All of a sudden, a vast worthy of the world of silence lands it hooves swiftly as if the wings of angels hang behind it. For many, it occurs as nothing, but for Zera, it was of course amusing, not that it surprised her, after all, in just hours past, she has been through enough grand emotions within that yet lingers vastly in the major doors of her heart. Zera, solely, blinks a few times when it couldn't bother Lady of Olympia and vice versa Hatim stood of course little more added to his little library knowledge. Not that in the end, he cared. "Wait…none of you are surprised?!" Shocked Rose realizes once again it adds nothing to them, which of course once again arises, a little bit bitter. Rose, the empress of the Red Line finds out something. "Ah, I am not the center point of it, am I?" She bitterly mumbles.
"Wait…the secret, between four of us…?" Zera suddenly catches onto something unusual spoken from the glossy red lips, mayhaps the numbers did not quite match the presence of this hall of five, minus one, to be more precise. "Oh, she can't hear us." Rose didn't have to point to Croupier to utter, clearing all that doubtful ambiance built through and through, not that it came as a surprise, but surely felt a little more amusing than knowing she was that childhood friend of mighty Dara, the pirate.
She Blinks.
Yes. It was the last piece of the puzzle, the last that was needed. The theory, and the story, aligned as the core she needed the most. Yes, this was one remaining part of the Lady Heavenly of Olympia must have, and there, there it was. The gust of wind blew and her palm swam to that middle deck, Athena picks a card,
Red.
"Wait, you're losing again…" Mocking, Rose lively spelled the unpleasant chain of words when the three cards were placed, it signifies only twice can the Lady of Olympia pull Red cards. It stinks of course, to Zera at least. With that, Rose's turn occurred, blissfully she touched the card. "It is you, the knife behind this city's back." Athena just then verbalizes with such mystique lips. Unknown—out of sudden thin air, words she clasps into the realm of that castle tainted with red, speechless and mum it left. That's who The Lady of Wisdom is, that was her dreadful notion. "You have given the knowledge of the navy personnel to those named pirates."
She Blinks.
"You sold the women of this town to the land of Dev."
Gale gusted strong, bold, sensational. Breathless sudden glossy red lips came to be, unknown and perplexed her lavender eyes with no reach of sparkle they occurred. No, she didn't count how many seconds have passed, evolving into minutes, yet the silence wasn't broken. Zera one may gaze at, but as if, even she, had no words but measly wide of those black gazes. Remains two, the two who always, always remain opposite to each other, as if nothing much remains to Hatim, was it too much? No, perhaps it didn't even matter, to begin with, yet he found himself lost, between realities. He only bit his lips. When…
She blinks.
As if thunder wanted to shake the world of Red, yet not a single one sang. But beneath the hood, her Word of Choice took birth. "You are giving all the needed information to the land of Dev…"
No.
Athena did not ask why but continued with those words shaking the pillars of the mighty palace Rose lives in. "Of course, they promised you the land, the same as you once loved once as a child. Winds of Freedom." No one knows when it happened, but there was a card in the palm of the mythical grim raven hood, swift as the lake residence of heaven, she spun the card and placed it on the table.
Green it was.
"No more trickery, Rose," Hatim says. "Those cards…are manipulated by the room air." Hatim's eyes pointed upwards to the chandelier of fire. Those were commonly sold in the black market of Paladins often illegal to use hence not only can it change colors but writings, which of course often led to fake currency, hence it never amuse the likes of him.
She blinks.
"Land of Dev…the kinds of mysteries that are yet to be discovered by me…" Unknown to the truth. Of course some yet, some world remains unseen to her, and yet remains unaware of the nature of the land of Dev. Not for long, however. Silence hauls the air, little by little devouring the biting nails of the clock hanging behind the golden throne. "Nah, you are not some special someone who works for some alliance." Her gaze of purple peaked beneath that hood of grim raven black. "You are above that…" Rose in the utmost world of shock and silent words somehow manages to still clasp to foe before. "I may not ask again, but who are you?" It was more of a threat than just simply knowing the other side of the seat at this point. The shadows in every corner suddenly came to be more perceptible, overwhelming their presence. "Rose of Red Line. The pirates sent from the Land of Dev will march their forces within a few hours, and nothing would remain of this city but ashes, demolished, dismayed, and will disappear and could lead to another great war on the grace of Butterfly Realm." No, there was not a single ounce of worry in Athena's words, no sympathy for the people of this city, no love for humanity, but merely a nuisance to her goal.
"Wait, what?" Zera has not yet understood, yet she did not comprehend the situation till now, yet it remains a mystery. A sudden palm lapped over her head, of course, a familiar one, Hatim laid his gentle hand upon her tiny head, not uttering a thin air from his mouth, he didn't even gaze at the tiny one, but she could feel it, the silence needed, the silence wanted. "Alika can not save this city…" Athena pauses. "I can." Even if one has known Lady of Olympia for mere minutes could tell she would not let her word of choice slip out that effortlessly. Zera could tell, it wasn't one of her theories, she spat facts. "You…? A face that coward who hides beneath some hood…?"
She Blinks.
