Sienna looks at Cyna, on the verge of breaking. "Right."
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"Ok, I'll be back up in a couple minutes." the Anizari says with a kind smile. Going first to her room she grabs a shift from her stowed gear before locking the door to her room.
She then heads down to where only a few dwarves occupy the common room/tavern. "I know it's an odd request but would you happen to have any tea? Preferably something that would help somebody sleep." she asks the barkeep.
Cyna quietly guides her love back to their shared room. The ranger can practically feel the pain radiating from Sienna's grasp as she does.
"What's wrong love?" Cyna asks.
The innkeeper nods at the magus and puts a kettle on. "Night terrors, eh? It's. th' only time Ah get asked fer tea. Minin' kin be rougher than one thinks."
Shortly after, he hands a hot cup of sweet smelling tea to Sadhana.
Sienna shakes, the withdrawals hitting her hard. "The...I...noth...I don't know. I'm having flashbacks..."
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"Yhlrea to it seems. I'm here for you Sienna, we'll get past this together alright?" Cyna encourages, taking both of Sienna's hands into her grasp.
Sienna places her head against Cyna's chest. "I keep seeing the dead bodies, smelling the smoke, feeling the heat...I wanna forget, Cyna. I wanna forget..."
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Sādhanā nods in thanks as she takes the tea up to Ylrhea's room, knocking on the door to make sure that the gnome knew she was there before opening it, careful not to startle her.
"Here you go hon, it smells pretty good." she says walking over to the bed to hand her the tea.
The gnome takes the cup carefully, the jitters still fairly prominent. She slowly sips the tea and sighs. "Thank you."
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"Of course." Sādhanā says sitting at the side of the bed as she reaches down to remover her boots. "You're not alone in getting through this ok? Don't ever forget that."
"I know..." Ylrhea sighs again. "But...I could feel him touching me...doing things to me..."
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Sādhanā places her sword belt at the side of the bed, sighing sadly at the idea of everything Ylrhea had endured at the hands of the monster Ixen. Pulling the gnome woman into a hug, she hold her close providing comfort. " If you want to talk for a bit we can. If you don't just know that I'm here, and nothing or no-one is going to hurt you tonight."
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"You said you were a mercenary once. Why?" the gnome asks, changing subjects.
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The Anizari's eyes widen as she thinks of the magical enhancements know to exist on only the rarest of weapons. "Does the blade look almost like it's made of pure light?"
Thinking for a minute, "Why yes it does, as a matter of fact."
Before Sādhanā could continue, there came a scream from upstairs. Drago recognized it as Ylrhea. Following the Magus as she burst into the Gnomes room, he readied himself for a fight. There was none to be had. Seeing that Sādhanā had it all under control, he quietly slipped back to his room. Although he wasn't physically tired, the talk with Aliethia had drained him emotionally. While Drago didn't know the details, he could sympathize with her demons. After all, he had a similar experience himself not long ago. Sitting on the bed and looking at his ancestor's hilt, he couldn't help but think, I hope that I can honor your memory. Looking up at the ceiling, "Please Sarenrae, grant Ylrhea peace this night." he prayed.
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"May the pure earth bless you, Drago," Maxim says. "You look tired, my son. The goddess feels your devotion and wishes to ask you something."
Sarenrae smiles at you, her divine light quite soothing this time. "I ask one thing, Drago: Will you trust me?"
Unlike prior dreams, you feel in control here.
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Sienna places her head against Cyna's chest. "I keep seeing the dead bodies, smelling the smoke, feeling the heat...I wanna forget, Cyna. I wanna forget..."
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"You can't and you shouldn't, love. It's a part of you now, they all are, and you have to accept what happened and move on. Become stronger for it." Cyna says.
Looking down she adds. "It's not easy."
"When does it stop haunting me?" murmurs Sienna.
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"When you forgive yourself." Cyna answers.
"I watched people die to protect me...I can't forgive myself until I avenge them," Sienna says, trembling a little less.
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Cyna puts on a small smile of hope. "Fair enough. A little more time and we'll be at his knocking at his doorstep. Just a little longer, alright."
Cyna pulls the sorceress into an embrace savoring her warmth. She quickly realizes that grasping onto Sienna's hands with her own had left none to keep the sheet she had been using as substitute clothing up. Leaving her exposed to the cold underground air.
The feel of Cyna's skin against hers drives away the lingering fears. Sienna gently kisses the ranger's neck. "I'll keep you warm."
