first verse Augury: Ten of the Void

[AonEne]

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I could also just take her memory and not theirs. What do you want the last thing she remembers to be? 

Also, this poor kid. I mostly agree with not bringing people back to life after they’re dead, but since the deed’s been done, might as well go with it - but now everyone is either scared of him, wants to study him, or doesn’t really care about him. And he already just had a really traumatizing death, and was a prisoner before that - and a draft kid before that. If I didn’t already need to figure out what I’m doing with Izzy, I’d adopt the guy as a character. 

 

[+Sorana]

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Because blue/ green are my favourite colours. I just found it funny.

@Archer

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Well, it is vital for Sagitta's arc, that she looses her faith in the gods at one point or the other, but I am perfectly fine if that happens later. It will have a rather large impact on her "fight for your country" mentality. So if you want to delete her memories, just do it, but please leave everything apart from the gods. I'd like for her to remember telling that tale.

Edit: Actually after my post you have to do it.

@AonEne

Sagitta was silent for a while, thought about the words and then it clicked. It was easy, so incredibly easy.

"Something is wrong with your powers." She stated. "That's why you ask about ours. They are changing and you have no idea what's going on." She tilted her head back and laughed. A bitter, crazy laugh. "You don't care about us, you loose your powers and you don't even really know what I mean when I refer to the stars. We are just a neccessitiy, you have to talk to, because you, the gods have no idea what is going on."

Shaking her head she looked at the two of them, unable to really grasp, talking while she tried to give words to her thoughts, to get them into some shape worth using.

" I can assure you, that none of us knows that as well. We barely managed to stop slicing at each other throats. You are gods. You are supposed to know, and even if you don't care - shouldn't you at least respect what we do, or leave us alone completely?" She fell silent, looked at Sensation. Her next words were grave.

"Do you know that some Ta'e'iloans celebrate the day you gave us our name? When Sensation saved us and offered us the stars? That so many die for that name?"

Edited September 26, 2019 by Sorana

[Archer]

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I expected Negation to object to the memory erasing at this time, but okay.

Deicen Village. A fruit cellar. Hundreds of years prior.

Tion, dressed in the thick furs and cobbled together leather armour of a Nomadic sword for hire, slammed a smaller, but similarly dressed man by the neck onto a table. It creaked, almost ready to break. His middle-aged victim, whose most distinguishing features were his wispy grey beard and seven holes in his smile from where he had lost teeth to skirmishes and brawls, grinned back at him as their eyes connected.

“You tricked me, Gandor,” Tion growled accusingly, squeezing at his throat and leaning forward to press his weight onto the mercenary.  

“Aye,” Gandor rasped. “Well, you weren’t gonna go through with it otherwise, laddie.”

He twisted his right shoulder, throwing a heavy punch at Tion’s head, but the god was ready for that. With a grunt, he simply picked the man up again, then unceremoniously smashed him into the table once more, knocking the air from his lungs.

“Where’s the antidote?”

Gandor’s pale blue eyes rolled back in his head for a moment, and Tion thought he had gone too far, but his partner had never been one to go down silently.

“Have ya ever thought of asking nicely?” the man spit back, shaking his head as if to clear it. Tion responded by dropping him onto the table another time. This time, it did break, and in a spray of splinters, they fell forward onto the stone floor of the cellar.

“We both know I don’t have time for that.”

Gandor groaned. “That’ll leave a ma-”

He cut off as the God of Sensation punched him in the stomach. “Last chance.”

Gandor didn’t say a word. But his eyes moved to look at his side pocket, and that was enough. Roughly, Tion shoved his hand into it and procured a small vial of green liquid, stoppered with a crumbling cork.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling as he raised his fist. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

A second later, Gandor’s world went dark.

*****

An unlikely meeting place. Present day.

“Bold of you to assume that we ever had an idea of what’s going on,” Tion answered Sagitti. “As for your festival, that’s… nice. Thanks, I guess.”

He gave her an insincere half-smile, the kind you give someone when they give you a present you know you will be regifting later. “However, I fear that likely infuriates my friend Entropy. She’s a competitive soul.”

