Calamity Ascendant - Return of the Black Queen [Berseria/Zestiria] [Complete]

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."

 

Bright and early, Margaret's group made for Lastonbell's eastern gate; they would travel toward Pendrago now. None was truly awake yet and thus all kept their silence after having pushed themselves out of bed; they knew without words that they could sleep in if they so desired, but no one wanted to be the first to suggest it. Thus, they all suffered on their own.

Alisha received an additional dose of anguish when the three encountered Lailah, the lady seraph walking the other way; she silently refused to acknowledge any of them as she wandered the streets and soon left their sight. Alisha's quiet sigh remained unheard by most, although the therion did not dwell on it all for long.

Lailah, in turn, made her way to the marketplace where she knew the Sparrow Feathers were; they always remained close to their carts and wagons, usually even sleeping in them. Due to the early hour however, she had some trouble finding Rose; being a seraph, Lailah could obviously not walk up to any of the merchants already setting up shop to ask. No, she had to walk along their wagons until her senses alerted her to a seraph ahead. Dezel sat on top of one such wagon, upright yet slumped forward in what Lailah assumed was slumber; she felt she should not disturb him unless necessary and passed by, only for the wind seraph to speak up: "Are you looking for something?"

Lailah started and pressed a hand to her chest. "My, you startled me," she chided lightly. "I thought you were asleep?" Her assertion was as much a question and Dezel shrugged.

"I sleep light and my winds told me when you got close. So, what do you need?"

"Ah, I was searching for Rose. Would you know where she is?"

Nothing happened for a moment, though Lailah had the feeling that Dezel scrutinised her from beneath his bangs. He then proceeded to make an odd gesture, pressing the tips of his thumb and index finger together to form a circle, followed by a gust rushing into the next wagon. Two startled eeps sounded immediately, followed by rustling inside; then a disheveled mop of red hair poked out the front with a grumble. "Hrg, wassup?"

Lailah only had time to cover her mouth, partly for appearances and partly out of genuine surprise. "Oh my, Rose. I am so sorry! Should I come back later?"

"Nah, 'is fine. Gimme five."

The head was pulled back in and a quiet conversation sounded, as well as some more rustling. After a minute, another woman wearing a Sparrow Feathers uniform slipped out of the back; her clothes were thrown on hastily, the implications of which turned Lailah's cheeks rosy. She apologised again once Rose herself slid outside, just as disheveled: "I am really sorry about interrupting."

"I told you it's fine," the other woman repeated, though her reassurance was interrupted by a yawn. "What's up?"

Lailah hesitated for a moment, her careful preparations for how to present her request rattled by the previous experience. She eyed the empty marketplace for a moment. "I was meaning to ask you about something, perhaps it is even more necessary now than ever." Rose leaned against the wagon and motioned for the firekeeper to continue, which she did: "I believe you much prefer I be blunt, so I will not beat around the bush. Would you be willing to become Sorey's squire?"

At first she received a confused look, which only cleared once Lailah explained the basics of what a squire was and did. The gloomy expression that followed did not give her much hope, though. Rose considered the matter for a few long moments, but ultimately shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she began, which made her decision clear already. "But I can't just abandon my duties here, with the Sparrow Feathers. I guess I can help out if I'm around and you're in a pinch, but I don't think I'd fit in all that well permanently, you know?"

"I understand. In fact, I expected you to refuse, but I wanted to at least try." Lailah inclined her head with the admission, though Rose waved her off.

"It's fine. Now, what was that with Alisha yesterday?" The non-sequitur threw Lailah for a loop and significantly soured her mood, but she retained her smile and indulged the other woman's curiousity. Later, once their more or less pleasant conversation ran its course and they parted ways, she returned to Sorey and her fellow seraphim. No one questioned her beyond the notion of tending to some business

Their second day of exploring Lastonbell was a lot less sobering than the first; Sorey spent much of his morning walking from district to district, blissfully free of encounters with hellions. Mikleo and Lailah wandered with him while Edna remained closed off, leaving them to their own devices. Regardless of his companions, he wandered partly in wonder and partly to see if anyone needed his help; on the second count, he found none at all. A lady seraph by the name of Sindra maintained a strong domain around the city, keeping most of the Malevolence at bay.

Time passed as Sorey enjoyed himself, the peace doing his mood some good. Morning turned to noon and once his stomach reminded him of the need to eat, he elbowed Mikleo. "How about we go and check out the Crowe's Nest now?" The others quickly agreed and they made their way there, passersby readily pointing him in the right direction when he asked.

Before entering the grand building however, Sorey stood in front of it for a minute to marvel at the flawless facade. It almost shone in the sunlight, the entire building constructed visibly different from those surrounding it; not to mention the wide glass windows revealing the inside, currently empty except for a handful of patrons.

Once he was done gawking, the three of them stepped in and immediately felt a domain settle over them. Then they were greeted by one of the barmaids as she walked by; a more plump seraph lady with soft features and a bright smile, her flowing dress a moderate leaf green. It clashed a little with the red scarf she wore around her wrist like a bracelet, but no one commented on it as she pointed them to a larger table, then asked a peculiar question: "Say, do you mind if others sit with you later?"

"Uh, no? I don't mind?"

His visible confusion drew an understanding noise from the woman, who nodded to the door outside. "Ah, you're from elsewhere. See, lots of folks come here for the chance to talk to one of us seraphim, so we try to leave a few open spots at those tables, to mix them a bit." Now he understood and so did the others; Sorey loved the idea and cheerfully eyed his surroundings while they settled down. Edna made an appearance as well, claiming the seat opposite of Sorey and leaning her umbrella against the table.

They were given menus to pick their food from, which intrigued Sorey who had not seen such a practice before; after each of them chose a meal, the same waitress took their orders and went into the back without ever losing her smile. It did not take long for the food to arrive and their idle chat was cut off entirely when they began to eat. Sorey was used to rations and whatever he could put together himself, so such good food had him excited; going by how happy the seraphim looked, they enjoyed it just as much.

After they were mostly done however, a familiar face made her appearance; Velvet trailed out of the back and made her way over to them, a smile on her lips. "Hello again," she greeted. "May I sit with you for a bit?" Sorey cast a glance around and received shrugs from all sides, so he motioned for the empty chairs.

"Sure."

Velvet settled next to Edna and began to chat at them, curiously asking about his journey and how they found Lastonbell so far. He answered in-between bites much like the others did, though she appeared unconcerned about it; only when his stomach had been filled did Sorey actively join the conversation, curious about the place: "It's amazing how everyone can see seraphim in here. How did you make that happen? Is it some kind of arte?"

"Hmmm, no." Velvet leaned back, tapping a finger against her chin thoughtfully. "We have a seraph here whose blessing helps with that. Everything else," she added cheerfully when Sorey made to ask, "is a trade secret." This was followed by an impish grin and a wink, though he accepted her refusal anyway; Edna looked like she wanted to comment, but thankfully held her silence. Seeing no disagreement or hearing any more questions, Velvet changed the subject: "So, where are you planning to go next?"

Thankfully, he could answer that easily: "We wanted to head into Rolance and help out where we can." The others nodded, though Lailah appeared like she had an idea of some kind.

Velvet mulled it over, her arms folded on the table. Then she shook her head at him. "Actually, you might be better off turning around for now." Her words drew everyone's attention and she turned to Mikleo when he asked her why: "Well, you probably know that Margaret's group went further into the Empire earlier. There is no one to keep the peace in Hyland now."

"It's true that Margaret is good," Mikleo mused, "but she doesn't have the silver flame, right? She can't quell hellions."

"Not to mention that Sorey already purified everything we found on the way through Hyland," Edna added before stuffing another spoonful of pudding in her mouth and swallowing it. "But someone competent is better than no one."

Wrapped up in the conversation, Sorey had no time to take notice of how conversational the earth seraph was. He was pondering the current subject. "Couldn't Margaret head toward Hyland?"

"While Alisha has a charge of treason against herself?"

"Okay, yeah. Sorry." Though Velvet had a point, Sorey did not like to be reminded of the conundrum surrounding Alisha; it made him feel sullen once again. Sighing, he nodded his head at the other human. "I'll think about it, okay?"

"That's all I ask. And don't," Velvet added when he began to count coins to pay, one hand landing on his. "It's on the house." When she saw his owlish look, the woman huffed. "The least we can do to support the gentle shepherd is to feed him and his properly." Sorey stared a moment longer, then he acquiesced and closed his coinpurse.

"Wait, 'we'?"

"She is the owner," Edna supplied flatly, though with a barely visible grin. A lot of things suddenly made sense, though Sorey still felt dumb.

"Oh."

Meanwhile, Margaret was mesmerised. It had taken hours upon arriving at the Meadow of Triumph for her to notice, but once she did she had been rooted to the spot. Endless grassland stretched in front of her, a few feral horses grazing in the distance. Wildflowers yet blossomed despite the approaching Winter, with Autumn's final warm days being upon them; rainclouds were drawing together up high, the sun barely peeking out beneath to cast an orange glow over everything. An emerald sea interspersed with rubies and sapphires.

"It's so beautiful," the girl mumbled to herself, drinking in the sight. She had marveled at the many different places she saw so far, but none felt outright special. This however, this did. It was not imposing like Innominat or frightening like Hexen Isle, but serene and peaceful.

Alisha appeared just as taken with the sight, standing next to Margaret. "I heard that the Meadow of Triumph is beautiful," the therion agreed quietly, "but I never thought it would be this breathtaking." They stood there a while longer, taking in the sight; a soft breeze ruffled their clothes, carrying the flowers' sweet scent and making the younger woman sigh in content.

Naturally, it was not perfect; though its quantity was lower due to the lack of human settlers, Malevolence still hung in the air despite it all. Alisha drew some of it to herself as they passed, though Symonne scrutinised the small clouds curiously. "Weird," she admitted after a time. "There should be more of it around." Her friends became attentive once they caught her meaning, at which point she elaborated: "There is a crucible nearby."

She then had to explain their purpose as breeding grounds and fighting pits for venomised hellions, which horrified both of them. "This can not stand," Alisha insisted once she moved past the shock. Margaret wanted to agree, but Alisha already stripped down and transformed instead of waiting for her. She stood as a fox within seconds, sniffing the air.

Margaret threw a glance to Symonne, who shrugged; her friend should have known better. They then followed the therion's insistent motions and climbed onto her back, an idea they discussed before but were reluctant to try. It appeared that Alisha no longer cared, seeing how she immediately tore off at speeds that would put any horse to shame; they still needed days to reach the Meadow's center, as much as an area this vast could have one. The day they did, it was raining.

When they closed on the sinister spire however, its spindly structure grasping toward the sky like a malnourished finger, they all noticed something amiss; Symonne's gasp confirmed it for Margaret, this was the crucible. No Malevolence whatsoever surrounded it, leaving behind a creepy ruin and little else.

"No shepherd has been able to fully cleanse a crucible, not in hundreds of years," Symonne muttered in disbelief. "There was always enough taint left to turn them actively dangerous. This, this is ludicrous!"

"Well," Margaret countered matter-of-factly, "I'd imagine it wasn't a shepherd who did this. Do you really sense nothing from that direction?"

Her partner shook her head, dumbfounded but also resigned. "Nothing. She really devoured everything." Which meant Velvet made a meal out of all the hellions Heldalf had kept there as well. Margaret felt relieved, though she could not help but worry; drenched by the rain and staring as she did, Symonne appeared almost sad; it reminded the blonde of her friend technically still being on the opposing side. This was an odd moment of insight to her; the second coming of Artorius, the Lord of Calamity's confidante, and an unaffiliated therion all together in the rain.

The realisation drew a chuckle from her own throat, which alerted the other two, although she did not reveal her thoughts. With the crucible already purged, they went on their way a little more slowly and with lighter hearts.

Hundreds of kilometres behind the three women, another group beheld the verdant fields and the distant rainstorm. Sorey was just as impressed with the sight as Margaret had been before him, his wonder shared by Mikleo and Edna; neither of them ever saw such before and Lailah let them have the moment.

Then however, Sorey began to wonder: "Do you think they cut down trees to keep it a meadow, or do they just not grow out here?" A momentary silence followed as the women gave him exasperated looks while Mikleo considered a response.

Edna rolled her eyes after a moment and sighed. "Nerd," she muttered, though without any real heat.

Before an argument could break out, the howling of wolves alerted the group; all four tensed and prepared to battle the approaching group of three, each beast teeming with Malevolence. Then however, an even louder howl made the wolves stop and drew their attention to something else; a werewolf, following the smaller canines and stopping before them. In front of a confused Sorey, the werewolf began to scold the wolves in a decidedly female voice; all three ducked their heads until she took hold of them. By the time she let go, all three hellions whimpered and fell in line when she commanded them to follow.

He watched the canine group approach with mixed feelings, silver flames already in hand. Then however, seeing that none of the four made any threatening motions and remembering Alisha, he extinguished the fire. Sorey recalled how upset Edna was with him and still failed to understand, but he wanted to. "Wait with the flames, guys," he finally muttered. If talking failed, he reasoned, they could still quell the hellions.

His command led to mixed reactions; Edna grinned widely, at odds with Lailah's frown. Mikleo was just surprised, but he did as told just like the other two. They all stood slightly tense and watched the werewolf approach.

When she made it close enough to call out, Sorey took note of her bared teeth. "Sorry about those three," she shouted, "they get riled up pretty easy these days!" The wolves obediently sat by her feet and made no trouble, though the werewolf's tone gave him pause; a moment of consideration made him realise she would be smiling, were she human.

"It's okay," he called back and walked closer, now certain nothing would happen. "No harm done, right? What are you doing around these parts?"

"Hm?" The werewolf's ears flicked as she heard his question and he knew he would never forget the sight of a frowning canine. "Ah, you must be travelers. The name is Amelia," she introduced herself kindly. "I'm a local huntress. Are you headed for Pendrago?"

"Yeah, that's right. Nice to meet you, Amelia. I'm Sorey." Having corrected his earlier blunder now, Sorey felt he should address the issue at hand. "So, err, how long have you been a werewolf?" His question may have been more cautious than normal, but Amelia did nothing beyond staring dumbly.

"Oh, um. You, you can see, uh, me?" He nodded and the hellion's gaze flicked to the seraphim. She slumped when no one contradicted him. "Over a year. This is the second Winter I'll spend like this." Sorey took notice how crestfallen she sounded, though Mikleo commented before he could.

"You're holding on quite well for that."

"More or less, yeah," the huntress agreed. "I got used to it." Then she looked between them curiously. "But say, would any of you be seraphim? I heard that only few people are blessed with eyes that see."

The way she worded it stumped Sorey for a moment, but he quickly recovered and motioned for his companions, deciding to be honest. "I'm the only human here."

"And the shepherd," Edna added from behind, three words that instantly changed Amelia's disposition; the werewolf's jaw fell slack for long moments before she bared her teeth again, far wider than before.

"Truly? The gentle shepherd?" She leaned a little closer as if afraid he would say no, but Sorey confirmed Edna's words despite feeling odd about the situation. Amelia immediately bowed at the waist, her knees bending for a moment as if she considered to kneel instead. "At last!" she cheered. "Praise the six, you are finally here!" Unaware of his confusion, the huntress kept talking: "I was told that you hold the power to make me human once more, and I've been waiting this last year for you! Please, oh shepherd, make me human again!"

She kept her head lowered, claws clacking anxiously as she awaited his response. Sorey was dumbfounded more than anything, but everyone else gave him encouraging nods when he glanced their way. So he produced a silver flame on his palm. "Okay, just hold still for a moment." Amelia agreed and ordered her wolves to sit, though she finally looked up and marveled at the fire's beauty. Her adoration brought clarity to Sorey, too; he had wondered time and again if it was wise to act against Velvet's advice to return to Hyland, but now he knew he chose correctly.

Taking a deep breath, he bid the flame to burn brighter and cast it forward, bathing all four hellions in it; when it faded moments later, there stood a lean woman in ill-fitting clothes, surrounded by three panting dogs that still reached to her thighs. She looked herself over with a brilliant smile, stroking her own fingers in appreciation of the lack of fur. "Thank you," Amelia murmured, then met his eyes and surged forward to hug him fiercely. "Oh, thank you! Please, if there is anything I can do for you, just tell me and I will!" Her embrace embarassed Sorey a little, but he bore with it despite Lailah's chuckling in the background; patting the other human's back awkwardly, he responded to her promise.

"There is no need. I became shepherd to help, you don't need to repay me." He paused while Amelia let go and stepped back to her hunting dogs, all three dutifully still in place, though with wagging tails. There was something curious she said. "But if you have time, could you tell me something?"

"Of course!" Amelia agreed at once, though her radiant smile lost some of its brightness when her baggy clothes began to shuffle around. "Ugh," she let out before muttering to herself. "And I finally got them to fit properly." Only then did she remember she was not alone and perked up again, but was distracted by the absence of everyone else. "Oh... um, so they really are seraphim. Are they still here?"

"You can't see them anymore?"

She shook her head after squinting at the empty air, unable to see the seraphims' disappointment. Sorey did, though; it made him unsure how to proceed, which led to a bout of silence Amelia ultimately broke. Her joy had been replaced by thoughtfulness. "I guess that's something I will miss. I could see and speak to the kind seraphim, and I was so much stronger and faster. I could hunt as much as ten normal people, you know?"

"That's a lot," he agreed at once. His curiousity about the experience was growing more and more. "But you seemed happy leaving that behind?"

She hesitated noticeably, but then began to explain to him: "It's, there were a few months where I thought I'd rather stay a hellion, but I don't think I can live forever with these violent urges. I used the time to earn as much money as I could, so my family is better off now." Sorey considered those words carefully, realising he never even tried to imagine how a hellion's power could be used to help. Then Amelia cut off his thoughts: "But enough about that, what did you want to know?"

Remembering his original inquiry now, Sorey nodded at her. "Well, you praised the 'six' earlier? Who did you mean? And who told you I was coming before I even became shepherd?"

"Wait, you weren't shepherd yet?" Her eyes grew wide when he nodded, though she did not claim fraud or lies of whoever told her. Rather, the woman became reverent and outright excited: "Then he really was a prophet!"

Seeing his continuous confusion, Amelia bowed her head apologeptically. "Ah, sorry. You see, the Summer before last, just a few days after I turned, I met this odd group. A man, a woman, and a child. The man and boy were seraphim and the woman with them a young goddess." Sorey kept a straight face, but he saw Lailah and Mikleo being incredulous; Edna had turned around, expression hidden by her umbrella. Amelia, unaware of all that, continued to gush: "Her blessing blew the violence from my mind, let me claim it back as my own! It didn't last after she left, but that was enough for me to carry on! She is the sixth Great Lord without doubt! Oh, and the man told me there would be a shepherd sooner or later, too!"

The women kept their silence, though Mikleo scratched his chin in thought. "I can see why she is so sure of that," Sorey's brother admitted into the silence. "But I don't think I believe it." He agreed, though he did not want to discourage Amelia. Rather, Sorey was curious who she might have met.

"Do you remember what she looks like? And how can you be so sure she is a goddess?"

Amelia considered the question for a moment, but then shrugged at him. "The kind seraphim told me that and I don't see why they would lie about it." Edna snorted behind her umbrella, which Amelia thankfully could not hear. "I dedicated my evening prayers to Lady Minkkubi ever since, and here I am. Here you are." She sounded so happy that Sorey did not want to burst her bubble; a sixth Great Lord was quite impossible to appear in his mind. Amelia had forgotten one answer in her excitement, though.

"And what did she look like?"

"Oh, right. Let me think." Seconds passed and turned to a full minute, an awfully awkward silence that stretched on far too long for his liking; Amelia's frown continually deepened before she let out an explosive sigh. "I can't remember," the huntress admitted sadly. "It was only a few minutes and I haven't seen her since, and it's been so long already. I definitely remember that she had black hair, but that's all."

Admittedly, Sorey had already expected something like that; he was still disappointed, but not too much. "It's fine," he immediately reassured the downcast woman. "Thank you for telling us so much." His thanks made Amelia perk up a little.

"No, thank you, gentle shepherd," she immediately returned before snapping her fingers. "Ah, right, I just remembered something else you might be interested in: there was a giant fox running that way a few days ago. It had fur the colour of sand and I think there was someone on its back too, but it was too fast to see clearly."

She pointed in the same direction he was headed, which made him suspect it was related to Alisha; the princess had not been a giant fox, but she had the tail. Regardless of that, he was thankful to be told. "I see, thanks. I'll look into it."

"It was nothing, really."

Amelia beamed and with the conversation over, they said their goodbyes. The huntress gathered her dogs and strolled away, waving until she was but a dot in the distance. Sorey waved back just as long before he continued his own journey, remaining on foot for the moment. The others settled back into him but kept discussing the fox they were told about; no one doubted that Amelia saw Alisha for even a moment. After some time, Mikleo realised one of them remained suspiciously quiet and called out: "What do you think, Sorey?"

Hearing his name and registering the question, Sorey sighed and hung his head a little. "If her will had been strong enough to withstand the Malevolence, she could have wanted to stay a hellion. I just, I don't get it." Evidently, he pondered something entirely different from the other three.

Edna ultimately answered him, a strange note of warmth to her voice despite the snide comment it delivered: "Welcome to Desolation. No one is the same and everyone does things others can't understand."

She was right, he knew. Yet actually wrapping his head around the fact remained difficult. Sorey kept mulling it over as he walked, the seraphim mostly quiet to give him space. Time lost meaning for a while and another day had soon passed, his journey interrupted only by meals and sleep. That next morning, they recreated the stone throne and carried on at a far faster pace.

Unfortunately, this day was not meant to be serene like the last. A mere hour after they set out, the ground suddenly trembled and bucked, throwing Sorey off his ride; an actual wall of darkness flowed over the shepherd and trapped him within a sudden hellscape. Grass twisted and turned upward, developing maws and eyes as Malevolence filled it to the brim. Flowers and trees and even the very earth were warped as the presence of something horrible established itself.

Sorey could hardly breathe under the force of it, knowing he was caught in a domain. He fought to his knees but failed to stand, the darkness even more oppressive than Eizen's had been that fateful day on the Spiritcrest. Slowly, ever so slowly, Sorey forced himself to his feet and moved forward; he already knew who he was dealing with, but he had to see them with his own eyes. He had to fight.

"Sorey, don't! Turn around, now!"

"Stay strong, we can do this together!"

"Be careful!"

Edna, Mikleo, and Lailah respectively. Fire and Water kept shouting encouragement, but Earth urged him to flee much like his own instincts did; yet he could not yield to the terror, his mind set on confronting an enemy he always knew he would face one day. It only got worse when a figure became visible ahead of them, the eye of the storm which howled into Sorey's face with every step.

However, every step he made became a little easier than the last. His breathing slowly normalised as Sorey got used to the domain, even though the oppressive weight on his mind and body remained. He fought on, toward the origin point. The Lord of Calamity.

The moment he passed an invisible line, all the Malevolence fell silent. It kept howling outside of the center, but no longer bothered him beyond its oily touch all over his skin. Sorey shuddered a little, his friends flinching as they materialised by his side. They all stood straight and eyed the man in front of them, a giant of black steel and purple mist; the latter seeped out of his body, which was outlined by the former. Wicked claws tipped his large hands and feet while a tail lined with tiny blades slashed through the air.

"Shepherd Sorey," the figure greeted darkly, his arms folded. A growl followed, much akin to that of the great feline he resembled with his golden mane. "We meet at last." Sorey tried to respond, but his tongue was tied; his mind was blank, unable to even form thoughts at the sheer terror this being inspired. Seeing this, the lion man leaned forward ever so slightly. "I am not impressed thus far," he commented, tapping several of his purple claws together; the sound almost echoed in the eery silence. "But it is no matter. I ask that you join me regardless, to finally set this world free."

This kicked Sorey's mind back into gear, if just for how baffling it was. "I'm sorry, what?"

