The girl's heart had been calling out to her for some time now. At first Artiya'il had tried to ignore the pull of it, to ignore the immense sorrow that consumed her thoughts day and night. The girl had not suffered it very long - but it seemed that she was not meant to either. 
The Archangel was not a cruel being, she hated to see anyone suffer, but given her role in the world she knew that everyone had to, at some point, feel the ache that came with grief. 

People believed that grief and mourning only related to the death of a loved one; but they were so very wrong, as Artiya'il was more than aware. Some of the most acute grief, that she had devoured, came not from the loss of another, but from the loss of one's self. It was this that Alairia suffered so terribly. It had begun to handicap the young woman, Arti could feel that, and she could no longer ignore the calling - she had her duties to Shiloh but her duty to those who needed her was so much stronger. 
Artiya'il was not psychic, by any means, but when it came to what made one despair, she was an expert. Agony and broken hearts called to the Archangel, she could feel every crack, every missing piece, there was no denying her the truth when she felt it just as sharply as those who it belonged to. 

She had kept her 'eye' turned to the young woman for a while, but now it was time to perform her duties and relieve her of her burden. Though to do that, Artiya'il would have to separate her from her protective shadow. There was one way to do this; and while it probably was not the wisest choice, given what the girl had suffered, it was the only way she would be able to speak to the girl at any length.
Artiya'il had picked the underground jungle of Yonuba as it was a sight to behold; the Archangel, ever aware of her failing eyesight, had begun to indulge in seeing everything that she could before she was robbed of it. She was not afraid of being blind, in a way it would make her all the more impartial - if you could not see you could not judge on appearances alone, however she had never been selfish, had never done things because she desired it. Well now she desired to see as much of this world, so that she had memories of it, before her sight was robbed from her. 

Settled on a log, Artiya'il opened a gate to where Alairia was, teleporting her out of the shop in Mamlak, through the gate, to Artiya'il's side before she swiftly closed the gate behind her, glad that the woman's lover had not been beside her at the time. "My apologies Alairia, for manhandling you in such a fashion - with all that you have been through I realise that this approach is highly inappropriate, however we have much to discuss and I felt that this was the best way to get some time alone with you. My name is Artiya'il, I am the Angel of Grief and Champion to Lady Shiloh, you do not know me, but I know you well, or at least I know the grief that constricts your heart as it does." 

It was going to be one of the difficult days. Alairia was getting pretty with the warning signs that told her that an anxiety attach of some sort was going to start up on the day. The little things that were sparking her towards a flash panic. The gifted circlet that covered her damaged eyes felt cool to the touch as her delicate fingers grazed the edges of it. That coolness helped remind her of the reality that she was living in now. That she was not in that ramshackle cabin as a prisoner. She and Raith were free as well as safe from the dragoness that had taken them. The shop had been protected with wards in regards to any aggressors. If ill-intention was the focus then they would not have the ability to enter the shop or to the occupants. Ria felt comforted knowing that, but it still didn’t keep away the terror. The feeling of claws on her raw skin. The images of Raith covered in his own blood even though he acted nothing phased him.

That day it was the newest patient that had come for care as well as council. She had been a victim from a nearby village that had been attacked. Family had brought her to the city, and it was then she revealed what had been done to her. Teu immediately took action of tending to her patient, but the mother kept an eye on her daughter. Ria handed over the necessary materials before removing herself from the healing room. Hand lightly traced the wall that lead her into the back of the shop where it changed into the storage room. In there they would take fresh herbs to make into their medicines.

Ria sat down on the back bench with arms wrapped around herself in a tight hug. The panic began to set in that started her to hyperventilate. A breathing technique helped slightly, but not enough to stop her anxiety from taking hold. No one was available to help. Her mother had to take care of the patient, whom hopefully wouldn’t be as bad off as Ria was. Lips were pressed tightly together as she tried to push the panic further down to bury it.

The air changed. That was the only evidence to the gate’s arrival. Her muscles froze as if she had been struck by lightning. A fear induced paralysis took over as she sat in a completely different place than her mother’s store. Again she had been taken from safety. Raith was not there. Ria could feel her body begin to shake in utter fear that only stopped when a voice came. A woman’s voice that had a serious tone that made her freeze once more. She knew Alairia’s name.

