5. Seeking Solace (200 T.)

The darkness cleared from her mind, Yomi Zalde woke with a start. Suddenly and inexplicably, her mind was empty of the corruption that plagued it, and she knew.

The woman knew her past.

And with it, all of the evils she had committed while caught between the opposing influences of the Guardians and the Sentinels.

"What... What have I done...?" She covered her face with battered hands and forced back tears. She looked to her left and saw a man sitting, and watching her with morbid curiosity. A name sprang to her mind. "... Lucien?" Yomi asked softly.

"Oh? No maniacal tirades about the sins of the world?" His cold gaze met her eyes.

"I remember."

"Well, that's good for you. Doesn't really take back or excuse the hateful actions of the past month or so, but..." Lucien's voice trailed off. "I can at least use you as an example of how Aleya needs to be taken out."

The moon was almost at it's peak, and the dim light reflected in his eyes.

"But..."

"We all have our own struggle for existence." He cut her off and stood, before turning away to gaze into the dying embers of the fire. The man looked back at the priestess for a brief second, though. "Tell me something, if you would. Where is your god now?"

The next second stretched out into eternity, before it was punctuated by a quiet, wavering: "I don't know."

-

Yomi's feet quietly padded on the soft earth as she made her way to Lyra's section of the camp. 'Since she's a noblewoman, she's had many problems. She'll help me!' She desperately thought.

"Hey... Lyra...?" The priestess knelt by the sleeping figure and gently prodded her shoulder.

"What is it, you insufferable cretin? If this is another invitation to go dancing around your makeshift shrine under the 'golden, shimmering' moonlight, just leave before you really raise my ire!" She quietly scorned.

"No. That isn't me. I... I'm different. There was something forcing my action...!" Yomi grew confident in her assertions.

"And?" Lyra glared.

"I... just wanted to ask you for some advice, since you're so educated and know more than me..." She looked down.

"Here's some advice: Do not EVER wake someone above your station for such a stupid reason," Lyra turned so that her back was to Yomi. "Go to Hawthorne, that romantic fool will probably help if he isn't busy biting the pillow..."

-

"How could I have gotten lost so quickly...?" Yomi felt the now familiar sensation of tears welling up. 

"Oh, aren't we all lost a little...?" A voice replied out of the dark forest. The priestess turned to her side and found the source: A woman in a faded, dark grey uniform that appeared vaguely familiar.

Memories of her lost days in Prylea surged from within and hit Yomi. Ayeli Yaeli. 'That explains why the uniform appears to be more dress than uniform.... And why it has a floral pattern.'

Ayeli fiddled with her high collar, before her hands touched the rose adorning her hair. It quavered slightly.

"My, but I recall you~." The woman smiled at Yomi.

The priestess felt a sick feeling within her stomach. The Sentinel she was facing could easily change personalities. Which would more than likely end Yomi's sojourn to find solace.

"You seem to be needing advice, do you not?" Ayeli smiled.

"I... Err... Yes." Yomi attempted to lie, before giving it up.

"Here's a story filled to the very brim with sagely advice!" Ayeli seemed to not notice Yomi's sigh. "There once was a very pretty, curious little girl who loved to play among the flowers... One day, she was playing in a meadow bordered by a massive rosebush. She was curious about a fluttering butterfly, and followed it until it sat and stared at her balefully from a beautiful rosebud. Then a gust of wind pushed her into the rosebush and her throat was savagely ripped open by the thorns."

She then noticed Yomi's horrified expression. 

"What is the lesson in that...?" Yomi managed to stammer out.

"Go ahead, point and laugh! It isn't bad. They oughtn't mind because they're mad..!" Ayeli cheerfully exclaimed. "Oh... But you're alone now, aren't you," The Sentinel then knelt and plucked a small leaf from a young aspen tree. "Take it~."

Yomi gingerly reached out to take the token. Once her hand brushed Ayeli's she felt a strange warmth spread from the contact. When she looked up in shock, the woman was gone.

Yomi glanced around and saw the smoldering embers of the fire and Lucien's shadowed figure behind her, and several feet ahead was Hawthorne's pallet.

-

Minding the fact that he was a killer by profession, Yomi took great care in awakening Hawthorne. She lightly tapped her foot near his ear, and when that failed to rouse him, she poked him gently with the tip of her toe before scuttling away.

"... Huh? What do you want now....?" His blue eyes seemed to focus quickly on her.

"Hawthorne... I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do. I've changed somehow. Lyra told me to ask you for advice." Yomi muttered quietly. Of all her beatings and violent rampages while Corrupted, Hawthorne was her most frequent target.

"Let me guess, she completely and spitefully disregarded you." He pulled himself up into a sitting position. It was then that Yomi realized that he was wearing nothing but the light blanket half-covering his waist. The priestess looked to the side and felt a blush creep up.