*****

Yabo’i, Keeper of Lands for Deicen Village, and future member of the Ta'e'iloan Triumvirate, awoke from his fitful sleep to someone shaking his shoulders. Wearily, he opened his eyes, cringing at the pools of vomit visible on his sheets in the moonlight.

“Drink this,” Tion commanded, his backlit form casting a shadow over the bed. He held out a vial. “And next time, avoid having the lamb here. It’s too fatty anyway.”

“Pardon, what?” Yabo’i tried to sit up, but he slid back down as horrific cramps seized his body. “Oooh, what the-?”

Calmly, the Tion unstopped the bottle. He stalked forward, pressed one hand against the poisoned man’s forehead to hold his head still, then with the other, poured the green liquid down his throat. Yabo’i flailed momentarily in token resistance, but after a minute, calmed down.

“Oh. Oh,” he crooned. “That’s the stuff. Wait, where are you going?”

The God of Sensation turned, one leg already out of the bedroom door. “I have other business to attend to.”

“No, stay! I have yet to properly thank you for whatever you just did. At least give me your name!”

“I have many names. You may call me Tion.”

Yabo’i pondered that, trying to figure out where the excess apostrophes that he assumed would be present would go. “Ta’e’on?” he guessed.

“No, Tion.”

“Ta’e’ion?”

“Nope. But, close enough. Have a good life, kid.” He stepped out of the room and into the night.

Once he was alone, Yabo’i suddenly felt extremely tired. As he began to fall into a deep slumber, he rolled the name of his healer around on his tongue. “Tae’ion. Ta’e’ion. Mmm. What a strange dream…”

[I think I am here.]

5 hours ago, Archer said:

“However, I fear that likely infuriates my friend Entropy. She’s a competitive soul.”

“Entropy gets plenty of prayers in their name as well,” Price said. Entropy was a woman?

He looked at Sagitta, and somehow seemed to see something snap in her as the story she’d told them turned out to be debunked by the gods themselves. Price took it to mean those other stories he’d heard in his childhood about the gods were false as well.

But oh dear, the gods wouldn’t be of much use if their powers were dwindling.

“What was that you said about us ‘fulfilling our purposes’?” He said, asking Sensation.

[AonEne]

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Itiah, thoughts on memories? What do you want to keep? You can keep all your memories if you want as well. Could be interesting if only one of you remembered  

@I think I am here.

Edited September 27, 2019 by AonEne

[Archer]

Tion heard Price’s question, but his words sounded faded and distant. A slight ringing noise accompanied them, high pitched, almost inaudible but nonetheless annoying. 

“Right,” he said. Why is my voice so loud? The God of Sensation winced, squeezing his eyes and taking a deep breath. It seemed to clear his head temporarily.

“Yes, definitely. Your purposes, that I mentioned.” He could hear the blood gurgling through the veins in his ears. “We are gods. You are not. Therefore, we give commands and you follow them. You find that fulfilling. I think that’s how the dynamic works, Curse Creativity! Why is it so bright around here?”

Visibly frustrated, he got to his feet. “Excuse me for a minute.”

He walked briskly away from the circle, into the darkness. After a few steps, he disappeared from view as his exterior illusion dropped, leaving him a solid black form in the mass of shadows cast by the countryside. They seemed to embrace him.  

[I think I am here.]

On 27/09/2019 at 9:11 AM, AonEne said:

Itiah, thoughts on memories? What do you want to keep? You can keep all your memories if you want as well. Could be interesting if only one of you remembered  

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It would certainly be interesting  I’d like Price to keep his memories, at least of the gods existing if not their conversation.

Price frowned as Sensation began to leave their circle seeming frustrated. Humanity’s purpose was to just do as the gods said? Price found the answer unsatisfying, and he refused to believe it. Here we’re the gods who had come to meet them, and suddenly they seemed less impressive, at least in how they acted

As for power... they certainly didn’t let Price down. They were definitely gods, but instead of providing wisdom, the moral high ground and instructions for how to lead life, they seemed like... normal people. That was what was bothering him, Price realised. The gods, at least in personality, resembled a normal person, if a normal person had incredible power behind anyone else.

And if the instincts were natural parts of the world... then maybe the ‘gods’ were just an anomaly? Some people were naturally stronger in their instincts than others, maybe the gods were simply an accident of nature, where a person was given power far beyond average?

