Today is Azura's birthday! Makes me feel kind of bad about what I've put her through. Also, shoutout to GomuGomu for his incredibly kind reviews.
Severa
They were coming. They were coming and they were going to kill Severa and everyone else if they didn't run. But for some reason, she couldn't. Instead, she froze, panic overwhelming her senses and leaving her incapable of moving. She could hear her friend calling to her, shouting something that she couldn't quite make out.
"We have to go, now! It isn't gonna stay open much longer!" Someone else screamed in her ear, barely audible amidst the chaos unfurling around them. Dust billowed past her, getting caught in her hair and stinging her eyes. Temporarily blinded, she felt someone grab her hand and yank it, sending her falling backwards. Then, everything went white.
The whiteness faded, replaced with an oppressive darkness that left her unable to even see her own body. Her breathing was loud and ragged, only accompanied by the sound of her own heartbeat. She paused, looking around to see only pitch black. With her throat dry and her lips cracked, she shouted. "GUYS!?"
"Severa!?" Inigo could be heard somewhere to her left, groaning in pain. "Where are you? I can't see a damn thing!"
"This place is gloomier than my profit margins…" Anna could be heard somewhere in front of Severa, sounding rather annoyed. "I've still got my lantern! Lemme just…" Some sounds followed, likely Anna fishing through her supplies. "Aha! Found it!"
"H-Hold on!" Owain exclaimed. "I've got a fire tome! If I can just find the thing…" After a few more moments, they were finally graced with light as flame ignited above Owain's tome. It shone onto the crystals lining the cavern, lighting up the surrounding area and giving her a good look at the others. Before it could go out, he rushed to Anna's lantern and used it to light the candle inside, keeping the dark at bay.
The Outrealm Gate stood tall, unchanged, but the environment around it was different. This wasn't the same place they had come from, it couldn't have been. Where were the trees, the open sky, the others?
Upon reaching that thought, it became all Severa could focus on. She could see Inigo, already helping Anna to her feet in another one of his countless efforts to woo her. Owain was busy triumphing over his fire spell. Anna was giving Inigo a backhanded compliment, one that he seemed to shrug off with ease.
Nobody else was around. "Hey, guys?" Severa asked worriedly, getting the attention of the others. "Where is everyone?" They all took note of the absence of the rest of the group, the same creeping fear that was in her now sinking into them.
Anna gazed up at the high ceiling of the cavern, crystals hanging from it and glowing brightly from the lantern's light. As Severa looked around for some kind of exit, she knew that something was very, very wrong. "Where are we?"
"I still can't believe you're from another world!" Mitama exclaimed, walking next to Severa through the streets of the town. Angrily, Severa slapped her over the back of the head, making the girl whimper in pain.
"Quiet! Jeez, you're not very keen on subtlety, are you?" Taking a moment to calm down, Severa took a deep breath. "Just…don't go around shouting it on the mountaintop. We changed our names, even though we didn't need to; that's how cautious we've been. I'm not about to let you blow our cover because you don't know how to whisper."
"R-right," Mitama spoke in a much softer tone. "sorry, sorry." Severa sighed again before continuing.
"We don't know what happened to our friends. We all went through the gate at the same time, we were all headed to the same place, but they didn't show up here. Something must've gone wrong, and the gate wouldn't work anymore. We were stuck. So, we had to figure everything out, and fast. These people gave us some funny looks for the first few days we were here. Once those bandits attacked and we drove them off, they stopped giving us those looks."
"Anna didn't change her name, though…"
"Yeah, well, she's too damn proud of it. She said something about how she 'refuses to soil the Anna name by throwing it away', or something like that. We couldn't convince her, so we just had to let her do whatever she liked. We needed someone to stay here in case the gate started back up, and she was more than happy to fill the role. I think she just wanted to open up another shop as quickly as possible."
"So, wait, you came from the future?" Mitama's excitement could barely be contained. "Just like us!?"
"Yes, but not really." Severa found she sighed a lot when she was talking to this girl. "Yeah, we were traveling back in time. Basically, our world went to shit, and we didn't have any way of fixing it. So we were gonna use the Outrealm Gate – sorry, Dragon's Gate – to go back in time and fix things. We didn't use Deeprealms or any of that, we took a more direct route. Problem is, the four of us didn't wind up at our intended destination."
