[6:56 PM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

Madeline stared up at Petrai.

"We should probably do it in the other room." Madeline said simply and looked back over to Albanes. It seemed unlikely Eben and Roy would turn on her after she healed him, so.. it was probably safe to go. @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄) @sketti | Eben 🕶 + Isi 🍁 @Sauce | Roy 🌩

[6:58 PM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

"Okay. I'll wait out here." Darcy nodded. Though Petrai didn't say anything, the fact she went back into the room indicated she found it agreeable enough.

Once Madeline had followed her and the door had been closed, she sat down on the bed. "So. There have been some changes since we last spoke." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[7:00 PM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

"Yes. There has been." Madeline said, standing across from her with her arm crossed over her stomach. ".. And I think it's much too late to go back on those changes." @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[7:02 PM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

"I agree. And yet, we're stuck here." Petrai said coldly. "They're holding me hostage. It is very likely that I do not make it out of this alive. I think you have done the right thing, allying yourself with them." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[7:03 PM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

".. Well, you did just shoot that guy in the chest so-.." Madeline paused. "You think I did the right thing..? How could you say that? You speak so negatively to me all the time but- I literally betray everyone and you finally have something supportive to say..?" @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[7:09 PM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

"He electrocuted me." Petrai replied blankly. "Circumstances have changed, Madeline. Priorities have changed, even. Allying yourself with the guests will help you survive far more than sticking around Yeonaixho would've." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[7:13 PM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

"I didn't do it because it was the logical choice. Or so that I would survive. I did it because it was the right thing to do- this whole tournament.. It never felt right. This isn't how things are supposed to be, Petrai.. Putting people in a dungeon, hurting them.. It just-.. Feels like it goes against everything I've been told for my whole life." @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[7:18 PM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

"Then you're nobler than I am." Petrai said, then paused. She sighed. "Even if you didn't do it for yourself, I'm glad you made the choice you did. You and Albanes... you've always deserved better than this." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[7:22 PM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

"How can you say that..? You- you dedicated your life to this place. To Yeonaixho and the Lifebringer. You really don't think we can get through to Yeonaixho and make him fix all this..?" @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[7:28 PM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

"Madeline, I never had a choice in who or what I dedicated myself to. I do now, and I'm choosing to abandon that dedication." She sighed. "If anyone could get through to Yeonaixho, don't you think someone would've by now? It's been twenty years, and he's not the type to change." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[8:03 PM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

"But.." Madeline sighed. ".. If we really do abandon everything here, where would we go? Won't Albanes die without her heart Yeonaixho stole?" @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[8:22 PM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

Petrai sighed, and titled her head slightly to her side. "That is something you will have to figure out. The right choices aren't always the easy ones, Madeline- in fact, it's almost always the opposite." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[10:16 PM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

"I'm not going to do anything that will get Albanes killed." Madeline said firmly. "We just-.. After fourteen years, we're finally together. I can't lose that already. It's all I've ever wanted. She doesn't deserve to die." @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[10:17 PM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

"And what will you do? Go right back into Yeonaixho's arms? I think it's too late for that." Petrai frowned. "What does Albanes think?" @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[12:19 AM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

"There must be some other way. W-we- we could make him give Albanes a real heart before we-.. Do anything drastic.." Madeline said. "And I'm not too sure. She seems scared, of course.. Hesitant to join me." @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[7:42 AM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

"And how do you suppose you do that? Threaten him, bargain?" Petrai didn't seem like she was pushing down the idea- rather, she was pushing Madeline to come up with solutions. "I think you should understand how she feels before you start making any decisions regarding her life." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[8:09 AM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

".. There has to be a way. I'd do anything.. There's no way he doesn't love her, he'd.. Want to help her. He has to." Madeline mumbled. ".. Should I go get Albanes..?" @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[8:11 AM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

"I have no doubt that he loves her, at least in some capacity. He has always been so full of love... but do not expect him to think the same way you do." Petrai said, then nodded. "Yes. There is... something I'd like to ask of her." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[8:21 AM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

"I think you should tell me what you want to tell her first." Madeline said. "She's stressed enough as is." @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[8:25 AM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

Petrai exhaled, and lowered her voice. "I am going to ask her to regrow my flight feathers." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[8:27 AM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

".. Really?" Madeline asked, just as quietly. Last thing she told Albanes was that she had made them up.. That would be a bit awkward. "Do you think she can do that..? I heard even Yeonaixho has a hard time with wings.. And isn't this going to make me and Albanes look a bit suspicious..? Coming in and helping you.." @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[8:33 AM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