"Women fighting their own battles…" Athena overlaps, refuses to reply, and rephrases what Rose's words said, not touching the mark of an hour ago. "The battles you created for them…to fit into your greater world…" Her tongue spelled those words without an ounce of irony, but as if… it predominates. "I have seen kings, and emperors, structuring their dynasties, taking the steps of infants, making it the habitat of citizens, yet, upon all the diligent and mastered years, nonetheless many failing—still. However, you built this little dynasty, by exploiting countless lives, manipulating their Hero, their Savior, clasping his desires under your finger. This city never needed a hero or a messiah…it needed a leader, a wise one. You were what this city needed, merely on the better side." It suddenly took the grasp of breath from Rose. "Yet, this is your pinnacle. This is the furthest you could have reached with intent standing upon the ending line." She once again took the pause of the nightmare. "Land of Dev will betray you and you can have history tongue for validity. Hence your only path to proceed from here is to flip the coin before they do." Upon that, suddenly out of thin air, it clasped Rose's chuckle, hence then proceeded to finally put some motion to her long-frozen body. She gestured a palm to the croupier and the glass of gold filled with ancient wine red as its scent flowed in their breathing air. "Well…damn I guess you know everything…" Her blood-red lips left their symbol on the golden glass as she took a sip from it. "Although, now I can not let you leave…but you're interesting, and to be honest, I don't think asking your identity would lead me anywhere…so why not talk about what we have at our hands…?" The game was left behind. "Alika isn't as cowardly as you think of him… I mean I believe so, I don't know whether he will be able to save it or not…but then again, the legacy of this country is built on miracles…so why not one more?" Of course, Rose had much more stability in her tongue, choosing her words carefully even if there are a mere four of them, not giving in to mind games Athena was playing with her, not emotionally at least. "There are no miracles, Rose of Red-Line." There yet remains the right cards to be laid to triumph on Athena's fingers, yet it occurs skeptical to do so, just then actualization follows, mayhaps it isn't a mere fluke she sits on that stolen throne. Rose is far tougher than the average someone ever will be. She rivals that of the legends of Artelia yet even she must have that tint gap somewhere in between. A mere weakness somewhere in her journey here, that led her to such a state, after all, even iron can be melted, so this is just a spiky Rose.
Yes, it is the last gamble.
She Blinks.
Once again the eyes of emeralds as if of mozo—gleamed. "What was their proposal of wonder to you?" Just a mere second of halt. "The great lands of childhood?" In the same second, the wine was flying in the air to the black hood as the palm of the lad warrior lay in between from hitting Athena. Rose splashes wine on the foe before Hatim stops with his left hand in the middle. In an instant, there were boiling raging lavender gazes of majestic, upon the figure in the grim raven hood before. "Don't cross the limits I have set for you. Remember you are in my territory." Said Rose clear as crystal. "'Your'…" Athena. "You still live up to the belief it is yours. You mayhaps could not look over the truth that there is no more you, in a mere span of an hour or perhaps two, nothing would be yours, not even the life you have taken for such certainty upon. Your name would cease to exist and will never be remembered, in the lore of this grand conclusion this country will face in coming years." All that boiling anger somehow changes her perception of proceeding and suddenly out of nowhere, it pierces through Rose's senses, making her blink times she couldn't count in pure confusion and thoughts. All that led to abruptly remembering something of utmost importance that was on her long-forgotten shelf at the last crate of a train of memories. As hurried step neared The crown and the table where they sat, echoing from not so far that grand gate the troupe of three entered with the very same steps, and as Rose gazed over to it, saw the silhouette of the masculine figure of her known, Ark finally scouted every inch of the district, yet to find the brawl Rose spoke of. Seeing them not so far, her eyes landed on the table round, cards lay upon and the troupe of three yet seated before the empress of Red-Line. She somehow was not surprised, not even a slight, but as her steps were tiny, slow, yet getting closer, in the blink of an eye Ark shone the light on a sudden thought. 'It has been over an hour, yet these people are still sitting here.' Of course, she has seen significant folks fall before the presence of this Empress, losing even the bit they had in such an insignificant game in the name of a gamble. This should of course have not come with a distinct finale either, yet the cloak of raven black, the lad, held that the eyes of wonders and that little child of thoughts, still stood before the foe tricky as Rose. She wanted to applaud them, but her position as the bulldog of empress couldn't let her.
—
'At the end of the day, I am just a knight of price. Saving you wasn't my duty, I did it because you were in my way. To be honest for me, people like you that aren't my soldiers could be traded for a bunch of insects for all I care…But if you still consider this as a life-saving point…so at least make something out of it…you might be able to do it…Lilith…'
—
When the eyes of all were on Ark, even Rose, she somewhere lost the battle of focus to her train of thoughts, mesmerizing the one she gaped at the most. After years of mystery and days of blood and tears, sitting on a throne upon the pile of bodies that bear the resemblance to her betrayal. She remembers something long forgotten even by her.
'Lilith.'
Rose was back in the world of mortals from the long vacation in the haze of dreams. "I lose…I Lost…" Sudden upon the rising breaths, clasping the words out of thin air to her lips shaded as cherry. "You have the worst timing, Ark," Rose smirked at her bulldog, who was still processing what her ear just heard. "w—what?" Ark and Zera's tongues synced.