The Mercenary (Beautiful_Disgrace and I)

"Well...she seemed pretty fixated on Seig." Samus suggested as she picked up Lethe. "For whatever that reason may be..."

"No...she doesn't know where Seig is. Her and Sona seemed pretty sure of what their goal was when they left. What's more is that Medusa asked them to do whatever they were doing." Soren mused as he closed his spell book in thought. If it wasn't for the fact that Ganessa was a complete wild card and that Lethe was unconscious, he would have recommended for them to defeat her when they outnumbered her. But then there was also the fact that Sona was there, Gurgurant was ineffective against Ganessa...they had to be better prepared.
 
"At the moment, there's nothing we can do," Ike admitted. "So for now, let's get back to camp." That was very clear, it really felt like there was absolutely nothing that they could do.
 
The walk to camp was silent even though there was no defeat. They got Lethe back...and it turned out that Sona really was alive. Still..there was this sense of defeat that Samus sensed from Ike. He probably felt guilty for what happened to Sona.

And then they still needed to break the news to Alondite...
 
Alondite was nowhere to be found, and Ike wasn't entirely surprised to find a sword resting against the ground. She felt it, no doubt...her sister. Alondite, he knew nothing about. But he knew what they meant to each other.

"Uh," Magnus murmured curiously. "Is that normal?"

"I don't know," Ike said, sitting next to the sword as he sheathed Gurgurant. "But I'm willing to wait until she wants to talk." If he knew anything about this entire mess, that usually meant she didn't know how to handle...feelings, and so, the familiar feeling of the sword was all she knew how to handle it.
 
Soren grimaced slightly at seeing the sight, but he couldn't help but wonder how she knew before they had even gotten back what happened. The connection those two had with each other was stunning. "Well...I'll take first watch. We need to be extra vigilant now that they know we're out here." He began as he pulled off his outer robe and folded it neatly. "Get some rest everyone, we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." He placed his folded robe on the ground and then moved the sword onto the cloth. He wasn't sure if it made a difference, but there was no harm in the gesture.
 
Ike nodded faintly, but didn't move from his spot. It was his fault that Sona was like that, and it was his duty to be the only person that she could express her frustration to. If he had to wait all night, he would.
 
Soren glanced over to Ike after a bit when everyone had started to lay down and go to sleep. "Ike...are you going to go to sleep soon?" He asked as closed his book. He probably needed someone to talk to...maybe. Either way Soren was always there to listen.
 
"Not until Alondite wants to talk," Ike murmured. "...This is my fault, Soren. There's is...so much I've been blaming myself for, but this? This is something I can't deny is my problem. If I had just...there were so many better ways to talk to her again. And I never even thought about it."
 
Soren was quiet for a moment before he glanced at Alondite and sighed. "Do you really think you're the reason why Sona sacrificed herself to protect Samus? Do you think if you would have talked to Sona, it would have prevented Lethe from running off to find Lyre when she picked up her scent? What happened wasn't your fault. Sona would have been there at that battle regardless of the circumstances. And she would have done the exact same things." It was logic...but Soren knew that logic sometimes came after feelings.
 
"I don't know," Ike admitted. "But I know I could have done more, Soren. That's something I can never forgive myself for, not while Sona is still with them."
 
Soren sighed a bit and then glanced over at the fire pit. There was so much guilt that Ike was carrying...for everything. He wished he could do something more..but he couldn't. "She wouldn't want you to keep blaming yourself for this, Ike. You should really get some sleep, at least enough so you can take over watch for me. If Alondite comes out, I'll wake you up. Alright?"
 
"...Yeah," Ike murmured, glancing to his tent, where Samus slept. "..Thanks, Soren," he said, heading towards his tent. Except, by the time that Ike had sunk into the tent with Samus, Alondite was already out and in her human form, still wrapped in Soren's cloak as she stared at the fire. Her pale skin seemed almost seemed to reflect off the fire as she huddled up into the cloak. She didn't know if Soren could actually sense her, or not. But...

"...Please don't wake him up," Alondite said quietly.
 
Soren glanced over at her and then turned his attention back to the book he had just opened. "I figured you didn't want to talk to him." He said quietly as he shifted a little to make himself comfortable. "I won't wake him up...but he's going to want to talk to you soon."
 
"...I know," Alondite mumbled, glancing down at her feet. "...He's not the same person he was, Soren. Why do you still follow him?"
 
Soren paused for a moment as he tried to articulate how he felt...it wasn't factual information so he was almost at a lost for words. His feelings...put into words was a little more difficult than his thoughts. "Because..he is the same person, Alondite. He's the same person who's gone through so much...even if he has little to show for it. He has changed...not for the better. But people are always changing based on the events they go through. I feel like he will become stronger for all of this one day. But right now he needs support along the way."
 
