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CATHARSIS (IV)

Litha was currently observing the surrounding destruction, sighing in relief when she realized there were no casualties . What ticked her slightly was the pattern of ash Hannah had formed just beneath her tower over the cascading roofs of the city-like creation down below . A spiraling form with the tower as the center and a six-sided cross piercing right through -- sigils of Order and Chaos mingled together .

Settling down, she took a deep breath and looked at the talisman in her hand; it wasn’t as though she outright believed what the two claimed, but even with all said and done, she indeed knew Hannah -- and however playful she may be from time to time, she’d never joke about something like this . The day the eyes crowned the sky, practically everyone in the Sect assumed that the Empyrean had killed Annar alongside Eos . However, Litha thought as she rubbed her temples, it indeed did make slightly more sense if Eos had done it; the only question that remained was how Annar wound up with the Empyrean in the first place .

"We need to talk . " she mumbled softly into a clean sheet of paper which suddenly turned lithe and burned up in ash . A mere moment later, shadows emerged from beneath her feet as she let them swallow her whole .

She found herself next to a rather startling scene; a crowning jewel that Vyrove was more proud of than his heritage lay there, in front of her . . . in pieces . There wasn’t a whole part to it, as dozens of his people tried their hardest to sweep the carnage away . Glancing sideways, she saw Vyrove standing there with a pained expression on his face, on the brink of tears .

" . . . I see the Empyrean visited you too . " she said .

" . . . what do you want to talk about?" he asked, glancing at her . "As you can I see I’m busy . "

"He informed me he’s in possession of Annar’s and Scarlet’s corpses and that if we wanted to retrieve them, the two of us should meet up with him . . . alone . " she cut to the chase . "It’s clearly a trap, though . "

"Did he give you a way to contact him?" he asked instead .

"Weren’t you listening to me? It’s clearly a trap . "

"You must be confident because you easily beat him back, right?" Vyrove smiled faintly, causing Litha to frown .

" . . . there were two of them . " she mumbled faintly .

" . . . we’ve severely underestimated him . " he said suddenly, sighing .

"What do you mean? He appears as strong as Yen predicted . " Litha said .

"No, not his strength," he shook his head, glancing up at the sky . "Upon the very mention of the Empyrean, we are practically flooded with assumptions; one of them is that they are morons who don’t know anything and can’t do anything besides throwing their bodies into the inferno and hoping for the best . "

" . . . "

"That assumption has held me back from seeing it until now . "

"Seeing what?" she questioned .

"That he’s screwing with us . . . royally," Vyrove chuckled, turning his attention toward her and smiling faintly . "Think about it . He first targeted me, destroying my dearest property, but leaving every one of my people alive . "

"Uhm . "

"He then went after Ritton," he continued . "But, rather than fighting with him, he nigh-crippled his Will . "

"--what?" Litha exclaimed in surprise .

"And then he went after you, offering up our friends’ corpses . " Vyrove finished . "None of his actions make any sense if his goal was to achieve quick victory . He could have easily trimmed down our numbers by now . . . yet he specifically chose to go after something else . Ritton’s Will . . . my vanity . . . and your empathy . "

" . . . "

"He’s targeting us on an individual level, striking at the most prominent parts of our characters . "

" . . . " Litha’s brows scrounged up as she contemplated Vyrove’s words .

"All that’s left is for him to go after Yennefer’s pride and Ethena’s guilt . "

"Heh, you better pray Yen didn’t hear that . " Litha chuckled faintly, sighing after . "But, against all odds, it seems you’re right . Why though? Why go through all that trouble? Is it really just to screw with us?"

"We could go and ask him . "

"You’re suggesting we just willingly walk into a trap?"

"No matter how many times you say it’s a trap . . . won’t make it a reality, Litha . You and I both know it won’t be a trap . "

" . . . we should hurry, though . " Litha said . "I’ve contained the fact I was attacked for now, but Yen will come for a visit sooner or later . " she whipped out a talisman and burned it up . "If we come out dead after this, I’ll haunt you beyond the grave . "

"Ha ha, feel free . "

A mere moment later, space next to them rippled out as a vortex formed; two glanced at each other for a moment before braving forth and stepping through . After a bit of a fumble and tumble, the two found themselves in an ordinary-looking room -- one beyond simple they had trouble believing it was real . The sounds of the rapid stream outside . . . the crackle of the fire inside the fireplace . . . and the chirping of the birds someplace out .

A simple room with a single bed, a table and four chairs and a pair of windows was not what they were expecting . Looking forward, they saw Hannah and Lino sitting on the chairs, each reading a book while drinking something . As Litha and Vyrove arrived, the two put the books down and poured two more cups, inviting them over .

