Kal'tsit was walking across the landship towards the medical wing. The ancient feline was on her way to visit Amiya. Ever since revealing the truth to Ch'en she had tried to speak again with the blue-haired lung. Ch'en however, refused to talk to her. The lung was angry with everything Kal'tsit had done, or rather hadn't done. Even though Kal'tsit wasn't the one who killed her time-travelling daughter or taken the doctor, the lung still placed a good portion of the blame on her. In Ch'en's mind, while the future Skadi had pulled the trigger, Kal'tsit was the one who had given her the metaphorical gun. The ancient feline could understand Ch'en's anger towards her, but now wasn't the time to hold a grudge.
Skadi could decide at any second to destroy Terra and kill every living being in existence. Kal'tsit wanted to try to talk to the blue-haired lung and make her see the bigger picture. They needed to work together. However, during this time, she had forgotten to check up on Amiya. The cautus was brave for standing up against the seaborn god, but ultimately, it was just as reckless in Kal'tsit's eyes. Amiya would have died if the doctor didn't decide to go with the future aegir. Kal'tsit decided it was time to check on Amiya and see how she was doing. No doubt she would need someone to be there for her, especially with everything that had happened.
The ancient feline carried on walking. She was greeted by several operators while on her way, and she greeted them back. Eventually, she arrived at the room. Amiya was being treated in, and Kal'tsit could see the door was open and could hear talking from inside. "Who is Amiya talking to?" Kal'tsit wondered to herself. Deciding that standing around wasn't going to do anything, the ancient feline walked inside. Kal'tsit could see Amiya was sitting up in her bed, sitting in a chair near to her was someone who Kal'tsit had been trying to talk to...it was Ch'en.
The lung could see someone else had entered the room, and her face instantly soured when she saw who had arrived. Amiya saw the expression on the face of Ch'en change and looked in the same direction as the blue-haired lung, Amiya saw that Kal'tsit had arrived. "It's good to see you, Doctor Kal'tsit. How are you doing?" the cautus asked the feline, her voice slightly strained. Amiya still hadn't fully recovered from the injuries she received at the hands of Skadi.
"I am fine, Amiya. Thank you for asking. I came here to check on you. With everything that has happened these past few days, I haven't had the time to see you, so I came to rectify that. How are you feeling?" Kal'tsit asked Amiya how she was. "My ribs still hurt, Doctor Gavial has said that it will take some time for my ribs to fully heal. She has told me to take it easy for a while." Amiya explained how she was feeling and what the archosauria told her.
Kal'tsit nodded and then turned to look at the blue-haired lung sitting next to Amiya. "It is also good to see you Ch'en. I'm glad you are up and about. How are you feeling?" Kal'tsit asked Ch'en who still didn't look happy about her being here. "I'm fine." Ch'en simply replied. The blue-haired lung wasn't in the mood to talk to the feline, Ch'en's answer came off as slightly hostile, and this grabbed Amiya's attention.
Amiya couldn't understand why Ch'en was acting the way she was towards Kal'tsit, the lung had now turned her head away from Kal'tsit and still had a sour look on her face. Amiya could also sense Ch'en's emotions and could tell the blue-haired lung felt very angry towards Kal'tsit, she also sensed Kal'tsit's emotions and could feel regret and sadness emanating from her. "What's happened between Doctor Kal'tsit and Ch'en? I know that with everything that has happened recently, it has been hard for everyone. I miss the doctor and I miss Yua too. But why is Ch'en so angry at Kal'tsit? And why does Kal'tsit feel so much regret looking at Ch'en?" Amiya couldn't understand why the feline and lung felt these emotions towards each other. It was puzzling for the cautus.
Amiya wanted to find out what happened between the two, "Doctor Kal'tsit, why do you feel so sad looking at Ch'en? And why are you so angry at Doctor Kal'tsit, Ch'en? I know everything recently has gotten to all of us. But I don't understand why either of you feel this way. Can you tell me what's happened?" Amiya wanted to understand why the other occupants of the room felt the way they did towards each other.
Neither wanted to answer Amiya's question. For Kal'tsit if she answered what had happened between herself and Ch'en and told Amiya the truth, she knew the cautus would never forgive her. Amiya would definitely hate her as much as the blue-haired lung did right now. The ancient feline could understand Ch'en's hostility towards her and felt the lung had every right to hate her as much as she did. Amiya hating her would be devastating for Kal'tsit, she saw Amiya as a daughter just like the doctor. Kal'tsit could never forgive herself if Amiya hated her as well.
