(A/N): To you the situation that leads to this meeting might seem convenient, to you I say it was convenient enough that in-game the characters already knew the blood belonged to Sylvanas, and that all the other NPC were standing just at the entrance ready for you to deliver the quest, so my answer? the same as the one from the Game-devs, deal with it. At least I tried to give some backstory on the music box instead of just giving it away... what is even Sylvanas doing with that box in ICC? does she carry it everywhere?
It was as Lerunastin made his way out of the Citadel, the remaining items of the box secured with him, that he crossed paths with an unexpected, even if unsurprising, final visitor to what used to be Arthas' headquarters.
"Lady Sylvanas" he said with a short bow.
"Champion" she said curtly, her red eyes fixating on him "I thought you gone along with everyone else."
"I had reasons to remain behind" he answered as he shifted in his spot, allowing the banshee queen to see part of Shadowmourne secured on his back.
"I see…" was all she said before turning back to the Citadel.
"My lady" Lerunastin said again, once more catching her attention "If it's not a bother, I would like to have a word with you."
She narrowed her eyes, but nodded nonetheless after some seconds "Speak your peace Paladin, but be quick about it."
"After the defeat of the Lich King I found something…" he said as he reached to another pouch secured to his belt, retrieving a small vial with a red liquid that felt warm to the touch, a total contrast to the icy cold temperature it has when he removed it from the chest "I thought it might belong to you."
Sylvanas Windrunner stared transfixed at the small vial in Lerunastin's stretched hand, slowly reaching for it but removing his hand, as if burned, the first time she touched it, only to then snarl and snatch it from the open palm.
"So, it is done… I had not dared to trust my senses - too many times has the Lich King made me to be a fool."
A heavy silence fell between them, the Paladin respectfully remaining silent, knowing what the former ranger general would be thinking about.
"Finally, he has been made to pay for the atrocities he imposed upon my people… our people" she finally said, giving him a meaningful look, to which he nodded with a serious expression "May Azeroth never fail to remember the terrible price we paid for our weakness… for our pride" then she threw the vial to the stone floor in a fit of rage "But what now hero!? What of those freed from his grasp, but still shackled to their mortal coils!?"
Lerunastin never reacted to the outburst, just stoically seeing the usually composed leader of the forsaken show the frustration and anger she must have been storing ever since her… rebirth.
The rage was expended as fast as it appeared, leaving behind sadness and tiredness, but she regained her composure with equal speed, regarding him for some seconds before reaching to a hidden pouch attached to her hip, retrieving a small wooden box carved with beautiful forest designs.
"Take it hero… this box, just like the necklace you retrieved from the Ghostlands all those years ago, and that vial of blood" she said pointing to the broken vial in the floor "belong to a past I had no reason to keep attached to. I trust you will keep good safe of that heirloom. Now leave me… I have much to ponder."
That said she brushed past him, heading directly towards the still functioning teleporter and disappearing the next second, leaving Lerunastin silently grieving for the loss of the once proud member of his race, and wondering how many other lives had Arthas left ruined in his path… "Regret is the first step towards redemption, true" he said to the air, now totally understanding what the kid, Mathias, meant back at the Frozen Throne "but regret alone means nothing without the will to right your wrongs."
There were still three items left from the box, three mementos of a past life he still had to deliver to their rightful owners, but he decided to indulge himself for now and sit on the floor, placing the little box in front of him and opening it.
"Anar'alah, Anar'alah belore... Sin'dorei. Shindu fallah na… Sin'dorei…"
(By the light, by the light of the sun… Children of the blood. Our enemies are breaking through… children of the blood…)