[[Day 10 in Palaugrim (Afternoon) :: Zairyon]]<br/>“Really. Eleven of you!”  Orphelia huffed in disbelief at the figures sitting in her parlor.  Many of them had been forced to lean against the wall as there weren’t enough seats.  “I thought squads were only eight people?”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">“Some of my former comrades have been nice enough to lend me their assistance.  Plus, while large, eleven people travelling don’t have the same significant as eight.”</span><br/><br/>The blue-haired woman only shook her head in disbelief.  “At least the genders are fairly equal.  So I have five pairs that I need to introduce…”<br/><br/>“It might be best to leave Mei and/or Ethera behind.”  Everyone’s eyes turned to Kanna who had just spoken up.  “They’re really quiet.  Besides looking demure, they won’t get much done.  You want us to flirt around don’t you?”<br/><br/>Mei glanced up in apparent alarm before looking back down at her hands.  If she was<span style="font-style: italic">ordered</span>to… she would try.<br/><br/>“But having demure women would help too.”  Adair contributed unexpectedly, his eyes gleaming as he ran through the possible scenarios.  “Overly bold females will put them off as well.  It might be mistaken as too crass or lower class.  Having some of them just stand around as arm ornaments..”  He ignored the glare Seraphim was shooting him.  It was the truth as well.<br/><br/>A masculine chuckle broke in.  A long black haired man walked in, looking at the group in amusement.  “There is no such thing as overly bold in Sovereign Palaugrim.  And dear, I thought you were going to lurk the alleys, not go shopping for new escorts.”  He dropped a kiss on the compliant Orphelia before turning his vivid green gaze back on the group.  “Lethe, Adair, a pleasure as ever.”<br/><br/>“Rhett.  It’s good to see you as well.  So we should form as many pairs as possible?”<br/><br/>“I’m assuming their ears work fine.  Pair.. Mei and Ethera? up with more gregarious men and it’ll make sense.  Your eldest,” A nod to Valiar, “can be escorting his two nieces to the event.  Lethe and.. your cross dresser I’m guessing.  Single women always get more attention from the men.”  He ignored the bristling from the men, “and with what I know of Lethe, she’ll charm her way into the ladies’ circle.  Your crossdresser can handle the men, I assume.”  A smirk answered his inquiry.  “The brunette and Seraphim go be bold.  Half bold, half quiet.  It’ll work out fine.  The hard part will be for me and Leia to come up with a reason why so many of you are appearing out of nowhere given the war.  But we can handle that, can’t we dear?”<br/><br/>Orphelia only smiled back in response.  Of course she and Rhett could take care of it.  Seeing no disagreement from the people in front of her, Orphelia clapped her hands together.  “Alright then. All of you, off to wash and get cleaned.  We’ll need to apply makeup and find clothes.  Ladies, follow me.  Men, with my husband.”  A parting kiss and then the couple separated, their guests following.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br/>“Lethe.”  The woman turned away from her observation of the garden at her name.  Adair stood behind her, eyes worried.  “You haven’t told the others yet about the War.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “I don’t know what to say.”</span>She admitted, walking over to take a seat on the bed.<span style="color: silver"> “I can’t believe that Guilford is starting a war against Sin.”</span>She sighed heavily and tilted her head back to look at the ceiling,<span style="color: silver"> “Or perhaps I can… though the timing is unusual.  I didn’t realize the High Council wanted to go to war so soon.”</span>Her lips curved upwards but there was only sorrow.  To not even be told about an upcoming war… So that was how far she’d fallen in their esteem. (<span style="color: red"><span style="font-style: italic">The light has already forsaken you. One by one, each of your friends will as well.  After all, Guilford already has, hasn’t he?</span></span>)<br/><br/>“I’m not sure they wanted to.”  Adair certainly hadn’t heard anything either and he found it near impossible that Lesus’s information network would be that faulty to miss an upcoming<span style="font-style: italic">war</span>.  Wars didn’t just spring up out of nowhere; meticulous planning needed to go into a successful war.  