The words didn't leave Josiah's mouth calmly, low as his voice was. They rattled all the way out, tailed by shaky breaths that Octavia watched him fight to suppress. That, too, wasn't subtle. Either this woman took no heed willingly, truly didn't notice, or Octavia simply knew the boy too well to dismiss his invisible ire. She feared for whatever would leave his mouth next.

"I'm Octavia," she interjected quickly, desperate to steal the former acolyte's attention. "I'm the Ambassador. It's…nice to meet you."

There was a relief that came with those soft, confused eyes upon herself instead of the boy whose glare threatened to tear her to shreds. It didn't make her feel any better about drawing Josiah's silent hate towards herself instead. Octavia shuddered under the sensation of the daggers spearing into her back.

"Likewise," the woman reciprocated. "The…Ambassador, you said?"

"Yes."

"What do you mean?"

Octavia bit her lip. She'd forgotten they were starting from nothing, the former Maestra's understanding of the world she'd left behind undoubtedly close to zero by now. There were gaps to be filled. They weren't small. She wondered how much she could trust Josiah to offer his wisdom in a neutral manner, although the way his shoulders still rose and fell just a bit too fast made her fear for his impartiality. She took the lead as best as she could.

"There's…something I…need to do to help everyone. We need your help with part of it, just for a little while. Has anyone told you anything?"

Celestina shook her head sadly. "I don't understand any of this. I don't want to do this."

"It's not up to you."

The violence in Josiah's words was venomous enough to sting Octavia's blood, and the hurt that filled Celestina's eyes made her feel sick. Octavia returned his glare, even with his vicious attention no longer upon herself.

"Have I done something wrong? Is this my punishment?" Celestina pleaded.

Josiah closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. It did little to steady the waver in his voice. "We don't intend to keep you here. We need you for one task and one task only, and then you can go back to the life you were living. It won't take long, and you'll be protected. No harm will come to you. We'll make sure of that."

"What are you talking about?" Celestina asked nervously. "Are you going to put me in danger?"

"That's irrelevant."

"You abduct me and you threaten me," she spat, "and you won't tell me if you plan to hurt me?"

"We don't plan to hurt you."

"I don't believe you."

Josiah gritted his teeth. "Then don't believe me. It's still the truth. Do the one thing we ask you to, and we'll let you go."

Celestina narrowed her eyes. "And if I refuse?"

"You know what'll happen," he hissed.

No longer was this woman meek and timid as she'd been upon their arrival, now meeting Josiah's deadly glare with fire in her own eyes. It was befitting of the flame she'd once been. It wasn't lost on Octavia, the way she seemed to bite back as hard as Selena--at least from what she'd gathered in the brief time she'd known the ill-fated acolyte. That, if nothing else, they seemed to have in common. She couldn't help but wonder if Josiah noticed the same, or if her observation was even slightly accurate in the first place.

The former acolyte backed down first, the unbearable tension between the two forged in the same Hell gently lessened. "What are you asking of me?"

Josiah didn't hesitate, his voice harsh and cold. "Come with us to Velpyre and become a Maestra again. It'll be brief. You'll be freed of that role for good in less than a day. It's like I said. We need you for one thing and one thing only."

It was the name of the Cursed City, ultimately, that seemed to strike fear into her heart at last. Celestina's eyes widened, flooding with terror. "You're…going to make me go back there?"

Josiah paused. "There's nothing left down there anymore."

Celestina's terror was, momentarily, stemmed by the confusion that trickled in. "What are you talking about?"

"There is no Velpyre left," he said. "There's no one. There's nothing. It's a hellhole filled with nothing but Dissonance. There's…no clergy."

The way his biting tone seemed to soften somewhat upon his final sentence wasn't lost on Octavia, either, relentless as his other sentiments had been thus far. For how Celestina's horrified eyes softened in turn, it seemed to alleviate the fear that hung unspoken in the air.

"There's no acolyte."

Those words, at least, were absolutely dripping with poison. Octavia couldn't bear to look at Josiah's expression. She had a feeling she knew exactly what she'd find.

