3.11 Duty is Not Wisdom
Naron
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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For at least a few moments, everything was tranquil for Edna. She strolled through busy streets without a care, unseen, her arm hooked into Laphicet's. She had done it without thinking when they left the belltower, but he accomodated her without so much as a comment. Feeling light and happy, Edna let herself be led to the Crowe's Nest; she had been curious about it regardless, but her friend insisted on showing her around once their talk was over.
Unfortunately for the two seraphim, something was not right. As they neared the place from a side alley, Laphi suddenly sniffed and frowned ever so slightly. His head turned this way and that, finding nothing, then he changed direction toward the backyard. "Something is wrong," he informed Edna quietly, putting her on edge. They jumped over the closed gate together, landing on the other side to the sight of... nothing.
"I see nothing wrong," Edna quipped, a nagging feeling in her gut. "Did you really just bait me into some place out of sight?" Her joke fell flat, Laphi just continued to sniff. By herself, the earth seraph could not place the odd sensation she felt; her skin stung as if she had an itch, except over her entire body.
When nothing presented itself for a few moments longer, the boy she unconciously started to hold onto took a deep breath. "Drop it, Symonne," he called at the empty air; at first nothing happened, but then a cloud of Malevolence faded into view. The itching feeling turned into actual burning and Edna flinched, finding herself surrounded by darkness. It vanished a moment later, down Laphi's throat as he breathed deeply once more. More followed, being exuded by a familiar woman sprawled on the floor. Despite her changed wardrobe, Edna recognised Alisha Diphda well enough; the princess shuddered, her face hidden in Symonne's chest and arms clutched around her waist. The cape she put on was pushed aside, revealing a drooped tail. For her part, Symonne studied the other two seraphim carefully, specifically Edna, who felt her content sap away in moments.
"What happened?" she could not help but ask, worried for the girl Laphi told her was doing so fine. Alisha looked anything but.
Symonne's response gave her pause: "Sorey happened."
For a moment, Edna felt like asking for further details. At the same time however, she knew exactly what must have happened; the eagle eyes she was given received a new meaning and Edna immediately folded her hands to signal she would be peaceful. Alisha took that exact moment to clap Symonne's shoulder, which made the water seraph let go. A handkerchief changed hands and was made use of, then the princess turned therion faced her. Yet no one spoke, no, the silence was broken from the door leading inside.
"He was raised exclusively by seraphim," Velvet offered calmly, though Edna saw her clenched fist. "Of course he would firmly believe that every hellion must be cleansed. Malevolence is poison for you."
"The issue was not him or Mikleo."
The retort made Edna feel unwell this time, more so than before. She had suspected, but never seen any proof so far; now she had to ask: "Lailah was the same?" A solemn nod was all the answer she needed, though it stirred up odd feelings in her chest. It made sense for a firekeeper, but still; ever since Laphicet asked her what she thought of hellions, Edna remembered the good ones her brother once told her about. She knew not all hellions were evil and rotten to the core.
"And you?"
Edna's eyes narrowed as she met Symonne's challenging look; the Crowe siblings exchanged glances in her peripheral vision, but she ignored them both. The sight of Alisha stirred pity in her, even after she stood once more. Tear tracks were clearly visible on her cheeks and her eyes remained puffy. Edna rolled her umbrella as she considered all of this and her own jumbled feelings; perhaps she would have reacted different before today, had she not had that talk with Laphi. Regardless, she knew her answer. Her hesitation faded away.
Edna stepped forward into the Malevolence, felt it burn her for a moment until Alisha drew it back in. The therion ducked almost imperceptibly, expecting more fire, but adopted a more hopeful look when Edna merely put a hand on her shoulder. A hand clad in an old glove, several sizes too big. "Will you kill people?" she asked the other woman earnestly. "Take lives for no reason, devour the righteous that stand in your way to whatever goal you desire?" The only response she received was a dumbfounded shake of the head. It made Edna smirk. "Then you're good in my book. As long as you don't get devoured by it, at least. Don't let it eat away at you too much."
She could not help the play on Alisha's nature, but it seemed no one recognised it for what it was. The princess managed a faint, brittle smile and a hoarse "Thank you".
"Surprisingly understanding, considering what the shepherd's other companions showed us so far." Symonne met her gaze evenly when Edna glanced back, though they were soon grinning at each other in silent understanding; it was an endearing sight on the other girl's face, full of energy. Pretty, even.
Shaking off the odd tangent, Edna shrugged at Symonne. "Goody two-shoes and crusaders all," she shot back. "They need someone to keep an eye on them, else theirs get poked out by reality not playing ball." Symonne nodded back, apparently agreeing.
