The knock startled her as she looked up from the edge of the bed. She had hidden away the torn papers that had littered the room earlier. "Hello?"
The door opened slowly and familiar blue eyes studied her, although these ones were surrounded by dark lashes. "Hello, Ms. Rohesia," Natalia said smoothly.
Natalia looked around at the room thoughtfully, one brow raised. "Jack tells me that you are quite an accomplished painter," she commented, shifting her gaze smoothly over to Avice. "Is that true?"
A smile almost appeared on her face and she tilted her head in a way that would be familiar to Avice. "My apologies. I'm not exactly good at formalities. I wish to talk to you about my brother."
She ran a hand through her raven black hair, pausing to look out the window. "I'm not sure if you're aware," she began, "but my brother gave up everything for me. Even from when I was young, he endured constant beatings from our father on my behalf."
"My brother is a good boy," she told Avice, crossing her arms. "A good, incredibly selfless boy." She sighed, looking down at the ground. "Which is why, to be quite blunt, I didn't trust you. I still struggle with it. My brother, as good and as selfless as he is, can be remarkably naive. I have personally manipulated him out of necessity far more times than I would care to admit. But I knew I would never purposefully harm my brother. You, on the other hand, are a stranger to me and therefore untrustworthy. If you asked him to bring the ship down, he would do it. He is almost like a puppy in that respect, have you noticed?"
"I.. I suppose I've noticed," she said quietly, her brows furrowed in thought. "What are you getting at?'
She hesitated, leaning against the wall thoughtfully. "Jack joined this crew for me. After I lost my... After Felicity passed, he knew that I had nothing and no one. He had no interest in this life, but he knew that I needed him. After months of being stuck in that tower, trapped inside my mind, I began to reflect on how unfair it was and how selfish I had been." She sighed, showing a rare instance of hesitance. "Avice, he doesn't want this. This isn't how his life should be. Right now, he has an opportunity to be truly happy. He can leave the ship and live somewhere else, start his own life without this added obligation. But he cannot be truly happy without you."
Avice looked up, her eyes wide with surprise. "So.. So he can leave? I want to stay with him no matter what.."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "He worries, as you know, and he wouldn't accept it if I was the one who told him."
“Well,” she said, drawing out the word. “That’s up to you. I truly believe his happiness is dependent upon your presence, at least for now. If you would be content with living somewhere away from the ship, then yes. I would ask for you to tell him.”