“You should come with us to the main cities,” Price said, lying. The gods said they had revealed themselves to the group because of the odd situation of three conflicting nationalities. And far as he knew, as long as none of them were Truth, they wouldn’t be able to catch his lie. “There are plenty of odd things with instincts in the cities.”

[+Sorana]

Sagitta felt cold at his words. Come with them? The gods should come with them, more lies, more talk about strange powers.

"Are you sure?" She asked him quietly, a hint of desperation in her voice "If they loose control, they might be dangerous."

She came up with a reason, any reason so that they could travel alone. It was all a lie, a lie and she was afraid what else would be discovered so that her whole world would break apart.

"They are gods." She gestured to the place where Tion had disappeared and frowned. "They are above us."

In a pleading gesture she took his hand.

@I think I am here.

[I think I am here.]

8 hours ago, Sorana said:

“They are gods." She gestured to the place where Tion had disappeared and frowned. "They are above us."

In a pleading gesture she took his hand.

She took his hand. Just from that gesture Price knew that Sagitta meant more than she said. There was something else, something emotional to do with the gods. Price hadn’t expected to see a pleading tone from Sagitta, but then again, he’d never expected her to cry, either. But they were all gods. Price needed to remind himself that more often.

Even the gods, Price thought, looking towards the boy and Negation. The boy, resurrected. The thoughts of the utilities of necromancy flashed before Price’s eyes, projections of a possible future. What if they could bring back more than a boy? What if they brought back Ävaon, the great Tühinine military general and strategist?

The thoughts were so hypnotic Price needed to blink to get back into the moment. Sagitta, him, Negation, Sensation, Zura. The boy. Looking back to Sagitta he took the ledger with his freehand and held in front of them, so Negation or Sensation couldn’t read their lips.

“You shouldn’t be afraid of them just because they’re gods,” Price whispered. “You’ve stayed in Renaji, but you haven’t seen Tühinine engineering at it’s peak, yet. Look at them, they are like normal people, albeit with great power. Once they are in the main cities they will be defenceless.”

[Archer]

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Ironically (did I use that word right?), some of the gods are actually at their weakest when they're away from the crowds. For example, Tion's Power is almost useless if he doesn't have humans around to manipulate.  That said, I love what this plan says about humans' community instincts. You could read a lot into that discussion. 

Tion's visage reappeared, as he normally looked, but standing rigidly twenty meters away from the group. He stared straight ahead, unblinking, barely visible in the surrounding darkness. There was blood on the tips of his fingers. 

He showed no signs of acknowledging the others' presence. 

[+Sorana]

15 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

“You shouldn’t be afraid of them just because they’re gods,” Price whispered. “You’ve stayed in Renaji, but you haven’t seen Tühinine engineering at it’s peak, yet. Look at them, they are like normal people, albeit with great power. Once they are in the main cities they will be defenceless.”

Sagitta shook her head, slightly surprised that he allowed her to keep his hand that easily. His hand was soft and warm despite the colder air around them. Unconciously she tightened her fingers around his.

"I don't doubt that your engineering is impressive," she started, "but they are gods. They created us, they can destroy us easily. I can't fight them. You can't fight them, you just don't."

"They lied to us, lied about the stars, and we have no idea what lies we were told as well. If their powers are changing, what if they want to experiment on us?" It was nonsense, but she looked at the stars again, surprised by her calm voice, but realized that she didn't feel the same desperation as earlier. She felt empty, disappointed. "When I fight for my country, I fight for them, because they are the foundation of what we are. My friends died for them, for our country and now they show up, and tell us they don't care. We tell them the stories of our dead, we ask them to remember us and they don't care."

 

Edited September 29, 2019 by Sorana

[I think I am here.]

On 29/09/2019 at 1:32 PM, Sorana said:

“When I fight for my country, I fight for them, because they are the foundation of what we are. My friends died for them, for our country and now they show up, and tell us they don't care. We tell them the stories of our dead, we ask them to remember us and they don't care."

As she looked towards the stars, Price looked glanced the ground, taking a small pebble in his hand.

“I understand,” he said quietly, looking back to her. He remembered his family on nights such as these, making offerings to the gods.

