Chapter Text
Primrose only let her defenses drop once she was certain Simeon stood no chance of striking at her again. The dark magic around them was starting to fade, but Primrose could feel it trying to pull at the corners of her mind. His spells were far less effective now than they had been a few minutes prior, but they still sought to pull Primrose under their weight. She didn't give them the chance, instead stalking toward Simeon and kicking his dagger out of the way so he couldn't reach for it and try to stab her again. After being stabbed once, Primrose wasn't keen to repeat the experience.
But Simeon didn't seem to care at all about the idea of sliding a knife into Primrose's body again. Instead, he was too caught up with some wild excitement that left Primrose thoroughly uncomfortable. She felt as if she was watching something private, something no other person should have been there for. "Bravo...!" Simeon repeated feverishly. "I have seen the full depths of your heart... It was more beautiful... Than I could have ever imagined... And now for our climax..." Simeon seemed to straighten up, a silent invitation that made Primrose's stomach flip a million times in the span of a single breath. "Come, Primrose... And plunge your precious dagger into my breast...!"
Primrose knew she should have taken the chance for what it was. Simeon wasn't going to make this easy for her if she kept him waiting... But it felt wrong to move in for the kill when he was asking her to do it. Primrose had started out on this journey because she wanted revenge. She had been desperate to make sure that everyone she detested felt the pain she had endured when her father first passed... But now, Primrose couldn't do it. Simeon wanted her to kill him. He sought the apex of despair found at the tip of her dagger. Primrose would never be able to forgive Simeon for what he had done, but there was a part of her heart that feared she would never be able to forgive herself for killing him either. Simeon was a monster, and she knew it. Even so, she hesitated, and Simeon was more than happy to turn that against her.
Primrose's uncertainty must have been written all over her face since Simeon took it as his cue to speak again. "Every show must come to an end, Primrose," he reminded her. "It is time... To lower the curtain..." Primrose blinked, and the darkness around her closed in...
~~~~~
To drop her off on the stage below.
Simeon's voice echoed in harmony with his counterpart on the stage. Primrose couldn't see the actor portraying 'Ombre,' but she could still hear his voice. "'And when the moon waxes full and bright in dark heaven and stars glitter worlds away from earthly sorrow... Would that sleep hold you in her soft embrace... Then shall my eyes close, lips open in prayer, for it is only in dreams that we may meet again,'" Simeon quoted.
Primrose took a step toward Simeon, raising her dagger. His purple-tinted white hair seemed to gleam in the strange lighting of the stage, and Primrose knew this was a sight she would never forget. She could not say for certain if she would come to regret it or not, but it mattered little now. She knew what needed to be done, and she could not stop the gears of fate from turning. "Goodbye, Simeon." Primrose raised her dagger--
~~~~~
And all at once, it stabbed clean through Simeon's chest.
Down on the stage, Shannon approached Ombre with a smile on her face. Ombre had not spoken the words Primrose could have sworn she heard from him. Instead, he had asked something else: for Shannon's hand in marriage. "Yes, Ombre... My answer is yes," Shannon said softly. "I am so happy, my love... My heart is free of all doubts. Let us never be apart again. Never again..."
Primrose pulled her knife free of Simeon's fallen body. There was a dark smile on his face even in death, and his eyes had fallen closed in some peace that almost mocked sleep. Primrose continued to stare down at him for a long moment, feeling blood seep through her fingers and onto the ruined crimson of his indigo jacket. Primrose couldn't even bring herself to stand, instead simply staring down at his corpse. She had done it. At long last, Geoffrey was avenged, and the last of the crows was dead. She had fulfilled her mission... But it had done nothing to do the empty hole in her chest. Just as Simeon had said, killing would not bring her the peace she needed.
But it could still give her something. With Simeon's death, Primrose was certain that he would never be able to hurt anyone again. He could never take advantage of girls who did not know better. He could never bring down entire noble houses in the name of his pursuit of despair. He could never leave Primrose in the depths of a terror she did not know how to escape. In their final performance, Primrose had been the victor, and she would be the one to walk away. Simeon would never have the chance to harm another person again, and Primrose was darkly glad that it had been her to deal the final blow.