As Lethe always said, failing to prepare was preparing to fail, and preparing for wars was not discreet.<br/><br/>Confused blue eyes glanced his way, clearly not understanding his suspicions.<span style="color: silver">“Well.. speculation is pointless.  It answers—”</span>Her voice broke off but she continued forward, her gaze back on the ceiling.<span style="color: silver">“It answers Santa Olivia at least.  A response declaration of War: what better way than the demolition of one of our fortresses?”</span>Silence answered her question.  From a tactical point of view, it was a good show of strength.<span style="color: silver">“I.. I hope they knew, at least.  I just.. I wish we’d known.  If I’d known, maybe..”</span><span style="font-style: italic">I could have been there in time.  Maybe I could have rushed there and made a difference.  Maybe I could have helped save them.</span>She closed her eyes against the tears of frustration welling in her eyes.  Those poor people, slaughtered.  She had seen it.  If only she’d known, she would have skipped Fleur Terres and gone straight to the border.  The Sin crystals would still be with her, but she could have tried to prevent that atrocity.<br/><br/>Green eyes observed the fisted hand and the damp eyelashes.  It seemed Captain still wasn’t okay, even after their talk last night.  Adair was selfishly glad he’d broken down last night; if they’d added news of the war on top of the fears she’d already been harboring, he feared she would have spiraled out of control.  “As I said, Captain, you can’t shoulder the burdens of the world.  Going through what-if scenarios won’t change anything.”  She nodded her head in acknowledgment, but he had the feeling she wasn’t truly listening to his words.  He contemplated what would be best to say next.  Direct her attention to another task that had to be performed?  Or try to get her to understand she couldn’t keep blaming herself for not being there?  The sandy-haired man took a seat on the bed as well.<br/><br/>“If we had rushed for Santa Olivia, those villagers would have died.”  She stiffened beside him but he plowed on, “No one would have been crossing through that area and the Sinners would have slipped by.  That village would have been our Santa Olivia.”<br/><br/><span style="color: silver"> “Patrols..”</span><br/><br/>“All Knights would have been recalled in anticipation of an attack.  There may have been some patrols, but unlikely enough to save the village.  There were three Pure Sinners there.  It’s unlikely another single squadron could have taken them on besides Master Guilford’s team, and they certainly weren’t there.”<br/><br/>Lethe said nothing more, realizing further protests would have been pointless.  She didn’t think that saving Santa Olivia would have been better than saving the village.  They were all innocents she needed to protect.<br/><br/>A knock on the door broke their reverie.  Leon leaned in nervously, his eyes darting between her, Adair, and the room in general.  He could probably sense the tension in the air.  “Uh.. Rhett says that it’s Adair’s turn now.”  The youngest Knight looked ready to bolt and did so once Adair stood up un acknowledgment.<br/><br/>“Lethe.  Just remember what I said: You can’t shoulder the burdens of the world.  We’re here for you.”  With those final words, Adair left the room.<br/><br/>The Seraph finally looked down from the ceiling, bringing her hands up to cover her face.  She curled on the bed, trying desperately not to cry.  What could she say in response?  Her life was meaningless if she wasn’t helping the innocents.  Why else had she been saved?  Memories of her eulogy echoed in her ears as did the slithering of a whip, cracking of fire, and the screams.  She had died over nineteen years ago and yet she was still here.  She didn’t deserve to be here, not when she’d failed to save all those innocents.  Brynhildr. The two fallen villagers in Gramhold.  These villagers.  Santa Olivia.  Must destruction haunt her every step?<br/><br/>One hand fell away from her face to lie limply on the bed.  A damp eye traced the pale veins and arteries sadly, remembering the thought that had haunted her all those years ago when they’d first defeated Sin and the lands were rejoicing…<span style="color: silver">”Sin is within me, and I still live…”</span>