Welcome to Gaia! ::

You shouldn't be here.

She knew it from the moment she walked in. She was surrounded by the greatest, the strongest, the bravest. Each of them had something to offer, but the only thing she felt she had to offer was her ability to hide. Running from the fight was their way of life, in the sisterhood; and they'd done it so well, all the way up until the end. They hid even though their vows had been clear - they were supposed to help people. They were supposed to bring back the light to all the darkness touched, even if it meant putting themselves in the line of fire. And what did they do, instead?

They ran. They hid. They holed up in caves and waited for the end, lost in prayer and meditation until they couldn't feel anymore. Fear had become their only enemy, and they fought with the swords of spiritual enlightenment until they felt nothing. Their bodies were no longer temples, they were cages - and in the dark, they sought to break free.

They succeeded. Just, not in the way they had hoped.

Their vows of silence made arguing impossible. Riley was always too restless, too filled with poisonous discontent to ever reach enlightenment. She wanted to tell them that they should be out there, helping those in need. She had so many opinions left unsaid, and they were quietly shoved back down into herself until she couldn't even pray in peace. But she was young, they said. Young, and stubborn. She would learn to find peace some day.

There was no time for some day. There was no time for peace, or silence. The caves were coated in holy, anguished blood. The screams echoed against the uneven rocks, exposing the fear that had never truly been washed away. All of those days - weeks - months - years, wasted away in the darkness, so arrogantly certain they would be prepared for the end.

Not one of them was prepared. Not one.

She could not hold them in contempt, when the end came. So many of them used their dying gasps to try and lure the shadows away so that she could escape. They screamed and they ran, scattering deeper into the caves that had no end, while she hid behind the giant boulder that had once protected them. It was tossed like a pebble when the monsters reached out to find them, and it was her last bastion until the path was clear. In their last moments, her coven were given the enlightenment to realize that she'd been right, and they had betrayed their mission by hiding away when evil threatened the innocent they had promised to protect. She was their last chance at redemption; one last life to save, in the hopes of forgiveness. Of true peace. She was alive, because of the sisterhood.

That did not mean she belonged here.

The sacrifice they made that day seemed like a burden for so many of the noble warriors that had come to offer themselves up. There was so much they were losing and it was shining in their eyes, like paintings of the scenes of their life. Off they went, one by one, to sacrifice the memories of their loved ones, and their lost. Sacrifice.

She knelt at the box, bowed her head in shame, and lamented how easily she let the memories go.

"I pledge my service to the Great King and the Great Knights." She whispered. She did not belong here. She would be of service to no one. She was only a burden, a mistake waiting to happen.

"I will uphold the Knight's Code and protect this kingdom against the darkness." It was all she'd wanted to do, when her cause had felt just. Now, all she wanted to do was forget.

This was no sacrifice for Riley. This was a gift. She only hoped that whoever she became when it was all over had something worthwhile to offer - because she was sure that this stubborn, rebellious shell of a woman that knelt there waiting for redemption and peace, did not.

There wasn't a clear time in which Aureole could count that she had been this nervous.

She wouldn't count the times her father had asked for her as an audience when she had done something to 'disappoint' the family. Her achievements, while small but still quite grand compared to some, never seemed to sway her father into her favor. But her mother always smiled and congratulated her in her own silent way. A knowing eye and a smile were always reserved for her, away from prying eyes.

Her mother... Her nails dug into her palms at the memory of her dear mother. Memories, while treasured, pained worse than any wound she had sustained in the past.

So to have an opportunity to rid of this world of the evil that plagued her life and lands, of course she would grasp it with all her might!

And if that mean't that her memories would be the price to pay, she would hope that it would be worth it.

This line was surly not helping in the least! Were so many people ready to throw away their memories? Well, she couldn't really talk but it was interesting to see so many eager to join the fight. Upon thinking such a thing, she noticed it was her turn to step up to, what appeared to be, a rather ominous box.

Aureole arched a brow at the box, tilting her head a bit as she lowered herself to one knee before the mysterious cube. Well, it was now or nothing!

