Barely a second passes by in which they freeze and all stare at each other before they're instantly kicked into high gear, grabbing their rucksacks before charging out through the door and taking off down the promenade deck.

Outside, there's a cool evening breeze, white fluffy clouds stained with sunset hues drifting past a sky tinged with oranges and yellows and pinks and purples – the perfect weather and the perfect scenery.

In all honesty, it would probably be quite picturesque – like worth taking pictures of and putting on postcards picturesque – if there weren't planes zooming around and shooting at them.

Plus the smoke, the screaming engines, and the fire.

Right. Can't forget the fire.

Chia leads the way with absolute certainty, directing them past fires and debris and forks in the corridors with a surefire confidence that only speaks of having memorized the entire layout of the airship perfectly.

"Get to the hangar!" Tam yells as they charge down the hallways and skid around corners. "There should be something there we can use!"

There is another loud "BOOM", the entire airship listing to the side – Tam barely manages to yank Chia back from toppling right over the railing of the promenade and plunging through the clouds to the very much far away city below, Kaya stumbling into the nearby wall and Allioni avoiding a twisted metal beam crashing down from above just in time.

The four of them wobble on their feet for a moment, trying to find their footing before taking off again. Allioni curses, then says what they're all thinking: "The ship's not going to hold like this. Aren't they supposed to need us alive?"

Tam grimaces. "They would if they think Kaya can get out – they don't need the rest of us, remember? In fact, it'd be easier if they did get rid of us."

"Isn't that a bit too risky?" Chia frowns.

"Not if it's Argus's people. They'd probably prioritize making sure we're dead and can't break the Starcurse rather than capturing Kaya and letting everyone else fight over her at the risk of her breaking out."

"You mean –" Chia begins, and Tam nods.

"Yara told me – Yara told me that Anya said Argus is dangerous. Maybe even more so than Mrs. Rivyet. And she's right. This time, we're not just in danger of being captured or injured. We're in danger of dying. All of us."

-------------------

They charge right into the hangar not a minute later, just in time to see the door opening and the pilot of their airship strapping on his parachute. "I'm jumping ship!" he tells them upon seeing them enter. "This airship's pretty much doomed with how damaged it is – it's already headed in a direct crash course with the mountains. So if you kids want to live, I'd suggest you get out of here quickly! There are additional parachutes in the cabinets over there," he says, nodding towards said cabinets. Then he's off, hopping out through the door and into freefall.

The four of them trade looks.

"But if we use the parachutes – won't they be able to catch up with us or shoot us too easily?" Chia asks, saying what they're all thinking.

"They will," Tam says, grim. "We'll be sitting ducks – basically begging to get shot out of the sky. And even if we manage land in Solaire, I'd hazard a guess that at least a few of the groups hunting us will have already gotten here, especially considering if it's really Argus chasing us – he'll definitely have informed everyone he could. The only option –"

"– is to fly," Allioni finishes, looking towards the few planes at the back of the hangar, some still partially covered in tarp. "Right? That way we might still be able to get to the temple without getting running into any more of them and getting held up."

"Yes. But frankly, I don't like this – if we make even a single wrong move –"

"– we can do it," Chia interjects. "We can fly. We have to." She glances towards Allioni, who nods agreement.

"And –" Kaya speaks up, "And if something does happen – if someone falls – then I'll be there to catch you. So you don't need to worry."

Tam sighs. "So it's decided. Hope these things still have fuel," he adds under his breath.

"Right," Allioni says. "Let's fly."

-------------------

Fire.

The scream of engines.

Bullets.

Smoke.

Through it all, as the plane twists and turns through the sky and barely avoids getting its wings clipped by a stray round of gunfire, Kaya reaches out and pulls her Starsong out from under the buzz of her skin and focuses.