It was a reflex, somewhat, that Octavia searched for the same reaction on Celestina's face that Josiah surely hunted for. She looked for shock, grief, perhaps the heartrending depiction of indifference and unfeeling. She found only muted surprise, averted eyes, and a moment of silence that challenged the boy head-on.

"I…how?"

"It was too much. She took everything down with her. She had every right."

"Selena?" Celestina murmured softly.

"Not that you would know."

Josiah's venom took hold instantly, seeping into the woman's bloodstream with such fervor that the hurt in her eyes nearly burned Octavia. He was going too far. It wasn't her place to intervene. She needed to. She couldn't.

"Is she…"

"She suffered all the way until the end, alone, with no one she could share that burden with. You have…no idea what she went through. You have no idea what she was left to deal with. She was a child."

Whatever discussion was to be had regarding Seraphim's Call had been left by the wayside. Octavia's heart was pounding. Josiah's voice was rising. He was shaking.

"She was a child. She could hardly walk. She couldn't even reach the friggin' keys. It was sick. Sometimes they had to physically hold her so she could play, because her little body couldn't handle the strain of pushing that hard every day."

Josiah's words were wavering, the white-hot fire in his eyes wrathful and lethal in equal measure. His fists had clenched so tightly that Octavia sincerely feared he might lose circulation. Celestina didn't dare breathe, pinned by his rage.

"You want to be afraid of the clergy? I know with certainty you had a family. You had people there. You had support. What did she have? She didn't have a mother. She didn't have a father. They were all she had. I was all she had."

Celestina, too, was trembling. "I--"

"I hope your freedom was worth it, because she never got hers--not for a second. Never in her life did she get a shred of peace. She never had a single moment where she could truly, sincerely live without the fear that someone was going to hurt her again. Keep her name out of your mouth."

"I'm--"

"She hated you," Josiah growled. "She despised you. You left her there. You got out. She didn't. You didn't care."

The former acolyte's eyes swam with tears. "Please--"

"She said she wished you'd never given birth to her. She loathed that you had the audacity to bring her into a world like that."

"I never meant to hurt her," Celestina whispered.

"Don't lie to me!" he finally screamed. Octavia jumped.

"I'm not lying! She was my dau--"

"She was not your daughter!" Josiah shouted, slamming his fist against the wall. So heavy was the blow that the house practically shook, the bang of his fury undoubtedly enough to garner Mina's attention somewhere. "You lost the right to call her that the moment you stepped into the sun! She is not your daughter! She will never be your daughter!"

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Tears dripped solemnly down Celestina's cheeks, her hands gripping the hem of her skirt for dear life. "I didn't want to live like that anymore!" she sobbed.

"You think she wanted to? You sincerely think she wanted to? She was a child! She was a friggin' child! What the hell kind of mother lets her child take the fall like that? It should've been you!"

"Please!"

"Maybe I should turn you in! Why the hell do you get to taste freedom? Why the hell did you get away with it when they broke her spirit every single day?"

"No!" Celestina begged, her desperate eyes wide with horror.

"Josiah, stop it!" Octavia pleaded. Her hands were aloft, hesitant fingers stilled on the way to his shoulders as she contemplated pulling him away. The distance between the two Velpyre survivors was startlingly close, and she couldn't guarantee with 100% certainty that the boy wouldn't take physical action. Still, she couldn't bring herself to touch him.

For an instant, fleeting as the lightning he carried in his blood, his eyes struck her down with the same. The fury he harbored shocked her to her core, just as she'd feared for so long. It mattered not that it was misplaced. For just a moment, she was afraid of him.

"You want to deal with this? You deal with it, then! To hell with the clergy! If she doesn't go down there, I'll kill her myself!"

"Knock it off!" Octavia snapped. It was empty hostility, the waver in her voice more than audible.

Celestina's whimpering was enough to reclaim his rage, by which that unforgiving lightning struck at her heart again and again with his gaze alone. Octavia inched closer to him, particularly given the way one of his feet slid threateningly forward. She was becoming seriously convinced that he might lunge at her.