"I pledge my service to the Great King and the Great Knights. I will uphold the Knight's Code and protect this kingdom against the darkness." She pledged with her forehead resting on her bent knee.

To say she was caught off-guard was a great understatement.

---

"I will not loose my daughter! Not this day or ever, if I can help it!" The tight grip of large hands that she knew all too well were keeping her stable within the center of the chaos around them

Fire, screams, the smell of charred flesh... Everything swirling into permanent stains upon her mind and senses. Fire had engulfed their home, their belongs fueling the blaze as it continued to spread to the rest of their, once cozy, town.

"Father! No! I will stay and defend our town!" She would not leave the only family she knew of in their world behind to such death and destruction. To do so would be betraying her mother's memory! Betraying her town and it's people! Betraying herself to be selfish in saving herself!

"Aureole, you will listen and do as I say!" His voice boomed over the sounds as he clutched her upper arm, dragging her to the point of her nearly stumbling to the ground. "For once in your life, obey my orders, Aureole!"

"But father-"

SPLASH!

The sudden bone-chilling water of the nearby river enveloped her entire form causing her to gulp down a rather large amount of river water. Aureole flailed about, trying to regain herself and swim back to her father. But the current was far stronger than her arms could ever hope to work against.

"Fath-" Another mouth-full of water swept past her lips as she tried to grab any sort of ground to hoist herself back up onto land but to no avail.

She could barely make out anything her father yelled back to her before he turned and back towards the wreckage of their still-burning town, sword in hand to fight the force that had come to their town during the late hours of the night.

Her hands and feet tried their best to keep her afloat as she tried to maneuver their river's currents. Aureole knew that it was best if she went to seek help for their village. It was the smart thing to do. But it wasn't what SHE wanted to do. She wanted to fight. She wanted to help defend their town. Help defend it's people. To defend her father and keep him safe. Like she had promised her mother before she left the world...

Upon finally reaching shore, Aureole clenched her fists and left out a cry that she didn't doubt would call attention to herself of any nearby village.

---

Her hazel gaze opened to staring at her knee. She raised her head and blinked as much as she could to rid of something that had seemed to have lodged in her brain. Felt like a dream... Was it? Well, whatever had been in her brain was gone and she felt... Spry! Light and chipper as a new born fawn!

A knight apprentice... That had quite a nice ring to it. A long-sided smirk at the thought painted her features as she made her way to the exit. She flexed her fingers a bit as they seemed to feel rather stiff.

Ow! No wonder! Half-crescent marks were lined across her palm!

Noemi watched Milo give his knight's vow, and shifted uncomfortably in the line. Already she had seen three from her village, Evan...Shu and now Milo, give their vows to the only human kingdom not overrun by the horseman.

Her heart felt heavy, her body even heavier. She did not think she would do well as a knight, she had never had to worry about fighting or war. After all, Milo had been her saviour, as well as protector. And when that wall failed, Evan and Shu were right behind him. She had always been protected.

Never the protecter.

One by one, the line got shorter and shorter, the knights lined up under the ones they sworn too. And then it was her turn. Her hands shook in the small tunic dress, her gaze never really lifted from the floor. She had never made the sort of eye contact with anyone besides her family and friends. But to protect who she had left, she would do this. She could only do this.

“I....I......pledge my service to the Great King......and the Great Knights. I will uphold...uphold....the Knight's Code and protect....I will protect this kingdom against the darkness......"

As she did so, she felt the terror, the pain...The memory of her attack surface again.

---

Her hands braided through Shu's hair very gently, tying the black hair in a intricate amount of braids and tails, adding a flower here and a flower there. Evan was not far off with Milo, as the two brawled in what could only be as how men played together. Milo shouted silly things and Evan grunted in response. The sun was bright, the day was warm, the field they had grown up together in was filled to the brim with daisy's and tulips and she had to remember to bring some home to her little cottage.

Her parents were far off, travelling, so it was just her. Well her and sometimes Milo, who came over to eat and tell her grand stories. Or Evan, who would come to help her with little chores, and Shu who would distract her.