Pupilless eyes narrowed at him but he refused to retreat even a single step. The Lord of Calamity inclined his head after a moment. "Very well. Listen, and listen well: this world, our Desolation, is filled with darkness as you well know. However, I have seen merit within it, and greatly so. Not only weeds it out those of weak will as it turns them, it also grants every single one of us greater power. It honestly reveals the colours of our souls and does away with the pretension of civility or honesty so many wear as masks. In Malevolence, we are free."

Sorey listened attentively, still befuddled but trying to make sense of it all. The giant spoke in a cultured, almost pleasant voice and in a manner that reminded him of Alisha; a comparison he really did not like at this moment, with his instincts still demanding he turn and flee. Pushing those urges aside, Sorey nodded slowly and licked his lips. "I think I get what you mean, but I don't agree." Then he followed up with a question of his own: "You already know my name, but I don't know yours."

Much to his surprise, the Lord of Calamity paused for a long moment. He then bowed his head a little deeper. "Apologies, I am used to my name being known," he began before pressing a paw to his chest. "I am Heldalf."

"The Lord of Calamity."

It was not a question and they all knew it. He could be no one else, not with the boundless Malevolence still writhing all around them.

"What about the seraphim?" Another voice chimed in. Edna sounded calm and collected, but he spotted how tight she held onto her umbrella. Nonetheless, her eyes were narrowed and on the man before them, who regarded her curiously. "If Desolation is covered in Malevolence, we will all become dragons."

"Indeed," Heldalf admitted without hesitation. "It is an unfortunate fact that seraphim are unable to coexist with hellions. It is also a sacrifice I am willing to make, as I see no way for mankind to persist as it is. Our people have been declining for centuries. For what it is worth," he then continued while inclining his head, "I am truly sorry. That I could not find a better way for you and yours.

"Now, shepherd Sorey. I ask you again: join me, and aid me in remaking this world."

He never raised his voice, but his words held the finality of a judge. Heldalf stood in place and waited for a response he must already know, but Sorey's head spun; he knew he would never agree to such a thing, there were so many things wrong with his argument. A tiny voice argued that he promised to keep an open mind just days ago, but he ignored it.

In the end, there was no way back. "No. I refuse."

Heldalf nodded grimly, though his expression did not change in any visible way. His domain faded away and the Malevolence surrounding them condensed into a single orb floating above his hand; the darkness left a space of malformed nature behind, which he studied with a sigh.

Meanwhile, Sorey blinked under the sudden, bright light hitting his eyes again. He produced a gout of flame the moment his vision normalised, which Heldalf sidestepped effortlessly; he weaved through fire and water and sand, charging forward as but a blur. Right at Sorey who raised his sword far too late, then past him. The shepherd saw but could not act, had to watch helplessly how that orb of Malevolence was rammed right into Lailah.

The force behind Heldalf's hand threw the firekeeper a hundred metres distant, where she landed hard. Her descent tore open the ground and left a pockmark in the otherwise pristine meadow, but the impact was hardly felt; Lailah burned, inside and out. Not by her own flames or even blessed silver, but by wretched darkness.

Black lines traced over her skin as the poison coursed through her body, her entire structure flickered and shuddered, bent and warped. Through the haze of pain and madness, Lailah tried to grasp for Maotelus' flame to burn away the dark; her mind fractured, good became bad and up turned to fish, nothing made sense anymore and she forgot even what she just wished to do. An unending, horrible sense of despair clouded everything, making her fall back from an attempt to rise. Lailah lay on her back and waited for the end, an ever smaller part of herself screaming to do something, anything to stop this.

Then she felt the darkness hit something else, far deeper. It lapped at her companions, no, her friends' bonds. In a last moment of clarity, she realised they would follow her and that it was bad, even though she forgot who they were or where they followed to. It did not matter to her, either.

In a final act of defiance, she severed those bonds. Then she gave in to the darkness.

 

Sorey had disregarded the threat in front of him; he desperately started toward his fallen friend, but Lailah's bloodcurdling scream stopped him dead. Heldalf did nothing, merely watched the moment unfold. "Know that I take no pleasure in this," he muttered, but his words were lost to Sorey.

The lady seraph spasmed and warped, darkened, then grew. Under his horrified gaze she grew to gigantic proportions, tearing her clothes to shreds; her once pristine skin turned into crimson scales, the shape of her body smoothed out into a massive, quadrupedal frame. The turquoise of Lailah's eyes remained, even though they were now slitted and sat in a skull bigger than Sorey in his entirety; a pair of white horns gleamed in the light, bent over her head like half a halo.

The dragon roared in challenge against the world, a sudden heat enveloping them all. The many mutated plants withered and died in agony as Sorey began to sweat; he hardly cared for it, numb to the world. The horrific sight captivated him, emptied his head of all feelings and reason.

In the silence that followed, one may have heard the dead whisper still. The broken shepherd stood motionless, right next to an equally solemn Lord of Calamity.

Then the dragon beheld them standing there and charged. A lumbering, uncertain gait quickly turned into thundering gallop, culminating in the unprepared Heldalf being slapped away. The dragon, Lailah, pivoted on her hindlegs and faced the falling hellion, barring his way from Sorey. A thin tail hammered into the ground next to him, melting the earth to glass; the heat shocked his horror away, being this near to Lailah made it impossible to breathe.

Heldalf landed on his feet and uncaringly produced a crater. He rose at once to study his creation as it growled at him, though not for long; as if offended with his very presence, the beast unleashed a stream of pressurized lava over the hundreds of metres between them, turning it all into a molten hellscape while the lion man dove aside.

Sorey tried to call out, to speak, but the heat made his mouth dry. He could hardly breathe and it got worse when, at last, her domain established itself. Darkness roiled around them again, crackling like flame. Sorey saw all this and forced out a single word with all his strength, little more than a whisper: "L-Lailah?"

The dragon fell still; her domain vanished, the heat faded. With Heldalf unmoving, she slowly turned her head back to him; Lailah glared, then stared at him. Then she moved forward, step by step; Sorey reached out, but she hissed and warbled. Seconds passed like this until she finally brought out a response: "Stay. Stay... distant." She shuddered, and the heat increased again. "Find Zennnnrus!"

With those parting words that turned into a horrifying growl, she lunged forward. Lava seeped out between her scales, scorching the earth.

Heldalf met the rampaging beast head-on this time. He knew he could destroy her, but the cost in ground and innocent lives would be great. Moreover, he realised, this gave him an opportunity. Pushing back his claw against the dragon's maw, he let go and dove aside to let her charge past him, then made to run. Inhumanly strong legs sent him flying across the Meadow of Triumph, followed by the furious roar of what was once the firekeeper Lailah.

It was odd all the same, he noted to himself while detonating an incoming wave of fireballs in mid-air. Among the handful of dragons he fought before, none had acted this conciously. It was proof of her strong will and desire to protect, reaching even into her final evolution.

Regardless, Heldalf fled the area faster than the dragon could pursue. Glancing behind, he found deep trenches and burning fields where lava fell, an omen of death taking to the air. That one swipe she hit him with might have broken something, which required medical attention later. A great feat, considering his extraordinary toughness. Yet Heldalf knew he could kill her with some effort, but disregarded the idea. Seeing that he never planned to kill Shepherd Sorey, retreating now was a perfect way to underplay his own capabilities; he needed to remain an invincible adversary to drive Sorey into despair and his eventual fall. A slow, methodical fall much like the rest of the world. Heldalf preferred it to open conflict, especially ever since this gut feeling of his had begun. He would not risk the attention of whatever Maotelus' subconcious warned him about, and so he would work slowly.

. .
. .​

Four they had been but ten minutes earlier, now only three remained. One human and two seraphim, all watching in mute horror how Lailah chased after the fleeing Lord of Calamity. She rained down meteors and lava like a living volcano, howling after the lion man as he grew ever more distant. She only calmed after losing sight of him, flying up high with heavy wingbeats that grew slower over time; the dragon made to land.

Once back on the ground, Lailah just stood there and stared into the air, much like Sorey stared at her. She turned around at some point, looking directly at him, igniting hope within the young man. Hope which she dashed a moment later, stepping back and shaking violently. Then she fled their presence, further into the Meadow of Triumph.

"W-wait, Lai-" Sorey whispered what was supposed to be a shout, his voice failing halfway through her name. He wanted to follow her, see about cleansing her, but his legs were like jello and would not move. A heavy weight pushed down on his body and mind, kept him there as she, too, left.

The rest of the day was little more than a blur. Sorey walked in a daze, unaware which way he went. Every time he turned his head, he expected Lailah to be there, to smile and give him a pep talk. She never was.

By the time the sun set, he blinked in the sudden darkness and looked around, then to the ground, muttering to himself: "I guess I should find a place to-" The ground shook and stone plates rose up, forming a tent for him, complete with a stone bed. "-rest," Sorey finished after the rumbling stopped. He thanked the shaking Edna and said nothing when she ignored him; they were all deathly pale under the moonlight, but he knew it would be little different by day.

Taking a deep breath to center himself, Sorey made to ask Lailah for a fire. The words died on his lips when he remembered she was gone. There were no trees nearby to get firewood from and he carried none, either. It was getting cold and he felt even colder. He might get sick, he realised; but then again, even the night remained warm enough to not be life threatening without a fire.

"This is dumb."

The words startled him out of his reverie; together with his brother, Sorey watched Edna as she frowned at the outside. Her umbrella shook ever so slightly. "We can't stay in a funk forever," the girl continued. "We have to, h-have t-to...."

She trailed off, mouth opening and closing soundlessly as her eyes began to quiver with tears. A strangled sob escaped her throat, rattling Sorey out of his own funk; yet he stood there and watched how Edna covered her face, umbrella clattering to the ground forgotten. He could only meet Mikleo's equally shocked stare when the girl began to cry. So surprising was the sight that they only sprung into action when her quiet sobbing turned to helpless wails.

Sorey caught Edna and held her to his chest, felt the small girl shudder and cry against him. Her wails broke his own numbness to pieces and his own vision grew blurry; Mikleo embraced them both, crying much like they did.

Lailah was gone, turned in an instant and beyond salvation. Peaceful, loving Lailah had been taken from them.

He did not know how long they remained like this, but at some point Edna fell silent. None of them moved and at some point Sorey fell asleep, waking up still holding her and being held by his brother, the stiffness in his body hardly felt after everything. He shuddered awake time and again, nightmares hounding his sleep.

The morning was quiet; they sat together while Sorey ate, Mikleo looking out into the rain-filled distance and Edna cleaning her umbrella. The food tasted bland today, it failed to distract him from the horrible downpour soaking the land just metres away.

Edna broke the heavy silence, more subdued than she had ever been: "She said to find someone. Zenrus?" Her question drove another spike into Sorey's chest, but he forced himself to confront it. That name could not be a coincidence.

"That's gramps' name," he told the seraph girl softly. "He raised Mikleo and me, and he's the chief of our village. He's ancient."

"I wonder how she knows him," Mikleo muttered when Edna gave no response. The other man then shrugged sadly, sighing. "But I guess they could have met sometime in the past." No one had anything to add to that.

Seeing that another oppressive quiet settled over them at that point, Edna changed the subject abruptly: "We need new pacts, Sorey. And I'm not becoming Mibu's sublord." Sorey knew she hated the silence as much as he and was grateful, though that feeling faded when the meaning behind her words registered; Lailah maintained the bonds between him and the seraphim. With her... gone, all the pacts were severed.

"I don't want to be your sublord, either. You'd probably treat me like a servant." Mikleo huffed for good measure, though Edna curiously did not contradict him regardless. Neither of them had any heat to their argument this morning.Wanting to take no risks on this, Sorey acquiesced; he figured this would at least distract them for a time. First he bonded with Mikleo out of habit, curiously watched by the other seraph; when it was Edna's turn however, just as she made to enter his body and establish their bond, it snapped again and threw her out. The girl shrieked and landed in an undignified heap, from where she glared up at the surprised men.

"What was that?" she demanded instantly. Sorey could only shake his head as he did not know, but a glance to Mikleo revealed a pained expression on his brother's face. Edna's anger fell away in shock a moment later. "You," she sputtered with widening eyes, staring at him. "Your resonance, it's not strong enough to bond with two seraphim."

The words felt like hammer blows. Sorey slumped further, unable to meet their gazes; it hurt to admit to himself, but she was right. He never knew how close he danced to the line; perhaps the incident with Alisha should have been more than a warning to him, but it was too late now.

"And you knew," Edna then accused Mikleo, who averted his gaze. Sorey looked up at him, hoping it would not be true; his brother had known but never told him?

"I did," he confirmed quietly, wincing when Sorey went back to staring at his own hands. "Lailah had to sever my bond when she bonded with Sorey, she explained it to me back then. I, I completely forgot about it until just now." Sorey wanted to be angry about not being told, but he just felt hollow. In less than a day, he had gone from being shepherd to being useless, perhaps even actively hurtful to the world.

"Maybe I wasn't meant to be shepherd," Sorey finally voiced his thoughts. He missed the sharp looks his musings earned. "This, this there, it wouldn't have happened if Margaret had been there instead. Or Rose. Or Alisha, even." It was bitter to admit; this duty, 'his' duty, he now felt certainty that literally anyone outstanding he met would have done better. Even a woman who had no resonance to speak of, who fell and became a hellion but retained who she was. Sorey failed, and horribly so.

Again, he missed the looks his friends exchanged and directed at him. They watched attentively, waiting for Malevolence to spew forth, but there was none. Sorey blamed himself, but he knew it all to be true and confronted his feelings as he always had. He refused to hide from them, regardless of how much it hurt. Seeing this, Mikleo wandered over to put a hand on his shoulder, offering quiet consolation. Surprisingly however, it was Edna who answered him first: "Don't say that. No one could have expected him to be that strong. I...."

She trailed off after those few words, but her intention was understood. Sorey heaved a heavy sigh, but looked up when Mikleo squeezed his shoulder. "She is right," the water seraph agreed. "I, we, we will think of something. Maybe if we can find some more allies and practice."

"And prayers," Edna added, only to earn confused stares. "If we continue helping people, their prayers will follow and strengthen us. That will give you greater strength in turn." Her voice held no real emotion, but had also lost its usual deadpan.

"I don't like helping people only to have their prayers," Sorey admitted after considering, "but that might work and I guess it's necessary."

Mikleo nodded, voicing his own agreement: "And we'd still be helping people."

The three began to smile; weak, brittle, but they smiled. Their spirit had been dampened, but it was not gone. And unaware of the men, Edna found strength in the realisation that Velvet was right; Sorey was the exact kind of fool the world needed. Someone who stepped up even if no one else could or would, someone who refused to back down. Losing the silver flame would be a perfect opportunity for Sorey to fade into obscurity, yet he rather committed himself to try again. Surrender did not even cross his mind.

"So," the man in question summarised, "we need to get back to Elysia and talk to gramps, and we need to gather as many prayers as possible on the way." Both seraphim agreed, though Edna fidgeted a little, frowning.

"I think you two should do that on your own," she finally told them, much to their surprise. Sorey had half a moment to wonder before she elaborated: "I need to talk to a few people in the meantime, maybe I can get us some allies." It made sense in a way, especially because Edna had no bond, but Sorey still felt she might be wanting to leave. The girl herself hesitated, eyeing the men uncertainly. "Will you be okay on your own?"

And just like that, even the small seeds of doubt her proposal may have planted were blown away. Touched by her concern, Sorey forced a reassuring smile and nodded. "Don't worry, and good thinking. I don't like that we have to split up, but we need to cover more ground and fast." He himself made a momentary pause before pushing himself and hugging her; the seraph girl grew tense, but relaxed immediately after and wrapped her arms around him in turn.

"This is just for today," she muttered against his chest, squeezing him gently.

"Of course."

They separated and Mikleo took Sorey's place, although the two did not embrace; instead they stared at each other uncertainly. Edna' lips curled up as she doubtlessly thought of another snide remark, but he surprised them both by holding out one fist to her. "Stay safe," was all the younger seraph said.

Edna blinked at the offered gesture, then at him; Sorey watched her debate internally with a mite of amusement, then joy when she bumped fists with his brother. "You too, Mikleo."

Their unorthodox goodbyes said, they all made to head out into the rain... only to realise Lastonbell was all of their destination after a few metres. Sorey felt hot embarassment once again, but he could not help but laugh over the silliness; his friends joined in, even though none of them was truly happy.

Seeing that they would stay together a little longer, they set up another stone platform sans throne and rushed away, back from whence they came.

 

They all remained sullen during the journey back to Lastonbell, but Edna noticed her own mood improving ever so slightly. She worked the initial grief out of her system as time passed, though admittedly with a few instances of her nearly breaking down again. Sorey and Mikleo appeared to be much the same. Then again, Edna knew she would not forget that one minute anytime soon; it was not a happy memory, yet burned into her mind just like those she treasured most. A friend had been consigned to dragonhood right in front of her eyes; the mere thought of it made her shudder. It made her think of Eizen and then she was back to holding back tears.

They returned to Lastonbell like this, half a week after their encounter with Heldalf and a full week since leaving town. Edna said her goodbyes, trying hard to ignore the tiny voice telling her this would be the last time she saw them alive. She ignored it, but its mere existence drew her ire; that was why she ended up gliding through the gate, leaving Sorey behind as he had to talk to the guards.

She wandered the streets alone from then on, seeking the Crowe's Nest but having forgotten where to find it; Lastonbell was vast. Much to her own impediment, Edna's pride stopped her from asking other seraphim for directions even when she met them. Greetings were exchanged, but she did not stop to chat. In truth, she did not feel like talking to strangers; she rarely did, but right now she wanted to be alone. Or perhaps to speak with Laphicet.

During her odyssey, the lady seraph came upon a hole in the cobblestone road; pedestrians completely ignored it, but carts had trouble maneuvering. Thinking of her own advice from days earlier, Edna quickly patched it up. And again due to her own pride, she shaped the patch to become stone which seamlessly fit into the road. Just as she had hoped, prayers began to trickle in over the next hour; they increased her power a little bit, though not by much; it made sense, seeing how humans only ever prayed if they wanted or got something. Then again, in the privacy of her own mind, Edna admitted that she rarely cared about people.

Even she knew that this disregard of others was a lie.

Thankfully, another observation distracted her from uncomfortable truths; sometime into the afternoon, Edna took notice of a seraph man wearing a red scarf. Remembering Eizen's letters and what he wrote about the Bloodwing Butterflies, she kept her eyes open and began to notice them everywhere; almost every seraph in Lastonbell wore a red scarf somewhere on their person. The realisation made her roll her eyes, even though her mind continued to work through the implications. The Crowes were working hard behind the scenes.

Then, a stroke of luck! Edna overheard a group of human guardsmen talking about the tavern she sought; following them finally led her to where she needed to be, just as the sun began its descent on the horizon. Instead of walking through the front door and making a scene however, she walked around the back and into a vaguely familiar yard. This was where she encountered Alisha again, she recalled. It felt like an age ago, after everything. Which brought Edna mind back to the last week. Her expression soured as she considered how to break the news; Laphi and Velvet needed to know. They had to be told and Edna was the only one who could, but she hated having to put what happened into words. Her steps slowed in response to these thoughts, the pain churning in her gut like a living thing. Yet Edna's feet never stopped walking, regardless of her feelings.

No one stopped her when she hopped over the fence; much to the earth seraph's surprise, the backdoor was unlocked. Edna hesitated in the doorway, but entered anyway; her umbrella was folded and held aloft, then she took in the house. It was completely normal to most peoples' eyes, but Edna had lived on a mountain all her life; the hardwood floor and carpet caught her interest first, especially the latter. She went so far as to take off her boots, feeling the fluffy fabric under her feet. Her investigation of a normal person's living standard led her up the stairs, reasoning that out front would be the tavern. Perhaps she might find Velvet in the kitchen, but actually getting there felt like a bigger effort than waiting elsewhere. She wandered through several rooms and examined them from top to bottom, going on her knees to peek beneath drawers and tables out of curiousity.

Her exploration ended when she reached what she thought was a sitting room; of course Edna first considered to poke around some more, but her senses told her otherwise after she opened the door. Inside that room, there was a being of strong mana. Edna froze before even seeing them, well aware she intruded in someone's home. Seconds passed without any reaction to her entrance and only then did her eyes roam the area. She quickly found an old human woman, asleep on a couch.

"Oh."

Relieved and feeling silly, Edna settled opposite to the stranger and looked around again, leaning her umbrella against the wall. If it was just someone's vessel here, she felt it was fine. At the same time, she wondered just who the elder might be.

"I see I'm not the only one to pay a surprise visit."

Edna flinched when the woman spoke to her, apparently not asleep after all; her eyes were open and she wore a wide grin, slowly straightening. The voice she used was still full of vigor despite her apparent age. Edna stared at her dumbly, shuffling around a little without any idea how to respond. "Now now, sweetie," the elder coaxed gently. "No need to feel awkward around old Nica. What brings you here?"

Much to Edna's surprise, she did relax; her awkwardness still remained, though she found herself answering nonetheless: "Probably the same that brought you, I'm visiting Velvet and Laphi."

"Laphi, hmm?" The question and knowing cackle made Edna's cheeks grow hot in a faint blush. "Ah, what I would give to be young again!" Nica then huffed and threw the seraph girl a wink. "But enough of that, you are right. I just dropped by to bother these two, so how about you keep Laphicet busy for me? He is such a dear boy but his head is in the clouds, I'm sure he will appreciate a down-to-earth girl like you."

She already opened her mouth to respond when Nica's words registered; Edna hesitated and, ever so slowly, her lips curled into a wide grin. "I don't know," she retorted, "I'm told I have a stony expression far too often. I might end up soiling him, and I really don't want to get on Velvet's bad side. I heard she is a dragon of a sister."

Nica's grin widened in response, though she gave a sage nod. "Hear, hear! But let me tell you, making her mad is simply divine." The message was received and confirmed; Nica knew what Edna also knew, of their divinity. Of the truth. Knowing this, the elder rose to her feet and the earth seraph did much the same; they both took a few steps toward each other and shook hands. It was an odd feeling for Edna, the firm yet fragile handshake but also the fact she immediately liked this stranger.

Velvet chose that very moment to appear in the doorframe. Her eyes flicked from one woman to the other, then back; they met her gaze, hands still clasped, waiting for what she would do; the newly minted Empyrean heaved a sigh at the sight and called over her shoulder: "Run as fast as you can, they met!"

Instead of heeding her however, a blond head poked around the corner from above her own. Laphi then glanced down at his sister, mock-whispering: "Do we have to evacuate the city?"

"Better leave the city behind so all the rest holds them up."

Edna had to fight for her snicker to remain internal, even more so when Nica finally let go and put the same hand over her heart; the other, she thrust into the air. "Why, you wound me so! To pretend you could outrun me!"

Velvet just raised an eyebrow at her. "What will you do, granny? Have Bienfu carry you after us?"

"Oh no, I have been found out!"

At this point, their banter was interrupted by a snort. Edna covered her mouth even before their attention shifted, but the giggles still broke through. She could not help it, it was just too funny; the fit even had her bent over laughing, trying to get a hold but setting herself off again moments later. It went on like that for a little while before she finally calmed down, though everyone gave her the time. Finally, she saw Velvet's indulgent smile through teary eyes and noticed two Normin pop out of the granny.

"Oh n-n-no," the purplish one with the face-covering top hat fretted, shuddering and looking between everyone. "Am I going to become a carrier again?" His high-pitched voice made Edna snort again, but no giggles followed. Instead, she picked the strange creature up; Bienfu beamed at her. "Oh, there's a cute girl!"

The other Normin chuckled in a dark, womanly way and made to lounge on one of the tables. Velvet finally entered the room as well, with Laphicet following right after; the seraph boy floated to the ground with a friendly smile that grew brighter when Edna returned it. "Hello, you two," he greeted cheerfully. "I can guess what granny is doing here, but what about you? Where is Sorey?"

And there went her smile. Edna grew tense all over for a moment, the insane desire to flee the city dominating her mind before she fought it down. Lowering Bienfu back to the ground and crossing her arms, she barely managed not to hug herself; seeing her behaviour change, the sibling gods dropped their relaxed stances as well. She had to force out the words: "We separated for now to cover more ground. Lailah is gone."

