So much had happened far too sudden for Lucrecia's liking. For the first couple hours, she had wondered in a shocked and panic-filled stupor as she ran, searching for an answer. What in Gaia's name was happening? Why now, after the two groups had just been reunited? Would she too be next? Would she be leaving her son and her comrades with one less to seek the end of this Calamity?

The thought was enough to keep her moving for a while. She had wandered the city streets for some time, trying to find others she'd traveled with, attempting to get the word out as the panic The pain she could handle; she was used to the sensation of her heart and torso were being stabbed with hundreds of scaplels on a daily basis even though not a one broke her skin in decades. But the sight of those younger, full of so much more life left to live dropping one by one or crystallizing before vanishing without a trace...

Night had fallen a few hours ago. Weary, she dropped to her knees as her legs buckled beneath her from moving far too much for such a long period of time. The pain had lessened greatly since the early morning hours, but the aching of her heart had only made room for grief of another sort. A few tears escaped her as she rested her face in her hands before the Crystal of Fire. "Why... Why them, and not... and not..."

Why could it not have been her instead of the others?