Alairia felt shame that all she could do was be afraid. There was no fight in her to defend herself from an attack as she had hoped there would be if something similar happened again. Her hopes were not to be fulfilled. Alairia ‘looked’ up at the voice with the circlet over her eyes. Her fingers bit harshly into her own arms; she knew that bruises would show up later on. ”You say you are a Champion of goddess Shiloh. You speak of my ‘grief.’ It is none of your concern. Why did you take me from my home?” It was a rude statement. That was all the fight she had in her for self-defense in that moment. Ria clenched her teeth tightly together to square her jaw in defiance. All an act. The terror, anxiety, and grief roared so violently in her chest that it filled her ears to the point where she could hardly hear a thing.

Although Alairia could not see it, Artiya'il's usually stoney expression softened as the half-elf's level of fear rose exponentially. She had every right to be afraid, after all that she had been through it really wasn't a surprise. "It is my concern. Your heart calls to me, just as the hearts of many before you have," Artiya'il replied gently, stepping towards Alairia, her hands reaching out to gently pull Ria's own away from her arms. The Archangel's hands were gentle and soft, and she conveyed her feelings through her touch, soothing and reassuring as she could be. "My Father gave me a task when I was born; to feel the grief of every living being in existence. Many of my family, in fact probably all of them, have looked at me with pity, believing me to be cursed, burdened by my task," she leant towards Alairia slightly. "Not once, in all of my millennia have I agreed with their perception of the gifts I was given." 

She placed a hand on Alairia's face, closing her storm coloured eyes as she pulled the half-elf into her embrace, wings enveloping the girl. It was quicker to show Alairia who and what she was, and it was more genuine than her own words could ever be. She allowed Ria to see the grief she had consumed over her many years, see it but not feel it for it would so easily have destroyed her mind, she let Ria feel a little of what she felt in terms of the grief that remained in the world - that pull that called to Arti subconsciously from every living being in Revaliir… and beyond. Where others might have resented it, Artiya'il did not. She felt the grief call and she answered, for those who were worthy of her attentions - for not everyone could be as blessed as Ria, only the lucky were selected, only those who needed her the most. 

"I am sorry I pulled you away as I did, but I doubted your lover would allow us to speak frankly," she said with a small snort of amusement. "He loves you dearly that boy, he carries his own grief in fact. Here, let me show you." Placing a hand on Ria's chest Artiya'il 'showed' her Raith. Yes, he grieved, he grieved over the mother he had never known and the life he had never led, he grieved the man he could have been, the man he always believed he should have been but that grief had long since turned to anger, had made him who and what he was - now he grieved for Ria, because his darkness had led to her being hurt, he grieved because he knew he would never change from the creature of the shadows that he was, and he grieved that this could bring about disaster for the light in his life…

"See? You all grieve, all of you, but his grief fuels him, it changes within him. He's more like his mother in that respect than I believe he would dare to admit. You? Your grief threatens to consume you, it overwhelms you, you are not like Raith or Kythe in that, you're not one who thrives on it, it will devour you until there is nothing left," Arti shook her head. "But do not fear, that is why I have come. I will devour your grief, leaving you only with the memory of it, not the pain of it. You will not need to fear the loss of the woman you were, you are a new woman Alairia, once I take it from you you will be able to grow into a woman far stronger than you would ever believe you could be. It is you who has called me here." 

Remain calm. Remain calm and collected. Repeatedly Alairia reassured herself that everything was going to be okay. That she was going to be reunited with Raith soon. This was not the torturer. She was not going to be tortured again. Alairia attempted to keep her breath even in an effort not to give away the sheer panic that was beginning to consume every inch of her body. Though her body was giving away, Ria was determined to keep her mind steady. The step of the capturer resounded in her ears. Hands shook as they were pulled away from her arms. She was no warrior in any capacity except for her own fantasy. Alairia wanted to be strong like the rest of her family. And yet, here she was taken again.

Despite the back and forth warring within her mind, Ria kept her face even. If she couldn’t control the outside world than she would make sure to control her inner world. The gentle trace of the Artiya’ll’s hands along the skin of her arm conveyed a softness that had not been expected. Again, the elf kept her face even. She listened to the words of explanation being given. For a split moment there was a flinch at the idea that all grief of all living beings. A task that would break any and all to be burdened under that weight. Even with the admittance of her task, the angel declared that she did not feel her task was a weight. How could someone take on that commission? Was it even possible? To think of that, Ria understood that it took a mental fortitude beyond her own comprehension. It was also something that told the half elf that she needed to become stronger in mind.