Before she knew what happened, Velvet ushered her to one of the couches and made her sit between them. Nica settled opposite to them, with Bienfu climbing on next to her.

"What happened?" Velvet asked once they were seated. It was the question Edna dreaded, yet one she knew she had to answer; they needed to know. But oh, how she did not want to talk of it. Words failed her, again and again.

"The Lord of Calamity happened," was what she finally ground out. All emotion was banished from her voice, the scab torn and this newest wound hurting once again. No one interrupted her however, they all waited for Edna to continue; the girl herself was not meeting anyone's gaze, unable to, really. Without even realising she did it, Edna's hand closed around Laphi's. He squeezed back, giving her the strength to keep going. "We ran into him a few days out of town. He, he tried to recruit Sorey and when he refused, he just... just...."

She could not do it. Fresh tears prickled in her eyes and Edna wiped her face, trying to force them back but failing miserably. Her throat constricted as the memories flashed before her mind's eye.

"Killed her?" Velvet completed the sentence, but Edna shook her head. She tried again but got no words out. She just continued shaking her head, shuddering, until a pair of slim arms closed around her; a moment later, she was pressed against Laphicet's chest. It made her feel safer even as she hid her face.

"Turned her into a dragon," Nica finally put it together. Edna nodded against Laphi, squeezing him for comfort; she could not help but sob quietly, being reminded of how her friend was gone. Another presence embraced her from behind and she could feel viscous darkness deep beneath the woman holding her firmly.

She did not know how long they sat like this; the urge to cry as she had before faded slowly, pushed back by comfort. Edna's chest became lighter again. "Aww, how sweet," Nica cooed from elsewhere; for once in her life however, Edna did not care about being seen in a moment of weakness. She felt safe like this, protected from all the evils in this world; how hilarious that the two people holding her may just be the worst of all.

When the elder began with some other tease however, Laphi growled. A toneless "Enough" that shook the room and made Edna shiver; when she glanced up at him, he was leering at Nica, who laughed in his face. "It's almost cute how you try to intimidate me. Now be a dear and stop scaring Edna, would you?" Just like that, the emotionless mask slipped off his face and he glanced down, finding a lightly upset girl still held in his arms. Both blushed, but neither pulled away even when the other women snickered at them.

"You're jerks," Laphi commented with a huff, which only prompted Nica and Velvet to actually laugh.

Edna finally felt ready to let go at this point, though she missed her friend the moment she did and quickly held his hand again. Then, as her mind began to work properly again, her attention focussed on something Nica said before. "How do you know my name?"

"Who knows?"

The question was given with an impish grin, though Edna knew she had not introduced herself yet. Her gaze wandered to Laphi. "Did you tell her?" He shook his head, then Velvet told her no to the same question. Edna frowned. "Did anyone else tell her?"

"Yes," Laphi responded with a grin; the old lady was grinning, too. Apparently, they decided to play a game with her about this. Edna wanted to complain, but her curiousity was greater and she continued the questioning.

"Was it anyone from Margaret's group?" Another no, which deepened her frown. This left only Sorey, Mikleo, and Lailah, or so she thought at first before her eyes fell on the quiet Normin. Bienfu. Bienfu, she remembered from Eizen's letters. Just to make sure, she closed her eyes and recalled a few of them, then blinked at the curious seraph. "You were the partner of Magilou Mayvin?"

Velvet's smile reappeared, she noticed; Nica's grin widened as well, so she knew this was the right track. Bienfu, however, fidgeted. "Um, well," he began, but Grimoirh cut him off with a decisive "No". The grey-furred Normin wore a faint smile of her own, but her dismissal merely felt like trickery.

"Then you're lying to me."

"Not exactly," Grimoirh corrected. "It is the wording of your question that changes the answer." Edna's annoyance faded as fast as it appeared with that; she pondered the question she asked anew.

When she thought she had it, Edna asked again: "You were the servant of Magilou Mayvin?"

Velvet burst into laughter, bright as a bell. Laphi joined her a moment later and Nica cackled as well, their mirth a clear indicator this was wrong. Bienfu pouted while Grimoirh shook her head. "No, dear," the female Normin denied with a soft chuckle. "While appropriate, this is not the issue I meant."

Encouraged to find the truth, Edna began to ponder again. Seconds passed and turned into a minute before she realised she had the wrong angle; it actually did not matter because she knew Nica's knowledge originated from Eizen, with Bienfu being the link. Furthermore, she knew the Normin was with Magilou from her brother's letters. 'Was', a stray thought of hers went, 'or is?'. The single word in her question which could be different. All of a sudden, Edna understood why they found this so funny. Why these vibrant green eyes appeared so ancient when she stared into them, and how Velvet knew this woman. The pieces fit together despite being impossible; then again she thought the same of Innominat's return until three weeks ago.

The old human woman watched her expectantly, so Edna asked the question: "You are Magilou Mayvin?" Laphi squeezed her hand at once and the elder's grin returned.

"Correct," she crowed, "you passed! With Eizen unavailable, we are now going to let you take his place in our cabal! Swear fealty to the one true Lord of Calamity!" Her spiel confused Edna momentarily, but also drew a deep sigh from Velvet. The seraph girl tilted her head.

"No."

At that however, Magilou's expression turned to mock surprise barely hiding a nasty grin as she turned to the resident hellion. "What do we do now?"

"Stop wasting time and get to the point, that's what we're doing."

Magilou chuckled and waved her off. "Fine, fine," she placated Velvet without a care; Edna would have loved to have half her confidence, laughing off the annoyance of two Empyreans within half an hour or so.

Sighing again, Velvet took Edna's other hand and spoke more kindly: "Can you tell us what happened, in detail?" She obviously knew what she asked of her, seeing how there was no urging or insistence; Velvet simply held her hand and spent comfort. Through it all, Edna worked up the strength to speak.

"I can try," she muttered while squeezing back harshly. Neither sibling commented. It was not a long tale, yet to Edna it took an age to tell. She detached her mind and tried not to think of it, but it hurt nonetheless. Lailah ended just like Eizen, all their combined ambitions broken in seconds.

When she finished, Velvet carefully let go and stood. Magilou called after her as she made her way to the door: "Off to hunt?"

"No, to check where she went. We can't afford a rogue dragon waltzing into Pendrago. Or Lastonbell, for that matter." Her response was reassuring in a way. When Laphi made to follow his sister however, she waved him off. "Stay," the woman ordered with a nod toward Edna, who got the message as well; perhaps she ought to be annoyed about being treated like a child, but she was too grateful to care. As it were, Edna did not want to be alone with her thoughts.

So he stayed and Velvet left, leaving them all in an odd kind of silence. Grimoirh broke it with a hum: "To find a shepherd unable to bond with even just two seraphim in such a crucial time."

Bienfu nodded almost violently in response. "It's bad-bad, isn't it?"

"What about Margaret?"

She only realised she asked the question out loud when all eyes turned to her. Knowing it stood in the room, Edna turned to Laphi and elaborated: "You groomed her to be a shepherd, no? How strong is her resonance?" For some odd reason, her questions drew another cackle out of Magilou.

Ignoring the elder, Laphi sighed; he refused to meet her eyes throughout the explanation he gave. "Margaret's determination is not because of us. She carries the life of a past shepherd in her very soul, a powerful resonance and the drive to right the wrongs in this world. She would carry the torch if you asked it of her. But who exactly she once was, I am not going to say. That is her own secret to share. Though I expect," he added with a glance to Nica, "that some of us already know."

"And will not speak of it," the elder agreed with his unspoken demand. Edna still puzzled through everything, but found too little at odds with it to protest. She lacked the energy to distrust, or to be snappy; she just slumped a little.

"Makes sense," was her only comment.

"Regardless," Magilou added with a wink, "it's not how big your resonance is, but how you use it." When Edna and Laphi both stared at her in incomprehension, she sighed but did not explain whatever she might have meant. "The shepherd's system," she instead told them, "was put in place as is for efficiency. There is one prime lord to spread the flame to all sublords and who carries their bonds, exactly for a case like this, for a candidate who offers the strength of character but lacks the resonance to support all sublords."

Boy and girl nodded attentively, committing her impromptu lesson to memory. It made sense to Edna, though thinking of the firekeeper's role reminded her of Lailah and once again brought pain. Thankfully, Magilou distracted her from that line of thought: "You have no vessel at the moment, correct?"

She blinked at the human woman, then nodded her head. With the previous conversation and the speculative look Magilou threw Laphi however, Edna knew exactly what she was about to suggest. Her own "No" was echoed by her friend, which wiped the grin off the elder's face. They glanced at each other and Edna motioned for Laphi to go first.

"While I wouldn't mind a sublord," he began carefully, "Edna only qualifies for two of the three criteria I need: enjoying my trust and being responsible with the power. The third is having a proper goal to use it for, and there is none I can see. And, well, receiving that much power and then giving it up if she bonds with Sorey later will be mayhem on her perception of her capabilities."

He made a good case, she had to admit; Magilou nodded as well, though she obviously also noticed Edna's faint blush over being compliment. In an attempt to play over it, she added her own opinion to his: "I don't become a sublord for no reason. I don't bond with a person for no reason, either. If my only reason is that I need a vessel, I will find myself some object. Lot's of people are stupid, but you already know that about a thing that doesn't think even before you bond with it." Her fellow women huffed at that last part.

"You're absolutely right," Bienfu agreed loudly and with a beaming smile. "People are sooo bothersome, I totally get you! So, what's your favourite kind of vessel? I used to like balls of yarn and such things."

"Used to?"

"Well, uh, at this point...." he trailed off and glanced at Magilou, who eyed him with an easy grin. "You know?"

It took her a moment to understand this woman had been Bienfu's vessel for a thousand years. The sudden understanding reminded her to ask about how she managed that at some point. For now however, she shrugged and answered the original question. "I guess. I don't really play favourites with my vessels, anything not too ugly will do."

"Hm." Laphi studied her for a moment, then hopped to his feet. "Give me a moment, I think I have some pure gemstones left over from my work." He left the room before anyone could stop him; Edna was now alone with Magilou Mayvin and her henchnormin, a chance which she wished to use for some inquiries. Unfortunately, the old woman pre-empted her.

"Could it be," she mused with a sly look, "that you do not want to be sublord because then the boy you like is your boss?"

Edna stayed quiet but had to keep her gaze averted. Seconds passed in expectant silence and her self-control slipped, cheeks turning the darkest shade of crimson the elder had ever seen. Instead of laughing about her crush however, Magilou huffed and stood; several slow steps were made and then a hand was placed on Edna's head. She looked up, finding a gentle smile directed at herself.

"It's a good consideration," Magilou agreed quietly. "Just make sure you actually bring it up at some point, sweetie. That boy is too young to get the hint unless someone points it out, and Symonne already has a head start. Although you might be ahead on actually admitting to your feelings, even if it's just in your own head." Edna's cheeks grew even hotter, but she just received another pat before the elder turned to leave as well.

"Ahh, these old bones need more rest than ever." The Normin left with her, though Magilou stopped in the door and met Edna's gaze over her shoulder. "And for the record, you will have a long talk with Grim one of these days. It helps to talk about your feelings once in a while, keeps them from eating you from the inside." She left with these words and now Edna sat completely alone, as well as mightily confused.

Her loneliness did not last long, however. Laphicet returned soon, carrying a handful of gemstones for her to pick from. Thinking of Magilou's words and seeing his smile, Edna considered to speak her mind... but then decided to give it some more time. It was good as it were, at least for her.

While Edna came to rest however, Velvet's mind grew ever more agitated.

Her feet carried her faster than any mortal ever could. Even the winds themselves were left behind as she raced along the Meadow of Triumph; ironic, that was how the name felt to her in these moments.

As she ran, Velvet admitted to herself that she underestimated the current Lord of Calamity. While they had expected him capable of great feats, the ability to compress Malevolence like he apparently did was not among them; the only being she knew could skip the drake stage when turning a seraph was Innominat, after all. Moreover, she had not expected him to outclass Sorey so horrifically.

Even as the countryside flew by however, the analytical part of her mind dissected what information she could get out of this short encounter. A picture formed as she recalled reports of his appearance at Glayvend Basin: Heldalf bred war and fostered the spread of Malevolence, staying mostly in the background and letting others do the dirty work. He acted much like them, though perhaps still unaware he was being hunted.

Thinking of the Lord of Calamity, now that she knew what he looked like, made the idea to follow his trace into Rolance tempting; if Velvet could hunt him down now, that would be one important goal in their plans accomplished. She refrained, though; preparations for the death of Heldalf were ongoing and she knew she had to wait, at least until Laphi completed their final trump card.

Her thoughts continued to wander on the run, back to the other important matter she learned from Edna: Sorey's resonance was actually fairly weak. Not enough to bond with two seraphim normally. It was an unexpected issue, though one she should have seen coming since the day he had to separate from Alisha; that, Velvet knew, was her own mistake.

Regardless, as it were, Margaret might have to take his place as shepherd. Velvet did not like the idea, knowing the kind of person her erstwhile student was; a young woman, far too young to carry the sins and the will of Artorius Collbrande. A man who held the strength to save the world and whose legacy once again rose to the same challenge. Sorey was no saviour like Arthur, that much was now clear to Velvet; he had the will, but lacked the strength to save the world. On the other hand, Sorey constantly strove to improve Desolation; he had his own strengths, but was born into the wrong time to be called upon as shepherd.

From everything they learned, Velvet knew this man would not stop until he either died or broke; yet even a weak shepherd was not easily broken. Which brought her back to their own preparations and an idea she had recently, an idle thought that bore consideration and discussion with Magilou; for in Velvet's mind, the problem could be solved quickly if they managed to convert Symonne for good. She could deliver Heldalf to them, to her.

Her thoughts ground to a halt when the land changed visibly; deep craters and patches of glass came into view. A sense of growing heat and then Malevolence followed, along with hellionised plants crawling along. Not long after that, the dragon became visible. Velvet stopped her run some distance from what used to be seraph Lailah, spreading her domain toward the growling beast; it immediately ceased hostilities and slumped forward, resting on the ground as it watched her. Velvet watched it in turn; she studied the creature properly for the first time, saw that it was indeed a quadruped just like Edna said. She saw crimson scales ooze lava like sweat, a terrible heat surrounding the dragon. She might even have admired the elegant curve of her wings and the way her bulk somehow appeared streamlined, but it hardly mattered. For right there on her head sat a pair of white horns, bending backward to form a halo. That was when Velvet understood the true extent of this tragedy.

She breathed out unsteadily, eyes pricking with tears. Her hand twitched as her heart clenched, the strips of skin shifting ever so slightly. She knew she should make the painful choice herself, take it off poor Edna, but at the same time she felt it was not a choice she could make for another.

Into that mental struggle spoke the dragon, her voice warped and dark but still female: "You. Who?"

Amber eyes snapped back to Lailah; her gaze rested upon the lonely intruder she approached without Velvet even realising. There was no hostility to her stance as she leaned down on her frontlegs; Lailah peered at the being she perhaps remembered, much like a dog sniffing something curious.

"Velvet," she told the docile dragon and reached out slowly; her hand came to rest on Lailah's snout. "You're quite a bit of trouble, you know?" she could not help but add. Scalding air caressed her skin as the dragon breathed out, her clothes shriveling up from the ambient heat.

"Know," Lailah coughed out. "Danger. Hurt. Kill."

Slowly, Velvet began to stroke the dragon. "Not like that," she corrected softly. "It's your horns." Lailah blinked, eyes swiveling as if to see the top of her skull; the sight was as endearing as ten tons of volcanic murder could ever be. Velvet continued to pet as she put her thoughts into words: "A white-horned dragon's heart can forever remove a seraph's blessing." Lailah fell still again, listening attentively.

"Long ago, my friends and I learned that little tidbit. Back then, there was a dragon with white horns, too; Zaveid's wife, someone he fought desperately to save. For a while, we all thought Eizen went after her to remove his curse. Eizen, do you remember? Edna's brother?" A barely visible nod was given and Velvet continued to reminisce. "He didn't. He killed her and set her free from dragonhood. That day, he told us he wasn't afraid of turning one day. He'd rather take that over living forever with a curse that hurt all those he loved. It's why he never came home for Edna."

Lailah breathed again, now lying flat and watching only Velvet, whose shoulders slumped. "We, my brother and I, we already killed most of the dragons around the continent last year. The only one we met and didn't kill was Eizen. Out of all of them, you're the only one with white horns." Her gaze met Lailah's then, sad more than anything. "If we manage to find a way to purify dragons, it will hurt her to choose. If both you and Eizen are restored, he will leave; he won't risk hurting her with his Reaper's Curse. Only your heart can remove the curse, but taking it means killing you."

If only there were a better way, but no amount of lamenting could change this. Velvet stepped forward and hugged Lailah's head, more for her own comfort than the dragon's. She could still do it right now, it would be easy; but Velvet was not Lord of Calamity anymore. She had to consider more than just Eizen and Edna; Lailah was important to the fate of Desolation, a firekeeper.

"It's not my choice to make," she ultimately whispered to the dragon. "I'm sorry." Steam hissed around her cheeks.

They stood like this for a moment that may as well have been an eternity. Lailah's eyes were staring through Velvet as if she was not there, the woman herself just as absent-minded. She found the dragon and made sure it did not try attacking, but now she also knew Lailah yet remained. Her soul was still there, but no one knew how long that might be. She was not Eizen who could keep fighting regardless.

Then again, Velvet realised, she could at least offer comfort. She focussed and traversed the earthpulses with her true body, creating a rift at the same time to swallow herself and Lailah's dragon. It took the crimson creature a moment to realise what was happening, but it relaxed against Velvet's hand when she spoke: "I don't think you like being like this. Want to stay around me for a while?"

Lailah stared at her dumbly and tensed again when she beheld the obsidian scales of Empyrean Minkkubi. "Don't worry," Velvet soothed her as she continued stroking the smaller dragon's snout. All the hellions Lailah's presence created up above were swallowed as they spoke, leaving the area pristine except for what flame had wrought. "No one will hurt you here. And you will hurt no one here. Take a little nap, yes?" Minkkubi gracefully slid around Lailah and wrapped her into an odd, many-limbed embrace. "It's okay."

Finding herself enveloped by a quadruped twice her size, with an almost clear mind and in a spot where no one would be hurt by her presence, Lailah finally closed her eyes and fell asleep.

 

Despite it all, Sorey had begun to enjoy his journey. Traveling through uncharted lands, drawing maps every evening as he went far from civilisation. Not only was this exciting, it was also practical.

After some deliberation with the maps they possessed, he and Mikleo realised that Elysia lay almost exactly north of Lastonbell; the main issue this presented was the mountain range between the two. After their and Edna's recent experiments with transportation, the men decided to try it anyway; this way they could skip at least a month of travel, although it also cost them a return visit in Marlind.

In this very moment, Sorey was speedwalking. He did so most of the time since parting with Edna, his improved body able to keep up the pace without tiring for most of the day. From time to time he fell into a run, but always made sure not to expend too much energy. In addition, Mikleo assisted whenever the terrain became steeper than a gentle slope; a floating water platform would form and carry him upward, to the next stretch of even terrain. All in all, they made good progress. His thoughts and feelings had settled, allowing him to consider the greater problems more calmly.

Into an overcast afternoon however, Sorey's tranquility was shattered by a howl and breaking shrubbery; he turned on his path to intercept whatever it was instantly. When he found a man in traveling gear fleeing from a hellionised wolf, the sight had Sorey once again act without thinking; he dashed forward at blinding speed and slashed at the hellion, a water whip flicking over his shoulder to hit the beast's snout. It flinched back and squeaked, but continued to growl despite the faint, dark line on its flank.

Human and hellion squared off for a moment, but then the wolf turned tail after all; perhaps it had decided not to fight three people, or so Sorey reasoned. Regardless, his heart clenched as he beheld the trail of inky darkness left behind; Malevolence he could not quell because Lailah was gone.

Taking a shaky breath, the erstwhile shepherd calmed himself; he failed and then rather sought a distraction. The wolf had not fought to its death, but rather tried to hunt a meal; this was normal for wolves. The creatures were less aggressive than he recalled them being. Or perhaps he had just never really waited to see if they acted differently.

"T-Thank you," a breathless voice broke into his thoughts; the traveler faced him with open gratitude, though he was still panting. Then he broke into coughs, which had Sorey dart forward in worry.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm, I'm fine." The man coughed again and sighed heavily. "Got a little sick the last few days," he admitted then. "This little run would have been easier with a clear nose."

"I guess so," Sorey agreed while the other traveler muttered something to himself. "What are you doing out here?"

"Hm? Ah. I'm a cartographer, you see? The wilderness in these parts has been unexplored for a long while, so I'm mapping it out." The man gave a little bow and introduced himself by name, which Sorey returned a moment later. "What about yourself?"

Having no real response to give without having to explain what happened recently, Sorey shrugged. "I'm mostly just traveling, but I drew some maps on the way if you're interested? They probably won't be as good as yours, but they can help."

It was as he assumed; Sorey mainly drew from memory in the time between dinner and sleep, but he had covered a lot of ground his new acquaintance yet lacked. He was paid three hundred Gald for what he had and the cartographer made a copy. "It may be dangerous work," the man offered idly as he worked, "but it pays well and I get to see places few people will ever see. That's what adventure is like, eh?"

"Yeah." Sorey could not help but smile, feeling like he met a kindred spirit out in the wilds. At the same time his mission remained in the back of his mind, ever present and urgent; reminding himself of it however, hearing the cartographer cough again also reminded Sorey of the fact he was supposed to gather prayers. Or rather, fond thoughts of any kind; 'prayer' was just a catch-all term. Right now, he had a chance to do so. "Say, I could let my friend take a look at your sickness."

Mikleo perked up instantly, having sat next to them in idle thought; the other human needed a moment longer, though he appeared interested. "You know a good herbalist nearby?"

"Ah, no. He's a seraph."

"Heh, good one. What would a seraph do out here in the wilds?" Dismissing his claim, the other man returned his full attention to the maps he copied on a small plate. Sorey exchanged an exasperated but also understanding look with his brother, then motioned for Mikleo to do his thing. He received a nod in return and moments later his new acquaintance gasped, dropping the charcoal stick he had been sketching with. A faint glow surrounded his entire body, clearing away the sickness; Mikleo's blessing soothed his raw throat, made the faint headache he felt fade, and even freed the man's nose. What it did not remove was the wide-eyed stare now directed at Sorey, who smiled a little sheepishly.

"Mikleo can't cure any bad injuries, but colds and coughs and such are exactly in his domain. You should be more resilient to anything like that for a while, too." The man sputtered in clear shock before bowing deeply, thanking 'the kind seraph'. Mikleo just huffed and made a dismissive motion, which Sorey translated without missing a beat: "He says he's happy to help, and to take care on your journey." Seeing that the maps were almost entirely copied, it was about time to say goodbye.

The cartographer caught himself and stood upright again, wearing a brighter smile. "Aye, I will," he agreed while shaking the younger man's hand. "Thank you, Sorey. Really. The same for you, kind Mikleo. I will pass on the word of your kindness."

They parted ways soon after that, leaving Sorey to continue on his original path. It only took minutes for Mikleo's voice to echo through his mind, though: "You could have said you're the shepherd."

"I'm kind of not right now, though," Sorey deflected the question. "Besides, you know I don't like flaunting a title. Especially if I haven't really earned it yet."

"It might have helped spread the story, though. You can't grow from prayers, but people would remember me in association." He had a point, but Sorey still did not like to flaunt.

"It will be fine," he reassured his brother. "Your blessing is actually pretty good for gathering prayers, isn't it? Seraph Mikleo, patron saint against the common cold." His joke actually had him chuckling quietly. The sigh it earned from Mikleo was mostly exasperated, though.

"You're not wrong. At least now you don't exploit my blessing to get around the consequences of exploring in the cold or jumping into rivers when you really shouldn't."

"Oh come on, when was the last time I did that? It must have been years!"

"Six weeks before we left Elysia."

"Oh. Really?"

