The young pale girl looked at the floor the whole time Xho spoke, the unearthly expression blank on her face as she sat quietly at the other side of the room. She was trying to keep her fear from showing. She barely even paid attention to him, wrapped so firmly by this emotion. Normally she showed fear to no one, but he was different. He possessed the blood of a monster. Her bony hands slowly curled around the winding staff as she recalled the violent scene from the tavern. He meant and spoke well, but all she could see was the shadow of the heartless man that tortured her in that bloodied cage deep below the earth. Whispers started to call out to hear from behind, voices of those who were locked there with her. They were vengeful. Why was she the only one that escaped? Her brows furrowed as she tried to focus on the wobbling reality. She pulled the hood of the hunter's signature cloak further over her head to hide her waning constitution. Even this small sample of flesh, the scars could easily be seen upon her narrow wrists. Though she tried to cover the mark of the chains with colorful armbands, but they were noticeable nonetheless.

Talia tried to keep her emotions from going wild the whole voyage, but each night was tireless tossing and terrible vision. Over and over, it replayed in her mind, the bloody sacrifices made that day and how it all happened because of her. The others didn't need to die. She was the expert of the forbidden arcana, they relied on her to check for magical traps. Why couldn't she sense the evil living in the statue before it was too late? 

She was exhausted. It was showing more than ever now, how aimless and listlessly she conducted herself.

When he turned to her, her riddled mind saw him like a giant, the conviction in his eyes burning like that of a demon hoping to lure her into a trap. She knew it was just a hallucination, but it was too much for her at this point.

"Xho..." she muttered, rising her legs to her chest and sinking deeper into her seat. 

"Please... I want to be alone."