Hawthorne chuckled as he noticed, and covered himself up more. "There. Better?"

"Yes... Thank you." 

Right when Hawthorne opened his mouth to speak again, the dark lump that was next to him shifted, and Nero appeared. Yomi's hand met her mouth in surprise, as she had thought the bulge was merely Hawthorne's packed gear.

"Well, look what we have here...." Nero glared balefully. "Come to bother me more, yeah? When will you learn that no matter what you do, you mean nothing to me?"

 Hawthorne cringed as Yomi's eyes watered over. "I... I apologize for the things I've done when I wasn't myself..."

"Really now? Why the sudden remorse? I've never felt such black, bottomless remorse that you're emanating now. And you and I have more in common than you'd think..."

To distract herself from sobbing, the priestess turned away from his scornful, green-eyed gaze. She then noticed that he was in a similar state of undress.

"I can leave, if that is what is best." Yomi wiped a few tears that threatened to spill over away.

"What would be the purpose in that? Eventually, you would return to bother us all more. That's all you do, you realize. Rave about your religion, which is clearly false and the creator herself has stated so, and generally be useless. Oh, but wait! I'm forgetting a valuable fact. You are a good meat-shield. You've saved Hawthorne from quite a few injuries, just by getting IN THE WAY," Though quiet, the Guardian's voice had a dark intensity. "Of course, the credit for that would go to me for giving you your gift. Which means that without me, you're nothing."

"Nero..." Hawthorne quietly scolded. His eyes failed to meet the priestess'.

"No, it's the truth and she needs to know it. That stupid girl is bonded to me and nothing I do will rid me of her irritating presence! Her life is nothing compared to even Lyra's, and she will die a lonely death and even that bleeding heart Talya will be pleased...!"

At that, Yomi turned and ran back towards what she thought was the direction of the main camp, sobbing hysterically.

-

Through her tears, Yomi failed to realize she ran in the completely opposite direction of the camp. She had arrived at a tranquil, if somewhat somber, lake.

The silhouette of a tall man stood near her, gazing into it.

"Excuse me..." Yomi wiped her remaining tears away and looked to him.

"Yes?" He took a step away.

"I'm lost." She looked down and smiled sheepishly.

"You were crying just now."

"Yeah. One of the people I was travelling with, he said some things..." She grimly smiled at the man.

"They were true, am I correct?" Yomi noticed how detached his voice seemed. He displayed no emotion and was only going through the motions.

"Well, I.... I suppose..."

"If the statements were true, there is no use crying over every mistake. Why don't you amend them? Or even better, not feel anything?"

Yomi looked into his steel grey eyes and knew at once that he believed the latter of his two options was the superior. She thought for a moment.

"Are you that one Sentinel that never showed his power? ... Nikolas?" She knew his extremely short hair looked familiar! But there was something missing. The Sentinel was always with another...

"You're right," He cleared his throat. "Might I ask you a simple question, one that pertains to myself, and not you?" His accent revealed to the priestess that Nikolas was not from any location she knew of, but the woman was already aware.

Yomi felt a deep rift inside her mind open, and so became more distant. "Yeah...? Sure."

"Have you seen Sentinel Yaeli around?" She sensed an underlying concern and compassion.

"I saw her... That way..." Yomi pointed the towards the broken underbrush that she had stumbled through.

"Thank you, priestess."

Tears welled up again, and she could only nod before turning and walking away.

-

The soft light of the smoldering cinders reflected off of Lucien's eyes. The man was unresponsive, as if in a trance.

Lyra was sleeping, and by no means would be sympathetic.

The world would burn before Nero helped her; which meant that Hawthorne was unavailable as well.

There was one choice left, and the priestess felt a cold stone grow in her stomach.

Yomi approached the sleeping woman slowly. Everything about the prone form exuded tranquility, from her steady breathing to neatly groomed hair.

 

She sat next to the prone form and tried as hard as she could to absorb the calm of the moment. Finally, Yomi felt something break inside her.

"Talya...."

"...Hm? What...?" The woman's voice was fogged by sleep. She slowly sat up.

"I'm sorry."

Talya put a gently hand on the priestess's shoulder. "I know."

There were several minutes of silence as each were lost in their own thoughts.

And just as one crack lead's to the dam's collapse, Yomi felt her emotions fray. Tears started rolling down her cheeks and her breathing intensified. Talya immediately pulled the other woman into a protective hold. 

"It's okay... Everything will be fine..." She gently ran her fingers through Yomi's honeyed hair in an attempt to soothe her.

"No! It's not...!"

Talya felt a decaying, spirit-killing dread settle over her body as she saw Yomi's eyes slowly turn a dark grey.

"No one's coming... Coming to take me home..." Yomi Zalde painfully whispered as unconsciousness overtook her.

"I will."