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There was no doubt within her mind that in the history of the spoken word, no three words had even meant so much to someone. Breathed from his lips like a prayer, they brought tears to her eyes and as he curled her into his chest, she wrapped her arms around him and held on for dear life. She had never imagined finding something so precious in such a wasteland... but she had, and Thalia be damned, she wasn't going to let it go, not for anything. She loved him, and if it meant running and hiding for the rest of their natural lives, she could handle that, so long as Thalion was by her side.

Gregian's voice split across her thoughts and pulling away, Minette turned to find a particularly strange sight, her gaze moving from the duke to the orb he clutched in his hand with curiosity, "What are you..."

But before she could finish, the orb was tossed, hurled to the ground, shattering into splinters in the grass. She felt it. She felt it shatter, somewhere deep inside of her and she knew... before reality set in, before anything had happened, she knew what he had done. Spinning on her heels, she watched as, too late, Thalion crumpled to the ground and as a wave of panic washed over her, she dropped to her knees, clutching his arm.

"No... no, no, no... Thal!? Oh God... no..." Wide-eyes twisted to Gregian, horrified, "What did you do??!"

But she knew.

And within seconds, the creature... that horrible, wicked woman returned to confirm the living nightmare. Gripping her chest, which felt as though it might explode into shards as the orb had, she turned back to Thalion and shook him, gently at first, then harder, too hard, and to no avail, "Get up! Get up! Don't you do this! Don't you dare! Thal, please... please don't leave me. Please don't go..."

Her head dropped to his chest, but there was no comfort in the empty, hollow sound. He was gone. He was gone, and soon they all would be.

Straightening, swiping one hand across her cheeks, brushing tears away with venomous fury, she reached with her other hand for Thalion's sword and tearing it free from the sheath, rose to her feet, swinging it in Gregian's direction, "...Why?... Before I end you, you tell me why you did this!"
 
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The reality of what had just happened hit Gregian with a mighty force. His hands. His two, good, strong hands had done this. He truly had bad intentions all along… he wanted, he wanted, he wanted, but the one thing he didn’t want was to end Thalion’s life. Send him far away, maybe, but to kill him? He blinked hard and swallowed, holding his trembling hands out in front of himself and forcing himself to look down at them. Behind them, the pulsing light of the orb’s broken shards flickered out. She posed a good question—why? Why had he done it? Why had he not believed when he was warned not to trust the witch?

He did and got nothing. Nothing except guilt, that was. His chest throbbed in pain. He wanted to cry out, but what could he cry for? He couldn’t cry for Thalion… no, not when he was the one who ended his life.

His eyes flipped up, resting on Minette’s face that was twisted in a sort of pain that Gregian had never seen before from another human being. It was raw and brutal, true and deep. The lump of Thalion’s body was a blur behind her, but Gregian couldn’t make out its details because he was too focused on the beautiful woman in front of him. Beautiful even through the deepest pain she had probably ever known. That sunk and twisted the knife even deeper.

“I loved you too,” he admitted meekly, his eyes dipping back down to his hands that still shook, “I’ve loved you longer. I’ve loved you since I met you. I-I never meant to hurt him. I just wanted… I just wanted to get you home. Get us home…” His greed had killed a man. He had never liked Thalion and probably never would, but that didn’t mean he wanted him to die. “If you’re going to kill me, I suppose I’d understand. It won’t bring him back though… it won’t make you feel better. The guilt is…” there wasn’t a single word that could describe it. “The guilt is soul shattering. I’m sorry, Minette. I really, really am.”

Gregian, in his short life, had not said too many sincere things. He lied a lot, mostly to make himself look better and others to look worse, but that apology was as sincere as the young Duke had ever been.
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Even through the fog of emotions, through the agonizing notion of loss, something in his words struck her. This was her greatest flaw, it seemed... and always had been. That she could instill in men this sense of affection at mere glance. Edmund had wanted her because of her beauty and her power, no doubt it was the same with the Duke. Yet he seemed to think this somehow justified his thoughts, his actions... and on one hand, it was terribly sad, but on the other hand it only further incensed her. Thalion lay dead and for what? Because Gregian had wanted her to himself?

