[b]Cynthia[/b]

Cynthia sat on the sidelines of the fighting with one of Polyaphimous' spellbooks propped against her knees. She hadn't made much progress reading, though, since the events on the island kept playing themselves in her head. One event in particular wouldn't let her be.

[hider=Cynthia's Memory]
After the funeral, she walked up to Sable, one of her thick tomes clutched to her chest protectively and tears filling her eyes. She stopped and looked at him for a second, her expression revealing a confliction of rage, sorrow and pity, then reached back her hand as if to slap him across the face. However, the blow would never come as she instead collapsed into him, wrapping that arm around him and sobbing. "Why must everything for us be so hard?" She asked between the tears.

He caught her in his arms, the hold loose and formless but there nonetheless. Finding the strength to comfort her or even looking at her seemed impossible to him, as if he couldn't handle how she was so hurt and how strong her emotions were. Even still, he didn't appoligize for what he had done, and she knew why. It was what Hydrologia had wanted. 

In one of his hands, he clenched the scarf that the azure dragon had spat out, for some reason not wearing it. He opened his mouth to speak but his breath got caught. Instead he tensed his jaw at his anger, his body warming around her. He reached up with a hesitant hand before finally letting it fall back to his side. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Cyn. We all tried," he uttered lowly.

"We could have tried harder," Cynthia said, pushing herself away from him, a hardness forming in her eyes. "'If the best you can do isn't good enough, then it's not the best you can do.' That's what Polyaphimous always told me. And yet I failed Hydrologia, just like I failed her." She clutched the books she held tighter and looked down. "I failed her, and she still said it wasn't my fault. Why does that just make it worse?"

He turned his eyes on her, the brown in them autumn soft. She watched his mind working behind those eyes, waiting for him to respond. Finally, he sighed quietly. 

"Cause you feel guilty," he muttered,  "It tears at you, rips you open..." He took a step towards her, his ruined clothes leaving his torso bare; a memento of his battle. In a moment of emotion, he cuffed her cheek gently and revealed a solemn expression. "Listen, Cyn. You gave it your all, you tried your best. Don't linger on the past. It only leads to agony." 

Cynthia wiped her eyes with one sleeve, looking into Sable's eyes for a moment as if searching for something. Suddenly she closed the distance between them and brushed his cheek lightly with her lips. "Thank you," She said into his ear before backing off. "I'll keep that in mind, partner." She turned her back on him and started walking to where their boat was anchored, eager to leave this place before the sorrow began tearing her apart again.

[/hider]

Cynthia raised a hand to her lips, her face turning bright red. Why in Earthland had she done something like that? It was embarrassing, and her mind wouldn't let her forget that. She groaned softly and buried her nose in the book again, trying to drown out the memory by cramming her lessons into her head.

[b]Caroline[/b]

Caroline had been scribbling her final edits into her newest weapon, the second one she had finished since the guild was destroyed. She was about to go find Gwen so that she could test it out, but as the self proclaimed council member showed up, she decided to stay put and see what happened. She lowered herself in the chair a bit, glad she had chosen a shady corner to sit in.