Soul Chains

Chapter 54: A Time of Recollection

"Do...do you think we'll be okay after all this?" Ciana asks as she places her hand on Reine's shoulder and begins to thaw away the ice.

"I..." I pause as I look down to the ground before I meet her gaze, "I'm not so sure, actually...."

Reine gasps and stumbles as she gets freed from her icy prison and she shudders from the cold. Aislinn summons a shawl and places it around Reine's shoulders, having already freed Mikasa and Nathaniel and doing the same thing. Mikasa looks at me solemnly and Nathan stands there looking at the ground with wild eyes, occasionally glancing at his hands and swallowing thickly. I go over to Reine and pull her into a hug, wrapping my arms around her waist as Ciana goes over to Tien and frees him next.

"I'm glad you're okay," I swallow thickly and Reine squeezes me tighter in return.

Ayette stands by Dimitri and anxiously waits for him to be freed, crying out in relief once Ciana gets to him and frees him. Ayette rushes Dimitri and throws her arms around his neck, hugging him as well and his eyes widen in surprise before he smiles and hugs her back in relief. Mikasa forms a bubble around Kaltrina and one around Shitau as we prepare to head to who knows where.

"What happened to Coralyinn?" Reine asks.

"It was either all of you or her," I say, "and we couldn't...we couldn't lose any of you. I know you might say something like how we should've went after her because she's more important, but we really couldn't lose any of you, not anyone else. Never again. Not when we've lost so much. And we also physically couldn't take her on with just four of us anyway."

"All of you are more important than some cold-hearted wench," Ciana adds.

"Do we at least know where she's going?" Dimitri asks, his eyebrows furrowed.

"She said something about finishing her father's work," I say, my eyes meeting Aislinn's.

"What else happened?" Mikasa asks quietly.

"We can talk about it once we're out of here," Aislinn says calmly, her gaze set dead ahead as she opens a portal, "we should head back to Rinebeck to give Shitau and Kaltrina a proper burial in the Spring Sector and discuss what happened here."

"You're not going anywhere without me," a male voice says from behind us.

"Zen!" Mikasa gasps, her eyes wide and the rest of us turn to see him walking towards us with a hardened gaze.

"I can offer you more information on Coralyinn," Zen says as he shoves his hands in his pockets and his breath forms a cloud in the air, "And I can tell you for a fact that going to Rinebeck will not help you. If you want to give them proper burials and catch Coralyinn, you will need to hurry, but I understand how...important...people can be. One day in Rinebeck should be fine, but then we need to move."

"Can we really trust him?" Dimitri asks as he eyes Zen suspiciously.

"I'm not here to wage a war," Zen sighs out, his eyes conflicted, "I hope you see that in time, and you need my information."

"He would make a powerful ally as well," Reine adds.

"Let's go then," Aislinn says and steps through the portal without another word, deciding for us.

***

"I don't care if you claim you're fine," Dimitri says as we arrive at Reine and Dimitri's house once again and Dimitri slides open their front door, "you are going to be examined, Ciana."

"But we need to--" Ciana starts in protest.

"We have one full day to spend in Rinebeck," Reine interrupts, "I believe it would be wise to make sure all of us are okay before the funeral and before we proceed."