After parting ways with Zane, Nia made a beeline for the Hall of Eldars. She had a bone to pick with them. Or, more accurately, maybe a bone to beat them to death with.

“The war is over.”

“The war is over!”

“The war is over? Wars don't just end. How could one on a galactic level just end?”

Nia was angry. Or maybe just confused. She tried to go at it several different times but she couldn’t make sense of it. In the end, she came to a simplistic understanding.

“The war is over. I wasn't told.” Maybe they just had not seen fit to tell her. Or maybe they just forgot. The war was over though. That was a good thing. She knew that, but she still felt empty.

“I am despicable. I feel empty that a war is over. The war I came to end. Warmonger.”

“NO.” The voice in her head. The ghost in her head. The…..

The soul in her scar. It continued “They sought thee, dragged from thine home. used. Enslaved. Thee hast a right to know of such a thing.” The voice was soft but forceful and sounded far off. Ethereal. As if the words came from a friend across a river. But the tone wasn't that of someone desperate to be heard. Nor subtle like a silver tongue that plants a seed of thought and hopes to be forgotten. The tone was that of a friend. Not shouting, not whispering. Always supporting. It entered her mind as truth and the words always seemed unassailable. After all, to disagree with them was to disagree with her own mind. But, the voice was always encouraging her. To be fair, it didn't speak much. But when it did it was always encouraged. Always supporting. It didn't seem like a friend. But like a lover. A blind lover. Maybe if it disagreed with her, even once, she could accept it. Trust it.

“Why disagree when there is no quarrel. Why seek descent. Why descend to descent and decay.”

“Is my subconscious making fun of my conscience?! That joke was terrible.”

“True things can be terrible jokes. Most true things are terrible jokes.” the voice paused as if dramatically preparing for a terrible joke. A terrible truth. “Thee cannot go home. Thee is certainly the most powerful homeless creature. But, thee still laughs even while thine life is a terrible joke. A terrible yoke.”

“Wow, I am so glad I wasn't speaking out loud. No one can ever know I made such bad jokes. They will think I’m insane.”

“Thee is sane. That is how thee can see the joke.”

Encouraging.

Again.

“Would a sane person who sees a joke pretend to not see it? Not see you.”

It had taken nearly two hours but Nia was finally at her destination. Outside the giant double doors into the hall of Eldars. She stood off a little to the side while she waited. Woo-Yaal would be there any minute. She had reached out to him through the Void when she had arrived. She honestly could have just Drifted straight to the center of the Hall of Eldars. But even Nia knew that was rude. For being the ones who summoned a “Hero” to embody it, the Eldars seemed very--- afraid --- of Void. like they wanted to be saved from their oppressors but never shown the sword that killed them.

A rift opened in the hallway and Woo-Yall slithered through. To the obvious shock of several passersby.

Well, might as well go in. If we stay out here Woo-Yaal will cause a traffic jam. as the two of them approached the giant doors opened of their own accord, allowing them entry.

The room inside was huge. Oval in shape with a high vaulted ceiling. No windows lined the room, not even art hung on the walls. Throne-like chairs circled the room. More accurately, they circled the center of the room. The room had always seemed cold to Nia, and she always left with a slight headache. She didn't like the Hall of Eldars. In each chair sat an Eldar, light suspended in space. Shadows lit by a pulsating light at their center. Nia had never been able to discern the meaning of the pulses. Some pulsed fast, others very, very slow. But today, Nia ignored them. Instead, turning to Woo-Yaal and asking:

“Were you able to catch some dinner?”

“Yeeeeesssss.” Woo-Yaal hissed as he slithered next to her. The door shut all on its own behind them. “It was easy to catch. I will not need to feed for….”

Something was wrong. Woo-Yaal caught it too. What is it? maybe something wasn't wrong. “But something certainly isn't right. Wait! What's that?” there, in the center of the circle of Eldars. On the ground. A black mass of…. Something. Woo-Yaal noticed it as well. His long tongue shot in and out, rapidly tasting the air.

“Shame!” Woo-Yaal roared. Raising his head off the ground, unfurling his massive hood displaying the black and grey markings in the shape of a face. Opening his mouth wide, two massive fangs each a meter long dropped down from their usual position folded against the roof of his mouth. “Shame!”

“No!” it can't be.” Nia thought as she started forward at nearly a run. But she knew it was, Nia could sense the Void bond between herself and the thing on the floor. A snarly escaped her lips and she began to subconsciously draw on the power of Void. hard. Woo-Yaal right behind her head still raised, tail cracking the air as it violently whipped back and forth. “They wouldn't! No. No! No! Nooo!’ Nia pulled up short just in front of the person on the floor. Now she could tell it was a person. “No, no, no! Please no.” a pale foot stuck out from under the tangle of ebony black hair. A tiny foot, with delicate small toes. Nia’s chest hurt. She hoped against hope that she was wrong. But she wasn't. There on the floor was the child she had saved from the planet with the dying star thirty some odd hours before.

