I nodded along, my gaze dropping to the map without really seeing the lines and circles. Isobel’s plan made perfect sense. It was practical and efficient, the kind of move you’d want your Advisor to make on your behalf. We couldn’t afford weak links when the ever-present that is Jolyne existed. We needed warriors now, not raw potentials who might fold under the first real pressure.
Still, as the conversation hung in the air, my thoughts spiraled inward, away from the table and back into my own mind. I saw redith, the tall woman with the resplendent armor and bejeweled claymore. The hardened woman who taught herself to smile again. The woman whose final monts were spent saving Lyra and from an engaged Demon Queen.
I saw her again, at a different ti, sitting at our camp. She told us she loved us. Told us that we were her first human friends. She’d laughed at that, even as she died from the unfortunate cost of her bond with her Life Warden with the silly na, Colonel Charcoal–the only indication there was sothing warm underneath all that armor.
redith was close to . Dear to . Not as close as Lyra, of course, but not far off, either. Whether she’d intended to or not, redith had beco an inspiration to . I’d picked up so many habits from her, learned so much about myself through my ti with her. We’d both been orphans, both went unadopted and aged out of our orphanages for so reason or another, and... we both still cling to the pain that was left us with in our own way.
Except I got to move past it in ti, sothing that was solidified by my union with Isobel. redith, anwhile, hadn’t. Every ti she’d gotten close to moving on, she’d died, only for Lyra and to be beaten by Jolyne and her forces and returned to our 25th year, where every trace of redith’s progress was undone by the reversal of ti.
What would she be right now? Would she be angrier? She’d been tight-lipped about her ti as a recruit. Whatever her "breakdown" entailed was enough for her to wipe the entire ti period from her mory. By not seeking her out, was I allowing her to go through such a traumatic experience when she didn’t have to?
That couldn’t be. That wouldn’t be. I wouldn’t allow it. She was too important to , too dear to for that to be sothing that I considered. We’d gone through too much together. She’d been there for during the darkest tis of my life. Through the most difficult battles, the most heart-pounding victories, and soul-crushing defeats. She’d watched lose, I’d watched her lose. She’d watched cry, I’d watched her cry. She was a dear friend.
She was... soone I loved, I realized. Perhaps not in the sa way I loved Isobel, but in a different way. I’d loved her long before my heart knew what love was. Before it was willing to entertain the idea of it, rather. I still rember the pain of losing the friendship we’d forged. The surprising mix of joy and guilt that took over every ti after that I’d seen her. Lyra was no better, damn near breaking into tears every ti we crossed paths with the girl!
redith was one of us. She was our friend. She was part of the family. She was the third mber of the party, I realized.
Funny. Hadn’t Lyra wanted to start this run by recruiting redith. She always seems to be one step ahead of in the weirdest ways sotis. What if we had done that? If we’d found the girl wherever she was and pursued the Demon Lord? Odds were Isobel would be on her path towards joining her distant half-sister and we’d ultimately be working towards nothing, but we’d be a group again! There was a surprising amount of happiness I felt at the thought, being with Lyra and redith like I had been a few runs ago.
I made a vow to myself, right then and there. Should we cross paths by so stretch of fate, I was recruiting her, no matter what state she was in. Whether she was a powerhouse being clamored over by a host of Noble Houses or a weak 1-Star, she was getting recruited. She was redith. My dear friend, the one who’d stood with when the world crumbled. I refused to leave her behind, not after everything we’d shared across tilines. Not when I knew deep down that if the roles were reversed that she’d do the sa for .
The room fell quiet for a long beat, the only sounds the soft crackle of Isobel’s paper as she adjusted it and the distant clatter from the kitchens where pots banged, and voices called out orders. Lyra was watching closely now, her expression going slightly mischievous as she eyed . She knew what I was thinking. Of course she did. We’d spent enough ti together for her to not be able to read my mind in monts like this. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything, gracefully avoiding any sort of confrontation we could’ve had with an annoyed Isobel.
Speaking of Isobel, she tapped her fingers on the table, eyeing with interest. "So, tryouts in two days," she said finally, her voice steady as she steered us back to the present. "We’ll vet the recruits thoroughly. After two rounds of interviews, one of you could spar against them to test their prowess. From there, we can have the strongest face off against one another and recruit the last man standing." She gave a warm smile. "Perhaps your redith will show up? She didn’t belong to a House in your ti, correct? In that case, maybe she’ll earn her spot fair and square?"
"Yeah," I muttered, forcing a grin that didn’t quite reach my eyes as I pushed the cheese plate away, appetite gone. "Sounds solid. Let’s make House May unbreakable."
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