"Look at how starstruck they are," Lino said . "I told you it would be a great idea to invite them here . "

"Starstruck? You’ve just embarrassed me in front of my friends," Hannah said . "They’ll think I routinely spend my days and nights here, in this shabby-looking hellhole . My lofty image is forever gone from their minds . "

"Whatever image they had of you inside their minds," Lino said, smirking . "I assure you, it was anything but lofty . "

"Huh?! Do you really wanna go at it, you bastard?!" Hannah grumbled .

"Eh? Oh wow . I didn’t think you were open to this and that in front of others, but sure, let’s--"

"---"

"--I’m so sorry . " Lino winced down, avoiding Hannah’s murderous gaze . "I won’t do it again . "

"What’s up you two?" she turned toward Vyrove and Litha who had rather lost expressions on their faces as they sat down . "You look like saw a ghost . Is everything alright?"

" . . . just wondering what the world’s reaction would be if they knew what the lofty and overbearing Bearers of Order and Chaos were truly like . " Vyrove said, smiling bitterly . "I imagine many-a-dream would be crushed on that day . "

"Eh, don’t underestimate the human capacity of denial," Lino chimed in . "It’s amongst our finest traits . "

"Most loathsome, you mean?" Hannah asked .

"Says a woman who’s so wrapped in denial it wounds all the way back to the root and becomes adorable . "

"Are we really going to talk about each other’s denials?"

"Alright, alright, I’m sure these two didn’t come here to watch us bicker like a pair of sexually frustrated lovers," Lino said as Hannah sighed and lowered her head in defeat . "Though I did imagine you’d come, I didn’t think it’d be this quick . "

"Where are they?" Litha asked .

" . . . just outside . " Lino replied, smiling faintly .

"So . . . what’s the actual reason you invited us over here?" Vyrove asked . "If it were just handing over the bodies, I can think of a few times you could have done just that . "

" . . . though there is indeed another reason," Lino said . "I’d have done just the same if there wasn’t . Annar and Scarlet were friends . It’s the least I can do . "

"You claim you were friends," Litha said . "And that Eos killed them . But you don’t expect us to trust you outright, do you?"

"Of course not," Lino chuckled, getting up and walking out, followed shortly after by the other three . Just as he said, just outside, leaned against the thick and tall tree, two crystal-made coffins lay . "And it’s up to you what to believe . If it eases your pain and moral qualms, you can keep on believing I killed them . " he added, squatting in front of the coffins .

" . . . it’s really them . " Vyrove commented, sighing faintly; even until now, he truly thought it was at best just an excuse the Empyrean made .

"Were you there?" Litha turned toward Hannah and asked . The latter merely nodded in reply . "Did . . . they suffer?"

" . . . no . " Hannah shook her head, walking over and patting Litha who was well over a head shorter than her . "It’s okay to cry, you know? I know you looked up to him . "

" . . . shut up . " Litha swatted away her arm, hiding her face .

"So . . . why did you call of us here besides this?" Vyrove asked after a few moments of silence .

" . . . a temporary proposition, if you will," Lino replied, smiling faintly . "That will benefit us all . "

"Hah, are you seriously suggesting we work together with you?" Litha scoffed . "You really are just as insane as I imagined . "

" . . . that’s the reason your side will never be able to win," Lino continued smiling as he said . "Inability to look past whatever idiotic grudges lie on the surface of things . I merely rattled a hornet’s nest or two, yet your group is almost at the splitting point; if I decided to push it just slightly further, I wouldn’t have had to do anything but sit by the side and watch you five consume each other . "

" . . . huh . So it was to prove a point," Vyrove suddenly smiled as he seemingly realized something . "Of course . "

"Don’t worry," Hannah joined in . "We’re not asking you to betray others or anything like that . Rather, it hardly has anything to do with the battle itself . "

"What is it, then?" Litha asked .

"I’ve chosen you two specifically not just because of Annar and Scarlet," Lino said . "But also because you two are the only ones who haven’t touched anyone since arriving on this continent . "

" . . . "

"Ritton . . . well, he’s just a horny bastard . You claim to be vain Vyrove, but that Heaven chick . . . " Lino chuckled bitterly . "She literally wakes up every morning to thousands kneeling and bowing to her . And that tanned chick . . . quite a bit of a sadist . Took me by surprise, if I’m being honest . "

" . . . "

"Whatever you may think of me, I grew up an ordinary person," Lino continued . "I can bring myself to do many things, and many more I’ve yet to even imagine, but . . . I genuinely don’t want to wrap the entire world into our own conflict . "

"Hah, how noble of you . " Litha scoffed .

"The point of your entire speech being . . . ?" Vyrove questioned .

"When the fight breaks out," Lino said . "I want you to protect the ordinary people . By now, at least you two should know that in no outcome possible will you be standing on victorious side . "

" . . . and you call us vain . " Vyrove smirked .

"Never said I wasn’t, though," Lino winked . "Just . . . think about it . It won’t be my gratitude alone you’ll get after . I just might surprise you splendidly . " he added as Hannah and he returned to the small shack by the river, leaving Litha and Vyrove alone outside to contemplate .