Eight Intertwined

185 - Lianna

Once Therion was alert enough to start picking the lock, he got right to work. Primrose gave up on her mission and tucked her pin back into her hair. Therion had considerably more luck in maneuvering his lock pick to free the group, but it was still an awkward angle he couldn't situate as he had hoped. Ophilia tapped her fingers anxiously against her knee while waiting for him to finally find success. She was trying her best to let H'aanit's peace consume her mind, but it was far easier said than done. Therion would set the group free soon, she was sure, but Ophilia's nerves refused to be calmed. She needed to get out of there to find and save Lianna, but how could she do that when she barely knew what to do aside from sit there and wait?

"Ophilia?"

Her heart went still at the sound of her name, but none of the travelers had spoken it. "That voice... Lianna?!" Sure enough, the door to the Wispermill jailhouse swung open, and Lianna appeared in the building's entryway. She looked vastly different to what Ophilia was used to. Instead of the pure white robes of the church, Lianna was draped in the dark cloaks Ophilia had seen on Lysa's kidnappers. The sight was enough to convince her blood to run cold, and if not for everything she knew needed to be done in that moment, Ophilia would have been sick. 

"Shh! Not so loud!" Lianna hissed, and Ophilia nodded as she pressed her lips together silently. Lianna let out a heavy sigh, her head falling in shame and grief. "I'm sorry, Ophilia. I'll get you out of here." Therion watched her uneasily as she approached the cell, still refusing to let up on picking at the lock. Even if Ophilia was intent on trusting Lianna, Therion had no reason to follow her lead. Ophilia glanced over at him, and Therion sighed before pulling his hand and lock pick back through the gap in between the cell's bars. 

Lianna moved toward the table the travelers' weapons were sitting on, and she opened a drawer before pulling out the key to the cell. Her eyes lingered on the weapons for a long moment, and Ophilia could tell by the look in her eyes that Lianna knew there was something strange about the assortment of blades and staves. "But... Lianna, why?" Ophilia whispered. Her heart skipped a beat in her chest, but Ophilia forced herself to stay calm even though it was a failing effort. 

The sound of her name pulled Lianna out of her thoughts, and she wrapped her fingers tightly around the key she had retrieved. "I'm sorry, Phili... I did it for our father," Lianna murmured. "He's gone. He left us forever... But the Savior promised me he can bring Father back! All I need to do is act as his vestal!"

Ophilia shook her head desperately. "Listen to yourself, Lianna! This is madness you speak!"

"What...? How could you say such a thing?" Lianna's voice shook as she turned to face Ophilia in full. "Do you not even care that Father is gone?! All those days we spent together... You and me and Father... Dining together, talking together, laughing together... We'll never know that happiness again! Don't you even care?!"

"I do care!" Ophilia retorted. "But that doesn't mean you can bring back the departed." She wanted to let her stream of consciousness take her lips over entirely. She wanted to tell Lianna of how bad of an idea this was, especially if Mattias was intent on using the fallen power of Galdera to do it. If Mattias succeeded even slightly in loosening the bonds on the dark god, they would all be doomed. Lianna wouldn't get the opportunity to see Josef again before the world ended. Was calamity truly worth the dark, impossible chance to bring the dead back to life? 

They both knew the answer, and it was why Lianna pressed her hand to her temple in frustration like she was trying to fight a headache. "I can't believe you, Ophilia! Were you always this cruel hearted?" she asked, her voice catching and snagging with each word. 

Ophilia shook her head. "Listen to me, Lianna! Of course I wish Father was still alive! But those who pass through the gate to the afterlife are never to return. You know that. And if you let that man use this forbidden power... There's no telling what horrors might be unleashed." Ophilia was understating it, and she knew it. Mattias would destroy everything under the idea of salvation if he was given the chance, and Ophilia couldn't let him get away with it. She couldn't let Lianna help him destroy the world either. If this was the destiny Ophilia had been born to carry out, then she would see it through no matter the cost.