At first she didn't register the screams from the villages, as she looked happily between her three most important people. But then Evan was pointing, and there was fire, and smoke and Noemi's hands dropped the flowers she wanted to place in Shu's hair, and Shu was up, covering her mouth.

Noemi started running, only to be grabbed by Milo. She watched as the village was overrun by the horseman, the dreaded conquerers. They pillaged, she watched as all of her villagers fell to blades and fire.

“Run.” Where too?

“Run...” To the woods, take shelter, they don't want to die.

“Run....” She was too weak to prevent this, or do anything else.

“NOEMI RUN.” The voice was a sharp command, and she took Shu's hand, and Milo's and they ran. All four of them ran.

As she hit the woods, hiding behind the thicket of trunks and leaves, she would forever remember. Those peaceful days, the field of flowers. It burned all away. And they had waited, waited until the horseman left.

And she had gone to her house, broken, all her hard worked possesions destroyed.

Her farm animals slaughtered for nothing more then show.

And not a single survivor besides them.

The tears fell heavy as she held a broken plate in her broken home, in their burned village. Milo would come eventually, and he would take her hand, and together they would leave.

They were not the first village, and they wouldn't be the last. So they had to go, to the last kingdom. The only hope.

“We become Knights?” Noemi asked the small group. But it was too soon and the travelling was grim.

---

She blinked as the memory faded and she looked around. Quietly she took her place by Milo, as she would always and gripped her hands. She would never remember that scene again, but she wondered if she was okay with that. If she was content.

A dark part of her said yes.

She wanted to forget.

She would look up to Milo with a new look of confusion. She didn't know him. But she felt, that perhaps she had once.

At last.
Reith swallowed his breath rather erratically, in presence of the Great King...and the Seven Great Knight lining up behind him. He dared not to raise his face, currently a mixture of blue from breathlessness and red from tension. So would it make him purple right now?

'Nonononono, erase your errant thought!' He muttered to himself, pressing his knuckles harder to the marbled floor beneath.

This is the day he's been waiting for. The day he actually became a Knight.
-an apprentice, to add.

He had been self-training his body prior to this. After that CURSED incident that decimates not only his home village, but robbed him of all things dear to him...
-including his left eye.

Pain suddenly throbbed on the covered eye, making him grit his teeth harder.

Not now, not now...

He half-listened to the King's speech about choosing a Great Knight to follow and to gain Sacred Weapon to choose-the pain's greater than usual-mayhaps it's a reaction from the Taint?

When the gathering has disassembled and the apprentice knights began to line up before the seven Great Knights, the pain has subsided greatly. Why is that? Is the Taint reacting to his will, or the Great King's presence?

He did not know. He doesn't want to know.
He moved his body to one of the lines forming inside the hall. At the foremost of the line stands a Great Knight, robed in blue.
Percival.
To apprentice under him means one has the heart to protect. To save people in need. To prevent sadness from happening. To do just in the midst of chaos.

To extend your hand to others, even if they reject it.

The Great Knights nodded their heads after throwing a glance across the hall, and announced-

"Now, offer your pledge. But beware---"
"---the Oath is not a simple promise."
"It's a pact, a deal, a trade-"
"-It's an exchange of something from you-"
"-as a price to Power."

The Great Knights said something in succession.
A trade?
"You will receive power, unlike any humans-"
"-but in return, you will forget...about what makes you 'You' right now."

The final two Knights made their speech and suddenly the hall died.
The excitement can be felt disappearing in an instant, like the warmth of a blown candle.

"What?"
He made a strange groan with his mouth-no, it's a reflex.
No, really. WHAT?

The hall suddenly filled with great ruckus. Of course they're surprised; who wouldn't?

Some asked for further explanation from the Great Knights. But all seven of them said nothing, and just lowered their heads; their faces' unreadable.

After a few moment of bickering and debating, one person originated from the Red line stepped up. Is he going to do it?

"I pledge my service to the Great King and the Great Knights. I will uphold the Knight's Code and protect this kingdom against the darkness."

He said it. For a moment, the hall is drowned in silence.
One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths-

And he rose from that posture, seemingly...confused?
The Great Knight Morgan called for his name without pause, and the new Apprentice Knight quickly lined behind him.