The only thing that stilled her hand and prevented her from driving the end of that blade forward was the idea that Thalion loved her for her spirit, her goodness, her compassion... and to lose that, was to lose him all over again. It hurt, to know that her strength and weakness were one and the same, but there was no way around it.

The sword fell, the tip dropping to the ground as she stared at him, shaking her head in disgust, "...Loved me? You don't even know me. You loved an image... a thought of who I am, and you have murdered the best man I have ever known because of it. You are no better than his mother, and you don't deserve an honorable death."

Turning, she dropped down beside Thalion again, her trembling fingers reaching out to brush his jaw, still warm, a lump choking out her next words, "...You will help me take him to the only family he has ever known in this miserable place. And then you will go... I don't care where, and I don't care what happens to you. I never want to see you again."
 
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Gregian was afraid of death. He was a mortal man like all else and he knew he was quivering in his boots at the tip of the sword offensively pointing his direction. Had she went to strike him, he would have tried to leap away. Honorable death or not, murderer or not Gregian was not ready to die. He wanted to love, to marry, to have children of his own. Now, it seemed less likely than ever. Thalia had already proven that she would never willingly let them back in to the world he knew—and he figured he’d be stuck in Evernight forever. The thought came over him like a drunken tidal wave, making him feel weak in the knees. All he could do was nod numbly when Minette lowered her sword.

Most of the words he couldn’t make out and he didn’t care to, anymore. Too much had changed, too much reality had kicked him in the teeth. Up until that moment, he had strongly believed that no matter what happened, that no matter how stuck he felt… there would be a way out of Evernight with enough bravery and gumption. He realized suddenly that Thalion’s words were true… there was no escape. So, when he finally heard her words, he looked up to her tiredly, his eyes aged well beyond his years as if killing Thalion had caused a burst of new wrinkles to appear across his features.

“Very well,” he agreed tiredly. “Where are we to take him, then?”

He wondered immediately how anyone could have a family in a place like Evernight, but he was done questioning. If Minette wanted him to help her drag his corpse to somewhere that would bring her comfort with his resting, so be it. “How far is it to go?” he asked, stepping over to pick up Thalion’s cloak he had tossed off earlier and extended it out to Minette. “Here, you probably want this. It’s getting cold out."
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There were no real words to describe the pain that she felt. She didn't want anything, not a thing to do with Gregian... as far as she was concerned, he could have wandered into the open mouth of a dragon and she wouldn't have so much as called out a warning, but she couldn't do it on her own. Even if the Antropoes had been but a few hours from their location, she couldn't have dragged Thalion all that way. It pained her to think that she needed Gregian, but it would be short lived and then he would be gone.

And then she would be alone.

The thought might have scared her, weeks ago... and she supposed if she were in her right mind it might have still, but the simple truth was, nothing mattered anymore. Not what happened to her, certainly. With Thalion gone, there was nothing for her... not in Evernight or beyond. Had she been less of a person, and had she not known that it would crush Thalion were he alive, she might've stayed right where she was and let time and hunger take her... but as it was, she had no real intention of fighting. There was nothing left to fight for.

"The Antropoes village. It's past the Twisted Woods. You will take me there, but you will not stay." He wouldn't be welcome, she knew. Not by her, and certainly not by the Antropoes.

He held out the cloak and Minette stared at it for a moment, before shaking her head, waving it off. There was a cold that had settled, deep within her, a cold she knew no cloak could alleviate and as far as she was concerned, she wanted nothing from Gregian, "I'm fine. Come on. No sense waiting for morning."
 
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Gregian was a big man, certainly a tad more round than high, but he was strong enough to lift Thalion… at least for a while, though he wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. When Minette shook off the offer of the cloak, Gregian just let it fall back to the ground, deciding he couldn’t wear a dead man’s clothing… let alone a dead man he was the one responsible for. “Very well, we shall go then.” He stepped over to Thalion, grimacing at the perfectness of the man’s face. He looked like he should have still be alive as nothing about him looked dead.

There was no decay, no rot—he was pale, perhaps, but the tan on his skin didn’t allow him to look deathly. His dark hair fell across his forehead like a veil, his eyes closed, and looking like he was asleep. Surely, one grip of his shoulder would have woken him up, but it didn’t. There was no steady rise and fall of his chest, no quivering of his nostrils as he breathed, or sighs as he worked through his dreams. Swallowing down the bubble of vomit building in his gut, Gregian reached down and grabbed Thalion first by the arm to haul him up. There was no resistance in his muscles and that caused Gregian to heave in discomfort.