"Jeez…so you've been stranded here for years, not knowing what happened to your friends? That sounds awful…"
"Yeah, it does. So don't remind me." The response came off as a bit meaner than Severa intended. She knew the girl really did feel bad for her. Then again, she also hated being pitied. Mitama went quiet after that, which she was grateful for.
Why on earth did they have to go shopping for a blanket? Sure, the green-haired bean sprout caught a cold, but Severa found it absurd that Anna somehow had no blankets on hand. It cost her an arm and a leg too; it was rather obnoxious to learn that the absurdly high prices in these shops hadn't changed since her last visit. No wonder Anna had flourished here.
The hairs on Severa's neck stood up, forcing her to stop as her instincts screamed at her that something was wrong. Her hand reflexively reached down to her sheathed blade, gripping the handle tightly. Mitama had stopped as well, noticing the sudden caution she was displaying. That's when someone came from the shadows of an alley, hand axe swinging down at the Hoshidan.
Severa unsheathed her blade, swinging right at the attack and knocking the assailant back. Upon getting a good look at the attacker, she cursed under her breath. Beruka stood up straight, the grip on her axe so tight that her knuckles were white. "Beruka, drop the weapon." She tried to keep her voice steady as she stepped between her friend and Mitama. Glancing behind her, she motioned for the girl to run. There was a moment's hesitation, but Mitama obeyed, escaping.
Beruka tried to pursue, but Severa moved so that she was once again between them. "Selena. You…you betrayed Lady Camilla?" Though her voice was monotone, Severa could hear the rage inside, barely contained.
"I betrayed a sociopath who had ordered us to slaughter people for no good reason. I don't kill kids, Beruka. And it's Severa, by the way." Beruka seemed to want to gouge her right then and there, but she hesitated. "Listen, we're still friends. I hate you a lot less than I hate most people. Plus, I've studied the way you fight. So how about you drop the axe?" A quick survey of the surrounding area showed that any villagers that had been in the area had quickly fled. Good; it meant she wouldn't have to hold back.
"I've been studying you too. Don't forget that." Beruka didn't want to fight, that much was clear. But at the same time, it was equally clear that she wanted to chop Severa to pieces for what she did.
"I'm not gonna ask again, Beruka. Drop the damn axe." Holding her sword out to illustrate her point, Severa tightened her own grip, ready to retaliate should Beruka rush at her. Luckily for her, that was exactly what happened. As Beruka swung at her, Severa swung under the head of the axe, catching it with her sword and sending Beruka's arm back, forcing her to step away to avoid breaking her arm.
The counterattack didn't work for long, as Beruka was quickly charging for another attack, swinging upwards. Backstepping, Severa kicked, hitting the retainer's kneecap and sending her to one knee. Before she could follow her attack with another, Beruka sprung up to her feet and at Severa, headbutting her in the chin and making her bite her tongue.
Severa stumbled back, tasting blood as she wiped her mouth with her arm. Getting an idea, she kept walking backwards, Beruka approaching slowly and cautiously. Bumping into a merchant's stand, she reached back with her free hand and grabbed the first thing she could find, throwing it. The item, a cooking pot, went flying right at Beruka, forcing the assassin to duck and giving Severa time to close the gap and attempt another attack.
As Severa swung down, Beruka rolled out of the way, getting back up to her feet in a flash and charging yet again. Damnit, how was she supposed to get a decent swing in when Beruka was being so damn aggressive? Severa held up her blade and deflected the blow, but Beruka corrected herself before she could leave an opening, swinging again and forcing her to stay on the defensive.
As Severa deflected and parried blow after blow, she noticed that Beruka's breathing had gotten heavier. She saw the beads of sweat running down her brow. She must've wasted no time in getting from Izumo to here, never stopping to eat or drink or sleep. That meant she was even more exhausted than Severa was. With this knowledge in mind, she kept deflecting Beruka's blows, waiting her out. It didn't take long for the attacks to become slower, sloppier, with openings that became wider and longer.
Finally, Severa took advantage, grabbing Beruka's wrist and squeezing tight, leaning in and slamming her forehead against the assassin's. The pain was unbearable, but at least she had time to prepare for it, unlike Beruka, who crumpled to the ground, clutching her head in agony. Severa then swung her leg out, her foot connecting harshly with Beruka's face, sending her down onto her back.