That's...

Seeing that nothing particularly bad happened, suddenly one after another 'knights' made their vow. Some of them faces looked plain blank after that. Some looks confused. Some looks...happy?

-but enough with other people. Now it's nearing his turn.

Will he also became like them? A new, blank slate devoid of memories? Of reason why he took the harsh training unto himself?
To avenge everyone?

No.

He took off his eyepatch off and bit his lips. Using the blood that oozes off from the fresh wound he wrote something on the back of that piece of cloth.

By the time he tied back the eyepatch, his turn has arrived.

He has no hesitation now.
Kneeling in front of the huge box swarming with magic, he spoke loud and clear:

"I pledge my service-to the Great King-and the Great Knights. I will uphold the Knight's Code---and protect this kingdom against the darkness!"

Suddenly, darkness befalls him.
Everything around him twisting, melting, shifting---
To a peaceful village in midst of summer sun.

No.

The villagers are in the midst of a cotton harvest; the pods has ruptured and pure white fluff has dried completely under the blazing sun---

NO.

-when suddenly from who knows where, the sounds of hooves against earth are heard; smoke, sulphur and thundercloud arrived in minutes---

NO!!!

-and there was no more.

The boy which can only freeze as the sole witness of the carnage was approached by one of the creatures riding atop of a skeletal horse, its hand reaching to his face---

-but there was nothing to remember...?

"You may now rise." The Great Knight whispered to him.

Huh? What was I doing?

"You're now a Knight Apprentice under me. Serve me well, Reith, son of Oberyn."

And so, Rei bowed deeply, still in kneeling pose.

He was now at the start point of his...

...his...

...what, exactly?

[Rei exits the chamber, confused...]

It's not that he's a good man, you see.

It's not that he's a good man seeking vengeance against the monsters that set flame to his village. The heat of anger, the molten rage, the furious questioning of the gods-- it's all absent, characteristically so. There is only the even-keeled assessment that they had left his home and hearth in ruins, with nothing to be salvaged from the wreckage and debris. There are no other options. He exists and must continue to exist, by any means necessary.

He must leave, and so he does, with little fanfare and fewer possessions.

Konstantin Bashmet had never been one for dramatics.

With armor stained with soot and singed hair and nothing in his hands besides his crossbow, Kostya goes to the promised land. To Camelot, home of all knights, home of all futures, from dim to bright. There is no future outside of its walls: only darkness and ash, only the price paid in blood spilled upon the dirt.

And Kostya is but one of many hoping to eradicate the threat. His motivations are his own, and are not so noble as the others. To the raven he flocks, on ebony wings fueled by a thirst for power. Black is his colour, and his colour it shall be.

The box is just a box is just a box, but the cost is hefty. The box is just a box but it hungers, greedy for more-more-more.

But he has little to offer it. His memories are uneventful and cold, untinged by love and cold without compassion. All the same: Kostya pays his tithe, and away they go, his memories. Off they fly, like dust in the breeze, forgotten.

Kostya becomes nothing and no one, a knight-apprentice free of anything but duty.

He exists and must continue to exist, by any means necessary.

Johan stood in line, watching as those in front of him made their pledge to the box. He was to be a Knight-Apprentice. The thought sparked the first emotion he'd felt in months. He clung to it. He would uphold the code of the Knight, and bring vengeance against the forces of Darkness. The pledge called for him to protect others, but he had to wonder if the monsters had left anyone for them to protect. Having seen those things...

With a start, he realized he was now at the front of the line. Johan knelt at the base of the box, numb to the feeling of the power emanating from it, and recited the pledge.

"I pledge my service to the Great King and the Great Knights. I will uphold the Knight's Code and protect this kingdom against the Darkness."

He experience magic for the first time, as the power of the box reached into his mind and drew out his memories. As they welled up from within him, he relived them.