Below, the audience burst out into overwhelming applause as the curtain finally fell to mark the end of the show. Primrose didn't bother with looking up as the actors appeared on the stage to take their bows. She knew she would have been repulsed by the sight of Geoffrey's inferior imitation holding hands and smiling with the actor portraying Simeon, and so, she did not look. Instead, Primrose reached for a cloth among her things and rubbed the blood from her dagger with it. Somehow, she already knew that she would take a long time to clean it of Simeon's life force, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
The play was bound to sicken her for one other reason too, and Primrose didn't think she would ever be ready to face it. Simeon had used the end of his play to mark what he wanted from Primrose. He wanted her to stay with him forever, a constant source of pain and suffering that he could pull from. What they had was never truly love. At their ages, it couldn't be. Simeon was infatuated with Primrose because he had orchestrated her downfall. That was all there was to it. He had claimed to love her during their battle, but Primrose knew he did not understand love. If he did, he never would have sunk to such depraved lows in his pursuit of adrenaline.
When Primrose finally managed to pull her gaze away from Simeon, she turned to face the travelers. They were all watching her just as carefully as the last of Simeon's dark magic faded away. Primrose blinked once and then twice, barely realizing the tears tearing at the corners of her eyes until they had already started to fall. H'aanit was the first one to move, drawing Primrose into a tight embrace. The dancer practically collapsed against her lover's body, and she let H'aanit keep her upright when she felt as if she was going to crumble. Simeon had never truly loved her, but Primrose no longer needed him. She had others who were willing to support her when she stumbled, and she wouldn't have changed a damn thing about any of them.
The rest of the group joined Primrose and H'aanit in their embrace a few moments later, and Primrose finally stopped holding back her sobs. Even after seeing every horrible, jagged part of her both on and off the stage, they had stayed. They were still there with her, and they had no plans of leaving her now or ever. Primrose was truly safe with them, and she always would be. This was what she needed.
The hole in Primrose's heart continued to fill until it was overflowing. She no longer needed vengeance. With her friends, she never would again. All she needed was them.
And she knew they would never leave her behind.
~~~~~
The aftermath of the show passed by in the blink of an eye. The travelers retreated from the theater as quickly as they could stand without being caught. They didn't know how the people of Everhold were going to react to learning that their beloved favorite playwright had been killed, but Primrose wasn't going to stick around and figure that out. Right now, all she knew was that she had to get out of town as soon as possible.
As the travelers made their way up to the entrance of town, Ophilia gripped tightly at her staff and looked over to the dancer. "What happened to you back there?" Ophilia asked quietly. "When we were fighting Simeon, you... You went still for a few minutes after he cast a spell on you."
Primrose hesitated before she shook her head. "I'm not entirely sure," she confessed. "All I really know is that I was standing there with the rest of you one minute, and the next, I thought I was down on the stage. Simeon was still talking to me, but I wasn't in the box seat. I couldn't find any of you either. I felt... Trapped in the darkness."
"That makes a lot of sense," Therion hummed. "He told us that he had cast a type of dark spell on you, and it would play on the shadows in your mind. I don't know where the hell he learned a spell like that, but I'm glad he can't use it anymore."
"Pardon me for jumping to conclusions, but... I must wonder if it has anything to do with the dark power Mattias called upon when we battled him," Cyrus remarked, and every eye in the group immediately whirled over to face him. "When we fought Mattias, he was able to use a strange spell to stifle our magic. Simeon cast a very similar spell, and we couldn't use any magic aside from that which we can channel through the weapons of the gods. On top of that, Simeon was able to call upon a dark power unlike anything we have ever seen before. Given that we mastered dark magic after our battle with Sealticge, I have to wonder if perhaps there's more to it than simply a dark spell."
Primrose wanted to argue with Cyrus and say that there couldn't possibly be a connection between Simeon and Mattias... But she couldn't deny the similarities. If Simeon could use the same magical seal that Mattias had shown off during his own battle, then there must have been at least some link between them. Could they have possibly known one another? It sounded absurd, but Primrose couldn't help feeling as if there was something between Simeon and Mattias that she wasn't seeing. If the two had met, then it couldn't have been under good circumstances. If anything, it would herald doom for the rest of the world, and there was nothing anyone could do about it so long as they were unaware of the truth.
"It is certainly something to consider," Olberic agreed with a small nod. "But I doubt we will find any answers here. The people of Everhold likely do not know the truth of Simeon's history. Even if they did, I doubt they would be willing to share their knowledge with us."
"Yeah. It would be best for us to bail before anyone can ask questions about why he didn't come out to greet his audience after the show," Tressa chimed in. With perfect timing, the group arrived just outside the town, and she let out a small sigh. "Where should we go next? I don't mind, but we can't stay here any longer than we already have."