That was when Velvet interjected, amusingly enough being the voice of reason: "It's true that they are fools, one and all. But they are exactly the kind of fools this world needs more of."
"It is a little sad none of us can be like them," Laphi agreed with his sister while he glanced around. "But we are all rotten in some way." Velvet and Symonne chuckled over the assertion, even Elisha cracked a smile.
As for Edna, she shot back playfully: "Since when am I part of that group?" Though it was not him who responded, but Symonne.
"We need an orange to make a full fruits basket, obviously. Oranges are all pretty on the outside, but who knows what's inside?"
She raised her finger as if to argue, but paused and lowered the hand again with an agreeing "Fair enough"; only then did she register the backhanded compliment and turned away to hide her blush. The way Symonne giggled made her guess she failed, which only made her cheeks flare hotter.
Into the sudden silence however, Alisha spoke quietly: "She hit me with the flame. It should have cleansed me, so why did it not?" Her words drained the momentary levity and dragged her more depressing thoughts back up. Alisha had been recently turned and a righteous woman, yet she changed so rapidly.
She faced the group again, only to see Symonne, Velvet, and even Laphicet stumped by Alisha's inquiry. It made Edna wonder for a moment, up until she recalled that at least the siblings were sealed away for the last thousand years; they never even met Maotelus.
"It's an open secret," she found herself explaining after a tense few seconds, "my brother wrote me about it before. The silver flame of purification burns away Malevolence, but it can't change what's in your heart. Malevolence can change your body and so burning it will remove that taint. But only you can change your heart and once that is no longer human, you can't be cleansed. That is why dragons are beyond the flame's salvation, too; Malevolence has seeped too deep, has changed too much." Her voice began to break at that point and she spun around again, making to walk off and hiding her upcoming tears at the thought of Eizen. "I will go find Sorey and talk some sense into him." She left it at that, no longer feeling like making a snappy comment. Nobody stopped her, either.
A contemplative sort of silence enveloped the group of three, sat in a park near the Crowe's Nest. Sorey and Mikleo both placed themselves on a wooden bench, having received an explanation for why the cleansing of Alisha failed just before. Now they contemplated and Sorey did not know what to think; he did not know what to feel, either. Hurt, betrayal, worry, confusion, fear, determination, one after the other surged through him before leaving the stage to another, so fast he hardly registered each one properly.
They retreated. No, he retreated, fled from Alisha of all people. Why would she not want to be cleansed? What was wrong with her? Had she always been like that? He did not know and only in hindsight did Sorey realise he never really learned much about her.
It was to such thoughts that a familiar voice cut into his thoughts like a knife: "I heard you almost burned the place down. Good going there, nerds." The remark burned almost like an actual cut, too. They all watched Edna stroll over to them and were then studied in turn; Sorey doubted that she missed how lost he felt in these moments, though Mikleo's muttering may have distracted her from it.
"Not like you were there to help."
"The flame didn't work anyway," Edna retorted nonchalantly, though her gaze never left Sorey. "So what am I supposed to do? Kill her?"
"Of course not!"
His retort came so fast and certain that Edna leaned back a little, withholding any further comment. However, Sorey had no more words either, he could only hang his head in defeat. Seeing him unable to say anything, Lailah took over in his stead: "How did you know about that?"
"Oh, I came by a little later with Laphicet. Good going there, by the way. You really know how to make girls cry." He flinched, unable to raise his head; Edna was right and he felt horrible. Despite Alisha being a hellion, her face was the same, as were her voice and her tears.
"I guess. Alisha is a hellion, and we can't quell her." He had to say it again, as if speaking the words made it all more understandable somehow. It did not, but Edna answered him in a way that lifted his head, if not in a good way.
"Why is that so important? And don't say it's because all hellions must be quelled."
"But it's true!"
"It's not, but it makes sense you and Mibu believe that. You've never been among humans before."
"You haven't either," Mikleo chimed in then, though his comment did not deter Edna, who just rolled her eyes at him.
"I'm also old enough to know a bit more about humans and hellions than both of you combined," she lectured, surprisingly without the biting sarcasm for once. The edge returned only afterward, when her eyes slid over to meet Lailah's. "You, however...." The next few seconds were tense as the two women sized each other up. Lailah began to frown deeply, yet neither spoke.
After the men exchanged a look of their own, Mikleo conceded and spoke up to distract them, but also to sate their own curiousity: "Why do you even care all of a sudden? Is it that much fun to lecture us?" His question made the earth seraph blink, then avert her gaze from the firekeeper; it passed over Mikleo with a slight pause, but ultimately landed on Sorey.