Protect, she thinks to herself, spreading out the halo of white and gold light till it covers both of their planes, shielding them. Protect, protect, protect, protect –

Another round of bullets, and she feels Allioni veer left and Chia follow but just a moment too late and it's coming it's going to hit them –

She grits her teeth and pulls, yanking in the light and heat and energy into Aehra and turning it, making it her own, absorbing it into her Starsong and again, she pushes her will into her Starsong and thinks protect –

Everything is quiet, muted, muffled, the world shoved behind a curtain and all she is is light-heat-energy –

"We can't shake them!" Allioni yells, abruptly yanking her out of her state of total concentration. "We need to do something!"

"Wings!" Tam shouts back from the other plane. "Try to aim for their wings! They have parachutes, they'll be able to get out –"

She's already tuning out the rest of the world again before he's finished his sentence, reaching for the hum in her veins again, grabbing the light and molding it into sharp, fiery edges –

She twists in her seat, locks on, raises her hands.

Humming, buzzing, surging to the surface –

Burn.

It explodes forth, swathes of white and gold cutting through the air and burning straight through paint and metal with loud, terrible shrieks, vaporizing it all into nothing and she watches as the pilots eject from their planes not a moment later, parachutes blooming in the air like mushrooms clouds –

And then the second one, the third, the fourth and fifth and six, next and next and next and next and the one after that as well –

There's a hand on her shoulder.

She blinks, snapping out of it.

The skies are clear.

"Kaya," Allioni begins, clear blue eyes full of concern focused on her, "you okay? You're burning up."

"I –" she swallows, nods as she hears the distinct "fwump" of the last parachute opening, feels mist and sees grey rock and green foliage closing in on them all around her as they enter the mountain ranges, "– I'm fine." She tugs the light and heat in all of its white brilliance back under her skin where it gradually cools off until it's a barely-there hum.

"Alright. Just making sure..." he trails off, the two falling into an awkward silence that's abruptly broken moments later by Chia's shout.

"Guys!" she calls out, waving her right arm (the other hand still on the yoke) and half-leaning out of the plane in what is almost certainly a breach of safety procedures in order to catch their attention. "Below! Or, well – technically below us a little ahead, but anyway, we're here, so let's look for a place to land!"

Without prior warning, she dives abruptly, plunging past the layers of mist and low-hanging clouds with Allioni following closely behind, the fog clearing away the lower they go to reveal –

"Holy stairs," Allioni breathes out at the view spread out below them – craggy mountains and wild forest and hundreds upon hundreds of carved stone steps, chipped and weathered, all leading up towards crumbling ruins barely visible through the thick tree cover and twisting, creeping vines that cover every surface.

"Look for a place to land!" Tam yells as they circle above, trying to find a way to breach the dense canopy without getting entangled in leaves and tree branches.

A moment later, Chia shouts, "There!", pointing at the foot of all the stone steps, where there's a barely visible hole in the tree canopy for them to squeeze through to the clearing below. And then she's diving again, maneuvering the plane towards the entry point swiftly (albeit with a little struggling), and once again, they follow.

In five minutes, they're safely parked in the small clearing of dirt and weeds right in front of the stone steps, evening breeze rustling the trees and the sun beyond the mountains sinking the sky into twilight.

They're silent for a moment, staring up at the hundreds of carved stone steps and the ruins of the temple a tiny speck at the top.

Chia breaks it first: "That's a lot of stairs."

"Yeah," Tam says quietly. "So we should probably hurry."

Another long pause – Kaya knows they're all thinking the same thing.

We're really here, huh?

"Okay," Allioni takes a deep breath. "Let's go."

Nods, murmurs of "Right".

A moment passes, then, footsteps sounding against weathered stone steps, they're off.

-------------------

"I'll... give you some time alone to think about this," Yara says quietly, before shutting the door to Raine's room with a 'click'.

Then she lets out a sigh and draws a hand through her disheveled blond curls – her hair having fallen out of its ponytail a while ago – and proceeds to retie it while pacing up and down the corridor.

