{Caitlyn}

The little exhibition Liri had put on had made the prison livelier than ever.

All around Caitlyn, all she could hear was:

1. How the new girl was so strong she might have been able to fight the God-King.

Caitlyn, of course, heavily disagreed with that.

2. That Liri, in fact, had a penis.

And:

3. That surely, no one, in their right mind, would take her up on the offer she made.

It reddened Caityn's face to think about that, but the girl set that aside.

As far as she was concerned, what mattered wasn't that Liri had a dick, one which she'd offered up to any woman in the prison willing to have her children. No. What mattered was that she could free Diosia!

With the help of the other elves, of course. After all, there was a reason why they escaped instead of trying to free the imprisoned elves when they'd been there. But, with Liri having been able to kill one of the Inquisitors, it wasn't hard for Caitlyn to imagine how she might have been able to pull off much more if she had some help.

Liri had made it clear, however, that she disagreed with that. Caitlyn knew she likely wouldn't be able to convince her, too.

So, she wanted to try to convince her through someone else.

And, with Liri still meeting the Elders, Caitlyn had a chance to do that.

"Hm? Caitlyn, hi." Arisa greeted the woman from the bed, laid out with one leg over the other and her wings squashed under her weight as the elf walked up to her cell.

"Hello," Caitlyn said, crossing her arms. "How have you settled in? Do you like it here?"

"Not quite," Arisa responded frankly. "It's a little cramped. And, this strange floor... I'd rather be walking over dirt in the forests. But, it's not terrible, I suppose."

"No, no, I agree," Caitlyn responded as she sat down on the bed's edge. "Don't get me wrong, it is surely better than being trapped in Diosia's dungeons, but... At the end of the day, we are still speaking in a jail cell."

"Yeah... Food's nicer than I thought it would be, though," Arisa said, brightening up a small amount. "I can see myself warming up to this place."

[Oh no,] Caitlyn thought. [That's the exact opposite thing I'd want to have happen.]

"Hm... Sure," Caitlyn said, "but, you know... If we could live in Diosia, it would be a lot more comfortable than this."

Subtlety was not something Caitlyn really did too often.

She preferred to lay her cards out on the table. To speak her mind whether the person listening liked her thoughts or not. This, what she was doing now, was completely foreign to her, so, she was laying it on thick.

Arisa, somehow, still managed to not catch on to where she was going with this.

"That sounds difficult on account of the whole, you know, murderous, genocidal humans living there right now."

"Indeed!" Caitlyn agreed. "But... Don't you think that, if she was a little motivated, Liri might be able to do something about it?"

Arisa took her eyes up. The drasen stared at the ceiling as she contemplated those words.

"Maybe," she replied. "But, to be honest, I don't see why she should take the risk." Caitlyn raised a brow as Arisa continued. "She's the strongest person I've ever met. I take it she's the strongest person you've ever met too, right? But, she can still be hurt."

"So... What are you saying?" Caitlyn asked.

"I mean, wouldn't it be really sad if Liri threw herself at human forces and ended up dying?" Arisa turned toward her now, laying on her side, her tail resting on top of her raised hip. "I'm not just saying this because I love her either. I mean it. Would it really be worth it if she got killed in the process of saving four or five people?"

Caitlyn tried to hide how disappointed she was to hear that.

"Do you think those four or five people should simply be sentenced to die, then, while we just sit here and watch?"

"... I don't know," Arisa replied. "I can imagine it's a tough choice. But, I think it's not a choice that's up to us."

"Who is it up to, then?"

"Liri," Arisa answered quickly. "If she determines that it's not worth it to risk her own life to save these people, people she doesn't know or have any type of connection to, how can I judge her for that?"

The follow-up question, "how can *you* judge her for that?" hung in the air, unspoken.

"... Isn't it up to those who have power to do something with it?" Caitlyn asked quietly. "I know that if I was as strong as her, I would be running to Diosia right now, with as many capable men and women as I could gather."

"Because Diosia was your tribe," Arisa replied. "Um, your home. Your people are there. But, Caitlyn," Arisa finally sat up, speaking softly. "They are not Liri's people. Elves, ven, and drasen all share a common enemy, but make no mistake, whatever help Liri decides to give you is simply goodwill. She does not *have* to help you."

Caitlyn would be lying if she said she was not hurt by that statement. Whether it made sense or not was irrelevant. Those words may as well have been a guillotine falling on the necks of every elf still stuck in Diosia.

[Screw this,] Caitlyn thought as she got up and walked out of the cell. [I'll ask her myself, then. But... If I am going to, I need to be more persuasive.]

---

{Liri}

The night came a little bit too quickly. As long as the previous day had felt, this one felt incredibly short.

[Maybe that's just called being comfortable.]

The Elders told Liri that they'd let all of the elves in the settlement know how she felt. Those who were not already aware at this point.

Once that was done, they'd ask each and every elf here what they wished for Liri to do, and then they'd take their answers to Liri.

She would listen to them, hear their thoughts, and then...

She would make her choice.

[I want to help them, but... What if Diosia is getting fortified right now? What if there are 10 Inquisitors instead of just 3? It's just too...]

Her words were interrupted as she saw someone standing outside of her cell, waiting for her.

Caitlyn was there, a white-blue light from the ceiling illuminating her elegant face as she kept her head low.

[Hm?]

The girl was topless, wearing only some light grey pants.

As she caught sight of Liri, she smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Liri, may I have a word?"