A Deadly Farewell

[Hazel Zanteres]

She needed to leave.

It felt like something had been itching beneath her skin, an irritant that refused to go away no matter what the Hapan did. The sensation had been building up ever since Hoylin, and everything after that had made it worse.

Her actions on Ord Mantell had been the tipping point, pushing it to a level where it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide the discomfort. And Hazel knew well enough what what causing it, knew it was because the Dark was gradually eclipsing the Light.

The Hapan's healing was failing as a result, and she was growing more sick as the days went by. For the most part, Hazel had just brushed it off when anyone asked - citing as it just being a bit ill. But that didn't pass over well with those she was the closest too, namely [member="Xerxella Zanteres"]. The Dravala knew about the blonde's condition, but even she had picked up on the deteriorating state. Which from Shay's perspective; and how she basically saw things, was in the form of Hazel appearing a lot more colder than she ought to not be.

She ended up explaining things, revealing that she had made plans to 'get better' and would be seeing to it very soon. The fact was, several months ago Hazel had came across a like-minded soul; a scientist, whose expertise was in an area that Hazel sorely lacked. They had spent time together, talking and discussing as well as experimenting on things that were relevant to them both. Eventually Hazel had hired her, for an unknown job, one that was crucial to the Hapan.

And now that time was quickly drawing near. Over the past week or so, Hazel had been slowly packing her things onto her ship. There was no way she could remain on Monastery any longer. While her knowledge of the Force wasn't that thorough, the Hapan did suspect part of her sickness was because she was remaining on a planet that was soaked in the Lightside.

Whereas she was now becoming steeped in the Darkside.

Today marked the final bit of moving she needed, and with that done Hazel had bundled her more personal items into a bag and departed her quarters in Sanctuary.

Shay was already offworld, having left several days ago on a trip with Esme. That left the Hapan alone to organize things, which was how she preferred things. She doubt anyone was really going to stop her, certainly not enough that it would require the Dravala's intervention to ensure it.

Unfortunately, Hazel wasn't going to just leave this unscatched.

She wasn't that lucky.

[member="Nora Lithos"]​

 

[Nora Lithos]

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]

It was scary how quiet Monastery had grown over the last few months as the Sacred Lotus faded more and more into the back of people’s minds. Most esteemed doctorates and scholars had packed their bags a long while ago to seek more profitable or even capable employers while the stubborn ones stuck around to see it through to the end. Then there were those like Noar who simply had nowhere else they could go. A big part of the Lotus Guard still stuck around too, but as far as people akin to Nora went — people who could not feel the force around them — there was really just her left who were of any note. Nylea stuck around and Nora suspected she was in the same seat, but then again, she was also part of those who could. In the end the gamble that her parents had taken was one that had paid off, but the question was to what degree.

It pained her to think on it, and for that reason alone she refused to. She would have brought the matter up with the only person who came close to such a role in her life, but that person too had grown more and more distant as time passed. Nora had always written it off as the pressure of picking up from Master Kismet, but Hazel had never seemed one to give in to it. So, while the young Arkainan continued her research with the dwindling resources that remained, Hazel had apparently decided it was time for her to move on as well. Without saying anything. Had Nora known better she would have asked her mentor about it a long time ago, but as it were the choice simply didn’t seem to be there.

And now here they were.

“Seriously, you’re just going to leave?” Nora sounded awfully happy all things considered. A joke more than anything to strike conversation. “No goodbyes, no ‘Hey I am leaving, Nora. Take care’ or anything like that?”

The girl approached Hazel as she walked down the corridor.

“It would have been nice, you know.”

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

As she walked the corridors, Hazel couldn't just diminish the feeling of sadness that welled up within her. Months ago the place had been packed, busy with people going about their business whether it was work or studying. Now, there was barely enough that remained to fill a single hallway.

But in that same line of thought, Hazel was glad. Because it meant no one could see her. Discover the darkness that was no festering in her mind and soul. There were very few force-sensitives still on Monastery, and it made it all the more possible for the Hapan to move about without suspicion. For the most part, the Lotus Guard had remained to continue their watch and defence of Sanctuary even though it; and the faction, but merely a shadow of what they were before.

Hazel had done what she could for the Sacred Lotus, but once Kismet had disappear things had just went downhill. People gradually left over time, to greener pastures and better work.

She couldn't blame any of them, especially now given she was doing the exact same thing.