“My mother always used to tell me how before I was born, she’d prayed for a soldier son to Entropy, told me how fortunate they were to have me blessed with Entropy’s Instinct.”

Of course, enthusiasm for Price’s inevitable military career dwindled as his health problems showed up, and outright nosedived as his father and sister were slaughtered by Cahayans, but that was besides the point. Had Entropy really heard any prayer, and granted him the Instinct?

“Our whole lives, we’ve been giving the gods more credit than they deserve,” he said, rolling the pebble between his knuckles. “But what can we do? We can’t let the world live on in a lie, right? If we just let them leave, then no one will believe us. We’ll be the only ones that know the truth.”

[+Sorana]

1 hour ago, I think I am here. said:

“Our whole lives, we’ve been giving the gods more credit than they deserve,” he said, rolling the pebble between his knuckles. “But what can we do? We can’t let the world live on in a lie, right? If we just let them leave, then no one will believe us. We’ll be the only ones that know the truth.”

"I don't think we should believe that we know what is best for the world." Sagitta shook her head. "If someone finds solace in a prayer, what right do we have to take it from them? To rip their world apart and to tell them, that their culture, their whole society is based on a huge lie?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "We are human, no gods. It's not our place to destroy so much, to decide about this destruction. There are gods, because they are more powerful, because they know about things, we can't even imagine existing."

"It's the point about them being gods and us being human. We are here to serve, to do their biding and to pray." With a sigh she shook her head again, this time at herself. "Well, maybe not. That last sentence was obviously wrong. But still. Do you really want to take away all solace, all hold a crying mother has, whose child just died in one of our wars?"

[AonEne]

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Tell me when you’re done with this conversation, I don’t want to interrupt it.  

 

[overlord stick]

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Okay, I've read through everything I've missed. What would the best way to get Truth back in without interrupting/messing up anything?

 

[+Sorana]

10 hours ago, Lord Furret said:

Okay, I've read through everything I've missed. What would the best way to get Truth back in without interrupting/messing up anything?

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Just state that he followed the other two gods and walk up to us.

==========

I have a question regarding the deleting of the memories. Can I "fill in" the empty spots with crap, would that be alright for you? Like exchange the gods for travelers, so that the rest of the situation still makes snense for her? I can imagine, that that's what would happen, but I'm not sure about such things.

@AonEne

[overlord stick]

Truth rubbed his head, as he lay on the ground. Seems I took acting a bit too far. He must've knocked himself out. He thought for a second, pinpointing where Gati and Tion had gone. Luckily, they didn't seem far. He walked for a few minutes, and arrived. "Ah, there you two are I-" he stopped, as he saw three humans standing there. Strangely, he hadn't known they were there.

[I think I am here.]

Price paused, bringing the back of his freehand to his forehead. Blissful ignorance or harsh truth?

“I guess not,” he said quietly. He felt a little sick. No one would believe any story of this meeting if the gods didn’t come to the cities, but then again, from just one conversation it was clear they were nothing like what was believed of them. An announcer with the mass public would be catastrophic.

“But,” he said quietly. “How will the world ever progress, if it’s kept in a lie like this? The truth may be painful in the start, maybe for many years, but we’d overcome it. Progress past it, and advance beyond these bounds and lies. Otherwise, how can society progress?”

He was distracted by a rustle in the bushes and another man appearing. Quickly he brought the ledger down, snapped it shut. He looked to the gods and gestured to the man.

“Is he... with you? Is he one of you?”

[+Sorana]

Sagitta inclined her head at Price' words. "They are gods. If they want to keep their existence secret, they have the means to."

"But yes, I agree. Maybe it is time to put away the lies and face the truth. They don't care about us, they don't even know if we pray to them."

She looked at him, almost surprised by her words. She felt empty, that he was right, only hurt more. She had fought for them, had bled for them. Had risked everything for them. And they didn't even care. "Until today you never gave up your dream of being a soldier. You looked for a way how you can serve your country, but you never gave up. Maybe we need more people like that, and fewer that act like I do. Trusting someone who doesn't even care is a good way to die for nothing."

She looked up when he did, saw someone else stumble towards them. For now she didn't move, but readied herself to get to her feet and defend them.

@Lord Furret

 

[overlord stick]

He waved his hand dismissively at Sagitta.