Taking a step closer, Severa raised her blade, ready to strike down. Then, she saw Beruka's face. The girl looked up at her with a cut on her forehead, blood dripping down to the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were filled with anger, but there was a grief to them that Severa hadn't expected. It was as if they were asking her why she did it, why she betrayed her trust. She had hurt Beruka in a way she didn't think she even could, and the realization of that made her hesitate. Grunting in frustration, she flipped her blade in her hand, striking down with the pommel and connecting with Beruka's head, knocking her out.
She took a few moments to catch her breath, sheathing her weapon and prying Beruka's axe from her hands, strapping it to her belt. She couldn't just leave her here; she was as much a danger to the villagers as she was to Severa and the others. "Damnit Beruka…" She bent down, and with a deep exhale, lifted the girl up, hoisting her over her shoulder. Remembering when she had carried a drunken, unconscious Soleil back to camp, she sighed. "Why do I always gotta carry people around?" Stumbling a bit before regaining her balance, she headed off to the Dragon's Gate, trying to ignore the concerned looks she was getting. And here she had thought they had gotten past the point of getting looks from these people.
Leo
The sight of Lilly's body was not a pleasant one. That was coming from Leo, someone who'd immersed himself in dark magic, fought brutal battles, and had executed his fair share of prisoners. How had Azura even managed to do this sort of damage? The wound she had left was more indicative of a brigand with an axe, not a frail girl with a chunk of wood. Camilla had already taken her away by the time they had arrived, leaving them with nothing to go off of aside from the scene of the incident and an inconsolable Azura's story that had been passed on to them.
Xander seemed to be equally mortified. "Azura did…this?" Leo found it hard to tell if his brother was worried more about Azura or for the safety of others. "I never thought her capable of such brutality."
"She was acting in self-defense." Leo reminded. "If it were any of us, we would've likely done worse." That may have been somewhat of an exaggeration, but his point stood, nonetheless. "I can't even imagine what kind of trauma she must have gone through. She never did have many friends, and for her most cherished friend to try and murder her…I can honestly understand why she reacted so brutally."
Xander sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "I'm more worried about what this will do to her from a legal standpoint than an emotional one. If the wounds were less severe, it would be easy to claim it was self-defense. But this makes it easy for one to claim Azura may have been the aggressor." He had a point, unfortunately. Murdering a royal was one of the highest crimes in Nohr, punishable by a slow, painful death. Of course, if Azura could prove it was in self-defense, she would be fine, but as Xander said, it certainly didn't look like that's what it was.
"We have Camilla's word to go off of, at least. That should help." Leo reasoned, his brother nodding. It was surprising how quickly Camilla had returned; it was a good thing as well, considering what may have happened to her otherwise. "So much has changed so quickly. It seems everybody we know is showing their true colors. First Peri, now Lilly…" He blinked, realizing that Peri likely wasn't a good subject to discuss. "My apologies. I know you must still be—"
Xander interrupted. "What happened to Peri was regrettable. When I recruited her, I…I truly did believe I could help her." Leo couldn't even begin to imagine how crushing it must have been. Peri was the daughter of nobility, her apathetic parents wanting nothing to do with the process of raising her. They let her have whatever she liked and let her do whatever she liked with no consequence, just to avoid dealing with her. When her mother was killed by an assassin posing as a household servant, things turned for the worse.
Xander had been visiting Peri's father when he learned of her. She had developed terrible tendencies, such as throwing tantrums over the slightest thing going wrong, often becoming needy and irritating, and killing the occasional maid who she didn't like. Her excuse was that they reminded her too much of the one who had killed her mother. He decided to offer her father the opportunity to place her under his charge, hoping to put her on the right path. It was the one thing reminding Leo that his brother still had hope.
"Perhaps…" Leo paused, taking a breath. "Perhaps we should leave it to Camilla to tell Elise. She always was the best at breaking bad news." He said he was going to stay by her. He still was going to. He just…couldn't bear to see the look on her face when she would find out. She never knew Lilly particularly well, but she would mourn nonetheless, because she simply hated her family being hurt, no matter who they were.
