Running along the Bridge of Sighs, Quex watched the players trapped in their own sighs and wondered what she herself would face.
She could not think of anything she might regret, nor anything she deserved to be questioned about.
If she had to relive Midsumr, she would make the sa choices again. No matter how many tis she returned, her kin would still fear her, wouldn’t they?
And yet, she was trapped.
She was stuck in Tiger Ear.
A knot of tangled logic, a betrayal that made perfect sense.
The citizens of Tiger Ear simply stood in place, blocking her path.
For soone like Quex, no words were necessary. Their re presence was enough to make her start questioning herself.
She had betrayed the innocent Tiger Ear to atone for those who had once feared or shunned her in Midsumr.
Was there any difference?
Years ago, Midsumr Quex had tried to sacrifice the less talented kin so the rest could survive the crisis.
Years later, Tiger Ear Quex sacrificed the innocent for her kin.
No difference.
Back then, it was for the survival of her people. Years later, it was still for their survival.
A hand reached out and pulled a hood over her head, shielding her from the light drizzle above.
"You’ve already decided you can’t make it right for everyone. Why stop now?"
Quex blinked hard, shaking the raindrops from her face. She looked at BS Rita, who had sohow appeared beside her, and said,
"I’m thinking about whether it’s worth it. Getting rcilessly kicked out of Midsumr, then betraying the Tiger Ear that took in because of the ones who drove away... it’s so cruel."
Rita quietly guided Quex out of the sighs of Tiger Ear.
Quex clutched her. Rita realized she was used to being pulled halfway through the run.
She looked back at Quex and asked, "What’s wrong?"
"If it were you, what would you do?"
"Throw the problem to everyone else, or assign it to the one most skilled in politics. Let them handle it. I focus on playing Divine Ga." Rita answered without hesitation.
That was exactly what she had done back then. She fed Eclipse all the dirty work and focused on growing stronger.
"..." Quex hesitated, but pressed on. "What about Dark Reef and Tiger Ear?"
Her world skill was not highly leveled at the ti. rging the two worlds was necessary. But each world could only hold a limited number of citizens. rging them ant she had to cull so.
Knowing the general situation of that battle, Rita decisively said,
"Once the fight begins, focus on killing all non-Celestialkin in Dark Reef first. If that’s not enough, take out the non-native citizens of Tiger Ear. Only once the population is sufficient, shatter Tiger Ear itself."
She looked at Quex, who was still stunned, and sighed.
"You still don’t fully understand what it ans to be unable to make it right for everyone. Next ti you make a decision, list the top three you care most about. Ignore the rest."
With that, Rita pushed Quex forward, urging her to run. She herself continued along the bridge, waking the other players.
Passing Wither, a kick woke him.
Frenzied Shark, another kick.
Fat Goose, kicked awake.
The motorcycle, double honk, kick.
Ragtag.. Rita paused mid-kick.
The godly figure was sitting cross-legged with NightFury and Guava, sharing air fruit, tears glistening at the corners of their eyes.
"Want so citrus? Sweet."
"NightFury’s good, take so."
"Guava, the sweetest."
Rita grabbed one under each arm. She bit the collar of NightFury’s jacket with her teeth and guided all three out of the sighs of Nuclear Flash.
Running and rescuing all the way, she hoped these players wouldn’t get trapped the next ti they crossed the bridge.
The hardest to wake was the captain trapped in the tides.
He saw the Tide of that year—the bloodshed caused by his unwillingness to compromise or surrender.
Maple Syrup was right. They were alike. Both had been stubborn.
But there was a difference. Maple Syrup would never apologize. She didn’t seek anyone’s forgiveness.
The captain did.
He clutched his coral-covered forehead, repeating, "I’m sorry," over and over.
Years ago, he had forced his will upon his kin. Years later, he forced his will on Maple Syrup.
Seeing Maple Syrup was like looking at his own stubborn self from long ago.
He had wanted to tell her to stop struggling. This endless war mattered little for honor. The best choice was to leave with their kin.
Looking back on the struggles of the past, it was like watching a joke.
And saving soone like Maple Syrup, so similar to himself, felt like redemption.
So long unable to let go, he had essentially admitted fault.
That was why he was trapped in the sighs, saying the apologies he had never voiced.
No matter how many punches Rita threw, the captain wouldn’t wake.
She had to use her flower whip to drag him forward.
Nivalis watched Rita sweat profusely and suggested,
"What if I rolled down the bridge like a bowling ball? That way, everyone wakes up."
Rita shook her head. Nivalis couldn’t see the illusions on the Bridge of Sighs, so she didn’t understand.
"So players can wake on their own. They’re just unwilling."
Rita didn’t wake everyone. Players like Smoke Tune had to resolve their own issues within the sighs. She bypassed them.
Nivalis scratched her head, confused. Then she pointed to Lightchaser, trapped in BS, and asked,
"I can’t figure out what she has to resolve there."
Rita froze. She dashed over and grabbed Lightchaser, leading her out.
Their passage shattered the long-dead "BS Rita" on the ground.
Rita spoke softly to the elf,
"Rember, this is a story from another tiline. Your apprentice is the BS Adjudicator. That was a remarkable campaign, one worth recounting for a lifeti, one worthy of being etched on a tombstone."
Lightchaser remained silent, letting her apprentice guide her out of the sighs of BS.
"I’m not trapped. I’m just thinking about sothing."
The elf’s face was pure confusion.
Rita looked over, and the elf continued,
"Was there a tiline of that horror story that beca Brilliance because of your death?"
Rita froze at the thought. Without her own tiline, shouldn’t it have dimd to No Light instead?
"Lynx Duke said there was once a tiline that beca the Brilliance tiline because of one being’s extre suffering."
The elf’s gray-blue eyes studied her intently as she explained her reasoning.
"You’re that important. After Card Swap, losing you would have caused so much pain for everyone."
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