Thalion proved heavier than he looked. He was tall and lean, but packed with heavy, lean muscle that pulled painfully on every active muscle in Gregian’s body. First, he tried to haul Thalion over his shoulder, but couldn’t manage that so he just hauled him up into his arms as best as he could. “Lead the way.”

His stomach gurgled in hunger and he immediately wished there was something to eat. Hell, even something to drink. He felt like it was a terrible time to be hungry and thirsty, but he couldn’t help it. He did decide, ultimately, that it wouldn’t be the time to ask. After a short while, his shoulders ached… his back ached, his knees, his hips… there wasn’t a muscle in his body that wasn’t straining, but he knew better than to say anything, knowing Minette would probably reconsider using that sword. Plus, he knew she probably wouldn’t be able to lift Thalion well and he owed her that much.

“How far?”
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She walked without purpose, Gregian behind her. In her heart, she simply couldn't bear to turn around and see Thalion in his arms... carted off to his final rest, an empty shell of the man she had come to love. It was too hard, too confusing and it had all happened so fast that it hardly seemed real. Looking back, seeing it all, it was more than she could take, and so she steered their path away from the Falls and towards the forest that lay ahead.

It was hard to imagine that it had only been a few days since her journey with Thalion had brought them to the Falls. It had been there that she'd initially begun to understand the depth of her feelings for him, there that he had first seemed to show signs of change, of growth. She hadn't thought it possible then, and even could scarcely believe it, that there would ever be cause for her to go on without him. In truth, she wasn't entirely sure it was even possible, and then, if she even wanted to. To know that she had found what she had never thought she would - a love that surpassed all expectation and reason... and to have lost it in so short a span of time. Moving on from that felt too great a chore for her tired, weary heart.

Tears stung her eyes, blurred her vision as she walked, but she held her back straight, her shoulders tense, jaw tight. She would not cry. Not now - not in front of Gregian. She didn't want his pity or his comfort. It would tarnish every good, perfect memory of Thalion to afford Gregian any reputable actions. No... she would mourn with the Antropoes, and then... then she would quietly fade away, into the dream world Thalia had fashioned as her grave. And with some grace, she would see him again in whatever life came beyond this one...

Gregian spoke and without looking at him, Minette frowned softly, her response sharp and brief, "A day, maybe two. We will stop to rest as little as we must. Conversation won't be necessary."
 
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It hurt.

Everything hurt.

His legs, his arms, his shoulders. The muscle fatigue snapped deep into his bones faster than the cold in the North had, and before long, he was heaving for air as he lugged dead weight all through the forest landscape. His boots kept catching on twigs and roots, causing him to stumble, and he could feel the sweat coating his back and causing his tunic to cling to him like a second skin. It was during that time he began to wonder why he was bothering at all. Minette was going to cast him off and nothing he could ever do would make it up to her.

He could just dump Thalion and leave. After all, that’s what would happen anyways. It was just a different mean to the same end.

It was the worst feeling too, knowing there was a small part of him that didn’t regret it. He desperately tried to bury it deep down, but the pain of Minette’s rejection felt almost justified this way. It seemed unfair that no matter how much he strived to be the man his conscience wanted him to be, his heart kept leading him astray. He spent most of the walk diligently analyzing the feeling of lacking true, honest guilt in every ounce of his heart in hopes that his mind would be satisfied with the self-professed remorse, but it never was. Like an unforgiving specter, it would be back tomorrow he knew to haunt him all over again. He regretted it at first, those first few seconds, but he wasn’t sad to see Thalion dead.

The skies darkened over time and rain began to fall. Rain fell like it meant to wash them all away, like it meant to keep hammering them until they smudged like a Monet masterpiece. It seemed even Evernight was grieving… everything around him was grieving. Everything except himself.
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She hardly noticed it, the rain... Not when it began, not even long after it had soaked her through to her skin. She felt numb and empty, the coldness that had settled within her grabbing hold, intently. The ground grew soft and muddy and soon enough she knew they would need to stop and rest, or they would be up to their necks in mud, but she loathed the idea of it - of stopping, of sitting there across from Gregian, knowing undoubtedly he would want to talk, need to talk.