Xander nodded once again. "Perhaps that would be for the best." Even as they agreed, Leo couldn't help but feel like everything they did was driving them further away from their sisters, no matter how good their intentions were. Camilla had very visibly and purposefully kept them away from Azura. Elise, no matter how much Leo tried to help, was still carrying the weight of everything around her. Azura was just out of his reach, just beyond his help. It felt like they just kept drifting further apart. What would happen when they became out of reach?
Leo tried again in the morning to talk to Azura, but when he knocked on the door to her room in Krakenburg, Camilla emerged, adamant about their sister needing space. Xander had no time to spare for conversation, his time spent in Lilly's estate having already left him with plenty of extra work piling up. His retainers were both busy with various tasks and responsibilities. This left him in quite the predicament, as he found himself having a need to talk to someone for the first time in a long time.
Eventually, this desperation sent Leo to someone he would have never gone to willingly under any other circumstance. "My, my." Nyx mused, a cocky grin etched onto her face. "I expected you to come crawling back for more, but I certainly wouldn't have guessed you'd come back so soon. How long has it been? Two days?" She barely glanced up at him as she flipped passively through the script of a play.
Leo began to speak. "I'm here because Azura—"
Nyx's interruption was swift and harsh. "I'm fully aware of what happened to Azura. I swear, rumors in Castle Krakenburg travel faster than light. Though, I suppose that's to be expected. The more things change, the more they stay the same."
"Something strange happened, something I can't quite figure out. I've tried to ask Azura, but my elder sister refuses to let anyone see her."
Letting out an amused chuckle, Nyx flipped another page of her book. "Ah, that makes sense." Leo raised an eyebrow, but it was doubtful she even noticed. "Let me guess: you're wondering how Azura managed to bash her sister's head in? How she was able to summon that sort of strength? Who's to say that's unnatural, however? I mean, you've seen how easily a watermelon can be broken, and it's remarkably similar to a human skull."
"Azura's no fighter. She's never received any kind of combat training. I do remember her having somewhat of an affinity for magic, but I don't believe that was ever developed. So how was she able to overpower Lilly, someone who I know for a fact has had combat training and has gone through her fair share of assassination attempts?"
Leo's question was answered with another question. "How did she fight off around a half dozen trained assassins on her own? She seems far more capable than you realize." The smug look on Nyx's face made it clear as day that she knew exactly how. "Oh, and here's the most intriguing question." She turned her head to face him, slightly leaning towards him. "Why did only one of those dead assassins have a wound from a weapon? The others had no visible wounds whatsoever. Quite curious, don't you think?"
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Leo sighed. "I've had enough of you keeping your secrets. It's time to start talking, or I'll send you back to the guillotine." He wasn't very proud of resorting to threats at that moment, but he was desperate.
"I call your bluff." Nyx glared at him, her grin fading. "If I die, all the secrets I know die with me. Then you'll be left in the dark until it's too late."
"Too late for what?"
Nyx seemed to find that question particularly amusing. "Oh, it's just so adorable when I see that look of confusion on your face. I wish I could capture it, but I'm no artist." Looking back to her book, she paused for a moment. "Oh, I suppose I can be charitable and give you at least a little bit of help." She flipped another page. "How is it that your father knows these things? Who, or, I suppose I should say 'what', gave him this knowledge?"
What did she mean by that? Leo tried to reflect on it, thinking of the ways her question could be interpreted. After a moment, an idea came to him. "You can't mean…Bölverk?"
An almost malicious giggle escaped Nyx's lips. "Well, well, look at you, placing the puzzle pieces together. Divine Weapons are sentient after all, though the level of sentience isn't quite the same. I mean, the Fujin Yumi is much more 'alive' than Siegfried is, for example. However, all eight of them are still driven by the same purpose, the same desire. This purpose was etched into their very being by the one who created them. I suppose it's not too much of a leap to assume your father wishes to achieve this purpose?"
"What does he want to do? What is he trying to achieve?" Leo could feel his heart racing, a mixture of fascination and dread filling his chest as Nyx began to slowly spill out her secrets.
Nyx clicked her tongue, wagging a finger. "Ah ah ah, I can't let you know everything. Not until I get what I want out of you. Though, I suppose I can leave you with two more questions to really get your mind racing. First," She held up a finger. "who's wielding Bölverk now? And second…" She held up another finger. "Why has this person suddenly gained such an interest in Azura?"
