After the travelers left the church behind, they opted to do what they usually did when their main business in a town was finish: split up to spend time on their own. For Primrose, this meant going to a bridge near the center of Saintsbridge to admire the gentle flow of the river that pulsed through the town. She could smell the salty air of the ocean below, and a gentle breeze rustled through her hair all the while. After all the activity of the day, she needed a break, and this seemed like the perfect chance to get it.

"Hey, Prim."

The dancer perked up at the sound of her name, and she turned to see Alfyn walking over to her. "Alfyn," she greeted casually, rising to her full height for a moment. "What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way out of town to try and get some herbs from the forest near here, but I saw you along the way and figured I'd say hello," Alfyn explained. He leaned over the railing next to her, and Primrose returned to her previous position of hunching over as well. For a long time, neither one of them spoke, but Alfyn broke the silence to face her. "How are you holdin' up?"

Primrose couldn't hold back her shock at his words, and she turned to look at him with a light frown on her face. "What do you mean?" she asked warily.

"I know that a lot has been happenin' today, and I wanted to make sure that you were okay with it," Alfyn told her. "It's just... I know that the topic of dead parents is a tough one for you, and I wanted to make sure that you were alright with it all."

Primrose hesitated for a moment before she nodded. "Yeah... I'm fine," she assured him. She knew that she was only feeling so alright about this because Ophilia was the primary one who had taken care of Derryl. If Primrose had been pushed to do that, she knew that she never would have felt as neutral as she did now. She knew just how brutal the idea of grief could be, and she had seen it a thousand different times in a thousand different ways, but the first time she had ever understood it, then it had been with her mother.

"It's sad, isn't it?" Alfyn asked after a few more beats of silence. "Thinkin' that a kid so young lost everything without ever really having a chance to understand what it's like to grow up with a family."

Primrose nodded. "Children deserve to have their parents around... And I wish that Derryl didn't have to face the world alone now that his mother is gone," she murmured. In the back of her mind, she wished that her mother had been there to help her through the struggles of the world. She didn't have anything to hold her mother close either, and for a fleeting moment, Primrose wished that she had even something small to remember Dahlia Azelhart by.

Alfyn stared down at the rushing water, and he sighed before shaking his head. "My mother passed away not long ago. I still think about her a lot. The last thing I did before leavin' Clearbrook was go to talk to her," he said. "I wish that she was still around to look after me, but..."

"She's not," Primrose finished for him, and Alfyn nodded. She wished that she had more to add, but she knew that it wasn't going to be that simple. No words could ever quite encompass the grief she had come to know all too well over her many years of life, and that included her thoughts on Dahlia.

Alfyn nodded. "Yeah... Exactly," Alfyn murmured. He continued to wash the flow of the river below before turning to look at Primrose. "I'm sorry that your parents were taken from you so early... You deserved better than that."

Primrose reached for the dagger hanging at her hip, and she touched it gently before finding the courage to pull the blade free of its sheath. She stared at the steel for a long moment before sighing. "I'm going to make sure that the men behind my father's death pay," she whispered. "After all they did... I'm going to find the other two, and I'll make sure they see justice."

"Is that what you really want though?" Alfyn questioned. Primrose looked over to him, and his expression immediately shifted to panic. "I-I didn't mean for that to come out! I-Ignore me!"

"No... It's alright," Primrose assured him, though the tension remained firmly knotted in his shoulders. She looked down at the dagger in her grasp once again. "If I'm being honest... I haven't known what I want to do with myself for quite a while. Nothing seems to make sense the way it used to."

"You've been lookin' for revenge for so long though... I would have thought that this is what you want," Alfyn remarked. He sighed before shaking his head a moment later. "But you've seemed less sure of it since we were in Stillsnow."

"That's because I haven't been sure of it since then," Primrose confessed. "I used to think that revenge was my only reason for being. If the dead couldn't avenge themselves, then I was going to ensure that they found justice one way or another. But... Being here with all of you... It's shown me that maybe there's a bit more to my life than just a need for vengeance."

Alfyn nodded his understanding. "I get it," he said softly. "Just... No matter what you decide to do next, revenge or not, the rest of us are goin' to be here for you. All you have to do is say the word."

Primrose blinked away the tears in her eyes before they could properly form. "Thank you," she whispered, releasing the words like they were the most delicate prayer to ever be constructed. She swallowed dryly, trying her best to stay grounded. "I miss them every day."

"Yeah... I miss my ma too," Alfyn admitted. He looked up to the skies, watching as the clouds rolled by overhead. "I don't think I could ever not miss her. The people we love may be gone, but... We're never going to forget them. As long as we're still here, we can keep their memory alive."

