Shadow Slayers

Enoch listened quietly to the cacophony of sounds that accompanied the healer's words. The chaos stemming from what he assumed to be Kama's violent anger, Alroth's words, Oxy's crying, Celty's pleas. The dark walls of the dungeon felt like they were closing in on him as his head spun and a feeling of utter hopelessness set in. His mind racing wasn't exactly an unfamiliar feeling, but this time it was uncomfortable, calculating every single negative permutation of how everything went wrong, was going wrong, would continue to go wrong.

Everything was falling apart. He shook his head silently and slowly, the dizziness lurching as his head shook, before starting to speak and do his utmost to be constructive.

"Manasa, I agree," he replied quietly, "We should surely formulate some sort of team strategy before the next battle. The healers and support shouldn't ever feel useless for not focusing on fighting. But right now," He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and closed his eyes, trying to alleviate his headache, "I need to get out of this damn dungeon. Certainly it's not helping any of us, remaining in a place like this."

The priest was relieved when Kama returned to collect the mother and child, and turned to make his way up the stairs, his thoughts still ringing in his ears. This could've been avoided, this could've all been avoided... As he finally exited the dungeon and squinted as his eyes readjusted to the brightness of the upper floors, he walked over to the window facing the garden and leaned against the wall.

Who could he trust any more? He'd considered Celty to be his friend, he fought for her secret, he... Could they really trust him after he'd made such a poor judgment call with Celty? The guild was now in shambles... What could have changed if he allowed Rylan to tell Kama that night a few weeks ago? Would anything have changed? He was making mistake after mistake when mistakes could not be afforded... it was unacceptable.

Daryn continued to sit in her place after Osseus had left her. She wasn't bothered by his absence and enjoyed the time she had to collect herself. The events that came after that had passed her at her place sitting against the wall not far from the dungeon's stairway. Kama passed her and soon began screaming in a room not far off. Mimisko passed her, Osseus passed her, Kama passed her again with Celty and Oxy. The blur of faces back and forth managed not to bring her from her now bored trance until the face of a very troubled elf came and went. She had shared so much battle experience with the man that it nearly felt like she had to follow him. She followed behind him by quite a distance until he stopped at the window. She stopped in her tracks as well, leaving him to gather his thoughts. She didn't know why, but she knew she had to cheer him up somehow. The situation with Celty really seemed to bother him for some reason, and she felt it only right to help him when he'd helped her so much already. There wasn't much she could think of to get his attention, but a quick survey of the ground provided what she had hoped would be an adequate attention-grabber.

She picked up a medium-sized pebble and threw it in the man's direction, knowing it would not hit him in the slightest. She'd aimed it quite to the left of him. It landed with a few clacks on the ground, sliding off somewhere she didn't care to keep track of.

"Well would you look at that." She said, quieter than her usual loud tone. She had begun to walk forward just after she threw the pebble, and was now just behind Enoch's peripheral vision. "I missed," She said without the slightest hint of disappointment.

She passed Enoch's position where she knew he was watching out the window from. She slowly leaned on the same wall just the opposite of the window, facing Enoch, looking at him directly. By his expression she knew his mind was rather distressed. She then quietly asked,

"You okay?"

    The sudden sound of clattering against the ground made Enoch jump slightly, shaken from his thought process and brought back into reality. As a rock slid down the hall, the priest watched with some confusion. What was--



    He sighed softly and relaxed once he heard a familiar voice, his gaze slowly moving up from the final resting place of the rock to the swordswoman once she came into view. She was frankly one of the few people he didn't mind seeing at this current moment. Daryn was someone he knew he could trust. Although rough around the edges, she was genuine, candid, and earnest, and during this current tumultuous state within the guild, that's all he could ever ask for. She was someone he could put his faith in.

    The priest paused for a beat after her question, the words almost sounding foreign to his ears. He was so accustomed to being the one that had to keep it together. Being the mentor, the mediator, and the one with a plan, that he himself had neglected his own frustrations and thoughts until he finally reached this current deadened point he was at now.

    He shook his head slowly, trying to keep a flood of words from bursting forth as he began to vent his own frustrations. "I messed up," he admitted quietly. "I thought I could trust them, I made the wrong decision and now this happened... It could have been avoided. I protected Celty, I listened to her. She confided in me and I decided to keep her secret safe. I thought I could trust her and... Look where that's gotten us. I just.."

    He coughed a bit, embarrassed as the words and emotions began to flow out, some old, repressed feelings and memories starting to get dredged up as the floodgates were opened. Making mistakes wasn't something new to him. Miscalculations that cost lives, trust put into the wrong people, this was a song and dance he'd been through before. But he quickly stopped himself before he dove in too deep, cutting off his previous sentence. "I'm sorry," he mumbled quickly, shaking his head a little bit.

Daryn listened in silence as the man poured out what he had no doubt kept in for too long. He had known about Celty and her son? If he'd known, then she was sure there must have been a viable reason to protect them. She was sure he must have thought it through more than once. It certainly wasn't his fault that she and her son turned out to be a ticking time bomb.