Feeling gentle fingers upon her cheek only made her pull back slightly, though she leaned into it. The hug she was put in felt like all the reassurance she would ever need. Alairia could not explain why she felt that way. Yet, when the wings surrounded her, Ria threw her arms around the angel. Even as the portion of grief of others were felt within her, the elf did not pull away. Instead it made her inner mind open up even further. The power of the mind was a wondrous thing.

When shown Raith’s grief a tear slipped down her cheek. Her love was always kept his emotions to himself. Alairia never wanted to push him too hard as it was not her place to make him deal with the past. She held no blame towards him for what had happened to the pair of them. No, it had been Xy’s fault entirely. How could she get him to understand that her love for him was beyond understanding or comprehension? Alairia bit her lower lip all while containing the sorrow she felt in regards Raith. He was a better man than he could understand. ”I love him. I cannot explain the depths.” Her voice quivered slightly as she tried to piece it all together.

”You say that you can take this pain from me. My grief will be lifted away. I will still remember without being burdened by that grief.” Alairia lifted her delicate fingers to remove the silver circlet from covering her marred eyes. They remained closed to the world even with the covering removed. ”If this can be done there would be nothing but extreme gratitude and love left in my heart for you. I wish for nothing more. I want to be able to return to my family and beloved. I want to let my mind to become mind once again. My body had been attacked, but the scars in my heart and mind were the most severe. Please…remove this taint so I may become someone more. Someone that can be there for my beloved during his trials.”

More tears slipped down her cheeks as she willingly hugged Art to her body. Many times her mother had held her like Arti was now. It felt warm and welcoming.

A small smirk lit up Arti's face, as she felt Alairia's hesitation towards the role she had taken on so willingly all these years. Artiya'il doubted anyone, other than maybe her mother and her Uncle, truly understood the 'burden' she bore, though she was not convinced that even they really got it. It was not a weight to her, it never had been, she knew that most people did not understand why she did what she did so willingly, or how she was even still standing after all of this time - her mother had once admitted that she would have been consumed by the grief far quicker than her daughter, there had been a sadness in Raegul's eyes that day, as she had stared at the blood red colouration tainting her eldest daughter's white wings. Artiya'il was not sad, she carried with her the grief of countless thousands, all of whom had gone on to better lives because of that which she had taken from them - so why would she ever be sad?

"Anymore than he can explain it to you I think. Love is not an emotion I am familiar with, not personally at least, not in the same sense. You have become his world in such a short space of time, he has spent two hundred years planning his own death, after committing matricide anyway, and yet from his first meeting with you he saw a new way. Alairia this is the gift you bring to this world, not just to Raith but to those around you, a light within the darkness, it is why I have been so drawn to you. I cannot allow your light to be consumed by your grief, for that would send a shock-wave through the lives of all of those you touch with your mere presence." 

Artiya'il stepped back a little, so that her storm grey eyes could properly take in the sight of Alairia's marred vision. She placed a cold hand over the Half-Elf's scars, soft and soothing, as she physically felt the suffering that had been inflicted by the Dragoness. Keeping one hand on Alairia's eyes she placed her other over the girl's heart. "My name is Artiya'il, I am known as the Archangel of Grief, I am not of this world but my duty remains the same. Grief is both a gift and a curse, but it is my privilege. You have been judged, Alairia, the Grief that you carry is more than you should bear, it stifles your heart and throttles the light that you bring to this world and those around you, it threatens to consume you, and therefore those associated with you. Today I relieve you of this burden, so that you might shine brighter, stronger and taller for the their sake as well as your own," as she spoke the words her body radiated warmth and a warm glow, the sounds of the world became a void, and the warmth grew almost hot - though not painful. The draining of the Grief itself, Alairia would feel, as though awashed in a warm, comforting blanket all of a sudden. 
The Archangel let go of the Half-Elf, letting out a slow exhalation, shaking her head and her wings as the red colouration grew both in her hair and her feathers - a little more of her purity eaten away by the grief she had consumed. Opening her own eyes the Angel smiled slightly. "Better?" She asked.