"It's not quite like having them still here with us though... Nothing ever could be," Primrose told him even though she knew he already understood. Nothing would ever be able to fill the gap left behind by the deaths of her parents, and she had felt the hole in her chest each day she awoke ever since Dahlia's body was lowered into the grounds of the Noblecourt graveyard a lifetime ago.

"No... You're right," Alfyn confirmed. He reached out and took her hand in his own, and she held her dagger tightly with her other hand before turning to face him. "It's okay to miss them... And I know you do."

Primrose closed her eyes a moment later, feeling her fingers start to tremble around the hilt of her dagger. She would do anything to have her parents back with her, but she knew that she couldn't ever reverse the flow of time to return her life to the way it once had been. For now, all she could do was remember them, and even that never quite felt like enough. Nothing ever felt like it was enough.

"Do you want to talk about them?" Alfyn questioned a moment later. His hand tightened its grip around hers, a passive gesture of solidarity that Primrose appreciated more than words could ever hope to express. "Your parents, I mean. It might not seem like much, but... Maybe talking about it would make you feel a little bit better."

Primrose's eyes went wide. "I thought you were going to gather herbs near town," she remarked in place of a proper answer.

Alfyn shrugged loosely. "I think that can wait a bit longer. Besides... We've got at least four more hours before the sun goes down," he answered. "If you want to talk, I'd be happy to listen."

Primrose stared at him for a long moment before she allowed herself to smile. "Yeah... I would like that. Thanks, Alfyn."

"It's no problem at all," Alfyn beamed back.

"So... Are you going to do it?"

Ophilia had known the question was coming, but that didn't mean she was ready to face it. She looked up from where she was looking through her things for a needle and thread. A hole had appeared in her bag, and that meant that she had to stitch it up before the group got on the road again. Deep down though, she knew that this was little more than an excuse. She had to go and speak with Bartolo now that everything with Derryl and Emil had been resolved, but her anxiety had come back full force when she wasn't paying attention.

However, Tressa had been paying attention, and the merchant was watching Ophilia carefully as she sat down on her bed in the inn. "I'm going to head back to the church later tonight," Ophilia replied, ignoring the way her heart skipped a beat in her chest. "I should try to fix up my bag before going though."

"You're nervous, aren't you?" Tressa questioned, not bothering with any small talk before getting to the heart of the point. "You don't know what he's going to tell you, and you're scared that it's not going to be something you'll like."

Ophilia hesitated before biting down on her lip, working the skin between her teeth for a long moment in the silence. "I have no idea what he's going to tell me... You're right," she murmured. "I know that I have to listen to what he has to say though. This is the only way I'm going to be able to find out the truth, and I have to hear him out before we leave town."

"You can go and see him now then," Tressa suggested. "The sooner that you can get it over with, the sooner you can consider this taken care of and squared away. You won't need to worry about it if you go to talk to him as quickly as possible."

Ophilia sighed and closed her eyes. "I have to wonder if I'm going to be ready to hear it," she whispered. "He's going to tell me what he knows about the war that ended with my entire village being murdered. I don't know what that's going to lead to. How can I just sit there when I know what happened? How can I face the past when I have no idea what I'm going to find?"

"You might not know what you're going to stumble into, but... You're still going to be fine," Tressa assured her. "You're not in this alone anymore. All of us are here, and even if you hear awful things about your hometown whenever you go there to talk to him... You're not going to have to face it alone. We're going to help you through it no matter what."

Ophilia swallowed dryly at her words. "Thank you, Tressa... I appreciate it," she said softly. She fell silent for a few beats before shaking her head and speaking once again. "I never thought that I was going to even have the strength to wonder about this... I was afraid of looking back for so long. It scared me to acknowledge what had happened to me beyond what I already had to do."

"But now that you are wondering, you won't be able to make yourself stop. There's a lot on your mind, and that's okay. You're going to regret it if you don't go out there and ask while you have the chance. No matter what you hear or what you happen to realize while you're here, the rest of us are going to do what we can to help you," Tressa reminded her. "We did it after you found out that Aelfric saved you, and we're going to do it again now. We wouldn't give you a choice even if you didn't want us to help you."

Ophilia let out a wet laugh at that, and she found herself rubbing at her eyes without even realizing that she had started crying to begin with. "I don't know what I would do without you guys," she admitted softly. "You're all amazing to me... Thank you for this, Tressa. I think I really needed a push in the right direction."

"Of course. We're all gonig to be here to catch you the same way that we've been there for everybody else. You don't have anything to fear," Tressa assured her with a grin. "If you want me to, I could even come with you to the cathedral to talk to Bishop Bartolo. I'm sure that he wouldn't mind if I came along."