The hallway is empty, the hotel relatively peaceful since they're on the fifth floor for VIP suites with no one around but them and an old couple a few suites down. It's a bit strange, the quiet, after having grown used to listening to the Voyager's constant buzz for several weeks.

Especially since most of the bodyguards had left two hours ago along with Mrs. Rivyet, after telling Raine to stay in her room, refusing to tell her anything despite how much Raine had begged her to stay, begged her not to go and to tell her what's going on.

And so Raine had turned to Yara. "Tell me the truth," she had said. "All of it."

And Yara had.

About Kaya. About why those goons had attacked Raine, back at the hotel. About how her mother is willing to do anything, even kill, to get Raine her sight and her legs back.

Yara glances out the window – sundown. By now, Mrs. Rivyet should be at the shrine. Kaya and the others should also be arriving soon.

Meaning they'll walk right into the trap that had been set up for them.

Shit.

What now?

She could go and warn them, and yet, even if she did, there's no way to get around a direct confrontation – they have to get to the Altar somehow, and waiting longer might just mean more people arriving to confront them. And it's not like they can actually stop Mrs. Rivyet either – not without knocking her out, injuring her so she can't move or straight up killing her.

Regardless, she has to go somehow, right? She has to do something, not just continue pacing back and forth uselessly in this corridor. And yet...

She darts a glance towards Raine's door, a loose thought niggling at the back of her mind, not quite precognition – no, she hasn't had that power for a long while now – but some form of instinct saying that she shouldn't leave.

She brushes the thought away – she has no time for paranoia or worries that don't have a basis, and besides, Raine will be safe here. No one will bother coming after her now – everyone's only focused on racing to get to Kaya at this point.

And anyway... Raine will be fine, right?

Yara hesitates, then blows out a sigh and walks over to the door again. She hesitates, fist hovering over the wood before simply calling out, "Lady Raine? There's... something I need to take care of." She does not say what the 'something' is – she'll understand anyway, and, though it's the same and changes nothing, it's still better to phrase it that way than say 'I'm going to go stop your mother and therefore prevent you from ever walking or seeing anything in your life'. "Will you be alright by yourself?"

No answer. Yara frowns, then knocks, knuckles brushing against smooth wood. "Lady Raine?"

There is the clear, unmistakable 'snick' of something being locked.

She tries the knob.

It does not budge.

"Lady Raine," Yara begins again, her voice shaky as something begins to piece itself together in her mind with horrifying clarity, rattling the door handle again despite how she knows that it won't work, "what are you doing?"

She remembers yet another conversation among the many they had within those short few weeks:

Raine, humming under her breath as she composes a melody, trailing fingers over the keys, a faint smile on her lips and her brown hair seemingly glowing gold in the sunlight, pauses, suddenly, and asks Yara: "What's your dream?"

Yara blinks in surprise from where she's standing off to the side. "Dream? I don't... have one. I've never thought much about the future, I suppose."

"Ah... that's..." Raine purses her lips and frowns. "You do know you shouldn't just stay here as a servant forever, right? You should... you know," Raine gestures, "go out there and experience the world. Find something you like, find a passion or dream or fall in love and start a family. Something like that."

Yara frowns. "But this is my job. I'm not sure –"

"I'm sure mother would release you from her service, if you asked," Raine interjects in return. "And if it's a problem of money, I can always help you with that, you know? Since you've done so much for me."

"In all honesty, Lady Raine," Yara begins, carefully choosing her words, "I am really grateful for the offer, but there are many things I'm not yet sure about. In the meantime, I would not mind continuing to work here while I figure things out – that is, if it doesn't bother you –"

"Ah, no, not that!" Raine says abruptly, waving her off. "You aren't a bother at all! It's just, well... because of how I am," she continues, a little quieter, "there's a lot of things I can't do on my own. People have to take care of me all the time, expending time and effort, and they don't really get anything in return either. I just... don't want you to get bogged down by that. To feel like I'm your responsibility, or that you have to indulge me, or anything.