Mikleo sighed again, but did not continue the conversation; Sorey returned to navigating the countryside, though his mind soon began to wander again. Mikleo's blessing was the only one he knew about and he wondered. "Say, did Edna ever tell you what her blessing is?"

"I don't think so," his brother returned after considering for a moment. "She might have thrown in a hint between the snark, but I didn't notice anything."

"The same for me. We never really talked about the others' blessings, huh?" He did not say it out loud, but they both thought of Lailah again; conversations they could have had with her but never did, bad puns she would never get to tell now. With those thoughts went his mood once again and he could not help but sigh.

"It's hard to believe. I know she's still there, but also... gone." Mikleo did not respond at first, though Sorey knew him well enough to guess. "...you miss her too, don't you?"

"Of course I do. No one deserves something like that." He paused before adding something else, more hopeful than they both were recently: "Perhaps we really can figure out a way to purify her. Then we can help Edna's brother, too."

"Yeah, that would be great. But we need to focus on Heldalf for now." Oh, he hated having to say it, but it remained the truth; as long as the Lord of Calamity went unchecked, he would continue to sow darkness and hellions. Unfortunately for Sorey, his mind picked that moment to remind him of yet another somewhat related matter; Alisha. She was a hellion as well, yet arguably still herself and continuously kind. Thinking of her brought back the wolf from earlier that day, too. "That wolf we fought, it ran away so fast. Didn't gramps say hellions are hyperaggressive?"

The first response his brother gave was a hum running through Sorey's head. "I guess so. Maybe it remained in control or something like that. You thought of Alisha, didn't you?"

"...yeah." There was just no way to keep things from Mikleo. "I'm still trying to figure it out. What do we do about her? Can we risk leaving her be? Would the human Alisha even want that?" Did she really not change, or did she change so much she could not recognise she had? How could they tell? It was at this point that Sorey realised he barely knew anything about his former squire. She had marched along on faith and a desire to help, yet never spoken much of herself to either of them.

"We should ask gramps when we get back," he finally decided. "I need his opinion."

"That's probably for the best," Mikleo agreed, then called him to attention. "Another hill, get ready." And so their ascent continued.

Far away, a group of rotund pig men and -women waddled around their lands, tending them as they always had. Becoming hellions did not change their daily duties or the money they earned, though the greater strength and speed made many a chore easier. They were content with their lives still.

Much to their surprise, that day saw a giant fox trot past them as they were busy bringing in the last of the harvest. They could not help but stop and stare, every last of them gobsmacked at the majestic creature and its rider; a young woman sat atop this beast, waving toward them as they passed by. Reluctantly, the kobold children waved back.

"Fear not and hold out," the woman's voice bridged the gap between them, full of strength and hope. "A shepherd has risen! He will return you to normal once his journey leads here, if you so desire!" Then she was past and rode away, leaving the farmers to chatter excitedly among each other. Alisha carried her along, having admitted that traveling like this was surprisingly fun for herself; thus they had continued despite having no pressing need for speed. As a result, the odd group of three reached the vast fields surrounding Pendrago within little more than two weeks despite several detours.

As they neared the outer city surrounding its great wall however, Margaret gave her mount a pat on the head and slid down her front leg. "I think we should go on foot now," she told her companions. Alisha immediately bowed her head in agreement, which was all Margaret had been waiting for. "Symonne?"

"On it," the petite seraph returned as she materialised next to them. "Ready."

Once she was given the okay, Alisha transformed back into human form; Margaret already fished a set of clothes out of their enchanted pouch. She held it out to the nude therion, who offered an appreciative smile. Alisha dressed swiftly, practice having made the motions ever easier and faster over the last weeks; Symonne's illusions hid them from view in the meantime.

"You aren't blushing anymore," the seraph girl commented while Alisha fastened her cape's clasps. "Are you developing a thing for exhibitionism?"

Unfortunately for Symonne, while both of her companions remained somewhat embarassed by her antics, they had grown used to them. Alisha merely shrugged, hiding her sheepishness effortlessly. "I do not think so. You are not enough of a jerk to suddenly make me visible, which was my original concern." Symonne sputtered, scandalised, but was prevented from complaining: "My thanks, either way. Your blessing is incredibly helpful for such matters."

The praise made any previous comments die on Symonne's lips and drew a faint smile from her. Both of her companions noted how starved she was for positive attention, though Margaret and Symonne quietly thought the same of Alisha.

With the therion dressed, they strolled up toward the gates of Pendrago. A town-sized outer city mostly made of wood and some stone surrounded them long before they reached, sitting in the massive walls' shadow. A capital city which had stood for over a thousand years and only grew greater since.

"I never thought it would look like this," Alisha admitted as they approached. "These walls may be the same height as Ladylake's, but I am certain they are twice as thick. The architecture is different, too. As if the wall in its entirety was crafted from a single block and not put together." Her idle musings stopped there as she realised neither of her companions would share her awe; Margaret stared at the walls with mixed feelings and Symonne watched Margaret.

Only when the human girl said nothing did her partner speak up: "That's because they were. Pendrago's entire wall was grown from the earth by seraphim, then polished and hardened. The only structures more incredible are, in order, the Shrinechurch that was built over centuries by human hands, the giant gate of Vortigern, now keeping closed off the cold of the far north, and... Artorius' Throne."

Vortigern was familiar to her, as was the Shrinechurch; it had been ages since she last saw it. Hearing the last name sent a jolt through Margaret, however; she needed long moments to even figure out what kind of structure this could be, had to remember that Symonne served under Melchior to realise what had happened. "Do you," she began weakly, voice cracked, "do you mean the Empyrean's Throne?"

"That's what they used to call it," Symonne confirmed her fear; an odd sort of blankness clouded her expression, leaving both human and therion unable to read her. Even had she shown what she felt, Margaret would have failed to notice; she was too busy agonising over this nonsensical change.

"They shouldn't have called it that, of all things," she muttered mostly to herself. Artorius had not deserved to be remembered thus, even the man Margaret used to be would agree with that. "It's a temple to the Empyreans, not to a man. No man." Absorbed in thought and unwilling to keep standing there, she began to walk; her companions followed, Alisha with curious concern but Symonne with cold certainty.

Thankfully, the sight of Pendrago's crowded town square distracted the group as a whole; it was even busier than Lastonbell, carefully cleaned stone buildings towering above the masses. Margaret even recognised the large fountain; it passed the test of time and remained, just like the town's layout.

"Margaret?" Someone pulled her arm, breaking through the cotton that formed around her very being. She blinked and turned to Alisha, whose worry was quite visible. "What is with you? I know Pendrago is impressive, but you never zone out like that."

"I...." She tried to put into words the feelings coursing through her, but found she had none. No way to describe the longing of a time long past, the guilt of her many failures, the joy of seeing at least a remnant of what once was. She glanced to Symonne, a quiet plea that was answered with a thumbs up. No one could listen in on the three travelers, even as Margaret began to trot forward. "I remember this city," she then admitted to her companions. "I remember walking these streets, and they are yet the same even after all this time. I carry a soul that lived before," Margaret then revealed to a surprised Alisha, "and I am sorry I didn't tell you yet. There was never a good time to bring it up. I know you have questions, but could I have some time to myself for now?"

She did not even look at them toward the end, barely even paying attention to the people around her. Symonne had to slap one pickpocket's hands because Margaret failed to notice. Nostalgia swallowed her whole, leaving nothing but to walk what was once known as Loegres; nothing but memories.

Much later, her companions would tell her about the rumours they heard while following her; about the elixir trade having picked up recently, a miraculous cure that was said to be created by Maotelus himself. But also about Van Aifread's bandit clan and their ever-growing influence in the north.

Before that however, Margaret explored. She went this way and that until, at last, excited chatter and a smaller crowd drew her to the shrinechurch; the seat of Rolance's entire clergy stood imposing from below, regardless of the many people tirelessly working to set up tables and benches in the vast courtyard leading up to it.

It was at this point that Margaret slowly recovered and left her funk; she began to listen and wondered what those around her talked about while watching the work. Asking one of the elderly men yielded a grandfatherly smile. "You must be travelers," he concluded with a sage nod, not even waiting for a response as he motioned for the preparations. "The church prepares another grand sermon to the Great Lords, just like every month. They keep the natural disasters at bay and Pendrago prosperous. There," he called, pointing out one person in particular. "Cardinal Forton oversees everything in person again."

They followed his pointing and found a woman clad in the white robes of a priestess; her elaborate hat did nothing to hide high cheekbones and an almost gaunt appearance. She appeared to direct the people as they set up.

"We are truly blessed to have such a hard-working woman in charge," the elder continued joyfully. Symonne left them to poke around at that point.

"She looks like she enjoys her work," Alisha observed. Margaret agreed, seeing the cardinal's smile quite clearly even from a distance.

Then however, something odd happened. As Forton wandered down the rows of benches to talk to two acolytes, a careless swipe of her hand caught Symonne. The seraph girl was as surprised as her companions when long, dainty fingers closed around her wrist and pulled her along; the Cardinal made no indication that she heard her frantic attempts to talk or make peace. As if she had already been watching them, the older woman marched straight toward Margaret and Alisha with a hint of a smile.

"Travelers," she began, letting go of Symonne at that moment, "and armed ones at that. You two do not strike me as the usual kind of mercenaries. What brings you to Pendrago?" Neither woman knew what to make of that, seeing how there were so many responses one could give.

Ultimately, Alisha spoke up for the three of them: "Curiousity, mainly. None of us has ever been to the capital before." She would love to reveal their personal mission of helping the people, but they encountered quite a bit of incredulity before and decided to drop it. "Neither of us heard about the goings-on. This kind man mentioned that such sermons are held regularly, but is there a particular reason for them?"

The Cardinal considered Alisha for a moment even as she exchanged pleasantries with the elder she motioned for. "In a way," she then confirmed calmly. "About a year ago, Pendrago faced a horrible rainstorm. The downpour would not cease for weeks, coming close to destroying most crops just before the harvest."

"I heard of that," Margaret chimed in when Cardinal Forton left a pause. "Velvet was here at the time, but she wasn't around for however you solved it?"

She received a kind smile, but one that all three girls could tell was more a mask than honest. "Why, we called together the faithful and offered our prayers to the Great Lords, so that whatever transgression they saw to punish would be forgiven instead. That very evening, the rain stopped and we saw a sunset again." The crowd around them murmured in agreement.

"I see," Margaret offered kindly. "How magnanimous of the Great Lords to forgive." She did not break eye contact with the cardinal and saw her eyes widen fractionally; they both understood the other knew enough, but neither revealed their knowledge.

"Indeed," Forton agreed instead. "But enough of that, I see weary travelers before me. May I offer you a cup of tea?"

"Of course. Thank you very much."

They followed the older woman without complaint, Alisha more curious than Margaret. The human girl reminded herself not to make such decisions on her own in the future; she had been dragging her friends around ever since they reached Pendrago. They ought to make plans together, even though they were swept up in other matters.

Just as they entered and marched past the empty chapel however, they found another odd sight; the room's head was adorned with an elaborate throne carved out of rock. On top of this throne lounged a chubby, fluffy cat that eyed them with either disdain or interest. Forton nodded to the feline, who inclined her head back and made it clear they were dealing with a seraph; Margaret huffed quietly. "I am a little surprised to find you having such strong resonance, Cardinal," she began, broaching the subject with care. "Though in hindsight, I shouldn't have been."

Curiously, the woman herself said nothing at first. It was the cat who chuckled, then addressed them in a pleasant alto: "My, what an odd group. Welcome, Margaret, Alisha, Symonne." All three started at being addressed by name, but the seraph girl stepped forward with widening eyes.

"Morgrim? I had no idea you were here."

Another chuckle. "I have been here a while. You, however, I have not seen since the Age of the Gods. I did not even know you had an actual name until a week ago, when Laphicet informed me." The cat seraph rolled onto her back before the gaping girls, kicking empty air and revealing a red ribbon tied to her hindleg. All three stood dumbfounded until a quiet chuckle reminded them of the fifth presence in the room.

"As amusing as it is," Forton began curtly, "I am afraid you are mistaken about my resonance." She smiled humourlessly, offering a nod to Alisha. "But considering the company you keep, it should not be a problem, no?" Her meaning was clear enough, though the gravitas of the situation vanished when Morgrim playfully hopped onto the cardinal's head, pushing off her hat without a care.

"Always so strict, my dear. You should, how do they say? Let your hair down once in a while. Or your tail, if you prefer."

"Off of my head."

"I think not."

And the cat proceeded to lounge on Runette Forton's head with as much ease as the solid stone she throned on before. The cardinal rolled her eyes at no one in particular, though Margaret's giggle made her throw a sharp look to the girl. Swallowing her mirth with better success than Symonne, she quickly put on a smile. "About that tea? I would like to discuss a few things with you, Cardinal."

She received a nod and they were once again led deeper into the Shrinechurch. However, all three exchanged silly grins the moment Forton's head was turned; the fuzzy hat she now wore was just too ridiculous on the stern woman.

 

"Alright, what's up?"

Rose settled into the offered chair, out of view from the tavern's other patrons; the Crowe's Nest had a few backrooms used for trade deals and the like, though most of them were not particularly legal. Opposite to her sat Laphicet, prim and proper but with an ever-present frown. She never figured the boy out from their few encounters, seeing how he was always kind and soft-spoken. Today seemed different.

Before the seraph boy explained anything however, he levitated two cups of tea onto the table. "We received some news that need our attention," he began carefully. "Perhaps yours as well." Rose spent the time sipping the beverage placed in front of her; though she preferred ale, this tea's mild aroma felt just right. It was one of her favourites, which she knew was not a coincidence. Regardless, she listened to Laphicet as he continued: "You should be aware that Shepherd Sorey passed through Lastonbell seventeen days ago?"

"Well, duh! The Sparrow Feathers brought him into town!" The boy did not appear bothered by her flippant tone, though his expression fell somewhat. Rose wondered if she should be a little nicer with whatever kind of impression he was trying to make. She shelved the thought when he broke the news to her.

"He passed through over a week ago and left for Hyland again. After... an encounter with the Lord of Calamity, Heldalf." Rose stilled, hot tea running down her throat as she listened intently. "Seraph Lailah was corrupted and turned into a dragon. Sorey lost the flame of purification and is thus shepherd no longer. For now."

Silence hung in the room after his announcement. Rose, never one for sugarcoating, lowered her cup with a quiet clink. "Well, shit."

Laphicet huffed, but a weak smile graced his features for a moment before slipping away again. "Heldalf is far stronger than any of us expected and Sorey is out of commission while he recovers," he continued. The way it was phrased, Rose figured there was more to it, so she coaxed a little.

"Alright, thanks for the warning."

Going by the face the boy made, it really was more than a courtesy. She only had to wait a moment before he got on with it: "There is a reason we asked for you instead of just sending a letter. Sorey needs assistance against a foe this strong."

"I hope you realise that we can't beat him either, right?" In truth, Rose was making time; she could already guess what he was about to ask for. Yet he left her no time to think.

"Anyone else? No. You, however? Perhaps." His tone became more business-like at that, the intention clear enough to Rose; she heaved a sigh and shook her head. Regardless of the tragedy, she could not just drop everything to run off with a shepherd.

"I already told Lailah when she asked me, I'm not a good fit for a squire. Seriously, this is ridiculous, the gentle shepherd and the leader of the Scattered Bones?"

"In this case," Laphicet smacked down her point, "compatibility is a non-issue. Us Bloodwings are staying in the background for as long as we can to dig up more information about the enemy. The only other person with suitable resonance we know is even less suited for being a squire."

Despite her own feelings, Rose could see how keeping an organisation consisting of seraphim away from a super-powerful hellion made sense. A dragon swarm helped exactly no one. Nonetheless, her feelings remained the same. "I'm not suitable either. What sets me apart?"

"That Sorey has no idea of your occupation." It was so simple and delivered so matter-of-factly, Rose had to halt the cup at her mouth to mull it over. The boy did not stop making good points, though: "All he will see is a friendly woman with powerful resonance and a bonded wind seraph."

"Alright, I guess." She could not refute him on that one, even though she wanted to. "But I still don't see why it has to be me." He inclined his head at her as if to agree, then made a motion encompassing the room and beyond.

"We are looking for other willing supporters as well, but the squire is important and difficult to find. For you... well." A pregnant pause was left as several heavy bags clacked onto the table; he pushed all of them toward her, uncaring for Rose's rising eyebrows. "If the job is necessary, no?"

Admittedly, now she was gaping at the boy in front of her. At this sly smile slowly emerging. She could not help but grin herself. "You little brat," she muttered good-naturedly, to which Laphicet chuckled. He picked up his tea and leaned back.

"What can I say? This is important. Five hundred thousand Gald for integrating as shepherd Sorey's squire and supporting his cause against the Lord of Calamity, as well as relating any intel his group learns to the Bloodwing Butterflies. The first half is paid up-front, the second half upon the death of Calamity Heldalf by your or Sorey's hand." Rose blinked, almost gaping at the boy as he sipped his tea. Then she stared at the bags of coin, hesitantly pulling them over entirely.

"It's worth that much to you?"

"It might become more, depending on what happens going forward. Two hundred and fifty thousand to start out because we effectively cut you off from most of your contacts and supporting structure traveling with Sorey, because this mission requires secrecy, and with a bonus for any potential injuries or deaths among you and yours. The same amount again if you do manage to kill Heldalf."

Rose slowly counted the money while he spoke, her mind reeling; the Scattered Bones' jobs began at ten thousand, they took two hundred thousand for eliminating a prince of Rolance a few years back; now here she was offered more than that up-front 'just' for reinforcing the shepherd. She was well aware of the Bloodwings' cunning, with them having risen to be an influential shadow guild within but one year. Of course part of it had been contacts her Scattered Bones introduced, but the budding guild obviously grew a lot further. An offer like this, so much money up-front even, she needed to ask: "Be honest, what's at stake?"

Laphicet held his silence for a long moment while Rose kept counting. Only when she made a pause did he lean forward, all traces of levity gone from his demeanor. "The world," he told her gravely. "Not just Rolance or Hyland, not just Glenwood, but all of Desolation. If the Lord of Calamity stands victorious, everything will be overwhelmed by Malevolence. All humans shall become hellions, and every last seraph will turn into a dragon. A half million Gald is a small price to pay for your cooperation in this." His words hit a chord in her. Rose continued to count quietly, but her choice had already been made. This job was necessary, thus her feelings did not matter. Her life did not matter. Nothing did, just the knife and the target.

It took a few minutes to finish with the first bag of five, finding it filled with exactly fifty thousand Gald. So reassured, Rose pushed three of them back to Laphicet with a more serious expression. "A hundred thousand should be enough for now. We can renegotiate the total amount later. Give me a few days to prepare and get me Sorey's location."

There were no written contracts in the underworld; due to their extralegal activities, those who acted in the shadows could not afford such damning evidence. Where Rose treaded, one survived on their reputation alone; her Scattered Bones were spotless to all, clearly communicating their terms and carrying out all contracts they accepted. Likewise, the Bloodwing Butterflies became known for swift and clear deliveries of whatever information one desired, from market data to troop movements. The only kind of request they refused for most clients was to create dossiers of private people, not including nobles and royals. No one liked stalkers, not even the underworld.

"Good luck", Laphicet wished her with a kind smile, already busy writing what she needed on a sheet of parchment. Rose smiled back, huffing despite the situation.

"Psh, I don't need luck. But thanks." She then picked up the money and left to get everything prepared.

Only after she was gone did Laphicet's expression fall. He slowly ceased his writing and picked up the money she rejected, eyeing it sadly. "No money is worth sending you toward certain death," he told the empty room. "But we must. So says reason. And so says emotion." He knew, regardless of how much he may dislike Maotelus, that any sacrifice was worth his retrieval. He had no faith in the argument, but it remained true; no single human life equalled that of an Empyrean in worth. Not the him from before his ascension, not Velvet as she used to be, not Celica, and not even Arthur.

Laphicet just hoped that their own plans were finalised before Sorey's group ended up becoming sacrifices to their cause. For all of them he hoped, but even he knew better than to pretend their loss as a whole would hurt him; losing Edna would, though. That would hurt terribly.

. .
. .​

"Yeouch, that's cold, girl."

Velvet shrugged nonchalantly, waiting for Zaveid's thoughts on her request. He had returned just the previous day to drop off more notes, but now the two of them were standing together atop Innominat's structure, watching the planet beneath. Thanks to Zaveid's mastery of the air, no one would eavesdrop on them even with a bunch of nosy seraphim nearby. "I know," she agreed in the end, "but it's the best we can do. Find reliable people to reinforce Sorey and hope that we're faster than Heldalf is."

"You do know the kid and I don't see eye to eye, right?"

"He will come around." This, she believed. "Knowing what he knows now, he can't afford to stay stubborn." Velvet paused there, jabbing Zaveid's shoulder with a knowing grin. "Then again, you took a good beating yourself. Think he is the same?" The wind seraph shrugged in response, but she could tell by now that he took this seriously despite his flippant response.

"Eh, maybe? But that's part of the issue, I was an idiot and having him act the same rubs me the wrong way."

"I still have to ask you," she insisted again. "You are one of the strongest seraphim around, maybe the strongest with Siegfried."

"Whoa, you really know how to stroke a man's ego." Despite the comment, his cocky grin soon morphed into a frown. "Hah. It's times like these that I miss Eizen. We didn't get along half the time, but damn could that guy throw a punch!"

"I'll say." Velvet could not agree with him more. After a moment of studying Zaveid, she decided to let him in on their progress there: "Laphi is actually working on that. We might be able to get Eizen back if we pool our powers and Maotelus' flame." Now this earned her an impressed whistle, though the look Zaveid threw her was knowing.

"He wouldn't want to."

"I know. That's the real tragedy here. Edna would want him back anyway. And." She paused again, uncertain how to breach the subject; in the end, she did it head-on, with a heavy sigh. "Lailah's dragon has white horns."

She saw the face Zaveid made, trying to recall the significance after a thousand years; it took him several seconds, but she could tell when his memory returned. His face fell into an uncharacteristically somber expression. "Oh. Damn, that sucks for everyone involved." After mulling it over for a moment however, his smirk returned. "Y'know what? I'm in. I do owe you either way." A quick pat on the arte holding his inventory space made it clear what he meant; Velvet knew it held at least a thousand bullets for Siegfried, among other things.

"Thank you. I mean it, this is important to us." Her hand lashed out to grab his arm as he made to swagger off. "Stay safe." The words were firm, but she knew he knew how worried she actually was; they had grown closer over the last year, gotten to know each other better. She did not want to lose him over this.

"No promises, babe."

Regardless of his words, he covered her hand and squeezed gently; they exchanged nods and then wandered off in different directions without another word. Both of them had work to do.

. .
. .​

Rose's orders had been a surprise, though not an unwelcome one; while Dezel did not mind playing merchant for most of the time, he had grown restless recently. Everything felt like it came to a head and he had yet to find his mark; soon he would inquire with the Bloodwings, but he had yet to find an opportunity to do so. Rose ought to stay out of this one, he knew her feelings on the Windriders' fall and did not want to poke this old wound.

It was then that strange winds interrupted his considerations; they met Dezel's own, swirled between them, brushed past him with a certainty that befuddled him. He knew these winds, but he had trouble placing them. It must be a wind seraph and a powerful one, though. "Someone's coming," he informed Rose curtly. "One seraph, wind-aligned." He could feel the mana now, too.

"Damn right," an all-too-familiar voice was carried to his ears. As its owner closed in, he could tell even before his winds relayed the other man's general appearance. A dark drawl he knew well. "Friend of a friend told me you two need some help, so here I am. How's it going, Dezel?"

Ignoring Rose's appreciative hum at the sight of Zaveid, Dezel nodded at his former mentor. "I'm well. Yourself?"

"Just peachy. Beside, y'know, having to help save the world and nonsense like that." That made very clear just who asked him to join them, though Dezel appreciated Zaveid's presence; the other seraph was experienced and powerful, a definite boon to their combat prowess.

They bumped fists a moment later, only for Rose to clap her hands over both of theirs. "Anyone mind introducing me to the hunk here? No? Fine. I'm Rose, nice to meet you!"