Ophilia thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No... I think this is something I need to do alone," she said. "This isn't anything against you, I assure you. I just know that I can't keep running away forever, and... I want to face this myself."

"That's okay," Tressa replied. "But when you come back, I'd be more than happy to talk to you about it. Everybody would. Maybe we can even go out for dinner at the local tavern to help you feel better. I think you're going to need the emotional breather after a conversation like that anyways."

Ophilia nodded, knowing that Tressa was right. "I'd like that," she agreed with a smile. "I just hope that I'll be able to face Quarrycrest after what I hear tonight... After all, it was the war between Saintsbridge and Quarrycrest that caused all of this to happen, and we're going to have to stay in town for at least a day after traveling tomorrow."

"Plus, Cyrus thinks there's a shrine in the area, so we'll have to take care of that fight before we go ahead with anything else," Tressa confirmed. "I think that it would be best if you worked everything out when it comes to your thoughts on both towns before we head out."

"In that case, I think the decision has been made," Ophilia declared. She pushed herself to her feet, setting her bag aside. She could take care of the hole later, when she wasn't desperately trying to find an excuse that would keep her from reaching out to Bartolo. For the time being, she had much more important things to do.

"I'll look forward to seeing you again later tonight," Tressa grinned. She waved to Ophilia, and the cleric returned the gesture before walking out of the room.

Ophilia sighed to herself once she had closed the door. She couldn't escape this forever, and the time had come for her to face her past with everything she had. Answers were finally wtihin her grasp, and she couldn't let them go now.

Within the inn room, Tressa closed the distance between herself and Ophilia's bag before starting to dig through it. As soon as her fingers closed around Ophilia's sewing kit, she pulled it out and moved to retrieve the needle and thread the cleric kept within. It wasn't much, but the least Tressa could do was try to help Ophilia out a little bit, and repairing her bag felt like the perfect step. It would be a nice surprise for when Ophilia returned from the cathedral.

Tressa could only hope in the meantime that whatever Ophilia found didn't do too much to harm her heart, mind, and soul.

With Alfyn out for the afternoon to gather as many wild herbs as he could find, Therion was alone in the hotel room they were sharing. It was the same arrangement as always, and Therion was glad for the familiarity. After all, he needed stability outside of his head given how much his mind was whirling following the events of the day up to that point.

It was ridiculous for him to get so upset about this. Two children forgiving one another didn't matter to him. It shouldn't have mattered at all. He was better than getting caught up in things like this. He knew he was. Derryl's situation with Emil had nothing to do with what had happened to Therion in the past. He was being foolish.

Therion gritted his teeth before sighing heavily and squeezing his fingers into a tight fist. A lifetime ago, he had adored a friendship that reminded him just a bit too much of Derryl and Emil's dynamic. He and Darius had been the best of friends, and Therion had been happy for all the years that they were together. There had been nothing better for him than simply thriving at Darius' side. Therion's life had been full of misery and agony before that, and he had been given no choice but to pull himself forward on his own after the death of his mother, but Darius had changed all of that.

Saintsbridge had been where they first met too. No wonder Therion was so upset about all of this. Darius had first formed their team beneath the ground of the town in the prisons hidden in the earth below, and Therion had finally felt home for the first time since his mother had passed away. He wasn't alone anymore, and he had believed with everything he had that he was going to be alright. After all of his struggles, he was finally going to survive and find a place to thrive.

But all of that had changed. Darius wasn't with him anymore, and as far as Therion was concerned, it was good riddance. He never wanted to see Darius' face ever again... But at one point, that hadn't been the case. He had yearned to hear an apology from Darius the same way that Derryl had said sorry to Emil on the way back from the Murkwood. Therion dreamed of what it would be like for everything to finally go back to the way that it had been before, when he could finally be happy with normalcy once more.

That wasn't going to happen ever again though. Therion was no longer as naive as he once had been, and he couldn't ever return to how he had been before all of this fell apart, before he was torn away from the past that he had cherished so dearly. He could think about it if he wanted to, but there was nothing that he could do to fix the damage that had been written into his body and mind. Darius was gone, and Therion couldn't go back. Of course he couldn't go back. He had a better place to be than with Darius.

Therion still couldn't believe what he had stumbled into. He had needed them for a heist a lifetime ago, and now, Therion was on the road with the rest of the travelers on a journey that may or may not have led to saving the world. He hadn't expected it before, but he was happy with it much to his own shock. At one point, Therion was sure that he would have taken off the instant that he had the choice to do so, but now, he knew better than that. He was happy where he was, and it was a joy that he knew he would have never been able to see himself sharing with Darius.

