you happy...I never meant to make you angry...I really don't want you to be sad forever.." Claire looked at me sadly.
I looked out the window and sighed. "There isn't anything I can do about it. He's gone and my country is gone. I can really disregard my conquest either."
"Would it be a bad time to say that half your population is gone from Yesha?" Arcane asked.
"No...just more salt on the already opened and painful wound." I sighed then looked at Claire.
"Is there anything I can do to cheer you up? I can see you're about to reach that stage four of grief and I can't handle a Depressed Version of you. I want to prevent that...I lost my best friend due to depression and I don't want to lose my husband to it as well." Claire said then got closer to me.
I looked at Claire then stroked her hair then held her cheek. I looked at her then noticed her blushing a bit. "There's nothing that can be done. If your Reborn Flames can't revive him, nothing can and I've accepted that fact the moment you told me..."
"Ryoma..." Claire looked at me then watched me get up and tower over her. She looked up at me then leaned back in her chair.
"I'm sorry for worrying you...even Arcane can't help me and he's the most versatile Spirit there is. Takeo is gone and if I know my brother...he wouldn't want me brooding forever." I said then smiled a bit at Claire then placed my hands on the arms of her chair. "You wouldn't want me to be sad forever either. I've accepted he's gone now with the rest of my family. Yesha is gone now, but...I still have a purpose. I'll avenge them..."
Claire smiled at me then closed her eyes as I pressed my forehead on hers then she grabbed upon my kimono jacket. "I know you will...after all...you are The Fool. The Arrogant Warlord..." Claire whispered.
I kissed Claire's lips softly and she kissed back. I pulled away and she opened her eyes slightly. I opened my eyes and looked at her. "Might if I stay an extra night..?"
"I want you to stay an extra night." Claire said then pushed me back down in the chair I was sitting on then got up and placed her knee between my legs then held my shoulders. "I want...to consummate our marriage. When I saw you I was hoping to do so yesterday, but..."
"I know, but I'm okay for the most part. We may do the deeds tonight." I chuckled softly.
"I was thinking we could do it right now.." Claire said. "I want to know how it feels.."
"You've never had sex with your husband?" I asked.
"We never slept in the same room." Claire blushed a bit. "Not even on our wedding night. It's like he was only in it for the power. My sister wasn't with his bull crap. She's the one who killed him, I couldn't kill him as I did love him at the time. He was my first husband, but I guess love can be blinding at times."
"Trust me I know how blinding love can be..but I know ours is real. You went over and beyond to make me happy and I really appreciate that from you. Honestly if you would've told me no from the beginning, I would have come out depressed. I guess you lying to me actually did help me a bit." I said as I held her hips.
"I was so scared at that time. I was expecting the worst, but you didn't...yell at me or anything. I was so afraid of the silent treatment as well, but I'm glad you're okay." Claire smiled and rubbed my cheeks with her thumb. "We should go see Inoka and Nebula. They were extremely worried about you, especially Nebula. She would be so happy to know you're better now!"
"I'm sure she will." I chuckled softly.
Claire got off me then I stood up from the chair. She took my hand and led me out of the room. "Oh...and don't forget, we have a hot night tonight~ Don't be so rough on me okay?~"
"No promises..~" I chuckled and she smiled at me then we walked to the Ranch together.