"Noblecourt," Primrose found herself replying before she could realize what she was saying. As was to be expected, everyone glanced over in her direction at the declaration. "I want to go to Noblecourt." She couldn't find it in herself to voice the reason, especially after how much Simeon had gotten on her case for not going to visit Geoffrey's grave. Now that the three men of the crow were dead, it felt like the least Primrose could do for him.
Gods above, the three crows were dead. Primrose had done it. Her vengeance was complete, and her father's killers were gone.
Primrose hadn't known what she was getting into when she first started this journey, and now... Rufus, Albus, and Simeon were gone. Primrose hadn't ever realized they would drag her into such a massive tragedy, and she hadn't imagined they would have such great sway over Orsterra either. The Obsidians were bound to fall to ruin without their leaders, but Primrose knew there were still members of the group out there somewhere. She had amputated the wings and cut off the head of the organization, but Primrose couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the last time she was going to run into the Obsidians.
Perhaps it was because of what Cyrus had said. They had very little evidence to substantiate the idea of Simeon and Mattias knowing one another aside from that arcane seal spell, but it was one hell of a connection and not something any of them could refute. Could the Obsidians have had anything to do with Mattias' strange cult? There were people working with him beyond the unaware citizens of Wispermill, and Mattias' machinations in Goldshore were proof of it. What if the other members of Mattias' group were also members of the Obsidians? Would Primrose ever figure out if that was the case or not?
Primrose did her best to shake the thought off as Cyrus called upon the power of the Warp Staff. She closed her eyes, hoping with everything she had that it would turn off her thoughts, but she had no such luck. She found no distraction until her shoes touched down on the rolling fields just outside of Noblecourt, and she sighed at the sudden shift in the air around her. Primrose was going home, and this time, she could actually find the time to enjoy it. This wasn't about distracting herself to keep her thoughts from reaching her heart. She was there to visit Geoffrey, and the trip was long overdue.
But if Primrose was being honest, she couldn't truly think of Noblecourt as her home anymore. Ten years had come and gone since she was last able to stay in Noblecourt, and her hometown had changed massively since then. Revello was no doubt trying to bring the city back to itself after all the time it had suffered beneath the Obsidians' rule, but to Primrose, that didn't feel enough. She didn't know if she would ever feel comfortable in Noblecourt again. How could she? Now that Primrose knew about the rest of the world, she couldn't force herself back into the comparatively tiny city she had once known. Noblecourt was not hers anymore, and Primrose didn't think it ever would be again.
Primrose shoved the thought aside as she navigated through the streets of her hometown. She found the people livelier now than they had been during her last visit, though that wasn't saying much given the circumstances. It was hard to get worse than the iron rule of the Obsidians, though Primrose was glad to see her birth town changing and evolving beyond that. She didn't know if she would be able to stay there ever again, but she could at least enjoy the fact that things were changing for the better. That had to count for something.
The cemetery was every bit as unforgiving as Primrose had expected. There were a few people milling around, no doubt feeling safer to visit their deceased relatives now that the Obsidians had been chased out of town. Revello had likely taken over the reconstruction effort, and Primrose was glad for it. As embarrassing as it was to admit, she didn't want to have to run into him. She was too tired after her run-in with Simeon to say hello to any other old friends. The travelers were a different story, but they always had been. They had proven themselves the exceptions after standing at Primrose's back through Stillsnow, Noblecourt, and beyond.
The travelers remained close enough to keep an eye on Primrose while still giving her the space she needed. Primrose came to a stop just in front of Geoffrey's grave, and she saw a pile of lilies resting just to the side of his headstone. Someone had come to visit him recently, most likely Revello. His wife had lilies in their family home's garden. They had always been her favorite.
Primrose swallowed down the distraction trying to claw at her throat and forced herself to speak. "Father." The word sounded unfamiliar to her own ears, though she couldn't tell if it was the direct address to Geoffrey that was bothering her or the fact that she was talking at all. Her throat had gone tight after she asked to return to Noblecourt, and Primrose didn't know if she would be able to recover with any sense of timeliness. Either way, she pushed through the uncertainty and took another step closer to the grave. "At long last, I can face you again." A moment passed in silence. "I'm sorry I didn't bring any flowers. Though I suppose..." Primrose crouched to the earth, pressing a hand to the grass. Plants bloomed beneath her fingertips using Dohter's blessing, and Primrose watched as the vines wrapped around the headstone as if embracing it. "I hope that's good enough."