Therion stared down at his hands with a bitter frown. He was happy here, so why couldn't he get over all of this? He should have been able to press on with life without thinking about it, but the instant he saw Derryl and Emil, he yearned for something he knew he was never going to have. Even if he wanted to repair his relationship with Darius, that wasn't possible anymore, and Therion would never be able to stoop himself to the level of apologizing. He didn't even have to apologize for anything to begin with. Darius was the one that had broken everything they had, and Therion had no intentions of giving his former friend the chance to bridge the gap that he had created between them.

Saintsbridge was simply too nostalgic for him, it seemed. So long ago, he had wanted to repair everything that had broken between him and Darius, and it seemed that coming back here only made him slide backwards into the bad habits that he had been trying to shatter. All he wanted now was to curl up in a corner and wait until he stopped thinking about the disaster that was his doomed past with Darius.

Therion's gaze eventually concentrated itself on the bangle wrapped around his wrist. That was the reason that he was here to begin with. He was happy with the rest of the group, but he still knew that he wouldn't have been here at all if not for starting to travel with the other members of his group. The metal was irritating to him in a thousand different ways, among them the fact that it was a sign of his failures. Darius would have never let him forget it if he found out that Therion had fallen short this way to begin with.

If he could get the bangle off, then he could throw this entire journey out the window, couldn't he? Therion would never have to set foot in Saintsbridge again, and he could forget everything about this damn city existing. Heathcote had trapped him here because of his pride, but Therion could get away from it if he wanted to. All he had to do was get this bangle off and stop thinking about Saintsbridge and the relationship that had healed and destroyed his life deep beneath the city streets.

Therion reached for a lock pick soon afterwards, and before he knew it, he was frantically jamming the metal into the lock. He just wanted to be away from Saintsbridge, damn it, away from Darius and everyone that reminded him of his former comrade. He was tired of having to remember everything that had fallen apart because he allowed himself to trust, and he was tired of remembering just how much trust could hurt him.

He could feel himself spiraling, but Therion couldn't seem to bring himself back up. He thought he was doing better. He was better than this. Two children arguing and making up shouldn't have done so much to shatter him from the inside out. He was an adult, but here he was, desperate to run away from a past that barely had anything to do with the situation he had witnessed earlier that day. He shouldn't have been acting like this, so why did he feel like-

Click.

Silence.

For a long moment, Therion couldn't even believe what he was seeing. It had worked.

The lock on the bangle had been undone, and he could finally pull his wrist free.

Therion stared for an eternity, still trying to come to grips with it. He had tried countless times before now to try and pick the lock on the bangle, but he had never been able to pull it off quite the way he would have liked. It seemed like he had always gotten distracted each other time he got close, most of the time because he was thinking of some antic the other members of the group had gotten up to that day. This time though, it seemed as if his desperation had hit a breaking point, and he couldn't help but stare.

He was free.

If he wanted to, Therion could have just run. He would have never had to think about Darius again, and he wouldn't need to worry about Heathcote, Cordelia, or their damn fetch quest. He could leave all of this behind and return to the old life that he had known so well. He would be able to throw himself into yet another heist and prepare for a lifetime of riches once he had gotten enough gold in his hands. The world was his for the taking, and with the bangle gone, his pride was perfectly intact. Everything was fine, back to the way it had been before he left Bolderfall a lifetime ago.

But as Theroin stared down at the bangle, something began to rise in the depths of his stomach, and he knew that he wasn't going to be leaving. The rest of the travelers had become his home whether he wanted to admit it or not. They were there for him, and he was there for them in return. They were an offbeat and peculiar group, but that was what worked for them. When one of them struggled, the others all leaned over to help pick them up. They cared for each other, and it was a security that Therion hadn't felt or understood in years, not since he was with Darius.

But this wasn't Darius' time anymore. It was Therion's life now, and he fully intended to live it. He was happy with where he was, and he refused to let his worries of the past bother him too much. He was going to be fine no matter what happened next. The others were there for him, and he was there for them too.

You're making a mistake by trusting them.

Therion shook it off a moment later. Even if he was making a mistake, he didn't want to hide himself anymore. He had done enough of that, and he was tired of having to restrain his desires because of some voice in the back of his head that sounded an awful lot like a man he used to know. Therion was happy here, and even if he struggled to define why or the depth of his emotions, he knew that he couldn't just leave. He had already decided to stay here, and he wasn't going anywhere.