She didn't hate him. Desperately, she wanted to... with every fiber of her being, she almost needed to, but the fact of the matter was, he was only another pawn, the way that Thalion had been for so long. He had fallen into Thalia's trap and while his intentions had not been entirely justifiable, she couldn't truly despise him for what he had done... But that made it so much more difficult to be around him. Looking at him, speaking to him, she felt broken... just broken, and it wouldn't do to get them through the Twisted Woods, it wouldn't do to get her to the Antropoes to lose it entirely.

So she continued on for as long as she dared and stopped only when her feet demanded it, when the road became too sodden to take another step. As Thalion had taught her, she found a dry patch beneath the fronds of an enormous tree and settled there, breaking out a bit of leftover rabbit from her bag which she absently handed to Gregian, taking little for herself. And in silence, she ate, then removing her cloak, she curled up beneath it and with all of her energy depleted, she crashed into a stormy sleep.

She woke a few hours later, nudged Gregian and they were off again. And thus it went... for the next two days - trudging on with what remained of her strength, trying to hang on, trying to hold herself together, giving as little attention to Gregian as she could manage. After a while, their stops became more frequent, and Gregian needed to rest longer, and it bothered her that she could actually afford him sympathy, but he was doing his best to keep silent, to respect her wishes and she knew it couldn't be easy, carrying such a weight... literally and figuratively. In the end, she could only be who she was, and the only comfort in that was that along the way, that had been ultimately what had driven Thalion to love her...

Somehow, even in her state, she managed to recall the way and soon enough, the woods began to thin and she knew that they were close. When she was sure that the village was but a few hours away, she slowed to a halt again and pulling out what remained of the rabbit, she held it to Gregian with a soft frown.

"...It's not far. Two... maybe three hours. How much do you know about surviving in these conditions? I can tell what I've learned, but I make no promises it will keep you alive on your own."
 
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He was convinced the woods were trying to eat them alive. The knotted, twisted, and damp wood curled inwards and branches kept snagging him, making trudging through the mud even more difficult. He didn’t talk much because he didn’t know what to say. There was nothing to be said. They stopped, they rested, they kept going… it was the same routine. After a while, Thalion’s dead weight stopped being heavy, though he couldn’t tell if it was a result of exhaustion or numb indifference. It was hard to feel any intensity of emotion when he was still recovering from the shock. He was still angry—angry at himself for not regretting killing a man, angry at the witch for betraying him, angry at Minette for not loving him.

The first words Minette spoke to him were not the most welcoming, but his eyes flicked to her anyways. They were nestled in deep, dark bags that dragged his features down with exhaustion. “Do I look like I know anything about surviving in these conditions?” It wasn’t a brutal statement so much as one resigned. He reached out and took some of the smoked rabbit anyways, chewing on the coarse meat as hunger hit him firmly in the gut.

“Let’s just keep going.”

If they were only two or three hours away, all Gregian wanted to do was get there as quickly as possible and dump the dead weight of a man who ruined his entire life off. Of course, that was not at all true, but it was hard to reconcile with a mind aching with so many emotions. “Hopefully we’ll be there soon and I don’t have to carry this good for nothing corpse much longer.”
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“Good for nothing…” The words were whispered, but the expression in her eyes was none too gentle. It was a quiet storm, but storm all the same, raging inside her, threatening and dangerous. Whatever sympathy she'd had for him, whatever understanding was eviscerated by those words, and taking a step back, recoiling from the outrage, she shook her head.

“How dare you. How dare you. You have no idea what manner of person he was. You never even tried to get to know him… You simply developed your preconceived notions and ignored everything else. The very fact that you are alive at all is a testament to his nature… and you would dare to insult his memory. How… how could you ever think I could love someone like you?”

She didn't hate him… but she wanted to in that moment, desperately.

“To think, after what you did, I was going to help you. Leave him. I will find a way to bring him to the Antropoe myself. I can't stand another moment of your presence. You can die in the woods for all I care, you worthless, heartless coward! I never want to see you, again!”
 