She smiles and pulls Cyna on top of her, wrapping her arms around her lover, her happiness. I won't let go.
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"Second," Sarenrae says. "Find Aliethia, she is still around. You must decide if she deserves redemption or death."
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Cyna eep's as shes whisked back to bed. She kisses her love and after a few moments she decides to share her own shortcomings with Sienna.
"The fort back at Valwick. When we arrived in this land it was controlled by a monster named Ixen. We fought him. He injured us and managed to escape with Drago, while his undead minions overwhelmed us. I died in that fort, we all did and Ixen got away. If we had stopped him. Maybe Ylrhea..."
While snuggled down in the bed and blissfully asleep, Arista awakens suddenly with an urgent need to relieve herself. Getting up out of the bed, she shivers as she walks across the cold floor to the chamber pot. Once finished, she goes to the basin and washes her hands.
She lays back down in the bed, but since she went to bed so early...she's unable to go back to sleep. Getting back up out of bed, she puts on her robe and heavy winter hooded cloak over that. Leaving her hair wild, she puts on her warmer boots and quietly slips out of her room.
She walks quietly down the stairs and heads outside for a walk. After a few minutes of walking, she comes to rest by the fountain. The sound of the water is relaxing as she sits there and enjoys the quiet moment.
"There's no telling what could have happened. If that a+#~$&# died, she would have probably died in Vencious' hands. Things happened the way they did for a reason. We're here together because of the choices we made. I wouldn't trade this for the world, despite how much it bloody hurts."
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Drago awoke with a start. After a moment to make sure he was truly awake, the Dhampir realized he felt different. As if a massive weight had taken off of his shoulders. Dressing quickly, he headed down the stairs and to the fountain. Arriving at the fountain, he saw Arista there. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked.
Sādhanā takes a deep breath as she contemplates Ylrhea's question. "I was lost. That would be the best way to describe it I guess, lost for a really long time. Would you believe I used to be a noble...gods I was such a brat, full of myself running wild. My parents got me a bodyguard. She was how I discover that women were what did it for me, my first love I guess. My father had plans to marry me off to a more powerful noble house so I'm sure you can guess his reaction, that and the idea of not having his line continue after me.. we ended up running off to be adventurers."
Her eyes take on a distant look for a moment as she remembers. Shaking her head, she begins working the buckles of her armor.
" I always had a problem being told what to do, even when it was a good idea. We had a fight over something stupid one night, and I stormed off. When she hadn't come back to our room in the inn we were staying at I went looking for her. The city watch called it a random act of violence, wrong place at the wrong time and she became the victim of some maniac. I watched him hang when they caught him but it didn't make the emptiness go away. For a while after that, the only time I felt anything was when I was fighting, and I wanted to get away from everything and everybody I knew. Being a mercenary seemed like it fit the bill."
"That's right." Cyna nods resting her head on Sienna's shoulder once again.
"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, you know that? The others too. The friends I've made since coming here... our little family is truly amazing." Cyna says closing her eyes.
Sienna holds Cyna, brushing the hair from the ranger's face. "I love you and our family."
She falls asleep a few moments later.
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Drago awoke with a start. After a moment to make sure he was truly awake, the Dhampir realized he felt different. As if a massive weight had taken off of his shoulders. Dressing quickly, he headed down the stairs and to the fountain. Arriving at the fountain, he saw Arista there. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked.
Startled by the voice in her moment of reflection Arista jumps slightly. Opening her eyes she see's Drago and pulls her cloak a little tighter around her to better cover her nightgown and robe ensemble.
She blushes slightly at his question, "I went to bed early and slept hard, so I'm okay....I just...I woke up with this...sensation and then once up I couldn't go back to sleep...so, I decided to take a walk. This fountain was so lovely I just decided to sit for a while, it's just so...soothing." She looks at him for a moment, taking in his appearance she says, "What about you? What has you up so......well...I guess this isn't really early..but, we've had a few busy days as of late."
"Well, let's just say that things have gotten interesting since we returned from below." Drago started. From there he went over the whole story of how Aliethia showed up out of nowhere and his little dream involving Sarenrae and his father Maxim.
She nods her head, her eyes go a little wide with shock at the mention of Alethia, and she puts a protective hand over her belly for a moment. She smiles at the telling of his dream, even in the darkness of these caverns it brightens everything around her.
Once he's done telling her everything she sits quietly for a moment while looking at the ground. When she looks up at him, there are tears in her eyes.
