Alitia: Hellfire and Blizzard

XIX: Diversionary

The days passed in agonized bursts of time that didn't quite feel real to anyone at Alitia. Tanith tried her best to keep her head cool, but it was much easier said than done. No one had been given much of any clues as to how they were meant to chase after Cerise. The person who had been stalking her for the last few weeks--or maybe even months--had not appeared since that night when Cerise went missing. Everyone had kept their eyes open, but there were no intruders chasing them, and the fear across the campus was beginning to rise. Tanith was growing anxious that the kidnapper wasn't going to show their face again at all. If that was the case, then how were they supposed to save Cerise? They needed clues and information to find her, but they didn't know where to start. 

Tanith was still taking the blow better than some of her other friends, and she could see it in their eyes. Sophia had spent much of her time either sitting alone in her room or scrambling to try and find whatever she could across Alitia's grounds. She never found much of anything, especially since she couldn't leave the school to look around in the woods nearby. It was too dangerous for any of them to leave, especially since Brynn was so close by. No one wanted to push their luck enough to end up caught in the middle of another battle. It was a risk they couldn't afford to take, especially since they were short on combatants already. They had to be ready for Brynn's next attack, and that meant staying together as much as they possibly could. 

Tanith had taken to spending as much of her time as she could in the library. She studied battle tactics like she thought it would be enough to end this war and finally bring the people she loved peace. It never was, and she didn't think she would be able to break through that veil without a fight, but it wasn't going to stop her from trying. Tanith looked through any books she could find about the planet of Pyre, but there was never enough information about Brynn for her to come up with a plan. Brynn was strong, and she knew how to keep her secrets. She hid her face because she didn't want anyone to figure out who she was and use it against her. It was a smart decision, but it was terrifying as could be to everyone who had to fight against her. Tanith just wanted to understand what she was up against, but it was hard to understand much of anything when Brynn was going out of her way to make sure the secret stayed under the rug. 

"You need to take a break. Pushing yourself isn't going to help anyone." 

Tanith winced at the voice in the back of her head, and she set down the book she was flipping through. She had taken a break from her regular research into Pyre and Brynn to see if she could find any information that would lead her to Dawn. Luce's search had stalled for more reasons than any of them could count, but the mercenary still spent many late nights in the library reading through whatever books she could find. It never helped her to track her mother down, especially since Dawn didn't want to be found, but it was all she could think of to do. What other choice did they have? What else were they supposed to fill their time with when there was so much at stake and even more out of their control?

Tanith rubbed at her temples with a guilty frown. She wished she had thought to ask Dawn more questions during her strange dream with the Keeper of Starlight. She couldn't have known how it was going to end, but Tanith still hated herself for not thinking to reach out and learn as much as she could. It would make the search for the missing Keeper a hell of a lot easier, but there was nothing Tanith could do to fix it now. She just needed to search on her own terms and hope it took her somewhere good in the end. It wasn't the best idea in the world, but what else did she have left? They were all trapped, and they all knew it. 

"Tanith?"

Helena's voice pulled Tanith out of her thoughts, and she glanced up to see the fire enchantress approaching her slowly. There was an exhaustion and heaviness to Helena's steps that hadn't been there before the war on Etruna started, and Tanith wondered how much longer this was all going to go on. Helena had been running herself ragged trying to keep her world held together, and it hadn't gotten her much of anywhere. Dolores was still dead, and she was still fighting against Pyre. "I was wondering where you had gotten off to," Helena went on. She slipped into the seat beside Tanith even though she clearly didn't want to. She had something else to tell Tanith before she left, but she didn't know how to deliver the news, and so, she was going to make conversation.