Chapter Text
Tine made her way down to the small rock beach at the edge of Friege’s lands, she slowly dragged herself deeper and deeper into the frigid winter waters. She had to be quick or else a knight would notice and alert Hilda to her whereabouts. She was not allowed to leave the palace, ever, it was sheer luck that she manage to slip through the gates.
It’s sad that this will be the first and last time she has seen the outskirts of her families land. It was beautiful, and verdant. The sky was a mix of grey, silver, and black clouds, and there was light drizzle of cold rain. She even saw flowers Ishtar use to bring her and her mother. Oh, how she misses the both of them.
In a quick motion, Tine's foot slipped and she plunged deeper into the ocean, the cold water sending a shiver through her body like being poked with a thousand needles. But this pain was nothing to her, she had experienced the worst the world thrown at her and her mother. Or at least that was what she had to remind herself the more and more she ventured into the deep.
She wasn’t the most religious, but she wondered what the Gods thought of her action right now. Not that they ever cared…they never bothered to help her mother in the face of evil. Why was there so much evil in this wretched place anyways. Weren’t the crusaders and their decedents supposed to change that? But what did she know? She was only a stupid child in the eyes of Hilda. She doubts anyone would care if she vanished, let alone the Gods.
The water was now up to her chin, and she could barely touch the bottom of the rocky ground. In the distance the sound of horses galloping boomed in the distance like thunder. They were coming for her. Tine closed her eyes; she did not have much time before they arrived and pulled her out of the water. Her mind was already playing out what Hilda would do to her after discovering she tried to disappear into the sea. Would she beat her, try to set her on fire? She shook off those thoughts. No, she will not let Hilda do any of that. Hilda will never see her again!
Tine was never taught how to swim, so she tried to arch her arms out to push her deeper into the water. It was exhausting. But she wouldn’t have to do it for long. She could already see large waves forming on the horizon billowing straight towards her. Finally.
One wave knocked her in to a downwards current, rolling her around and pulling her deeper and deeper. Yet her reflexes propelled her upwards. Tine took one last glace at the marble gray sky before she let herself finally get lost beneath the waves.
She never thought drowning could be so peaceful.
-*-
A bright light passed over her and a song came into her heart it was like light itself. It sung grace and reconciliation she was not sure where it was coming form. But it consumed her.
It reminded her of her mother’s voice, how she used to hum to her when she was just a baby in Silesse. The good days. When her mother and Lewyn, who was like a second father to her and her twin brother Arthur, would sit by the fireplace and eat together laughing and telling stories. Those were the memories that filled her heart as she died.
Then the light consumed her, and everything faded to black.
Then in the blackness of limbo she herd a voice shake her back to consciousness.
“My child…Please, wake up.” A voice called out from the deep, it sounded…divine? Like it was not of this world, it reverberated in the blackness of her mind. Yet, at the same time, had a warm light to it.
When Tine opened her eyes she saw she was in a dark cave, the water’s light making the walls have a blueish-green phosphorescencent glow.
Tine hated caves; they reminded her of when she was kept in the dungeon at Friege castle with her mother. Was this place supposed to be the afterlife? It didn't feel like it.
“Mother?” She called out, her voice bouncing off the cavernous space.
But no one responded.
Tine frowned, and she tried to pull herself out of the water; then she realized there was something strange about her body. It felt like something was weighing down her legs, like bags of sand were tied to her ankles. She used all her strength to try to pull herself out of the water, and when she did pull her 'legs' out of the water, she regretted she even tried to.
What she was staring at was a long lilac tail that shimmered silver in the faint light. She felt the rough scaled pattern where her pale legs once were. What has happened to her? She didn’t know how long she stayed in that cave, but there was that divine voice again like a pleasant song telling her to jump back into the water.
She followed it’s orders, and when she did it she realized she could actually swim, and she was fast at it. She flowed with the current her body going up and down as she swam. She then lifted herself into the air and flipped back into the water. A smile came over her face, she wasn’t dead. But free. Free form the choke hold of life, free from Hilda.