Chapter 13:

Diana hid herself away in a cave in the forests that surrounded the beginning of Mt Targon, she was nursing some minor injuries and her exhaustion after having killed the Elders. She hadn't known what she was doing when she used her abilities for the first time, she wasn't surprised that she had injured herself or that she was exhausted, she most likely didn't even use it right. She was waiting, hoping, for Leona to make her way down to see her.

It had been almost a week since she fled Mt Targon, the only reason she was staying so close was she was hoping that Leona would find her letter and come to talk to her but she had heard nothing. Part of Diana hoped that Leona had just not found the letter though she knew really that that wasn't the truth, most likely she had found the letter and was refusing to see her or was planning to take the opportunity to kill her, she wasn't sure.

Diana had been trying to find some sort of way to communicate with the moon in order to get some guidance about how to use her abilities, what she was supposed to do next but she was moving blindly. Diana didn't have what Leona did, centuries of tradition in order to guide her on what she needed to, a known way to get in contact with her goddess and receive advice. The only things that would come close to helping her understand what she needed to do next were the books she had stolen from the archives. She would need to return and steal them for a second time.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Whenever Leona left her quarters in the temple grounds she could feel everyone's eyes on her. Half of them were staring because they felt pity for her for being the only survivor, the other half of them were staring because they had their suspicions. She knew by now rumours would be spreading of some kind of relationship between her and Diana though she didn't know whether they guessing correctly to the extent of it. There were other rumours about her being unable to protect the Elders, people claiming that she may not really be the Chosen, doubting her abilities when in reality, Leona had just been unarmed.

While Pantheon had dropped the subject of her and Diana, which she figured probably wasn't really the end of it, the new Head Elder certainly hadn't. He continued to pressure her with implications about her relationship, about her sexuality though Leona refused to give in. Many of the other new Elders were interpreting her frustration and her anger as a want to get revenge, believing that she was on board with finding and killing the woman. Even though Diana had murdered the entire council of Elders, Leona wasn't ready to draw her weapons with intent to kill her; she wouldn't do it unless she had to.

Her regular morning sun meditation sessions weren't getting her the answers she wanted, she was barely getting any answers at all as if her goddess was intentionally leaving her in the dark. She found her thoughts kept making their way to Diana and what she would do. The Elders were already pushing for a locate and kill mission where Leona would track her down and either kill her there in that moment or somehow transport her back to Mt Targon for a more official execution. She was doing her best to hide the fact that she didn't want that, that she didn't feel the same anger everyone else felt. Leona felt disappointed and worried mostly. She did let herself wonder if her love for Diana was blinding her but she pushed that aside, hoping that she was right about her.

"Chosen!" One of the acolytes called from the door way, he was breathless as he stood there waiting for Leona to acknowledge him in some way, once they made eye contact he spoke again, "Diana has returned, she's made her way to the archives." Leona forced herself up from her seated position, grabbing her sword and shield from their mount on the wall.

While making her way to the archives from her quarters she found a trail of unconscious guards, were the abilities Diana had been given really that powerful? Leona thought back to one of the first times she had spent time with the woman, having knocked her onto her back in a sparring match in less than twenty seconds. She couldn't imagine that Diana being able to successfully take on so many of the armed guards.

She waved off the guards that were still conscious, sending the acolyte that had found her away, she wanted to speak to Diana alone. If anyone else were there they would scare Diana off, they would also get in the way of her having an honest conversation with the woman. She found Diana in the archives as the acolyte had said, she was in the middle of breaking back into the locked shelf that contained the books she had stolen months ago.

"Diana." She said, the blonde stopped her movements for a moment, staring at the shelf in front of her. Leona sensed that Diana seemed to be afraid, possibly of what Leona was going to do now that they were alone. "I'm not going to kill you." Diana looked over her shoulder at her, their eyes meeting.

"You didn't come to meet me like I asked." Diana said, there was a twinge of hurt in her voice, all Leona could do was give her a confused look. She had no clue what Diana was talking about. "Did you not get my letter?" She asked Leona.

"No, I didn't. If you left it in your old apartment, I haven't been able to go anywhere without being watched, they suspect that I let you do what you did." Leona said, purposefully not naming the act, not wanting to call Diana a murderer.

"I see." Diana said, she was still keeping herself distant from Leona.

"Is it all true?" Leona asked her, referring to the things Diana had said in the council room before they decided they were going to execute her.

"I wouldn't risk my life over a lie, Leona." That was what she had thought. "Will you let me take these or will I have to fight you for it?" Leona put away her sword, hoping to indicate to Diana that she wasn't a threat, she wasn't planning to kill her.

"You can take them. I won't stop you." She said, Leona figured that Diana was still feeling betrayed since her reaction in the council room. She hadn't stood up for Diana like she should have, she felt guilty for it, she should have stopped it then even if it risked her own standing in the Solari. It would be something she would most likely always regret. The two of them left the archives in silence, Leona was trying to let Diana decide what she wanted next.

"Will you come with me?" Diana was watching Leona's face closely, the blonde might be feeling betrayed but she was still willing to try to trust Leona, still loved her enough to ask her to leave Mt Targon with her. Leona was hesitant, it would be hard to leave both her faith and her family behind. "I can't stay here and the Solari no longer trust you, they judge you. You should come with me." Diana said to her, Leona was feeling inclined to say yes before they were interrupted.

Pantheon appeared behind Diana, spear in hand and lunging for Diana's neck. Diana dropped the books she was carrying and managed to dodge the attack she hadn't even seen coming before drawing her crescent shaped blade. Leona watched them fight for a few moments in stunned silence, while Diana's use of her abilities was clunky and needed refinement, she was able to dodge most of Pantheon's attacks and deal damage back. Pantheon finally managed to knock Diana's feet out from under her, seeing this motivated Leona out of her stunned silence, grabbing her shield and blocking the spear before it dealt a killing blow to Diana.

Diana took the few seconds Leona's interruption gave her to flee with the books and not look back, not waiting for Leona to explain that she hadn't known anything about Pantheon coming to kill her. She knew that Diana would doubt her even more, all it would seem like to her is that she lulled Diana into a false sense of security before having Pantheon do the dirty work even if Leona had stopped it at the last second.

"I knew it." Pantheon said, pointing his spear directly at Leona. "You're in love with that bitch. Why else would you save her life after she murdered all of the Elders and almost killed you? Not only are you disgusting but you fall in love with a woman like that?"

"I don't believe it's any of your business." Leona narrowed her eyes at him.

"Maybe it's not, but it's certainly something I need to bring to the Elder's attention." Pantheon gave her a shove before heading down the hall. Leona took in a deep breath trying to calm her anger.