Tanith and Volke stood next to each other, watching Ike, Micaiah, and Sanaki speaking to the nearly lifeless body of Sephiran. The Duke's face would have been completely white had it not been for the blood that had run down his forehead. His long black hair, normally a solid sheet of black, was sticking to his face and clothes in a disorderly array, his torn clothes faring no better. Out of Ike and his army, none had escaped the battle free from any blemishes. Even Micaiah, who preferred to keep her distance and had high resistance to magic, sported a burn mark on her arm where a fire spirit had managed to counter one of her attacks. Many of the others wore harsh scars from Sephiran's powerful light magic that seemed to hit anybody within range, even the nimble Volke and Tanith, who had both acquired burn marks throughout their bodies as a result of the Duke and the spirits he had summoned. Volke was beginning to tire of listening to the dialogue between Ike and Sephiran when the assassin looked over at Tanith. She wore her usual cold, professional face, but Volke noticed something else.
"Hey, Tanith, look over here," Volke spoke in a low voice. The woman turned her head, "What is it?"
With the better angle, Volke could now clearly see that Tanith was straining hard to maintain her stony demeanor.
"Do you want to go over there?" Volke asked, motioning towards a secluded set of stairs that would give the two privacy. Tanith nodded, then made an about face and started walking towards the stairs as if she were on official business. Volke walked beside her, trying to emulate her gait. Nonetheless, as she walked out of view of the others, Tanith's face metamorphosed into a look of agony, and tears began sliding down her face, collecting on her soft chin like morning dew on grass. When the two reached the stairs and sat down, Tanith leaned into Volke, hugging him from the side. Volke was at a loss. Feeling her warm tears soaking through his shirt, the assassin decided the best course of action would be to wrap his arm around her, as he had seen others do. Hearing her quiet sniffling, Volke began to wonder about Tanith's transformation.
From his first interaction with her, he had been exposed to Tanith's less serious, at times playful, side. The only thing that had drawn Tanith back to the stern deputy commander her comrades knew was her loyalty to Sanaki. Just before the preceding battle, Volke had observed Tanith's devotion to the Empress to be at an all-time high. For a brief period, the assassin felt as if he had finally figured this woman out, but his assumption collapsed when he saw Tanith's reaction when she realized she would be fighting Sephiran. When he had seen Sephiran, Volke had felt no emotion save a tincture of shame that he, the world's most infamous assassin, had not found out about Sephiran's plan earlier. Tanith, on the other hand, seemed weakened by the discovery. To Volke, Tanith seemed to be acting like she had been forced to face Sanaki, at times charging recklessly into the midst of battle, at other times seeming to have almost given up, a stark contrast from the deputy commander's usual emotionless, calculated method of fighting. And now, the woman he was holding seemed to have nothing in common with the Tanith he knew. Not knowing how what else to do, Volke kept his arm around Tanith. Presently, her tears subsided and she began to speak. Her words came out in short, unconnected bursts, yet her voice was softer than Volke had ever heard from her before.
"I just can't believe it, Volke. Sephiran was the one person we trusted. Everything is so confusing now. Even if we make it out of here, I don't know what Sanaki's going to do."
Volke continued to hold Tanith as she spoke in her uncharacteristic way. He leaned his head down into her shoulder, feeling her hair run across his face. He had always thought her short hair would feel prickly to reflect her usual mannerism, but instead the assassin found Tanith's hair to be silky and sweet-smelling. He continued to listen to her, not being able to understand half her words.
"…Sephiran was like our guardian, how could he..."
"Tanith," the assassin interrupted, finally finding his voice, "There's no use worrying about this now. Right now we have a goddess to defeat. You need to be getting your head in this next fight. Nothing else matters." Volke felt guilty, having spoken so sternly to Tanith, but she seemed to react well.
"You're right," the deputy commander said, standing up. She brushed her tears off her face, which returned to its usual stoic expression. The transformation had happened in less than five seconds.
"My apologies for my lack of discipline, but there is something else I need to talk to you about after this."
"Yeah, no need to apologize. I'm glad you're better," Volke managed to stutter out.
Tanith made a slight grin, "I'm sure you understand this is just between us, right?"
"Of course, commander," Volke said, this time with more confidence. A bright light hit the two as the doors to the final room opened. Tanith and Volke ran to catch up to the rest of the troops as they marched towards their destiny.