Takes place a day before chapter 153
Trigger warning: graphic violence (smashing a glass bottle against a head)
Lady Azura's POV
I like to believe that I've seen it all. In fact, I believed that the moment I saw Stella perform magic all those years back for the first time.
When I see the type of bullshit that Rain and his friends get into on a daily basis, I laugh it off.
I no longer question anything.
Okay, thats a lie. I still question how Rain and Stella are still a thing.
As my husband says "Its a goddamn fucking miracle at this point".
Rain had pretty much become an adoptive son for my husband, even sharing the last name "Wynter".
So... that means Allistair has an older brother?
Oh, and it turns out Garroth lied because his real name is Flint and... why does everyone lie about their names?!
Like Dexter is actually Doraine as well? Yeah, we're still calling her Dexter because of that. That's what you get Dexter for lying about your name twice.
Rain's friends were also confusing... but they weren't idiots.
... Most of the time.
I liked hanging out with Nina, Meeps and Andrew especially. Nina, because she was an inventor, needless to say, her world isn't as advanced as ours.
Andrew created Meeps from a program to a sentimental A.I., which is very impressive.
And Meeps, well, she likes to help me out a lot with my inventions, and I can trust her not to blow up the lab.
The others were either nice, scary, idiots, or untrustworthy.
Wow, what a ragtag group of misfits.
But they're not here right now, which means peace and quiet. There's no conflict, nothing. And when I mean conflict, I mean absurd conflict, like a civil war.
I wonder whoever's dealing with them now is doing alright.
From my peripheral vision, I could see Rain chatting with Kane, the two laughing and arguing.
Anyways, I'm at the cavern, talking to Maya Terraflame.
I had brought Allistair with me because I still don't trust Daryll to watch him. Not after he fed him a potion of levitation.
God dammit, Daryll.
By now, Allistair is two years old... and a very fussy two year old.
"Allistair," I said, probably for the billionth time. "Stop hitting me. You're not going to get ice cream by beating me up, you know."
"NO!!!!" He screamed, kicking me harder. "Want ice cweam!"
I gave Maya a tired look. "I've fought in war after war for the sake of humanity and yet parenthood is the thing that exhausts me the most. How?"
Maya chuckled. "Kids are an interesting case," she told me. "They can tire out anyone, even the best of the generals."
She wasn't wrong. Patrick was at home, passed out after watching Allistair earlier today while I was attending an Elytra Corps meeting.
Dexter had seen something suspicious, she wasn't sure what it was. But she had best described it as some sort of weird ominous glowing purple light that emitted and crackled with energy.
She had tried to get closer and see what it was, but before she could, a bolt of lightning had shot out and nearly struck her.
Years of training and battles was what saved her, as she had dodged at the very last second.
Dexter had then reported back to us about what happened, saying she wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't like it.
"Maybe it was Naeus," Lyria had suggested. "He shoots lightning, right? Maybe he's back!"
Phillip, who was the second-in-command for Lyria's ship, had shook his head. "Herobrine and Razer both have Fulminokinesis."
"It didn't seem like Naeus' power though," Dexter had told them. "Or Herobrine or his son's either. The energy seemed completely different... I didn't even recognize it."
"So, there's a new threat," I had noted, nodding. "Well, that's nothing new."
"A new threat?" Maya asked, frowning. "Again?"
I shrugged. "Well, when you're one of the last remaining civilizations, you're likely to be targetted."
Maya nodded, remembering when her village had been seized.
"I hope Elite will be okay," she said, mostly to herself.
Elite was one of the soldiers who was fighting for the Terrayite Kingdom. He was also Maya's boyfriend.
I hoped he made it past the war, especially for Maya's sake. As much as I was aware that war spared nobody, I always hated to see someone lose somebody they loved.
Flint had lost his younger brother Malcolm during the final battle against Herobrine (before he became our ally).
Flint still hasn't recovered from the loss, and I don't think he ever will.
"Sorry," Maya said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I'm just worried."
"Hey, Elite is a great warrior," I said. "He's that guy who would survive a war, but if he does die, just know that he'll die for the people, he'll die for you because he loves you and wants you to have a future where you can live without the fear of losing your home every day."
