"The Crumbling Line

Officials near the border town of Castel-sur-Setis report that minor skirmishes have broken out between Republican and Kingdom forces yesterday evening. Though the violence has died down in the hours following. Many speculate and fear that this signals the possible resumption of large scale conflict within the border regions once more."

- Transcribing The Trannoire, Second Page - Gratia Section, "Civil War Updates"

Princess Annabelle-Elizabeth Adeline Montroi sat once more at the head of a large table. Surrounding her were the four members of the Unbroken. The silent sentinels who ensured Pyra's safety at all costs. Their soulless, unmoving presence was augmented by Primus Lyran and two of his legionnaires. Their short blades and shields offered a no less imposing figure for the ones who now gradually filtered into the meeting room.

She could feel it in the back of her mind, Pyra's madness and giddiness intertwined. An unceasing cacophony of chaos given form. Where Kimmie stood over her right shoulder, Pyra was practically foaming at the mouth and launching herself across the table at their guests. Annalise could only sighed wearily as the rest of Sophie's party arrived.

She had done all she could to restrain Pyra, trying her best to steer the crazed princess in allowing diplomatic talks to continue. Still, having a passenger in her mind unfortunately meant that sooner or later, she would have to give in. And so she did, reluctantly acquiescing to the vengeful screaming until she ordered Seneschal Alain to bring the proceedings to a halt.

Her eyes met Sophie's and despite Pyra's hawkish gaze beside, she offered the girl a soft smile. One that Sophie returned in kind. Then her eyes settled upon Mila and her heart stilled. The inquisitor who she had once had to save from panic, who she then shot with an arrow in an attempt to flee. A debt gained, a debt repaid, but a comrade nonetheless. Yet all she could see now were questions, like a kettle lid rattling from the pressure within just about to pop. It hurt her to know how she betrayed that trust.

Mila only offered a curt nod, the inquisitor's trademark scowl wilting under the weight of their potential confrontation. Anna, too, felt her mood sink. They weren't the best of friends or even the closest. But beyond people like Sophie or the members of Runebound she had precious little left within the world whom she could once call a friend.

The others she had little knowledge of, only Elaria being Sophie's sister really registered. Her gaze then landed on the half hooded figure. She had ears like an elf, narrowed eyes like one, and a more than inviting sultry figure that most of their kind possessed. But her skin was a purple-blue that Annalise had never seen before, and her eyes a deep red color that seemed almost unnatural to her, yet fitting nonetheless. Fascinating.

"I agree," Pyra hissed beside her, "but as I warned you last time. She walks with the air of a killer. An assassin."

"Maybe. I somehow doubt its meant for us though. Too obvious, too much of a presence." Anna tried to calm her down.

"Imbecile. A killer is a killer. A weapon. Their only foe here would be us. Be wary, test her, a killer like that rarely works without a master. Find them, kill them first." Pyra snarled.

"Let's just wait and see."

"Weakling."

Anna ignored her and sat quietly, gesturing for her guests to take their seats.

Once again, just like yesterday, they sat at the table around her. Just like back then, the two sides remained mostly separate, Sophie's group, and then the church group. A divide. Different sides with different questions. "Before you rudely shooed one side out so that we could not ascertain their motives." She chided.

"The church wants to oust us by means fair or foul. What else is there to know? Perhaps they are even responsible for the assassin hiding behind my sister's back." Pyra growled.

"Doubtful. If you truly believed in all of Sophie's words."

"Sophie." Pyra repeated, almost savoring the words in her mouth, "Saphyre."

Anna pinched her nose and rubbed between her brows. Pyra's presence was only growing stronger by the minute. Thankfully she wasn't trying to seize full control, yet.

"Friends, comrades, strangers. I bid you all welcome to my hall." She announced, taking the time to stand up and cordially bow half way.

The others rose from their seats and returned the gesture somewhat. Their lack of utter submission made Pyra fume. Though Anna tried to ignore the madness for now.

"Firstly, I thank you all for taking the time to come here. I apologize for the wait but as you might've guessed, matters of the state take center stage." She offered a weak chuckle.

A few nodded in understanding. Pyra just bristled angrily but kept silent for once.

"I assume you all have many questions to ask me, I understand. But in the interest of not wasting your time." She glared at Pyra, the mad princess glared back, "I believe it would be prudent to address more… official matters first." She gestured towards Mila's contingent, "Before we handle more personal matters, if that's alright with everyone."