Primrose stared at the grave for another long moment, unsure of what she had been expecting would happen. She sighed to break through the quiet. "I did as you always taught me, Father. I found a cause I could truly believe in, and I kept my faith... I hope you can forgive me for it not being what you would have wanted. Since the day you were taken from me, I swore I would avenge you... And avenge you I did. But... It wasn't what I thought it would be. Revenge didn't help me. In the end, I stopped Simeon for other reasons too, and... I'm sorry." Primrose didn't know why she was apologizing. Geoffrey would have wanted to stand by her no matter what she chose. He would believe in the cause she had chosen regardless of what it meant for him. Still, she couldn't help feeling like she had failed him for not killing Simeon solely for the sake of revenge. It hadn't been good for her, but she hadn't ever been thinking about herself. Her revenge quest had always been about Geoffrey.
But he wouldn't have wanted her to tear herself apart in the name of a cause she didn't believe in. Geoffrey would be proud to know that she had found something else to fight for. He would been overjoyed to know that Primrose had a family she could rely on in his absence. He would have loved to meet them. Primrose shook her head in an attempt to banish the tears she knew were rising to her eyes, but it didn't work as she had hoped. "Even now that my long journey has ended and I have done all I set out to do... Thinking about you fills me with hollow pain." She let out a wet laugh that rattled around in her chest. "I suppose I never took the time to grieve for you before. But... I'm going to do it now."
Primrose cast a glance up at the rest of the travelers, and she smiled against the stinging at the corners of her eyes. "I have a great group of people here for me now. They've given me a cause even when I thought I had none. They've given me something to fight for. I wouldn't have made it this far without them. I... I've fallen in love too. Her name is H'aanit. I'll have to bring her by one day. Or maybe..." Primrose looked at the travelers again, and she sucked in a slow, deliberate breath. She was on the verge of claiming that she wasn't strong enough to introduce her friends to her father today, but she knew that wasn't true. If anything, it was exactly what Primrose needed. It was what Geoffrey needed too.
Primrose gestured for the travelers to join her, and after a moment's hesitation, they did so. H'aanit was the first one to take the initiative to approach Primrose, and as she fell into place at the dancer's side, the two reached for one another's hands. The warmth of H'aanit's fingers was the only anchor Primrose needed to remind herself that she was alive, and she let a small but strong smile spread across her face. "Father... Allow me to introduce you to my new family."
Primrose lost control of her tongue when she gestured to all of the travelers and told Geoffrey about them. If she had any sense of what she was saying, she probably would have been embarrassed by the blatant show of vulnerable affection, but today, Primrose couldn't bring herself to care.
"This is Ophilia. She's a cleric, and she... She's the kindest person I've ever met. She helped to pull me out of the darkness after everything that happened with Simeon. That's Cyrus, and he's a professor in Atlasdam. He's friends with Odette, and the two of them were close back at the Atlasdam Royal Academy. Tressa's got an eye for treasure second to none, and she's always eager to make sure even the worst of situations are set right. Olberic has more loyalty than anyone else, and he's found a purpose in our group just like I have. Alfyn's the best apothecary you'll ever meet, and even when times get dark, he believes there's hope. There's no one better at his craft and talking to people than him. Therion... Therion's like the little brother I never had. He's prickly when you first meet him, but he's come a long way. And then... H'aanit. She... She taught me that I can find happiness even after everything that I've been through. Simeon tried to ruin me, but... H'aanit helped me to realize I deserved better than what he told me. But most of all..." Primrose swallowed around the knot that had risen in the back of her throat. "They're my family. I don't know where I would be without them, but I don't want to imagine it either. I..." A strangled sob escaped her lips. "I wouldn't be the woman I am today without them, and... I hope you're as proud of me as I am of them."
Primrose knew there would be no response to her ridiculously long ramble, but she waited for Geoffrey to reply anyway. She didn't realize how close she was to completely falling apart until after H'aanit's strong arms wrapped around her body and pulled her in tight. Primrose practically launched herself into H'aanit's grasp, and she could feel the rest of the travelers gathering around her to extend the embrace. Noblecourt was warm at this time of day with the sun shining eerily bright in the sky, and having so many people crowded around her was only making Primrose hotter. Still, she couldn't bring herself to care. As long as she was there, she would be alright. She could feel it. No matter what Simeon tried to do to ruin her life, Primrose would survive, and she would come out the other side all the stronger for it.