"Don't be sorry." She said firmly. "You try too hard to protect and please everyone. You can't keep living like that." She paused a bit, gathering more of her thoughts on the matter.

"Celty and Oxy must have given you a reason to trust them, right? I trusted them too. It's not a crime to protect a mother and child. You may be smart, but there's no way you could have seen this coming." She stopped her mantra, certainly knowing she must have said enough to get through to him. Despite that knowledge she decided to go on even longer, new thoughts popping in her mind.

"There are so many things that we've all said, so many things we've all promised, things we've messed up. That's just how life goes. You have to forgive yourself, Enoch. If you don't, there's no way you'll make it to see the day we save Ignis."

With the meeting finally over, Fallen headed upstairs, leaving the dank mustiness of the dungeon behind. Dividing his Xylodes like that left with with only a short supply. He would have to go out and find more. If he remembered correctly, there was still daylight outside. He would be back before the dawn of the next day. On his way to the entrance of the castle, Fallen spotted Kama with Celty and Oxy. Jogging to catch up with them a bit, he said "Hey, Kama. I'm going to go out for a bit. It won't be long, I just need to collect some things." He was about to walk away when he noticed the looks on Celty and Oxy's faces. "I hope you understand that we had to do this. You forced our hand. But depending on the outcome of our next battle, we probably won't need those things anymore," He said, motioning towards the collars, "No hard feelings."

Fallen went on ahead until he reached the dining hall. The place was disastrous compared to earlier - plates, cups, silverware, and the remains of food were strewn across the table, decorating the floor of the castle. Fallen saw Zerah at the dining table and decided that he'd tell him what they'd discussed downstairs. "Hi Zerah. Figured I would tell you what we decided to do with Celty. Kama allowed her to stay in the guild, but Pinky and I created enchanted collars that would completely restrict their movement on command. They shouldn't be much of a threat now. She and Kama are on their way their now. Also..." Fallen placed a hand on Zerah's shoulder, "none of us see you as much of a monster as you think we do, Zerah. Or your mask. So from now until the end, let's all look out for each other. I'm sure the others feel the same."

Fallen went over to pick up the bag that he had set down near the window Enoch and Daryn were standing at. He waved at Daryn in greeting. They hadn't had much interaction outside of when he gave her a few tips on archery. He was about to walk off when he noticed how somber Enoch looked. He had no context as to why, but he guessed that the priest probably knew about Celty's secret. "Enoch... as someone who is as familiar with the construction of time as you are, you should know that time is always changing. And if you know that much, then you should understand that although time slips and slides over itself, it is still linear. You have to move forward. Please don't let your past mistakes get the best of you. They'll only bring you down. Okay?"

With that, Fallen left the castle. He was about 25 feet away when the wind picked up, whipping against his face.

"Cold." He muttered under his breath.

Zerah was caught off guard at his name being called, whipping his head around to see Fallen speaking to him. He quickly wiped his tears away as he listened to the decision that had been made in regards to Celty and Oxy, leaving a bittersweet taste in his mouth. Zerah hadn't considered either of them to be any sort of threat, especially after Zerah made it painstakingly obvious how easy it would've been for him to be rid of Celty. Zerah was taken aback by Fallen's kind words, a lump forming in the imp's throat again. This time, he held back his emotions, nodding to Fallen in response.

"Th-thanks....I appreciate the sentiment..." Zerah uttered.

If only that were true... Zerah and the mask thought, simultaneously. 

Something stuck out with Zerah though. 'Let's all look out for each other.' Zerah scowled a bit as he watched Fallen walk over to Daryn and Enoch, two people he had tried looking out for only to have them push him away. He couldn't see any of the guild looking out for one another. At most, there would be guild members who would look out for those they were closest to, but other than that, everyone was on their own. It formed a knot in Zerah's stomach to think this way, but there was no way he was putting his own life on the line to protect people who thought so little of him they didn't even take the time to get to know him before already making their own judgments.

Zerah stood up from the table, peering around to see if Kama had made his way up. When he was nowhere to be seen, Zerah decided nobody would care anyways. He walked down to the garden and past the glimmer tree, out towards the woods. No one was likely to follow him. Even if Enoch and Daryn DID see him leave from the window they were in front of, they were most likely caught up in their own business. Zerah trudged off into the woods, one place in mind.

Daryn couldn't help but don a warm smile as Enoch calmed down.

"That's it, that's better," she said, reaching out to give his chin a slight pinch, "Keep your chin up. Maybe even smile despite it all." She lowered her arm back into its folded position. "I like it better when you smile, anyway."

Some silence that soon felt awkward followed Daryn's statement, causing her to rise from her place where she'd been leaning against the wall. It was then that a dark figure passed through the view outside, but Daryn was too distracted by her next thoughts to take any notice.

"Well, anyway, look at you! Still wearing those torn-up rags. You never got to loot anything!" She turned towards a hall she hadn't explored yet, deciding it'd be best to get away from the depressing thoughts and feelings that had just been dumped. "We still have some daylight to search for things. If you're up for it." At her last sentence she turned her head back around to look at what she now considered one of her closest friends. She awaited his decision.