she doesn't wave for him to come in, nor does she ask him to leave. feeling resigned, she sits back in her chair, wiping blearily at her tired eyes. at the question, her lip curls. it feels so personal - soft, adoring touches, promising her that it is her birthright, that she is so glad it is her - and to share that with him, now, feels...cheap. 

"to spare her life," she says. 

"and because they trust me. both of them." she waves for him to sit. "you helped us out there. and you listened to orders. got those civilians out."

MATIAS SILPH

☉

he can't blame her, no, especially when the nature of his relationship to tapu fini's newest avatar is still so murky. he blatantly flaunted league rules then to see her in 'secret' and for that they've lost their champion. their own personal vendettas aside, he's untrustworthy. an asset by prowess and power alone. 

but maybe that's changed. 

the thought is unsettling, as is the concern bleeding into his voice. her mouth thins. she remembers rayquaza's frantic golds, holding the water-logged form of their patron for freya to heal. she'd almost lost her then, and it was because of this man here, as though he has a right to care. 

she sticks her tongue in her cheek. 

"it was a lot of things, but i don't know that it was inevitable, in the end." she looks down at her palm. it is no longer stained copper with blood, sapphiric blue with the stalactite.

"the shards. do you still have them in your body?"

MATIAS SILPH

☉

he hits her with one surprise after another. his thanks makes her brows furrow. because it almost seems genuine. and then he shares unblemished skin. she stares, a moment after he pulls the collar back up, because she is thinking about how ironic it is. 

he loses everything for those shards and only when he's lost it all does he give them up. 

their similarities rub her the wrong way and she resolves not to pity him, nevermind humanize him. people can change. she did. 

"if she manages to synthesize a red orb, we might be able to do the same with the blue." and release her from this horrible pact. 

MATIAS SILPH

☉

where to begin. 

"the details will come out in aqua," she assures him and the nature of their treaty should be stated when surrounded by their peers where actions can be contrived in full. but matias is as entangled by kyurem's prophecy as she is.

"i couldn't kill him. and it had nothing to do with my capability." her lip curls. "he claimed the prophecy wouldn't allow me to harm him. he was right."

MATIAS SILPH

☉

"we don't even know what half of the prophecy means, nevermind how to 'break' it," she says with a scoff. and if she did know a way to break it, wouldn't she be there instead of stuck behind her desk? 

amusement flickers over her. "i could kill myself, i suppose. i threatened it while we were there. he assured me he needed his dragon in its snow white lair. if the tables were turned, i'm not sure he could have hurt me either.

"but if i do that, then the world is over anyway." because without her, there is no containing kyogre. 

MATIAS SILPH

☉

if he dared think of pitying her, their fragile truce would be over in an instant. he moves on, unaffected, but manages to say something blasphemous enough to elicit a laugh from her. 

"the god my people revere? one third of the balance maintained by my patron? perhaps, aside from rayquaza, the only thing strong enough to champion and keep groudon in check?"

she scoffs. "stick to what you're good at, silph. making plans for the future isn't one of those things."

MATIAS SILPH

☉