Rinea can feel hot, itchy tears spill down her cheeks as she fights to control her breath. So much is happening at once that her head is spinning, but Chris's voice is clear and steady, cutting through it all. Rinea holds her hand tighter, nodding.
It's okay. It's going to be okay. Chris is here, and she's going to be safe, and words will not bring the whole world crashing down upon her again. All she needs to do is speak.
"B-Berkut," she begins again. The snarling illusion of Berkut, made nervous by Chris's sword, fixes Rinea with its betrayed gaze. Looking at it is excruciating, like her heart is being torn in two-- she wants to rush to him, to reassure and console her dear prince. But right now, Rinea has done enough for this man. She can't manage his reactions to this any more. She can't pull her emotions into herself to reassure him any more. She has to speak her needs into existence, or what lesson did she even learn?
"Milord." Rinea's wavering voice gets stronger with every word. "When I last spoke to you, I truly meant every word. I was happy! I didn't care where we might end up. The only thing important to me was that we were together.
"But right now... I can't do that any more." Rinea is trembling head to toe, but she keeps going. "I can't pretend that y-you didn't... that you didn't hurt me. So if you do anything else for me, if you have any love left for me... leave me alone!"
The siren is quiet and still, lance lowered. Rinea's eyes are so blurred with tears that she can no longer see its face, but the creature smiles, and nods, and sinks deeper into the water until is disappears completely.
Rinea scrubs hard at her eyes, barely keeping her balance. She's bawling. It's awful, it feels like free-falling, it's undignified-- but still it feels cathartic in some horrible, messed-up way.
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It's okay. It's going to be okay. Chris is here, and she's going to be safe, and words will not bring the whole world crashing down upon her again. All she needs to do is speak.
"B-Berkut," she begins again. The snarling illusion of Berkut, made nervous by Chris's sword, fixes Rinea with its betrayed gaze. Looking at it is excruciating, like her heart is being torn in two-- she wants to rush to him, to reassure and console her dear prince. But right now, Rinea has done enough for this man. She can't manage his reactions to this any more. She can't pull her emotions into herself to reassure him any more. She has to speak her needs into existence, or what lesson did she even learn?
"Milord." Rinea's wavering voice gets stronger with every word. "When I last spoke to you, I truly meant every word. I was happy! I didn't care where we might end up. The only thing important to me was that we were together.
"But right now... I can't do that any more." Rinea is trembling head to toe, but she keeps going. "I can't pretend that y-you didn't... that you didn't hurt me. So if you do anything else for me, if you have any love left for me... leave me alone!"
The siren is quiet and still, lance lowered. Rinea's eyes are so blurred with tears that she can no longer see its face, but the creature smiles, and nods, and sinks deeper into the water until is disappears completely.
Rinea scrubs hard at her eyes, barely keeping her balance. She's bawling. It's awful, it feels like free-falling, it's undignified-- but still it feels cathartic in some horrible, messed-up way.