Once back in the starting town it was a short walk to the castle that housed the monument. It cast a shadow over much of the path leading up to its doors, but the grand building and it's spires brought with them a small sense of familiarity and comfort to Renee, if no one else.
"There she is... pretty as a picture, non?" She gestured with a sweep of her arms toward the castle as the group approached it. The mood of the party had been somber the entire walk back, and even Ashe had not been unaffected by it. But judging by the halfhearted look her friend gave her, the brunette's attempt at lightening the mood had failed, quite miserably in fact. "Well, then..."
Without further comment, the shorter swordswoman stepped forward and pushed open the large double doors leading inside. "And here it--.... oh. Well, shit."
"What? What is it?" Ashe stepped up alongside the girl and peered further in. The main chamber was bare, save for a single slab of stone pressed right up against the far wall. From floor to ceiling, it covered the wall entirely. From this distance Ashe could see that there was something written on it, but not what was written.
"Would it make things worse if I said that's not the thing that used to be here?"
Her head snapped back to Renee as she heard the girl's comment. That was not what she'd wanted to hear. But before she could say as much, her friend was already starting forward toward the stone monument only a few paces behind Dodger.
"November 6th. Died in battle." She said. She'd followed the boy's hand as it traced along the list of names and read out the small inscription written below the crossed out name he'd stopped at. "That is... foreboding, to say the least. It used to be a large platform here. You'd revive after a couple minutes in this hall. Never saw this thing. Don't care much for it either."
"So it was true, then?" Ashe had walked up behind the two and was now glancing over the many names that had already been crossed off of the monument.
Renee shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know for sure. But with no log out button and no revive point I'm not exactly eager to test it. You?" She was answered with only a short shake of her friend's head. And despite herself, Renee smiled at that. "Good." |