"Heh, likewise. Name's Zaveid. You don't mind me tagging along, do ya?"

At the very least, so Dezel understood, this would not be a boring journey.

 

The hustle and bustle of Pendrago had been on another level than Margaret was used to; Symonne could have told that even without hearing her partner's happy sigh as they walked through Lastonbell's gates. Teleporting close to the city and entering normally had become a habit whenever they returned. From there it was a quick trip to the Crowe's Nest, at which point their leader immediately ran off to see her mother.

"Well," Alisha began as the two remaining women eyed each other, "what shall we do?"

"Beats me," Symonne returned with a shrug. They entered the house as well, but found no one there to greet them; admittedly, she had been hoping for a certain someone. "Do you hear anything about who's here?"

The therion made to listen for a moment, but shook her head. "My ears are not that good, I am afraid. Although there are people present; were you, perhaps, looking for someone in particular?" Turning back to her newest companion, Symonne took note of her faint smile. "A young man, perhaps? Blond, and with this friendly smile of his?"

She had been had and knew it. "Okay, you got me."

"Then I will see about speaking with Velvet. Enjoy yourself."

Alisha motioned for the staircase leading upward, where Laphi likely was, before wandering off toward the kitchens. Her knowing smile bothered Symonne, but she felt she could not really complain after how much she teased the other woman. Putting it out of her mind, Symonne scaled the stairs and poked around; finding her friend did not take long, seeing that he sat in the living room. What surprised her was that he was not alone with a book as usual; no, today Edna kept him company. The two had tea together.

With an odd feeling in her gut, Symonne weaved an illusion over herself and crept into the room to watch them. Old habits died hard, but she also felt a pressing need to know what might happen without her presence known. The easy smiles those two shared formed an ugly knot somewhere within her, making her want to do... something. Anything to make it go away. She did not understand these feelings and pushed them down, wanting to work it out later. For now, she had observations to make and an entrance to plan.

"Is the new vessel okay?" she heard Laphi ask as she crept through the room; a glance to the other seraph revealed Edna playing with a fist-sized chunk of pure amber. Odd, she was supposed to be bonded with Shepherd Sorey.

"It's fine," the girl muttered before sliding the stone back into her pocket. Symonne blinked and pushed her own preconceived notions aside even harder; freeing herself of what she wanted to see, a new picture formed before her eyes. Details became apparent, the way Edna's shoulders were hunched and a slight red splotch around her eyes. She had been crying; she was not doing well. Symonne filed this away, knowing she would figure it out soon.

In the silence those two left, she finally reached her destination behind the couch Laphi sat on. Hiding behind it, she cancelled her illusion and rose up with a grin; Edna paused at her sight, seeing the other girl appear basically out of nowhere. Laphi only picked up on her presence when slender hands covered his eyes. "Huh?" he muttered, but held his silence otherwise; Symonne wondered if she got the whole thing wrong, but played over her uncertainty with a sigh.

"You're supposed to guess who I am."

"No one but you would do that, Symonne. When did you get back?" The familiarity drew a grin from her and she let go, crawling over the backrest instead of walking around.

"Just a few minutes ago. Good to see you again, Edna." The other girl nodded, visibly alienated by how Symonne snaked herself down onto the cushion before righting up; there was something else about her gaze now, though. Something Symonne noticed but could not make sense of. Disregarding it for the moment, she wrapped an arm around Laphi and pulled him closer; her tension dissipated at once. "It's nice to be back," Symonne chirped at them. "Pendrago is a lot bigger if you walk the streets instead of taking the rooftops." Then, deciding it was time to dig, she turned to Edna, whose gaze went back and forth between them. "Is Sorey still in town, or did you give him the boot?"

Contrary to what she expected, the mood dropped immediately. Whatever Edna had been thinking about before, it was gone as her expression fell visibly. Laphi frowned as well, neither of them at all happy. "You couldn't know," he began, "but please be a bit more tactful about this." Which made it clear she picked the wrong subject. "I tell you the details later, but the shepherd was beaten back and lost the silver flame. A lot happened the last few weeks."

The last part brought Symonne up short; Sorey appeared competent enough, regardless of the doubts she expressed about him. To be pushed back in such a manner left scant few possibilities as to who was responsible; something in her gut clenched again, but this time it was a completely different kind of pain. She could not help but ask: "The Lord of Calamity?"

She had already begun to feel this odd sensation, but Edna's sullen nod magnified it greatly. Guilt, Symonne realised some time ago. She started to feel guilty about her past actions; even though this event was outside of her control, she immediately thought it her fault. Her earlier misgivings were forgotten. She did like Edna as a person after all.

However, this required a different approach than a mere apology; one that Laphi would likely shy away from, at that. Thinking it over a second time to make sure, Symonne let go of him and stood; she then made her way over to sit next to Edna. It spoke of how dumbfounded she was by the turn of events that she did not even fidget, even when Symonne deposited the other girl in her lap. "Sorry about that, then," she muttered gently. "You okay?" She placed her head on Edna's shoulder, allowing to whisper into her ear; two slender arms were wrapped around the other girl's waist as well, holding her in place.

Edna stiffened somewhat, head turning ever so slightly toward a chuckling Laphi and then to Symonne herself. "Yes," she finally deadpanned. "Could you let go?" By her tone of voice, she wanted to be let go; by the way she seemed to soak up her comfort and began to relax already, she was fine.

Symonne made a show of thinking, adding a few thoughtful "hmmmm"s; all the while, her embrace grew a little tighter. After drawing it out for a bit, she grinned at Edna. "Nope. I think you need a hug, so you get a hug. Besides, this is my chance."

"Symonne." A warning from Laphi, cheerfully ignored.

"Your chance to do what?"

Symonne now threw a wink at Laphi, who sighed in defeat, and leaned closer to whisper into Edna's ear again: "To try making a sturdy earth seraph weak in the knees." She breathed into the girl's ear on purpose then and gave her a light squeeze, rewarded with an almost inaudible squeak and a luminescent blush.

Edna almost vibrated with embarassment for a moment, but her recovery was swift; the smirk returned and she turned her head further to meet Symonne's gaze. "Considering that you're water, wouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Oh, we can do the other way around. Good thinking!" So saying, she proceeded to lift Edna and turned her around, pulling the surprised girl back into a close hug; now their noses almost touched and once again, only one of them smirked. Symonne allowed herself a giggle over Edna's renewed blush, especially because her prey kept fidgeting; the other girl's knees steadied her on the couch, almost straddling Symonne from how she was placed.

"Okay, that's enough," Laphi chimed in sternly. "Let her go, Symonne."

Seeing Edna's state and renewed tension, Symonne had to agree with his assessment; this was enough. She let go. "Alright. Sorry if that was a little overbearing."

Edna leaned back slowly, studying her with absolute confusion. Then, from one moment to the next, her expression hardened and she leaned forward again, one hand rising to cup Symonne's cheek; she pressed her warm forehead against Symonne's a moment later, staring directly into her eyes. The silence that followed lasted for a while, as Symonne was the one to blush this time. This was closer than she intended to be and it did funny things to her feelings. Edna's smirk had reemerged as she taunted quietly: "Where did that wave of bravado go? I only see a puddle."

It took a moment for Symonne to compose herself, much less a response. Her mouth opened to speak, but then she paused and pulled up a single finger to press on Edna's lips; pushing her back gently made the other girl retreat. "I give you that one," Symonne conceded chipperly, "and props for pushing past your inhibitions. But you really don't want to challenge me in a game of chicken in this. Unless you wanted to give Laphi a show?"

Edna blinked once before her cheeks grew crimson a third time. Not just a light dusting of pink, but a beet red Symonne rarely ever saw before; she did remember that it was common for Edna, though. The implications of her last words were certainly not lost on the earth seraph, but the true hilarity was Laphi wearing a blush to match. Edna dismounted her thighs silently, making to sit next to Symonne while keeping a polite distance between them. Laphi hid his face, likely to hide the blush Symonne already spied; she giggled again and leaned over to pet his head. "There there, we both know you missed me." He just kept grumbling.

With no proper response forthcoming, Symonne's attention went to Edna, who studied the hand on his head rather curiously. "You want headpats, too?" Her cheerful question garnered a fast shake of the head, which almost made Symonne do it anyway, but she reined herself in, if barely. "Okay then, but the offer stands."

Laphi picked this moment to float away beneath her hand, gliding through the air and to his feet with a lazy turn. "I'll go get some more tea," he announced in an obvious bid to get some breathing room. "Do you want another cup, Edna?"

"Yes, please."

Both of their cups startet to float and follow Laphi out of the room, leaving the two girls in a bit of a weird silence; Symonne could not tell why it felt weird, she just knew it did. Something was odd about Edna as well, considering how little snark there had been from her so far; Symonne figured that must have been because of meeting Heldalf and decided not to poke the issue. Which sadly left her with few matters to talk about and required some digging about any safe subjects. "So, how did chewing out Sorey go?" The earth seraph tilted her head in visible confusion, so Symonne reminded her: "About Alisha"

"Ah, right. Well enough, I guess. He is stubborn like a mule and didn't change his mind right away, but I got him to think it over. Maybe he goes down to being stubborn like a rock from there."

"That's a start at least. Alisha would be much happier if she could keep him as a friend." Then, as she could just not resist, Symonne nudged Edna with her elbow. "So you think Sorey is more stubborn than you, oh lady of the mountain?"

The other girl started to grin in turn. "Yes. Even solid stone is more fluid than Sorey, and half as dense." She paused noticeably, studying Symonne again before continuing: "Then again, fluidity and density aren't really related, oh lady of the river."

This took a moment of consideration to even try making sense of; Symonne still failed and had to shake her head. "Okay, I don't follow."

Edna hesitated once again, glancing to the door; a sign she did not want Laphi to hear whatever came next, which in turn intrigued Symonne. She leaned in to make sure she heard clearly, only to stiffen when the other girl finally spoke: "You are crushing on Laphi." At first she huffed and wanted to laugh it off, but the odd churning in her gut returned and made her hesitate; it was true Laphicet and her were close for a while and that she actively liked to be around him, and she thought of him when they were separated...

"Oh."

It never actually occurred to her that she was crushing. Perhaps in love, even.

Of course, Laphi picked that exact moment to return with refreshments and another platter of cookies. All was placed in front of them and a question about Symonne being alright waved off; even though she knew her confusion was visible enough to be noticed, she could not help it. In the middle of her whirlpool of thoughts, she realised how Edna kept eyeing her almost cautiously. Confused? No, but perhaps scared. When the other girl glanced at Laphi again, she understood. "So are you."

A soft nod was all the answer she needed; the knot somewhere south of her heart continued to throb, worry bubbling up from deeper within Symonne. Fear as well, fear of losing the boy she liked to another. A potent fear too, seeing how well those two seemed to get along; had they kissed before? She could not tell, but some part of her needed to know. Envy, jealousy, an aching need to persevere in this matter all joined the plethora of new sensations Symonne experienced. She tried to quell them all and mull over her situation, but success was minimal.

Ultimately, the now incredibly awkward silence was broken by Laphicet asking the only question he knew to ask: "What's going on?"

"Girl stuff," Edna deflected immediately; Symonne understood that neither of them wanted to draw him into this yet and agreed.

"Yep, girl stuff. Girl stuff that we, uh, should probably talk about later?"

It ended up being more of a question than she meant it to be, but Edna nodded once again. Laphi glanced between them before looking down at his teacup. "Girls are weird," he mumbled, just loud enough for them to hear. They both shrugged; He was not wrong.

From that point however, the entire situation became awkward; neither girl brought forth any more teasing or even so much as a proper conversation, both fully aware of the other's feelings and uncertain how to act about it. Symonne was at a loss, wanting to be the favoured one and to assert herself but liking Edna enough not to want to hurt her. Going by her refusal to try for Laphi's affection in front of Symonne, the other woman felt similarly.

After some time, Laphi sighed and stood without meeting their eyes. "I think you should get your girl stuff out of the way first, so I'm now going to make a completely inconcspicious retreat to my workshop. See you!" He dashed out of the room with those words, leaving two befuddled girls behind. They stared at the door, then at each other; Symonne cracked first and started to giggle, with Edna following a moment later. The tension dissolved as they laughed together.

"He somehow gets to be blunt and considerate at the same time," the water seraph mused once she got a hold of herself. The earth seraph agreed with a nod.

"It's cute."

Edna's response unleashed another giggling fit. Even if it was just the sudden stress that made them laugh, Symonne appreciated it anyway. Once they were calm again, she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Here isn't a good place to talk about this, I think. Should we go elsewhere? I could just cover us in illusions so no one can hear, but I'd rather make sure." Edna agreed easily enough and they left the Crowe's Nest in search of a more secluded place; it was also her who soon pointed out the belltower, which Symonne liked. They could talk in peace and the view was nice, though it may be a bit more extravagant than appropriate for the subject matter.

Neither girl spoke as they climbed the tower, each trapped in her own head; Symonne tried to come up with a way to actually discuss this but blanked out entirely, a state which did not change even when they were settled at the very top. Her illusions reached out and covered all of Lastonbell like a blanket; overkill it may be, but she wanted to make sure.

"Now what?"

Symonne shrugged weakly. "No idea. Humans usually settle this by one side deferring to the other if the girls know each other, or by competing when they don't."

"But we are seraphim," Edna countered haughtily. "So we ought to do better than that." She did not say, but Symonne caught her meaning anyway; that she did not want to hurt Symonne by 'stealing' Laphicet.

"Agreed." And she felt similarly. "But what do we do about this? Both of us pining after him without acting is even worse." Edna nodded, but did not share her thoughts just yet, so Symonne coaxed her: "Any ideas how we decide who gets to try first?" The other girl shrugged again and frowned as she considered.

"We could just ask him to pick one of us. That's the best I have and it's bad. It might not even work because he is so protective, so he might just pick me after... you know." Edna did not clarify what, and Symonne still did not know what exactly happened to her; she got her meaning though, which drew a snort.

"That makes me think he'd agonize over this even more than normally because he knows we don't have many friends beside him. He might just pick me out of guilt, too." When Edna glanced at her, Symonne made a face and decided to reveal that bit: "I used to be suppressed, during the Age of the Gods I mean. Still can't look at his light without getting scared."

"I see." There was no empathy to her tone, but Edna always tried to keep it devoid of emotion. Symonne still felt a little hurt about her lack of care, but then the other seraph bumped her shoulder ever so slightly. "But you still like him?"

"He is my first ever friend," Symonne supplied softly. "I only found out about the other thing later, when I was already crushing on him." She bumped Edna's shoulder in response.

"It was similar for me. He is important to both of us. We could share him."

The deadpan had Symonne blink at Edna, whose expression gave almost nothing away; just the slightest curl of her lips indicated the attempt at levity. In difference to what she expected however, Symonne's brow creased as she began to contemplate the jest. "I was joking," Edna quickly clarified, but the other girl just shrugged.

"So what if you were? The idea has merit; if this worked out, we both get what we want and no one is hurt."

"You have a point, but...." Edna trailed off, clearly hesitant; she needed a while to finish the sentence, clearly unused to talking about her feelings like this: "I would just be jealous half the time. That might be worse than not being with him." She was not wrong, although Symonne had been thinking of the matter a little differently.

A soft tap on Edna's shoulder drew the other girl's attention, at which point Symonne smiled at her winningly. "I was thinking more of a proper relationship between all of us, not to put Laphi between the two of us. If we did this, I would want the two of us to be an item, too. It should be fine then, right?" She wanted to leave it at that, but another idea made Symonne snap her fingers. "And if it turns out he doesn't like either of us that way, we can start going out with each other instead!"

Edna opened her mouth but hesitated, clearly confused and intrigued by the idea. "I never considered that," she admitted after a moment. "But would that work?"

"Who knows?" Symonne shot back playfully, batting her eyes at the other seraph. "Do you think I'm cute enough to compete with Laphi?" She considered nestling against Edna too, but left that for another time. She received a faint blush anyway, which only grew deeper with the follow-up: "You're definitely cute enough!"

"T-That's beside the point! I mean, we get along right now but we barely know each other and we aren't in love. It's, I'm not sure." What Symonne could tell was that a bashful, babbling Edna was adorable, but wisely did not mention that. Instead, she turned more serious and shook her head.

"We aren't in love, but we can be," Symonne began carefully. She picked her next words with caution to make sure she was understood. "I watched people a lot, and from that I learned something valuable: love is transient, it can slip away in a single moment if you take it for granted." Edna blinked, but did not interrupt as she listened intently. "Relationships that last are built on effort, to keep it up even after the magic of those first moments fades. So even if Laphi rejects us both, if we put in work to like each other, we will keep having that."

The ensuing silence felt a little oppressive to Symonne; perhaps Edna agreed, seeing how her first response was not an insightful reply but rather an attempt to tease: "So you're a voyeur?"

"Can't deny it, really. Not like the humans knew I was there when they got frisky." Symonne shrugged, then chuckled when Edna blushed once again. She aborted another motion for her umbrella, clearly used to hiding such expressions and conciously stopping herself here. It meant she was willing to let her see, which was promising. Looking at her and their past interactions, Symonne could see it working. It would be odd and unorthodox, but so were all of them.

Neither of them found anything else to add; Edna stewed in her own thoughts, likely mulling over Symonne's proposal. They observed people walk by far beneath, the silence stretching on and on. Both girls flinched as the bell rang right below them, almost unbearably loud; another hour passed, as signified by the ringing, before Edna finally answered her: "Okay, let's try this." Her agreement took a moment to be registered, but Symonne's hesitant smile was returned at once.

"Alright. Let's, uh... hm." She paused to consider what to do next. They barely spent any time together before. Finding some of her confidence, Symonne winked at her potential girlfriend-to-be. "So if we do this, you and I need to get comfortable with each other, too. We should see about that before talking to Laphi." Edna averted her gaze shily, but did not turn away; her cheeks became pink, a far more modest blush that was still as endearing as her previous scarlet. Symonne made a thoughtful noise and shimmied a little closer to the other girl. "Can I hold your hand?" Edna hesitated at that point, eyeing the hand next to her own uncertainly. Then however, she gave herself a push and bridged the gap on her own, covering Symonne's. The water seraph smiled softly at that. "Well, we're off to a good start."

The two remained seated there, Edna's warm and soft hand clasped over her own. It remained mildly awkward, but Symonne found more comfort now than she did before. After a time, Edna squeezed her hand ever so slightly. Symonne glanced at her then, concerned this was going too far. "Something wrong?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted hesitantly. Her mouth opened and closed several times before more words followed. "This is all so new, I'm not sure how to...." Edna trailed off there and hung her head, but she had been clear enough even though she forced the words out. Symonne turned her hand around and intertwined their fingers gently, never ceasing to smile.

"Don't worry, I got no idea either. I just do what I saw humans do and what feels right. Within limits."

"What kind of limits?"

"We have a romantic moment on top of the belltower, normally that would lead to kisses."

"Oh."

Edna sat still and fidgeted, but did not pull away; with her intended reassurance having failed, Symonne leaned a little closer with a huff. "Don't worry, I won't push you on that. This is going fast already. But say, do you want to kiss Laphi first, or is either of us fine?" Her question led to a moment of contemplation.

Then Edna reflected it back at her instead: "What about you?"

In hindsight, perhaps she should not have brought that up. Everything had just begun, so admitting to their more adventurous moments might scare Edna off; yet lying would be worse, so she had to hope. "I already kissed Laphi," Symonne admitted slowly, stopping herself from shrugging when Edna's head turned. "But that was more me being me and not us being a couple. You would not believe how much I had to work on that boy."

"For what exactly?" There was curiousity there, but also insecurity; Symonne could understand her.

"To get him to stop being super polite and thoughtful. It's cute at first, but it gets tiring after a time. He thinks too much about what is okay with how he was raised and too little about what we think is okay. Does that make sense?" It did to her; kindness and politeness were good tools for interacting with strangers, but a friend should not require either. It just showed how Laphi never had a real friend before, not that the girls were much better off in that regard.

Edna mulled it over for a moment, her previous uncertainty replaced by understanding. "It does," she agreed.

From there, they continued to chat about their shared crush and then their own interests. They continued sitting close, hands intertwined but going no further; Symonne found that being with Edna was actually quite comfortable. When she ended their outing with a chaste peck to Edna's cheek and made the other girl blush again, then received the same a moment later, Symonne felt this might just work.

 

A weird mood took hold of Edna over the days since that important conversation with Symonne. A week prior, she never imagined how everything would turn out; she figured she had a romantic rival, that there might be competition or some kind of agreement. Now however, she found she liked Symonne's company. While the other girl was a lot more direct and lewd than her, she took obvious care not to cross the line; whenever Edna became uncomfortable, Symonne backed off and ceased to push. She was considerate in her own way and fun to chat with. Going by how often Symonne smiled, Edna figured the feeling was mutual. She did not even mind being touched by the water seraph, much like she did not mind Laphi doing so.

They spent a lot of time together and with Laphicet, getting used to each other. Edna enjoyed that time a great deal, having begun to see similarities between Symonne and Laphi; both treated her kindly in their own way, gave her space whenever she wanted it, but both also refused to let her push them away. It may be a bit short to say for certain, but she felt comfortable around Symonne and so decided she was ready.

Now, the two of them stood in front of Laphicet's workshop. Their mutual crush had toiled away in there for hours, leaving them to talk things over on their own. Symonne squeezed her hand and the two exchanged determined nods; Edna could not help but smile the tiniest bit, finding it returned moments later. They both hoped they would be accepted, yet even if Laphi rejected them, there would still be someone there; it was soothing in a way, though her chest still clenched at the thought of rejection.

Then Edna wondered what happened if he ended up liking just Symonne; she would be left alone in that case. Dread crawled into the pit of her stomach for a moment, but Symonne bumped her hip almost immediately. "Hey, relax," she soothed softly. "You stared down worse things than this."

"I can usually beat those worse things up," she quipped back to settle her nerves, drawing a giggle from Symonne.

"Yeah, I doubt Laphi is into that." The other girl got swatted on the shoulder in response, but her words helped a bit.

They squeezed each other's hands once more and opened the door, only to be bathed in golden light; Symonne flinched, her breathing growing laboured as she closed her eyes. To Edna, the light just felt warm, almost kind even. She stood in place and let Symonne squeeze her hand until she was ready. Laphi did not notice them anyway, his focus solely on a complicated pattern he weaved; strings of coloured light went into the arte from all of his fingers. Having a moment to watch, Edna did not understand what kind of arte he worked on; she recognised the swirling edges of an embedded arte, but not its purpose. All she could tell was that it would be put into an object. Outside of Laphi and his work, there was little in this room; several shelves and workbenches, various items from boxes to blades, and an entire stack of parchments, some of which held carefully sketched arte formulas.

As Symonne's breathing relaxed, Edna took the first step inside and led her along. The light faded seconds later, just as she closed the door; Laphi still missed their presence, muttering under his breath and grabbing for a sheet of parchment. The girls exchanged glances, Symonne still a little out of it; Edna decided it was up to her and spoke up the easiest way she could: "What are you working on?"

He paused at hearing her voice, a stick of charcoal right above the parchment. The moment he turned his head, his expression brightened in a way that made her heart race. "Oh, hello! I'm working on-" Laphi stopped himself there and glanced down, then back up at them. "I'm not sure I can say," he finished sheepishly.

This obviously drew Symonne's curiousity; she forgot her nerves, strolling forward with a grin. "Oh, keeping secrets from us?" Edna followed, unwilling to let go of the other girl's hand; Laphi shrugged with a glance at the diagram he worked on. Edna studied it and recognised at least some parts, integration and fusion, but failed to understand how they matched with Malevolence, light, and a dozen interwoven segments she could not parse. Symonne whistled. "Whew, what kind of arte is that complicated? I can see fusion and... is that harmony over there?"

Edna blinked as this new information formed an understanding with her own observations: "This is a formula for armatisation."

"Of course," Symonne agreed after a short pause. "So you're optimising it?"

