[color=C6DEFF][center][h1]Lila Moriarty[/h1][/center][/color] [sup][@Rai] [@13org][/sup] The servant's words left a bitter taste on Lila's mouth as he simply left, locking the door behind him. She knew it was unavoidable. If she wanted to have her own life, if she wanted to change how her life was until now, she would have to make enemies. But still... It was a difficult situation to deal with, since the servant was kind to her when they met. [color=C6DEFF]"At least I'm not alone anymore..."[/color] Lila said with a sad tone, gently caressing Virais, who was on the bed nearby her. Virais himself didn't know what was happening. He didn't know why Lila was on that dusty, dark room or why they were locked there, but he could feel the sadness within Lila's voice. Unfortunately, the only thing he could do for her was trying to comfort her with his presence. Nudging Lila's hands with his snout, he walked closer to her, resting his head on Lila's lap as he laid down on the bed nearby her. But that calmness, that comfort Virais presence brought to Lila wouldn't last for much longer... One hour later, the door opened once more. But this time, instead of the Nayu servant from before, the ones who came for her were Nero soldiers, with their blades drawn and with crossbows on their hands. After chaining Virais to one of the stone walls on that room, they turned to Lila, finally speaking with her. Their only word to Lila was for her to go with them. Lila herself didn't have much choice. Even though she wanted Virais to be with her, it was improbable that they would hear her, especially as they had their weapons drawn as they came closer to her. Leading her through a dark, narrow hall, Lila knew that there was something wrong... Why would they escort her like that, with weapons drawn, like a prisoner? Her thoughts would only be confirmed after she arrived on her destination. Behind big doors, Lila was led by the soldiers inside a big hall, where many Nayu elders sat on rows of chairs, one higher than another, all of them looking straight towards Lila, watching every movement she made. Amongst them, Lila could see Anui, sitting besides his mother, who had a wicked smirk on her face. After a few moments of silence, the elders spoke to Lila. [color=gray]"You are under trial for the accused murder of dozens of Nero royals whilst under the banner of the Aion. You are also accused of manipulating a royal with intent to extort. How will you plead?"[/color] they said, making Lila look around with a confused expression for a moment before her blood started to boil. Why were they doing that to her? She was with Anui the entire time, she didn't lift a finger on that night that the Aion came... She wasn't even notified that something like that would happen... If that wasn't enough, she heard Dextra's voice, under a wicked smirk, saying her blood would flow that night. With her emotions going wild on her mind, she could only look at Anui, who was simply sitting there besides his mother, in silence, without saying anything. Why wasn't he saying anything? He knew what happened... He saw everything, he was with her... [color=C6DEFF]"Anui... Tell them what happened. I was with you the entire night..."[/color] Lila said, with a mix of confusion and anger on her eyes. [color=C6DEFF]"I... I didn't lift a finger that night... Why...?"[/color] Lila said, looking down for a brief moment, before looking to Anui once more. This time, her eyes were hard and cold. Was she wrong in believing him? Why... Was she really not allowed to be happy? Was her only allowed to be a weapon, a tool her entire life? Why was all that happening to her. [color=C6DEFF]"SAY SOMETHING!"[/color] Lila shouted, looking to Anui. [color=C6DEFF]"Please... Say something..."[/color] She said once more as tears rolled down her face. Her vision was blurred due to the tears, her skin, red and hot with anger... Her tears felt like they were made of flames as they rolled down her face, a painful reminder of how foolish she was, of how naïve she was... Everything that would happen that moment onwards was only her fault... Her fault for believing she could be happy... Her fault for believing she would be accepted by others... Her own fault for trusting others... Dark thoughts flooded her mind, almost like there was a small voice on the back of her head, mocking her for being such an idiot. While what was happening, the situation that moment was as clear as ice, Lila still didn't want to believe... She still had hopes Anui would say something... He loved her... right? He said he loved her... He promised he would stay with her... [color=C6DEFF]"You... promised... me..."[/color] Lila mumbled to herself, biting her lower lip making a drop of blood roll down her chin. [hr] [color=0054a6][center][h1]Sophia[/h1][/center][/color] [sup][@Rai] [@13org][/sup] Even though Sophia didn't have much time to sate her curiosity regarding some of the kings and queens at the meeting, or even get to know better the group who would be responsible for fetching the godsmith's hammer, things went in a satisfactory way. They now had a plan to fight back the threat that approached them and for the first time in many years, the kings and queens were joining forces. But as Sophia's mind went back to the Temple and how things went while she was away, unexpectedly, Vrondi interrupted her. His figure floating in front of her with his arms crossed, blocking her path as he apologized for not being able to give her the respect she deserved, while saying he needed to speak with her in private. [color=0054a6]"Difficult and trying times approach us, there is no need to apologize."[/color] Sophia said, looking at Vrondi with a curious expression, uncertain what he had to speak with her. His next words were honestly... Surprising. Even if it was Vrondi, Sophia wasn't expecting he would say something like that... He wanted to test her, to see if she was able to defend herself or he would keep her there to protect her. Without more words, Vrondi erupted in light as he hurled a massive orb of energy towards her, glowing like a second sun. Letting out a fearsome breath attack, a beam of concentrated plasma got out of her mouth, clashing against Vrondi's attack. After some time, her chaotic magical energy clashing against Vrondi's pure light energy, fighting against multiple clones, Vrondi slowed down, apologizing for his actions. Sophia knew Vrondi was holding himself back, as Sophia herself was. Both of them were incredibly powerful, Sophia herself didn't know who would win if they fought seriously, but both sides would be incredibly wounded and the land would suffer if they indeed clashed seriously. While Sophia could, in part, understand his desire to 'test' her power, she couldn't hide her disappointment. It seemed that even Vrondi, after all, respected only power. Sophia wouldn't back down after he challenged her like that, but she strongly disagreed with his actions. They should be conserving strength for the oncoming conflicts they would have to face... not fighting against each other... As Vrondi started talking, Sophia said nothing, simply looking at him with hard and cold eyes, clear indications that she was disappointed and strongly disagreed with what had just happened. Sophia heard as he continued talking, while she knew that there were cold places on both ends of the world, she always thought they were empty, desolate places. So Vrondi's next words surprised her. He claimed that on one of them, there were crystal structures of unknown origin or design. While he said he couldn't feel life as he stood far from it, he said that once he approached them, he saw that inside those crystal structures, laid dormant an unknown being, likely summoned ages ago... and on the very core of this unknown being, he could still feel signals of life... Almost like if it was simply in slumber, waiting for it to be awakened once more. Sophia looked at Vrondi with her eyes wide open, as he said to her that that 'thing' tried to communicate itself with him, speaking in a chaotic, unknown tongue. Even though he moved it to the moon, the thoughts of merely trying to communicate with it once more filled Vrondi with dark, twisted memories. While Nuxta, despite his dark, twisted ideals, was still a divine, that thing Vrondi found wasn't divine. It was simply chaos. Chaos Enigma, as Vrondi called. Disappearing as suddenly as he came, Vrondi left Sophia with her own thoughts. While in part, she was extremely curious about that... Chaos Enigma, she felt inside her a weird feeling... Something inside her was saying that this Chaos Enigma was completely different from the confrontation with Nuxta... If somehow that thing freed itself, not even Nuxta would be safe... [color=0054a6]"This... needs to remain a secret... Nor Nuxta nor anyone should know about it..."[/color] Sophia mumbled to herself. It was almost like the very Grimorium Verum knew that the Chaos Enigma should remain forever asleep, lest they wanted to face complete, unavoidable chaos.