Alia found Thea in the royal gardens.
"Thea..." Alia murmured. It had been a month since Atdros' capture, and so far, very little progress had been made to save him. Atdros' family were still as anxious as ever about it, and Veris was especially devastated over the loss of his friend. "Thea, how are you feeling tonight?"
Thea was staring at a flower as though it may have the answers she needed. “I... I should have gone with him.” She whispered. “Or persuaded him to stay.” Part of her still didn’t want to believe he had been captured.
"It wasn't your fault," Alia said, gently touching her shoulder. She heard the sound of large footsteps then, and she looked up to see Atdros' giant griffin, Celicus, standing over them. Celicus had been staying in the royal gardens since Atdros first arrived here, and Alia's heart twisted at the way Celicus was looking around. As if Celicus was expecting his master to come back sometime soon.
“I’m sorry.” Thea whispered to Celicus. “I’ll bring him back.” She had to get him back.
Celicus bent his head down toward Thea, and he brushed his head against her slightly. Alia watched them, and then she felt a sudden resolve inside of her. "I could save him," she said quickly, the words coming out of her mouth before she could think about them. "Send me out there. I could probably figure something out."
“No!” Thea responded quickly even as she touched Celicus gently. “I can’t lose you too, what would I do? “ she couldn’t lose her best friend right after she lost the man she was falling for.
"But someone has to do something," Alia said. "And I'm brave enough to do it. All I need is just...some time, and maybe a plan, and I could do it myself." Alia noticed Celicus giving her a look which somehow looked almost doubtful of that, and honestly, Alia was feeling rather doubtful herself.
“Alia! I can’t lose you,” Thea told her, reaching to grab her hands. “You’re my best friend, I can’t lose you right after I lost him.”
Alia opened her mouth to say something, and then she shut it, looking like she was struggling with what to say or do. And then eventually, she sighed and opened her mouth. "Alright, alright," she said. "I'm sorry for making you worry. It was just...it was just an idea that popped into my head."
Thea went to touch Celicus again. “I can’t lose anyone else.” She whispered softly.
"I know," Alia said with a murmur as Celicus bent down to let Thea touch him. "I'll try not to add another loss onto your shoulders." Thea mattered to Alia, and Alia hated seeing her like this. But Alia knew that there was a cause of it, and Alia was determined to get to the bottom of it. Even if it meant risking her life.
(( To Merien and Gwyn? ))
sure!
Gwyniere had once again been sent down to retrieve the prisoner. It had been several months since Atdros had first been captured, and he had been placed into a special cell just for now. The collar remained on at all times to keep his powers weakened. "Why are you doing this?" Atdros demanded in a somewhat shaky voice as he saw her from behind his cell. "You were Ignis' apprentice before. What changed?"
Gwyn scowled at the mention of her father. “I was a disappointment to him. Merien values me.” She told him simply yet her voice was sharp. “Now come on.” She opened the cell and grabbed the chains to lead him to Merien.
Atdros had no choice but to follow her, and he felt fear constrict his stomach at the thought of being brought to Merien again. He would struggle if he could—but he already knew the punishment for defiance. "But...but he loved you," he said. Ever since Gwyniere had left, Ignis had been in a state of mourning for her, and Ignis had been wanting to get vengeance on Merien, completely convinced that he had manipulated his daughter and was mistreating her. "Ignis wants you to come home."
“Oh I’m sure he does.” Gwyn muttered. Merien treated her so much better and she loved him. “Maybe if he actually cared about me he wouldn’t have pushed me away and called me a disappointment.” Her voice grew sharper on the word ‘disappointment’.
"But Merien couldn't be any better," Atdros protested. "He's...he's evil. He's an enemy of the gods. How could you still follow him, knowing everything that he's done and intends to do?"
“All he’s done is what he was born to do.” Gwyn snapped at him then. “And I will always support him.”
"But he...he defied Ixulla," Atdros said. That had been the reason why Merien was banished from the gods' pantheon. Merien had taken things too far, and he had defied Ixulla, he had ignored her orders and betrayed her. The Evermother, of course, wouldn't just let that go. Not a single one of the gods would ever consider defying Ixulla's will like Merien had.
Gwyn rolled her eyes. “What did everyone expect him to do? Be a chaos god who didn’t cause chaos?” She scoffed softly. “No one else tried to see his side of things.”