"Oh, more prisoners. The amount was slowing down, so I was wonderin- Oh! Hello again! Oh... I suppose that must mean something serious happened this time..." Exalsonarden-Valkinvar Styadesx rambles on, her cheery demeanour taking no discernible hit despite the clarity of the trouble I am now in.
"Sister- Sister Styadesx..." I recall openly to her, brightening up her pale-skinned expression even more.
"Waionr's handsome face, she remembers!" she giggles, throwing her hands up in the air and shaking them near her face. Though she is covered in chains and other symbols of imprisonment, one might almost think they're typical bit of jewellery. Exotic in their design and limited in their wealth. The reality is quite hard hitting, however.
"Keep an eye on these two," one of the temple guards warn, heading off with little care now that we're in the Exalsonarden-Valkinvar's care. One of five, but it doesn't matter. An Exalsonarden-Valkinvar is one of the most powerful among all Valkinvar. A veteran of such capability, they're entrusted to keep an eye on traitor Valkinvar.
Though, these days, petty criminal Valkinvar might be a better descriptor. I doubt anyone in here is here for an actual case of betrayal or anything close. Just more and more victims of the strange things going on throughout the Valkinvar. A number, which somehow involves me and my snivelling opponent.
"Sister, put this on." a temple guard calls out, my armour's cape flying through the bars. It lands across my back, and the postwoman vanishes. A noise of thought catches in my jaw and I shift over to the bars.
"Exalsonarden-Valkinvar Styadesx, would you mind, please?" I ask, groaning in pain and annoyance as I make a point of resisting the tight clamp of my chains.
"Of course, Sister Vapooliar!" Sister Styadesx chirps, her armoured fingers barely making it through the bars to properly tuck me in.
"You look confused..." I say, minding my cape and the blood stains across it. I've been covered in blood before, I'm bloodied even now. But directly touching a bloodied rag, much as the blood is of such an honoured person and the cape is my personal pride it's... Well, it's still a bloody cloth.
"Your cape is awfully red for how un-red you are yourself." she goes, her voice 'hmmm-ing' at length in an almost childish way. I shrug, not sure if I should be honest about my promise with the Eurultus-Valkinvar. Given the circumstances of what is going on, I should probably not say.
"The fight got pretty bad." I lie, hoping she buys it either way.
"THE ONLY BAD THING ABOUT THAT FIGHT IS THE FACT YOU STILL LIVE!" my opponent howls, rushing into me and smashing me up against the bars. She growls away, trying her best to find my eyes or neck. She stops, her eyes wide and trembling. She backs away, timidly.
I look around, meeting the Exalsonarden-Valkinvar's eyes as they simmer down. Her straight lips return to a smile and my opponent walks off, a barrelful of swears keeping her going. I nod quietly in thanks at my jailkeeper, and her expression shifts again. Her gaze narrows at me and lightens up.
"I understand completely!" she chirps, her joy coming back as she flicks her fingers about, urging me to come back. I do so, letting her restore my temporary clothes. I go off, finding a comfortable corner and I rest against it, watching Sister Styadesx as she follows after me.
"So... Things have been the same since I was last here?" I ask, not sure how she can be so cheerful despite the fact she now has two Valkinvar prisoners who actually deserve to be here.
"Unfortunately." Sister Styadesx pouts, her glossy lips catching the torchlight and shining away. All in spite of the ornate gloom and doom that a dungeon should always be. Well, maybe not the ornate part, but the Grand Temple of the Four-Winded Valkinvar has no idea what 'humble dwellings' mean. Even Suhurlodst, for all its global fame, has shining's of it.
"I suppose I should think myself lucky. Your mood has had plenty of time to lighten up. Any earlier and this would not be as welcoming an experience!" I try to joke, huffing some of my feelings out in such a disingenuous manner. But, either I laugh. Or I cry.
"Even if you did come without the strangeness about this place. I think I would still be quite eager to talk to you," she tells me, her smile growing and growing until her teeth are shining on through. She breaks out into giggles, her heavy black armour continuing to offer such a strange contrast. Everything about her is so miserable to see from this side of the bars.
And yet... She's nothing but a joyous, happy woman.
So simply affectionate to have someone here at her side. The Valkinvar have put so much effort into making a prison that can hold their own and... It never gets used. Such is the quality of Valkinvar ethics and discipline.
"Well... Much as I can't say, I like being here again. Let alone going through here once. I'm glad the Exalsonarden-Valkinvar I met is you." I say, offering her a quick smile as I try to get what bits of my hands I can through the bars. She takes my fingertips up and shakes them about, her giggles unendingly cute in their delivery.
"Thank you! I'm just glad someone other than the other Exalsonarden-Valkinvar remembers my name!" she tells me, laughing away in such a disheartening way. Though I can find kinship in her thoughts and feelings, I don't feel like I fully understand them. I was a disappointment. It's why I was a lone Feather. One sent to what was an important front. Giant's Victory.
Sister Styadesx, however, she's one of our best. The very role of Exalsonarden-Valkinvar Styadesx implies a stellar history of accomplishments. Her very power alone is threatening enough to stop a vicious fight from breaking out. Her control over it is so fine I didn't even feel her outburst from a moment ago and...
Yet, here she is. In the dark, out of sight and so alone, without the thoughts of others to guide her. If I was to do well as a Valkinvar, to not be the shameful runt that I am. Would I be destined for the misery of isolation either way? Exalsonarden-Valkinvar Styadesx is not trapped here. None of the five Exalsonarden-Valkinvar are.
Though they might as well be if Sister Styadesx is this eager to talk to her sisters and brothers...
"You have a lot on your mind." Sister Styadesx points out, her features calm and understanding. I sigh long and hard, nodding away to the point of banging my head.
"I do... And I'm only getting more on my mind..." I despair over, the weight of my future bearing down on me more than any present discomfort. The secret is out. My lost sacred virginity, where I was after Giant's Victory and before the Long Battery Fort... So much information I thought I had left behind.
It's all coming back to haunt me and I have no idea why I even found my bed the way I did.