Just leaving it all behind-

“Seriously, you’re just going to leave?”

The Hapan cursed quietly, eyes closing as she heard that familiar voice. She hadn't sensed the young Arkanian's approach, when she really should've. All of her senses, or well what little she could sense through the Force, was haywired with everything going on lately.

Hazel opened her eyes, looking straight towards Nora. She heard happiness in the young woman's voice, but knew there was a different emotion running beneath it.

"What else is there to do, Nora?" She just shrugged, walking closer towards her. "Everyone else has left, might as well follow along." Hazel paused, stopping by Nora's side, and looked at her. "So should you." Then she was moving again, heading towards the large courtyard where a meeting was held once - the same one where Nora had been introduced to the Lotus, and where Nylea had taken a poisoned dart.

She had never expected to run into anyone. Didn't want to either.

Especially not Nora.

[member="Nora Lithos"]​

 

[Nora Lithos]

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]

It didn’t seem as if they were as equally happy to see each other. Nora was happy to catch the other woman before she left, but at the same time it would seem as if Hazel had hoped she wouldn’t. From the sound of it Hazel had given up on the Lotus too. Just another soul looking to seek other opportunities simply because so had everyone else. She hadn’t thought Hazel to be that person, but then again she had also thought Hazel to be someone who would at least try to keep in touch. Everyone had left, and so should Nora, yet Hazel of all people would know what the circumstances of Nora’s presence had entailed on the young girl’s behalf. There was no going home, and she knew that. They both knew that.

“Go where, exactly?” Nora frowned and followed along into the courtyard. “You of all people know that I can’t.”

“If anything, you of all people would know me and what awaits me at home.” Nora figured laying it out on the table was for the better. Being open about her emotions would usually work for the better in situations like these. To let Hazel know that Nora was, in fact, hurt by what she had tried to do. Even after all the se years. Eyes glanced around the small courtyard before her eyes set on the spot where Nylea had been shot down and where Nora had experienced her first ever panic attack. If ever there had been a fitting place to end a chapter with Hazel this would have been it, right? They were still friends, of that Nora was fairly certain, but the certainty wavered for each passing moment as the air seemed to grow all the more thicker. Hell, it even stung. Even if it was just a for a little bit.

“All of my friends, except Nylea, have left. And now you are leaving too?” Nora tried not to scoff but it was hard not to. “Why are you quitting? Why is everyone quitting this?”

“Did that whole ‘doing the right thing’ die out at some point and I missed the memo?” Nora’s frustrations began to bubble up. “Am I being left behind on purpose or something?”

Blank eyes stared at the Hapan. “Why are you leaving, Hazel? Really.”

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

Oh, Hazel knew very well what Nora's situation was. The young Arkanian had confided that much to her early on in their mentor-student relationship. Back then Hazel had felt sadness, and pity that Nora had been forced away from her family and home - primarily because the latter had become too dangerous for her.

But right now?

Hazel was feeling annoyed, and the itching beneath her skin was edging her closer to snapping.

"Of course I know that," she said with traces of irritation in her tone. "But I also know there's a whole galaxy out there Nora, not just Arkania and Monastery."

The Hapan looked around, taking in the memories she had of this courtyard. Of being here with several different individuals, all from different groups around the galaxy. Nylea jumping in the way of a dart and being poisoned. Hazel gazed down at the ground, at the very spot she and Bethany had healed the Echani back to health.

Where Nora had seen the Force for the first time.

But it was also a painful memory, reminding Hazel how weak her own healing had become. She looked down at her left hand, now showing more scars that had once been hidden. Now it was nothing more than a sign of things that were coming - that she was slowly dying.

With her back still to Nora, Hazel winced at the younger woman's words. She wasn't wrong, a lot of folks had departed Monastery over time. Even Yune; the Twi'lek chef had departed to find other work. It was just the reality of things, with the Sacred Lotus declining its volunteers needed to look elsewhere for work.

"Doing the right thing never died out, it's just the basic fact that people can't do it anymore from here. They needed to search elsewhere for a new place to settle, somewhere that can continue that endeavour." Hazel finally turned around, trying to mask the annoyed expression as she faced Nora. "And I'm just doing the exact same thing."

A lie.

One Hazel couldn't avoid as she honestly didn't know what the future had in store for her. Hell, she didn't even know if her plans to survive this whole thing were even going to succeed.