I said it like that because I didn't want to say that Elite would live for sure, because I didn't know if he would. I wanted to give Maya belief that her boyfriend would make it, but I didn't want to blind her from the possibility that he wouldn't.
Maya nodded, understanding what I was getting at.
Silence settled upon us as we finished our drinks, both of us deep in thought.
"Hey, Azura?" Maya asked.
"Yeah, Maya?"
Maya looked at me. "If there's ever a time where we're in battle, if we ever get attacked..." she paused, before continuing. "Just know that I'll fight right by your side."
I smiled. "Thank you," I said.
Someone from the Netherbane Cavern called Maya over.
"See you later," Maya said, getting up to leave.
"Bye Maya," I replied.
I sat alone for some time with Allistair, who was whining that he wanted to be put down.
Yeah, like I was going to let go of a kid in a bar.
I'm not Daryll.
"Hey Azura!" A high pitched voice came.
I looked over to see Riko, followed by Hannah, smiling at me.
"Hey Riko," I said. "Hey Hannah."
"Mind if we sit by you?" Riko asked.
I smiled. "Sure, go right ahead."
Riko sat down, and Hannah said she'll go get some drinks for the two of them.
Riko smiled at Allistair, who had stopped trying to escape my arms, and now was looking at Riko, trying to grab her.
"I'm surprised that Allistair and I are the same age," she mentioned.
That was true, actually. Riko was created a few months after my son was born.
"Would you want to hold him?" I offered.
Riko beamed, but before I could hand him over, someone spoke up.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
The two of us looked up to see Rain, staring at Riko with distrust.
"Why not? I asked.
"If you had forgotten, Azura," Rain reminded me slowly. "Then let me remind you. Riko here was the one who kidnapped Allistair when he was a baby."
Riko flinched back.
"I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I-I-I..."
"I feel like everyone forgets who her father was," Rain continued. "How do we know that Riko is even on our side? She's probably gathering information right now to report back to him!"
"No!" Riko protested. "I wouldn't do that..."
I felt sorry for Riko. Sure, she may have kidnapped Allistair for the Overseer's plans, but she didn't know any better back then. And I can tell she genuinely regretted what she had done.
Rain, on the other hand, didn't.
"How can you even trust her after what she has done?!" Rain asked, his eyes blazing with fury. "She was created by a monster! She's nothing but a monster, and she'll never change!"
"Rain," I started to say, but the young man ignored me as he walked up face to face with Riko, who held her fists out in self defense, backing away.
Before she could get far, however, Rain grabbed her wrist and painfully twisted it. Then in a calm yet hostile voice, he spoke to her.
"I'm not sure why people welcomed you here," he said. "I'm not sure what sort of sorcery you used to brainwash everyone. But just know that no matter what you say or do, it'll never change that you're evil."
"Let go of me!" Riko said, trying to pull away, but Rain's grip only tightened.
"Nobody will love a monster like you," he snarled. "So why don't you do everyone a favor? WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO AND KILL YOURSELF?!"
And then he turned around, grabbed an empty glass bottle that used to have an alcoholic beverage and smashed it against Riko's head.
Glass shatttered eveywhere as blood burst from her head as Riko stumbled back... bleeding, screaming, crying, shaking in terror.
Everyone turned, horrified by what they had seen.
"What the hell, Rain?!" I heard Kane ask.
Rain glared at the trembling girl, who fell down in fear, crawling away from him, before getting up and running from the cavern.
I wanted to give Rain a piece of my mind, he fully deserved it now, in fact, I wanted to drag him over to Ser Patrick so he could have a word with Rain.
But before I could, someone else beat me to it.
Before I could open my mouth, a vine wrapped itself around Rain's neck, lifting him up.
"What the?!" He asked, before looking over to see Hannah.
Hannah was that kind of person who was like a caring older sister or even a motherly figure to some. She was Damian's girlfriend, and was the kindest soul I had ever met, never getting angry.
But now... the look on her face... the face that used to hold nothing but kindness... I almost didn't recognize her.