Camilla? What did she have to do with all of this? If father learned the truth of the Divine Weapons from Bölverk, and Camilla now had it in her possession, then she must've found out what was really going on. With that knowledge, Leo found Nyx's second question to be far more worrying.
Azura
"It's alright, now." Azura had lost track of the number of times Camilla had said that to her, but she still felt like she needed to hear it one more time. Curled up on her bed, washed up and in a new set of clothes thanks to her sister, she found it hard to muster up the desire to do anything. She couldn't stop thinking about Lilly; what she had said, what she had done, what Azura had done to her, it wouldn't stop replaying over and over in her mind.
Camilla gently set a hand on Azura's shoulder, rubbing it. "Lilly's retainer has been imprisoned. All of her servants are being monitored. You're safe now. Everything's okay." Azura knew this wasn't true, but she wanted to believe her sister. She wanted those soothing words to really mean something and not just exist as empty promises. "She can't hurt you anymore."
Only because Azura hurt her first. Only because she killed her. She found herself clutching her pendant tightly, her hand trembling. The memory was a blur whenever she tried to focus on any part of it aside from her sister, but she knew that something had happened to it. It was glowing, something it only ever did if she sang. Something it only ever did if she used its magic.
Was that what happened? Her throat didn't hurt, but perhaps she was still too busy stumbling through her guilt and grief and terror to truly notice. Her heart still felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. "Your pendant." Camilla's voice startled her, making her look up into her sister's eyes. She looked so caring, so kind. "May I see it?" After some deliberation, Azura nodded, letting go of it. Her sister grabbed it with delicate fingers, running her thumb over the gem contained within. "It's simply beautiful. I still wonder where your mother got it."
"It was a family heirloom." Azura's voice was still soft and dry, supported by a desire to speak that was almost nonexistent. She found it hard to muster up the enthusiasm to even answer Camilla's questions.
"Ah, I see. That makes sense." Camilla seemed somewhat lost in her own mind, still running her thumb over the gem. "It truly is a treasure. So much power in something so small." Azura felt her breath get caught in her throat. She opened her mouth to speak, but Camilla continued before she could. "Oh yes, I know about its power. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." She offered a reassuring smile before returning her attention to the pendant. "What did your mother tell you about it?"
It was strange, hearing Camilla so curious about the pendant. Still, she cared so much about Azura. She had been so kind, she was the one who had kept telling her everything was okay. Azura remembered Lilly again, and she wanted to wretch. "She…didn't tell me much. Just that if I sang to it, it would keep me safe."
Breathing out a sigh of pity, Camilla gently shook her head. "She must not have had enough time to tell you more; what it is, its name…"
"It has a name?"
Camilla nodded. "It is called Dísir. This pendant is so much more than you think it is, Azura. It's important. I'm glad you have it; I couldn't think of anyone I would trust more to keep it safe." Azura mouthed the name.
"How do you know this? Why…" It was strange; Azura couldn't understand why Camilla was telling her this, but she still trusted her. "Why are you telling me this, now?"
"I only learned recently. As for how, I'm afraid I can't tell you. All will be made clear soon though, I promise." Camilla let go of the pendant and moved her hand to Azura's cheek, tilting her head so that they were looking eachother in the eye. "I need you to listen carefully. Can you do that?" There was a worry to her voice, one that wasn't there before. Azura nodded. "Father has been lying to us. Keeping things from us. He's the reason Lilly did what she did. You know that, right?"
What was Camilla talking about? Of course father was keeping secrets, but the way she was talking about it made it sound like it was far worse than she knew. Was she wrong, though? Lilly tried to kill Azura because father had never paid attention to her, never loved her. She thought it would have earned her recognition. Why couldn't he have just said something to her, looked at her? As Azura thought of her sister, the image of what she had done to her reemerged, making her wince.
"Listen to what I'm about to say very carefully. You can not trust father. He does not care about you. He does not care about me. As soon as we've fulfilled our roles, he'll toss us out. You can't trust him, nor anyone else. I'm the only person you can trust. Do you understand?" What was going on? What was so serious that Camilla was acting like this so suddenly? "You sent that letter to me. You didn't even know if I had returned yet, but you trusted me enough to believe I would receive your letter anyways. Did I let you down?"
