Aloy slowed her march as she approached her childhood home. She kneeled before the shrine marking Rost's grave. She breathed slowly, in and out, and set down her lance.
"I know what I need to do, now, Rost. I hope it will work." She sighed and held her head in her hand, feeling the edge of a headache threatening to take over. "Machines are getting out of control. But maybe we can fix Gaia, and she can bring the machines back under her control."
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see concern on Avad's face. "What's up?"
He turned to sit facing her. "A scout just arrived from Daytower. Erend and Talanah have been sent for us, but received a message while there. They witnessed bridges into Meridian being destroyed, then were told that the Shadow Carja had taken over the city. There are warrants out for our arrests."
Aloy stood up quickly. "How can you be so calm about this? How could that even happen?"
"I had to remain calm when I heard the news, because nobody recognizes me as Sun King Avad here."
"I wonder if this has anything to do with the attack at Daytower and Dawn's Sentinel." Aloy marched over to the cabin and swung the door open as she asked. She had entered the cabin quite a few times since Rost died, but she had kept everything in its place. This time, she shoved all of the wooden plates, cups, and knick-knacks off to the side of the main table. She reached up and pressed a finger to her Focus, and it projected a map onto the table.
"Daytower," Aloy pointed. "Dawn's Sentinel." Her finger moved up. "That cuts the Nora off from Carja lands."
"Are you suggesting it wasn't just the machines?"
"It couldn't have been. There must have been a lure somewhere, or something. This was a directed attack."
"The Shadow Carja aren't exactly thrilled with the idea of becoming allies with the Nora. It would make sense if they were behind this."
"We'll have to go around, through Devil's Grief." Aloy's finger traced along a path through Nora land. "We can stay hidden. I know the wilds like the back of my hand. And I can teach you how to use your Focus -"
Avad put a hand up to stop Aloy. "Aloy, Erend and Talanah are looking for us. The Shadow Carja are looking for us. I need to get back to Meridian and reclaim it. I will need your help."
Aloy stared incredulously at him. "Are you kidding me? We're completely cut off. For all we know, the way to Meridian is blocked by Shadow Carja. I have to go here," She pointed at a spot on the map that showed a small settlement in the Northern mountains. "Nobody will think to look for us at a run-down Banuk encampment."
"I understand, Aloy, but my first responsibility is for Meridian. I thought, as Protector, yours would be, too."
Aloy turned off the holographic map. "Excuse me?!" She stood arms akimbo. "You explicitly told me that being the Protector would not tie me to the city itself, but to you." She pointed in the general direction of Meridian. "My mission is bigger than your throne of rocks, and you know that. I can't just stop what I'm doing to babysit your royal ass when the fate of the whole world is in the balance!"
"I see our priorities are not aligned. As I see it, with the Shadow Carja in charge, every single person in this region is in danger, whether Carja, Banuk, Tenakth, Utaru, or Nora." With each tribe mentioned, Avad took a step closer to Aloy, landing an accusatory finger on her shoulder when he got to her tribe.
Aloy tightened her jaw, trying her hardest not to punch him in the face. Instead, she grabbed his wrist and forced his hand away from her. "I belong to no tribe, Avad. I serve the interests of all. Anyone who tries to push me into one group over another does not have anyone's best interests at heart except their own."
Avad stopped short of arguing back, a pained look on his face. "I see. Then I will return to Daytower and find Erend and Talanah. You're more than capable of accomplishing your plans without my help. May the sun shine upon your path." He gave a curt bow and made his way out the door.
Aloy froze. What did she just do? She knew she was right, but Avad seemed upset at what she said. She had hoped he would see how important her mission was, but he obviously cared more about Meridian's short-term safety than the long-term well-being of the entire planet. After the door closed behind Avad, she exhaled and slumped into a chair. "Damn. Why are men so short-sighted?"
A harsh growl escaped her lips and she stormed off into the bedroom, plopping down on her cot. She didn't know why this upset her so much. "Ugh. No. I don't have time to deal with relationships. Why did I even accept this Protector thing, anyway."
With a grunt, Aloy turned over and buried her face in her pillow, hoping to get enough sleep before setting off in the morning. However, her dreams only centered around the one person she didn't want to think about. Or, rather, the two people.
"This is exactly the kind of place I expected to find you in, Sylens."
"Thank you. Where's your companion?"
"Who, Kade?" Aloy shrugged.
"We both know that's not his name," Sylens replied, fiddling with a gadget in his hand.
"Whatever. What are you working on?"
"GAIA cannot be restored until HADES is destroyed. I can't let you do that." Sylens raised the device to point at Aloy, and it was too late when Aloy realized it was a weapon.
The sun was barely beginning to rise. Avad had spent the night in a Nora lodge, having been invited by Teersa. The news of Meridian sat poorly with him, so he did not sleep well. He had found a spot on a high watchtower to sit and watch the sunrise as he drank some tea. He found that when times were confusing, it helped to look back to make sense of what is to come.
"When did everything go wrong?" he whispered quietly to the clouds. "Did we hear any rumblings about the Shadow Carja still being active? No, but someone let Dervahl out. But why would Dervahl work with the Shadow Carja? Unless he's being held captive? How could they have gotten past the city's defenses to take it over?"
Avad took another sip from his tea and mulled over these questions. Before he could formulate a reasonable explanation for anything, he spotted two shadows walking down the path to Mother's Heart. He recognized the gait of the bigger one right away, and made his way down.
"It's about time you found me, Erend," Avad said, crossing his arms across his chest.
Erend looked at Avad with a cocked brow. "Uh… Um… Avad? Is that you? Damn, I hardly recognized you."
Avad held his finger over his lips. "Shhh, it's Kade now. A little birdie mentioned that Sun King Avad is a fugitive." He turned to Talanah, "Good morning, Sunhawk. We all have some catching up to do."
Erend held out a hand, "Now, hang on a minute. Where's Aloy? I thought she'd be with you?"
Avad groaned a bit and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ehhh, I guess that's part of the catching up."
"Uh, oh," Erend said, "I recognize that face. You two had a fight, didn't you. Honeymoon phase wearing off?"
Avad's cheeks flushed. "What?!"
Erend chuckled and held his hands up, "Nothing, nothing. Forget I said anything. Anyway, before we debrief, where's breakfast?"