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[Blade Master Model 42]

Sheila grabbed Ciera's wrist with a grip akin to a steel trap. "Hey, stay here and talk with us. It's not like we're going to get any sleep worth grabbing before the sun gets up anyway."

[Swordstar]

Ciera looked with almost scared eyes at Alec and Candy and shook her head.

"N... no. I'm pretty sure that I'm not... not wanted here by some of this group. I wouldn't... I can't. Please let me go."

[Blade Master Model 42]

"W- Ciera, no! You're our friend! We care about you, no matter what happens, okay!" Sheila pulled the smaller girl closer, and wrapped her in an inescapable embrace. "Don't ever say you're not wanted, okay? We love you."

[Swordstar]

Ciera found herself engulfed in a hug and unable to move without making things even more awkward. Stiffly standing there, she quietly whispered to Sheila,

"Please. It's ok. I know what I did and how they view me now. Please just let me go. It's ok. I don't want to make them uncomfortable."

[Blade Master Model 42]

Sheila whispered in return. "We've all done things we didn't want to do when our hands were forced. Don't be so hard on yourself." Sheila then lowered her voice even further, hoping like hell Alec wouldn't be able to hear her. _{"You know, Alec was asking about you. He wanted me to keep your spirits high, you know? He felt like you might not want to see him."}

[Sirus]

((By the gods, I'm so sorry it took so long to post. Stupid traffic x_x ))

Eventually Grifen calmed down enough to loosen her deathgrip on Fezz, though she didn't let go completely.

: "It was bad, Fezz. I'm glad ya weren't there to see it; Efa's sister, or somethin that looked like her, tried to kill us. Ciera wanted to kill her to protect us, everyone else wanted to try and save her, and it weren't long before folks started threatenin' to hurt each other...and I think I was still debatin' which one to shoot when Ciera stabbed Efa's sister and she turned into dust! We were maybe five seconds away from killin' each other, I think. Such a horrible feelin'..." The nomad took an unsteady breath, trying to keep herself from sobbing again.

: "I just can't look Ciera in the eyes after this. She's my friend and she had the right idea, but I nearly turned on her anyway! And with those nasty berserk staffs runnin' around maybe next time I will shoot her. Or Sheila...or you. I just don't wanna think about that..." This time her will broke, and she began to cry again.

[Furtuka]

Julius stepped forward, trying to think of what to say. He would have put his hand on her shoulder or something, but Sheila was in the way ...a lot in the way.

"I might not have been there when it happened. But from what I've heard, what you did was for the best. If anyone else thinks otherwise, then it''s their loss. Didn't you tell me that even if others disagree, an act can be heroic so long as you believe it is?"

[Swordstar]

"That'd be fine if I thought what I did was heroic. But it wasn't. I just hurt a bunch of people. Forced them to try and fight against me. I can't... Sheila *please* let me go. I can't... please."

[Furtuka]

"I think I might have misjudged the situation..."

"Look uh... it's not too late to fix things. Do you believe that what you did was wrong?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

"Shhhhhh, it's okay." Sheila said, refusing to relax her hold on Ciera. "You did what you had to do. Alec tried to talk her down and she wouldn't. The battlefield isn't a place of happy endings, but you did what you felt was right. We aren't going to hate you for it."

[Swordstar]

Ciera didn't have an answer for Julius, so instead she tried to push away from Sheila. It was to no avail though, so she settled for standing stiffly in her grasp, staring at the ground, refusing to speak. She knew that there were those of the group who were going to view her differently after all of this. Even if Alec had asked Sheila to look after her, it didn't mean it was because he wanted to be around her. It was more likely it was just him passing off his responsibility to someone else, since he'd been asked to take care of her. She briefly remembered the sword and shield promise they'd made earlier and barely managed to hold back the tears. So much for that. Just one more thing she'd ruined.

[Xanmyral]

Fezz still held onto Grifen as he listened to her. It seems he was pretty disconnected from the rest of the fight. Efa's sister? Turning to dust? He didn't really know what to say here, but he gave it his best shot anyhow. He had to, for Grifen's sake.

The historian hugged her tighter as he spoke. "Everything's... Its... You wouldn't..." Words turned to ash in his mouth as he tried, nothing conveying anything right. It all felt hollow, when that's the exact opposite of what it was. The man visibly struggled to try and think of what to do before something seemed to click. The scholar held the nomad apart from him for a moment, looking at her face intently.

Then he kissed her.

Holding her once more, he didn't have anymore trouble finding his words. "Even if you did, I would never turn away from you. Not as long as I still live. Don't think, for even a moment, that I would ever be against you. We'll set everything right: with Ciera, with Efa, this war, with everything. I don't have a single doubt in my mind that we can."

[CrimsonEon]

Alec, standing nearby and biting his lip, took a sigh and flanked Sheila to get at an angle where he could see Ciera.
: "Ciera. At the end of the day, you did the right thing. It was an immense, unncessary risk to put Efa and Candy's lives on the line for more information. These were assassins we were dealing with, after all. It's just..."
: "I want to see the good in people, it wasn't in my mind that family the likes Efa was familiar with would betray each other so fully and easily. My head got caught up then and I wanted to make sure Efa didn't have to see her sister die. Perhaps, if there was a remote chance, I could bring her around. But she wouldn't. And the fact she wasn't even fully human, possibly even a controlled construct cements that. To stop it there, that was the safer option. But again, here I am, playing with everyone's lives again like some sort of drunkard on a spending spree."
: "I'm sorry I didn't clarify that earlier. I wasn't thinking straight. Frankly, I still don't feel like I'm thinking straight, which is why I asked Sheila's help."

[Swordstar]

Ciera let out a deep breath and managed to slide out of Sheila's tight grip. Looking at Alec sadly, she shook her head.

"I don't... I don't know if it was right. And Efa wanted me to leave her alive... I didn't know she wasn't alive. She could have been. And I still would have done that. Efa and Candy knew what they were getting into and they still wanted to leave her alive. I said I was trying to protect people but... It's ok.You don't need to try and be ok with it. You were right to try and protect Efa. That's... that's your strength, right? The... the... the shield."

She gulped, barely holding back tears at this point. Slowly backing away from the others, she continued shakily,

"I just keep messing up. No matter what I do... I've just been a burden on you all. Causing trouble and worry. I'm going to prevent that from happening in the future. So... so you don't need to worry about me anymore."

She darted back around the corner and threw herself into the nearest empty room, curling up in the corner, tears flowing out of her eyes full force now.

[birdy51]

Eventually the shaking in his hands stopped. Resolution settled back into his mind. Perhaps a bit of talk would help. The old-merchant night cast his gaze across the darkened room. He couldn't sleep. Not yet. Taking up a small candle from his bedside, he set himself to the task of locating Efa. Wandering the halls, he walked about until he finally found her not far from where Pollux had fallen. Miguel strode to her silently. He sat down across from her, his eyes glowing in the candlelight.

: "Would it be alright if I joined you here Miss Efa?"