For Ch'en it was the same, the lung knew that Kal'tsit cared greatly for Amiya. She knew that the cautus saw the feline as a mother or, at the very least, as a mentor. Ch'en couldn't bring herself to destroy the bond the two shared. Amiya was practically family to herself as well, Yua and Amiya, despite being different races and not blood related, were sisters. The doctor was their father, even if one of them wasn't related by blood. Ch'en couldn't bring herself to tell the cautus the truth, she didn't want to even with everything Kal'tsit had done. It would destroy Amiya if she knew what Kal'tsit had done and was partly responsible for Yua's death and for Skadi taking the doctor away. Ch'en didn't want to imagine the sight of Amiya turning on Kal'tsit even if she believed the ancient feline deserved it. For her, that was too much.
Ch'en and Kal'tsit couldn't look at Amiya, the lung turned her head to look away, and Kal'tsit simply looked at the floor. The two couldn't bring themselves to say anything to the cautus. Amiya could notice the change of mood in the room. She could tell nobody wanted to tell her anything. "Why? Why don't you want to tell me anything? I care so much about both of you. Don't either of you think I have a right to know what's going on? I've already lost two people who I care about, my sister is dead, and the doctor has been taken who knows where. I'm tired of losing everyone I care about, I don't want anyone else I care about to feel hurt or angry. So please, tell me what's going on." Amiya wanted Kal'tsit and Ch'en to tell her why they were feeling the way that they were.
Sadness was clearly present in Amiya's voice. Everything that had happened was beginning to take it toll on her. Hearing Amiya, basically pleading for them to tell her everything only caused Ch'en and Kal'tsit to feel immense guilt for not telling the cautus. They couldn't tell her as both knew the consequences would be disastrous if Amiya knew the truth about Yua's death and Skadi taking the doctor away.
"Amiya...I don't want you to get dragged into this. This is between me and Kal'tsit. I take no pleasure in this but I can't tell you. Believe me when I say this. This is for your own good. I know you want to know everything, but it's for the best...I'm sorry." Ch'en sadly replied to Amiya. The lung felt horrible for not being able to explain all that had happened between herself and Kal'tsit. The ancient feeling felt just as horrible as Ch'en while looking at Amiya.
The cautus had a look of disbelief on her face when the blue-haired told her she couldn't tell her the truth. Seeing the look on Amiya's face, Ch'en got up from the chair she was sitting on and left the room. The blue-haired lung could only imagine what the cautus was feeling right now. Without a doubt, Amiya felt hurt and betrayed by the two of them. Ch'en lad left the room and started to walk down the hallway of the landship. She didn't get too far until a voice called out, "Ch'en!" The blue-haired lung around who called her name and saw Kal'tsit walking towards her.
"Ch'en...I know I am probably the last person you want to see right now, but I need to talk to you. Can you please hear me out?" Kal'tsit asked the lung when she was close enough. Ch'en really didn't want to talk to the feline in front of her. She couldn't forgive her for what she had done. The blue-haired lung, however, knew that she couldn't avoid Kal'tsit forever, sooner or later they had to talk, especially since a god could reek havoc any day now.
Ch'en decided it was best to get this over with right now, "Fine Kal'tsit, what do you want to talk about?" she asked with clear annoyance in her voice. "Not here, I don't want Amiya or anyone else to hear what we say. Come with me." Kal'tsit started walking, and Ch'en began following her. The two walked around the landship until they made it to the roof, which still hadn't been repaired yet, Closure and the engineering department were still working, trying to get the landship moving again. Progress had been slow.
Kal'tsit looked around to make sure no one else was up here, once she was satisfied it was just herself and Ch'en she turned towards the blue-haired lung and began to speak, "Ch'en, first of all thank you for not telling Amiya. It means a lot to me, I couldn't imagine what Amiya would do if she knew the truth." Kal'tsit thanked the lung for not saying anything to the cautus. "Don't you dare thank me Kal'tsit! I didn't do it for you! I did it for Amiya! She doesn't deserve all the pain of knowing what you did! She has been through enough! Believe me Kal'tsit, I wanted to tell her! She has every right to know! I feel sick for not telling her! So don't you ever thank me!" Ch'en didn't want the thanks of the ancient feline, and she made that abundantly clear.
