Convergence of Fates

"I should pull them from the water before they get dragged back out. The least I can do for them now is give them a proper burial." Torq says to himself.

As Torq hops down to the coast and begins walking towards the body, he sees blonde hair and he says, "Oh no, divines let her be alright!"

Torq begins sprinting towards the ocean and pulls Rose's head above water. He swims back carrying Rose and lays her on the beach. Torq quickly pulls his knife and cuts the leather straps of Rose's chest armor and throws it aside. Pressing his hands against her chest, Torq presses down hard over and over.

He breathes into Rose's mouth and keeps pumping his hands on her chest. Eventually, Rose coughs up water and rolls onto her side.

She continues to choke and water pours from her mouth as Torq sits down and says, "Thank the stars, if lady Gisele had lost you too, well, let's not dwell on it."

Torq looks to Rose with a smile but she is unconscious. Torq gently picks up Rose and carries her back to the palace. Three days pass before Rose regains consciousness and when she opens her eyes, she sees that she is in an expensive looking bed with curtains all around. Rose slowly sits up and feels pain all over her body.

She looks down and sees she has small bruises and deep cuts across most of her body. She also notices she is only wearing a thin white robe. Rose moves to the edge of the bed and moves the curtain aside revealing a room just as lavish as the bed. She has never been inside the palace before the fight against the Ryders, but from the colors of the furniture and decorations, Rose assumes she is in Gisele's room.

"This is wonderful, how do you feel Rose?" Torq says as he enters the room carrying a plate of food and a mug.

"Uhh, thirsty, and hungry." Rose replies wearily.

Torq looks surprised and says, "Well this was supposed to be mine, but you need all the strength you can get so go ahead. I'll go get another for myself."

Rose takes the mug and even when she realizes it's ale, she continues to drink until it's empty. She sets the mug down and digs into the food, starving after being asleep for so long.

Torq returns and after they finish their meal, Gisele enters the room and hugs Rose while saying, "I'm so glad you're alright, but where are Amelia and Evelyn?"

Rose breaks down and sobs uncontrollably as Torq silently rises form his seat and excuses himself.

"Gisele, they're... dead." Is all Rose can manage to say and Gisele holds her tightly as she too begins to cry.

"Oh Rose, I'm so sorry. What happened?" Gisele asks after a long silence.

Rose shakes her head and says, "I don't know I touched the monolith like Eris said and then, explosions started going off everywhere, and Evelyn..."

Rose clenches her fists and Gisele says, "Gods, how horrible. What about Amelia?"

Rose looks back up at Gisele and says, "She was holding Ev and then she fell into a huge fissure. It was so dark down there, like it went on forever. I was flying through the air thinking I was going to die, just like my sisters but... I'm still here."

Gisele wipes her tears before saying, "My mother was taken from me as well, but I didn't bear witness to that either. Please forgive me Rose, I should have been there with you."

Gisele bows her head and Rose says, "I don't know how I even survived, but you could have died too if you were there. I want to be with my sisters again, but if I lost you too I don't know if I..."

Rose trails off as she begins to cry again.

"Rose, if there's anything I can do, please, just say the word." Gisele says taking Rose's hand.

"I just, I don't even know what to do with myself." Rose says as she wonders how she will cope without her sisters. "I just want to sleep, I'm still so tired." Rose says as she yawns.

"I understand, most of the ground floor was heavily flooded, but the upper floors were mostly untouched. There is a shortage of beds, but you can stay here in my chambers for as long as you need. I have to help my people, but I will return later. Sleep well, Rose." Gisele says comfortingly as she exits the room and Rose turns over and cries herself to sleep.

The sun rises the next morning and light pours in from the window as Rose wakes up and sees Gisele sound asleep next to her in the large bed.

For a moment Rose thinks she should have died along with her sisters, but Risae interrupts her thoughts as she enters and softly says, "Hey glad to see you're ok. I, umm, I'm really sorry about your sisters. They were so nice, I... I'm sorry for bringing it up. I'll shut up now."

Risae hangs her head and grabs some linens from a dresser nearby and Rose says, "What am I supposed to do now? Why did only I survive?"

Risae has a pained look on her face but doesn't say anything.