"Lailah goes on about how the shepherd's duty is to protect the world. You signed up for this, it's what the title encorporates." He nodded. "But just because you are the shepherd does not mean you're allowed to disregard the wishes of those you protect. If a hellion is still in their right mind and tells you no, then you have no right to quell them." He had agreed with the first part, but now he just knew something was wrong with her rhetoric. It made sense at first glance, but there was a glaring error to his mind.
"And how do I know that it isn't the Malevolence that changed them to like what they became?"
"Maybe take five minutes to talk to them about who they are and what they want instead of bringing out the fire first." That retort stung, doubly so because Sorey could not come up with a good counter. He lowered his head a little to think, but nothing presented itself; Mikleo held his tongue as well, though he appeared even more agitated.
Lailah, on the other hand, continued the discussion with a graceful serenity that sounded like danger to him: "It is the shepherd's duty to protect the world and the people, even from themselves." Her voice held steel hidden in silk, a challenge to Edna; a challenge which was taken and trampled by the other girl.
"So you say a boy like Sorey, who has seen the first human beside himself less than a year ago, has the experience or wisdom to decide what is best for other humans? Do you, Lailah? You're not even human." Lailah involuntarily took a step back over the caustic response, her facade cracked immediately. The men wisely stayed out of it, simply watched the taller woman's expression grow more concerned.
"E-Edna, why do you talk like that?"
"Because you don't," the shorter one returned at once. "It's not my job to keep the children in line, but you obviously don't even get the problem this time." Edna paused here, taking a deep breath; when she continued, her voice had softened so far it almost sounded pleading: "Denying someone's desires, taking away what they want, breeds discontent. It breeds anger, rebellion, despair, Malevolence. You just become a part of the cycle, not its solution." She hesitated once more, eyes wandering between the three, before she folded her umbrella and leaned on it. Then she changed the subject entirely: "Have you ever heard the story of the legendary blacksmith, Kurogane?"
Sorey pondered for a moment but had to shake his head; that one was not in the Celestial Record, though he felt he read the name before. Lailah frowned, but said nothing. Edna just rolled her eyes at them. "Figures. Then get comfortable and listen well, children. This is a story from the Age of the Gods and it begins during a time where the kingdom of Asgard still stood." She had his and Mikleo's attention at once; Asgard they knew, the realm of the Hero King Claudin.
"Long before Maotelus graced mankind with his purifying flame, there was a sword, said to be forged by a living god. No one knows if it was but a skilled human or something greater, but regardless, this blade was known as Stormhowl; capable of rending the very air asunder and bring forth gales with but a single swing. And in its shadow stood a man, a humble blacksmith, who desired to match this great sword, to surpass it even. And so he honed his craft, worked tirelessly to create its match, which he dubbed Stormquell."
Edna made a short pause to gauge their reactions; when no one so much as moved a muscle, she continued with a satisfied grin: "Yet no matter how far his skill grew, every creation surpassing the last, none ever met Stormhowl. But Kurogane's dream was greater than a few setbacks could break and so he continued. Tirelessly, he toiled in his forge and surpassed the limits any human could reach; years passed, decades, centuries." Sorey drew a sharp breath and Edna inclined her head; she knew he understood. "His body became steel like none he ever forged and Kurogane continued his work; he hardly realised the passage of time until one day, he met the one who wielded Stormhowl. Once more, his Stormquell was found wanting, and broken."
"He was a hellion." Sorey muttered it quietly when she paused again, to a roll of Edna's eyes. She did not dignify his comment with a response and continued, straightening up with a chopping motion from her umbrella.
"But at the same time, he met another. A brother of the man who held Stormhowl, a jealous warrior who desired to surpass his better, much like he himself wished to craft a blade greater than his. For this man he reignited his passion, to craft him a blade truly worthy of the name Stormquell, to see both of their ambitions come true. Together they worked and once more, Kurogane found there were metals he had yet to forge. From his own head he made daggers, from the orichalcum of legends he cast a greatsword worthy of the name. Yet those, too, were found wanting."
Sorey leaned forward, curiousity burning within him. "And did he manage? Did he find something that worked?" Edna grinned at him now, an odd smile not like what she usually held. Melancholic.
"He did. As the Age of the Gods turned to a close, with all the metals in the world used and unable to match the godblade, Kurogane found one last well of inspiration. He steeled his resolve, marshalled the will and skill developed over centuries of tireless work, and began his last and greatest work. When the warrior wielded this last Stormquell, he finally matched Stormhowl and defeated his brother; Kurogane never saw it, however. He had forged his own body into this final blade, gave all his hopes and dreams into it as much as his own life. And this," Edna closed softly, "is why you can not judge all hellions the same. They, too, have things they will not give up. Regardless of how much they lose along the way."
