The realm of Time was restored, Mudai and Blood's mutual point proven. It didn't take a genius to know how this fight ended; even the cubs of the time knew exactly why the Lion Guard went to the Outlands shortly after Makoto's ordeal. And even the cubs knew what became of Sarabi's brothers. However, at the time, no one but Ahadi truly knew the circumstances concerning the deaths of her baby brothers.
"Aww… We were just getting to the good part." Blood said in a sarcastic tone, though he perhaps really wanted to see the blood of two good lions spilt, even if it was at the jaws of a hyena. Sarabi was happy that she was no longer a cub, and right now her growls of irritation were low and indicative of how much she wanted to hear from him. "You never cease to absolutely disgust me. But you…" Sarabi directed her attention to the snow leopardess, her crimson eyes glowing with anger.
"You should know exactly how I feel about this. And you should know exactly why I choose not to recount the feelings I had concerning Bahati and Nafasi." She accused, unaware that the being in front of her was the master of throwing said accusations right back. "And with those feelings, you sided with your brothers' murderer." Mudai's words always cut deeper than her words, which Sarabi was more than familiar with. Didn't mean it didn't shock her all the same.
"Look, if you were in my position, you'd do exactly as I did. As far as I knew, my father died just barely over a week after my brothers did, in the very fight that we just witnessed the start of. I misblamed the hyenas for this, yes, but what if I didn't? What if I suspected the truth all along? Tell me, what could a mere cub do about it? What could my mother, then a lowly huntress, do about it then? Ahadi made sure that Uru was wrapped nicely and neatly around his paw; who was she really going to listen to when it counted?" Sarabi had made a valid point; Blood could empathize with the helpless feeling that cubhood often entailed. However, Mudai didn't empathize with her plight, for that exact same reason.
"Let's also say I buy that excuse for just one moment." Mudai ensured Sarabi could hear the tone in her voice as she said her words, and Sarabi narrowed her eyes at this. "Even if you were but a mere cub, you eventually grew up. And as you grew up, you figured out the truth and knew that cub murderer's story was nothing but lies and manipulation from the start. Yet, you still consciously chose to side with him even after you were fully capable of putting a stop to his madness. Just as Ahadi was to Uru, you were to Mufasa. You're saying Mufasa wouldn't have listened to you?"
If only you knew. Sarabi thought, perhaps forgetting that her mind wasn't exactly sacred at this moment, as Blood was about to make very clear. "Oh, trust me, we do know. We know enough; especially if you won't tell us anything further. But, I have to ask. How exactly did Ahadi cover his ass on this one? Shouldn't it have been obvious that he did this?" Blood asked, and Sarabi need not answer. Even if she wanted to, Mudai was already changing the scene.
Sarabi did her best to not become nauseous as she felt the realms swirl about her. Even Blood and Mudai faded into the ether, and only reappeared once the scene had fully settled.
Sarabi didn't even care that she was reduced to a cub once again, because the setting she was transported to was unsafe for even a fully-grown male lion on his own. There was a very beautiful, sparkling underground lake visible from the cave she appeared in front of, and it was common knowledge there were many other scenic and beautiful locations dotting the entire land separating the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Really, the beauty of the environment here just highlighted the brutality and senselessness of this un-claimable land; any victory here would be temporary and fleeting at best.
"Whoever said hell couldn't be a place to envy?" Blood's voice, now with the snooty, snotty cub voice that he possessed as Caesar, sounded in Sarabi's mind. This jarred her back to reality, and drew her eyes to her two guides through time. "I'm sure you can guess where we are. Even if you yourself have never set foot in this place." Mudai said, not wanting Blood to get on a roll just yet. Blood growled at the snow leopardess, but it really made no difference whether he did or didn't. Sarabi, for her part, simply entered the cave. Mudai and Blood were happy that she didn't need prompting, because for differing reasons they both wanted Sarabi to witness this moment.
