Silence

Chapter 23

Sonja

I have to admit that I'm excited about the ritual we're apparently going to see. The priestess, Amara, is leading us through corridors that honestly only she and Capsize seem to recognise. I hadn't even thought of the possibility that the pirates might not know where we're going. Yet I'm sure we're safe because... well, I don't know, something about this place just feels safe.

"I have to be honest, I was a little worried about when you would come back, with everything that's gone on," Amara says, giving a brief look towards Andrew which almost seems odd. The two don't really give off the air of being close, at least not any closer than she is to the other two pirates. Yet the pirates don't seem at all surprised by her actions, Andrew even smiles as he's helped along by Redbeard. "Seeing you both back save is a relief though and I'm sure it will be to Ianite too."

Capsize smiles and nods towards Amara yet I think for a moment how odd it is that her priestess of all people isn't referring to Ianite with her title but, again, since no one seems to be questioning it I wouldn't want to cause a fuss over something that seems to be ordinary. Especially not as we stop in front of an ornate door that she unlocks leading in to, honestly, one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever seen.

The whole room almost glows, both from the purple flames that are also from the light seeping in through a stained glass window that takes up most of the back wall of the room which is itself breathtaking. It depicts Ianite, arms outstretched and eyes open wide, displayed in so many purples yet the most interesting part is that her heart is displayed, shining out of her chest.

"It's all set up, the heart just needs to be placed on the altar," Amara says, looking at Jordan since he's the one who's holding the heart. He steps forward, hesitating for a moment before taking the glowing object out of the box and placing it where he was told. I don't quite know what I expected to happen but what I definitely wasn't expecting was for the heart to start melting.

"Did I do something wrong?!" Jordan panics as clearly, he didn't expect this to happen either. Something we worked so hard to get is literally melting in front of our eyes and yet the priestess doesn't look panicked as if this is meant to be happening. Yet as it melts a figure starts appearing until the heart is gone and in front of the altar stands Ianite.

"My lady!" Most of the Ianitees respond at once, bowing at the very least with only two exceptions. Amara reminds stationary which I suppose is reasonable, she would be someone who sees Ianite often and Capsize merely nods her head. Ianite stands for a minute just looking at her hands, moving her fingers in front of her face, making me painfully aware that she hasn't been in a position in probably a long time and then after she seems to have come to terms with her form, she looks at us and laughs a little.

"Please, you don't need to do that, not now. I am only even able to appear here because of you," Ianite says, a smile playing on her face. It's beautiful though I still find it odd how friendly she is being with us, Mianite always wants us to be formal towards him and while Dianite isn't as formal he still expects a certain level of respect. Yet here is Ianite, a goddess, telling her followers not to bow. It's just so weird. "This is a good time for you all to celebrate."

"But we haven't actually freed you yet, shouldn't we-"

"No, my champion, this is an achievement and a significant loss for Dianite. If I could give you a reward now I would but all I can give you is a chance to allow you all to relax," She smiles and I realise that she legitimately means it. I actually feel myself relaxing because this isn't just a trick, Ianite is actually smiling. At least she isn't until Capsize starts signing something so quickly that Redbeard isn't translating, a shocked, almost panicked, look in her eyes. "Furia... I'm so sorry that I hadn't warned you about him. He's... Dianite's guardian. I should've known that he would turn up to guard the heart. Did he hurt you?"

Capsize shakes her head, looking towards Jordan and her brother who both do the same (though I see Tucker shift uncomfortably). Ianite breaths out a breath of relief and I realise in a sickening moment that if she thought that she must have experienced violence from this Fuira before and that... that's terrifying.

A/N:

So this is a bit of a shorter chapter but I really didn't want to add anything more onto this chapter, hopefully, you don't might the slightly shorter length because of that (especially since it probably would have been of about average length had I included what Capsize says).

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, comments and feedback are welcome :D