Redana pulls Epistia close, one arm tight around the Servitor’s back, careful not to brush against the Thunderbolt. And for a moment, two exhausted princesses hold each other, covered in blood and spit and sweat, as the palace collapses around them.

“I wasn’t going to leave you behind,” she says, a feverish desperation in her voice. She made a promise. And she’s not, she can come back for her friends. For those who depend on her. For those who need her to be strong.

She looks up as the walls collapse, the storm tearing at her hair and ruined outfit, and looks desperately for... there. There she is, leaping and darting about effortlessly. (A chunk of masonry the size of a Ceronian bears down on Redana and Epistia, and Ares bats it carelessly into a shuttle, which explodes in midair, all hands lost.) “Bella!” She screams, and reaches, but her leg doesn’t move under her and Epistia is still sagging against her and all she can do is reach out, uselessly, as her lost friend bounds away.

“We have to go after her,” Redana says, brokenly. “We have to save her. I can’t leave her behind again...”

[i]You don’t get to keep things you don’t value.[/i]