[member="Nora Lithos"]​

 

[Nora Lithos]

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]

The air didn’t get any less easier to breathe. Raindrops began to pat against the floor of the courtyard as the irritation lingered in the air like a thickening miasma. Hazel insisted there were other places to go, but for a girl with no money to her name or outside contacts that simply wasn’t true. For that reason alone Hazel wouldn’t get much more of a reply than a slight furrow of Nora’s brows. Something was off with her and the change wasn’t for the better. Hazel had given up without any indication that she was intending to let the others know and it grew all the more evident that Hazel didn’t wish to hold this conversation. She probably hadn’t even wanted to consider it, but Nora wasn’t about to let her abandon everyone in the dirt without explaining herself first.

“Did it ever occur to you that people have given up because their leaders are all gone?” Nora scoffed. “You’ve given up, Kismet is gone, and I haven’t heard from Sardun in ages. You are the last leader this organization has, and you think you can just leave us all behind without saying anything?”

Nora approached Hazel with small but decisive steps. “You think, you can just waltz out of here and drop all the responsibility you have?”

“Do you think, you can just leave me and those who care for you behind as if we were weights off your shoulder?” Her head shook in tension as her lips thinned out and pursed. “No, that is not how this works, Hazel, and you know that.”

“Where are you going?”

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

The air was growing more thick with every passing moment, the tension becoming palpable around them. The Ch'hala trees that were embedded in each of the pillars were shifting in colour as a response. Not necessarily from the 'noise', but because of the shift in the Force.

Something Nora wouldn't be able to senses, and what Hazel was ignoring.

For a short moment she just stood there with arms crossed, staring at the Arkanian. That look of annoyance and frustration in Hazel's eyes, was slowly turning to anger.

"It happens, and it happened to us." She wanted to leave, to just turn away and walk to the hangar. But she knew Nora wasn't going to allow it, she'd follow her all the way. "We did what we could, but with everything that happened; especially Bethany disappearing. It all just crumbled, and we're left with nothing but the ruins."

And now Hazel had her own personal issues, her declining health and the increasing effect of the 'dark mark' that was buried within herself.

Monastery would be a prison to her, if she stayed.

You think...
You think...

“Where are you going?”

"It's none of your business!" Hazel yelled, her voice carrying across the courtyard as he eyes shifted into anger, and nothing but it. "I am leaving because I need to, because I have to. What can I possible cast off my shoulders, when there is hardly anything left?" She moved towards Nora, the tension in the air seemingly shifting in the Hapan's path as she slowly forced Nora to back up towards one of the pillars.

"You can wallow here if you want, or you can find someway of leaving and finding your own place in the galaxy." Hazel was hurting, emotionally and physically. She could feel the illness shifting in her body, and all it did was add fuel to her anger. "Either way, I don't care."

[member="Nora Lithos"]​

 

[Nora Lithos]

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]

It is in ruin because you allowed it to get there! The unspoken words lingered on the Arkanian’s pursed lips as she grew all the more resentful at what the Hapan doctor was saying. Hazel had changed and she had changed for the worse. The tension they shared now was so far from the comfort that had taken seed in the very same spot in which they were standing. The skies above grew all the more darker as more and more drops seemed to wet the courtyard. A yell tore the peace and the Arkanian tried her best to contain one of her own. Her shoulders and neck starting to shiver for little more than a second before she burst.

“Yes it is!” She roared. Hazel began to approach her, but nothing in her body language spoke of peace. Nora’s feet shuffled back for each step that the teacher took with each of them being a small reminder of what it was that Hazel brushed off as something so easily discarded from her mind. “It’s my business as a follower,”

“For Nylea, who looks up to you!” Nora took a step back.

“For the Lotus Guard, who will fall apart entirely without you!” She took another.

“And then there is me, who thought I was your friend.” Nora tried to calm herself, perhaps reason with Hazel.

“Don’t leave, Hazel.” Her heel found the pillar, eyes cast to each side to find nowhere else to go. “You can’t brush us off like that.”

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

Everything that was being said, was settling somewhere in Hazel's mind. The problem was however, that none of it was going where it was needed. Instead, it was being buried beneath annoyance and anger.

It wasn't as if there was some inner version of herself; the real one, locked away in a cage slamming against the bars in an attempt to escape. All the while someone else was in the driver's seat and doing all this.

No.

This was all Hazel.

