G’raha Tia would eternally be a student, learning countless lessons throughout his life, and doubtlessly would continue to do so until the end of his days. To never let his laundry pile high on a chair, to seize the joy in the mundane, to reach out his hand should he ever need help. Perhaps for the first time since he had awoken on the source, he had decided to put it the latter into practice, requesting some of Krile’s precious time for a personal meeting. Eithne had been whisked away on some adventure regarding the 13th, and G’raha had felt that he would be much better off seeking advice than ruminating between piles of tomes.

“I see, and so...” The head of the Students sets down her cup of tea, a hand coming to cup her cheek as she thought over his summary of recent events. “You’ve come to your dear friend Krile, for some advice.”

Indeed, he had arrived at her quarters at the designated time, a paper bag in hand bearing the spoils from a visit to The Last Stand. Krile had been concerned from the start, her delicate features riddled with the telltale signs of distress. He felt a twinge in his heart, knowing how rarely he relied on his friends during his troubles, knowing that she must think he would only call upon her if the situation were dire. Perhaps he should come to speak with her more often, about things other than work...

They had gotten through most of their lunch, before he felt comfortable enough to touch upon the reason for his visit. He had done his best to avoid exact details over Eithne’s, er, state of mind. He did not wish to disclose anything that she did not wish to share for herself, as Eithne had ever kept her cards close to her chest, and he would not dare tarnish the trust she had placed in him. Krile understood that, as he trusted she would, and did not question any further than necessary.

“While it troubles me to think of our Warrior in such distress,” Krile began to speak, after a moment, a gentle smile rising to her lips. “Ever am I glad to know you are by her side.”

He felt a familiar warmth spreading across his cheeks, but now was not the time to be concerned with appearances. He bows his head, unable to accept her words, his answer coated in more self-derision than he had meant for them to. “Would that I could feel so confident, yet I fear I fall short of what she needs.”

“Raha...” His ears flutter as he registers the concern in her voice, and he whips his head up to face her once more, a bashful smile curling the edges of his mouth.

“I know, I-I...” Raising his hands in defeat, he attempts to return to the matter at hand. “That is not why I’ve come to you today. I believe I am on the cusp of finding a solution to the problem! ‘Tis only that...”

She waits patiently for him to find the words, his mind carefully parsing what he should share from what he cannot.

“ ‘One last communion’, there is something or someone she must heed. Only, I know not what it could be...”

Krile reaches over for her tea, and G’raha decides to follow suit, eager to sooth his uncertainty. “A communion... I presume these words were conveyed to you by someone? Was it not Eithne?”

He shakes his head in response, eyebrows coming together as he, even now, remained perplexed by the experience.

“N-No... It was... Forgive me, it is difficult to expand upon it further, but while I am sure the words came from her, I cannot say that she spoke them in the traditional sense.”

She sips, and... “Well, have you communed with our friend then?”

G’raha looks down at the tea, trying to find a good answer. “I have not...”

“Raha.” Her tone is firm, and he is forced to look into her eyes again. “There are not many ways one can help someone in need, if we don’t reach out to them.”

“I know...” He hoped he could keep the distress from leaking into his voice. “But were I to push her, should she suffer even more distress due to my actions, I couldn’t bear it.”

“Her burdens are innumerable, and it is due to us that she carries them... It is a solitary life.” Krile’s eyes were serious, but soon they soften to her usual pleasant smile, a hint of mischief in the slight scrunch of her nose. “I have heard Eithne herself had quite a similar experience with a particularly mysterious hooded man. He sounded just about as stubborn as she is too.”

G’raha lets out a chuckle, a light and airy thing, and he felt his shoulders relaxing along with it, the wrinkle between his eyebrows fading. Right, of course, hadn’t he recently been musing on their similarities?

“What would that man have wanted at that time?” She takes a sip, letting him consider her advice carefully. “What would have allowed him the confidence to grasp her outstretched hand?”

He keeps her words close to his heart, their meaning ringing true, slicing clean through his hesitation. However pitiful it was, it was easier to think on the matter if he could detach himself from the problem, hearing it in her words, feeling their weight, thinking of what his friend could have done. The Exarch may have been resigned to his fate, but I— What I wanted most during that time—

After he parts ways with Krile, but before he submits to the mountains of paperwork he had tried to forget about, he confirms Eithne’s status with Ojika. “Perfect timing Raha, it seems she will return ‘ere long!”

Eithne deserves better than him, but there is no one else. The determination burns bright within his breast, a flame with which to harness the coming dark.