"Drago....I understand that you've been through alot....but, have you ever stopped to imagine what things might be like for her now? She had a family....people who loved her...and...from the way you talk, the sound in your voice...I can tell that at least at one point you loved each other. What happened to the both of you wasn't fair and you were both used by your mother.....maybe....she sees how happy you are now and a little part of her yearns for that as well."
She starts to shake a little, but it's difficult to tell if it's from her emotions or the cold night air.
"Maybe...maybe she misses her family and is tired of being Chalandra's victim. I'm sorry.....I....I'm having alot of feelings right now and I don't completely understand all of them."
Sighing she wipes her eyes with the sleeve of her cloak, "How do you feel about all this?"
"About her, I'm not entirely sure. But I do know one thing, if there is a chance for me to correct my mistake and bring her back to Alethiro and the rest of his family, I have to try." Looking at the fountain, "However, I first have to claim another part of my father's heritage."
Arista nods in understanding, "I'm not sure how Alethiro and his family would react to that.....but, I know that he still misses her. I know that he loves her...." She pauses slightly, "It would be nice if everyone could be back together....for her to have more positive influences in her life. Change is not easy, not ever....but I believe that if she wants it bad enough....that she can work at it and achieve it. Much in the same way that you have had to work so hard at changing who you thought yourself to be for the person that you truly are. Maybe...she's just trying to find that person in herself."
Putting a hand on his arm, her warmth and compassion seem almost tangible.
She looks into his eyes, "Sarenrae believes that you can do this, and so do I. You've come a long way....and Aliethia deserves the same chance that you were given."
She smiles as she stands, "Well, if you like I can give you some privacy. This seems like something...personal and I wouldn't want to impose. I can continue my walk, maybe head back to the Inn."
Ylrhea yawns. "Sorry...just starting to feel relaxed again."
She smiles and looks into Sādhanā's eyes. "I'm sorry that your first love had to end like that. My first love...well, it was more my fault than anything. He was a handsome elf name Gaulindir, we just called him 'Goldie' because of his beautiful blonde hair...It was a few years after the Green Circle had taken me in. I was a terror back then. Well, more than I am now.
So, Goldie and I studied archery together in the afternoons. I remember how the sun glistened off of that hair. His eyes, oh, they were something else too. Green like the first leaf in spring. One day, I challenged him to a contest. I told him if I could hit more bulls-eyes than him, I'd kiss him. If he won...well, he wanted more than a kiss. Something about the 'Fires of Passion' and whatnot. So, I lost on purpose."
The gnome laughs softly. "It was...good, I suppose, since it was both of our first times. Then Goldie became a bit...possessive. He followed me everywhere I went, brought me gifts, crept into my room in the middle of the night. He wasn't ready for sex, he was still a kid by elven standards. So, I broke up with him and did some traveling for six months. When I came back..."
Her mood falters and tears reappear in her eyes. "The idiot went and killed himself...Left me a fourteen page love/suicide note. Swore off of companionship for a good while, unless they were just interested in a quickie. It took a long time for me to open my heart up again."
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"I'd appreciate that Arista, I'll see you later." Once the Aasamir left, Drago turned to the fountain. He looked into the water at his reflection, Well, here it goes. The Dhampir cupped his hands in the water and brought it to his face. It felt cool and soothing, One down. After the second time, a mist began to form behind Drago. He looked over his shoulder and noticed the mist. Last one. Washing his face one last time, the mist began to change. Electrical sparks began to dance within it, gaining in intensity by the second. At the peak of the miniature storm, it instantly disipated.
In the storms place, there was a creature with the upper torso of a woman and the lower half of a serpent. Her lower half is covered in silvery scales that glistened in the light. A band of similar scales wrapped around her bosom. The skin of her torso was the color of a clear twilight sky. Her long hair, blacker than the darkest cave, braided and resting over her left shoulder. In her right hand, she held a finely ranseur, its two smaller points shaped as lightning bolts protruding at a forty-five degree angle from the base of the main spike.
"At last, the remaining scion of House Zakharov has summoned me to help heal this land." Tarja said.
Looking upon her visage, Drago stood stunned in her presence. "You are truly a sight to behold. That name, Zakharov, is that my father's family name?"
"It is, young Stormborn." She replied.
Walking back to the Inn gives her plenty of time to think about things. Going back inside she goes up to the counter and asks for a cup of tea. Once it's ready she goes and sits back down at one of the tables and slowly sips on it, letting the warmth of it soothe her.