Darker emotions were boiling within, steadily flowing out from the Hapan. The bark on the Ch'hala trees were beginning to darken, growing more intense the closer Hazel got.

It was a good thing that there were no Jedi; at least to Hazel's knowledge, within vicinity of Sanctuary. Otherwise, they'd no doubt sense the Dark Side that was currently at the very center.

"I. Don't. Care." They were backed up to the pillar now, or rather Nora was anyway. "I am not going to stay here and do nothing." It went beyond that though, Hazel's very life was at stake if she stayed any further. But she also needed to distance herself from almost everything at this point. That included the Sacred Lotus and everyone that was part of it.

But then a stray thought crossed her mind, like a whisper that breezed past her ear.

She needed to sever what tied her down, those annoying little hooks that refused to let go as you try to move away.

Like Nora right now.

A moment passed, then another. Nothing but silence and the two women staring at one another. Then the air suddenly grew heavy, and the snap-hiss of a lightsaber echoed across the courtyard.

Hazel looked down and saw A Valkyrie's Calm was no longer at her side, but in her hand - and its yellow blade was currently protruding through Nora's stomach. There was a look of shock, but that went away quickly.

Too quickly.

Her expression fell, becoming neutral until there was a sudden crack and scream. The lightsaber's blade suddenly cut off; the crystal inside shattering from the misuse of the Force, and the Ch'hala tree cried out in pain.

[member="Nora Lithos"]​

 

[Nora Lithos]

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]

The frown on Nora’s lips would grow hard to describe. It went beyond disappointment, beyond any real palpable emotion that one could really put into word. Hazel didn’t care anymore, not just about the idea of the Sacred Lotus but those that had tried to carry it in her waning presence. Without anyone able to truly carry the burden of leadership it would all prove fruitless in the end. The end was coming, and perhaps they could all find solace in knowing that it had been with a whimper. Nora’s head shook as she looked at Hazel with an expression of sheer disgust at what she was hearing. To think that she had been someone like this all along, and to think that she had known this woman. To think that they had been friends or anything like it.

The saber on the blonde woman’s hip found its way into its owner's hands. Nora recoiled at the sight of the yellow blade as it extended itself towards her, eyes shifting from disgust to surprise at the gesture. Her back found the wall with a thud before the inevitable seemed to strike her. A feeling, a fear — no, realization — that what she had not on her life expected to happen had just happened. A metallic cylinder pressed against her stomach and kept on pressing her until her lower back found the surface of the pillar, yet the stony surface of the pillar was far from cold. It was almost as if on fire, as if Nora herself was on fire.

The realization that had struck her was not that she was still alive. It was the fact that Hazel had just sent her spiraling in the opposite direction. The girl’s vision grew hazy and hearing became hard to bear as each heart beat threatened to jump out her throat. Her stare grew more and more absent as her jaw slowly ran ajar.

This was it then. Nora was going to die. She couldn’t have said that she had ever thought it would end quite like this, maybe by accidentally ingesting a poisonous flower or fungi, but not like this. Not cold-blooded betrayal at the hands of someone she had seen as her closest friend. Not on grounds as hallowed as this. Voices whispered at her ear and she did her best to stave them off. They beckoned her, but she didn’t want to listen. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Not now, not here.

“... And if someone gives you trouble...” A familiar voice echoed.

“… Mother.” Nora whispered under her breath.

“... Make them fight for it.” The voice grew distant, the sound of a crackle and pop, a scream, tearing at the Arkanian’s ears. The white noise of the rain faded back into existence and there was little to no time to waste.

Weak as she was Nora pushed against the surface of the pillar and further towards the former doctor, her teeth gritting with eyes peering straight into the eyes that had once been so dear to her. With the strength that remained she pushed her to the ground, towering on top of the Hapan woman as the rain continued to pick up.

“You weak,” Nora gasped for air as her arms started to give. “Pathetic,” Her lungs clawed for air. “Cow-... ard.”

The girl rolled over and into the water by the Hapan’s side, her breath holding out for one last miracle to carry her away. Blank eyes watering at the sight of the darkening Monastery skies. It was just a matter of time now, and time was not something that the Arkanian had much of. The corners of her eyes grew dimmer for each passing moment. The big sleep felt all the more imminent.

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

Hazel had been distracted in that moment, the crystal shattering had surprised her until it dawned on her why. She remembered what Mishel had said about it, when she had first given her the lightsaber. It was meant and intended to be wielded by someone wielding the Lightside of the Force.

