Chapter 12:

A/N: From now on, anything writing in italics will be Leona and her POV and anything that's written as normal will be Diana, there's going to be more switching back and forth from now on so that's how I'll separate it. Thanks for reading!

Leona woke up in the infirmary alone. She was largely unharmed, only a few bruises and scratches. She couldn't remember much before falling unconscious, only the look on Diana's face when she realised that Leona wasn't going to step in to save her life. Leona figured that look would always be burned into her mind, she didn't think she would be able to forget how hurt Diana looked.

Leona laid in bed without saying anything for a while, she could probably call someone to let them know she was finally awake but she wanted some time to think, mostly about Diana. She had known that she was curious and had been dangerously flirting with the idea of other faiths for a long time, Leona looked the other way as it didn't bother her as much as it bothered others, she didn't mind others holding other beliefs when she was so confident in her own. Diana showing up with that brand on her forehead though, it shook Leona. It questioned the foundation her beliefs stood on. She knew her own goddess was real but to know there was another, that it had Chosen Diana like the Sun had Chosen her. She feared that the things Diana had said about the Solari were true; she knew deep down that they most likely were, Diana would never risk her life over something like that if she weren't certain about it being true.

Eventually a nurse entered and Leona pretended to have just woken up, the look the nurse gave her was one of pity, she figured that she was the only one who survived Diana's outburst and that's why she was looking at her like that though she wouldn't say it out loud, the nurse was waiting for someone else to break the bad news to her. The man who was the right hand to the Head Elder entered the room, having been informed that Leona was now awake and stood beside her bed, looking down on her.

"They're all dead." He said, pausing for Leona to say something but she didn't, "What happened?" Leona looked up at him, making eye contact with him finally.

"Diana has been Chosen by the Moon, the Elders ousted her as a heretic and she killed them." He eyed her with intense scrutiny as she spoke.

"I see. Why did she leave you alive? Do you know?" Leona averted her eyes briefly before forcing herself to look back at him, not wanting to show weakness or guilt in front of who was most likely going to take his boss' place now that he's dead.

"No clue." She lied, it wouldn't be smart to admit her relationship with Diana now, she might be the Chosen but she wasn't sure that that would stop the fear most of the Solari people were most likely feeling right now, they would probably end her life.

"If anything comes to mind, let me know." He said, running his eyes over her one more time before turning on his heel and heading for the door. He would be hard to convince that she wasn't a traitor or a heretic herself since Diana left her alive, she would have to be careful.

The doctors decided to have her stay the night despite her feeling perfectly fine and barely being injured, they were taking extra steps to be careful partly because of who she was and partly because they had no idea what Diana could do, whether anything done to Leona would have some longer lasting effects than just bruising and some scars.

Leona had to keep herself from letting out an exasperated sigh when Pantheon made an appearance a few hours after the new Head Elder left, he would most likely have his own questions about what happened and she would have a far harder time convincing Pantheon that there was nothing between her and Diana, he knew her almost as well as Diana did and he had been suspicious of them in the past.

"How'd she get away?" He started, his arms crossed over his chest. "How did she manage to get into the temple when everyone was on high alert, knock all the guards unconscious and then kill a room full of Elders under your watch? How did she kill all of them but you survived?" Leona stared at him for a moment before looking away.

"I'm sure you've heard that she's been Chosen, she had no combat training before this but her abilities were enough for her to get in without being stopped or discovered. As for why she killed all the Elders and left me alive, I have no idea. Maybe she's just incompetent." She did her best to keep her voice even, her tone uninterested as she talked. The last thing she wanted to do was to give Pantheon more reason to question her than he already was.

"I don't think you're telling me the truth. I think you know why you lived." Leona locked eyes with him over this comment, feeling anger building within her.

"If you have something you want to accuse me of, do it." Her anger was showing in her tone, she figured her emotion was going to give her away but she couldn't resist.

"I thought maybe you just weren't interested in me, that I could possible change your mind. I didn't think you were like that." Leona narrowed her eyes at him, not appreciating his tone or the implication that he was making. She wasn't ashamed of herself or her preferences but he clearly was.

"Like what?" If he was going to be an asshole, she wanted him to be honest about it.

"You know." He said, trying to avoid actually saying what he was implying, interesting how he was only okay with being bigoted while hiding behind implications.

"No, I don't know. Would you have a problem with the idea of me being with Diana? Is that what you're saying, Pantheon?" She said his name in a tone filled with venom, daring the Rakkorian man to challenge her, to actually accuse her of what he was implying. She hadn't thought this would happen when she considered opening up about her relationship with Diana, she thought maybe Pantheon would be jealous but she hadn't thought he would be disgusted by it. He said nothing to answer his questions, whether it was because he was satisfied with her denial or because he had figured out that he was right, she didn't really care either way anymore. Pantheon picked up on her want for him to leave and left immediately. Leona knocked all of the items on the bedside table onto the floor in frustration. Goddamn it, Diana.