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The Duke had always had a temper. He would yell at his staffers in the palace in which he lived—he had hit a maid more than once and every time she opened her mouth, he got angrier. All that rage came out faster than magma and just as destructive. It consumed all he was. “Yea, good for nothing!” He barked back, “He kept you here—trapped. At least I tried to help you! At least I tried to get you out of this prison! He was just as bad as his mother… he didn’t want you to leave this place. He wanted you to suffer here with him.”

She told him to drop the body and he did, but he wasn’t done. He quickly, swiftly, closed the distance between them and he took the back of his ringed hand and cracked it across her left cheek. “You will never talk to me like that, as a woman. Do you understand? Evernight or not, you are still just a woman. A whore of one too, I might add.”

“Tut, tut, tut.” A foreign voice sliced through the intensity of the moment and caused Gregian paused in the moment right before he was going to bring his hand back again—this time as a fist. The gleam of a single arrow shimmered in the low light as it reflected. The small bow was drawn tight and Fal’s chubby four fingers curled around the string, clutching the tail feathers of the arrow between his knuckles and aiming the point at Gregian.

“So, it’s true then,” Fal’s arrow remained on Gregian, though his eyes wandered to Thalion. “We felt it. I wish it wasn’t so.”

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”Help me?! You tried to help yourself, you selfish bastard! You thought that I would cave to your pseudoromantic sentiments of rescuing the damsel in distress… that you would somehow win yourself a princess and come home the triumphant king! Thalion kept me safe. He kept both of us safe! Saved your life, for all it's worth! He could have left you behind… I should have told him to. I never should have asked him to help you. Maybe then he’d still--”

He moved, faster than she’d imagined he could and struck out, his ring cracking against her cheekbone. With a cry, Minette dropped to her hands and knees, but not before she heard that quiet ‘tutting’ sound and with a jolt of her heart, she looked up to see that all too welcome face, holding a more welcome bow, the arrow directed at the source of her agony. He was a powerful, fearsome sight, even in so small a form.

“Fal…” She whispered, her voice breaking. Reaching up to press the back of her hand to the gash in her cheek, she pushed with her free hand to climb to her feet. Tears burned against her eyes and as they began to fall she turned them to Thalion, lying empty on the ground, shaking her head.

“I brought him home. I… I couldn’t think of where else to go. I’m sorry, Fal. I tried… I tried to keep him safe, but I couldn’t… She… she found a way. I’m so sorry.”
 
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Fal’s pointed, wrought ears twitched a little—almost like a dog. He seemed to be listening keenly. “It is best you don’t stay here, human,” he said, his voice as monochromatic as one could be. His eyes settled, in slits, fell on Gregian and he just shook his head and clenched his jowls to a point where his teeth ground together. “You have no place in this village, especially in times of morning.”

Gregian was not one to challenge an arrow and he took a step back. “But I’ll starve… I’ll be eaten alive out there. You can’t just throw me out.”

“I can and I will, sir,” Fal dropped his arrow so he could scramble down off the rocks, his little legs struggling for a moment as he came down even with Minette, reaching out to her. “It’s not your fault.” Had the situation been any different, he might have tried to take advantage of her collapsed presence by letting his hand wander a little down her back, but he didn’t. His watery grey eyes instead were sincere and his hand was on her shoulder. “The village is already in mourning. Come, you must join us.”

“I’m sorry.” There was an awful lot he would have liked to say, but almost no way to say it. “But y’know, he may be gone in form, but he’s all around Evernight. He shaped more of it than you’ll prolly ever know. He created the Antropoes, don’t y’know. We are his soul, wouldn’t ya know. So really, he’s not that gone at all."
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It was a strange feeling... watching Gregian beg Fal not to toss him out on his own... A mingled mixture of pity and disgust, an unraveling of sorts, within her mind, a war within her head. As far as it should have concerned her, he could have disappeared into the world, gotten swallowed down the throat of a dragon, but all the same, it felt wrong to think that way. He wasn't all bad, and she certainly wasn't, and leaving him to his own devices was hardly her first choice, but she couldn't argue with Fal... she wouldn't, not when he was her last line of defense.

With Fal's aid, she straightened completely and looking down to the Antropoe, she nodded, "Of course I'll come." It hadn't crossed her mind, really, to leave. Where else would she go. She supposed it might come down to the Antropoe asking her to leave, but in the end she was doubtful they could be so cold.