"Now Kal'tsit, if that is all you wanted to say, then I'm leaving!" Ch'en was about to leave, but Kal'tsit spoke up, "Wait Ch'en, that's not what I want to talk about. I know you must hate me right now, and you have every right to. With everything that's happened, I know you don't want anything to do with me, but we can't afford to be at each others throats. Ch'en, we need to work together if we want to save the doctor. Neither of us can beat Skadi alone. Please Ch'en, work together with me. It's not for my sake but the whole of Terra. If we work together, we can stop Skadi. We can prevent Yua's future from happening again." Kal'tsit asked the blue-haired lung to work with her, not for her own sake but for all of Terra.
Ch'en immediately wanted to tell Kal'tsit no, but she couldn't. The ancient feline was right. Neither herself nor Kal'tsit could defeat Skadi on their own. Ch'en remembered the fight she had with the aegir and remembered her attacks didn't do any harm to her. The future Skadi was simply too powerful. She would have died if Amiya didn't step in and saved her. Ch'en also remembered that Kal'tsit had said that the doctor had done something which she couldn't forgive but decided to work with the man for a common goal. Ch'en sighed.
If Kal'tsit could work with the doctor despite whatever he did, then she could too. Even if she hated the idea of working with Kal'tsit now, "Fine Kal'tsit, I'll work with you. I'll do it if it means saving the doctor and Terra. Don't think for one second I'm happy about this, I'm not forgetting everything you have done." The blue-haired lung told the feline. "I know Ch'en, trust me, I know." Kal'tsit simply replied. Seeing as they had no other business Ch'en then left the roof, which left the feline alone.
Kal'tsit began to stare out into the distance, while she was glad Ch'en was willing to work with her the feline knew she definitely wasn't happy with it and was only doing it because of the circumstances. The ancient feline began to think of the doctor and how she had treated him when they met again, "So this is what the doctor must have felt like when he was woken up from the sarcophagus. He didn't have any memories, and the first thing I did was blame him for what he couldn't remember. I know he had his reason, but I still couldn't forgive him. Now Ch'en feels the exact same way I did back then. This must be some sort of karma. How ironic." Kal'tsit could notice the parallels in the situation she was in now to that of the doctor.
Now she knew how the doctor had felt, Kal'tsit realised she had been too hard on him this whole time. Just as she believed she had her reason to do what she did was right, the doctor did the same. Both had dire consequences for others around them. Others were paying the price for their decisions. Kal'tsit promised that if they managed to find and rescue the man, she would act differently towards him from now on. The ancient feline also hoped that in time Ch'en would come to forgive her, Kal'tsit promised she would also try to forgive the doctor. If Kal'tsit wanted forgiveness, then she had to learn to forgive others no matter how difficult it was...
Many miles away in the land of Iberia, a bloody battle was taking place. Many brave Iberians and aegir were currently fighting abominations from the sea. The seaborn had begun their invasion under the command of their god and were massacring anyone who was unfortunate to come into their path. One of these Iberians, a member of the inquisition, Irene, was currently fighting in the battle against the seaborn threat. "By the gods! They just keep coming! No matter how many we kill, more just take their place! How and why are they attacking in these numbers! There is no end to them!" The liberi thought to herself while cutting down an attacking seaborn. She had been fighting for several hours, the inquisition had received word from the Iberian navy of the approaching hoard and went to investigate. Irene expected that this was just an unusually large hoard and thought that once they destroyed it, the matter would be resolved. She couldn't have been more wrong.
The seaborn kept coming, and civilians were fleeing for their lives to escape the destruction. The Iberian navy and inquisition were getting overrun. If they didn't get help soon, they would all die. One of the other inquisitors knew the situation was bad and told Irene to flee, "Irene! Get out of here! Find help! Tell them Iberia is under attack from the seaborn! If we don't get help soon, Iberia will fall!" Irene didn't want to abandon her comrades. She wanted to stay and fight.
The liberi knew. However, if she stayed, she would die at the hands of the seaborn. Reluctantly, Irene decided it was best to leave the battlefield and look for help in another nation, or if possible, find Rhodes Island. "I promise you all! I will be back with help! Iberia will not fall at the hands of the seaborn! They will not win! We will triumph!" Irene shouted to her comrades as she left the fight.
Irene felt guilty leaving her comrades to die but knew that they couldn't fight this amount of seaborn on their own. Laterano was the nearest nation to Iberia, but it would take a few days to get there. The liberi hoped that she could get to Laterano and back in time before her home fell. She needed to ask the pope for help and, if possible, if Rhodes Island was in Laterano, ask them for help as well. Kal'tsit would definitely be willing to provide assistance. The help of the doctor would turn the tide of this battle. With this plan in mind, Irene headed towards Laterano. She just hoped she could make it back in time...