Even with his volume lowered somewhat, his wrath was unrestrained and raw. His voice shook with the effort of leveling his ire. "She's not here to hate you anymore. I will give you all of her hate until the day I die. If I had my way, I'd drag you down and drown you in it. You deserve that. It shouldn't have been her. It wasn't meant to be her. I hope you choke on that hatred every day you're alive."

"Stop!" Octavia growled. This time, she couldn't help but put her hand on his shoulder. It was instinctive. It was a poor decision, and his head snapped to her instead. So, too, did she earn the same scorching lightning once more.

"This is your problem now. You wanted to be here so badly? You do it."

Somewhere, in the depths of his hatred, he was kind enough not to hurt her, to not meet her physical touch with violence. It wasn't enough to still him in full, and he launched himself out of her grip instantly. He more or less sprinted, the slam of the delicate door to his graciously-lent room once again enough to nearly rattle the house. She heard at least one additional bang that followed, mysterious in its own right, from much the same direction. She made a mental note to apologize profusely to Mina later on behalf of his highly-audible aggression.

"I'm so sorry."

The former acolyte and her quiet sobbing took priority, eyes cast upon the carpet in shame. The sight was pitiful. Octavia didn't hesitate to settle in beside her, although her hesitation managed to creep well into her words.

"It's…okay," she lied. "Just…leave him be."

For all of Octavia's distaste with Josiah's rage, she couldn't apologize on his behalf. She couldn't bring herself to undermine his pain. In the worst way, he hadn't been entirely, completely, 100% unjustified, and the knowledge sat like bricks of lead in Octavia's stomach.

"I didn't know," Celestina whispered, her voice cracking.

"Most people…don't," Octavia offered softly. She wished she didn't, either.

"The…blossom?"

Residual as it was, the echoes of Josiah's wrathful cries were somehow louder than the bells. It was a deterrent she loathed. "It's the same. The clergy really is still there."

"Please don't tell them where I live," Celestina pleaded through her tears once more. "Please. It doesn't matter that they can't send me back down there. They'd still punish me on their behalf."

It was the least of the vengeance they'd take, surely, given the manner by which the flame had burned the blossom to a crisp. Octavia wasn't cruel enough to make the woman's suffering any worse right now. She didn't lie so much as she did deflect. "If you help us with this, there won't need to be a Velpyre anymore. No one will ever need to go down there for anything again. There…really is nobody left. We'll make sure no one hurts you."

Celestina sighed, her breath rattling all the way out. "That boy. He's…of the flame as well?"

Octavia nodded. "He got out. He's the only person left alive who did. He was…telling the truth about your daughter--about Selena. I don't know very much about their relationship, but they grew up together, from what I understand. They were really close. She…meant a lot to him."

Celestina wiped her eyes as she calmed. "Then I'm…glad Selena had such a person by her side. Did you know her, as well?"

Octavia couldn't look her in the eyes. She felt dizzy in the slightest. "A little bit. I-I didn't know her for very long, and I didn't get to know her very well. I can count the conversations we had on one hand. It would've been…nice to get to know her better."

She was grateful when Celestina didn't fight for her attention, content to fold her hands in her lap instead. "Then I'm glad for what you did offer to her."

There was a part of Octavia that desperately wanted to pry, partially on Josiah's behalf. She wanted to know why this woman had chosen to abandon an innocent child to such a horrific fate, or whether or not she was regretful. She wanted to know if this woman would've made the same choice over again, knowing what she knew now.

It wasn't what she was here for. The tables had turned, and it was now she who was entrusted with the responsibility of calm and logical reasoning. It was Josiah, rather, who was out of sight, battling emotions she couldn't begin to fathom.

"We…need to get rid of Seraphim's Call, once and for all," Octavia explained, doing what she could to suppress the deep discomfort in her soul that trailed each word. "You're the only person in the world who can help us."

"That boy said I…must become a Maestra once more, then," Celestina murmured.

"A Maestra, yes," Octavia said firmly, "but not an acolyte. You don't…ever have to be an acolyte again."

Celestina eyed her with silent sorrow. It hurt.