"It's not a very difficult procedure." Petrai said. "And if this is the situation we find ourselves, I want to be able to fly again. Make any excuses you need to, or even tell them outright what's happening- it doesn't matter to me." @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[8:36 AM]Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline:

"Mmm... Okay. I'm trusting that you're not going to use that ability to hurt anyone else here." Madeline said. She looked at Petrai for a few more moments before heading out of the door. @innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄)

[8:37 AM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

Petrai remained where she was, waiting. @Mads|Roque🩸+Hannah🦈+Madeline

[4:48 PM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

Once the others had left, Petrai gestured for Albanes to sit by her. The younger woman gladly did so- she’d missed the comfort of Petrai’s familiar presence, that almost-maternal but unmotherly infallibility. Petrai would always be there. She was constant, steady. Reliable.

“This will be… difficult.” Petrai said, before anything. Her voice wavered. “You do not deserve such harshness, but the truth is better than nothing. I have been lying to you.”

At least, she was being told directly this time. Albanes swallowed the lump in her throat. “What about?”

Petrai closed her eyes, and inhaled, and exhaled. Any preparation she could make for this confession, she would. “I am Corvifolk. A crow.”

“So-” Breath had left Albanes. “So- Madeline wasn’t lying, when she said you- you have wings?” Guilt plagued her- all those cruel things she said, only for it to be true? She might throw up again, though there was nothing in her stomach to empty. The room spun. To steady herself, she leaned on Petrai.

“I do. Yes- I’ve kept them secret for years, surely you understand why-” Albanes did. In such a world of theirs, such differences would not have been tolerated. To survive was to hide. “- but now, things have changed. I can’t hide any longer, when I need to make use of them.”

“I- I understand.” Albanes stammered. This was not the first loved one’s heresy she’d endured today. “But- why do you need me? What do I have to do with this?”

“They clipped my flight feathers,” Petrai explained, intentionally leaving out who ‘they’ was, “I need you to fix them.”

“But- I can’t do that!”

“It’s simple. Intuitive. I just want you to try.” Petrai said. Desperately, she added, “Please?”

Albanes had witnessed many heresies today. She had committed a few of her own- going behind her father’s back, acting against him. What would be one more minor offense, for the only stable presence remaining in her life? If she no longer had her father, she at least still had Petrai. And Petrai needed her.

“Okay. Of course. I’ll try.” She nodded.

Petrai nodded, and began removing her blouse. Underneath, she wore a simple open-backed shift, and an intricate corset that carefully bound-down her round, jet-black wings. She undid this, letting her wings unfurl and unfold, revealing the way her longest primary remiges had been trimmed away, limiting her flight ability.

Albanes was hesitant. Not only was it improper to see Petrai in such a state of undress, she was also not meant to see this side of her at all. As a dedicant of the Church of the Undying Light, as her father’s daughter, she found herself feeling sicker. Yet, as a healer, she could identify the issue. And as Petrai’s- friend? Student? Child?- she found herself wanting to help.

Cautiously, she approached Petrai. “I think I see the issue, may I-” She hovered her hands over Petrai’s wing, and only touched it when she nodded. Albanes was not used to treating wings, but she could identify the differences between Peregrine’s and Petrai’s. She could see the root of the issue, and she could fix it.

[4:48 PM]innsjo (glass🎸+ darcy🖋+ npcs❄):

Albanes healed Petrai’s wings slowly and deliberately, barely moving her hands or averting her gaze. Petrai had been right- it was a simple task- the body knew its wounds, and it wanted to return to form. All Albanes really had to do was promote the rapid growth of new keratin. Once she had finished one wing, she moved onto the other. It was strange, but not unnatural. Her father had taught her to heal small birds when she was still getting used to the powers- this wasn’t very different.

When her wings had finally returned to their full form, Petrai exhaled. It had been so long since she’d enjoyed this small vice- and this was only the possibility of flight. Yet it was a delicacy. She extended her wings out- what a joy to stretch them, after so much time. The room was only barely wide enough to contain her full wingspan, and Albanes had to carefully duck away as to not be hit.

Petrai relished it. “Thank you, Albanes,” She exhaled. “I know this was difficult for you,” If not physically, emotionally, “But I thank you. This… means very much to me. I am complete. I am free.”

Albanes nodded hesitantly. “Of course, Petrai. I… want you to be happy,”

Petrai answered only with the faintest ghost of a smile.