His education in suffering had started over a year ago. An unnatural Darkness settled over the land. As crops failed, and fears rose, his town had stubbornly resisted the darkness, lighting candles, torches, and bonfires to create a barrier of light. Johan had been apprenticed to the town's Scrivener. As rumors trickled in of a tide of demons destroying everything in their path, he'd been drafted into the town's Watch, taught how to fight. The Scrivener, an eccentric foreigner, had supported Johan in his own way, giving him a sword from his homeland, and taught him how to use it. The town built fortifications.

Two hours.

That's how long the town withstood the onslaught of the demons. They came in the night, heralded by a swarm of Shadowlings. Johan stood with his Father and watched as the Horsemen advanced through the streets like wildfire, quickly approaching the Klarstein home. They couldn't be stopped. Johan's Father pushed him and his Mother onto horses, charged Johan with his Mother's safety, and told them to go. Run. Find safety. He would delay them.

So, they fled. His Mother screaming from fear and loss, and Johan blinking back tears. Out and away from their home, into the darkened forest. They'd escaped the slaughter, but they weren't safe yet. Johan and his Mother wandered for weeks until they met up with another group of refugees. They brought word of a place that was safe, if you could get there. Camelot. With nowhere else to go, they began their journey there. As months passed, the group passed countless destroyed towns. Johan's Mother became withdrawn. She wandered at night, and stopped eating. Sick with worry, Johan went to greater and greater lengths to care for her. Hunting, gathering herbs, picking flowers, anything to brighten her mood. He ranged farther and farther afield searching for something to bring her back to him.

One dawn, as he rode back towards their camp after a night foraging, he heard screams on the wind. He raced back, but was far too late. The camp ground was a blood bath. Body parts strewn everywhere. And in the center of it all, his Mother. Somehow, miraculously alive. Johan had dismounted and run towards her without a thought. Until she'd turned towards him, grinning, bloodied knife in hand. He'd struggled to makes sense of what he saw. She had carved some sort of symbol into the skin of her forehead. Why had she done that?

As he'd reached her, laid a hand on her shoulder, she'd turned and slashed at him with the knife. Johan fell backwards onto the blood-soaked ground. His Mother laughed, and advanced towards him, wildly slashing at the air. He crab-walked away from her. His katana was in its scabbard on his back, but how could he draw it on his Mother? He was supposed to protect her!

His horse saved him. Fiercely loyal, Fee, the palfrey mare charged Johan's Mother, who stopped to stare at her in confusion. Johan took the opening to scramble up into Fee's saddle, and gave her her head. As Fee galloped away, Johan turned in time to see a her of Horsemen wheel through the campsite. One grabbed his Mother, and lifted her to sit behind it on its mount.

Stunned, Johan could only cling to Fee as she carried him away from danger. The following months passed in a haze as Johan, numb to everything, alternate riding Fee, and getting off to walk her regularly, dawn to dusk when he would practically fall from the saddle to sleep in his cloak. Long, hungry months. Until, finally, they were here. Camelot.

There was nothing left to him except to find someway to strike back at the darkness.

Everything was gone.

Everything was gone.

Johan blinked, mind grasping at mist. Like a dream. He realized he was still kneeling in front of the box, and quickly rose to his feet, full of purpose. He was a Knight-Apprentice now.

Time to get to work.

{ Dong Shu Lei }

This was the story of Shu, the name which could mean a book itself. Gathered together, the faces written with agony, frustration, hatred and sadness were assembled at Camelot. The girl without anything was given a set of light armors, black as ink when she arrived, rescued by a knight in the peril. She was covered in ashes and dirt, squirming uncomfortably in the grant hall shining in bright glamour.

She was nothing but a refugee, the gloominess crammed in her eyes were too obvious. She wasn't listening at least not until -

"There is a way to fight against the darkness," the king said.

Shu raised her head to look at the stage, with little sparkles called hopes within. It was too much of information received by the young female, she could barely catch three keywords before the king left: Knight Code they shall pledge, Trials of Knights they shall pass and Sacred Weapon they shall be granted.

They swirled in her head, and she knew she didn't have a choice or better say she need it - the greater power they possessed. If the last kingdom fell, the world would end. Yet, that wasn't in her major concern, she wanted to fight. Every single of them stood, moved to queue up and awaited for their turns to make the vows.

