Eight Intertwined

65 - Brand

Ophilia's nerves had been rattling against each other ever since the party left behind Goldshore a few hours ago. It felt like their travels in the direction of Stonegard were taking both a thousand years and no time at all, and Ophilia couldn't help wondering if perhaps she was wandering the world outside the confines of her body somehow. She shuffled mindlessly across the sands as they transformed into the rocks that marked the Highlands, a frown on her face the whole way. 

She was still thinking about Vanessa whether she wanted to admit it or not. All of them were; she could see it in their eyes. Regardless of how desperate they were to escape the past, they couldn't seem to leave the truth of Vanessa's greed behind. Ophilia couldn't help wondering what had happened to all the other people that Vanessa had hurt, though she knew just the same that she would never be able to find that truth. It wasn't possible to put it simply, and that only made Ophilia feel worse. She hadn't even thought that was possible before, but now, it seemed like the all too real reality of her situation. 

Part of Ophilia was desperate to grab the Warp Staff from Cyrus that night and travel back to Flamesgrace to see what was happening there with her father and sister. Josef had said that he wasn't long for this world, but Ophilia was still holding onto the faith that she would be able to see him again soon. She and the rest of the travelers were moving at a pretty decent pace, and if the doctors believed in him, then she did too. She knew that it went against what he thought was real, but Ophilia had to have faith. She had just barely gotten the chance to recognize her family for what it was, and she couldn't lose that so long after the opportunity had finally fallen into her lap. Her fears as an imposter were the reason for her ten years of restraint, but it still stung to think that perhaps she would never get the chance to see him again. 

If Vanessa had been in Flamesgrace, would she have saved him? To Ophilia, the answer seemed obvious: she would have, but only in the name of the money that the church could have provided her for healing the sick archbishop. She was always thinking of herself, and that included when she was saving lives in the name of what should have been the greater good. If Josef hadn't been the archbishop, she would have only looked his way a second time if he had enough money to pay off her extortionate fees, but if not...

Ophilia didn't even want to think about that. 

It felt ridiculous for her to be so worried about a hypothetical that would never come to pass. Vanessa was imprisoned beneath the streets of Goldshore, and she wouldn't be let out any time soon. Alfyn seemed to think that if Vanessa did return to the rest of the world, she would be changed along the way, forced to recognize the error of her ways with no way of outrunning every terrible thing she had done in the past. The slumberthorn would likely induce that sort of effect with its power of nightmares. Still, that didn't shake Ophilia's fears for a reason that she couldn't articulate. 

Josef was going to be fine. Lianna was looking after him, and Ophilia trusted her sister to take care of him. Josef was going to find a way to hold on long enough for Ophilia to return and say goodbye. She had to. Vanessa was never going to be able to do anything to him as long as Ophilia had anything to say about it. Hell, it wasn't even possible anymore to begin with.

Then why couldn't she stop thinking about it?

"Ophilia?"

The sound of H'aanit's voice pulled Ophilia out of her trance, and she immediately snapped to attention to look up at the huntress. She was standing off to Ophilia's right, a small frown on her face. Everything about her was quietly worried, and Ophilia could tell that she had been letting her fear show on her face. She did her best to correct her expression with a smile so fake that it felt like it was poisoning her, and some vague whisper in the back of Ophilia's mind wondered if he had a cure for that. "Is there something you need?" she asked, hating the way her voice was on the verge of breaking no matter how hard she tried to keep herself steady.