‘We are here for Solus, not for me. Yet I’m glad I managed to take that burden off my chest. It’s the first time I can talk about my time under the slave ring with someone who went through the same thing.’ Quylla thought while slowly sipping the hot beverage.
“I know more about being held prisoner and tortured than I wish for my worst enemy.” Raaz said to drive the attention away from Quylla while she was still recovering. “I also know how it feels to lash at innocents just to feel better about yourself.
“I’m envious of you as well, Solus, but of your fortitude of character. Once you have been freed, you’ve hurt only your enemies. People you had to shut up anyway to protect the secret of Menadion’s tower.
“I instead, took it out on my family. On my children and wife. I haven’t spilled a drop of blood but that’s far from an achievement. Also, I’m envious because you’ve found the strength to step forward and ask for help right after those events instead of wallowing for weeks in self-pity.”
“That’s not strength, Dad, what Orpal did to you-”
“It was terrible, yes, but no different from what you have experienced.” Raaz cut her short by gently caressing her cheek.
“Even though through a proxy, you have hurt Lith and the others and they have been forced to hurt you back. It’s something that would have shattered a lesser person and broken weaker bonds, yet here we are.
“You are an amazing woman, Solus. You are stronger than I will ever be and for that, I couldn’t be prouder of you. I know that I’m not really your father, but I want you to know that I love you like one of my own and that I feel happy like a child every time you call me Dad.”
“Thank you, Dad.” Solus sniffled, this time out of joy.
She let go of Elina and embraced Raaz as delicately and tightly as she could.
Elina said nothing because silence was the best she had to offer.
‘I have no idea what any of them must have endured. I don’t want to ruin this moment by saying cheesy and trivial words.’ She thought. ‘I’ll give my opinion only if they ask for it. I’ll respect their pain by letting them share it among themselves.’
After a few seconds, Solus let go of Raaz and went back to sit near Elina, grabbing her hand for comfort.
“What do you think I should do with the Fury and the Sage Staff?” She asked.
“I beg your pardon?” Elina didn’t understand the question more than she understood why it was being addressed to her.
“I can’t get rid of the tower without hurting myself, but I can dispose of those weapons or at least reforge them into something else.”
“And why would you do that?” Elina asked in confusion.
“Because they were gifts. Something precious that my mother and Lith gave to me to make sure I could defend myself. Yet now they are dirty with the blood of my friends and I don’t know if I can touch them ever again.”
“Let me get this straight.” Elina said. “If someone were to hurt a member of my family with one of my pots, then I’m supposed to give up on cooking?”
“Of course not, but you can just throw away the pot.” Solus replied.
“No, your comparison doesn’t hold because a pot is just a tool you can find anywhere for cheap whereas the Fury and the Staff are priceless items.” Elina shook her head.
“They embody the love and the affection of their makers for you, just like cooking reminds me of the happy times I spent in the kitchen with my family. You can’t let the actions of a jerk like M’Rael drive you to such an extent.”
“But, it’s because of me that War has been shattered. It’s because of me that Lith and the others were battered and beaten. If only he had imprinted my weapons himself, this would have never happened.”
“And they wouldn’t be really yours to start with.” Quylla pointed out. “They would just be borrowed tools that you’d lose in the case your life force and core heal and you are no longer bound to the tower.”
“It’s no big deal.” Solus shrugged. “We can always have Grandma remove the imprint and-”
“And it would be like letting someone else blow the candles on your birthday cake and open your presents.” Elina shook her head. “I’m sorry, dear, but you are talking nonsense.”
“What M’Rael did is only M’Rael’s fault and luckily, the fool already paid for it.” Raaz said. “You have no reason to punish yourself just like Quylla isn’t responsible for Nalear’s kills or I for Meln’s schemes.
“According to your logic, I should spend my days in atonement for being used as bait to ruin Lith’s life and exile us from the Kingdom. We are not responsible for our torturers, Solus. We are their victims, just like everyone else.”
Quylla nodded but remained silent, giving Solus the time to ponder those words.
‘I guess they are right. I mean, I didn’t hesitate to take the original Fury from Bytra even knowing that it had been used in my mother’s death and then in countless atrocities.’ Solus thought.
Yet her logic and her heart were still at odds and the idea of holding the Fury again made her stomach churn.
“What about the elves I killed after I fused with Lith?” She asked after a while.
“What *about* them?” Quylla furrowed her brows.
“I still murdered them in cold blood. I massacred them once they were defeated and I consumed their life essence.”
“Cold blood?!” Quylla looked as outraged as she sounded. “Solus, I was there. You were out of your mind and inside Lith’s! Also, how can you forget that it was those elves who ambushed us? They blew Morok to bits. I almost drowned because of them.
“Heck, M’Rael would have never managed to kidnap you without his goons. They were all guilty as fuck! Even if they surrendered, and they didn’t, it wouldn’t have excused them of their actions.
“If someone attempted to kill Elina and once you stopped him, he surrendered and said sorry, would you let him go?”
“I would kill that bastard after making him spill everything he knows about the attempt.” Solus said with a snarl. “I wouldn’t risk killing the hitman without learning everything I could about the instigator.”
“At all costs, right?” Quylla asked.
“Right.”
“Then what’s the difference between a hitman and the elves?” Quylla replied. “Is your life less valuable than Elina? Is it mine? Also, you didn’t do it for shits and giggles, you did it to save War!”
“Ragnarök.” Solus corrected her.
“Whatever. Do you get my point?”
Solus tormented her hair for a while, finding the reasoning valid but shaky.
“I don’t think that their cruel actions justify mine.” She said after a while.
“I agree on that.” Quylla nodded, surprising everyone. “But look at it this way. If Lith, Faluel, or I for that matter, wanted to kill them in revenge, would have stopped us?”