She fell silent and turned around, unfolding her umbrella while Sorey and Mikleo clapped. Even Lailah joined in for a moment. The shepherd knew he had to ponder this later, but for now he was certain about one thing: "You're a great storyteller, Edna!" She did not respond, though her back stiffened a little under the unexpected compliment. He meant it, too; she spoke clearly, fluidly, and even her voice had taken on far more emotions than the usual flat tone she talked to them in.
"I think I remember Stormhowl and Stormquell mentioned in the books," Mikleo mused. "It was something about twin greatswords that were forged during the Age of the Gods, but no more. Where did you learn all this, Edna?"
"My brother wrote me about it," the girl muttered quietly, still not turning back to them. "He met Kurogane a thousand years ago." She faded from view with these words, settling within Sorey. Her disembodied voice sounded up once more: "Do consider my words, Sorey. If you ignore peoples' feelings and desires, you will make more enemies in this world than you'd ever want."
After that, she ignored any further questions or comments. The shepherd took a deep breath and closed his eyes, wondering what all to take from her story; a story Eizen apparently lived. Regardless, he knew he did not like seeing Alisha cry but accepted it as necessary to help her. Even now, he wanted to make her normal again, wanted to brush off Edna's words. To his mind, being a hellion could not be better than being human in any way. Yet at the same time, Edna had never spoken so fervently about anything. She revealed a side of herself she obviously preferred to keep hidden, all to change his mind.
For a moment, Sorey was tempted to ask Lailah's opinion. He stopped himself though, having been taught to think for himself; right now, he felt he had to solve this conundrum by himself.
"I had no idea she feels so strongly about this," Lailah began after a while.
Neither of the men disagreed, though Mikleo turned to the lady seraph curiously."Do you have any idea why?" Unfortunately, Lailah shook her head; Edna kept her silence, the origin of her feelings remaining a secret to them.
"I'm sorry, Alisha." The younger therion blinked up at Velvet, whose face was scrunched up. "I was out when they arrived, I saw them. If I had actually taken a moment to think, I could have warned you." The apology made her feel a little better, mainly because it reminded her that Velvet cared. Alisha shook her head, managing a weak smile.
"There is nothing to apologise for. Lastonbell is vast, you could not have known I would run into them. Not to mention that, well, despite how it ended up being, I have closure now. I no longer need to fret how he will react." The peace of mind, she would need a while to appreciate; everyone around knew she was trying to stay positive, even herself. Thinking back to her outburst however, Alisha could not help but sigh. "Though I wish to apologise as well; I do not know what came over me back there. The words I spoke, many I should not have said."
All the bile that gathered over the last weeks, perhaps even months and years, it had spilled out and turned to a vitriol like she never spewed before. Even her memories were a little frayed from how agitated she had been. Alisha did not like that part of herself, even if it was justified to lose her temper in that moment. The others tried to reassure her of the same, which she was grateful for.
Only Margaret said nothing; the girl leaned on a wall, their whole group having congregated inside the Crowe's Nest. She continued to stew in her own thoughts until Symonne pushed her shoulder and asked what she was thinking about, then she scowled. "I want to give Sorey a piece of my mind, that's what."
Everyone else paused at the venom in her voice, with only Symonne to comment on it after a moment: "That sounds like you want to punch him."
"I might."
"Oh. Wow."
The water seraph fell silent, as surprised by Margaret's response as Alisha was. The older blonde quickly chimed in however: "Not for my sake, please." She did not want retribution inflicted on another, even though a small part of her wondered why she even cared. It was the principle of the matter.
Thankfully, Margaret shook her head at once. "I won't," the younger blonde promised, though she then grimaced. "I just want to." This sentiment, Alisha understood quite well.
Velvet interrupted their conversation with something more relevant: "Does this change anything about your departure tomorrow?" Human and therion exchanged glances at that, but Alisha shook her head. She was ready to venture forth.
"No, I am fine. Did you decide on a route yet, Margaret?"
"Not yet" the girl admitted. "Everything else is done, but I wanted to figure out a good route with you and Symonne, together." Her frown fell away for good and they exchanged smiles, though Alisha's remained weak. She did not feel much like smiling after everything and would rather spend a few hours alone to calm down.
"I'll leave you to it then." Velvet nodded their way and made to leave. "Laphi can tell me how his date went in the meantime." Said boy just heaved a sigh, dutifully following his sister out of the room. Once they were gone, Alisha turned to her giggling friend.
"Is teasing him really that funny?"
"Kind of, yes. Right, Symonne?" Margaret turned to the remaining seraph, whose pondering remained uninterrupted until she poke her side. "Symonne?" Only then did the other girl start, blinking at them.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
The question earned her a curious look from Alisha and Margaret both; it was the latter who asked about it: "Something on your mind?"