Laphi just smiled and covered his mouth in mirthful refusal to explain; Edna rolled her eyes, a fond "Nerd" her only response. She could not help but adore his antics; Symonne giggled and Laphi laughed as well.

After that however, he changed the subject: "So, did you need something?" Reminding them of the situation, he obviously noticed how both girls stiffened a little; they exchanged nervous looks and Symonne took the lead, but managed little more than to stutter and go nowhere. She completely forgot her own confidence, began to blush, and earned a flash of pity from Edna when she finally trailed off. Psyching herself up and actually doing it were different things after all.

Sighing, the earth seraph squeezed Symonne hand a little stronger, signalling her to stop. Then she let go and took over, her gut twisting in knots that went ignored: "Symonne and I were talking. You... no." She stopped herself there, unwilling to explain everything step by step. She took a deep breath, one hand over her heart. "We both like you a lot, and we both want to be with you." Just those words turned her face into a furnace, but they were out; Laphi could do little more than blink when she already clarified, just to be sure: "We don't want you to pick one of us, that's what we talked about. If it's okay with you, we want to make this a proper relationship with all three of us."

Symonne nodded dumbly, still at a loss for words; Laphi was, too. His mouth opened and closed as he stared at them, clearly confused. Both girls waited with bated breath, his thoughts hidden from them by that wide-eyed look.

After a moment, Laphi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "O-Okay. Give me a moment." It was a plea they granted without even an acknowledgement, watching him swipe all the diagrams off his table; a telekinesis-arte caught them in mid-air anyway while he sat down with clasped hands. Laphi fidgeted, then began to blush as well, matching both girls. The tense silence held for an uncomfortably long time, broken only when he threw them a cautious glance. "Just to make sure, this is not a prank, right?"

Just the suspicion she would do that hurt a little, but Edna shook her head dutifully. Symonne barked out a laugh instead, finally getting herself together. "It's not," she agreed, "but looking at it this way, yeah, that might have been something I'd thought of pranking you with a few months ago. We're serious about this. And an answer would be nice before one of us snaps from nerves." Edna elbowed her to be silent, but received no response. Symonne was tense like a bowstring, she noticed.

Laphi averted his gaze, frowning. Edna already feared the worst when his shoulders slumped, but he alleviated that a moment later: "Is, I... can I, um, have some time to think about that? My head is a mess right now."

"It's fine," she agreed immediately and despite Symonne's -accurate- previous assessment. "We needed a while to get ourselves sorted out. Take your time." She did not like having to wait, but she would bear with it.

"Thank you." There was audible relief in his voice; Laphi removed the active arte-formula and made to leave, but paused as he passed them. His gaze was earnest, somehow holding certainty despite how uncertain he was. "I know I should answer this quickly, but I want to give the answer you deserve. Both of you."

"And... which one is that?"

She almost elbowed Symonne again for putting him on the spot, but Laphi did not seem perturbed. He shrugged. "The one that is true. If I say yes now but my heart isn't in it, that hurts you just as much as if I said no but later realise I do want to. I need to think." His piece said, he shuffled out of the room; Edna only realised how befuddled he was when she realised they were left in there. Neither did he shoo them out, nor did he lock up behind himself.

Symonne let out a shaky breath and tried for a winning smile. "Well," she noted faintly, "no immediate rejection! Want to snoop through his work while we wait?" The suggestion earned her a flick to the forehead, followed by an unimpressed Edna pulling her out of the room to halfhearted and playful protests.

Meanwhile, Laphicet's head spun. The moment he rounded the corner, he began to dash away; his heart beat heavily, all his thoughts went in circles. Meticulous measurements for his newest project were discarded and forgotten as this new situation had been revealed to him. He pondered from time to time, especially after that encounter with Symonne on Hexen Isle, but the issue was mostly left to collect dust in the back of his mind. Now it had come for him when he least expected it.

He needed Velvet. Which meant that he ran into the kitchen and dragged her out, ignoring all protests; she soon let him pull her away, shouting for someone else to take over her spot. Laphicet kept quiet about the situation until they were in their shared room, though she was laughing by the end of his hurried explanation.

"Aww, my little Laphi is growing up!" The half-condescending hug was swatted away and his glare likewise ignored. Velvet chuckled some more, then plopped down onto her bed. She patted the spot next to her. "I can't tell you what to do, you know?"

"I know," he admitted while settling down by her side. "But I don't know what to do right now. How can I tell if I like them back? And both of them, at that; do you think that could even work?" He was fretting and doubtful, and Velvet was a rock he could cling to like he did so long ago; the next embrace was not refused, him nestling into her side shily.

"It's hard to say," Velvet began carefully, resting her chin on top of his head. Her presence was comforting and eased his nerves. "But with the way I've seen you interact with them, I think you do like them at least enough to try. They're both precious to you, aren't they?" His mumbled agreement received a soft huff and a squeeze. "Then give your nerves a little bit of time to settle and think, if you feel you need to. Just don't let them wait too long. You think too much from time to time, Laphi.

"Come to think of it," she continued after a comfortable moment, "I've seen those two together a lot. They probably talked this over if they came to you together, so I'd say to trust them a little. I don't know if this kind of thing can work, but I don't see why it shouldn't, either. But really, it will be some work, too. Nothing worth having is free, after all."

He mumbled assent, but could not help himself then; he just had to needle his sister a little: "Like with you and that mystery boyfriend of yours?" Unfortunately, Velvet kept her mouth tightly shut, if curled into a knowing smile. He had yet to find out just who she was meeting, or when, or how. Then again, he did not really try, either; not to mention Laphicet had other priorities right now. "But thank you. I'll think about it."

"Anytime."

. .
. .​

Symonne and Edna were tense. Oh, they tried to calm down in the living room, but both of them failed miserably. Even when she took the earth seraph's hand and stroked it soothingly, that did not settle her nerves for long. Neither did it help Symonne herself. She was quite happy when Margaret and Alisha wandered in, having returned from their trip to Pendrago. Greetings were exchanged and, going by her more steadfast behaviour, Alisha was doing better; she had her own minor breakdown after hearing of Lailah's end. Margaret took it better, much like Symonne, but they had not known Lailah well to begin with.

Alisha studied the two seraph girls curiously, then leaned forward to nudge Symonne. "So, what have you two been doing? You are not eloping on us, are you Symonne?" The tease came unexpected and made the nervous girl stammer, blushing furiously. Margaret laughed at her openly and even Alisha allowed herself a chuckle, which only added to the embarassment.

Then however, she cast a glance to Edna, who shrugged. They remained tense, but they might as well pass the time. Firming herself up, Symonne threw a smirk back at the therion and held up their intertwined hands. "We are," she confirmed to befuddled stares. "In two hours we will leave to get married in the grandest cathedral you have ever seen!"

"Wow, congratulations!" Margaret beamed, obviously delighted. "Do you think I can be your bridesmaid? Do seraphim have bridesmaids?" Alisha congratulated them moments later and Symonne averted her gaze, the original plan having backfired horribly. It took the human a few moments, but the smile faded when she noticed their hands remaining as they were; clasped together, holding onto the other. Her brows rose almost imperceptibly as she studied them. "You're actually together?" Shrugs were given, at which point Alisha began to frown.

"Is this, well, normal among seraphim?" the former princess inquired, her expression carefully pleasant in a way that made it clear she was suppressing something less kind. For a moment Symonne grew defensive, squeezing Edna's hand. This earned her a glance from her girlfriend-to-be, but no reprimand. Both of them could only shrug, though.

"It's common among humans," Symonne informed her companion tersely; it actually hurt a little that a friend would doubt her own interests in a partner like that. Alisha's saving grace was that she obviously tried to keep it down, regardless of her current frown.

"How would two women even... well, you know?" The question stood in the room rather uncomfortably as Symonne slowly let go of Edna. Raising her hands, she stared Alisha straight in the eyes, then spread index and middle fingers in clear V-shapes, only to demonstratively slide both into each other. Alisha flushed first, then Margaret, then Edna.

"Understood." The therion dragged her feet, embarassment soon fading in favour of curiousity. "Actually, if you don't mind me asking, do seraphim, er, procreate like humans do? It just occurred to me there ought to be more of you if you do not die of old age."

"We're born out of the earthpulses," Edna supplied at once, probably to prevent Symonne from doing something else to embarass everyone. "We form there from pure mana."

"So no pregnancies for us," Symonne added cheekily, well aware of the elbow jabbed into her side but ignoring it. "We don't really need sex either, it's more of a commodity like food." And just to rub it in, she leaned forward with a mischievous grin, stage-whispering at the other women: "One big advantage all lady seraphim have, hehe: no hymen."

"Wait... shit, I have one of those too!" All eyes went to Margaret after her outburst, the girl averting her gaze sheepishly while Symonne broke into laughter and leaned against Edna for support; it was hilarious in a way, the rebirth of Artorius being worried about her first time hurting.

Ignoring the laughing seraph, Alisha kindly squeezed the younger girl's shoulder, trying to soothe her. "Do not worry about it too much. I heard several accounts over the years, for some it hurts, for some it does not. Women like us who are used to battle would likely be unfazed by it either way, and I heard that as much physical activity as ours can potentially even break a hymen on its own." Symonne only laughed harder, though Margaret nodded along.

"Ah, a bunch of gorgeous ladies laughing together is either a pleasing or a terrifying sight."

And just like this, the mood changed entirely; a pleasantly dark, male voice rolled into the room. All attention went to the doorway, where a man stood. Broad-shouldered and tall, his chest bare; they all met Zaveid before, of course. Alisha visibly appreciated his abs just like the last time they met, the man himself swaggering toward them; Margaret straightened and met him with a friendly smile. "I didn't know you're back already?"

"Eh, I didn't actually leave yet," he told them with a shrug. "Velvet called in a favour to find shepsy some pals. I'll be off soon with Rose and Dezel, we'll catch up to Sorey sooner or later." There was a palpable sense of surprise among them, as he made his opinion on the current shepherd rather clear before.

"What did she bribe you with?" Edna finally broke the baffled silence with. "No, what can she bribe you with?"

"Maybe with her body?" Symonne suggested, only for Edna to stare at her like she grew a second head. She had a point, though; as if Zaveid of all people would ever score.

The man himself just huffed. "Nah, no such thing. Damn good motivation though, that bod of hers." Margaret and Alisha both wilted away from him at that point, which he ignored in favour of waving at Edna. "Anyway, looking forward to work with you." Zaveid then proceeded to pat her head in the most condescending manner imaginable and swaggered out of the room with a wave. Left behind were a confused therion and a resigned earth seraph.

"He's hot, we have to give him that."

Edna rolled her eyes at Symonne for the comment. "But nothing else, and even that is questionable."

Alisha remained silent, likely also having picked up on the fact he might act like this on purpose. Symonne could not say why she thought so, but the suspicion was there.

Margaret sighed, muttering softly. "I admire his confidence." Edna and Symonne both offered a quick "That's fair", then glanced each other and broke into smiles.

Not much later, Laphicet poked his head into the room and eyed them owlishly. "So that is what he meant with 'chicks'," the seraph boy noted, much to their immediate exasperation. Alisha, being a princess, needed an explanation before she understood. At which point she simply disregarded the matter entirely and focussed on Laphi, asking if he needed anything. Unfortunately, his eyes darted over the other two seraphim in the room and quickly went elsewhere; Laphi shook his head. "Well, I was going out and got curious what Zaveid meant. Don't let me stop you from having fun." He then disengaged and vanished, prompting a sigh from Symonne.

"There goes hoping he's done thinking already."

"He's never done thinking," Edna retorted with a grin.

"True."

Both girls sighed together, which prompted Margaret to ask what was going on; the reaction she and Alisha had to learning they both wanted Laphi was decidedly more amusing, especially when the former princess revealed herself far more accepting of that idea than just the two girls. Royals were weird, though at least all the conversation made for a good distraction.

. .
. .​

​

Far above the clouds, Laphicet floated in deep contemplation. He retreated to where few could follow after talking to his sister, still uncertain what to make of the situation he found himself in.

Edna and Symonne were doubtlessly precious to him; denying that was impossible. Yet he still failed to figure out if the feelings bubbling in his chest were actual attraction or something else; regardless of the former being a near certainty by this point, he worried about the latter case. He also worried about making such a relationship work if he did want it; more people would clearly make it more difficult.

As his thoughts wandered however, they were inevitably drawn back to that night on Hexen Isle. He kissed Symonne before. She said back then that it did not have to mean romance; perhaps she was lying to appease her own doubts at the time. Perhaps she really thought so and changed her mind later. In the end, it did not matter to the fact Laphicet had enjoyed the experience and would gladly repeat it; perhaps that was the crux of his contemplations. He could hardly imagine kissing anyone else, except maybe Edna.

Closing his eyes with a sigh, Laphicet willed himself to descend; his body lowered into the roiling clouds, which got him damp and charged with lightning as a rainstorm was apparently pelting Lastonbell beneath. He shrugged it off and hurried downward, quickly homing in on the Crowe's Nest; through the rooftop entrance, it was just a few stairways to reach the living space he last saw Edna and Symonne, the girls currently busy playing cards. They immediately turned their heads and dropped everything when they saw him, though.

The drying arte finished its work as he entered, fully aware of the worried gazes on him. Laphicet closed the door first and made his way over to sit with them, heart beating to his chest with every step. Neither girl said anything, they could probably tell it was time and waited for him. It became easier as he settled on the couch next to Symonne, taking a deep breath for calm. "I'd like to try with the both of you," he began to ease the tension, being rewarded with beaming smiles that unwittingly drew out his own. "But I still don't understand so many things. I'm almost sure this is what I want, but I just can't stop worrying that it isn't." Glancing between the two however, he could feel his heart flutter. "But I definitely like your smiles a lot."

"It's fine," Symonne reassured him while snaking her hand into his. "This is a learning experience for all of us." Edna nodded along as she settled on his free side, mimicking the other girl's motion. His girlfriends, now. It felt odd to think of them that way, just like this.

"What now?" Edna asked after a moment.

"Uh... make out?"

Laphicet sighed in response to Symonne's suggestion, wondering why he did not see it coming. Before he could reprimand her however, Edna piped up: "I'd like that." Glancing over, he found her averting her gaze shily, cheeks pink. This time it was for him to fidget in embarassment. Symonne giggled, though she seemed just as sheepish.

"So, did you decide yet? Which of us do you want first?" Edna remained in her spot a moment longer before hesitantly shimmying around. She took a deep breath and steeled herself, then slipped off the couch and around Laphi, to straddle Symonne; she never let go of his hand though, pulling him along. With her choice clearly communicated, Laphicet first averted his eyes, but then could not help but watch anyway; the girls rested their foreheads against each other, staring into the other's eyes. "You sure," Symonne asked unnecessarily, then cupped Edna's chin when she nodded. "Alright."

Their kiss was chaste, much like his had been. Symonne led carefully, pressing her lips to Edna's until the other girl began to push back. It was sweet even for him to just watch, the two almost melting into each other; they separated after some time, smiling and squeezing his hands to remind him he was not forgotten.

After that, Symonne leaned over and kissed Laphi, then Edna did the same before Symonne claimed her lips again. They all tested the waters with each other, but that was perfectly fine with him. The rain roared outside, hardly noticed as they cuddled up after a while.

At first it was Laphicet sandwiched between the girls, warm and comfortable with them by his side; after a while however, Symonne leaned away and crawled over his and Edna's laps, coming to lie with Edna's hand carding through her black curls. Laphicet needed a moment to settle the hand not claimed by his other girlfriend, which the minx obviously noticed; she wiggled her butt a little and glanced back cheerfully. "Don't be shy, I know you like it. Wanna touch?" She then shrieked in surprise when he gave her a sharp smack, which quickly transitioned into giggles.

For his part, Laphicet sighed and rolled his eyes at Edna, who nodded back in their shared embarassment.

Cynthia and Margaret wandered into the room soon after that point; the moment the younger Randgriz saw them, she stopped dead in her tracks before quickly pulling her mother out of the room. All three seraphim sat completely still at first, but soon smiles went around. "This is nice," Laphicet finally voiced his thoughts. His girlfriends agreed readily.

It still felt odd in a way; he never managed to relax before while doing nothing, always rather reading a book or talking to people. Right here, right now, he was perfectly content enjoying Edna's and Symonne's presence and little else.

. .
. .​

​

It was already apparent at dinnertime with how the three of them were almost huddled together. Symonne smiled when Margaret and Alisha both congratulated them, though Velvet appeared just amused by the whole situation. Then again, Edna reasoned, she already took both girls aside before to have a quick word about being good to her brother.

Edna knew she did not need Velvet's blessing to be with Laphi, but it still meant a lot that she was so supportive of them. Especially when considering that Symonne could have easily been a spy if her current crisis of faith were less obvious; it had been a bit of a shock to learn she worked for Heldalf, but a long conversation with Grimoirh helped Edna work through that. Not to mention learning that her girlfriend never figured out 'old Nica's' actual identity. Everything was looking up.

After a few blissful days however, it was time for Symonne to carry on. Margaret and Alisha had already given them some time to enjoy together, but their patience clearly ran out. Symonne complained at her and Laphi of course, but there was little heat to it; the situation did not allow them to sit idle.

"Just so we're clear, no sex without me around."

But of course, she had to give them a parting shot; Edna averted her gaze over the mental images Symonne comment conjured up, not having spent much thought on when to go beyond just sharing kisses. Instead of responding, she just squeezed her girlfriend's hand; Symonne visibly revelled in the embarassment she caused both of them as they walked hand in hand to meet the others. "I mean it," she reaffirmed, though her smile grew less mischievous and more tender. "I want the first time we do that to be with all of us." She had a point there, though neither her nor Laphi wanted to even say as much. Edna also wondered whether it was alright to stay behind with their boyfriend when Symonne left already; they talked about it before, but she was still divided despite her girlfriend's reassurance.

The train of thought cut off when they reached the teleportation chamber, where Margaret and Alisha were already waiting for them; Velvet leaned against one of the walls and several seraphim moved to or from the gates. The other girls greeted them easily, Symonne distentangling her hand to wave; Edna's eyes found Laphi's and he nodded, adopting a playful grin that she shared. Symonne had meant to call out her readiness, but she grew stock-still when the two of them kissed her cheeks as one.

Laphi chuckled over Symonne's surprise and gave her a gentle push. "Don't let us stop you, get going."

"Stay safe," Edna added quietly, all while Margaret laughed and Alisha's pensive expression was replaced by something softer.

Symonne did not hesitate to join her friends, a bright smile on her face. "So, where are we going next?" she inquired curiously, though her gaze flicked back. Margaret indulged her as they powered up the arte.

"I was thinking about Gododdin. The village is rather far off and may be in need of aid."

"I can see why you would think that," Alisha chimed in then. "This does sound like a good idea." Like this, the three women entered the portal and were gone, leaving her with just Laphicet and Velvet. Edna studied the artes neatly arrayed, then turned around, both Crowes following;neither said anything about the bright smile she showed to the world.​

 

The final few days of their journey, Sorey and Mikleo wandered alongside an incredibly powerful barrier; neither of them dared even touch it, recalling Zenrus' warning about never heading in that direction. Malevolence most foul was contained behind, though for what reason neither of them could fathom.

Now however, three weeks since leaving Lastonbell and after Winter's cold winds embraced the land, they had finally arrived. Sorey watched the surprised but also impressed looks their entrance garnered as he slid over the mountaintop on a swirling river. Mikleo's control improved greatly from their time in the wilds and the two of them waved as everyone gathered around them giddily; Sorey could not help but smile, being home once more. He shared high-fives, bumped fists, exchanged greetings for several minutes before the entire area fell into a sudden lull.

As men and women made room, he saw just why the mood grew a little tense: there stood Zenrus himself, bent by age and tiny of a man with a long, white beard. Nonetheless, his presence felt as if he towered over everyone; the old seraph studied both brothers curiously. "I did not expect you back so soon, my boys," he then greeted them with a faint smile. "How did your journey go?"

The smile vanished when Sorey's expression clouded over. What remained of the good mood from before was gone at that point, though Mikleo thankfully took it off him to break the news: "A lot happened, gramps." He put a comforting hand on Sorey's shoulder before he even began. "Sorey bonded with Lailah and became Shepherd, so we spent a lot of time cleansing Hyland. But when we made for Rolance, we ran into the Lord of Calamity." Sorey clenched his fists and tried not to think back to it, but everyone's agitation and Zenrus' worry only filled him with shame again.

"We couldn't do anything," he found himself admitting. "He turned Lailah into a dragon in a single strike and she chased him away. Then she said to see you before running off." It hurt almost as much as it had the day he lost her.

Upon hearing the news, Zenrus appeared to age ten thousand years; he slumped in resignation, something none of them had ever seen before. "Zui was right," the ancient seraph muttered to himself, but did not elaborate. When someone out of the crowd asked about who Lailah was, he sighed and filled them in: "Seraph Lailah is... was the last active firekeeper. With her lost, there will be no more shepherds until another seraph takes up the Firekeeper's Oath and carries on the flame." An air of misery followed this declaration, perfectly fitting how Sorey felt on the inside.

A deep sigh shattered the silence and the hand on his shoulder receded. Mikleo stepped forward, expression set. "What kind of Oath is this? Lailah told me a little bit before, but no details." Sorey's eyes widened at that; he did not need to see Zenrus' surprise to get what his brother was thinking of doing.

"Mikleo, no! You don't have to do this!"

"The world needs a shepherd, Sorey. And all shepherds need the silver flame."

"But it still doesn't have to be you!"

"Yes, yes it does! Who else do you want to put this burden on? Saphira? Maisen?" The named seraphim flinched back when Mikleo pointed at them. "Edna? Gramps?" Sorey had no retort to that, but he still did not want his brother to go this far just because he felt he needed to.

Zenrus appeared to agree, seeing that he stepped toward them with a cautious question: "Are you certain? Such a choice should not be made lightly, Mikleo. Once made, an Oath can not be broken except under the most dire of circumstances or with great preparation." Their eyes met for several long moments, though Mikleo crossed his arms and frowned at the older seraph.

"We can't afford to waste time fretting about this," he implored and Sorey knew he was right. "I had weeks to think it through and this is what I will do. Glenwood needs the shepherd, and we need to hurry so we can grow stronger to catch up to the Lord of Calamity."

Much to Sorey's displeasure, Zenrus began to smile. It seems he had been convinced. The mix of surprise and pride radiating from the other seraphim only reaffirmed that this would happen; he knew he could not stop Mikleo after he made up his mind, but it would take time to make his peace with it. Zenrus inclined his head. "Then it shall be. Preparing the arte for this Oath will take me about two or three weeks, so you can rest up here for the time."

"Wait, that long?"

The question earned Mikleo a bop on the head and a short lecture: "Oaths are amongst the most complicated artes in existence and this one is an Oath I know particularly well! Were it not for that, you brats would be stuck here for at least two months, so be grateful!"

"Oh. Sorry, gramps."

The old man sighed and let it be.

So it was that the brothers began their stay at Elysia, though returning to his old life felt decidedly odd to Sorey. It was not the same after everything he experienced, though he appreciated the break. This tranquility no longer felt perfectly safe and protected, but rather a little oppressive despite him knowing he could leave anytime. Perhaps it was related to Mikleo, whom Zenrus continuously called away for some kind of lesson that he was sworn not to speak to Sorey about. All the erstwhile shepherd got out of his brother was that the elder taught him what a firekeeper needed to know; from lost history over general conduct to interaction with hellions and harnessing of the flame.

After the first week, both of them had joined Zenrus for tea. It was the first time Sorey could finally bring up something else that had been quietly gnawing at him. "Hey gramps," he started slowly, "do you remember Alisha? The girl I brought here a few months ago?" When he received a curious nod, Sorey continued: "Well, the thing is that she became a hellion. And I don't mean the usual kind, but... it's weird. I think she's still completely herself, and she wants to stay a hellion. We, uh, tried to cleanse her, but it didn't work." He made a pause to consider his words, unfortunately not being interrupted by questions as he had hoped. "Lailah agreed that we have to cleanse her, but Edna was annoyed with us later. I still don't know what to make of all this, you know? There are some hellions who seem just fine as they are, but...."