A knock at the door breaks the momentary silence and Gisele wakes up and says, "Risae, see who it is."

Risae opens the door and Torq is standing in the doorway covering his eyes.

"Rose, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I believe you must keep living, despite the pain. Your burden is to always remember and by doing so, they will live on through you. Just as lady Gisele must bear the burden of the people killed in Alissi, they will never be forgotten. That is the Alissian spirit that has kept us going all this time."

Torq wipes a tear from his eye and Rose says, "That's beautiful. I don't know if I can bear that burden though. I only wanted to help..."

Gisele sits next to Rose and says, "Wait, if you activated the monolith, then that means the woman you met was actually Eris."

Rose stares out the window and says, "Yeah, I guess she was."

Gisele puts her hand on Rose's shoulder and says, "Don't you see, Eris is the goddess of life! Surely she can bring Evelyn and Amelia back, right? Do you remember where she was going?"

Rose perks up and says, "Do you really think she can bring them back?"

Gisele nods and says, "Yes, in the stories I've heard of Eris, she was known to bring souls back from the dead a number of times."

Rose smiles and says, "I had no idea! I think she said she was going to the western monolith when she left."

"I see, then assuming she is traveling by foot, she has a seven day lead." Gisele says as she pauses to think and then continues, "Torq, go to the stables and ready our finest horse, and make sure to fill it's packs with supplies as well."

Torq salutes and says, "Right away my lady."

As he walks down the hall, Risae says, "So you're going then, I hope you'll be ok by yourself out there."

Gisele gets up and as she dresses herself she says, "We have precious few soldiers left to defend our kingdom, but after everything that has happened, I'll not let my best friend make this journey alone." Gisele turns to Rose and continues, "Give me some time to make the arrangements, perhaps you should rest a while longer."

Rose shakes her head and says, "Thank you but I feel alright now. I wanted to go back to the monolith and, I don't know, see if I can find any trace of Evelyn or Amelia. What if they're still out there?"

Gisele nods and says, "Then I'll send them to the monolith to meet you." Gisele hugs Rose and says, "I must go now but, I hope you will stay for the ceremony at least."

Rose looks confused and says, "What ceremony?"

Risae laughs and says, "Gisele is officially the new queen of Alissi! How cool is that?"

Gisele smiles and says, "It will be a heavy burden as Torq said, but I owe it to my mother and the Alissian people to be the kind of leader they need."

"Of course, I didn't know..." Rose says getting out of bed frantically.

She holds up her torn and bloodstained clothes and looks to Gisele as she laughs and says, "I wouldn't mind at all if you wore that, but if you'd be more comfortable, you can wear one of my dresses. Risae, help Rose while I finish getting ready."

Risae takes Rose by the hand and leads her to Gisele's closet. It's an entire room filled with beautiful and expensive dresses and clothes. After finding a modest dress, Rose bathes and dresses herself.

Risae returns a short while later and says, "Come on, it's gonna start soon. You look really good in that, really brings out those big blue eyes of yours."

Rose smiles and thanks her as they head to the throne room. Upon entering, Rose sees the scars and cracks in the floor and walls from the fight against Eran and Gohr but all of the furniture and decorations are gone, most likely ruined in the flood. The throne remains the sole object in the room as it slowly fills with the remains of the Alissian citizens. Gisele enters the room and walks in front of the throne as people quietly cry and whisper among themselves.

Torq clears his throat loudly and the crowd quiets down as he says in a booming voice, "Our fair queen was murdered by cowardly soldiers from Rydell, but her daughter, Gisele Laplace fearlessly lead the attack to reclaim the city." Torq raises the Alissian crown and continues, "Her actions prove her worth, and so, I hereby name you Queen Gisele Laplace of Alissi. All hail the Queen!"

The crowd erupts with cheers and people shouting 'All hail the Queen!' The festivities wind down a few hours later and Rose decides to head to the monolith.

"Leaving already?' Torq asks.

Rose replies, "Yes, I just want to think about things for a while. Thank you for saving me Torq, Gisele told me you were the one that brought me back to Alissi."

Torq laughs and says, "What was I to do, leave someone floating in the ocean? Think nothing of it Rose, you are a kind person and you didn't deserve this hardship, but I believe you will persevere."

