Heaven Hath No Rage - Book Two

A Not So Lonely Game

It had been her largest undertaking since she had woken up. She was going to make it from her room in the tavern to her favorite overlook of the city. It was far away but she had been preparing for it. Every night, once Tuni had come around for her checkup and Theo had dismissed all visitors, she would take a walk. Each night since she had gotten out of the infirmary she had taken it further and further. Finally, she had felt physically able to undergo the hike up the mountain. Her ribs were healing and breathing in didn't cause her to feel like she was being stabbed-- which helped. Her scabs had given way to fresh scars and she was feeling stronger overall.

Even with the cold air, she had managed to work up a sweat by the time she had reached the base of the mountain. The trek up it was arduous but one that would not have even made her hesitate a cycle before. Ulises Vaith had taken her strength from her and had made her weak. It might have been that reminder that he had almost ruined her that kept her from having visited him in prison. The crew had kept him alive in absence of a command from her to kill him. So, he was rotting away under the jurisdiction of Corinspe. He hadn't only made her physically weak, but mentally as well. She was cowering from him, afraid that his face would bring back the memories she had suppressed.

There was so much she hadn't faced and she didn't want him to be the key to unlock all of what she had been holding in. Her walks provided her with much-needed serenity. All sun, every sun, she felt like she was buzzing. The energy from preparing for new projects was infectious and she couldn't wait to get back out on the ocean but when the work distraction would wane at the end of the sun, she needed a way to keep her mind at ease and empty. Her walks provided that. She wasn't looking at her issues in the face, she was pushing things away. Only looking at the surface level of all her pending emotions. Perhaps this would be the place to clear her head, to finally deal with everything she had done.

Theo was not in a good way. As her feet dragged her up the last incline, her heart was pounding, her sides hurt more than at any point since she woke up and she felt faint. She paused before reaching the summit, unable to wait a few feet before having to take a breath. Bending over wasn't an option because of her irritated, broken ribs, so her hands found her hips and she took three deep, even breaths. Finally, she took the last steps through a narrow rock formation until she arrived at a peaceful place.

Except she wasn't the only one that was searching for a place away from all the commotion of the island. Sitting on the bench, long black hair pulled into a ponytail was the unmistakable silhouette of Xyra. Theo briefly considered turning around; they hadn't spoken much about serious matters and Theo felt that if they were alone, it would come up. She had spoken to Cooker about their feelings and each of their actions a little bit at a time, throughout the suns since she had been awake. It was a nice feeling, being able to be open with Cooker when usually they had the hardest time getting emotional with each other. Theo had apologized, profusely, for abandoning Cooker when she was clearly spiraling and Cooker had apologized for letting pettiness play a factor in her keeping the secret.

Theo wasn't avoiding an emotional talk with Xyra because she didn't want to apologize, or because she didn't want to hear an apology. On the contrary, Theo thought it was needed and she should have been the one to initiate it. What she didn't want to happen was for the conversation to start poking into personal matters, specifically Red and her capture. On her walk up she had considered the possibility of confronting it all but at the sight of Xyra and the chance that she would actually need to face her thoughts, it wasn't something she wanted any longer.

But the walk up the hill wasn't subtle, with rocks crackling beneath Theo's boots, and Xyra had caught wind that someone was there. Her head turned to look at the intruder and Theo had been caught, there was nowhere to run. Xyra nodded her head towards Theo and Theo returned the gesture, an unspoken invitation and acceptance. As she marched toward the bench, a game of Titan came into view. It was a smaller set, an intricately carved travel box that Captain Barge had gifted Xyra on her 13th commencement anniversary. It was fully set up, with a game seemingly mid-progress. Theo looked around, she had missed that someone else was with Xyra at first glance. But as she looked around, only Xyra was on the mountain with her.