"Stand down, I'm not going to fight you. Now, I assume Negation and Sensation revealed themselves to you? I am Truth."

[I think I am here.]

Truth. Price immediately stepped back. Truth was dangerous, if the legends about him knowing absolutely everything were true. But then again, out of everything Price had heard of the gods, the one aspect in which they hadn’t disappointed was their powers.

Truth knew everything. He could read Price’s mind, know what Price would do next before even Price knew. Absolutely perfect to use as a Tühinine weapon, but how would they ever lure him in when he’d already see the plan coming?

“How does the war stop?” He blurted out, looking to Truth. “You know everything, right? How does the war between Tühine and Cahaya come to an end? It has to at some point, doesn’t it?”

@Lord Furret

Edited October 3, 2019 by I think I am here.

[AonEne]

On 9/30/2019 at 11:46 PM, Sorana said:

I have a question regarding the deleting of the memories. Can I "fill in" the empty spots with crap, would that be alright for you? Like exchange the gods for travelers, so that the rest of the situation still makes snense for her? I can imagine, that that's what would happen, but I'm not sure about such things. 

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It’s not an effect of the magic, but her mind could subconsciously do that. 

Oh, that’s it. Nobody else is RPing the kid, I’ll take him. Anyone mind if I make the Cahayan boy into a character? I mean we haven’t even given him a name, and yet he’s already died and come back.  On another note, I’ve decided how Gati’s insanity is going to look, so that’s good. 

Gati considered Tion’s words and sentiment as Sagitta and Price spoke. She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but she caught a few sentences anyway - privacy was hard to give when they were all sitting close to each other. If they lose control, they might be dangerous. Once they’re in the main cities, they’ll be defenseless. They lied to us...they don’t care. 

They were right about the first bit. Most of the gods would be dangerous if they lost control of their abilities. Gati imagined Entropy destroying vast swaths of land, Infinity locking a country in a time loop, Reality simply warping away miles and miles of space. They could do a lot of damage. Even the ones whose Powers weren’t as ‘flashy’, as Tion had put it, could affect Hopearaa in ways Gati didn’t want to think about. And if instincts began to fluctuate too, like Tion had implied might happen...it would be very bad. 

The invitation to go with them to the city, however, that was misguided. Defenseless was the opposite of what a god would be, surrounded by people. The Power of Sensation with nobody to manipulate would be foiled, and the Power of Creativity with no one to appreciate it was near-useless. Price underestimated their strength - though Gati couldn’t really blame him. She knew that not many myths out there held facts, and it was difficult even for her sometimes to remember what was real and what was story. 

Had the gods lied to them? Probably at some point. More often they were lied about; the lies contained their names, but it wasn’t always the gods themselves spreading those lies. And did they care about humanity? Some did. Some didn’t. Did Negation? 

She didn’t know. And somehow that struck her to her core. 

Next to her, the Cahayan boy was poked by the Cahayan girl, who looked embarrassed afterward. He gave her a confused look, hand drifting up to where she’d touched him, and Gati felt bad for him. All he knew was that he’d been attacked, and then suddenly he was waking up to find the spectacle that was the last ten minutes. I’ll fill him in later, ask for his name, she thought. It was the least she could do for him - and she’d already done the most, so what was a little more? 

Sensation still stood at the edge of the forest, illusion flickering. She only looked at him once, then tried to give him his privacy as well, scanning the trees around them instead, amusing herself by rewinding the flaps of a distant butterfly, which took very little energy. Focusing on something small like that helped her calm the first twitches of anxiety, and right now, she needed it. The promise of the Augury loomed in the back of her mind. 

She’d just switched from Negating the butterfly’s flight to Negating its life, aging it backward bit by bit, when Truth strolled out of the woods like nothing had happened. She was so shocked that her hold on the butterfly faltered, and it dropped to the ground as a cocoon, then rapidly transformed into a caterpillar and shrank to a newborn - then died. He exchanged a few sentences with them, and all Gati could do was stare, until she finally whispered, “You made it!” 

She had half worried the omniscient god would’ve been recaptured by Victoria, but here he was, having made it from where she’d set him down and then followed them. She relaxed just a little. “It’s good to see you again,” she admitted, then glanced back at the mortals. “Give me a moment to take care of this, then we can talk?” Tion was right; the group didn’t know anything about what was happening, despite their unlikely formation. 