Rose smiles and says, "Thanks, it's nice to know a few people believe in me."

Torq helps Rose onto the horse and says, "This is Vold, pure bred and fast as lightning. I've packed food and water as well as some basic medical supplies in these pouches."

Rose nods and thanks Torq again before riding off towards the site of the convergence.

Chapter 5 - The Desert Kingdom

The inside of the city was wrecked, but from the outside, Rose sees the true scale of the destruction. Almost half of the city is rubble and the once lush and beautiful forests surrounding the area have been blown to bits. Craters of all sizes dot the landscape from the explosions, and as Rose approaches she notices the monolith is gone.

There are several massive perfect circles where the hilly grassland unnaturally meets rocky, mountainous terrain. Rose looks around and sees the fissure Amelia fell into, and feels sick as she cautiously approaches and peers into the abyss. It's too dark to see the bottom and the walls of the crevasse are jagged, further reinforcing the idea there is no way to survive such a fall.

"I'm sorry Amelia, I should have just listened to you." Rose sobs as she backs away from the edge.

She sits down and sees a small black shard in the grass. As she picks it up, the shard briefly emits a white light before crumbling away into dust. Rose sighs and lets the dust scatter in the wind. She takes another look around and it dawns on her that there is no crater where the monolith lifted that huge piece of land into the sky.

"Then this must be, part of another world like the legends said." Lost in her own thoughts, Rose fails to notice the footsteps getting closer and she suddenly feels a hand upon her shoulder. Rose quickly turns around and sees Rem smiling.

Rose breathes a sigh of relief as she says, "You scared me, haha, are you coming with me then?"

Rem nods and says, "Sorry didn't mean to scare you, the queen said it would be best for me to get away from familiar surroundings for a while and that you needed a companion on your journey"

"I'm grateful you chose to accept." Rose says.

Rem laughs as she says, "I didn't really have a choice, I think everyone was tired of seeing me mope around. Not that I would have refused though!"

Rose laughs and says, "Well I'm glad you'll be with me. I don't think I could do this on my own."

Rem pats her on the back and says, "Yeah me either, but I think this will be good for both of us, we can help each other move on, you know."

Rose nods and rubs her eyes and Rem says, "Don't start crying now or I'll end up crying too." Rem takes a deep breath and closes her eyes as she says, "One cannot know love without also knowing despair, Chrol said that once and I thought it sounded nice, but I think I finally understand what he meant. Only by experiencing both joy and misery can a person truly understand themselves and others. I wish I had figured it out sooner."

Rose nods and says, "I definitely see things differently now, but I don't want to become cynical about life."

Rem laughs and says, "Well don't worry about that. You'd be a real downer and it would bum me out too, so count on me to keep you in line."

Rose laughs and says, "Alright then, that sounds..."

Rose is interrupted by a rumbling under her feet and dread sets in quickly.

"Hey relax, there's no way..." Rem says, but her voice trails off as she watches in awe.

An explosion can be heard far off in the distance although it's over the horizon and can't be seen.

"No, not again, why is this happening?" Rose says as she quickly regains her composure and looks to the west, the direction Eris was headed.

"You think your friend is there now?" Rem asks.

Rose nods and replies, "That's where she went. Maybe I activated the monolith after it was already too late. I hope that means Eris wasn't late as well."

Rem's eyes widen as she watches a gigantic piece of land floating into the air just before it is enveloped in white light. From this distance, the spheres appear small, but Rose knows how massive they really are and knows more people must be dying.

"We have to go now, Eris might be in trouble." Rose says as she and Rem mount up and begin riding to the west.

As they ride, Rose now bears witness to the rest of the convergence, the part she was unconscious during last time. The spheres continue drifting upwards until they are just a speck of light in the sky and then another light begins to fall down nearby. It slowly spirals downward until it reveals itself to be another sphere as it slowly disappears over the horizon. There is a final massive tremor and then all the floating debris falls back down. This far away, there is no way to know how bad it is, but if it's the same as before, anything close to the monolith in the desert would have been obliterated.

The girls ride on for a while in silence, until Rem says, "Gisele told me about what happened, I don't want to dash your hopes or anything, but do you really believe Eris can revive your sisters?"

Rose thinks for a moment before saying, "I'm still not sure, but if there's even the slightest chance, I'm going to try."

