It had been a rough start on their journey considering they ran into more than a few of Medusa’s underlings...most of them they sought out by choice to secure the barrier’s perimeter. However, the two of them were surprisingly a good team together. Not to mention Sona was ruthless…Lethe had never seen anyone so willing to throw themselves into combat melee with groups that outnumbered them twenty to one. Still, the way the girl fought seemed like she had been in situations like that before countless times…and she cut down her enemy with ease. Lethe didn't have to do much except watch her back. They could have just walked away but Sona insisted they at least do that much, but she was sure more enemy units would start occupying the area.
Lethe had spent the past week with Sona without speaking a word to her. She supposed that she should, considering it was obvious how miserable she was. But she wasn't sure if she had any right to say anything to her. Still, even though they were headed to Gallia…she was starting to have doubts about whether or not she really wanted to go home. For months she had gone back and forth between it, and she only decided when she saw Sona just… walk away from Ike. But now that she was away from him, it felt wrong.
Because he was her mate.
How could she go back to Gallia having a beorc as her mate? Did she even want to be away from him in the first place? She was confused…because she felt like she missed him despite the fact that he had raped her and claimed her as his against her will. The more primal side of her couldn't help but want to be with her mate. Still…he was with that Samus woman and…Lethe just couldn’t tell what she wanted. He wasn't evil…he was still the Ike she knew. Which made this all the harder. It was really tearing at her…she couldn’t help but feel like Sona might understand. So as soon as they stopped to make camp, Lethe ran off to hunt something good for them to eat…alone. It was the least she could do for what she was about to bring up.
She came back just after the sun set with a large boar. Sona just nodded at her in thanks as she fed the fire, but quickly turned away as she usually did. As Lethe prepared to cook it, she looked up at her. “Sona. Can I ask you something? Who are you? In general and…to Ike?”
Sona perked up a bit and then raised an eyebrow. Lethe had never really said a word to her. It was a complicated question. One that she wished she could answer easily. But she sighed and then laid back on the ground, looking up at the stars. “I’m Ragnell. The sword that Ike used to carry with him. Palutena gave me a physical body, and eventually I split entirely away from the sword. I was once Ike’s partner. Now I am nothing but an old friend. I left because I didn’t want to be just that. I wanted to be something more, but it was never meant to be. Ike never saw me like that once.” She answered bitterly, narrowing her eyes as she remembered the last thing he said to her. Now that she thought about it, he probably didn’t mean it the way she took it. But even still, the fact that he couldn't even acknowledge her feelings after she confessed made her upset.
“I see…so you know me?” Lethe asked as she looked at the blade Sona was carrying. She had wondered why she had it now instead of him.
“Yes. I know all of Ike’s friends. But none of you know me. It’s a very lonely feeling after a while, but I got used to it.” Sona answered as her expression grew forlorn. Now she really was alone…without her sister. But this was for the best.
“I see,” Lethe began as she carved through the meat with her special blade made from sharpened stone. Metal and steel never agreed with her…and the fact that she knew Sona was once a sword explained why she never liked her scent much. “I know I came with you to go back to Gallia, but I don’t want to anymore. Maybe I could just stay with you? If you’ll have me..”
“No.” Sona quickly replied before sitting up a bit as she glanced at Lethe. “You can’t stay with me. I have things that I need to do, things that are going to make me dangerous to be around. Lethe, I don’t want you to be involved. I care about you deeply…”
“Ike is my mate.” Lethe bluntly came out of nowhere with that…and it was enough to stun Sona into silence as she stared at the Laguz with a blank expression.
“What..?” Sona began after a little while, looking away as her eyebrows furrowed. “Ike is with Samus, you can’t be his mate.”
“Yes, he is with Samus. But that does not change the fact that he made me his mate some time ago. You should know…how I feel. At first I hated him for doing that to me, because I didn’t want it. It’s not natural. But now…I feel all sorts of things. Anger…jealousy…longing. I want to be with him. But I don’t know how to approach him. He didn’t…really understand what he did after he mated with me. He claimed me as his and so I am his.” Lethe explained as she began to put slabs of meat over the fire. “Because of this, I do not want to go back to Gallia. I am ashamed…but I also want to be with him. It’s all so confusing…”
“I’ll say,” Sona muttered as she crossed her arms, turning away from Lethe after a bit. “Why? If you didn’t want him to mate with you, why did it happen?”
“Because…he wanted to protect me. It was either that…or something much worse.” Lethe had figured that out some time ago. Ike didn’t actually want to do it, but he did it anyway because he thought it was the better thing to do. “At the time, I didn’t’ see that. I only saw a traitor.”
For a moment, Sona was quiet. She felt sick to her stomach…but she couldn’t be mad at Lethe. At least…Lethe had actually been there before she physically had. Even still…she was still pretty upset hearing this. But for Lethe’s sake…she would push aside her jealousy and be a friend. She could at least be a friend to the person who was there with her.
“…If you want him, then the next time you see him…just remind him what he did. He claimed you and made you his mate. So he should treat you that way. You…can’t just sit around and wait for him to remember or notice something. You have to be really clear with him. If you want, we can go back. I’ll escort you to the barrier.” Sona told her as she looked into Lethe’s eyes.
“But…you have something you want to do, don’t you? When we travel, you look at a map a lot even though I’m leading you to Gallia. Are you looking for something?” A map in this new, twisted world would do nothing for her anyway.
“…Yeah. Well, actually we’re close to where I want to be.” Sona took out the map and spread it out on the ground so Lethe could take a look at it. “This is actually a map of most of the continent. I got it from Chi….she flies around and maps things out in her free time, she said. But I’m supposed to find a man, and she said the last place she spotted him was here…” Sona moved her hand over the map and pointed her finger to a town that was just outside of a forest…probably the forest they were in.
“Someone…could actually map all this out within a year? How?” Lethe asked as her eyebrows furrowed.
“I imagine you can do a lot when you can fly…” Sona began with a smile. “But after this, I’ll take you back. And you can set Ike straight.”
“..Thank you. I appreciate it. A lot. Even after everything that happened between the two of you, you still want to help me.” Lethe sighed heavily as she looked up at Sona. “You’re a good person…”
“It’s no problem. Now let’s eat. That smells so good, hopefully it doesn’t attract bandits.” Sona wasn’t a good person at all…she was a horrible person. Right now she was just trying to not get any worse than she had already fallen.
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