“I had my suspicions…” Minette agreed, with a soft sniffle, “You were far too good, too kind to belong to that awful woman. He really had no idea, did he… how much power he possessed.” Still, it hadn't been enough to save him.

Turning, Minette looked to Gregian with a scornful frown, shaking her head, “I would have helped you. After all you did, I still would have tried. But you couldn't carry him just a little while longer. Go on then. Maybe your queen will take pity on you.”
 
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“I’m not sure anyone will ere’ know just how much power that is.” Fal helped her up, though he could only do so halfway as she was considerably taller than he was. “We are not all his, of course,” Fal smiled, reaching up and patting the necklace that had been traded for their equipment how many weeks before. “We are still our own, too.” The Antropoes all still had their own personalities, quirks, and love for anything that shined… he almost smiled a little deviously as he slipped the jewels below the collar of his tunic and Oiler leather armor.

Gregian, desperate to save his own skin, fumbled on to his knees and reached out for Fal’s cloak. “You can’t just leave me here. I’ll be killed! Do you have any idea who I am? That necklace… that necklace… I can get you many more just like it.”

The same rings that had struck Minette gleamed on his fingers and they caught Fal’s eye almost immediately. His cat-like pupils followed after them like a kitten would have a ball of yarn. “Ya from Green Reach, are ya? Ye, I know all about you. Felt all of Thalion’s emotions about you… he never trusted you.” He was still watching the priceless jewels on the man’s fingers. He felt guilt for hatin’ ya and not having a good reason to.”

“Please, you can’t… My death will be on you!”

Fal nudged the Duke away, “All the rings on your hands and carry Thalion and you can stay a night, then you’re on your own. It’s tradition that we can’t turn away a beggar durin’ a funeral.”

The Duke quickly ripped all the rings from his fingers and held them out to Fal in trembling cupped hands. Relieved of his jewelry, the Duke went back to Thalion. “Now, Minette,” Fal tenderly touched her hand, “Shall we go? There will be a fire tonight.”
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For a second time, Gregian pleaded with Fal not to leave him alone and shaking her head, Minette looked away from him. He'd incidentally come up on the magical words, by some stroke of luck, and she knew from the look in the Antropoe's gaze that he'd succeeded, but it had been so utterly pathetic that Minette couldn't actually be angry. There was no harm in giving him shelter for the night... The Antropoe would get a decent bounty from him, and come the morning he would be gone.

Gone, but not forgotten. Even after he'd disappeared in the distance, after the bruise on her cheek had faded, the memory of him would remain. She would never be able to forget... as desperately as she knew she would want to. It would stay with her until her last breath, the sting of his betrayal, the feeling of watching Thalion collapse... of knowing it was over, that there was nothing she could do to save him. Gregian handed over his rings and lifted Thalion again and for a moment, Minette wanted to tell him not to... but she knew that she couldn't carry him, and Fal certainly couldn't.

Instead, she turned away from the pitiful figure of the Duke and nodded to Fal, shouldering her bag as she started for the path down to the village. After so much time traveling, her body was aching, her mind a roiling mess. She needed sleep, but she had doubts that it would come easy, now that the journey was over. Now all that was left was the thinking... thinking about what happened, about what she's lost... About -being- lost...

She missed Thalion, so very much... so much that it hurt.

Turning down to Fal, she frowned softly, "When... when we arrive, I'd like some time with him, on my own, if... if that's alright. Just a moment, to say goodbye."
 
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The village was still a way off, though Fal had gone out to rendezvous them as he knew they were coming. It was with the same magic forces that caused the entire world of Evernight to turn that he knew they were close. Silence settled between them and it felt oddly fitting. The only sounds were the crunching of their shoes against the forest debris and that was soothing in its own way. Even the usually playful Fal was quiet and reserved, sober, because even he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“O’course,” he agreed to her request, “You love him, aye? Truly love him, then? He loved you, too. For quite some time I may add. I knew it the moment you two came to the village for the first time,” he glanced up to her, tapping a wrouch nailed finger against his temple, “’Tis just somethin’ I know.”