"And you think that he can just be forgiven for his crimes?" Alondite murmured. "His selfishness? He has doomed hundreds of thousands, Soren. He put more blood on that cursed blade than Ashnard ever could, all because he thought he could make a difference from the inside out. Now what? How many more will he lose before he realizes he should quit?" she said bitterly.
 
"No. He won't be forgiven." Soren answered as his red eyes went back to her. "He will fix his mistakes...and save hundreds of thousands. But that does not mean people will forgive him. I know that. He knows that. But he's still doing it anyway. It's hard not to want to help him with that. But this really isn't about what he's done to them, Alondite. It's about what he didn't do for Sona, isn't it?"
 
She bristled almost like a reflex, glaring hard at the fire like it would give her a suitable answer. Fire, much like this stupid new experience of feelings and emotions, were cruel, and offered nothing but misery to her angry mind.

"After everything that Ragnell had done for him, after everything I had done for him," she muttered. "After he murdered Master Zelgius, after everything...this is where we end up," she said bitterly. "I should have understood these feelings faster, I should have known that Ike was trouble for Sona. That all of these new people ruined him for her."
 
"For her." Soren reminded gently. "Possibly, yes. Perhaps he was not the man she needed or deserved. Or the master. But she loved him anyway. If Ike were Zelgius, do you think you would have felt that way too? You both are very loyal, perhaps to a fault. Alondite, you're a beautiful woman and could have any man you wanted. But you still think that you belong to Zelgius, don't you?"
 
"I am not a woman, I am a sword," Alondite muttered, choosing to ignore his first question, purely out of stubbornness. "This isn't me, Soren. I shouldn't even be here! Everything was easier when I was just a blade." she grumbled bitterly, glancing away from him. "Everything was easier when Sona was just Ragnell, when Ike didn't break her heart."
 
Her lack of an answer was the only thing he needed to hear. "True," He began as his eyes moved back over to his books. "When we saw her today, Sona wasn't alive. She was...just a blade. And that's how she was being treated. She wasn't allowed to talk, and her new master treated her like an object. Endangering her with magic and tugging on her hair. But if she's just a sword with a body, then I suppose it was alright for her to be treated that way, because she's still an object. And if she is just an object, then clearly I was imagining the look of hurt on her face as she looked at Ike and tried to remember who he was. More importantly, anything you felt from her today was simply your imagination. Because blades have no feelings. They are inanimate objects incapable of bonding with anything. So you shouldn't have cared at all for her in the first place. Because you're just a blade too, right? Back before you decided you wanted to know what it was like to have feelings like your sister did." Soren paused for a moment before shrugging.

"But how could you have wanted anything when you were just a blade? Odd, isn't it?"
 
Alondite said nothing, simply wrapping her arms around her legs tighter as she watched the fire, staring at it unblinkingly. Somewhere, she had started crying, even if she didn't make any noise. He was right, he was absolutely and completely right. And it hurt how right he was, about everything. But she didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything at all. Things were easier when she was just 'Alondite', and Sona was Ragnell. But what did that mean, when she knew nothing before it? When she didn't even know what things were easier actually meant?

She just knew that she used to be a sword, and that felt easier...but did she feel anything when she was a sword? She rested her face against her knees, eyes closing. She didn't know, her head was spinning. She felt so angry and horrified and sad all at once that it made her sick to her stomach.
 
Now he just felt...bad. Maybe he had been a little too blunt with her. Before he wouldn't have cared but...somewhere along the line he actually started caring about other people who weren't Ike. And not to mention...well Ike cared about Alondite. And if he was here, he'd try to comfort her.

So...that's exactly what Soren tried to do. Even if it was awkwardly moving towards her and placing his arm around her. He didn't really know what else to say. Maybe this was just one of the few times where words were useless.
 
Alondite felt the shift of an arm around her, and blinked a little. It took her a moment to find her voice, glancing at him curiously. "W...What are you doing?" she mumbled, not that she moved from it. No, the feeling was...comforting, even if he was the man who caused her to start crying and thinking about everything in the first place.
 
"I don't really know to be honest." Soren admitted, noting that she wasn't pulling away. That was good. Probably. "I'm sorry for making you even more upset than you already are. This is probably hard for you. Because everyone you trust isn't here. But...you can trust me. If you just want to be angry and vent, I will be quiet and listen. I know my feedback on things like this isn't exactly the best. But I do try to help people understand from different perspectives if they want my opinion."
 
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