The others nodded. A relief, however small. But appreciated nonetheless.

Anna sighed. The terms were established. The burden still weighed upon her, the weight of betrayal. But at least she could finally address it, to finally speak to the wronged. After a breath, she nodded to herself and looked directly towards Mila.

"So…" She bit her lip, uncertain.

She never really imagined the moment they would meet again. Nor did she prepare for it. But there were a plethora of emotions that she foresaw when she thought about it last night. Hate, anger, irritation, dismay, coldness, even sorrow or wariness. But when their eyes met, she only saw a pitying scowl. Anna took a moment to simply blink before continuing, for she knew that look. Her hands clutched at the wooden beams under the desk, grabbing onto them for some sense of stability. For Mila's eyes were reminiscent of those who had seen someone they respected prove to be so much less than expected. Just like what happened with Arnold and why she could never see him in the same light. And now her, me.

"Mila…" The name itself seemed to sting her and the inquisitor winced, the pain etching itself into Anna's memory, "I suppose you have… a few questions for me, huh?" She offered a joyless chuckle.

"A few." Mila muttered and nodded, "You could say that."

Anna couldn't maintain the gaze and looked away towards the decorations in the room. Finery and tapestries covered the walls, as befitting a royal meeting chamber. Yet it was the bust of a Montroi knight that caught her eye. She had no clue who it was supposed to be, but it too, seemed to be judging her. Like a knight to a misbehaving squire.

"So, ask them." Anna opened herself up for the challenge.

"Fool." Pyra chided.

The two groups before her shuffled uneasily before Mila finally rose to take the offer.

"Annalise… if that's even you there…" Mila tried to start and then found herself at a loss for words.

There were dozens of questions, even more if she added those relating to the security of the realm. But it was the personal ones that hit the hardest, and those were the ones that she didn't even know how to put into words. Her mouth opened and closed, and she faltered.

Anna understood though. Despite their short time together, they had shared a camaraderie and bond. One that she broke. She could just about feel the agony from the look of hurt that ran across the inquisitor's face and how it seemed to cry out for one question. Why?

Seeing that Mila was paralyzed with indecision, Anna mustered up her courage to try and answer that question. She knew that whether or not what she said mattered was entirely up to MIla. She only hoped that it could offer some clarity and consolation that blame laid squarely upon herself and not Mila.

"Mila. Listen." Annalise began.

The inquisitor made to protest then stopped. Now, she just waited. Dissatisfied by her own failure yet too curious to protest.

The room too seemed to await her words with a disquieting stillness. Anna had gotten used to all the gazes being turned upon her. A necessity from delivering rulings in court. Though it wasn't like she had a choice to simply not be present. At least not if I want to truly try to keep the people safe.

"It was just… hmmm… where should I begin?" Anna spoke to herself.

She caught Sophie's eye, the girl shooting her a solemn look. She understood. The ruins and Eichafen.

"Hah." She muttered before raising her voice, "I guess I'll make it simple." She gathered enough willpower to meet Mila's gaze once more, "About a few weeks before you met us. That is, Sophie and I. I lost everyone that I knew and loved. Everything."

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She paused, trying to stand up and speak on equal terms, she wobbled from the sudden effort, her leg almost giving out. Kimmie hurriedly rushed to her side to help steady her. The girl's cold hands still offered a phantom warmth that bolstered Anna's spirit.

"So I'm not trying to get your sympathy or to try and justify anything. I just want you to understand that back then, I tried to play it cool. Tried to make sure Sophie could find a foundation against those trying times, especially since well…" Anna almost chuckled as a memory flashed into her mind, "Since I seem to have a habit of shooting friends."

Sophie stared at her quizzically for a few seconds until a small gasp escaped her lips and her eyes widened in surprise at her own memories.

Anna even managed to get a playful smile out of her despite the horrid events. When she had first tried to help Runebound and The Crows clear out bandits. The accidental arrow loosed that ended up tying their fates together.

"Heh." Sophie chuckled, "So you shot me too." She let out a soft whisper.

"Yeah. It wasn't exactly a good time to be in the Mistveil." Anna allowed herself the chuckle.

"No. It really wasn't." Sophie agreed, a look of sorrow descending over the half elf.

