VOLAQ: Becalm yourself, Ozma. I know you're upset, but you cannot allow your feelings to rule you.
OZMA: I hunt a traitor who has committed unconscionable crimes against his country. What could be more rational?
VOLAQ: You do not do this for your country. This is for you and you alone. With the war faltering, we cannot permit you to wreak havoc as you please. The situation demands unity. Now more than ever, we must stand as one. Balxephon realized this, else why admit to his mistake?
OZMA: You would have us follow our orders without question in the name of unity?
VOLAQ: It is our duty. There cannot be order without trust.
OZMA: Balxephon lost my trust when he deceived me.
VOLAQ: What he did, he did for your sake. It was not easy for him.
OZMA: And I'm to accept this? I'm to trust him?
VOLAQ: Listen to reason, Ozma. I have no wish to lead you back in chains.
OZMA: ...
[A Dark Knight rushes over.]
KNIGHT: Sir Volaq! The Resistance!
VOLAQ: Here?
[Ozma dashes past Volaq.]
VOLAQ: Ozma! What are you doing!?
OZMA: What I must. I will see whether Hobyrim lives for myself!
[She calls to Denam.]
OZMA: I am Ozma of the Knights Loslorien, and I have a question for you. A blind swordsman fought us at Rhime. Is he with you now?
[Hobyrim is not party to Denam.]
DENAM: The man you seek is not among us. What do the Dark Knights want with him?
OZMA: It's no concern of yours. And you're of no more use to me!
HOBYRIM: ...
OZMA: I know you can hear me, swordsman! Are you Hobyrim Van Rahms or no?
[Choice 1 - No, I am not.]
HOBYRIM: No, my lady. You may shout as loud as you wish, my answer will not change.
OZMA: So be it. You have forgotten me...forgotten your homeland. I will slay you as I would any other Resistance scum!
[Choice 2 - Yes...I am Hobyrim.]
HOBYRIM: Yes, Ozma. It is I.
OZMA: You're alive. Balxephon lied to me...they all lied! Even Oz. ...Why?
HOBYRIM: They sought to make the truth of the lie.
VOLAQ: Ozma, listen to me! We have our orders. What matter the whys and wherefores? This man is our enemy. It is our oath-bound duty to strike at him!
BALXEPHON: I don't believe it.... Balxephon killed Stratarchis Vogras!? When they said you'd murdered your father, I felt something was amiss, but this.... I never imagined. He must have known what it would mean for us - for Lodis.
HOBYRIM: Loslorien care nothing for means so long as their ends are met. You of all people must know this! As they shaped Lodis then, they shape Valeria now. They will rule by brute force and fear, and purge any who dare to speak against them. But the people of these islands have risen to overthrow their corrupt rulers. How long before Lodis meets the same fate?
OZMA: I am a Knight of Lodis. I will not betray our homeland!
HOBYRIM: You name me a traitor, but I have ever been a son of Lodis. Lanselot and Balxephon are the true betrayers! It is they who used the high priest to deceive the people. It is they who use you, Ozma!
OZMA: No...
VOLAQ: He is the enemy, Ozma. Don't believe a word of this nonsense!
[After a moment Volaq realizes it really is Hobyrim he faces.]
VOLAQ: So, this is Hobyrim. You're really something, you know. Most men would have surrendered their sword along with their sight.
HOBYRIM: A knight commander, is it? You have the air of rank about you.
VOLAQ: Does nothing escape you? I shall have to take blind swordsmen much more seriously. To watch you moe, it is clear you are no common warrior. Let our steel sing, then. Your crimes against Lodis demand blood!
HOBYRIM: Strike me if you can. I flee from no one.
[Ozma bears the brunt of Denam's force.]
VOLAQ: You wear too many wounds, Ozma. Keep a steady eye on your foe! This battle is unworthy of your death!
OZMA: Save your worry, Volaq. I will not die until I've learned the truth!
VOLAQ: Do not let vengeance overcome you. I have already lost Oz. I will not lose you, too.
OZMA: I am a Loslorien knight commander. Vengeance does my bidding!
[Ozma dies.]
OZMA: I'll never know.... Oz.... I rejoin you...at last.
BALXEPHON: Ozma, no!
[Eventually the Dark Knights fall.]
VOLAQ: This is no place to die. Ozma, we must withdraw!
OZMA: I will not leave until I have the truth! Away from me, Volaq!
VOLAQ: The truth's no good to you dead. Take care, Ozma!
OZMA: I yield. I will fight you no more. Hobyrim, I must know the truth. All of it.
HOBYRIM: Very well.
[They put away their weapons and meet in an abandoned house.]
DENAM: Hobyrim, what past do you share with the Dark Knights?