It was the bonfire that came into view first. It was bountiful and bright, soaring high into the sky and tossing up embers towards the Heavens. Food was laid out in horns o’ plenty, though there was none of the terrible music that Thalion insisted he detested, no dancing, no cheering, no wild drinking. In fact, the Antropoes were just numbly stumbling about as if they had lost some very essential piece of themselves. It reached deeper for them than grief or loss… “A soul without a heart is an awful dismal thing, ain’t it?” Since their inception, Fal had known the secret but they had decided as a tribe it was best not to tell Thalion. After all, there were a great number of terrible things the witch could do if she knew… He couldn’t help but wonder then if that had been the right decision.

“Duke!” Fal barked, waving Gregian ahead, “Put Thalion in that hut there, ye? N’ go sit by the fire n’ make yourself unseen.”
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It seemed fitting, the silence. Back home, those who passed were mourned with silence, the length of which was often a measure of how deep the impact of loss. Were she to practice such tradition, Minette would never have spoken again… but Evernight wasn't home. Not really. Not anymore.

Fal broke the silence, his words striking at Minette’s core and lowering her gaze, she bowed her head, “With all my heart… I don't know what I'll do without him, Fal. I… I need him.” Breathing a shuddering breath, she glanced over to the Antropoe, I think… I think perhaps she's finally won.”

In the distance, she could see the fire, the food set out. Her stomach clenched, and she knew she should eat, but rather suddenly, everything felt like vanity. It was reality, she knew, striking hard at the very heart of her. He was gone, and there would be no easy way to reconcile that.

Eyes stinging, she watched as Gregian moved to take Thalion away. When he returned from the hut, she turned and giving Fal’s shoulder a squeeze, made for the entrance.

Inside, there were a few candles to light the darkness, bathing Thalion in a warm, golden glow. As she sank down beside him, her eyes finding his face, it was almost too much to believe that he was gone… He seemed to be at peace, as if he were sleeping, and a shake of the shoulders could bring him back. But as she reached out and took his hand, limp in her own and so very cold, she knew it was just an illusion…

“Oh, Thal.” A sigh escaped and leaning her forehead against his hand, she shut her eyes, “I don’t know how I’m going to do this without you, my love. I… I know that you want me to. I know that you would never want me to give up, but Thal… I don’t want to keep going. I’m so scared. I miss you, so much. Fal… Fal says that there’s something about Evernight, that… that your soul is in bits and pieces of it. It must be true, because I feel empty… numb without you. I need you, Thalion. I need you…”

Straightening, she leaned forward and gently, pressed a kiss to his lips, “I can’t say goodbye. I can’t... “ Brushing his cheek, she shook her head, and slowly, rose to her feet. His hand dropped from her grasp and with a sob, she turned and left the hut.
 
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“Maybe—maybe you don’t have to.”

The voice was impossibly quiet. It seemed fitting for such a small creature, but unusual coming from Fal, whose voice was usually loud, boisterous, and confident. He had stepped towards Minette as she came from the hut. His little green cap was in his hands and he was wringing it so tight, it was a wonder the fibers held. Behind him, standing huddled together, was every Antropoe in the village. There was a small sea of them—all shards of a soul, the same soul, but all unique parts in their own way.

“We’re his soul, right? So maybe… maybe he ain’t really dead, you know? Maybe he just needs his soul back. I—I don’t know what’ll happen. Maybe it’ll do nothin’. Maybe… maybe it won’t help none, but we’re willin’ to try if you are. You were right though… the witch’ll win if we don’t try somethin’ and I—I don’t know about you, princess, but I ain’t ready to give up yet.”

Though Fal didn’t speak of it implicitely, giving back Thalion’s soul meant that they were to perish with it. They were no longer to be sentient beings—capable of their own thoughts, their own actions, their own lives, but there wasn’t a single individual in the bunch who seemed to be opposed to it. “N’ maybe if it don’t work, it’ll at least let him to rest in peace far away from this place.” One of Fal’s little paw-like hands scratched the back of his neck, rubbing at the pale skin nervously.

“We don’t know what would happen, but the witch’ll only win if we stop tryin’, right? If we give up.”

Of course, it meant that Minette stood to lose both Thalion and the Antropoes all in a very short period of time… but that was what Evernight was all about. It was about loss, redemption, grief, and fighting with every tool in one’s arsenal for what was right. “So… whatdya think?”

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