"No!" Menya screamed as she saw her world crumble away before her, with each inch of blackened corruption spreading across al-Samara's once-blue skin. The assassin's subsequent destruction was no consolidation, for he had snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory, destroyed too late and at too great a cost. She leapt towards al-Samara, catching him before he hit the floor, for what little good it was worth. For all her tricks, the catgirl was helpless to do anything more than watch his life ebb away.<br/><br/>"Don't say that! Live! You can't leave<em>us</em>behind!" Menya tried to reject al-Samara's acceptance of the inevitable, as though it could make a difference. "We'll get you to the infirmary, Garetz couldn't have been the only healer in the whole palace, could he?" she continued babbling on, grasping at straws, anything that could possibly make a difference. Rejecting Zelda's aid she took one of his arms over her shoulders while Hanifa took the other, to carry him out of the maze and seek help.<br/><br/>A small voice in the back of Menya's mind spoke of escape, a better opportunity would never present itself than now with all this chaos. She hated herself for daring to even think it, abandoning him to die alone? Even if she managed to escape, it would only be to a lifetime of regrets never truly free.<br/><br/>So the catgirl gave up on her escape plans to be beside al-Samara in his final moments. Judi on one side, and Menya on the other, gripping his blackened hands - having usurped Faliensk's position as favoured concubine, it was her rightful place to be. Despite his gentle and noble words, tears were trickling freely down her cheeks. It was after he admitted the truth about the catgirls and others who lost their memories that she could hold her words in no longer. "No, we could never hate you, not after the kindness you have shown to us," she promised him, squeezing his hand. "You'll live on in our hearts..." she paused in a final moment of hesitation, then made her decision without regret, smiling despite eyes shining bright with tears. It was tricky to whisper so that only he could hear, what with so many people around, but she tried. "...and through your livinya legacy." She guided his hand to her stomach, to feel the warmth of her flesh... and perhaps, just perhaps, the warmth of new life.