there is a very big chance he turns her away, but she's prepared for that too. her hand is already on the doorknob, counting in her head an amiable amount of time before souring his mood. then he finally grants her permission and she steps into an office she is uncomfortably familiar with. 

her gaze darts to the side of the room where she once stood as his attendant, where she thought she mattered. now - no, even then, she'd known the truth: he was only humoring her. 

the door clicks shut behind her. with a twist of her fingers, the lock snicks. she takes in the wall space, stripped free of the shadows of monitors. his hands delve into a shifting holographic display.

"did you ever use tapu fini's mist on her? wo-chien's avatar?" she asks, chin raised, pale gold eyes unblinking. 

FERNANDO SILPH

☉

it seems his patience for her audience has yet to wear thin. despite the years between them, she is no better at reading him, and she hesitates to believe him. and yet solace comes in the form of acknowledgment - she's already thrown her lot in with him. 

there's nothing left to do but ride the waves, treacherous as they may be. 

"i don't know, fernando, but i had to ask because ... tapu fini is alive. and it's working with her."

that feels like a lie. her hesitation is shown by a slight slouch of one shoulder, the twinge of still-healing teeth marks on her arms and hands, a slight furrow of her brows. 

FERNANDO SILPH

☉

she flinches back, hip clipping the door handle, pain lancing down her side. one hand slams back, scrabbling for the escape. the sudden and overwhelming need to escape. but no mist comes and she is forced to stand there, one hand on the door, quivering like a raboot.

"fuck you."

her grip tightens on the knob, but it does not turn. she'd locked it after all. 

she lets go. takes a breath. 

"she's coming for you. elisabeth. i don't know what you did and honestly? i don't care. but you have to listen to me. you have to trust me." her eyes narrow.

"it has some twisted hold on her and she wants you dead."

FERNANDO SILPH

☉

his impatience does not go unnoticed and if she weren't so shaken, she may have scoffed at his hubris. that he has the audacity to call it his. 

her expression hardens. she recalls those cold, knowing eyes. "it's the very same." she looks down at the tunnels. it was never uncommon for him to work while carrying on a conversation. this is what stops her from shoving her hands into the hologram. 

"whatever it wants doesn't change what she wants. it's allied itself with her. it's given her your same powers...and more. something else."

something i refused to take for myself.

FERNANDO SILPH

☉

"and what if what it wants is revenge? didn't you let it die?" 

the screen bathes him in red and she is reminded of that choking, cloying tide. lungs flat, teeth in flesh, limbs entangled. a hand outstretched, and then another, asking her twice to join their vendetta against him. 

"i know this because i sent us tumbling off the side of a charter boat and she - they - attacked me."

FERNANDO SILPH

☉

her jaw clenches, teeth aching from the force. king's restraint, his careful exercise of anger, helps her swallow the fire that gathers in the back of her throat. but it cannot reach the struck-flint hatred in her stare.

this is her atonement. 

she does not answer his question. defiance flashes in the wake of the still-blinking red light, the careful precision of his hands as he continues his grueling work. 

"would you offer me your power again, if i asked?"

FERNANDO SILPH

☉