"Nothing important," Symonne deflected, although this would not have deterred Margaret. It took Alisha chiming in to make her drop the subject.
"How about we get to planning?"
"Good idea."
Unfortunately for the two seraphim, something was not right. As they neared the place from a side alley, Laphi suddenly sniffed and frowned ever so slightly. His head turned this way and that, finding nothing, then he changed direction toward the backyard. "Something is wrong," he informed Edna quietly, putting her on edge. They jumped over the closed gate together, landing on the other side to the sight of... nothing.
"I see nothing wrong," Edna quipped, a nagging feeling in her gut. "Did you really just bait me into some place out of sight?" Her joke fell flat, Laphi just continued to sniff. By herself, the earth seraph could not place the odd sensation she felt; her skin stung as if she had an itch, except over her entire body.
When nothing presented itself for a few moments longer, the boy she unconciously started to hold onto took a deep breath. "Drop it, Symonne," he called at the empty air; at first nothing happened, but then a cloud of Malevolence faded into view. The itching feeling turned into actual burning and Edna flinched, finding herself surrounded by darkness. It vanished a moment later, down Laphi's throat as he breathed deeply once more. More followed, being exuded by a familiar woman sprawled on the floor. Despite her changed wardrobe, Edna recognised Alisha Diphda well enough; the princess shuddered, her face hidden in Symonne's chest and arms clutched around her waist. The cape she put on was pushed aside, revealing a drooped tail. For her part, Symonne studied the other two seraphim carefully, specifically Edna, who felt her content sap away in moments.
"What happened?" she could not help but ask, worried for the girl Laphi told her was doing so fine. Alisha looked anything but.
Symonne's response gave her pause: "Sorey happened."
For a moment, Edna felt like asking for further details. At the same time however, she knew exactly what must have happened; the eagle eyes she was given received a new meaning and Edna immediately folded her hands to signal she would be peaceful. Alisha took that exact moment to clap Symonne's shoulder, which made the water seraph let go. A handkerchief changed hands and was made use of, then the princess turned therion faced her. Yet no one spoke, no, the silence was broken from the door leading inside.
"He was raised exclusively by seraphim," Velvet offered calmly, though Edna saw her clenched fist. "Of course he would firmly believe that every hellion must be cleansed. Malevolence is poison for you."
"The issue was not him or Mikleo."
The retort made Edna feel unwell this time, more so than before. She had suspected, but never seen any proof so far; now she had to ask: "Lailah was the same?" A solemn nod was all the answer she needed, though it stirred up odd feelings in her chest. It made sense for a firekeeper, but still; ever since Laphicet asked her what she thought of hellions, Edna remembered the good ones her brother once told her about. She knew not all hellions were evil and rotten to the core.
"And you?"
Edna's eyes narrowed as she met Symonne's challenging look; the Crowe siblings exchanged glances in her peripheral vision, but she ignored them both. The sight of Alisha stirred pity in her, even after she stood once more. Tear tracks were clearly visible on her cheeks and her eyes remained puffy. Edna rolled her umbrella as she considered all of this and her own jumbled feelings; perhaps she would have reacted different before today, had she not had that talk with Laphi. Regardless, she knew her answer. Her hesitation faded away.
Edna stepped forward into the Malevolence, felt it burn her for a moment until Alisha drew it back in. The therion ducked almost imperceptibly, expecting more fire, but adopted a more hopeful look when Edna merely put a hand on her shoulder. A hand clad in an old glove, several sizes too big. "Will you kill people?" she asked the other woman earnestly. "Take lives for no reason, devour the righteous that stand in your way to whatever goal you desire?" The only response she received was a dumbfounded shake of the head. It made Edna smirk. "Then you're good in my book. As long as you don't get devoured by it, at least. Don't let it eat away at you too much."
She could not help the play on Alisha's nature, but it seemed no one recognised it for what it was. The princess managed a faint, brittle smile and a hoarse "Thank you".
"Surprisingly understanding, considering what the shepherd's other companions showed us so far." Symonne met her gaze evenly when Edna glanced back, though they were soon grinning at each other in silent understanding; it was an endearing sight on the other girl's face, full of energy. Pretty, even.
Shaking off the odd tangent, Edna shrugged at Symonne. "Goody two-shoes and crusaders all," she shot back. "They need someone to keep an eye on them, else theirs get poked out by reality not playing ball." Symonne nodded back, apparently agreeing.
That was when Velvet interjected, amusingly enough being the voice of reason: "It's true that they are fools, one and all. But they are exactly the kind of fools this world needs more of."
"It is a little sad none of us can be like them," Laphi agreed with his sister while he glanced around. "But we are all rotten in some way." Velvet and Symonne chuckled over the assertion, even Elisha cracked a smile.
