Rise of the Inquisition (Arc 4-6)

Chapter 112: Icarus

Ashley, while walking down the pathway, previously walked by Paladin and Archer, looked up at the woman dressed in black and red. The woman was smiling while she looked down at Ashley, seemingly happy for no reason that was obvious to Ashley. When Ashley arrived at the top of the green hill, she looked at the woman, who was still smiling at her. She held out her right hand.

"Princess Ashley...I've been watching you for a long time now--"

"Who are you?'

When Ashley didn't extend her hand out to shake the hand of the woman, the woman took her hand, and put it back down at her side. The woman however gave a shallow smile, and slowly she opened her mouth.

"My name...is Icarus."

Ashley's eyes grew wide, and she took a few steps back from Icarus, reacting to what Icarus just told her. Icarus smirked, seeing that Ashley recognized her name.

"You're Ica--"

"I very much am Icarus."

Ashley then got close to Icarus, and she gripped onto each of the Icarus' shoulders with both of her hands. With a serious look on her face, she looked directly into the eyes of Icarus.

"Why would you kill Arryn! why would you kill Snow!"

Ashley was shaking Icarus as she spoke, and Icarus watched as tears started to drip down from both of the eyes of Ashley. Icarus' smirk disappeared, recognizing the pain that Ashley. The pain that Ashley was feeling was similar to the pain of that which Icarus felt in the past, it was something that she and Ashley both shared. The loss of a loved one. Icarus took both of the hands off Ashley off her shoulders, and she held onto each hand as she spoke. Ashley looked down at the ground as Icarus spoke back to her.

"Ashley, I never ordered the Cultists to kill your friends. I never ordered them to do such a thing, realistically I never order them to anything particular most of the time...except the capture of you and a few others--"

Ashley's face shot back up to look at Icarus, as tears were still coming down her face from her eyes.

"Who else did you capture?"

"The Icarus Cultists didn't manage to capture anybody else that I asked to be captured, they couldn't manage it at all. I watched them try to capture them--but they ran away before committing themselves fully. Now Ashley--" Icarus let both of Ashley's hand go, then she turned away from her. With her left hand's index finger she pointed at the glass table with white chairs on each opposite end next to the two of them. "Come sit down with me, so we can discuss the things that forced me into having to have you captured and brought to me."

Ashley quickly shook her head side to side, seemingly to Icarus she was not wanting to be compliant.

"I'll only speak with you if you tell me something--"

Icarus turned to look back at Ashley, and then she interlocked her hands together at her waist. Seemingly, she was curious to see what Ashley wanted to ask her about.

"And what do you want to ask me about?"

"Who else were you trying to capture?"

Icarus smiled at the question that Ashley had for her, intrigued that Ashley was wanting to know who else she had planned to be captured.

"The members of the Inquisition. Paladin, Archer, Jingks, Noxious, and Omega. I had intended for every single one of them to be captured--"

"But why, what is so important about them that you must--"

Ashley clenched both of her hands, turning them both into fists. Icarus turned away from her again, and she again pointed towards the table made of glass with her left hand's index finger.