"Not that I mean this in a narcissistic way, or anything!" she quickly adds. "Sorry. It's probably a bit pretentious of me to assume my importance like that, right?" She smiles sheepishly, fiddling with the hems of her sleeves. "I just..." her smile fades as she trails off, "I just, at the very least, don't want to be a burden. Especially not to the people who already sacrificed so much for me."

"I see," Yara says, not quite sure how else to respond, an awkward silence quickly filling the room, and for a moment, there is nothing but the sound of Raine's continuous fiddling, and of Yara shifting from foot to foot, for lack of anything else to do.

"I – um – ah! I almost forgot to mention, but I'm nearly done with this song," Raine says, fumbling for the papers stacked on the side of the piano, rustling filling the air, before she holds them up for Yara to see. "I had to ask someone to help translate it, but – here you go."

She hands them over, and Yara scans over the sheet music with a raised brow. "These are –"

"– lyrics? Yeah... I thought it would be fun to experiment with, a little. Sorry," Raine says with a wince, "it's probably amateur work, but... do you want to try? Singing?"

"I –" Yara blinks. "Sure. And I don't think it's that bad," she hurriedly adds.

"Really?" Raine's eyes are wide in disbelief, but then she beams and it's like the rising sun. "I'm glad to hear that," she says, smile softening as she turns back to the piano, ducking her head a little, her brown hair sweeping across her face.

Silence, again, this time warmer and more comfortable.

"Okay, then," Raine says after a little while. "Let's start?"

"Let's," Yara murmurs, watching as Raine places her hands on the piano keys, the beginnings of the melody beginning to trail out.

Raine takes a deep breath.

And she sings.

"Searching for a reason to dream,

A reason to live,

Reached my hands towards the sky,

Didn't want to make you cry..."

The lyrics of that song, what Raine had said – "I don't want to be a burden".

And what they had discussed just a while ago:

"Is that the real reason? Why those people came after me? Because they knew it would stop my mother?" Raine asks quietly.

Yara hesitates, then confirms it: "Yes."

It had been an outright admission: if you die, then your mother would lose her reason to pursue Kaya.

A second passes, then two, before the muffled sound of Raine's voice sounds from behind the door. "Sorry, Miss Yara. I really didn't want to make anyone sad, but if this is the only way... if this can keep mother from killing her, then I have to do this. Thank you for everything you've done for me in these few weeks. And goodbye."

"Whatever you're about to do, don't. There are other ways, so please, open the door."

Silence.

Yara curses, slams her palms against the door again. "Raine? Raine!"

The suites on this floor are big – big enough that Yara won't be able to reach the balcony by just jumping from another room alone. Picking the lock will take time she doesn't have, and this door won't be easily broken.

She's out of options.

And if she doesn't do something, Raine will die.

Galatheia. She needs to use Galatheia. Yet, if she just lets it out in an uncontrolled wave like last time, it might not get the door open at all, or it might even make the situation worse.

No choice.

I have to try.

She reaches inside and pulls and begs and pleads because if she doesn't, Raine is going to die, she is going to die and yes, she admits, it might solve things partly, it might help Kaya, and really at this point Yara doesn't even really need to keep up the ruse anymore, but still.

Still.

She thinks of standing on the porch and Anya asking "What do you want?", of rainy days and cloudy skies and a library filled to the brim with books and music, thinks of a piano, of grey eyes and delicate fingers on keys and laughter and that warmth, and thinks –

I don't want to see you die.

Please, don't die.

Galatheia. Arrow of Destiny. A bow of light, a shining lantern at the end of a dark road, a guide, telling her we are the choices you want to make, that silent voice deep inside her full of yearning, that little girl she thought she had lost long ago, her true voice.

And it clicks.

And she thinks, I understand.

I am sure.

Then the floodgates open, and she is light need want arrow wings and the door opens and she sees –

Raine, on the edge of the balcony, wavering, halo of golden light around her and silhouetted by the sinking sun –

"No!"

In an instance, in the single breadth of a second she shoots across the room, a blur of speed –

And catches her just as she falls.

