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[ The feeds turns on to show Leo, visibly shaken, dirt on his face from where he'd fallen after losing his already tenuous hold on the mountain. He hadn't bothered to clean up yet, too focused on watching the aftermath before hauling out of Unseelie territory to find somewhere relatively safe. ]

We lost Mt. Verla. And the Pyrii... walked right into the Void. Like they didn't have anything left to stay for.

[ With their home gone, he supposes that they really don't. It isn't like they wanted to be saved, anyway. They hadn't even tried, and that disturbed Leo quite a bit, though not as much as seeing them march to their deaths. ]

And I can't... I don't know what happened, if it has something to do with them disappearing or not, but... I can't use my fire. [ His voice trembles as he speaks, looking down at his hands with a shake of his head. ] I tried. Over and over, but I can't do it. I've never... not been able to do it before.

Can anyone else use fire magic? Firebending, or whatever?

[ There's a hesitation, but he asks, ] Is there any way to get it back? Would Shard training help?

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Sometimes we can not control what goes on around us. I am sorry for you.

[That he had to see it, that he is feeling loss. That everything has happened. And he's clearly shaken. She wants to reassure him. There is still magic but not his magic.]

If there is anything I might do for you...

[ It isn't magic where he comes from, though - it's just him, suddenly losing that is like a shock to his whole system. What is he supposed to do now? ]

It's because we lost the Pyrii, I think. I didn't know they were even connected, or I - I would've tried harder.

[ Not that it would have done much either way. There's only so much any one person with so little training can do. He shakes his head, clearly frustrated. ]

I don't even know where to start.

When we look back it is easy to say what we should have done or might have done.

[But sometimes it changes nothing at all. Lia knows from her own example that you can't live in regrets. But she hates this. For all of them.]

Nor do I. Nor will many. But you...will find your way. I wish I knew something to help you.

It's hard not to sometimes.

[ There are so many mistakes he's made that he still looks back on and wonders, What if? His mother, firing on New Rome, cracking open the fortune cookie, losing his hold on Mt. Verla...

There are reasons he tries to run. It just doesn't always work. ]

I mean, I know how to start a chemical fire. I've still got vials of Greek fire from home that I haven't used up yet. But it's not the same.

It is very difficult to not find failing in ourselves as we look back.

[You learn to live with it, she supposes. You learn to ask forgiveness and you learn to try harder and to do better next time.]

I do not know what it is like, I confess. I have my magic and flame has...not been part of me.

[To lose her magic. It would crush her a little.]

When you are well. When you feel up to it, if ever you do...I might try to teach you a verse of my magic. Maybe it will take the form you need it to take.

I guess so. I try not to think about it that hard, but with everything that's happened...

[ He shrugs helplessly. Where is he supposed to go from here? There's nowhere to run to this time, even if he goes back to Troichean Beinn.

The offer does intrigue him, though, even if magic has always seemed to be at odds with logic. He found an explanation for one small part of magic, though; maybe he can find it for others. ] I thought about asking someone for more shard training to see if that would help, but... I dunno. What kind of magic do you use?

I used the psalms. Verses. Your verse calls you and it will do what is needed for you. Mine is a healing psalm but they can just as easily destroy. I have seen them burn.

[Is it fire? Would something take that form in a world without it? That she can't be certain of because her psalms have never tended to go that way anyway.]

Psalms - as in the things from church?

[ His only experiences from church were being dragged there by Aunt Rosa or any of his foster families. He'd hated it every time. ]

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