[SWE] Festival of Lights

As much as he might have wanted to give his father a proper farewell, his interactions of Ludo had left him leery of the masked god's favor. It was with an uncomfortable mix of disappointment and relief and guilt for that relief that Tal watched his lantern dim. He exhaled a shaky breath and then gave Danta and Soh a shaky, crooked smile. "Oh well. Better luck next year, maybe," he murmured. Boreal left Sohalia's side to scoot behind him and rest her chin on his shoulder and he leaned his head against hers gratefully, ignoring her smoky dragon's breath.

He didn't know the woman who'd been chosen and he realized it didn't really matter. His arm tightened around Soh and he took a weird sort of comfort from Danta's presence on his other side and the courier was content to sit and wait until they were ready to head out before he stood and collected his lantern, joining the exodus with a brotherly arm around Soh's shoulders and his dragon by his side.

Hotaru

If she did not have so much to be thankful for, and if she had not been granted the pleasure of getting to know Isla personally, perhaps Hotaru might have felt more negatively about the Remedy being granted her wish twice. Instead, she merely holds tight to Sunjata's hand, watching their lanterns instead of the crowd around them as she tilts her head to lay against the side of his arm.

After having met Mort, she feels a little less grief over having lost Ru'in and Enzo. But there is a special kind of agony to the knowledge that Nate and Wessex are not in his arms, and that she can't ascertain how happy they are in the beyond. Perhaps she'll ask Isla later how Varus appeared to her, how he seemed. Maybe it will put her heart at ease. For now, she stands quiet at Jata's side, grateful that this time she has someone's hand in hers to keep her going through the night.

That flicker in the eyes of a dozen witch-hunters
Unaware that I’ve already died