I know I fed her Void, but how did she grow so much!? She was a child and now she looks like she is ten! Still a child. Why is she here? No, more importantly, how long has she been here? Her mind flashed back to three hours earlier just after her bath when she had first noticed the message from the Eldars. Have they been waiting… has she been left in this terrible room that entire time?

The Eldars were shouting at Nia and Woo-Yaal. But Nia barely registered it as a distant roar. She stood transfixed as the child in front of her raised its head to look at her. Thick, long black hair. Two black-furred, wolf-esque ears lay flat down against the head. Barely discernible from the tangle of hair that fell across the face. A quivering little nose and trembling lips. The skin around her eyes was red and puffy from crying. A veritable torrent of tears ran from her brilliant eye. Large eyes open wide in fear. Those eyes. Nia was petrified as her eyes locked with those of the child. The right eye was red. Deep red. A sparkling red eye. The left was golden. Astonishingly gold. Exactly like Nia’s.

The child's eyes widened even farther when they beheld Nia. Suddenly Nia realized how hard she was pulling on Void. I must look terrifying. She released her pull on Void. The child cried out and lunged at Nia.

Not at Nia.

To her.

Arms outstretched for protection.

But before she could reach Nia there was a clang of metal and cry from the child as she slammed to the ground. The pain inside Nia's chest exploded into anger. It consumed her. In a moment she was next to the child picking her up off the ground. She’s so small. the child tried to wrap her small arms around Nia but was drawn up short. Nia felt something hard hit her and heard the clang again. Anger burned hotter. Gently Nia scooted herself into and under the child, taking the child into her lap, letting her curl her tiny form into Nia's chest. Brushing away the thick black hair while gently raising the child's arms, and there it was. A manacle attached to each wrist and connected by a chain. The chain split in two and disappeared back into the mass of hair. Working fast with a laser focus of anger Nua followed the chain back up to a metal collar around the child's thin neck, then down to where it connected to manacles on her ankles. In Between where the chain connected to her ankles and to the collar it passed through two heavy rings lodged in the floor.

Damn them! They strip a child of even her being! Humiliating! Degrading! I should burn them to ash and feed them to their children. Break their legs and… they don’t have legs. Feed them to Woo-Yaal! That would disgrace them.

Nia was past anger. Anger was no longer useful in this situation. Oh, it was still there burning like Jargunwroo, but it wasn't her focus. Now she was focused on the child in her arms. How can someone so small shake so much? First, she had to deal with the chains. Grabbing onto the manacles on her wrist Nia channeled Void, pouring it into the metal. The Void energy saturated the metal, weakening it. Making it brittle. Then, with Void's enhanced strength, she snapped them one at a time. Nia held the thin, trembling wrists in her hands gently. the child was still crying into her chest. Nia felt the hot tears on her bare stomach. The entire forearm was rubbed raw and bleeding in places. Several deep scratches ran down her arm. Poor thing, probably scratched herself trying to alleviate the pain. Nia gently slipped her hands up to the child’s head. The roar of the Eldars’ screams of protest still rang. Woo-Yaal had encircled the two of them in his length. His massive, hooded head protectively hovered over them. He at least was taking some amount of joy indirectly defying the Eldars. With one hand Nia cupped the child’s chin, raising it and reaching for the color with the other. Is she sucking on my thumb? Nia leaned down to look. Sure enough, her thumb was in the child’s mouth. Eyes shut tight, not quite sucking, not quite biting. Nia felt tiny, sharp teeth on her finger. Taking hold of anything she can I guess. Tiny pinpricks of pain came from her thumb as the skin was pierced in several places.

“There now,” Nia soothed. “You are safe now. I won’t let them hurt you.”

Doth she understand language?

Mothers speak to babies all the time. It comforts them.

“I am so sorry I abandoned you, but I will never do so again,” Nia whispered into the child’s fluffy ear. “I will protect and care for you. You will always be loved.” With that, she kissed the top of the child’s head.

The collar crumbled in Nias' grip and she moved her free hand, the one not being bitten, to the ankles. She’s naked, Nia realized. I don’t know what I expected at this point. I guess I didn’t give her clothes either. Blackness began to seep out of Nia onto the floor surrounding her and the child. Nia barely took notice as she removed the last of the manacles from the child and took her fully in her arms. Then, holding the child still biting her thumb tight to her chest, Nia blasphemed. At least it felt like she did. Encasing the two of them in Void, she Drifted right out of the hall of Eldars.