"No... it's not true!"
Solaris pushes to her feet and away from her mother, both of her hands moving to her ears. Her mother doesn't move to her, simply standing within the tomb whilst her daughter screamed her disagreement. The ruby-eyed blonde quickly turned back, finally snarling through her clenched teeth as she pointed her hand at her mother accusingly.
"You're doing this to make me hate him, aren't you!? This is just a trick! Another one of your tests! I won't allow it!"
Sweeping her hand and following in a quick turnaround, she wastes no more time storming out. Her mother was wrong; Lunaris was her friend, her... her best friend. If it wasn't for him, they might have been stuck beneath demon cock or been far from able to best those bandits. He very well might have even got her pregnant; there was no way Lunaris could be some ancient demon, even if they looked the same. This wasn't the beast from that dream.
It took her very little time to ascend from the tombs, making her way up the the steps in silence. Her mother wasn't at her heels... it left her truly alone. Alone to contemplate just what it was she had seen and felt; to see from her ancestor's eyes and know true fear of a being. Desire, motherhood... all if it was feeling she now felt. Care for children that were never hers, love for an empire beyond her humble island's small exiled kingdom and fear in what demons truly were. Fear of Kondarios.
She felt her knees weaken, sliding to the steps and clutching the rail with her hand grabbing her shoulder as Solaris sobbed for the first time in years...
An hour passes with her in this state, finally hearing the clicking of feet behind her at last bringing her from the sorrow. Her gaze turned back, looking at the tear-strewn face of her mother. But where Solaris was sobbing and crying out, she was silent and smiling... carefully wrapping an arm around her daughter and helping her stand.
"A lady shouldn't cry... it's unbecoming of us; especially nobles, Solaris," Fingers brushed along her daughter's cheeks, smiling to her before turning and starting to lead them up the stairs. "So do not cry... I will shed my tears for you if you ever need... but you must be strong for our nation. Strong for Lunaris, too... understand?"
A sniffling nod at last has Solaris carefully run a hand along her eyes and then take a stilling deep breath.
"Y-Yes... mother. I... I understand. But... you still rule and-"
Her mother's laughter interrupts her, the mother smiling and looking to her.
"Not for long, Solaris. I have decided that I will grant you two years to travel... to see if you can truly uncover the truths of Lunaris. Perhaps you are right... perhaps it is just a coincidence. Perhaps we were wrong and Lunaris is only but descended... or perhaps a reincarnation of that vile beast. But you will never learn staying here..."
"But mother, I-"
A finger graces her lips, silencing her as they near the top of the stairs. The door leading back to the others lays just ahead, Soldaria calmly turning the girl to face her and meeting her gaze with the same glowing eyes of fiery rebellion that had been born in their ancestor and persevered to them.
"It will not be all sights and travels, I assure you. We've been considering expansion for a long time... but there has been... issues. So I want you to do me a favor, Solaris. I want you to lead an expedition force... a group that will make a Solfrian colony. Can you do that?"
The task hit Solaris almost as hard as that vile, treacherous vision; the only places they could expand to were the mainland continents... which meant likely facing battle and a war-like tension if the land grab was received poorly.
"Mother, y-you can't be serious! If we were to face off with the Stedenians, then we'd-"
Her mother laughs aloud; wait... what?
"No, not to our south, Solaris! To the north!"
The notion that something existed north was uncertain and unnerving to her; had her mother snapped down there? Or had she and was she now hearing insane ideas? Her mother caught this debelief, however, and took a deep breath; a prelude to a long speech, knowing her.
"I spoke with the Imperial forces, and... well... there's an island further north beyond the edges of our known world map. It's been excluded for a long time because of what many believe it to be; the origin place of demonic kind in our world. But Darya and many other mages who came here studied it from afar, from the northern shores of our island. They're certain there's almost no activity on its coastlines... and while I lead efforts to begin a settlement on the north end of the island, I want you to lead an expedition there. Solaris, I don't expect you to say yes. It would be difficult in many ways, even if there isn't any demons there; we know there are cultures and species that live there that have had little to no contact with the rest of the world. If you would do this for me, then you can build a legacy there... on a place almost the size of our island, we could become a power with ease thanks to the untapped resources."
"Solaris, I will give you the time regardless; but if you do this, we can all benefit and we're almost assuredly going to get answers... can you do this for me?"
Well, it's been a long time. Longer than I wanted. Sorry for that. 
But the new issue is here and with it, the decision I was so excited to reveal. This is because it is a truly tough challenge; people can vote to pursue ONLY the story... or to explore the original world that has so much already there and fleshed out. This choice is quite bluntly the most impacting of them yet. Hope you all vote wisely.
I won't make a promise for the recurrence rate of these, but I do plan to reboot it as a regular thing again; might aim at a week given my current workloads and such for writing. Anyhow, hope you're all HYPE for the return of the CYOA :V
But the new issue is here and with it, the decision I was so excited to reveal. This is because it is a truly tough challenge; people can vote to pursue ONLY the story... or to explore the original world that has so much already there and fleshed out. This choice is quite bluntly the most impacting of them yet. Hope you all vote wisely.
I won't make a promise for the recurrence rate of these, but I do plan to reboot it as a regular thing again; might aim at a week given my current workloads and such for writing. Anyhow, hope you're all HYPE for the return of the CYOA :V