Private Tales Now In This New Light

[Zinnia]

Zinnia said nothing. She looked sullen as Kristen explained her position, fully expecting to be ousted for betraying her dear friend. But that moment did not come, and instead an offer of redemption was placed before her instead.

Her face lit up, shirking the despair that had threatened to consume her in that moment. Zinnia leapt forward, seizing Kristen in the proper hug she'd wished to give her when they'd first met up in town.

"I w-won't let you down again," she promised.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

And here holding her friend Zinnia in her embrace and in turn being so held, it seemed to Kristen that a subtle promise had been given those many months ago, so subtle that at the time she could not even know it, and that this was part of that promise's fulfillment. That promise, Kristen felt, was something thus: though a great many fears and doubts might come to assail her mind, trust given to her god Aionus would be trust rewarded, for he was a god who loved and shepherded his children, and that no matter how dark the night may seem, even that which appeared to be an evil could be bent to his purpose, and ever did a guiding light, leading to the dawn, form the covenant between the divine and the faithful.

She held the embrace, and remembered many nights of lonely Temple life, and she thought: woe to the written word, indeed.

I w-wont' let you down again.

"I do not fear it, Zinnia," she said with soft affection. "I do not fear it."

Zinnia

 

[Zinnia]

When at last Zinnia pulled back from the hug she looked as sheepish as ever, her eyes darting between Kristen's and the floor on repeat. She rubbed her own arm, looking much like the wallflower she'd once been touted as.

"So...now what? I'll be honest I k-kind of don't want to stay in this..." she looked up into the steeple of the empty box they stood in. "...Church."

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen understood—or, at least, understood in some fashion. If nothing else, there was something disquieting about any building whose halls ought be filled with life and vibrance, or maintained such as to be welcoming when not occupied for its purpose.

But gods! Zinnia had such an adorable modesty. Hers was a heart truly incorruptible. Defied she did the image of the Dreadlord of old, whose countenance would be permanently etched with a grim severity.

Kristen turned toward the old church's doors and motioned for Zinnia to follow, and she spoke as she walked, "Then it is time I reveal my purpose for coming to Vel Stratholm. And yes, while the city happened to be so positioned as to allow the convenient convergence of our travels, there is another reason as well."

She stopped by the doors, and said in more hushed tones:

"Some time ago...Zael paid me a visit in Vel Numera."

Zinnia