Sweat beads on her forehead, the iron railing of the balcony pressing uncomfortably against her sternum, and, arms straining, she grips Raine's wrist with both hands and pulls.

"Y – Yara? What – how did you –" Raine's eyes are blown wide in shock.

"Please," Yara begs, "please just let me pull you up."

"I can't –" Raine's expression softens, and she shakes her head and says: "I can't. I'm glad you came for me, but I'm sorry. You have to let me go."

And Yara swears she feels her heart stop at those words, but she plows on anyway: "No. No way, you – this is your life we're talking about! And you think I can just let go? You think that's okay? You think – you think I can just not care and let you die like this? There's no way I can –"

"But you have to!" Raine says, the words bursting out like a dam deep inside her has broken, and maybe it has. "You have to, this is the only way, because if you don't someone is going to die and I don't want to have to live with that! I don't want to live, not if it's going to be at the expense of someone else! She's important to you too, isn't she? She's your friend, she's someone you love, someone you want to be happy, and if she dies because of me – I couldn't live with that. I couldn't do that to you," she whispers, voice breaking. "I'm just the job you needed to take. I'm just someone you had to contend with for a few weeks so you could keep up your ruse and help her. I don't matter. So please. Just let me go."

In the light of the dying sun, as Raine begins to slip from her grip, as Yara has to lean out further over the railing in order to brace herself and compensate for the weight, she sees it – the acceptance in her eyes.

And so Yara takes a deep breath. "You're right," she finally says. "The four of them – they're important to me. I still want to bicker with Tam, want to laugh at Chia's antics, want to get to know Allioni better, want to see Kaya smile." And Raine actually looks relieved at that, like she really is glad, like she thinks the world will be better off without her (and Yara feels something within her crack at the sight), and so she pushes past that and continues:

"But," she says, grip tightening on Raine's arm, "I can't do that. Not if you aren't there. Because I still want to learn music with you, because I still want to sing with you, see all the things we discussed about with you, talk about every topic under the sky with you and make you laugh. Because, you're just as important to me as they are – and I want you with me too."

"That's not – that's not fair," Raine cries, tears spilling out of her eyes now, "you know you can't be that selfish. What if this just makes it all worse –"

"– I know," Yara interjects. "I know, it's stupid and selfish and unrealistic and naïve, but I'm doing it anyway. I'm going to be selfish. I'm making my own path. Because if fate won't let me have this, then I'll carve out my own destiny among the stars – something I choose to have, something I want. Because that's what Galatheia is – an arrow of destiny, not to the destiny foretold for you, but for the destiny you make for yourself. So if you don't really, truly want to die – please. Let me pull you up. We'll stop your mother together. We'll make sure there won't be any other casualties."

"I –" Raine hiccups out a laugh-sob, but gives a single nod. "I don't want to die."

And so Yara reaches and braces and pulls, harder than before, lifting Raine up inch by painful inch, until she's back over the balcony and the two of them are safe and sitting on the floor – knees pressed together, foreheads almost touching.

Raine breathes out shakily, swiping at her tears, and gives Yara a single, wobbly smile. "Thank you, Yara."

Yara returns her smile with one of her own – and despite what happened, it feels like some weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She can feel the warm, comforting buzz of Galatheia under her skin again.

For the first time in a long time, she feels sure.

"I'm glad you're okay, Raine," she says in return, and it's the truth and nothing but. "Now let's go stop your mother."

Raine nods again, this time determined, before she pauses for a moment with a frown. "But... how can we get there in time?"

Yara purses her lips, feels the hum of Galatheia singing through her veins – an arrow of destiny, but not only that.

A key, manifesting itself into whatever she needs the most at the moment.

She thinks of light and wings and speed, of how, in her earlier moment of desperation, her Starsong had manifested itself and practically shot her across the room.

Could it work?

It's worth a try.

Yara opens her mouth, and begins: "I think... I might have an idea."