"N-no." At first, Azura had regretted addressing it to Camilla. After all, she knew that her sister was out on a mission. Why did she think she would get it? But she did, she did, and she came, and she embraced her and told her everything was alright.
"Of course I didn't. I didn't let you down then, and I won't let you down now. You can trust me, so trust me when I'm telling you that you can't rely on anyone else, not right now. I'm here for you, and I'll keep you safe." That wasn't true though, right? She had Shigure, she could trust him. But Shigure could only do so much, being forced to operate in the shadows. He couldn't keep her truly safe, not like Camilla would.
"Camilla, what's going on? What's happening?"
"I can't tell you. Not yet. I've requested for us to meet father. I'll show you just how much he's been hiding from you. You'll understand, soon. For now, you need to rest. Can you do that for me, Azura?" There was too much happening too fast. She couldn't handle something like this, not now. Not when she still couldn't get Lilly out of her mind. So she nodded, deciding to just follow along with what Camilla wanted.
Smiling in relief, Camilla moved her hand away. "Thank you, Azura. I need to go now, but I'll be back. Just know that I won't be far. You'll be alright now." Azura didn't want her to leave, but she nodded again, feeling her hands start to tremble once more. Her sister gave her one last sympathetic look before exiting the room, leaving her alone and once again terribly frightened.
Azura wasn't sure how long it was before there was a knocking on her door. "Azura?" Leo spoke, opening the door and stepping inside. "Azura, are you alright?" She almost looked up at him, but she found the idea of it to be too much to muster the energy for, so instead, she just stared ahead as usual. "I tried to see you sooner, but Camilla insisted you needed time to yourself." He walked over to her bedside, kneeling so that they were at eye level.
"I'm fine." Azura lied, her voice delicate and fragile. "I'm alright." Leo paused in deliberation, his lips pursing.
"Has…has Camilla said anything strange to you? Anything that sounded odd?" The question confused Azura. How did Leo know? Why did he want to know? Camilla had told her not to trust anyone but her; did that extend to Leo as well? "Azura, I need to know if she's been acting strangely."
"I…" She swallowed, blinking rapidly to try and expel the hints of tears from her eyes. "I thought you wanted to see if I was okay. Wasn't that why you came?"
"I do want to see if you're okay, but I—"
"You don't care, do you?" Her accusation silenced Leo, who looked at her with concern. "You never cared if I was okay. You just want to get information out of me, and then you'll leave. Isn't that right? If you really cared, you wouldn't have brought me here."
His voice softening, he glanced down. "Azura, I…you know I didn't mean to…"
"Didn't mean to do what, Leo?" Her voice was still soft, but it was quivering more and more with every word she spoke. "Didn't mean to bring me back to this place? Didn't mean to make me a target? Didn't mean to lock up my friends, knowing they could have died? Didn't mean to let Lilly try to murder me?" Blinking no longer helped dispel her tears. "Everything that's happened is your fault, Leo. I never wanted to come here, but you forced me to come anyways. Why should I believe you care about me?" Camilla was right. Azura couldn't trust Leo. Just like father, all he wanted to do was use her. He probably only brought her back to gain favor with father.
Silence filled the voice that Leo's lack of a response left. Azura wasn't sure if he was deciding on an answer, or if he simply had nothing to say. "Did…" He stopped, clearing his throat. "Did Camilla tell you that?" Her heart threatened to burst, anger running through her arteries and out to her body.
"Get out." Her voice was low and dangerous. Leo tried to say something, but she stopped him, looking right at him and repeating herself. "Get. Out." She was going to kill him. By the gods, if he didn't get out, she was going to kill him. She was so sick and tired of everybody using her, manipulating her, endangering her, just to achieve their own ends. He was no different, and she wanted to kill him for it. She wasn't sure if she was telling him to leave for her own sake or for his, because she felt like she was inches away from trying to tear his throat out.
Azura's intent must have come across to him, because he carefully and quietly stood up, walking to the door. As he opened it and began to step out, he paused, glancing back at her. "I'm…sorry."
Azura's voice was barely audible as she spoke. "I don't care." He left after that, and she was alone once more. That was when she noticed that her pendant had been glowing again. Its light diminished as she grabbed it, holding it up to look at it. Had Leo seen it? Did he know something about it? As the light vanished fully, Azura kept looking at it, repeating its name once more. "Dísir…"