As for Edna, she shot back playfully: "Since when am I part of that group?" Though it was not him who responded, but Symonne.
"We need an orange to make a full fruits basket, obviously. Oranges are all pretty on the outside, but who knows what's inside?"
She raised her finger as if to argue, but paused and lowered the hand again with an agreeing "Fair enough"; only then did she register the backhanded compliment and turned away to hide her blush. The way Symonne giggled made her guess she failed, which only made her cheeks flare hotter.
Into the sudden silence however, Alisha spoke quietly: "She hit me with the flame. It should have cleansed me, so why did it not?" Her words drained the momentary levity and dragged her more depressing thoughts back up. Alisha had been recently turned and a righteous woman, yet she changed so rapidly.
She faced the group again, only to see Symonne, Velvet, and even Laphicet stumped by Alisha's inquiry. It made Edna wonder for a moment, up until she recalled that at least the siblings were sealed away for the last thousand years; they never even met Maotelus.
"It's an open secret," she found herself explaining after a tense few seconds, "my brother wrote me about it before. The silver flame of purification burns away Malevolence, but it can't change what's in your heart. Malevolence can change your body and so burning it will remove that taint. But only you can change your heart and once that is no longer human, you can't be cleansed. That is why dragons are beyond the flame's salvation, too; Malevolence has seeped too deep, has changed too much." Her voice began to break at that point and she spun around again, making to walk off and hiding her upcoming tears at the thought of Eizen. "I will go find Sorey and talk some sense into him." She left it at that, no longer feeling like making a snappy comment. Nobody stopped her, either.
. .
. .
. .
A contemplative sort of silence enveloped the group of three, sat in a park near the Crowe's Nest. Sorey and Mikleo both placed themselves on a wooden bench, having received an explanation for why the cleansing of Alisha failed just before. Now they contemplated and Sorey did not know what to think; he did not know what to feel, either. Hurt, betrayal, worry, confusion, fear, determination, one after the other surged through him before leaving the stage to another, so fast he hardly registered each one properly.
They retreated. No, he retreated, fled from Alisha of all people. Why would she not want to be cleansed? What was wrong with her? Had she always been like that? He did not know and only in hindsight did Sorey realise he never really learned much about her.
It was to such thoughts that a familiar voice cut into his thoughts like a knife: "I heard you almost burned the place down. Good going there, nerds." The remark burned almost like an actual cut, too. They all watched Edna stroll over to them and were then studied in turn; Sorey doubted that she missed how lost he felt in these moments, though Mikleo's muttering may have distracted her from it.
"Not like you were there to help."
"The flame didn't work anyway," Edna retorted nonchalantly, though her gaze never left Sorey. "So what am I supposed to do? Kill her?"
"Of course not!"
His retort came so fast and certain that Edna leaned back a little, withholding any further comment. However, Sorey had no more words either, he could only hang his head in defeat. Seeing him unable to say anything, Lailah took over in his stead: "How did you know about that?"
"Oh, I came by a little later with Laphicet. Good going there, by the way. You really know how to make girls cry." He flinched, unable to raise his head; Edna was right and he felt horrible. Despite Alisha being a hellion, her face was the same, as were her voice and her tears.
"I guess. Alisha is a hellion, and we can't quell her." He had to say it again, as if speaking the words made it all more understandable somehow. It did not, but Edna answered him in a way that lifted his head, if not in a good way.
"Why is that so important? And don't say it's because all hellions must be quelled."
"But it's true!"
"It's not, but it makes sense you and Mibu believe that. You've never been among humans before."
"You haven't either," Mikleo chimed in then, though his comment did not deter Edna, who just rolled her eyes at him.
"I'm also old enough to know a bit more about humans and hellions than both of you combined," she lectured, surprisingly without the biting sarcasm for once. The edge returned only afterward, when her eyes slid over to meet Lailah's. "You, however...." The next few seconds were tense as the two women sized each other up. Lailah began to frown deeply, yet neither spoke.
After the men exchanged a look of their own, Mikleo conceded and spoke up to distract them, but also to sate their own curiousity: "Why do you even care all of a sudden? Is it that much fun to lecture us?" His question made the earth seraph blink, then avert her gaze from the firekeeper; it passed over Mikleo with a slight pause, but ultimately landed on Sorey.
"Lailah goes on about how the shepherd's duty is to protect the world. You signed up for this, it's what the title encorporates." He nodded. "But just because you are the shepherd does not mean you're allowed to disregard the wishes of those you protect. If a hellion is still in their right mind and tells you no, then you have no right to quell them." He had agreed with the first part, but now he just knew something was wrong with her rhetoric. It made sense at first glance, but there was a glaring error to his mind.
"And how do I know that it isn't the Malevolence that changed them to like what they became?"
"Maybe take five minutes to talk to them about who they are and what they want instead of bringing out the fire first." That retort stung, doubly so because Sorey could not come up with a good counter. He lowered his head a little to think, but nothing presented itself; Mikleo held his tongue as well, though he appeared even more agitated.
Lailah, on the other hand, continued the discussion with a graceful serenity that sounded like danger to him: "It is the shepherd's duty to protect the world and the people, even from themselves." Her voice held steel hidden in silk, a challenge to Edna; a challenge which was taken and trampled by the other girl.
"So you say a boy like Sorey, who has seen the first human beside himself less than a year ago, has the experience or wisdom to decide what is best for other humans? Do you, Lailah? You're not even human." Lailah involuntarily took a step back over the caustic response, her facade cracked immediately. The men wisely stayed out of it, simply watched the taller woman's expression grow more concerned.
"E-Edna, why do you talk like that?"
"Because you don't," the shorter one returned at once. "It's not my job to keep the children in line, but you obviously don't even get the problem this time." Edna paused here, taking a deep breath; when she continued, her voice had softened so far it almost sounded pleading: "Denying someone's desires, taking away what they want, breeds discontent. It breeds anger, rebellion, despair, Malevolence. You just become a part of the cycle, not its solution." She hesitated once more, eyes wandering between the three, before she folded her umbrella and leaned on it. Then she changed the subject entirely: "Have you ever heard the story of the legendary blacksmith, Kurogane?"
Sorey pondered for a moment but had to shake his head; that one was not in the Celestial Record, though he felt he read the name before. Lailah frowned, but said nothing. Edna just rolled her eyes at them. "Figures. Then get comfortable and listen well, children. This is a story from the Age of the Gods and it begins during a time where the kingdom of Asgard still stood." She had his and Mikleo's attention at once; Asgard they knew, the realm of the Hero King Claudin.
"Long before Maotelus graced mankind with his purifying flame, there was a sword, said to be forged by a living god. No one knows if it was but a skilled human or something greater, but regardless, this blade was known as Stormhowl; capable of rending the very air asunder and bring forth gales with but a single swing. And in its shadow stood a man, a humble blacksmith, who desired to match this great sword, to surpass it even. And so he honed his craft, worked tirelessly to create its match, which he dubbed Stormquell."
Edna made a short pause to gauge their reactions; when no one so much as moved a muscle, she continued with a satisfied grin: "Yet no matter how far his skill grew, every creation surpassing the last, none ever met Stormhowl. But Kurogane's dream was greater than a few setbacks could break and so he continued. Tirelessly, he toiled in his forge and surpassed the limits any human could reach; years passed, decades, centuries." Sorey drew a sharp breath and Edna inclined her head; she knew he understood. "His body became steel like none he ever forged and Kurogane continued his work; he hardly realised the passage of time until one day, he met the one who wielded Stormhowl. Once more, his Stormquell was found wanting, and broken."
"He was a hellion." Sorey muttered it quietly when she paused again, to a roll of Edna's eyes. She did not dignify his comment with a response and continued, straightening up with a chopping motion from her umbrella.
"But at the same time, he met another. A brother of the man who held Stormhowl, a jealous warrior who desired to surpass his better, much like he himself wished to craft a blade greater than his. For this man he reignited his passion, to craft him a blade truly worthy of the name Stormquell, to see both of their ambitions come true. Together they worked and once more, Kurogane found there were metals he had yet to forge. From his own head he made daggers, from the orichalcum of legends he cast a greatsword worthy of the name. Yet those, too, were found wanting."
Sorey leaned forward, curiousity burning within him. "And did he manage? Did he find something that worked?" Edna grinned at him now, an odd smile not like what she usually held. Melancholic.
"He did. As the Age of the Gods turned to a close, with all the metals in the world used and unable to match the godblade, Kurogane found one last well of inspiration. He steeled his resolve, marshalled the will and skill developed over centuries of tireless work, and began his last and greatest work. When the warrior wielded this last Stormquell, he finally matched Stormhowl and defeated his brother; Kurogane never saw it, however. He had forged his own body into this final blade, gave all his hopes and dreams into it as much as his own life. And this," Edna closed softly, "is why you can not judge all hellions the same. They, too, have things they will not give up. Regardless of how much they lose along the way."
She fell silent and turned around, unfolding her umbrella while Sorey and Mikleo clapped. Even Lailah joined in for a moment. The shepherd knew he had to ponder this later, but for now he was certain about one thing: "You're a great storyteller, Edna!" She did not respond, though her back stiffened a little under the unexpected compliment. He meant it, too; she spoke clearly, fluidly, and even her voice had taken on far more emotions than the usual flat tone she talked to them in.