He trailed off at that point, uncertain how to phrase his question and doubts. Was it truly necessary to cleanse all hellions, or could there be a select few this did not apply to? Could they live happily despite being warped by Malevolence?

Zenrus, likely having read all of that out of him regardless, sighed. "I was worried about that," he admitted to the two brothers, head bowed. "Hellions that retain their personalities are not particularly rare, but those who wish to retain their altered state are. Of those, most are so disassociated with humankind that they either separate from it or wish to destroy it. This is difficult to teach a child and they are so rarely benevolent that I decided not to bring it up in the past. I expected that if you met any, they would turn out to be enemies." A rueful smile was offered to them. "And then I forgot to get back to it as you grew older. I hope you two can forgive me for that, it was my mistake."

After a momentary pause in which neither boy knew what to do in this unfamiliar situation, Zenrus straightened up and caught their eyes sternly. "The lesson I should have imparted on you long ago is a simple one: be careful who you trust, regardless of whether they are human or hellion. Though finding goodness in the latter is more rare, it is not impossible; you might just find good friends or allies in some of them."

"What about you?" Sorey could not help but ask. "Did you ever meet hellions like that?" He wondered why he never met any such friends the elder implied he had. Zenrus nodded, though it was followed by a sigh.

"I admit to negligence on that part. What few hellions I became acquainted with over the millennia have long since died. Or, wait." He hummed in thought and stroked his white beard, then perked up. "No, no. Rokurou might still be alive, now that I think about it. I have no idea where he went since the last time I saw him, but that was only two, perhaps three hundred years ago? He is one of the greatest swordsmen in recent history, with centuries of training and experience. Right up there with Claudin, Artorius, and...." He paused there, disregarding the way Sorey's eyes lit up in excitement. With a frown, Zenrus shook his head. "Dear me, I forgot her name. One of Artorius' students that ended up matching him."

Sorey could hardly believe that there were others on par with Claudin and Artorius, aside from perhaps Eleanor. It made him giddy but also puzzled about how that was mentioned nowhere. Zenrus successfully distracted him, though: "Anyway, Rokurou. A bit of a hothead whenever there was a chance of fighting a strong opponent, but generally a mellow fellow. He could easily be mistaken for a human if you do not know better." A quiet chuckle followed before the elder returned to their original subject: "That said, bring Alisha back here if you get the chance. I would like to talk to her."

He deflated visibly, unable to meet the old seraph's eyes. "Got to apologise to her first," he muttered. "And find her, she's somewhere in Rolance right now."

"I'm sure she will forgive you," Zenrus encouraged kindly, clapping his shoulder. "You are an earnest boy, Sorey, and she is an earnest girl. If turning truly left who she is unchanged, she will." He managed to coax out a smile and stir some hope of reconciliation in Sorey, who perked up.

When Elysia's only human resident left soon after to do some hunting, leaving behind his brother and parent, Mikleo slowly lowered his own tea. "You lied earlier," he accused calmly. "Who was that student under Artorius?"

Zenrus met his gaze evenly for a long moment.His winds sealed off the area around them. "You were always more cautious than Sorey," he grouched. "I remember that girl's name because she was the very first Lord of Calamity, the woman to coin the title. Artorius died by her hand." Mikleo's jaw fell in shock, but there were more revelations to come: "By her hand, the elemental Empyreans awoke and by their power, the archipelago from a thousand years past formed a single super continent that we now call Glenwood. By her hand, the Age of the Gods came to a close."

Mikleo forced himself to breathe deeply, unnecessary as the exercise was for a seraph. "Then why don't you tell him that?" he inquired sharply. "Knowing the past is important to make a better future!"

For some reason however, this prompted a humourless chuckle from the elder. "My boy, she made the future better." Mikleo blinked, caught by surprise yet again. Zenrus explained it to him: "Truly, many hundreds of thousands died through her machinations, perhaps even more. But in the end, through her actions, Maotelus stepped forward. Saint Eleanor could rise to be the person we now remember her as. The line of shepherds that remains unbroken to this day, if it were not for her, it might never truly have begun.

"This is another lesson for you: not all evil is the same. Not all who do evil do so for bad reasons and not all of them wish the world harm. You act as the shepherd's guide, but you also need to teach them to judge individually and not generally. I... failed to impart that lesson on both of you so far, but it is one you need to learn. Not necessarily for Sorey, but for whoever might come after him. And the one after that. No two people are the same and at the end of the day, Lords of Calamity are people, too."

He adopted a wry grin somewhere throughout, perhaps it even grew a fraction from seeing Mikleo at his wit's end. He could understand that her actions led to good things, but not believe it had been intentional. "B-But, that doesn't make sense," he found himself arguing. "You just said she did all these horrible things, killed so many people. Why was she any different?"

"Ah, that." Zenrus inclined his head. "Mind, Mikleo, I am not absolving her of the deeds she committed. Understanding is not absolution." He had a point there. "But I long since learned that all she did, she did not do out of any drive to harm the world or its people. She held personal hatred for Shepherd Artorius, strong enough to disregard anyone who would stand in her way to him. Everything she did, every death and every action, was to that purpose. There is a difference there, even if the result appears similar to the Calamities that came after."

Everything began to come together; Mikleo mulled it over while Zenrus refilled his tea, though a burning curiousity forced him to inquire further: "What did she hate Artorius for?"

"That, my boy, is a matter best left lost to time. It concerned only the two of them."

"I see. And the difference you mean... is it that if this hatred of hers hadn't been there, she never would have left her mark on the world?" He must have gotten it right, seeing that the elder offered him a rare smile.

"Correct," Zenrus praised, though he remained stern in tone. "Keep this in mind, Mikleo. Many goals can affect the world if they belong to great people, but many of these may not involve the world itself. To understand what they are truly after is important, for it may allow you to prevent a fight."

They continued the lesson in this vein, to the point that it took hours for Mikleo to realise he never learned the first Calamity's name; knowing that this ancient seraph did few things unintentionally, he concluded that this was not knowledge he would gain in Elysia. Ultimately, he decided not to bother about it for the time being and focus on the present.

The second week after their arrival, Sorey and Mikleo had already fallen back into their old rhythm. They explored less than they had before their journey and rather spent time with the other seraphim, but no one paid that much mind. Just as every day, everyone sat together in the village's center for breakfast; a tradition that had been born with Sorey, for Zenrus was concerned the toddler would not understand his need to eat otherwise.

The elder was just explaining to Mikleo that the Oath was almost ready when he perked up and turned his head. "Someone entered my domain," he informed everyone calmly. Conversation ceased at once. "In roughly the same direction as the boys arrived from."

"Were we followed? Hellions?"

"No, Mikleo. A human and two seraphim." A gentle breeze caressed the group as a whole moments later; every single wind seraph stiffened up and Zenrus exhaled slowly. "They found us." Everyone rose almost as one, forming a protective circle around Sorey and Mikleo just in case, though the young men stepped to the front moments later. The gust grew in intensity, becoming a minor storm that tore at the area yet damaged nothing and merely ruffled their clothes.

Then a person surged over the mountain's edge and onto the plateau right outside Elysia, the winds settling. Two seraphim became tangible by their side, their sight merely adding to Sorey's surprise; he could not help but watch in awe as Rose of all people strolled up to the entrance and pushed through Zenrus' barrier. What was more, not just Dezel but also Zaveid flanked her, all three of them taking in the place.

"Rose!" He failed to even notice how his cheerful call dispersed the tension, already jogging over to the older woman. Some others followed, though he reached first and bumped fists with Rose.

"Heya!" she greeted him back with a grin. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced, the guys refuse to send mail for me!" Dezel huffed and shook his head, though Zaveid paid her no mind at all; he was busy winking at the lady seraphim around. Rose continued to rake her eyes over Elysia, whistling appreciatively. "But man, this place looks odd up here. Never thought this is where seraphim would live. I like it!"

"Heh, thanks." Despite the surprising reunion, Sorey could not help but appreciate Rose's presence; seeing another familiar face was nice, although it did not sate his curiousity. "What brings you all the way out here?"

Rose hesitated, glancing at the seraphim studying her before folding her hands behind her back. "Well, uh... here's the thing, I heard what happened with Lailah." Sorey's smile dropped and she grimaced, but kept going. "Yeah. So I figured you'd need all the help you can get. And so here I am, one squire ready to go!" Upbeat once more, Rose grinned at the dumbfounded shepherd. She was momentarily distracted when Zenrus chuckled behind him, waving. "You the boss-man around here?"

"Correct, young lady. I am Zenrus. Allow me to extend my gratitude for coming to Sorey's aid."

"Eh, it's no big deal! Don't mention it."

"She's going to preen for days, ain't she?"

"Of course she will."

"Oh, can it, you jerks?" Rose whirled around to glare at the men behind her, who had been stage-whispering at each other. The banter earned some chuckles from the crowd

Which was when Mikleo arrived, stepping in front of Sorey with a glare directed at Zaveid. "And you?" he demanded. "What are you doing here?" Zaveid was visibly unimpressed, merely rolling his eyes.

"Well gee," he drawled back, "whatever could the great Zaveid be doing here of all places, right now? I heard what happened, too. Same deal as Rose, you guys need all the help you can get."

"We don't need the help of a murderer!" There was some agitation among the crowd over his accusation, though Zaveid just shrugged in response. Zenrus sighed and was likely the only one who noticed Rose drag her feet for a moment. Sorey was still trying to understand his own feelings on Zaveid's presence, uncertain if he should be indignant like his brother or happy the other seraph wanted to help.

Zaveid made to respond but paused, reconsidered, and then shook his head. "Look, I don't like this anymore than you do, but that's how it is. We don't get what we want with the world at stake, we take what we can get." His grin returned at that point. "If it helps, I'll promise not to kill anyone or anything unless you do it first."

Mikleo made to retort, but stopped himself before Sorey could; Zaveid had a point. Mikleo sighed. "It's not really my choice anyway." He glanced to Sorey, who understood his meaning; as shepherd, he had the last word in who to take along. This would be a difficult decision to make, he knew.

"I need to think about it," he deflected the question, which everyone accepted well enough. Then however, he realised something important and turned back to Zaveid and Dezel: "Wait, aren't you both wind seraphim?"

Rose pre-empted them both cheerfully: "Yep, that's how we got here so quickly. It's incredible how fast these guys can go!"

"Right," Mikleo mused, a little more calm now. "That would be an issue. With Edna, that leaves us without a fire seraph."

"So what?" Zaveid earned several confused looks, equally as befuddled before it dawned on him. "Wait, seriously? Lailah fed you that bullshit about needing a seraph of each element? And you never asked yourself... forget it, of course you didn't." He slapped his forehead in exasperation, ignoring the surprise and murmuring around them.

"Language, young man," Zenrus' voice cut through the chatter, though Zaveid just laughed off his stern stare.

"Come on, pal! I'm already offering your baby boy to help out, meet me halfway." He spread his arms wide in a peaceful gesture, though the elder frowned at him. He did not insist though, shocking both Sorey and Mikleo; he had never once let off about something like this.

"Wait," Mikleo realigned the conversation, "that's beside the point. What did you mean that not all elements are needed?" Rose had turned to Zaveid as well, making it clear he knew something most did not. The wind seraph heaved a sigh, but indulged them anyway.

Raising one finger, he began: "Simple. First of all, the sublord's pact has no requirement for only one seraph of each element. Technically not for the number of seraphim either, but three is usually the maximum most prime lords can take. Need to be a good bit older than Lailah or I to support more, or be a Great Lord." Sorey nodded in understanding and a second finger was raised. "Second, there's no such constraint on the Oath for the prime lord either. I know that for a fact 'cause I met the lady that made the arte." The disbelief from the crowd was ignored and a third finger rose "And lastly, it's good to have a seraph from each element! Most shepherds start like you, wide-eyed goody two-shoes that need every advantage they can get. A complete elemental coverage is part of that. Heck, if ya wanted you could have a team of four of the same element, but that sucks if you run into something highly resistant to that one element. So the prime lords tell their new shepherds to recruit one of each element instead of doubling up. Dezel and I are just fine on the same team, we just need to compensate for anything that takes fire to fight effectively."

Leaving a momentary pause for it all to sink in, Zaveid then pointed at Zenrus. "Right, old man?" As all eyes went to him, the elder inclined his head.

"Correct, in all points," he confirmed.

Sorey considered what he just learned, but found no real reason to deny Zaveid. "Okay, that's fine then." A moment later, something occurred to him. "Wait, gramps? How many sublords could you support?"

"Hm? Is he, like, super old or something?"

Regardless of whether anyone wanted to answer Rose's question, Zenrus chuckled and answered Sorey's with a wry smile: "More than enough, my boy. But I am a little old for a journey like yours."

From there, the new arrivals spread out and mingled with Elysia's native seraphim. Rose fielded questions about her merchant life and the dangers on the road, to the point she brandished her dagger to emphasize she could keep up in battle. Sorey attempted talking to Dezel, who brushed him off more or less gently; they only got to talking when the wind seraph found an injured eagle some ways off and began treating it.

Aside from it all, Mikleo and Zaveid stood. Both were observing the goings-on and both were surprised by the other. "Any reason you're not in the thick of it with your buddy?" Zaveid first broke the awkward silence between them; Mikleo was tempted to ignore him or start another fight, but forced himself to be civil.

"I'm practicing not to get myself involved too much," he explained slowly. "Gramps' order." He got an understanding noise and little else in response, upon which both of them relapsed into quiet contemplation. As he pondered however, a recent memory stirred and Mikleo glanced to Zaveid again. "Say, how old are you?"

"Uh... 'bit over a thousand years, why?"

"So you were around during the Age of the Gods? The first Lord of Calamity?"

Zaveid's previous curiousity turned into an owlish look, which was followed by a laugh. "Heh, damn right I was! Met the lady a few times, too. Why'd you ask?" He remained amicable, but Mikleo noticed the air shifting all around them; much like Zenrus, Zaveid had sealed all sound from carrying past them. He left it uncommented and rather answered the question honestly.

"Gramps is teaching me about the past so I can fulfill my new role even after Sorey... you know." Just the thought of him dying one day filled Mikleo with dread and sadness; he could hardly even allude to it, though Zaveid thankfully understood and clapped his shoulder. He took a deep breath and cast that existential nightmare aside. "Anyway, he told me the first Calamity was not after the end of the world like most of those after her, and that I have to learn about the reasons behind peoples' actions if I want to understand what drives them. He didn't tell me her name for some reason, or the exact details of what went on. Could you tell me more about what happened back then?"

Zaveid heard him out, then crossed his arms as he considered the request. Contrary to what Mikleo expected, the older man neither ridiculed nor dismissed him out of hand. When Zaveid did speak however, it led to a bit of a tangent: "Your gramps is a smart guy. Think you can actually do it, the understanding part? Maybe even put your own biases aside?"

"I don't know yet," he admitted after some hesitation. "I'm trying, but it's hard."

"Yeah, it always is."

"...come to think of it, why do you feel you have to kill those hellions?"

"Was waiting for that one." Zaveid ceased to look at Mikleo now, rather observing Sorey still following Dezel around in the distance. "Tell you what, I'll give you that one as a peace offering. Keep it to yourself."

He did not like to keep secrets from his brother, but Mikleo felt it was only fair to heed Zaveid's request in turn and nodded. "Okay."

At first, Zaveid only sighed before pointing toward Sorey. "Truth be told, I used to be just like him," he revealed to his baffled audience. "Followed my own creed, a fighter, not a killer. Even protected some dragons on the way." Mikleo barely managed to suppress his initial exclamation.

"That is, well, a little hard to believe."

"Yeah. Had some personal stakes back then that aren't your business, but I was perfectly willing to die for those. It took Eizen months to hammer that out of me, and decades more before I got really comfortable with it."

Mikleo could not help but interject again: "Wait, Eizen? As in, Edna's brother Eizen?" It earned him a knowing wink from Zaveid.

"Big surprise, huh? Anyway, the point is that he was right. All seraphim will one day turn into dragons, a curse upon our entire kind. We lose who we were and even lash out against the people we loved most before we turned. That's no longer being alive, it's just a mockery of who they were. So killing them is a kindness, an end to the madness that will never end. Edna knows it too, but she refuses to accept it yet. That's why I'm going to kill Eizen the moment I can, for both of them. I owe that guy for setting me straight."

Mikleo wanted to argue, but be it his own experiences over the last few months or the lessons with Zenrus, he could see Zaveid's point. Dragonhood was inescapable at this point in time and after seeing Lailah's dragon so... afraid of even being near them, likely well aware of the death she would bring, he understood it. He still did not like it, but he understood. Nodding his head to the older seraph, Mikleo then probed a little further: "...and the hellions? Those can be purified."

Zaveid actually huffed, throwing him an incredulous look. "If you're a fancy pancy shepherd, sure. But guess what, shepherd's are a rare breed. So I've got to make do with what I can do." Again he had a point and this time Mikleo's own mind even added to it.

"Not to mention that some hellions can't be quelled."

"Exactly! Now you get it!" He clapped Mikleo's shoulder again, an odd sense of camraderie between the two of them. "Now listen up, I meant it. Don't have any reason to kill hellions if I can burn away the Malevolence." This was indeed reassuring, though Mikleo still wondered; he voiced his worries while watching Rose and Sorey begin to spar in a ring of spectators.

"And... if the hellion can't be cleansed, but is not evil?"

"What, like his girlfriend?" He nodded toward Sorey and chuckled over Mikleo's unamused stare. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna kill someone who doesn't need killing. If they've got their marbles together and don't cause harm, why would I?"

"I see. That is good to know, thank you for sharing."

"Ah, don't mention it, buddy."

At this point, Mikleo felt that he understood Zaveid a little better; in addition however, he suspected that the other man's aggression toward Sorey may result from being reminded of his past self. For his own safety, Mikleo wisely kept that assumption to himself and rather commented on the spar they were watching: "Rose is good."

"She is." They were in easy agreement, seeing that the redhead just trounced Sorey. She was not quite running circles around him, but it showed how much more real combat experience she had. Sorey's defeat repeated itself twice more before Zaveid spoke up again, getting to a different subject: "Wanna know something curious?"

"What would that be?"

"Way back when, Lady Calamity was big on forging her own path and never faltering until she reached her goal. Alisha's a lot like her in that regard." Zaveid shrugged when he noticed Mikleo's frown. "I just noticed is all. That girl is determined and powerful, so be careful when letting Sorey deal with her. She won't stop, not even for him." The frown deepened; Mikleo caught his meaning and it worried him.

"You think she would kill him?"

"Pft, no." Zaveid actually chuckled for a moment, dismissing the question like it was foolish to be concerned. "Not without a lot of pressure. But if push comes to shove? She could. That's the lesson you really don't wanna learn on your own: don't push a good man or woman too far, else you create a monster."

"I see." He had a point once again; Mikleo learned a bit about Alisha and saw her go through life with her head held high, regardless of what happened. He vividly remembered the darkness suffusing her and the abject horror when she snapped; for a moment, Mikleo truly though he would die that day in Lastonbell. Only standing before Heldalf had been worse, though the memory of that day made his chest clench. He suppressed a sigh and, thinking of people and monsters and a past conversation, found something else to inquire about: "By the way, I was wondering: what's your blessing? Mine lets me heal all kinds of sicknesses, though no wounds." When Zaveid threw him a look, he shrugged. "Sorey and I recently realised that we never asked Lailah and now we... we can't."

"Ah, gotcha." Zaveid nodded in understanding, crossing his arms behind his back. "I'll start off with Lailah 'cause I actually know about hers. Don't look so shocked, I've met her before. She got an aura of fertility. Helps human women conceive and makes the baby more healthy." Mikleo nodded slowly, though still incredulous about Zaveid of all people knowing that. At least he did not have to prod for the other man to continue. "My own isn't anything to write home about. It's just wanderlust. The longer I'm around, the more everyone feels this itch to go out and travel, see the world."

"Huh, that's interesting. Is that why you never stay in one place?"

"Kinda? No idea if it affects me or if I'm just like that, but I like to travel. 'sides, if you look over there you can see Dezel's at work." Successfully distracted, Mikleo's attention turned to the other wind seraph; he was still busy treating that eagle he stumbled upon, the feral animal sitting and allowing his touch without any fuss. "Animals just love the guy. Doesn't matter how big or how small or how angry, put Dezel in front of it and it's completely tame."

"I see." He never considered just how varied blessings could be. "That might come in handy... say, do you know what Edna's blessing does, too?"

"Nope. She never told me and I'm not sure Eizen knew 'cause he didn't, either." Zaveid shrugged, likely aware that they had little chance to learn about this one. Talking of her however, Mikleo decided to inquire about their absent companion next.

"Actually, have you seen Edna? Is she still in Lastonbell?"

Zaveid chuckled again and threw Mikleo a grin. "Oh, absolutely. Was about to catch herself a cute girlfriend, and a boyfriend at the same time. We might have to go pick her up there."

"Oh, really?" he could not help his own curiousity. "I had no idea she was fancying anyone." By the way Zaveid laughed then, he might have just missed it. Regardless, he felt glad that she had someone to take care of her. "Well, at least one of us is happy these days."

"I'll drink to that!" Zaveid clapped his shoulder one final time and Mikleo had a rather odd realisation: somehow, they seemed to have become friends.

. .
. .​

The day after Rose's arrival, Mikleo took his Oath; no one but him and Zenrus were present for the occasion, though. Much to his displeasure, Sorey had been refused from witnessing this important moment. To further bring his mood down, Rose decided to try whipping him into shape in the meantime. It hardly helped that Dezel fared about as well, sparring with Zaveid nearby. Some of the local seraphim were watching, sometimes discussing artes and techniques with the new arrivals.

Thankfully, Mikleo arrived sometime between the sixtieth and seventieth time Sorey left an imprint in the fresh snow. His presence hushed the ongoing conversations and everyone took a moment to appreciate the water seraph; he appeared unchanged, though there were more white trims to his light blue robe now and every seam had changed colour. Both he and Zenrus moved with an air of purpose.

"Did it work?" Sorey could not help but ask; Mikleo silently held out one hand and produced a silvery flame from his palm. It licked the air greedily, its sight drawing a smile from Sorey; Mikleo smiled as well and they nodded at each other in silent agreement. Now the shepherd had a fighting chance.

As all were focussed on the brothers however, only Dezel noticed Zaveid doing something behind his back. He did not get to ask about it though, for they then began establishing the necessary bonds; first Sorey and Mikleo, then Rose's Squire's Pact, followed by Zaveid's and Dezel's sublords' pacts.

Almost as soon as the final bond was forged, the ground quaked. Several people lost their balance and fell, then another tremor hit. Earth seraphim pointed to the distant mountains and Sorey prepared for trouble, now knowing that this was not nature's doing. Yet there were no hellions and, as nothing else happened, Zenrus began to huff. "What a lively girl," he commented.

A third tremor tore through his confusion, followed by a familiar form bouncing over the mountaintop. She sailed gracefully through the air, gliding with her orange umbrella; each step of hers cleared a hundred metres as she pushed back into the air. A pillar rumbled out of the ground as her last leap carried her close, turning to sand at the base and slowing Edna's descent. She came to stand right in front of Sorey and the villagers, dropping a curtsy without a single hair out of place.

After several moments of flabbergasted silence, Rose began to clap. Zaveid followed her example and soon Edna sported a satisfied grin as she received a proper applause. "I'm here," she greeted when the noise subsided. "Guess I'm a little late, though. I was held up."

"Nah." Rose waved her off cheerfully. "It's fine. Mikleo just finished taking the Oath, so you're just in time for the party!"

"Oh, so Mibu is my boss now. I might have to reconsider."

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?!"

Edna showed one of her normal grins as she turned to the annoyed firekeeper. "Water boy with fire," she deadpanned. "You're going to go pshhh on us and evaporate before Winter is out." The comment earned some laughs from the crowd. Sorey was just happy that she seemed to have recovered from losing Lailah, so he let the banter continue.

"No way, that's not how the silver flame works!"

"Are you sure about that? If you aren't and mess up, it's over. Mikleover."

