I won't cry. I won't! It won't do for anyone to see Sarevok Perorate cry publicly.
Sarevok gritted his teeth, a painful knot in his throat. It was time to say goodbye to Ali and Allonia, who would start a journey to west and south. Allonia was smiling unusually gently, and Ali's face was alight with conflicting emotions. The other children just giggled in their games, entertained by the priest and bards of the temple of Tymora.
Ali walked to Sarevok, who, as gently as he could, picked the child in his arms. The brown eyes watching him with a mixture of joy and sadness. The timid little smile nowadays more and more ready on the little face. Sarevok cried a few tears after all.
- "Will you really miss me?" Ali asked.
- "Terribly," Sarevok replied gravely. He knew precisely how far away Calimport was from Kara-Tur. "But it is wonderful that you will get back to your father and mother."
- "Yes it is," the boy said. "But I will miss you. You all, but you especially. Even though you are a little bit scary."
- "Krhm. I have a little something that I hope will make these goodbyes a little less melancholic," Winski announced, seemingly very pleased with himself. He produced two balls of glittering, faceted crystal, humming with magic. They were the size of a small apple, and Winski handed one to Allonia and one to Ali.
- "Scrying balls," he proudly explained. "I tinkered a little and constructed them a few nights ago... they can be invoked once a day, and I have a similar one with us. It can create a connection to another ball, and it can be spoken and looked through for one hour. That way we can still know what is going on and so..."
- "This must have cost a fortune and been really difficult to make. Wow. What else can I say." Allonia's expression was warm, amused and impressed all at the same time.
- "Well, it was not that hard," Winski said.
- "Winski, you know you really suck at trying to be modest," Imoen grinned.
Sarevok, for his part, had buried his small-statured father inside his enormous hug.
- "This eases my heart so, father," he said. "I really ached knowing that I would probably never see Ali again. And now... I can see him and hear his voice and know how he is doing. I really thank you. This is a gift for me as well."
Allonia hugged Winski hard too.
- "I knew I couldn't stay with you for long," she murmured so that no-one else could hear. "I could see how she looks at me... I suppose she can't help feeling bad, and I don't want that. But I do hope we will see each other again."
- "Well, you are a free spirit if I ever saw one," Winski replied. "You could travel to Kara-Tur at some point."
- "I just might," Allonia grinned. "See what those... ninjas, Tamoko called them, are up to. Trade professional secrets."
Jelena saw the two embracing and couldn't help gritting her teeth a little. She understood that Allonia only wanted the best for them, and that Winski was as devoted to her as a man ever had been to his wife. But the unpleasant, inadequate feeling was not about knowing things. It was some dark, primal fear coming out of the misery of being such a shattered non-person in her previous life. Sometimes she felt disgust at the pathetic being she had been. She sighed. There was still work to do. To think of her life, to analyze her emotions, to commune with Ilmater. If she was unwilling to face her own demons, she could not offer honest spiritual aid to others. She had written a letter to Ali's parents, explained that Ali had been a victim of horrible abuse, and that it would do good to let a wise and kind priest help him if he seemed troubled. She supposed that traveling with Allonia, enjoying her easygoing, rough-around-the-edges personality, would heal Ali a lot.
- "Take good care of the little guy," Peri said. "Was nice meeting you. Sarry's first crush - the Bouncing Buttocks!"
Sarevok blushed deeply and glared at Peri, who made an innocent, wide-eyed grin. Allonia laughed heartily.
- "Goodbye, dearest friends. Have Shandaukul bless your journey," Jelena said, evoking the name of the god of winds and travel.
As they parted ways, and started their own journey to Sembia after donating the Vagabond to the temple of Tymora, Sarevok nevertheless was quiet and couldn't help crying a little.
Peri grabbed his hand and walked for a while without saying a word.
- "He is a little abused kid. The night before the great fight at the Throne of Bhaal you could admit to have been one and shared the memory with me without shame. Now you really cared for him and would even have wanted to father him, if that was an option. Can you see the significance of this?" she asked quietly.
Sarevok pondered it for a while.
- "I might, sister," he replied.
