Home.

That was the only thing that Cassil could think about as she saw Zion in the distance. The portal to the Reaches was far behind her, but finally, after an hour or so of walking, Zion was in sight. Somewhere in this city, Yasen awaited.

It was relaxing, almost calming, to be home. But Cassil couldn’t let the fire in her chest die out so easily. Home was the place where she had fallen in love, and yet… also the place where he had died.

She couldn’t go back to the apartment. Vasa and Ephra would want her to stop her search. They’d say that vigilante justice was wrong. They’d try and get her to work through her pain. Cassil knew that isn’t what she wanted to do.

Didn’t Levan just get a new place recently?

Trying to remember roughly where it was, Cassil decided on a plan. Once she got back to the centre of Zion, she would sneak into Yasen’s apartment and hide out in her room. Hopefully she would be able to operate without alerting any of Yasen’s roommates. With somewhere to lay low, she could search for Yasen at her leisure.

Then the thought occurred to her: why bother?

Yasen’s going to be on her defensive. But if there’s one thing I can guarantee… it’s that when everything goes to hell in a month’s time, she’ll want to be there. To protect her king, and try and prevent the plan. I don’t need to search for her: she’ll come out of hiding of her own volition.

The plan, then, was clear.

I need to get stronger.

It wasn’t long until Cassil finally reached the centre of Zion, and began to walk through the buildings, trying to locate Yasen’s new place. Once she’d found it, she waited until later at night. The lights of Zion began to fade as the early hours came to pass, and in those early hours, Cassil made her move.

It didn’t take much to sneak in to the apartment. Once she was in, she crept to the room marked with a galaxial picture hung on the door: a picture often used by Levan. Cassil opened the door and slipped inside, wraith-like.

It was a strange feeling, being inside her sister’s inner sanctum. The room was surprisingly bare. The only excesses Levan had was her collection of spears, helmets and armour, and the many books of heroic exploits that were piled up next to her bed. The one at the top of the pile had a well-worn bookmark sticking out of it. The bed was neat, as was the general layout of the room.

A small mirror was hung just above the small bookcase in the corner of the room, and Cassil saw herself in it as she walked past. It was dark, so she couldn’t see much, but for a moment, her own face terrified her. She shook her head and tried to ignore it, walking across the room and sitting on the bed to remove her armour and helmet. She took her own spear, and Raziel’s spear, still stained with his blood, and laid them against the wall at the end of the bed with the reverence she felt they deserved.

This room was her home now. A brief home, a home that she could not reveal to anyone, but for now, it was keeping her safe.

A wave of immense tiredness hit Cassil the second that she placed her helmet on the floor and turned to the pillow. It was soft, and inviting, and Cassil hadn’t slept properly in days. After her journey through the Reaches and long walk to Zion, sleep seemed to be a good idea.

Falling back onto the pillow, almost collapsing, Cassil’s eyes closed and she allowed herself to fall into the void, being swallowed up by the blackness.

It was uncomfortable, but better than the waking hours spent drowning in her sorrows.