“It was nice meeting you,” she said politely to the three, smiling at them, then mentally reached for the Power inside her - hoping she had enough after her earlier resurrection - and enveloped them in it. Physically, that did nothing, but apparently it felt...interesting to those who experienced her managing their memories. 

She did the Ta’e’iloan first, because that one looked like she was ready to fight someone. Gati carefully brought the last while to the forefront of her awareness, then Negated it, ridding her of her time with the gods. Quick, painless. She studied the woman’s expression, then, satisfied, looked at the younger girl and started the process on her. Nothing should have been different. 

But her Power hiccuped. It surged up, taking more of the girl’s memories than Gati had intended, then receded completely before she could do anything else. She couldn’t feel it at all, and panic was there instantly, telling her she was nobody now, she could never do anything to stop her own doom, and she was doomed, because if her godly magic was gone then the rest of it might leave too - what if she lost her immortality and died on the spot - ! 

She closed her eyes, breathing hard, then opened them and walked over to Truth. “Something is very wrong,” she told him, and fear was the only thing in her unsteady gaze. 

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Two things. First, if I misinterpreted what any of you wanted in regards to your memories, please explain to me what I got wrong and I will rewrite. And feel free to sneak in another couple lines of interaction if I was too fast. 

Second, it occurs to me that I don’t really like writing people as less than people. I feel mean having Gati act this way.  So I’m sorry if I’m bad at it. 

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by AonEne
Fixed a typo...now two typos

[overlord stick]

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Dang it, and I was in the middle of a long explanation about knowing the future, and timeline possibilities, and etc. 

4 minutes ago, AonEne said:

She closed her eyes, breathing hard, then opened them and walked over to Truth. “Something is very wrong,” she told him, and fear was the only thing in her unsteady gaze. 

Truth nodded, and looked towards the Ta’e’iloan, a frown on his face.

"Your power.. You lost control, didn't you?"

He paced for a few seconds, hand on his chin, thinking. 

"We need to leave, see if we can replicate this, see what caused it."

 

[AonEne]

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Sorry! You can still edit it in, if you want 

Hey, are your notifications working now? 

“I did,” she mumbled. It hurt saying it. For centuries, she hadn’t had a single problem, and now this? “I think we know what caused it, though, don’t we? It has to be the Augury!” She snapped her mouth shut, looking at the Tühinine. His recollection of past events was untouched. He would know what they were saying. 

Edited October 3, 2019 by AonEne

[Lunamor]

Zura’s eyes widened as something in her head... disappeared. It was quick and painless, but still felt wrong somehow. Like a part of her was missing, leaving a bloody, empty space in her brain. It scabbed over and healed in the blink of an eye, leaving her with no clue what she was missing. What had been taken.

Suddenly she realized that she had no idea where she was or who the strange people around her were. She tensed and jerked her head to the side. There was a Tühine right there, within stabbing range. The enemy. She leapt to her feet and reached for the knife in her boot, surprised when her hand found only empty space. Some of her weapons must have been stolen at some point. It must’ve been the work of the foreigners. She would never allow herself to run low on knives. She was far more sensible than that. Zura instead grabbed the backup knife strapped to her calf and brandished it in the Tühine man’s direction, trying to look as threatening as possible.

As she did this, she thought over her situation, trying to think of the most likely reason for her confused state of mind. She didn’t have the time to think of any but the most obvious. She had likely been captured by Tühine and knocked out at some point. It was either a sneak attack or a blow to the head serious enough to cause memory loss. That was unlikely- her head felt fine. Oddly clear, actually. Like she had extra empty space. Her thoughts returned to the moment. She was a prisoner, and had to escape before they were able to make it to a Tühine base.

”Let me go.”

Her voice was calm and cold. She didn’t bother with trying to disguise her strong Cahayan accent. Pure hatred seethed behind her eyes, hatred for the sworn enemy of her people. For the people who would kill her little sister without hesitation just for the crime of existing.

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I’m having Zura lose some of her memories of her time in Tühine, to erase some of the sympathy she had slowly developed over time for them.

Also for some reason all Cahayans now have a British accent in my head