Even though the council woman had sped away on the ship the moment they landed, Zia could still feel the remnants of Lady Allura's gaze. Her eyes...they were so judgemental. Like she already deemed them failures before they were even given this chance. It was clear she held disdain for them, at least it was to Zia. Unlike Scanlan she wasn't convinced the council woman would return for even their corpses let alone their living bodies once the creature was killed.

Her warning to not fuck this up had been clear enough. Zia knew it was meant for the whole group but it still felt quite pointed at her. At any rate, she'd taken it to heart.

The woman was right.

If they failed...if they fucked this up the way they fucked up literally everything else...

Hell, people would die.

They couldn't let such a thing happen.

Vox Machina trudged towards the hilltop which wasn't nearly as long of a trek as the stairs to Uriel's palace. The village was just on the other side of the hill. Zia almost wished it would be a longer walk. Give her more time to think, but no. She'd been debating this since the moment they'd descended the ships red carpeted stairs.

Zia stopped abruptly, just before she reached the hill's peak. The rest of Vox just a bit ahead of her. "....Lady Allura said not to fuck this up. So, I Uh, I think it's best that I stay here."

"Huh?" Keyleth was the first to pause and face her clutching her staff.

"What? No." Pike protested, multiple murmurs of discontent echoing the female gnomes exclamation by the rest of the group. "Zia, you don't have to do that."

"But I do." The statuette insisted. "Look, we're dealing with people who are already scared and frightened by god knows what. My presence...it won't help anything there."

"Come now, darling. The least of these people's worries will be your appearance." Vex denied hand rested on her hip. "It's just a small village."

"Small villages aren't the most open minded." Zia denied in reply. She rubbed the back of her gloved hand softly out of nervousness. "I don't want to scare anybody into grabbing any pitchforks."

"Even so, don't forget we represent the sovereign right now, Zia." Percy reminded her. "Nobody will look twice at you, let alone arm themselves with their farming tools."

"A single look is all it ever takes. They see someone as cursed as me walking around..." Zia sighed. "...it's just better if I stay on the outskirts. Trust me on that."

"Zia..." Percy began, but he quieted as she raised her hand signaling he be silent.

"I've made up my mind, you need to put people at ease to get them talking. If they're afraid of us they'll clam up. We shouldn't waste time. So you all poke around town, I'm going to go search the surrounding area...away from everybody."

Zia walked off - the group watching her go.

No one made any real moves to stop her. They knew better than to force her into coming with them. That would only worsen her anxieties.

"So much for progress..." Pike frowned as Zia disappeared into the brush.

"She was doing so well too." Percy agreed, staring off into the space Zia had just occupied with a forlorn expression.

"Should someone go with her?" Grog wondered. "If there's a big bad creature roaming round...being alone doesn't sound too safe."

"Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah." Scanlan waved a hand dismissively. "Do you hear yourself? It's Zia. That woman's made for monster fighting with that stone skin of hers, and her swords aren't just placed there to make her hips look sexy. Let's all just go into town. If Zia doesn't want to stay with us for that then that's her problem."

"I hate to say it, but Scanlan's right." Vex agreed. "We shouldn't waste time. Once we find out what the villagers know we can regroup with Zia on the outskirts. Let's move."

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Hey guys here's another chapter! Sorry it's so short but the next one will probably get us to the end of episode one! So yay for that! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for more!

I love Zia so much hope you do too