Therion's other hand snapped around the bangle before he pressed it closed. He hated the sensation of the steel against his wrist, but he didn't want to outright abandon the bangle yet. He just couldn't do it. He had joined the rest of the group because of it as far as the rest of the world was concerned, and the last thing he wanted was to make his friends afraid that he was going to leave because he had gotten it off. He wanted them to know that he was staying, and this was the best way he could do that given how emotionally stunted he was.

Therion shoved his lock pick into his pocket as he rose to his feet a moment later, starting off towards the door. He could do a bit of pickpocketing before they left town the following morning, and Therion knew that he needed the distraction. This was the perfect way for him to get it as far as he could tell.

But this time when he moved his hand beneath his cloak, he heard the gentle jingle of metal as per usual, but everything about it felt different to him.

Ophilia's heart was screaming in her chest as she stood just outside the door to the cathedral of Saintsbridge. She let out a gentle exhale, trying her best to focus, before she pushed the door open. It was heavier than she remembered, though she blamed that on the fact that she had been distracted with trying to find the right words to pose to Bartolo ever since she left the inn behind.

She didn't have to muse on it for long though, as she found her way back to the cathedral's main room soon afterwards. Bartolo was continuing to admire the Sacred Flame, enthralled by the new way it swayed and danced. He didn't notice Ophilia at first, so she forced herself to speak in the silence. "Bishop Bartolo?"

He turned at the sound of his name, and a smile appeared on his face. "Ophilia," he greeted. "What brings you back here? I would have thought that you would be preparing for your journey to Goldshore."

"Not yet," Ophilia said simply. "If you don't mind... I have a question for you."

Bartolo nodded. "Of course. What is it that troubles you so?"

"You were the bishop here twenty years ago when my father came to perform the Kindling... And that means that you were also the bishop and thus the leader of Saintsbridge fifteen years ago too," Ophilia began. "Is that true?"

Bartolo nodded once again. "Why do you ask?"

Ophilia braced herself for what was coming before she continued. "Fifteen years ago, a town near here by the name of Creek was destroyed in the midst of a conflict between Saintsbridge and Quarrycrest. I... I used to be from that town. It's where I was born, and my father brought me back to Flamesgrace after the war destroyed it," she explained. "And... I want you to tell me what happened fifteen years ago."

Bartolo watched her for a long moment, something in his expression shifting from concerned to melancholy in a matter of seconds. "Are you sure you wish to hear this?" he questioned cautiously. "I'm afraid that you won't like what you hear."

Ophilia nodded. "I've spent too long in the dark. It's time for me to do something to understand what happened back then... That attack changed the course of my life forever, and I need to know what happened," she insisted. "I've been running away from it for too long, but I can't try to escape the past for the rest of my life. Nobody can do that, and I see it now."

Bartolo examined Ophilia once again before he nodded, gesturing for her to come closer as he sat down on the first pew off to the right of the center aisle. Ophilia joined him soon afterwards, and Bartolo took in a careful breath of his own before he finally forced himself to speak. "In that case, I would be more than happy to share the truth with you."

I love these post-chapter aftermath segments of the story. Gah.

There are only a few scenes to talk about here, so I'm going to try and make this fast. I really liked the Primrose and Alfyn interaction since I thought it was a nice way to get an unusual pairing to talk for a little bit since they both understand what it means to lose parents. They can support each other in their own special ways, and I think that's what they deserve.

Ophilia and Tressa's part was important as well, and it obviously culminated in the ending with Ophilia going to speak with Bartolo. Ophilia is becoming more assertive, though she still does have anxiety even with the shift. Tressa is the perfect person to cheer her up since Tressa is so eternally optimistic and helpful, and I love the way these two work off each other. It's a shame more people don't explore their dynamic; I adore it.

Lastly, I want to touch on Therion's scene. As is to be expected from him, he's in a messy emotional state, and that sort of leads to his spiral here. Even the vaguest of similarities between him and Darius and Derryl and Emil caused him to start breaking down since Saintsbridge is where he and Darius first met. On top of that, all he wanted for years was an apology from Darius even though he knew it wasn't something he could influence. He still has traces of that toxic mindset even though he knows that he deserves better by this point. I love it to bits. As for the part where he broke out of the bangle, that's foreshadowing for his ending. In the final scene of his chapter four, Heathcote says that he's known how to break out of the bangle for a while but kept on with the quest regardless. I felt like that was perfect to go here when Therion is having a doubt spiral but decides to stay regardless because he knows this is where he belongs. It's just a nice little tidbit, and I've been looking forward to writing it ever since he first showed up in the party.

With that said, I'm going to wrap things off here. Next time, we'll get to the explanation into Ophilia's history. Hoo boy. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital