Arch-Mages Quarters, moments after Martin defeated Dagon.
There was a deep roar as thin air ripped in two, the very fabric of reality parting before a figure stepped through. Wisteria, regal as ever, entered her Quarters in the University as she usually did, through magical means. She brought her hand away from her belly, scowling at the blood, red mixed with black, that stained her fingers. She continued to channel healing energies into the wound and fussed with one of her many cabinets, fishing out a clear bottle with a viscuous red liquid inside. She uncorked it with her teeth, as one hand was preoccupied, and dribbled some on one hand, smearing it against the wound, a hiss escaping her lips as her fingers probed the exceedingly deep lacerations. She leaned against one wall as the pain faded, the skin already beginning to knit itself together.
Then, suddenly... without any warning, she felt tears brimming in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks. She'd not been ready for the sensation, and it startled her. She never cried. Not when her mother died. Not when Traven died. It was just not something she did, but there she was. Tears staining her dirt-covered cheeks and dripping onto her gown. There was another sound as the warp pad that served as a door glowed brightly, depositing another form into the room. Wisteria stood, suddenly, and turned away from the guest. "I will be out in a moment, if you would please leave me," she said, refusing to face the intruder, though she'd already gotten a glimpse of said intruder's face.
Sera pursed her lips as she looked over her master. "It's just me, Wisteria," she said, taking a step forward, though Wisteria put a hand up to her. "Leave me at once Serene, I will be out in a moment, I... I just need a change of clothes." Serene furrowed her brow and took another step forward. "You're usually so good at lying, Wisteria," she said, and with a wave of her hand the torn fabric of Wisteria's dress was mended. "We both no such a thing is trivial to you." Wisteria turned suddenly, her tears now washed away and a facade of anger covering her features. "I asked you to leave, Sera, I will not ask again. I will simply remove you. Begone, that is an order from your Arch-Mage." Sera scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh leave it. You're more than just my master, Wisteria. You're my friend. And right now, you need a friend. So please, spare me the dramatics. I'm here for you, you don't need to pretend."
Wisteria hesitated for a moment, a flurry of emotions passing over her face before she, involuntarily, settled on the one that plagued every inch of her waking mind. Her eyes filled with tears again, though they did not drip past her eyelids, hesitating where they formed as she spoke. "Why is, Sera, that I'm never powerful enough to protect the ones I love," she says. "Five... thousand years... and still... I can't save the few people I would truly die for." She did not sob, then. She simply cried silently, falling to the edge of her bed and sitting there. Sera enveloped her in her arms moments after, cradling her head in her breast as the woman cried. She'd never seen Wisteria cry before... never seen her so utterly vulnerable and broken, and it brought tears to her own eyes. And so they both cried, for a long time...