HOBYRIM: I was once one of them.
DENAM: I hope you've an explanation for this.
HOBYRIM: My full name is Hobyrim Von Rahms.
DENAM: Von Rahms? Sir Balxephon -
HOBYRIM: - is my brother. And Ozma was to be my bride.
DENAM: How could you keep this from me?
HOBYRIM: Hear me out. I have long since turned my back on Loslorien. I ventured to these islands with but one purpose: To kill my brother.
DENAM: What!?
HOBYRIM: Balxephon murdered our parents.
[Hobyrim retells of a scene with his brother, Balxephon, and father.]
BALXEPHON: What do those withered fools in the senate know? Traitors, every one of them! They make no obeisance to High Priest Sardian, yet they fawn over every merchant and upstart house with two coins to rub together! Decay eats Lodis from within. Only Loslorien can cut away the rotten flesh! Lord father, when the senat convenes tomorrow, we must have your support!
VOGRAS: You are obstinate to a fault, Balxephon. What you ask is impossible! I will speak for the senate's proposal. We cannot allow Loslorien to grow any more powerful. Ask anything else of me, my son, and it shall be yours. But never this!
BALXEPHON: When did you become a tool of the aristocracy? Ours is an old and noble house. You tarnish our name with this needless groveling!
VOGRAS: I placed you in Loslorien to be my eyes. Now you are become Sardian's pet! You are unfit to lead this family. Begone from my sight! Come, Hobyrim.
[Vogras turns to leave and Balxephon slashes at him. The old man falls in a heap.]
HOBYRIM: Lord father!
BALXEPHON: Fool.
HOBYRIM: What have you done, brother!?
BALXEPHON: Open your eyes! The senate is a suppurating wound in the body of Lodis. Our father was a species of disease!
HOBYRIM: Have you gone mad? The people will never abide such treachery!
BALXEPHON: The people are already ours. You know that. There's nothing you can do to stop us now. The wheels are already set in motion. You will follow me!
HOBYRIM: You mean to incite a war! I may not be able to stop you, but I will never join you. You must kill me as you killed our father!
BALXEPHON: I thought you more reasonable than this, my brother...
[Hobyrim trails off.]
HOBYRIM: Much of the aristocracy was culled in Sardian's rebellion. The high priest's men purged the senate and filled its ranks with bootlicks and scullions. The blame for my father's murder fell on me. As punishment, they plucked out my eyes and banished me from Lodis.
DENAM: How horrible...
HOBYRIM: I did not learn of my mother's death until a month after the rebellion. The official account declared her the victim of some mischance or another.... In truth she was poisoned because she would not lend her voice to their cause.
OZMA: And it was Balxephon who made word of this "mischance" known...
DENAM: ...
HOBYRIM: I know how this must sound, but I swear in Philaha's name that every word is true.
DENAM: So you've come here seeking vengeance.
HOBYRIM: And I will have it. I came to Valeria seeking vengeance, but that is not the only reason I remain. Yours is a worthy cause, denam. I would join you. Ozma, I have always loved Lodis. But the country I knew is gone. High Priest Sardian has twisted it beyond recognition. I could not save Lodis, but it's not too late for Valeria! If I can aid them in their revolution, I will do it gladly.
OZMA: I see...
DENAM: You are a man of honor, Hobyrim. I should be glad to have you at my side.
HOBYRIM: Thank you, Denam. What now, Ozma? Knowing the truth, will you return to Loslorien?
OZMA: Nothing would please me more than to join you, Hobyrim. But the Resistance killed my brother, a debt I have yet to repay.
[Choice 1 - As I owe you for my father.]
DENAM: My father would still be alive if not for you. But he told me to be a stone along the path to our salvation. Begrudging you his death serves nothing. If it will move Valeria toward peace, then you are welcome among us. What's done is done.
OZMA: You would forgive me? It would be easier to cut you down were you not so obliging. Let me be your eyes, Hobyrim. Though it may be you who shows me the way.
HOBYRIM: Thank you, Ozma. It cheers me to hear you say so.
[Choice 2 - I cannot force you to forgive me.]
DENAM: I'll not beg your forgiveness. It means nothing if not given willingly. Nor have I forgotten what you did to my father. And there are others who must grudge you as well. You surrendered to us, so I will not harm you. But when we've finished here, you must leave.
OZMA: Know I would do whatever I can for you, Hobyrim. But I will not ally myself with the Resistance.
HOBYRIM: Then you will return to Lanselot.
OZMA: And devote myself to his cause. I must trust that the high champion knows what's best for Lodis.
HOBYRIM: I'll not try to dissuade you.
OZMA: Be well, Hobyrim.
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