And the moment in question was a memorial procession, from what Sarabi could see. She knew who the lions of this pride were, and from their mournful expressions she was able to glean what day this was. Especially guilt-inducing was the sight of the fluffy, overweight orange cub who was otherwise nearly identical to Taka. "They… Ahadi did it. Ahadi really, really did it. That means…" Sarabi looked around, and to her horror and guilt there was the Daedalus, his mate and biological cub just behind him. On his back was the body of what she knew was his elder brother. She need only to see the cold, rigid yet flimsy façade that Daedalus put up in his attempt to be a strong leader for his mourning pride.
"Do you know these lions, Sarabi?" Mudai more accused than asked for a genuine answer. Everyone present knew exactly what was happening here, and Sarabi was only happy that the three regressed time-walkers were still ethereal and translucent. "This is Icarus and Saul's birth Pride." Sarabi said, her voice hollowed out. Mudai was happy to see the guilt on her face, but it just wasn't good enough.
And Blood was going to do the rest of the work for the snow leopardess. "Their birth pride? And look at how young they are. Why, I think they're around your age, Sarabi. Maybe a little younger." Blood said this as Icarus joined his friends. They all shared the empathy of the moment, their eyes filled with tears as they watched Daedalus lay his brother to rest. Sarabi was going to assume that the other two graves beside him were the rest of Daedalus's biological family, given what she remembered.
"I get it. I should never have dismissed Icarus' words. But…" And Blood cuts right in. "What? But what? Impress me; I might be able to have Iago use it to get him out of a sticky situation." The last thing Sarabi wanted was for Blood to have yet another excuse to feed his son, and that was perhaps why she lost any further steam to continue. That, and the fact that the body he laid to rest began to glow in an unearthly, divine light.
It was at this moment that the dam holding back the tears burst, and the other lionesses present began to truly weep from grief. The spirits confirmed it; this lion had passed on, and the spirits were thankful to receive his soul. Almost as soon as the body began to glow, did the lake in front of the grieving pride also began to stir and ripple. Almost on instinct, the rest of the lionesses fought their emotions to give this phenomenon their undivided attention.
It seemed only Tsara was unmoved, and it wasn't lost on the three ethereal spirits that her stoic demeanor wasn't in the least bit forced.
However, the spirit that appeared above the water was none other than the lion who was just buried. And as soon as he appeared, did Sarabi see the tears flow from Daedalus' and Icarus' eyes. "Telemachos… I…" Daedalus' voice cracked as he spoke to his deceased brother.
"Do not blame yourself, Daedalus. There was nothing you could have done that would have prevented these events, short of preemptively striking. But that is not the way I raised you, and that is not the way Mother and Father would have wanted us to behave. You are the lion I strove to be, and the lion that I wished I could have been for this Pride. Sadly, I fell short, and for that I paid for it. I know you hate Ahadi for his actions, but do not let it consume you and turn you into a monster just as bad as he is. I have always suspected, but now I can say with certainty that wrath and hatred is blinding. Ahadi hated the days that he lived in fear as a cub and young adult; he always feared dying a death that would never be avenged. Yet, he has inflicted exactly that as soon as he became strong enough to become a threat in his own right."
Telemachos's voice was exactly the kind one would expect from a kindhearted pride leader, but more than that was the way he then addressed Daedalus. "The pride is yours now, my brother. I only ask two things. First, that you raise your sons the way our parents taught me to raise you. Second, to not let my death sadden you, but rather to let my life teach you and guide you as you guide the rest of the Pride through this tumultuous land."
As Telemachos faded, the rest of the world began to meld back into the Realm of Time. What didn't fade was the turmoil in Sarabi heart hearing his passing words; the proof was right there in Telemachos' self-delivered eulogy. More than that, she heard firsthand how even the lion whose life Ahadi had taken refused to hold a grudge in his heart. And how he had encouraged those he left behind to follow in his footsteps in that regard.
Icarus' words had perhaps held more truth in them than originally believed.