Immediately, all of Mercy's worst fears were confirmed, and she found no relief between Jack's hard stare and Guides' averted eyes. She stood from her seat on the bench, dimly aware of her hand being pulled slightly as Sara held it.
"By all means, Dreamwalker-rhya... What's wrong?" Mercy asked, struggling to keep her voice even.
"What's wrong is that a sister of our tribe is dead."
Mercy looked between the two elder tribe mates, confused before realization dawned, and she turned her gaze on Guides the Cycle. "Guides, you and I both know what Shen was doing..."
"That only proves taint, not that she deserved death," Jack countered. Guides continued to avoid Mercy's eyes, allowing the younger galliard to lead him. She could not help but sneer in disgust as she turned her fierce gaze back on Jack.
"She sought out the same Spirals Unicorn warned us against, and then came back with Wyrm-tainted drugs in her... and then disobeyed Guides' order to stay on the Sept to go back to them! She was a danger to the Sept, and she would've kept going back to them for drugs!" She was livid, furious that Jack was leveling such an accusation at her. "And you've done absolutely nothing to help her with her addiction issues! It wouldn't surprise me at all if you were the one giving her the drugs lately! Never mind that such an addiction could be seen as an illness!"
"That's not the issue here, Hardest Lessons."
"No, it's exactly the issue, Jack Dreamwalker! It's because of her addiction that she sought them out! And we all knew that those... those things were passing through and what their methods were. She went in, knowing full well what she was walking into!"
"You didn't give her the chance to explain! Or repent!" Jack returned hotly, glaring at the cliath fiercely. His stare is returned in equal measure by Mercy, both unwilling to back down.
The stand-off is broken when a new voice joins in. "She didn't deserve a chance. She's the one who lead me into the Labyrinth."
