Single post in Chronicles of Gaia (RP)

After a long silence, in which Rowan and Laura had merely sat together in the tower's mirror room, it would be the Siren that would speak first. "I've always wanted to ask you what was going through your head that night when you escaped." Laura spoke softly, almost to herself, "No... that's not quite true. I know what made you do what you did. A winged angel trapped in an underground cell, of course you'd fight your way to freedom. Even if you had to kill to get there. It was naive of me to think my presence would convince you to stay." "You were the only thing that kept me sane down there, Laura. I don't know what would have happened to me if your voice hadn't come out through that darkness." Rowan replied. The admittance came out easily, perhaps because he felt so familiar with Laura in this moment. Maybe he'd simply run out of energy to keep it down anymore. "I knew you were going to say that. You're so nice Rowan, always looking for the light in people. And you almost always find it too... at least you found it in me. I didn't even know it was there. But that's not what I wanted to know." "Is it about your master? You weren't there at his last moment, when I- I killed him. I suppose the evidence was obvious afterward that it was me. He was important to you, wasn't he? I- I regret it, having to kill him. When my desperation took over, and he stood between me and my escape... I guess it was inevitable I would hurt you like that." A small laugh escaped Laura, masking the tears she was fighting back. "I do miss my master, he was the one who gave me a purpose, confidence in my abilities. But he never really gave me confidence in myself. You were the one who started to give me that. Those long chats down in the dungeons between heists, when we'd sit back to back across the bars and just talk... that's when I felt confident in being myself. I don't blame you for what you did to my master, I understand why you had to do it. Losing him hurt but... its not what hurt me most that night." The silence felt palpable to Rowan, like a great weight smothering him into the ground. After moment that felt like ages, he spoke again. "What is it really? The question that you've kept for so long." Laura trembled, and finally she couldn't hold the tears back anymore. "Why didn't you take me with you? I knew everything, I knew how much you held onto my presence to keep you sane down there. And for the first time I felt like I was someone worth more than how well she could use her magic. I thought you understood. I thought you knew how much I needed those moments in the dark with you, just as you needed them. But why did you leave me behind, as though you didn't care at all... you just left me there, surrounded by all the demons' anger. I was so alone Rowan. You betrayed me... I was finally feeling like I belonged somewhere. I thought I belonged by your side... but you took it all away from me. You could have taken me with you, I could have fled by your side and we could have escaped to a better world. But you didn't think of me... I was thinking of you, but you didn't think of me." Rowan had no response. What could he say, after all? What she had said was true. In his desperation to escape he'd forgotten about Laura, who had been just as trapped down there, even if she hadn't been the one behind the bars. He'd left her to take the blame for everything he'd done, the deaths he'd caused. What could he possibly say now? That he was sorry? What a sad, empty little word. Sorry was for fixing playground fights, there was no word that could fix this. Laura sniffled, wiping away some of her tears. "The other Demons never liked or trusted me, but they respected my master's judgement. Even if I was an untrustworthy Siren, I was a useful asset. They said my only chance at being spared was to hunt you down and bring you to them instead. Between the fear of being killed and my anguish at your betrayal... well it wasn't hard to turn my rage in your direction. You know what happened over the next year... I did everything I could possibly think of to punish you, to make you feel what I was feeling, or even just to try and kill you when I got fed up with it all. Yet you always seemed to find a way to survive. I was envious, that you could simply keep moving, somehow I thought that if I could kill you it would mean I had finally caught up to you again,that I was by your side. Whenever you escaped one of my traps or my attacks it was like you were leaving me behind all over again. Eventually you escaped through the dimensional rift. I followed, but it sent me to a different reality. I was free from the demons but not from my memories. I'm still not sure if I'm free from those yet." "if-" Rowan spoke slowly, afraid his words would cause even more harm, "If we had spoken back then, during that year of fighting and fleeing... if we had spoken to each other even once... do you think things might have changed?" "I don't know Rowan. We never will. But we're here talking now, so I hope you have something to say." "I guess I should say sorry... for everything my actions put you through. For all the hurt I put on you, for betraying your feelings... but I also want to say thank you. I never really did, even during those chats between the bars. Thank you for giving me a chance. You could have treated me like just another prize, the demons certainly did. But you came down to sit in the dark and talk to me. Thank you for saving me from myself in that dark place. I know its selfish of me, to use your words as a light when I ended up giving you nothing but more darkness and pain, but you really were a light. You wee the most beautiful, warmest guiding light I had ever seen. Even during the year we battled, even when I didn't realize it, it was your words and your presence that keep me going. You were the one you gave me freedom, Laura. I could never have gotten anywhere without you. So for everything, I'm so thankful, and so very sorry. For everything." Laura sat very still. Rowan could barely feel her breathing as she leaned against his back. "In truth... I sometimes thought I deserved everything painful that happened to me. I was the one who trapped you down there after all. What sort of person traps another soul in the dark and tried to force them to rely on their captor for light. All the pain you must have been going through while in that little prison... I was the one who brought that upon you." "I guess we were doomed from the start then." Rowan said, wondering if his words were really true or not. "Maybe we were doomed back then, but we have an opportunity here and now. We can finally put this all behind us." Laura shifted, and pulled herself to her feet. Turning she offered a hand to to Rowan, who accepted it and stood up himself. He noticed Laura's eyes were red from her tears. He wondered what his face looked like. Before he had a chance to feel his face the angel found himself being pulled along by Laura's hand. As they walked, the siren spoke, "All that time ago I trapped you in the dark. You're back in that dark again because of this world. So this time i'm going to give you a push in the right direction. I'll help you be free again." They stopped in front of a mirror. Through it Rowan could see what looked like an endless library. Why had Laura brought him here? "I'll help you be free Rowan... so don't you dare betray her like you betrayed me." Laura whispered, as though pleading with him. She gave the angel a firm push, sending him through the mirror and into the vast library beyond.