Fingers to her forehead and temple, Sona put her cup down in a more concentrated effort to calm her growing panic. Breathe. In and out. So much for ‘feeling better’… she was still a mess and would likely continue to panic over these things so long as she stayed in Demacia. Though it certainly didn’t help that only the most notorious ‘criminal’ in the mage confines had broken free and started a gods-damned rebellion.
She knew what most people knew of Sylas of Dregbourne. Undefined, uncontrolled magical ability. Murdered several men and a young girl. Sentenced to heavy chains in Demacia’s basement.
There’s no reason that couldn’t have been her.
If the guards didn’t come for her, would Sylas…? Given what she could do…
Trembling just slightly, Sona leaned her head down against Yi’s hand. She wanted him to hold her. Tell her closely it would be alright. But knowing him she would settle for a hand’s embrace.
<… It’s alright> she assured him. <You didn’t mean anything by it. This is just the way things are, now… … I can’t help thinking if mother were still alive what she would do…>
Would she have sent Sona away? Would she ask her to use the Etwahl to soothe the hearts of the rebels and bring them to justice? Lestara had always objected to the more violent capabilities of Sona’s music, but she was encouraging on all other fronts. What would she have done?
Heh. Lestara Buvelle shrunk before no man. She probably would have hunted Sylas of Dregbourne herself and dragged him by his hair back to his cell.
… but was that right? Hm. Empathy for a criminal. That was just like Sona.
However, it did remind her of something important… and in an unexpected way it almost made the decision for her. If mother didn’t wish her to commit violence, and there was a threat that might force her to do so…
<… Yi> she thought after a long pause for private thought, <do you wish to return to Ionia?>
Not well versed in the particulars of current goings on, Yi’s brow furrowed as he misconstrued all of her outward ticks. Too busy training, and strolling, and slowly being pushed out of the public eye by wary stares; all he really knew was that he wasn’t particularly welcome anymore in his regular haunts. If they were even still around, that was. So instead of a woman frantically considering the situation at large, he saw yet another person he couldn’t help but disappoint.
Swallowing audibly, as if words were stuck in his throat, he took a knee by her side. Even if there were a seat nearby for him, his natural instincts when faced with internal conflict was to get as low to the ground as possible. But this wasn’t a time for meditation. It was a time for placing a hand upon hers, and another on her cheek. It was a time to smile in the face of adversity, even if it had never served him well in his days.
“Your mother, from all that I know, was a strong willed woman. I am sure the first priority of all this would be to ensure you did not worry. Not for the sake of saving you from it, but because we tend to think best when we are free of doubts.”
There was that question again, though. What a damned thing. Ionia was a complicated subject, and not one he wanted in the forefront of his mind. It even broke his comforting facade, if only for a moment, as he considered what awaited him back there. The struggles of the populous, Vastayans on the rise, the untended dead. Now it was his turn for silence, until his pragmatism returned. What would everything be like there now..?
“... The real question I think you mean to ask however,” He began, finally letting his expression harden some, “is ‘Do you wish to go back there?’ Where I wish to go and not go is not a concern. If I wanted to be anywhere else but here, I perhaps would have left as soon as a need had arisen. It has not, and not even things as they are now persuade me to uproot myself again. This being said, you know that I have no arguments against travel in general, and I am always excited for an excuse to go. So this is why I turn this on you. I do not think you would be asking me of such a specific place if you did not have some interest in it yourself.”