"I pledge my service to the Great King and the Great Knights. I will uphold the Knight's Code and protect this kingdom against the darkness." She heard they said. She already pledged to the code of the Raven, because she wanted to take revenge on those who took her family.

Power is desired.

It was her turn, she looked at the sacred box and forced into a trance. "I-"

- she had a happy family, in a medium sized village and some friends. Her exotic appearance didn't stop her from meeting people, life was like heaven until - one day - they finally came.

As if she was reading a storybook, she read what was on it -

"They took them! Please! Please help! Please!" she pleaded.

Memories unraveled episodically like puzzle pieces mismatched, happy and sad scene woven in confusion. It was like the sound of an awfully played Violin, jagged and painful -

"Leave! Run! They're coming this way!" She was pushed out of the warm little house by her parents, everything was on fire. The night sky was lit bright by the red flames but the creatures that were stomping over wooden pieces and bricks which were once houses, were not. Encircling her were screams and crying noises of kids and women, the noises mixed together were so loud that her ears hurt.

Her hands were held by a boy with a similar age, he was running and panting. "Where's the others?" she asked, in a jittery voice. "Hóng!" He stopped, but didn't turn back to face her. "They - didn't make it...." he said. "What- what do you mean? We-can't leave them there, it's too dangerous!" She grabbed his hand with both hers. "Let's head back...okay?" she asked with a soft voice. She believed if they were all together, it would be alright but the boy knew the truth. "Shu, my dear sister. I'll be back with others, so head forward with the rest and be safe, promise me?" He wiped away her tears and smiled, even he was scared too. He didn't turn back as he ran towards the wildfire and where all the afflictive screams were, swallowed by the darkness. He knew it was the last time he'd see her and he prayed for her safety.

She didn't left, even she was frightened. she stood still in the middle of the path leading to the outside world, she looked back to where the little house she once enjoyed and hopefully saw they were coming. She waited and waited, many people passed her but neither from her family. Then, there was an explosion and the crowd squished like salmons upstream. "Wait. I need to go back! Please. I need to-" Her small body wasn't strong enough to stop all the scared people pushing her further away from the original position.

When the crowd stopped, it was already a mile far from the village. She immediately ran back, panting and wished her family had hidden up. The horsemen and riders left and shadowlings disappeared, the village became a ghost place after went through the massacre. She dug through the burnt woods and tones of ashes, nails broken and blackened with dirt. Shu knelt on the ground where her house once was, but she only saw items that carried precious memories - her favourite mug and turn-over plates of soup and whatnot. Bodies were left behind, some only had a limb -

Please stop, her heart ached painfully-

She didn't give up, the small dagger she took from an incomplete body's hand. He was plagued with a last painful expression, eyes widened and mouth opened. She loosened the stone debris with it and bloods started to drip down her injured hand.

STOP. Now.

She found them, seven plagued bodies. Father was in a pose wrapped Mother, sisters were hugging together, her twin sister and elder brother were clawing - they tried to fight back...Finally, he who was holding her hands a few hours ago - only an upper part remained. She couldn't help but screamed her lungs out, her limp figure convulsed out of disbelief. She hugged onto their carcasses, disregarded the bloods and smells, she rubbed her face against their torso that had lost the warmth.

The shadows approached her from behind, and the girl in such a great abhorrence towards the evil slashed the dagger against one of the shadows. It was a group of knights from the last standing kingdom on patrol, taking refugees and fought against darkness. They invited her to the sanctuary-

"I pledge my service to the Great King and the Great Knights. I will uphold the Knight's Code and protect this kingdom against the darkness." Shu heard she was saying, as if what she went through was just less than a second, spontaneously happened.

The young apprentice believed she won't forget even she sacrificed her memories of -

of - what?

In her mind remained an empty space, which she strangely felt peaceful and calm. The thought of taking revenge for ........ was washed away. Same for the reason of her sadness. In her heart only the grievances against darkness and loyalty to the kingdom left, the female knight apprentice stood up with a healed face. All the knights vowed had a refreshing expressions, differed from when they first assembled at the hall.