"Rain... I don't like to hurt people... and I especially don't like hurting those who are close to my friends," Hannah said calmly. "But what you just did to Riko is unforgivable. How can you even live with yourself? How can you say such cruel things, and be okay with it?! Don't you have a seed of morality?!"
"I-I'm just trying to protect Allistair," Rain protested. "That's what a hero does."
The vine around his neck tightened and Rain gasped for breath.
"HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT TO HER THOUGH?!" Hannah screamed. "YOU HAVE FRIENDS WHO MADE TERRIBLE CHOICES, EVIL CHOICES EVEN, BUT YOU FORGAVE THEM! YOU EVEN FORGAVE DAMIAN WHO POSSESSED AND PUT STELLA IN A COMA! WHAT MAKES RIKO ANY DIFFERENT?!"
"She was created by the monster!" Rain yelled. "She doesn't have an ounce of human inside her! We can't trust her! I'm the fucking dragon tamer here, Hannah! I'm the God damn hero! My job is to stop conflicts! AND KILLING RIKO IS THE ONLY WAY!"
He looked at Hannah with blazing anger. "BUT THE PROBLEM ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE IS THAT THEY'RE TOO BLIND TO SEE THAT! EVERYONE GOES AGAINST ME! EVEN THOUGH I'M THE GOOD GUY HERE! THE CIVIL WAR FUCKING SOLIDIFIED THAT!"
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!" Hannah shouted at him. "DON'T YOU REMEMBER HOW THE CIVIL WAR STARTED?! IT WASN'T BECAUSE OF EMBER! IT WAS BECAUSE OF YOU, RAIN! IT WAS BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOUR MOUTH, THINKING THAT YOU CAN JUST SAY ANYTHING YOU WANT AND NOBODY WILL GET HURT! WELL GUESS WHAT? PEOPLE DID GET HURT RAIN!"
Rain let out a strangle laugh. "You were on Ember's side," he snapped. "Stop trying to be fucking bias."
"Are you even aware of the damage you've caused Rain?" Hannah asked. "Do you even care?! You made Ember run away to start a new faction, the Civil War happened because of you, Rain. People got hurt during that, because you decided to open your mouth and harrass your friends. Riko was brutally injured by a ravager. Kat, who was only a kid, was killed because of you. None of us can see what Stella sees in you, you're lucky she still cares for you. You were the one who started the Civil War, and everything we stood for fell down.... because of you."
As she spoke, the vine around Rain's neck grew tighter and tighter.
The look in Hannah's eyes as she lifted Rain into the air, choking him with her vines, the look of absolute hatred in the her usually calm green eyes... I had never seen such emotion in her eyes, that for a moment, I thought she was being possessed. But Hannah wasn't being possessed, and that was the scary thing, because I realized that under a mask of kindness and support laid a deadly plant filled with poison and thorns.
Rain kept struggling, trying to escape the vines' clutches, but his attempts were in vain, as they continued to hold him in place. Then, Rain began to cough as his attempts became weaker and weaker, his skin turning pale and clammy, as a look of fear began to appear on his face.
"Hannah! Stop! If you continue to choke him, he'll die!" I screamed.
And then, as if someone had flipped a lever, Hannah's eyes cleared. The raw glint of fury in her eyes faded. She looked at Rain, still dangling above the ground and released him, causing him to painfully fall onto the ground.
Rain laid on the ground, coughing and gasping for breath, as Hannah walked over to him. And then in her normally calm voice, as if nothing had happened, she said "don't hurt Riko ever again. Or I swear to gods, I will tear your limbs off and toss your remains to my carnivorous plants."
And Rain, still in shock, just laid there, as the older girl turned around and left the cavern.
Notes
OMG GUYS! LOOK! AN UPDATE!
This is a chapter that I've wanted to write for a long time.
Fun fact: the chapter itself is 2,294 words
Phillip is this guy from Back Into Darkness (not his actual name, its just what I'll call him... until his real name is revealed.)
Also, this is Malcolm (aka the young Bandit from Goodbye). I made him to be Flint's younger brother.
Now that I think about it, there seems to be a running gag of me naming an unnamed character, only for their real name to be revealed later on. Which causes me to pull another "lol, I lied about my name" gag again.