Along the way Rose and Rem chat about their lives, trying to take their minds off recent events, and after they stop for the night, the girls make camp and eat a small meal.

"So are you from Alissi?" Rose asks.

Rem shakes her head and replies, "No I was born in a small village to the north, Rugen. It was close to the border, but that's when the Ryders began to push into our territory. They started kidnapping people and burning entire villages to the ground. Rugen happened to be one of those villages and most of the villagers were killed, including my family. Apparently, Alissian soldiers found me a day later under some debris and brought me back to the city."

Rose looks surprised and says, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Rem laughs and says, "It's alright, I don't remember anything from back then anyway. Once Queen Seraphina saw me, she took me in and when Gisele was born I helped take care of her. After that I learned I had a natural aptitude for magic so I began studying and, well, here I am."

Rose tells Rem about her quiet life in Burket village and how food was getting dangerously low.

"Seems like things are getting worse everywhere you look. Let's hope Eris can really fix things." Rem says cheerfully.

The desert comes into view after two days and as their horses trot into the sand Rem says, "It's another four days ride through the desert before we get to the monolith. It's supposed to be near Gracia, let's hope they're in a good mood when we get there."

Rose looks to Rem and says, "Have you ever been to Gracia before?"

Rem shakes her head and says, "No, but I've met a few Gracians and they've told me a little bit about it. It's supposed to be even bigger than Alissi and very well hidden in the desert."

Rem looks around and says, "It goes on forever, just sand and rock for miles in every direction. It's amazing they've been able to live here at all, let alone fight monsters and the Ryders."

Rose takes in the view and admits, "It is beautiful in its own way, but the heat is unbearable. How do they stand it?"

The horses gallop through the desert sand as Rem thinks and finally replies, "I'm not sure, I've never really asked. They all have darker skin though, probably because they live in this horrid heat."

Rose laughs at Rem's almost childish response as they continue through the desert. By the time the girls reach the edge of the clear path of destruction caused by the convergence, their food and water supplies have run out.

Rem says, "Let's check it out and try to find some water."

Rose agrees and they ride towards the center of the area. This time, the convergence has placed areas of forests into the sandy dunes of the desert. The sand has erased most traces of the explosions, but several large sections of what appears to be a city wall are littered around the desert. Rose and Rem make their way through the area and they become aware of someone following them.

Rem looks around and sees nowhere to hide except the areas of forests and she says, "Let's keep our distance from the trees, who knows what crossed over this time."

Rose nods and the girls stick to the sand as they move further from the trees. Rose feels uneasy and turns to Rem, but behind her she sees a wide trail of sand coming closer and she quickly grabs Rem's hand and pulls her away as a monster bursts out of the sand. Rose and Rem stare in utter shock as they gaze upon the creature.

It is a gigantic snake, but instead of a head, a woman's body is somehow fused with the serpent. Her body is covered in scales except for her face and chest, although her face is elongated and looks bestial. The woman is pale and completely nude, but when she opens her slitted, golden eyes, she hisses and her long forked tongue whips around as she bears her fangs.

"What the hell!?" Rem says.

Rose stares in disbelief and says, "Why is there a woman attached to it?"

The snakewoman doesn't seem to understand and lashes out violently, her mouth agape as her fangs practically drip with venom. She uses her long claws and powerful tail to strike at the girls but Rem deftly evades and throws a ball of fire at the woman. Rose quickly draws her sword as the woman hisses and charges towards Rem.

Rose runs after the beast and stabs her sword into the woman's serpentine tail, causing her to lift and swing it with Rose still attached. Rose hits the sand hard and loses her grip on her sword as she struggles to her feet. Breathing heavily, Rose picks up her sword and rushes towards the creature as she lashes out at Rem. The snakewoman dives in and Rem tries to dodge, but the woman's agile tail wraps around Rem and soon she is bound.

Before Rose can reach her, the woman sinks her fangs into Rem's neck and holds her in her jaws as she watches Rose approach. Rem goes limp and Rose is flooded with emotion. Memories of her sisters, helpless just like Rem, distract her and the woman releases her fangs and grabs Rose with her scaly arms. Rose struggles in vain as the woman lifts her into the air and brings her closer.