"I think I remember Stormhowl and Stormquell mentioned in the books," Mikleo mused. "It was something about twin greatswords that were forged during the Age of the Gods, but no more. Where did you learn all this, Edna?"
"My brother wrote me about it," the girl muttered quietly, still not turning back to them. "He met Kurogane a thousand years ago." She faded from view with these words, settling within Sorey. Her disembodied voice sounded up once more: "Do consider my words, Sorey. If you ignore peoples' feelings and desires, you will make more enemies in this world than you'd ever want."
After that, she ignored any further questions or comments. The shepherd took a deep breath and closed his eyes, wondering what all to take from her story; a story Eizen apparently lived. Regardless, he knew he did not like seeing Alisha cry but accepted it as necessary to help her. Even now, he wanted to make her normal again, wanted to brush off Edna's words. To his mind, being a hellion could not be better than being human in any way. Yet at the same time, Edna had never spoken so fervently about anything. She revealed a side of herself she obviously preferred to keep hidden, all to change his mind.
For a moment, Sorey was tempted to ask Lailah's opinion. He stopped himself though, having been taught to think for himself; right now, he felt he had to solve this conundrum by himself.
"I had no idea she feels so strongly about this," Lailah began after a while.
Neither of the men disagreed, though Mikleo turned to the lady seraph curiously."Do you have any idea why?" Unfortunately, Lailah shook her head; Edna kept her silence, the origin of her feelings remaining a secret to them.
. .
. .
. .
"I'm sorry, Alisha." The younger therion blinked up at Velvet, whose face was scrunched up. "I was out when they arrived, I saw them. If I had actually taken a moment to think, I could have warned you." The apology made her feel a little better, mainly because it reminded her that Velvet cared. Alisha shook her head, managing a weak smile.
"There is nothing to apologise for. Lastonbell is vast, you could not have known I would run into them. Not to mention that, well, despite how it ended up being, I have closure now. I no longer need to fret how he will react." The peace of mind, she would need a while to appreciate; everyone around knew she was trying to stay positive, even herself. Thinking back to her outburst however, Alisha could not help but sigh. "Though I wish to apologise as well; I do not know what came over me back there. The words I spoke, many I should not have said."
All the bile that gathered over the last weeks, perhaps even months and years, it had spilled out and turned to a vitriol like she never spewed before. Even her memories were a little frayed from how agitated she had been. Alisha did not like that part of herself, even if it was justified to lose her temper in that moment. The others tried to reassure her of the same, which she was grateful for.
Only Margaret said nothing; the girl leaned on a wall, their whole group having congregated inside the Crowe's Nest. She continued to stew in her own thoughts until Symonne pushed her shoulder and asked what she was thinking about, then she scowled. "I want to give Sorey a piece of my mind, that's what."
Everyone else paused at the venom in her voice, with only Symonne to comment on it after a moment: "That sounds like you want to punch him."
"I might."
"Oh. Wow."
The water seraph fell silent, as surprised by Margaret's response as Alisha was. The older blonde quickly chimed in however: "Not for my sake, please." She did not want retribution inflicted on another, even though a small part of her wondered why she even cared. It was the principle of the matter.
Thankfully, Margaret shook her head at once. "I won't," the younger blonde promised, though she then grimaced. "I just want to." This sentiment, Alisha understood quite well.
Velvet interrupted their conversation with something more relevant: "Does this change anything about your departure tomorrow?" Human and therion exchanged glances at that, but Alisha shook her head. She was ready to venture forth.
"No, I am fine. Did you decide on a route yet, Margaret?"
"Not yet" the girl admitted. "Everything else is done, but I wanted to figure out a good route with you and Symonne, together." Her frown fell away for good and they exchanged smiles, though Alisha's remained weak. She did not feel much like smiling after everything and would rather spend a few hours alone to calm down.
"I'll leave you to it then." Velvet nodded their way and made to leave. "Laphi can tell me how his date went in the meantime." Said boy just heaved a sigh, dutifully following his sister out of the room. Once they were gone, Alisha turned to her giggling friend.
"Is teasing him really that funny?"
"Kind of, yes. Right, Symonne?" Margaret turned to the remaining seraph, whose pondering remained uninterrupted until she poke her side. "Symonne?" Only then did the other girl start, blinking at them.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
The question earned her a curious look from Alisha and Margaret both; it was the latter who asked about it: "Something on your mind?"
"Nothing important," Symonne deflected, although this would not have deterred Margaret. It took Alisha chiming in to make her drop the subject.
"How about we get to planning?"
"Good idea."