As soon as Simeon's name appeared in her mind again, Primrose felt a fresh wave of tears rocket from her eyes. He was really gone. She had thought about him an embarrassing amount back in Sunshade, but as soon as she met up with the travelers, he stopped coming to mind. Perhaps there was always a part of her that knew she was happier with them than she could ever be with him. Primrose didn't know how sincere he had been when he offered to let her stay there in Everhold with her--nor did she know if it was even possible for a man like Simeon to be sincere in the first place--but she was proud with her choice. She couldn't go back to him, and she couldn't leave her friends behind either. This was where she belonged, and Primrose would have it no other way.
Primrose didn't know how much time passed while she remained pressed against H'aanit's chest, but by the time she finally pulled away, her eyes had gone dry. She had no tears left to cry, and Primrose couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not. She rubbed at her eyes for good measure, and sure enough, her hands came back dry. She let out a slow, shuddering breath that seemed to make the air around her shake as much as she was certain she was.
"How are you feeling?"
It was Tressa's voice that reminded Primrose she still had a world there to face, and she forced air in and out of her lungs one more time. "I... I don't know," Primrose confessed around the rock in her chest. Normally, she liked to think she was good at articulating her emotions and explaining how she felt at any given moment. Right now though, none of her skills with the heart mattered at all. Primrose felt everything far deeper than she could ever hope to put to words.
The one thought that rose above the crowd though was that Simeon had been right about one thing... At least in part. He had accused her of twisting her image of Geoffrey in order to justify her revenge quest. Primrose knew she had distorted her thoughts of her father after his death, but she wouldn't say it had much to do with her desire to kill Simeon and the other crows. If anything, Primrose had convinced herself he could do no wrong and had been perfect in life. The lie was so familiar to her that calling it out as wrong felt uncomfortable in more ways than she could count, but she knew it was true.
The fact of the matter was that Geoffrey had not been the perfect father Primrose had convinced herself he was. Geoffrey had been absent from much of her childhood because of what he needed to do in order to rule over Noblecourt. He spared as much time for her as he could, but it still wasn't enough. It couldn't be enough if Geoffrey's oversights had allowed Simeon to slip his way into Primrose's life. Geoffrey should have been there to protect her from everything that happened. That was what fathers did... And yet, Primrose found that the other travelers had done far more to protect her from Simeon than Geoffrey ever had. Cyrus had been the one to tell her the truth of Simeon's history, and that gesture alone had done far more to defend her than Geoffrey ever had even if it didn't feel like it at the time.
After Geoffrey's passing, Primrose had told herself that she needed to avenge him for his sake. She didn't know when the shift had taken place exactly, but she had put him on a pedestal and given herself no time to recognize it. Primrose lived only to carry out the vengeance that Geoffrey would have wanted her to complete... But would he have wanted it at all? Would he have wanted her to suffer through unspoken horrors for his sake? Would he have wanted Primrose to endure so much with a smile on her face because of what she thought he wanted?
Primrose couldn't believe it had taken her so long to find the answer she needed. Geoffrey didn't hate her for what she had done. He never could. He hadn't been as active in her life as he could have been, but he still cared about her in his own way. Primrose had used him as her lifeline both before and after his passing, the only family member she was in contact with after Dahlia passed and Odette left for Atladam. Primrose hadn't realized how much she was poisoning herself until Stillsnow, and it still took her until the group's second visit to Noblecourt to finally snap out of it. Even now, Primrose didn't know how she was going to move forward in the face of everything she had to come to terms with.
But no matter how dark the situation became, Primrose knew she would find a way to endure. She took in a slow, careful breath and banished the rest of her tears in the process. "I... I feel better," she finally managed to say, and much to her own surprise, she meant it. "Not perfect or even great, but... Better." Primrose stared down at her hands for a long moment before she rubbed at her eyes again. Once again, her fingers came back dry. "I don't know what I'm going to do now that all of this is over, but... I want to face the future with all of you at my side. There's no place I would rather be."
H'aanit pulled Primrose into yet another embrace, and this time, the dancer did not cry against her chest. Instead, Primrose let herself smile, and she reached to wrap her hands around H'aanit's back rather than instinctively moving for her dagger. She would have to fight again for the sake of her friends, but she would not kill after this if she could avoid it. Murder had never filled the hole in her heart. It was love that had saved her, and it was love that would bring her to the future too.
And for the first time in ten years, Primrose couldn't wait to see what the future held for her.