[center][img]https://imgur.com/XShqxhB.png[/img]
[h1][u]Elys Adair[/u][/h1][/center]
[i][color=gray]Oratorio, //O3 - The Underpass[/color][/i]
[sub] In collaboration with [@ERode][/sub]
[hr]

Her breath caught a bit.

But she had to say something.

[b]"You can start over."[/b] Elys said earnestly as she was held, [i]eyes[/i] as wide as possible to catch the mass' interactions with gravity.

[b]"Tell me what happened. I can help you."[/b] She said.

[b]"Can you bring back my leg? Can you give me back my life?"[/b]

He hissed out those words.

[b]"If you had the wealth to do that, you wouldn't be seeking it in the Abyss like everyone else."[/b]

[b]"Wealth isn't the answer to everything."[/b] Elys said calmly in response.

[b]"Can I take a guess at your situation? You... you used to be an adventurer, didn't you? Did you lose your leg in the Abyss?"[/b] Elys' tone grew more somber. If she was right, it really was a tragic tale.

[b]"You think...I was an adventurer?"[/b]

A bitter laugh escaped his lips.

[b]"I lost my leg, everything I owned...because I missed a fucking payment."[/b]

Elys' jaw dropped a bit in the darkness. Immediately, she thought of the raiders that burnt down her home. It seemed the corruption was more wide-spread than she thought.

[b]"Who... who did it?[/b]

[b]"What would it matter if you knew? The whole city is like this. A tightrope act with no nets beneath!"[/b] Was his response.

Elys could only imagine what pain this man had gone through. Could only imagine the turn of events that had brought him to this situation. 

Yet, as she pursed her lips, a sick feeling twisted her gut. If what the man said was true, and the whole city was corrupt, how many stories were the same in this Underpass? How many others couldn't make their payments, and suffered the consequences?

Just thinking about it caused a bitter taste to coat her tongue. It wasn't fair. No one deserved what happened to her. No one deserved what had happened to this man.

She didn't have the power to change things. 

Not yet.

She reached for his shirt, and gave a firm pull. [b]“Listen to me, and listen to me well. Don't. Give. Up. You still control your fate. Are you really going to spend the rest of your life here?”[/b]

She let go of him, her voice softening. 

[b]“It's hard. But if I were you, I wouldn't sit down and let them win.”[/b]

She pried his grip from her wrist, shifted with her staff, and began to turn away.

[b]“If I had the chance, I'd burn away all the corruption, so people like you don't have to suffer…”[/b]

She grimaced under her hood, and walked off. A fresh determination was born in her chest. The desire to clean out the Underpass. To give these people dignity. She could do it. She just had to persevere, and follow her heart. Follow the call. Surely, she could do it.

With gritted teeth, Elys walked through the darkness, guided only by her staff, until she emerged on the other side of the Underpass, and made it into the Adventurer's District.