And what she had just done now, had been the complete opposite.

The crystal had been broken by the sheer dread of her actions...and there was something enticing about that idea. Her only regret was it that the weapon was now effectively useless, the effort put into it gone - just like that.

Before Hazel could dwell on it further, she was suddenly knocked down by Nora. The Hapan was dazed initially, confused until she realized what happened. Rage began to seep out through Hazel's emotions, bringing her hands up to strike at the Arkanian.

Until she suddenly toppled over and fell to her side.

Hazel looked up as the rain poured down, before she slowly stood up. Nora's words reaching her ears, garnering a scoff from the Hapan.

"Your words mean nothing, Lithos." She turned around, looking down at her. "When you're incapable of defending yourself." Weak. "Laying there dying, unable to muster the strength to fight back." Pathetic. "You're a disappointment."

With that, Hazel turned back around and walked away, as she had been intending to ever since Nora had intercepted her. Now the Arkanian was dying on the ground, and Hazel didn't look back.

Although, as she moved through the final hallways, she passed by [member="Nylea Apollodor"] who attempted to speak to the Hapan, but Hazel ignored her and just kept walking towards the hangar. Whether the woman would sense something, she didn't know. Perhaps she had heard the tree crying out, or the sudden feeling of death emanating from where she had just come from.

She didn't know.

And nor did she care.

[member="Nora Lithos"]​

 

[Nylea Apollodor]

Footsteps sounded through the empty hallways of Sanctuary.

Nylea had noticed something was off in the Force- no, something was terribly wrong. The Dark side's presence was rapidly growing, disturbing the air and making it hard to breathe. It scared her, having no idea what had been going on, but she already knew that disaster was not far away. And so the echani ran to the courtyard, the place she felt the disturbance come from, as quickly as she could, hoping to put an end to it. It was her promise to the Sacred Lotus, to protect the order and carry out its mission until the very end. Even if that end seemed close, she wasn't going to lie to herself, she didn't break promises.

As Nylea came closer she was able to identify the two presences close to the aura of Darkness, and they were both people she knew closely. Something was wrong with Hazel, something that was likely a dangerous thing. Nora had to get out of there, before-

Then, her heart dropped and a phantom pain seared in her stomach. The wind was knocked out of her, unable to breathe for a second and stumbling as she lost her balance. "NO!" Nylea screamed at the top of her lungs as she gasped for air again. "NORA!" With eyes open wide she quickened her pace even further, before coming to a sudden halt when Hazel passed by, seemingly unbothered by everything. The echani's breathing was irregular, her body shaking as she looked at her.

"W-what have you done!? I looked up to you! You're a monster!" Tears rolled down Nylea's face as Hazel refused to answer, the silence cutting deeper than any words could have done. She wanted to simply drop down to her knees and give up, the sheer shock looking to completely lock her up. But she couldn't, Nora was getting closer to death by the second, and she wasn't going to let that happen. She had made a promise.

"I've got your back, Nora."

She burst through the door to the courtyard, completely ignoring the blackened Ch'hala tree as she turned to Nora, who laid on the ground with a wound in the same place searing pain wreaked havoc on her body. "Nora!" Dashing over, she knelt down next to her and held her hands above her wound, her hands beginning to glow as she became a conduit of the Force. Closing her eyes, Nylea shut out the outside world entirely, Fixating her mind only on the wound and her Force Healing. "You're going to be okay. I promise."

[member="Nora Lithos"] | [member="Hazel Zanteres"]​

 

[Nylea Apollodor]

oops

 

[Nora Lithos]

...............................................................................................“Your words mean nothing, Lithos,”​

“Keep telling yourself that.”....................................​

..................................................“When you’re incapable of defending yourself, laying there dying,”​

“Because of you.”..................................................​

.............................................................................................................“You’re a disappointment.”​

“Then what does that make you?”.........................​

Vacant eyes stared at the skies. Raindrops poured against ashen skin with an overbearing rhythm on her cheeks where beads and droplets sought to become one with those of Nora’s own creation. The darkness at the corner of her eyes grew all the more difficult to hold off and the world began to fade away into nothing. Eyelids grew too heavy to force open and Nora readied herself for what was to come. One by one she felt the strain behind her eyes ease up to stop the struggle. The stories that she had read about this never mentioned this part, at least not the reality of it. The sounds around her, the indiscriminate white noise that rung by her sides told her that she was alive. Her strength began to fail her and she knew that this was it. Yet, there was no light, no tunnel or pearly gates. There was no comfort to be found in this state where fear and stale reluctant acceptance held the reins.