Mila stared with an incredulous scowl at how lightly the two seemed to be taking things, but still kept her thoughts to herself. She probably already figured out that Sophie is a bit more than odd, hah. Still... Reluctantly, Anna continued.

'But yeah. A lot happened after I met Sophie. Some of my close comrades turned out to be saboteurs who we still don't know from who to this day. Those that didn't died either in Eichafen trying to hold the doomed city, or came with me. My closest friends and even the people I tried to save, like the Maujurrin girl. All died in front of my very eyes." Anna recounted.

A silence descended upon the room. Then, Sophie spoke.

"Riza. That was her name."

"Thank you." Anna gently nodded.

The two exchanged pained glances at each other. Both now felt their own painful memories return to the forefront. A bond craved through suffering. An understanding of loss.

"I couldn't help any of them. Hmm, I couldn't even help myself." She whispered and glanced at her leg.

She could almost feel it there, and then the pain as the magic bolt simply vaporized her muscles and bone, bringing her to the ground. The attack was too quick for her to even register or respond. The shock, the confusion, and then the agony.

"I couldn't save anyone either." Sophie muttered.

"So when I got word that the one other person who showed some kindness and love was in peril. I dropped everything and, you might say foolishly, set off to help. Me and my one fucking leg." She cursed.

A light breath escaped from Mila, the inquisitor putting more of the pieces together.

"The worst luck of all." The girl grumbled, "The north was under siege, demons and cults, stretching the inquisition thin. Melton's capital ravaged, any spare assets were sent to quell any remaining necromantic and accursed influences. And the war left the east depleted." Mila laughed a little, "What a saint damned joke."

"Yeah. That sounds about right." Anna spoke.

"Then the damned plague…" Mila paused to stare at Kimmie, a frown knitting itself across her face, "And her…"

"What about her?" Anna growled, growing more defensive.

"She was a plague victim." Mila hissed, "If anything, she needed to be examined so that the disease wouldn't spread. And you just ferry her away on the back of your horse? We were putting out pyres from those of the afflicted in your wake."

"She was alive, in a way. I had to keep her that way."

"So? You would sacrifice hundreds to do that?"

"Insolent."

"I fought for what I believed in, just as you did. She cared, Mila. She cared. And I admit, I was weak then, broken. She was the only pillar I had."

"That excuses nothing. It's not even a matter of the greater good at this point." Mila spat, "It's about how much you destroyed, the lives you unintentionally took. And now this damned three way war around us-"

"Still a truce and ceasefire. One that only happened when I came back."

"Silence this cur. She questions us. Question you." Pyra snapped.

"Oh? So now you think about the people, hmm?"

Anna bristled.

"Yeah. Yeah, only now. And you want to know why?" She goaded.

Mila just glowered.

"It's because I had nothing left, I said it already. I was fucked, Mila. I lost everyone. What else did you expect me to do? Just lay down and die? She was a hope, a small flicker in the darkness. I grasped that with all my might and I would do it again. Of course I knew that it wasn't just 'alright'. Of course I knew that there'd be trouble. But for me, it was all I had."

"So?"

"So?! I was empty. We got Sophie to Arteria, we got you to the church. My job was done. I had nothing. Nothing! The people I knew? Dead and gone. And my purpose? The fuck was I going to do with one leg? What sort of adventurer would I be besides a liability, huh? That day, you remember when I made the choice to go back to Melton? I was ready to die, Mila. I wasn't expecting to come back."

"And yet you did." The inquisitor growled.

"Would you be happier if I gave up? Just rolled over and died? That's it?"

The two were silent for a spell. The hostility boiled over to an outright confrontation.

"No." Mila spoke after a moment, "No."

A brief moment of relief. The possibility of reconciliation.

"Then what?" Anna tried to ask, softening her tone.

"Weakness." Pyra scoffed.

"No, a chance to end this pointless bickering." Anna shot back.

"Pointless indeed. Her mind is made up."

Mila seemed to search her mind, then shook her head and sighed. Something ate away at her, and she looked away. Not surrendering, but not confrontational. Then when their gazes finally met, the same look of pity returned.

"I expected better."

A hard blow. And just like that, the possibility vanished as quickly as it came.

"What the hells do you mean by that?"

"I. Expected. Better." Mila reiterated.

"Pathetic. I can feel you. Your disappointment."