"You don't even have to play," Octavia offered gently. "You just…need to be there. We'll do everything else. No one will make you play."

"You're certain?"

"I swear."

"If that boy tries, then?"

"I won't let him."

There was no reason she needed to, logically. To force her into such a position would be cruel and unnecessary. Even if Octavia hesitated to defy Josiah in most aspects of his planning, it was one caveat she refused to let slide. She'd stand up to the lightning that struck her down where she stood, if it came to that.

"She has…every right to hate me," Celestina said softly.

"Selena?"

"Yes."

Octavia shifted uncomfortably in her seat, weighing the possible cruelty of the words that sat in weight on her tongue. It felt almost manipulative. "Maybe this is…a way you could make it up to her."

"What do you mean?"

Octavia still couldn't make eye contact. "You'd be getting rid of the one thing that caused her the most grief. I think that would…mean something to her."

Celestina was almost inaudible, her voice tiny. "Do you really think so?"

Truthfully, even Octavia wasn't certain if it was entirely a lie. "I do."

Celestina hesitated. "I…"

"You don't have to do this out of fear," Octavia said. "You could do this out of love."

It really did feel manipulative, and the sensation made her stomach churn. Still, Octavia couldn't fully disbelieve her own words. It was almost a sick comfort, hastily woven along the way. She hoped Selena wouldn't hate her for it.

"I'm afraid to go back there," Celestina confessed.

"We all are."

That was no lie.

"When…would we go?" she asked.

Octavia fiddled with the hem of her dress. "I don't know. Soon, I think. It's not up to me. That boy, Josiah, he's planning most of this. He would know."

"I fear he may kill me before we get there," Celestina said, her words bitter.

Octavia frowned. "I won't let him hurt you, either. Don't be afraid of him."

She was a hypocrite.

"Josiah," the former acolyte echoed gently. "That's a lovely name. I know I deserve his hatred, but to know he's from Velpyre as well is…comforting, somewhat. Is that wrong?"

Octavia shook her head. "I don't think that's wrong at all. You guys are the only ones left."

"Would he be going down there again, as well?"

She nodded. "Not just him. Myself, and…a lot of other Maestros. We're gonna fight our way through, if we need to. You won't be alone. Like I said, we'll protect you."

Celestina was quiet for a moment. Eventually, she closed her eyes.

"I'll go," she murmured. "For this, and not for a moment longer."

Where Octavia should've breathed a sigh of relief, she still found her throat dry and her heart lodged firmly within it. It was almost too good to be true. Part of her knew Josiah would strangle her, instead, for offering gratitude. Ultimately, she was the Ambassador. It was her right. "Thank you," she said.

"Consider it my final obligation to that wretched flame, provided you can assure me it will never torment another soul in that manner again."

Again did Octavia nod. "With Seraphim's Call gone, there would never be another reason, I don't think."

"Good."

She hesitated to press, to further skirt the line of innocent questioning and malicious manipulation. "Are you…doing it for Selena, then?"

Celestina didn't respond immediately. She tangled her fingers together loosely in her lap. "Perhaps…not just for her alone. Perhaps I owe it to others I have wronged in my absence, as well. I…wish only that I could see her face. I wonder what type of girl she grew up to be. Was she beautiful?"

Octavia lost her breath. "She was."

The first smile she'd ever seen grace Celestina's lips came at the expense of her own lucidity. "For such a beautiful flame to burn in such an awful place…I'm certain she was a gift."

Octavia counted every last one of her blessings that Celestina's eyes were once more closed in quiet repose. She was somewhat grateful that the image of her daughter unseen was bringing at least a fragment of peace to the former acolyte's heart. It didn't help the way Octavia's blood bubbled, her heart pounded, her stomach twisted into knots. It didn't help the way the bells, faint as they were, echoed somewhere far off, just as they had the day that flame was snuffed out.

It shredded her soul to pieces to imagine what this woman would feel knowing exactly how her daughter had perished. Octavia resolved to guard that horrid truth with her life. This time around, she couldn't shake the concept of the Ebony bloodline truly dying by her hands.

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