✯𝔸𝕝𝕝 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕊𝕖𝕖✯

𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕞 ℙ𝕒𝕪 ~ ②②

An Hour After 𝕊𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕀 𝔹𝕖? ~ ➋➊

Ariana P.O.V

A hand clasped onto her arm and yanked her behind a crate, right as two Yiga soldiers sauntered past.

"Thanks." She whispered sincerely to the old half Rito, half Zora. Valeetee gave her a half nod before his sharp, shark like, eyes flicked away from hers.

"We should get moving."

Great, the one time I try to be sincere and he doesn't even care. Other people are so confusing...

"Where exactly are we going? We passed the entrance 17 doors ago."

Valeetee looked over his shoulder, his shark like eyes meeting hers. "We're saving you're friends of course."

Ariana hurried to catch up with his speeding pace. "My friends? I figured we would get them once we escaped. So that we could prepare, maybe come up with a plan!"

"Ah, yes, that would usually be my approach as well. Alas, time is not on our side, Ariana, the Yiga are making their move against Hyrule tonight, and it seems your Hylian companion has something we need very desperately if we are to defeat them."

"The box? How did you know he had it? Also, how did you even know about my friends?" 

"I know many things that I shouldn't, as do you. It is our choice what to do with this knowledge, whether to pretend we don't know it, or use it for something beneficial like protecting Hyrule from all of the evils that hide in the shadows, slowly tearing us apart." He stopped at a huge heavy metal door, looking back at her, and she could practically feel his shark gaze burning into her skin. "I chose to protect, as did your mother and stepmother. I can only hope you will do the same."

Abruptly, he pumped his fist to the side, creating a gust of air and knocking out a Yiga soldier. Valeetee then grabbed the unconscious soldier's hand and swiped it over a strange panel on the door, opening it.

Inside was...everyone. Pamella, Keife and Thessia, but also Kheel, Pelison and Yona. All chained to the wall. All covered in scars and bruises from head to toe. All alive. Alive. 

As the door opened, Yona looked up and smiled weakly at Ariana. "Guess we did end up as part of your journey, after all."

A few annoying tears began sliding down her cheeks, and then a flow, then a river, and soon, a whole avalanche of salty sadness. She had never felt so angry in her life. It was an anger that ran deep and boiling hot. It was an anger that made her want to take whatever had done this to them in her hands and crush them with the full force of her strength. It was an anger that it seemed could never be quenched, only fueled until it overwhelmed her and there was nothing else other than her magma rage. She liked the sound of that.

Despite everything, her legs carried her forward into the room, but it didn't feel like her body that did it. It was someone else who dropped to her knees before Keife and cried in his arms. It was somebody else who gripped onto him so tightly it surely hurt. It was someone else who screamed in anguish as the true realisation of her fathers betrayal sunk in as it hadn't done before. The only thing that truly felt like her was the rage. The anger she felt was the only thing keeping her tethered to reality at this point. Apart from that, she was only an empty husk. Until the warmth came.

It came like a wave threatening to drown her in happiness, which, to others would be welcomed, but Ariana must be too unused to the feeling of being safe because at first she panicked. Until she became aware of the feeling of lips on her own.

Keife then pulled away and just began saying comforting things to her. She had forgotten what he said about 5 seconds after he said them, but she did know they made her happy. She would have been happy to stay like that forever, but Valeetee brought her back down to Earth.

"Come now, girlie, we must get out of this place before they realise we're gone." 

It was then that Ariana realised that everyone was standing at the door, waiting to leave and she had likely been holding them up. She pulled away from Keife, her cheeks dusting with bright pink blush. 

She nodded to Valeetee and turned back to Keife. "You have something that I need, can...can I?"

He nodded, a smirk playing at his lips as she reached into a hidden pocket of his trousers and pulled out the intricate diamond box. "Now, how did that get there without me noticing?"

"I have my ways." She replied smirking and pecking his lips quickly. She turned back to Valeetee. "Let's go now."

"Not so fast." About 20 Yiga soldiers surrounded them, and Ariana could practically feel them smirking under their masks.

"Not so fast? Really? Soooooo unoriginal! Surely you could come up with something better than that!" Pamella speculated.

Ariana ignored Pamella's off topic focus and concentrated on her anger, building it inside of her until it was overflowing and let it out, destroying the prison wall. The Yiga soldiers grabbed onto Keife, Pamella and Thessia, pinning them down but leaving the rest of them scrambling for the opening, only to see it an entire 2 kilometres in the air and gaining height every second that went by. Valeetee pushed Yona and Pelison off the edge and told Kheel to make sure they survived the fall, then he turned to Ariana.

"I have to stay here and save you other friends." Ariana tried to interrupt but her place a wrinkled finger on her lips. "I know you disagree but it's one life lost to save the lives of three. It's a sacrifice that is worth it." 

Ariana felt more tears fall down her cheeks but Valeetee brushed them away and kissed her forehead. "It was an honour to know such a brave and good soul, you are someone who I will cherish in my heart to the end. My life is over, but you still have a destiny to fulfill. A purpose to find. I'm sorry you had to be put through all of this pain but that is life, I suppose. Just promise me that what all this is over, you will live a life worthy of someone as incredible as you."

He waited for her to nod before pushing both her and Kheel off the edge.

A/N: just one more chapter before the epilogue! We're almost there guys!!!