Try and try again

Alexis watched her friend racing about, trying to make sense of what had happened.

She herself still fought to even find the will to stand up. What even for? Just to get kicked to the ground by the next insurmountable foe fate would throw at them to casually humiliate them?

She hadn’t needed another lesson in how utterly pointless anything she did was. She had already gotten that message loud and clear.

She could only agree with Tarmen. They didn’t stand a fucking chance. What was the point in even trying?

And yet, as she numbly observed Voah rush back and forth, there was a very quiet voice in her mind. Close to her heart. It sounded like her mother’s. Which was a surprise, because usually it would have been her father’s memory she’d draw upon.

But she remembered. It was… some kind of carpentry work her mother had tried to teach her, wasn’t it? And she… she just couldn’t get it right. Gods, she had been so frustrated and mad at herself. Especially for disappointing her mother.
But… her mother hadn’t been angry at all.
All she had asked her daughter was:
‘Have you tried your very best? Have you given it your all?’

So she had tried. And tried again. Alexis didn’t think she ever really got it right, but somehow, her mother had been content all the same.
Try and try again. Until you get it right. And if you can’t get it right, then at least until you don’t have to wonder anymore if you could have tried harder.
So that even if you fail, you don’t have to regret not giving your all.

So Alexis would try again.

Taking a shaky breath, she slowly stood up.

“Sentinel… yes. Only sign of Allos we have encountered.”

She agreed quietly.

“We’ll need a boat. And something to somehow counter that magik bullshite, if something like that even exists.“

Alexis rubbed her face in a tired gesture.

“Guess if it does, Inquisition would be most likely to have it. Not that I’d have any fucking clue how we’d acquire something like that from ‘em, but… it seems whichever way we look at it, it’s still Ostiarium for us. Unless someone’s got a better idea?“

Man, would she be glad if anyone had a better idea.