She felt her mind shift out of reach. Her head shifted to her side with one final breath parting her nose. The sleep that she had feared came for her with the comfort that she had asked herself about. Warmth spread in her body that was hard to describe.

“You will be safer there.” Her mother’s voice echoed again.

“But I don’t know anyone there!” A slightly younger Nora almost shrieked at her parents over what they were proposing to her.

“Nora, please, we just want-” Her father tried to explain, but it was of no use.

“You want what?!” The child was not having it, she was not going to just run away from a few men because they were coming down on her family. Their family had suffered through harassment before because of who they were and how they acted, what could a few g-men in fancy suits possibly do to her?

“We want you to be safe.” Her mother tried again and the girl calmed down, even if just slightly. They hadn’t ever used that word before. Nora knew what it meant if she went with the men, but to think she was in danger was not something she had ever really considered.

“But Monastery is-... It’s so far away, mom.” The girl sat back down in her chair with a frown.

“It’s the only choice we have. We can’t keep hiding you like this, and the men…” Dad tried once more. The men had already come close to finding Nora once before.

“We have to do this. Please Nora, this is the only way.” Mom helped him. Neither of them wanted to see the talents of their young daughter turned into a weapon. There just wasn’t a chance in hell that would happen.

“... Okay.” The girl sighed in defeat, still not quite certain what was going on.

“We love you.” They both said and reached out for her hand to comfort her. In the end Monastery would be good for all of them. One less mouth to feed meant they could live

“I love you too.” She whispered back, both in her reality and the one she shared with the rest of the world. It was the only indication Nylea would be granted, the only sign that she had succeeded before Nora fell deeper into her sleep under the stresses that her body was going through trying to cope. Lotus Guards began to swarm the area in an instant. The engines had long since passed overhead and the real trouble departed for somewhere none of them would be even remotely aware of. A familiar face, one Nylea might have recognized knelt down by the Arkanian and Echani’s side.

“We need to get her inside.” Karl said and looked at the unconscious girl before him. “She needs somewhere to rest.”

“We’ll put out a notice, but…” She was already long gone. He knew there was no need to say it, not with the few resources that they still had. The few remaining resources they would probably ever have. A grim look fell on him as he did his best to try and help Nylea off the ground, with or without Nora.

“You did good.” It was all he could think to say. It was in all likelihood the only thing he needed to say.

 

[Nylea Apollodor]

"You did good."

Nylea wasn't even sure if the words really came through to her at first. She needed a moment to process it as her little cocoon was burst open from the outside, her focus broken. With her eyes opened again she finally really looked at the person who was clinging on to life right in front of her. She had seen Nora, of course, but only now did the echani fully realize what had happened. The adrenaline had died down and her mind was starting to put everything into place. And although she didn't show any of it, it felt like her entire life was crumbling away at that very moment. Was this it for the Lotus? If even the person she looked up the most could fall prey to the Dark side, what was to stop it from getting its hands on Nylea herself again? If Nora wouldn't make it, what was left for her then?

"No, no." Nylea sternly shook her head as she helped picking up Nora, refusing to leave her side until she was at the very least stabilized. "I am not finished until Nora's out of danger and Hazel is... never mind. Forget it." The fact she did not even look at Karl was nothing personal. Her thoughts simply overwhelmed her, yet despite that she refused to do nothing to help the arkanian. "Let's get her to the other healers. I am... I don't even know." It was obvious that the echani's flustered state prevented her from being of much help, but she would carry Nora along with Karl anyway. It did not take long to bring her to the group of people who were capable of providing the aid needed, and as she laid her friend down she almost immediately turned around and left, not saying a word.

"Nylea, what's wrong?"

"I need a moment for myself."

With that Nylea parted ways, walking back to her own living space. Tears started forming as she walked through the empty hallways, and now that she was alone she did not attempt to hold them back any longer. By the time she walked into her quarters she had gone from sobbing to downright breaking down, collapsing to her knees right after the door closed behind her.

I should have seen it coming.

I could have stopped this from happening.

I wasn't strong enough.

This...
This is my fault.