"I told you already I-"

"I lost everything too, once." Mila shouted, cutting her off, "My family, friends, everyone I knew. I have the same nightmares every single day. But look at me. I choose to take the righteous path. To stand for my beliefs even after everything. I fight not to just stop the evils of this world, but to make sure that people like you or me don't keep becoming a reality. And you have the gall to try and spin this as if you didn't have a choice?"

"End this farce. Or I will end her for you." Pyra snarled, "She is an insult to us both."

Anna bit her lip and held back a torrent of unkind words. She could feel the festering pit in her growing larger. She tried to resist the temptation, but her emotions tore through her already weakened barriers of rationality.

"And you did?" She growled and glared at Mila.

The inquisitor looked almost offended.

"Of course. I looked to the Goddess's guiding light, and I stood under it. Vowing to bring order back to this world." Mila declared.

She held her arms on her hips, almost daring for Anna to challenge her. The irrefutable point was now set in stone. Yet, stone could be weathered away just the same as anything else.

"Didn't you get rescued by the church? Hmm?" Anna sneered.

"Yeah. From the demons that ravaged my home." Mila shot back.

"They raised you, trained you, allowed you to grow."

"And?"

"Indoctrinated you, shaped you, molded you to their imagination."

Mila's scowl deepened, a threatening frown now taking over as she stood almost like she was prepared to leap over her table.

"See her rage, her hate? This is what she always thought of you. Nothing more than a stain upon her. End her. Prove her wrong. Demonstrate our strength."

"They made you theirs. Turned you into their instrument. Zapped your desire to leave because that was your world now. Their world. Isn't that what you told me? Your Inquisitor lady basically took you in as an orphan and you've been a part of the church since then? Completely grounded into nothing by their teachings and scriptures."

There was silence. A new challenge had been issued. One that stood on the verge of outright conflict as neither seemed willing to back down. They had aimed for each other's underbelly and had both struck their targets. They could only escalate from here.

"Far be it from me to uhh, interrupt this little dispute." The other inquisitor spoke.

" Who is this? Another contender for death? His skull would make a fine trophy for the throne room. Insolent little cur." Pyra shifted her ire. A flash of rage flickered across her face and Anna felt her head start to pound.

"...little cur." Anna unwittingly let the words slip out.

He winced a little at the accusation, shutting up almost immediately. But when nothing else came, he seized the chance to push a little further.

"Junior Inquisitor Philippe Roche, mam. If you'll pardon me for asking." He hastily stood up to bow, while unsubtly but gently trying to nudge Mila back into her seat. A child, pah!

"So for the church, our only real concern here is simple. What are your designs for this… wall of death? And are you really here to just take back your home? Or act as another contender to the throne of Gratia?" He asked.

Pyra glared at him but he remained unafraid.

"My designs are my own." Pyra answered icily, "This land belongs to me. But no, I care little for the pointless affairs of those beyond my wall." She declared.

"Huh. Thank you for the uh… frank answer. And seeing as my colleague already mentioned it, the plague…"

'Has nothing to do with me." She sneered

"I know that. It's just if her words are right, then your attendant should be dead. But clearly she appears to be cured and-"

"Simply a trivial use of my powers."

"Then-"

"If the disease is your concern, you should be asking the orcs like your friend there. Their main chieftain that headed into your lands is responsible. It was his creation."

"You seem to know more about it than you're letting on." He narrowed his eyes.

"And should I not? For one who reversed it's effects, as you claim by evidence. Shouldn't that mean I have a better understanding of it?"

"Of course. But how you acquired that knowledge-"

'Is irrelevant. For it does not affect me." She stated.

Philippe seemed unfulfilled but just clicked his tongue in annoyance, "I suppose." He simply muttered.

"Anything more pathetic mewling you wish to share?" She sarcastically drawled.

"Not at the moment." He spoke through gritted teeth.

"Then silence. My time is not yours to waste, church slave." She growled.

The inquisitor shrunk back into his seat, trying to catch Mila's gaze to calm her down but failing. The girl simply continued to stare at Annalise, her expression inscrutable. Relieved that the two appear cowed enough and that their orc escort was simply waiting for orders, Pyra turned to face those that truly demanded her interests.

"Sister!" Pyra grinned, far friendlier than mere moments ago, "Welcome back."

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