The scene was anything but pleasant. Wooden tables and benches were thrown throughout the hall, beaten thoroughly by sword thrusts and punches, drenched in sweat and blood. Everyone remained quiet, listening to the rhythm of wet drops drip around them. No matter which room that decided to meet in, they were face to face with the stench of death and the empty stares of corpses. Erin grabbed a hold of Gwen's hand and squeezed until both their hands were nearly white against each other.

            "Everyone listen up!" Tara yelled. She turned her attention to the entrance way, trying to figure out how many survived the battle. Relief hit her face when she noticed that at least more than half of what she started with began to shuffle in with heads held high; some kept theirs lowered, attempting to hide the hint of sadness and confusion they felt.

            The room began to fill up with mutters from the many furies and nones that still stood, drenched in the previous lives of former sisters. They huddled close to one another, too uncomfortable at the idea of standing over any dead laying nearby. Tara walked over to a table, its bench tossed sideways next to it, wet with the remnants of water from their previous meal, or at least that's what she hoped. She flipped the heavy seat upright then placed a foot on it, testing its reliability before standing atop it.

            "All of you did well," Tara started, "Dia was turning us into nothing more than a self serving organization without our knowledge. We were bred to be bringers of justice, and with that beast in charge we lost our true calling. The Talion furies know exactly what I mean."

            The Talion furies lowered their heads and shook them back and forth to themselves. The melancholy shame hung heavily over them, making eye contact with the others surrounding them more difficult than normal. The pudgy fury leaned against the Talion fury beside her seeking comfort, and she received it almost instantaneously as the other wrapped an arm around her shoulder. They rested their heads against one another to try and halt an emotional breakdown.

            "She's finally gone!" A voice cried from the crowd with a small crack to her voice. Others began to clap and hoot loudly. Tara looked down to Gwen and Erin who stared up at her with unease. She peered around at the smiling faces raising their hands in a near praise.

            Tara took a deep breath and cleared her throat, "Actually," the crowd grew quiet once more and looked at each other with puzzled faces, "She escaped from the balcony before we could finish her. We don't know where she went," murmurs from the crowd intensified, "But please rest assured that we'll find her. I promise you all that."

            "What if she comes back?" Someone yelled loudly.

            "That's what I wanted to discuss with all of you,," Tara said. The crowd began discussing the possible outcomes of Dia's return to one another at high volumes, "Please settle down! We need to decide something once and for all." 

            People took a few moments to quiet down, but eventually the last clearing of a throat in the crowd lead to the silence Tara needed.

            "Is there really a place for us anymore?" Tara asked. Anger was clear in the faces of several surrounding her. The question had offended many of them, and a pair that stood in the very front scowled at Tara with arms crossed.

            "No, wait. Let me clarify. I mean, is there really a place in this world for a group that does things the way we do," Tara began pacing the bench she stood on top of carefully, trying to avoid a slip or fall, "Why can't we serve this side of Maber in a different way?" She took time to articulate her question to avoid another bad choice of wording.

            "What do you mean?" A fury in front asked. Everyone whispered amongst themselves, adding inflections that would indicate either uncertainty or flat out bewilderment.

            "I don't know about the rest of you, but look around," Tara brought her arms out beside her and looked back and forth through the hall, her dark hair flipping with each turn of her head, "I don't want to stay here after what's happened. Nothing will ever be the same."

            "So what do we do then?" someone asked.

            "I say we do the judging for ourselves! No more slips of paper with a name and a place. Let's live with them and decide for ourselves who needs to be punished or not!" Tara smiled with her arms held up above her head, awaiting the cries from the crowd. She was disappointed at the silence and head scratching that followed instead, "What's wrong with all of you? We have a chance to live out in the world and experience it!"

            "I don't know what I'd do. We've all only ever lived this life," a Talion fury said. The other nodded to each other in agreement.

            Gwen moved away from Erin to join Tara on the bench. She looked around, nervous at the amount of people with their eyes glued to her general direction. Tara looked to Gwen and smiled with a nod.

            "I've lived outside of here before Dia found me when I was younger. I promise you that there is a life for each and every one of you. I had an idea," Gwen released a gust of air from puffed cheeks and looked to Tara.

            "Go ahead, tell us your idea," Tara whispered with urgency.

            "If we talk to the towns, maybe we can establish a sect of furies for each one... to live within it and worry about justice that way. You will all still serve as justice bringers, but it will be more personal and more involved," Gwen's face reddened. She held it down and brought her hands together, twiddling her thumbs against each other. Tara placed a hand on Gwen's shoulder.

            "What does everyone think? And don't forget, you're more than welcome to choose a town that you were not appointed to prior." Everyone remained silent and looked to one another, exchanging words through facial expressions alone.

            "I think it has promise," the pudgy Talion fury stated, "but we need to handle specifics."

            A domino effect moved throughout the caped group of women standing together. One by one they all nodded, figuring that a change such as this could give themsomething more that they had been missing in life. They would be their own bosses and no longer be seen as something to hide from every night. They wouldn't be molded by a selfish woman for her own individual benefit. They would be fair. They would be just. And they would never deliver punishment to those they personally felt didn't deserve it.