Firroth glides towards the ground, dropping the Drake on the green grass before landing himself. Whilst Roan climbs off his back, Firroth gives his commands to the Drake.
My wings are too large to go in with you. You must protect him with your life.
"Let's go!" With the sword in his hand, Roan navigates the empty school corridors to his dorm with the Drake running behind him. When Roan gets to the door, he stops and turns to the unnamed Drake. "Wait out here."
Roan ducks his head inside the room and places the golden sword on Zarion's bed before looking around the room to make sure every trace of him has been removed.
He spent the morning stripping his side of the room, the bed, the walls, the side, everything gone. The only thing left is a single green backpack left on his bed that was intended for later instead of now.
Roan sigh, running his hands over his face as his fingers run through his hair, having to accept that plans are changing.
"Why did you not tell me?" Roan spins around, his heart skipping a beat, he had not heard Heather walk in the room.
"Heather?" Roan looks at Adamar's sword that Heather now has in her hands. "Heather."
"Why did you not tell me?"
"How was I supposed to tell you?" Roan shifts his weight on the floorboards. "You of all people."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Heather gasps.
When Roan and Heather lock eyes they finally see each other, properly, for the first time. "You are royalty in a society that is out to kill me and others like me. You are a devout worshipper of Harmonia. You are brainwashed, you are deeply rooted in the evils of this world, you are.... you are...."
"I am what?" Heather spits, trying to ignore the tears threatening to spill in her eyes, as well as the shaking of her hand and her loosening grip on the hilt of the sword. "I am what, Roan?" Heather whispers.
"Heather. You are Heather." Roan looks at his feet, no longer being able to look his best friend in the eyes.
"Exactly." Heather sighs. "I understand why you would hide something like this but, but this is us we are talking about." Heather grips the sword tighter in her hands. "I may be all those things you said about me, I may be an Heiress and I may be brainwashed for believing in my goddess, but I am also me!"
Roan shakes his head. "You wouldn't have understood."
"It is not fair for you to call me brainwashed just because you do not believe the same thing as me. It is not fair for you to blame me for what the rest of our society does! You didn't even give me the chance to understand!"
Heather takes a step away from Roan, grinding her teeth together before speaking again. "I never had the chance to prove myself. You stole that from me by taking away the option for me to understand the Draven. To understand your people,"
"Heather-"
"To understand you better,"
"Heather-"
"Because you are my people Roan." A strand of Heather's hair tickles the side of her face. "You are all I have."
"It was easier for me to believe everyone was my enemy. It is how I survived for so long and I am... sorry. I am sorry you had to find out like this." Roan feels naked under her gaze. Now she knows him better than everyone on the planet and he feels exposed to the power she has over him. "Did it always feel this way? Roan says after a drawn-out moment of silence.
"Did what always feel this way?"
"The vulnerable feeling. You're watching me right now and I know you see me, and I just feel..."
Heather nods her head, understanding him perfectly. "Every day, it does not go away, trust me. You are just going to have to deal with it." Heather's eyes twinkle and the corners of her mouth twitch into a shy smile. "Can you see me?"
Roan takes a few steps towards Heather. "You are beautiful, but everyone with eyes can see that. You are selfish, naïve, you can be self-serving at times, kind, intelligent, empathetic, and generous...you are not the villain Heather. The blond girl is not always a villain. She is a person, with flaws, just like the rest of us."
"I wish we had more time together, but you have to leave." Heather looks at Roan's bag, the smile fading away. "It's not fair that you are being forced to leave your home."
"Home isn't a place, it is the people around you." Roan laughs airily. "Or so I have been told."
When Heather laughs tear droplets shoot from her eyes. "If that is true, then I want you to come home...when things change."
"You think things will ever change around here?" he asks her.
Heather lowers the sword, twisting the hilt around and offering it to Roan. "We have to get you out of here." When Roan takes the sword, Heather turns to the door and waits for him outside.
Roan takes one last look at the picture of Zarion before leaving the room and running down twisted corridors with Heather and a Draven chasing after them. They make it to the entrance but the Valsari army blocking the entrance see Roan and the Draven when they walk around the corner.
"We need to find another exit." Roan holds his arm out, stopping Heather from revealing herself. "Right now, right now!" Roan runs back the way they just came, turning around when he realizes Heather is not running with him. "Heather, what are you doing?"
"Go!" Heather puts her hand on the wall and draws out an enormous amount of time energy to revert the time of the wall until it crumbles into a ginormous pile of cement and brick.
Heather does not get to say a proper goodbye to Roan, only managing to catch a glimpse of Firroth carrying him away into the clouds. She nods her head, relieved that he got away but Roan is correct, she is selfish, and she cannot help but feel like she is all alone again.
Roan looks over his shoulder, looking back at the school until it disappears. Now he must look to the future. Now he must leave.