"I do not wish to kill you, Achillean. But if you refuse to surrender..."
But what if Achillean did surrender? What if, on that fateful night atop Mt Velgrin, Achillean laid down his staff? 154 years is a long time to wait for plans to fall into pla...
Ria ponders her mistakes and whether she was right to welcome the Deathsinger so soon and Hubris has a few choice words for his Captain following her past decisions.
Much to his surprise, he's about to find out that Ria has just as much to say in return
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Ria sat at the table in the Knights' cave alone, pondering over the plans that they had forged to protect the remaining two Prime Songs. She knew they were going to be taking huge risks in the coming days but knowing that it was all for the future of Ardonia made it easier for her to comprehend – she knew exactly what was expected of her and she would take the pressure in her stride.
Thalleous had the same idea when he moved them before the Voltaris attack. Not a day went by where she didn't think about that; she had lost her father in the attack on Sendaria. She only prayed that she wouldn't lose anyone else over Prime Songs, but with the future as uncertain as this, praying was all she could do before her actions would dictate the rest.
Like Senn, Ria hadn't been the same since Sendaria. For so long, the two of them had considered each other dead, only to wind up on the same resistance team, fighting for what Ardonia needed and she couldn't be happier. It wasn't too late for her to say the things that she had so long wanted to speak but couldn't find the courage to do so. She wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to easily, this time. Except, something was nagging at her, telling her that something was wrong. She wanted to protect Senn with everything inside of her and letting him join them on their crusade was futile – that the aftermath wouldn't be worth it in the end. Not with so much at stake. She couldn't bear to think of what could happen to him in the fallout – she couldn't bear to think of what would happen to him if something happened to her... What he would do...
She tried not to think about it. If Ria were good at anything, it was thinking too much about too little and not thinking enough about what mattered most.
She flicked her pen across the table and huffed as it clattered against the stone wall, holding her head in her hands. Her conflicted mind was a battlefield, fighting between what she wanted for her and what she wanted for Ardonia. Each of her mistakes played a part in how she felt – going behind her team for a Prime which she then lost, commanding the team to fall back against the Deathsinger which could have then spared the Tidesinger's life and then insisting on waiting a little longer when they had but one chance to save him. She had lost it all in failure; all but Senn and she would do anyone she could to make sure that she didn't lose everything, trying so hard to gain.
Hubris had been leaning against the cave wall behind her with his arms folded, watching as she sat in her frustrations. He knew she deserved them. He wasn't willing to take the fall for her in her many mistakes for he had lost his faith in his captain. First the lies, then the miscommunication and now working with the very enemy they sought to destroy. He wanted answers, not excuses and he thought it was high time he got them. She owed him that much.
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