After much careful deliberation and consideration in regards to such a sobering revelation, with every pair of eyes in all shapes and sizes pointed squarely onto my being throughout the duration, I finally took action and made a decision.
Ria had only another hour. No more, no less.
Irene told me it didn't matter, that something as arbitrary as time itself meant absolutely nothing when enraptured by the Enstar's Call, the voices of the void - that if Ria hadn't woken up by now… then she wasn't waking up at all.
That Ria doesn't want to wake up at all.
Another moment of deliberation and consideration. Reached another decision.
I told her only another hour. No more, no less.
Irene didn't try to dissuade any further afterward, leaving for the upstairs after only a brief nod my way, but before she did, I called out to her again. She stopped in her ascent, her hazel eyes staring silently through the gaps in the steps, just as mine did the night before.
