people listen but never hear what's really going on now

Alys Glasse

They wandered further into the Greatwood, walking, for a time, in silence. Alys kept her eyes peeled for any hint of red and gold, but so far, she'd seen nothing. There were remarkably few flowers here, beneath the thick foliage above. So little sunlight trickled through that there was very little that grew on the forest floor. It made searching easier, in its way, although it was also seeming increasingly hopeless that they'd find a rose here. Sascha trundled along in their wake, never straying far, but searching in her own way, snuffling here and there as though she could sniff out a rose if she tried hard enough.

"I've been having visions," Alys said after a while, breaking the comfortable silence that spanned between them. "I think they're about Starfall." And whatever monster lurked deep within. "We're running out of time," she added. Then, biting her lip: "Is it selfish, to want to use a rose to cure Tal when it could do so much good elsewhere?"

will heaven step in?

Noah moved quietly through the forest, boots pressing soft impressions into the leaf-littered earth. Sunlight dappled through the canopy above, casting flickers of gold across mossy bark and winding roots. His eyes swept the underbrush as they walked, alert for any glint of vibrant green and holy crimson that might betray a hidden rose.

Alys’s words came quiet, but they cut through the hush like a blade. Visions. Starfall. He straightened slowly, hair on the back of his neck bristling slightly, gaze shifting to her face. He didn’t want to let go of that word, visions, but what she needed first was this—

“No,” he said. The answer came easily, but he let the silence hold after it. “It’s not selfish. Not to want the person you love to live.”

His voice was low, but steady. Measured, the way he always tried to be. ”We don’t always get to save everyone. That’s the part that eats at me,” Cordelia. Weaver. Korbin. Grief gripped tighter around the Forsaken’s heart, and he swallowed. “But if there’s a rose in your hands, and someone you love on the line—I think Vi—or Mort—would find honor in that.”

He glanced back at her, his expression solemn but kind. “You’re not turning your back on anyone by saving him. Tal would burn the world for you, I think.”

will it save us from our sin?

Alys Glasse

It was easy, you see, for Alys to forget - for her own grief to overtake her memory of others' losses. And so when she felt a fresh wave of anguish, she didn't, at first, recognize it as Noah's. It took her a moment, and when she finally realized, she glanced up at her friend with a look of distress. He met her gaze with solemnity.

Tal would burn the world for you, I think.

Alys swallowed a fresh wave of tears, a shuddering breath wracking her slender frame. She ran a hand through her dark curls, turned her gaze back to the forest around them. Searched - harder, perhaps, for Noah's support - for any flash of crimson or gold. And beside her, always, Sascha ranged, snuffling along the ground as though she could sniff out the flower that would save their family.

"I wish..." I wish it was me. "I wish I could have saved him. He's stronger than I am. If it was me who was infected, he'd have a better chance of saving me."

will heaven step in?

Noah didn’t stop walking, but his pace slowed, the weight of her words settling into the silence between footfalls. The grief in them was raw, sharp, familiar. He kept his eyes on the path ahead, scanning for thorns, for hope.

“He’d say the same thing about you,” Noah said quietly. “I know he would.”

He let out a breath, slow and steady.

“Strength isn’t just about surviving what the void throws at you. It’s carrying the fear and still moving. Still fighting. You’re doing that, Alys. For him.” Noah glanced sideways, his voice gentling. “You didn’t fail him. You’re here and you’re looking for a way to bring him back. That’s more than most get.”

The forest rustled softly around them. He turned forward again, jaw tight with purpose.  "Alys...can you tell me more about what you said? About your visions?" He asked, eyes flicking between the Seer and the forest floor.

will it save us from our sin?

Alys Glasse

What was strength? In the tarot, it was courage, compassion, self-control. It was the ability to overcome challenges with grace and resilience. Were these qualities that Alys possessed enough of to call her strong? Noah made a good argument for it, and the seer felt herself softening into the idea that maybe she could be exactly what Tal needed.

The breeze rustled the leaves of the trees above, stirring the dark curls around Alys's face. "Oh. Of course," she said, realizing that not many people knew that she'd been having visions, and being more than happy to share if it meant that more people could be prepared. "It's a new ability, I think. It's happened the last few seasons..." And so she started to tell Noah more about her newfound magic.

fin