It was a chance given, the smiling apprentice swore to herself she would pass the trials and acquire the sacred weapon. She would fight against the darkness, she could gain more power and save lives.

Who was she? She was Shu, a knight apprentice pledge to follow The code of the Raven, lead by Merlin. She would, by all means, destroyed the shadows.

She gave way to the next one, headed forward with a confident face. She came in hunched and disturbed and walked out composed and relaxed. She felt she left behind something which was too heavy that she almost collapsed.

Yet, it felt so good. Just too good to remember again.

[ Ruth ]

The line seemed to stretch out into eternity but that was alright. Patience was a virtue and Ruth could manage the facade of pleasantness and faith for as long as necessary. She had her whole life to practice. Besides, it wasn't so much the wait that made her stomach knot and twist in anxiety.

It was the whispers, the murmuring, the speaking of the pledge that sent ants crawling along her skin. The sound of words being uttered with fervor, the sincerity in each syllable, the relief in their inflection, as the knight-apprentices-to-be before her all spoke the same promise.

It made Ruth want to retch.

Did they really believe the Great King? Did they really think that a mere mortal was capable of saving them? Did they really think that their servitude and their sacrifice would do anything at all?

Poor deluded fools, she thought in contempt while she kept her head bowed, hands clasped before her in prayer, and lips pressed against her fingers. Beneath the fringes of her bangs, Ruth watched and waited until she would take her place before the box.

"Who's next?" Had her breaking into a cold sweat, skin prickling, and every muscle tensing for flight. But Ruth made no sound as she forced herself to be the facade of pleasantness and faith. And it was the facade that made her way towards Lancelot and chose to obey the code of Kindness. She feigned her inability to speak, gesturing to her throat before she genuflected. Though it would not be seen, she closed her eyes and mouthed the pledge.

I pledge my service to the Great King and the Great Knights. I will uphold the Knight's Code and protect this kingdom against the darkness.

Whether she meant it or not, whether she was able or not, the magic within the chest didn't seem to care.

----------

Where do they find their faith? Is it truly faith when they've no other choice? she wondered absently. Is it ignorance that moves them forward? Or perhaps Hope is to blame?

Ruth would never do anything as crass as actually asking of course. She would wait until someone volunteered their answer and even then, the blonde would only feign interest because that is what was expected. She pondered for the sake of pondering not because she cared.

Because she didn't care for humanity. She didn't care that the lands have been ravaged and decimated and countless of people have been slaughtered. She didn't care about the brutality and the cruelty and the numerous atrocities her fellow man subjected themselves and others to.

One was born to die. It was inevitable. Coming to terms with this had given Ruth peace of mind early on. That so many others struggled and resisted with this truth could only be the reason why horsemen came to exist. And so it was that humanity was to blame for the calamity.

Ruth was not surprised.

What did surprise her was what she herself had done when the abbey was attacked. She'd barely had time to become accustomed to the habit when the warning reached the abbey. Their Mother Superior had them preparing for flight but Ruth had no intention of leaving.

The inevitable had arrived and Ruth wanted to welcome it with open arms. Except when the darkness fell upon them, when she saw heavy stone walls pulverized with ease, when she watched her fellow acolytes rend like parchment, when she heard manic glee in the words: "Who's next?" Ruth's hypocrisy fled. And she was quick to follow.

She scrabbled and shoved and threw others to the wolves, embracing the struggle for life with every fiber of her being. She ran and ran and ran, fueled by terror, pushed forward by desperation. She stopped to hide more than once, her silence and patience her best weapons while she waited it out.

Ruth couldn't afford the luxury of self-loathing. Not until she reached Camelot. And once there, the memories tasted of ash on her tongue and built bile in her throat. But she forced herself to be the facade of pleasantness and faith because that was what was expected of her.

Poor deluded fool that I am.

----------

Ruth eyes opened to the fringes of her bangs, her hands clasped together so tight her knuckles paled. The inexplicable terror had yet to fully release her but she pushed past it and rose, the sense of self-loathing was gone from her stance.

And she found herself thinking It is inevitable, without quite knowing why nor caring.