CHAPTER 2...part 1

(The Night We Met — Lord Huron)

   TO Matthias, Sersi was aggravating. She remained unflinching to the Hellgate's brash hand, grasping onto sanity like a vice.

Even at the mercy of the guards cruelty, blood seeping along her teeth as she smiled manically, cackling as she was dragged away, leaving patrons to gawk at who faced her wrath.

Every night, when the only light to fill the cells was flickering fire — Sersi's haunting vibrato echoed, bouncing off cold, wet stone. Shanty's that, in childhood held comfort, now forced unease down his throat like liquid that choked him as the guard's waterboarded Matthais.

Whenever Sersi spoke, every sentence was a jumbled up riddle, each word just as confusing as the last. Like a siren to the sailor, Matthias can feel himself slipping slower and deeper into the ocean's currents, tumultuous waves swallowing him whole with only Sersi's evocative lullaby to comfort him.

She quite liked speaking of herself. Whether it be for her ego or because she thought it'd help him, Matthias would never know — not truly. She spoke of what had ultimately got her here, 'of all those I helped, not one bartered when I required it,' she tutted. It was almost laughable, how saints kneel before a god when prayers become a necessity, turning a blind eye when a false idol offers more.

'What do you expect?' He muttered, glaring into the stone walls, 'Grisha are selfish.'

She laughed, one that was like the booming 'ding' of a bell, musical yet boisterous. 'You drüskelle are all the same,' the way Sersi spoke was almost...airy — a dazed illusion of incompetence, 'so narrow minded.'

He merely scoffed, unwilling and far too stubborn to entertain this mad woman. Her blonde hair hung in long, grimy trestals, some pieces tied with worn brown strings. Her pale skin was almost ghastly, hollow and devoid of life. Her eyes remained placid, not a twinkle in sight amidst the pools of umber.

So off putting, and yet — so breathtakingly beautiful.

Matthias' father always preached of honesty, unbelieving that a good man could stem from deceit's poisonous thorns. It would be unbecoming of him to dismiss Sersi's beauty.

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KOREY SPEAKS !

Okay...it's been a while...how y'all doin'?

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