[BlackLynx3]

Several weeks after the final showdown with Cornelius concluded and has died down since, Taneal Greyshoulders stands [i]in contemplation, within a quiet part of Cellsvich where the original old clock tower used to stand. Whilst finding herself away from the final showdown and unable to make it personally due to her own dire matter with a friend, her role has not been forgotten, as with so many others. In Voilegaurd, silent respect and more than a few thank-yous when she visits. In her current home of Lispool, a peaceful and thankful bastion ensured by her continued loyalty to peace and quiet and her own faith to Mercala, amusing as it is for her own reasons. Visited graves of those who did not make it and paid respects. Her name, while fairly commonly known, has been added as yet another annal in the smaller but important footnotes of Imperial and indeed, world history. For her part, she is humble throughout and says little, as is her nature but reflects privately on it with a strange fondness, considering all the pain and misery she has endured throughout.[/i]

Taneal has also returned to find her friends alive and well, and her newfound daughter safe much to the relief of all. To them, she now stands and continues to swear by, and them her.

It took years, battling the Falcons and their masters. Indeed, she had much help and now stands briefly by the former foundation of the tower now because of them, remembering that fateful day long ago when they burned her city and most of her family to the ground. From that point forward, she had a purpose, a drive. And drive ahead she did, rebuilding her family and friends along the way and learning from more than a few mistakes. Now soul searching, one wonders what her plans are next in the grander scheme of things. Only time will tell...


Taneal speaks softly into the evening air, as the sunset retreats to the embrace of the first stars above.

"Well, Aria. We did it. Our city is safe and stronger than ever. A shame the tower didn't make it, I do miss the sunsets together."

She chuckles.

"I miss you terribly and wish you were here to see it. Were you here, I think you and Lia would be my two closest friends. Alas, I have to settle for just one of you."

No answer apart from a small breeze, but it is just as well. She doesn't seem to mind that much and again, chuckles. Then she grows still and sighs, the stars now appearing in all their splendor.

"[i]Thank you for helping me see who I am deep down. Were it not for you, none of us might be here. When the time comes and it is time I pass through the Veil, we will speak again someday and watch the sunset together before we venture into the Maze." [/i]

[i]She offers a silent prayer to Mercala, thanking her for giving her the strength to continue bearing the weight she still carries for the rest of her days, and rewarding her struggle with the virtues of family and friendship, rather than hate and conquest the Falcons and her direct forebears emulated. It is a good feeling, one that brings her peace in the middle of the chaos and uncertainty the days ahead now lie before all.

Humming a childhood song only she knows, Taneal walks away, leaving behind only her song before it too, vanishes into shadow.[/i]