Rose broke into giggles at that point, skipping forward to clap Edna's shoulder. "Heh, come on, be nice, shorty. Just for today?"

Edna just stared up at her pointedly before shrugging. "Being big is for losers. Big losers." Though she did leave Mikleo alone after that. Sorey took the moment to introduce Zenrus, at which point she adopted a prim and proper posture; she even curtsied again. The elder obviously did not buy it.

"Go easy on Mikleo for a while, young lady," he chided her gently. "That stubborn boy takes more of burden on himself than he knows."

"I know."

Twirling her umbrella behind herself, she held Zenrus' gaze calmly. Sorey had no idea what they were trying to tell each other, but the old seraph seemed to understand well enough. Mikleo crossed his arms defensively, staring between them. "Really now? How so?"

"Shush, the grown-ups are talking. You need to be at least a thousand years old before you can join this conversation." Edna waved the younger seraph away and many others around them shuffled a little awkwardly as well.

Rose nudged him with her elbow then, whispering a question: "Think that rule goes for humans, too?" He could only shrug.

As far as Mikleo was concerned however, a little teasing could not actually turn the day completely horrible. They finished forming the sublord pacts and then the newcomers began to experiment with their flames; Zaveid took charge instructing Dezel with surprising insight while Sorey explained to Rose. This left the new firekeeper at the sidelines, standing with Edna of all people; just as he intended. "I just need to make sure you'll follow orders," he explained as they watched the others, "we can't afford to fight when we're in the field."

"Fighting is what we do in the field," she retorted with a lopsided grin, to which he rolled his eyes. She turned serious right after. "But I get it, and I will. As long as you don't tell me what to do all the time, we're fine."

Admittedly, this stung a little. "I know you don't think much of me, but could you at least have enough faith to not believe I'd abuse my power?" He really thought they were past that point. Edna kept quiet for a few seconds, mulling it over.

"You know what, that's fair."

Her response was surprising, though. He threw the girl a sideway glance. "Huh. I thought you would make more of a fuss about it."

"You're the boss now and we can't afford to squabble over everything," Edna replied with a shrug, though her nonchalance was soon broken by another grin. "A lot of things sure, but not everything. I wouldn't have taken the Firekeeper's Oath even now, and I can respect that you did." The sudden praise surprised him even more, but he took it and raised a fist; Edna bumped her knuckles against his a moment later, but he knew things would not be completely different.

"You aren't going to leave me alone from now on."

"Not at all."

Mikleo huffed, but rather changed the subject: "I heard from Zaveid that you are in a relationship now." The non-sequitur threw Edna for a loop, seeing as she first paused and then frowned.

"I am. Why do you bring it up?"

"No real reason," he quickly reassured his sublord. "I just wanted to say I'm glad that you found someone you like." He actually meant it too, though Edna was even more confused now.

"I... see. Thank youuu?" She drew out the response as she tested it, drawing a huff from Mikleo which he followed with a conspiratory grin.

"Now I only need to figure something out for Sorey and that's that."

Seeing her so befuddled was actually amusing; Edna usually appeared in control of the situation, so he gladly offered her a few of his own thoughts. The girl eyed him cautiously. "How so?" she asked, to which he just gave her the truth.

"I don't know much about romance, but I know having a caring partner improves one's mood. You look happier now, you know?"

"...okay. So you want to find Sorey someone so he... why?"

He shrugged at her. "It's interesting to observe how people change. I thought he was interested in Alisha, but that ran into, uh, problems." He winced, though Edna gave no indication she processed that part; her owlish look still remained.

"Did you always think in that kind of way?"

"Yes, most of my life?"

"Huh." Edna quietly mulled over what she just learned; Mikleo never made much of a secret out of his favourite activities. Most just failed to notice that he liked people-watching. They were both drawn out of the introspective silence by a loud yelp from Sorey, who was currently completely on fire; Rose laughed at him while he tried to pat out the silver flames. They continued to watch, neither moving to help him. Edna glanced up at Mikleo curiously. "Lailah said that Sorey knew your true name even before you bonded."

"Ah, that." He felt a little sheepish about the reminder, but inclined his head to the other man. "He's my brother, of course he knows my true name." He almost messed up their moment by asking if she knew Eizen's true name, stopped from that blunder merely because Edna spoke up first.

"Makes sense. Are you actively trying to get him with someone?"

"Not actively," he began, but corrected himself: "Not at all, to be honest. I'm just watching, and maybe I would give him a nudge if I think someone he is getting close with is bad company."

"I see, so you're Mama Mikleo."

"...can we please not do this for five minutes?" His annoyance was not as great as it probably sounded right now, though the request did wipe Edna's grin away.

"Okay." She stood motionless for a while, but finally added a quiet "Sorry" that astonished Mikleo; knowing her like he did however, he kept quiet.

Soon after their conversation concluded, Sorey decided for their newly formed team to head out. They were seen off with waves, cheers, and fireworks while Zaveid's and Dezel's winds carried both Shepherd and Squire over the mountainside. Their first stop was Lastonbell, just where they left off before.

 

"Eyes on the prize, Symonne." Margaret watched the water seraph shake aside her thoughts for the third time that day and sighed. "You've been lovesick since the day we left and we can both tell." Alisha was busy tearing up the ground and did not listen, but Margaret knew it regardless. "You could have stayed behind a little longer, we wouldn't think less of you."

It had been about two weeks since they left Lastonbell, but not a day passed without Symonne losing herself in thoughts of Edna and Laphicet. In truth, Margaret understood; she remembered the many times she thought of Celica. Even in this life her thoughts sometimes strayed back in time.

"Can't," Symonne refused her steadfastly. "I promised I'd be there with you, so I go where you go. We're going to be back soon enough, anyway."

"Agreed. We're heading back once we're done here." The quip earned her a glower, but no rebuttal; Margaret pointed toward the torn ground Alisha produced for them. "Now go dig out that spring already, it's getting late and I'm cold."

The seraph girl muttered under her breath, but did as she was told. She marched right past a gaggle of other hellions that volunteered to help when Margaret first told them of her plan. The villagers of Gododdin were sturdy folk indeed; some vanished after turning, but a surprising number of them persevered against the darkness and continued to support their little village. Some werewolves, a lion man, and several lizardpeople dug with an enthusiasm that far surpassed Alisha's. The therion's greater power still made her the fastest digger, though. As for Margaret herself, she considered making another trek down the mountain. Planning a route for this new river took some time, but the snowfall they expected any day now would certainly erase her markings.

Regardless, they made good progress. Inhuman strength and spiritual power saw them arriving at the mountain's foot within two days, though snowfall interfered with their efforts from then on. The ground was frozen, but that did not stop the determined people. Margaret could not help but feel proud, ragged and sweaty as she herself grabbed a shovel to assist; she was vaguely aware of other, human villagers watching them with clear astonishment.

"You really should not push yourself like this, Lady Shepherd," the mayor urged her that evening at the communal fire. "Such menial labour does not befit one such as you." Others that heard him nodded along, but Margaret merely shook her head.

"I appreciate your concern, but it is quite alright. I can do little else to express my respect for the people of this village." She motioned for their surroundings, the barren land and bare mountainside. "They settled here regardless of hardships and kept their good spirit throughout." As if on cue, barking laughter sounded from where some of the hellions were trading friendly barbs with Symonne. Margaret could not help but smile at the uncomfortable elder. "I am aware you had to stoop lower than you liked in the process, but I understand. Giving you a means to continue without this fake elixir is the least I can do, especially because it is in my power. I will talk to a few earth seraphim I know and have them assess the soil. Next spring, you can plant crops."

"You are too kind," he muttered with a weak bow; Margaret saw his glistening eyes, but left it uncommented. Mayor Slenge heaved a deep sigh that turned into a pained cough, drawing Margaret closer to stroke his back soothingly.

"Don't push yourself too hard, sir," she cautioned. "The fumes must have affected you more than we thought."

"I knew what I was doing," he muttered to her in response, voice weak but yet determined. "It was I who suggested to brew this fake elixir and also I who decided to base it on vermillion ore. It is only fair that I suffer the consequences, too." Margaret well remembered the rejuvenating but addictive properties of properly refined vermillion ore, just as she recalled it's fumes were poisonous. She soothed the mayor some more, but a faint smile crept onto her face nonetheless. She sympathised and, although he would refuse if he knew, planned to hire a healer from the Bloodwings to see to him.

"I have to correct you on one matter, though," she continued when Slenge appeared to be through the worst of it. "I am not shepherd. Truly, I plan to become one in time, but right now I am merely a traveler."

"Ah, but what is a shepherd if not a benign soul who aids those in need?" The old man chuckled again and took her hand. "It does not matter to me what the actual requirements are. We will remember you as the gentle shepherd, Margaret." She could not help but avert her gaze bashfully, though her heart almost burst with joy.

"I concur," Alisha chimed in as she settled next to them with three mugs, two of which she handed to the humans. "You go above and beyond what many a traveler would be willing to do, Margaret. Regardless of whether you hold the flames of purification, if anyone deserves to be called shepherd, it is you."

Slenge nodded along, though his gaze was slowly drawn to Alisha. After studying the therion, he hummed thoughtfully. "I can not help but notice that your posture is quite unlike the common folk, miss Alisha. Your manner of speech is rather more eloquent as well, though I can not quite place your accent. Are you perchance a member of the nobility?" Both women stiffened over his keen observation, though the mayor just chuckled when he noticed. "I see these eyes of mine still work. Worry not, my lips are sealed."

Relief flooded through Margaret just as fast as worry had earlier; Alisha relaxed as well, though they both wondered if he had actually not recognised the name of a princess. Then however, Margaret's eyes narrowed at the mayor. "Takes one to know one, I take it?" she probed; he swallowed a mouthful of beer at that moment, starting another coughing fit; both women supported him until he calmed down, though it was with a sigh.

"Shows that karma exists. That's what I get for digging where I should not," he grumbled, then glanced at them. "It is true, but I left that life behind me. Until my dying breath, I will now look after the people of Gododdin." Margaret inclined her head in understanding and Alisha followed suit, then the three of them returned to their meals.

However, Slenge soon stilled and his eyes grew wide. Symonne strolled over to them at the time, gathering quite a few gazes from all around. Margaret needed a moment to realise why this was odd; she could not feel Innominat's domain, yet humans without resonance saw her. The mayor carefully studied the girl as she settled on Margaret's lap, though he was clearly befuddled. "Pardon, young miss, but I do not think I ever saw you here before. Are you alright?"

"Just fine," Symonne chirped back cheerfully. "I have been around for a while, but it just occurred to me I can do this." Margaret embraced her from behind, still uncertain what to make of the situation. "But I guess his holiness would expect a seraph to be a little different than I am, no?" Slenge paled visibly, but the girl waved dismissively. "Don't worry, I'm an illusionist, no one except those two heard me. They figured out half of it already, anyway."

"...you can read lips, can't you?"

"Took you long enough to notice!" Symonne had the gall to giggle when Margaret squeezed her; the villagers watched them with alienated fascination, though some of that soon shifted to Alisha's now revealed tail and the other hellions and seraphim present.

"It truly is a blessing," Slenge mused, then bowed his head toward Symonne. "I am most grateful, Lady Seraph. That at least this once before my life comes to an end, I am granted sight of you and yours." Symonne began to shift uncomfortably, unused to such praise. Margaret had half a mind to tease her, but the mayor's next question robbed her of the chance: "If you would be so inclined, I hear that seraphim live far longer than humans? Would you be willing to entertain my curiousity?"

Symonne made a show of thinking it over, but Margaret could tell Slenge buttered her up just fine. She pinched the other girl's bare waist, but got no reaction beyond a lazy smile. "Sure, but only, let's say, one question. I don't like my mind picked and we'd be here for days if you got to ask everything you can think of."

"Even just one is a great kindness upon a curious mind," Slenge responded before falling quiet in contemplation. Margaret took notice of other conversations stopping to listen; Alisha leaned closer, just as curious as the townsfolk. Slenge hummed and muttered for a while, then nodded to himself and met Symonne's gaze again. "Much is said and written about the distant past, but one of its greatest figures has always intrigued me. We know the Hero King ascended from his claim to rule, we know Saint Eleanor succeeded Shepherd Artorius after his mutual kill with a vicious Lord of Calamity. But Artorius himself is a mystery; where did he come from, and why did he step up when he did?"

All at once, the floor fell away beneath her. Margaret paled and clung to Symonne desperately, her body cold and mind ablaze with memories of a life not hers. She did not want to be here, did not want to listen, but she had no excuse to flee. Then Symonne squeezed her hand ever so gently as if she understood; Margaret forced all these feelings back under control, deciding to deal with them later.

Once her grasp eased, the seraph girl uttered a thoughtful noise. "Artorius, eh? I didn't check what is written and I rarely hear stories about him, but I get it. It's been a thousand years, but there is little to say." Lie. "I actually met him a few times, but we never talked to each other. All I know is from talking to others who knew him." Truth. "Artorius was as grand a man as he is remembered as, I can tell you that." Lie. "But where he came from, well... it was a bit of an open secret that King Claudin trained him as his successor from a young age. Though I also heard he suffered a great loss before taking up the mantle, which made him act as he did."

Margaret wondered just how much Symonne really knew; she was lying to preserve the memory of a saviour, true, but she could not help but feel that she remained vague for her sake as well. It may be nothing, though.

Regardless, thinking of her past did confront her with an old question. The conversation had continued a little while she was distracted and then stalled, giving her the opportunity to ask: "Slenge? I was wondering if you'd indulge a question of mine as well."

"Oh? Of course, ask away, my dear."

"...why do you think birds fly?"

She noticed and ignored the immediate confusion; Alisha muttered something about having heard the question before while Symonne sat still in her lap, watching the old mayor just like Margaret did. He tapped his chin idly, musing: "What a peculiar question to ask. Why, what else is a bird than a being that flies? It is as much a part of them as breathing."

A good answer. Margaret inclined her head and thanked the mayor; she headed to bed soon after, fighting off the crazy idea of confronting Symonne. If her friend figured out whose soul she carried, she would bring it up; if Margaret jumped at shadows, she would just tip the smart girl off.

After finding sleep more easily than anticipated after that conversation, it was the next afternoon when everything went wrong. Just as she prepared to teach the townsfolk about crop rotation, a well-dressed man proclaiming himself as 'Shepherd Malfore' arrived in the village and talked down to its people. They all certainly wanted to interject, but the presence of a knight escort a dozen strong made everyone hold their tongues as the impostor led Slenge away for a private conversation.

"He knows about the fake elixir," Symonne relayed via an illusionary self. "One General Tuller of Rolance is his benefactor and he wants 'donations' toward his 'righteous cause'." Here, Margaret actually had to hold onto Alisha's shoulder to stop the therion from acting.

"Not now," she cautioned her friend, who grudgingly stood down.

"I'll repeat my suggestions from a few days ago," the fake Symonne continued nonchalantly. "Let's make this village a Bloodwing outpost. They can pay for using the land and have a reason to make any documents he might have left for people to find vanish."

The implied course of action was clear enough. Margaret closed her eyes and took a deep breath; none of the villagers could hear her whispered conversation with Alisha as she expanded on Symonne's words: "We need to gather information about this man, but we can not risk him harming the people of Gododdin any more in the meantime. If he has no truly redeeming qualities to at least balance out his posing as the shepherd, we will act... so says reason." The last part slipped out involuntarily, though Alisha did not comment. She had to tell her friends about this at some point, but Margaret was not ready to breach the subject yet.

"They're coming back," Symonne's illusion announced with clear annoyance. "The 'shepherd' gets half of the profits and he's happy."

"Not for much longer," Alisha promised solemnly as their friend returned. They waited for Malfore to leave before she addressed Slenge gently: "Worry not, we will see to this."

Though he appeared defeated, the elder immediately shook his head and refused her. "No, no. I could not ask such of you. It was my own folly that led to this, so I will have to pay the price."

"You did what had to be done," Margaret argued softly as she took Alisha's side. "Being punished for it I understand, but this is not punishment. This is petty greed unbefitting of being associated with the shepherd. Please think of it as us taking action to protect the sacred title from a phony, and know that the only living shepherd at the moment is Shepherd Sorey. He may arrive here one of these days."

"I see." Slenge did not appear too happy, but he accepted the way out Margaret just offered. He inclined his head at the women. "Then we are in your debt once more. Is there really nothing we can do to repay you?"

"Well," the younger blonde chirped with a glance to her companions, "we just talked it over and remembered there are a few seraphim we know who might want to settle nearby. Would you be alright with that?"

"Certainly, of course!" His visible surprise drew a soft giggle from Margaret who shook his hand before saying their goodbyes; they finished what they set out to do and it was time to move on. Or rather, back to Lastonbell. Just out of the village's sight, Symonne set down a teleportation arte and linked it with the Crowe's Nest, then they were off.

Both Velvet and Laphicet liked the idea as Margaret presented it. Symonne mostly left it to her partner, only chiming in with additional details about the situation and what she gleaned of this false shepherd. Admittedly, part of that was because her eyes and thoughts strayed to her boyfriend more often than not, but she thought she did well enough in keeping herself together.

"We will discuss this further," Velvet told the three once they were done, her usual smile replaced by a severe expression. "For now, we have a few other things that need to be cleared. Alisha?"

"Yes?"

"The last time the Scattered Bones went after Chancellor Bartlow, you pleaded with them to leave him alive for his great mind. Is that correct?"

The therion nodded slowly and Symonne knew she understood the implications of who this shadow guild dealt with. "I did. He may be a despicable person, but his skills are needed for the kingdom's prosperity. Did something happen?"

"You could say that." Velvet grimaced and pushed a few sheets of parchment over the table for Alisha to peruse. "From what our people in Ladylake gathered, he is getting worse." Symonne leaned over her friend's shoulder to read the report, paying the sting of Malevolence no mind. Just a quick skim already told her that Bartlow reached his final stages of megalomania just as she intended for him so long ago. It felt like an age despite having been only a few years.

Alisha's and Margaret's faces clouded further with every page, reading of smear campaigns and exploitation to the beginnings of a coup. Then, right at the bottom of the final page sat a verdict, penned in Laphicet's hand. A simple yet oh so clear suggestion: take him down. Alisha exhaled slowly and closed her eyes. "I can not overlook this," she whispered to herself, then spoke up: "As much as I despise having to agree with this, your judgement is correct." She hesitated for a moment, then uttered a phrase that drew the table's attention: "So says reason."

Becoming aware of everyone's surprise, Alisha wilted and averted her gaze. "Well, I heard Margaret say something similar and it does sound appropriate at the moment. My heart is torn, but my mind is made." Symonne relaxed with that, though she noticed her partner slump a little; she was getting more erratic, perhaps feeling ever more guilty about keeping who she once was a secret. She had yet to figure out Symonne already knew.

In an effort to distract the rest, she piped up next: "If you're running damage control in Hyland, what about the war effort?" Velvet's gaze flicked to her immediately and the wariness vanished as fast as it appeared.

"It's being delayed," she brushed off the question. "They can't really do much during Winter anyway, and we're working to keep them busy with other problems come Spring." Symonne was about to comment when something about Velvet's posture changed and she continued with deceptive calm: "On that note, I wanted to talk to you in private."

Glancing to Laphicet revealed a worried look toward his sister, which in turn worried Symonne. She could think of several reasons Velvet would want to talk to her alone, but none of them were good. Most likely it was her past and technically current allegiance. Regardless, she nodded and let herself be led away into another room; Laphi gave her a peck on the cheek in passing, which successfully eased her nerves.

They settled opposite of each other at a small table, neither yet speaking and rather gauging the other. Symonne had a long time to think yet always shied away from the grand question: where did her loyalty lie now? Could it even be called loyalty, now that she actively worked against the goals she helped work toward? What was she if not a traitor? But even then, why did she feel so little guilt about throwing away all that hard work and her lord on top of it? She did not know, but she knew what Velvet was to say before she even opened her mouth: "This is about Lord Heldalf, isn't it?"

The other woman paused, mouth clicking shut again. She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "It is," she confirmed needlessly. "I don't like having to do this, but people are thrown into darkness with every day that passes. You've seen some of it by now and I don't think you are the kind who likes needless suffering." Symonne nodded slowly, her gut constricting as Velvet carried on: "And we both know how this is going to end. Even if he managed to sic Maotelus on us, we would find a way. I always have." She was right, regardless of the hubris most would associate with such a statement. Velvet Crowe was a force of nature and Symonne understood that this woman would not stop until she achieved her goal.

"I hate that you're right," she admitted quietly. "I wish this was an easier choice." Choose either the first person to ever see value in her stupid blessing, who treated her more like a cherished daughter than anything else and trusted her implicitely, or all her friends and loved ones. She actually had loved ones now. Edna and Laphi, perhaps even Margaret, if in a different way than the first two.

"Nothing important in life is easy," Velvet returned sagely, reaching out to clasp Symonne's hand. "Take your time. I need you to make a choice, but take time to think."

"He's a kind man at heart, you know?" Velvet twitched, but Symonne ignored her surprise. She just continued to bare her heart: "He found me wandering one day and took me in, talked to me, even forced me to wash up and eat. He cared, still cares. It was the first time I was the slightest bit happy. He wants to be kind, but the world broke him like it tried to break you. I never much cared that his rhetoric has holes, he treated me with kindness and gave me purpose. Now...." She trailed off, vision growing blurry. Now there were others who cherished her. Symonne had believed that there was no good left in this world and accepted its end as necessary, yet the world had proven her wrong.

Velvet reached over and embraced her gently, letting Symonne continue to babble. It took her a long time to fall quiet, and longer still to make a choice.

 

"You seem well," he observed with a spark of satisfaction. "Taking time off has done you well." For indeed, Symonne appeared more healthy than he ever saw her before. Her skin took on more colour and she appeared more mature than child-like now. Symonne inclined her head, gaze straying away from him to their surroundings; Heldalf paid it no mind, knowing well enough that this village was long abandoned. He did not recall its name anymore however, which was a shame. Empty houses gaped at worn dirt paths and overgrown vegetation.

When the seraph girl kept her silence, he prompted her gently: "What did you wish to report?" It must be important, that he knew; Symonne would not insist on meeting face to face otherwise. She fidgeted ever so slightly, a sign of being uncomfortable that he worried about. Even with his domain drawn back in, the Malevolence he exuded could still bother her.

"Before I get to that," Symonne began a moment later, "I want to ask you something." Her expression remained carefully blank, he noticed; she stopped fidgeting and her phrasing was different to what he recalled. Yet Heldalf left it uncommented and nodded his assent, awaiting her inquiry: "Why is it that we carry out our plans so slowly? With your power, you could have corrupted the world long ago if you so wanted. You let the shepherd live, too."

It was an unexpected question right now, though he had figured she would ask eventually. Heldalf's gaze wandered skyward as he began to pace. "Putting it into words is difficult, Symonne. Ever since I forced a bond with Maotelus, there is an odd... feeling, deep down in the back of my mind. I do not know if this is natural for a bond with a seraph, but I know he shares this sensation with me." A questioning glance went to Symonne, who shook her head mutely. "I see. Regardless, ever since I began, this feeling persisted. Something unknown is hiding in the shadows, slumbering yet inspiring fear in even a Great Lord. Without having any proof or ever seeing a shred of its existence, I know for certain that acting too fast will wake whatever it is. I already favoured caution and a slow, methodical approach to transition as many people into the future alive and well as possible, but this made me absolutely certain it was the correct idea. Does that answer your question?"

Symonne mulled his words over, posture faltering in an instant. She heaved a sigh that alarmed Heldalf. "I know what it is, then," she declared without any joy about it and unable to meet his gaze. "If only you told me sooner, things may have been different. But the monster in the dark since woke and has been taking up your trail." Her revelation made dread creep into his heart; even the slumbering god he was connected with shuddered when Symonne spoke the creature's name: "Innominat has been sealed atop the heavens for a thousand years, ever since Maotelus took his position as Great Lord."

Her eyes went to the same spot by his side again and Heldalf's instincts began to scream. His own gaze went there to find nothing... and then there was a woman staring at him. Another shock went through his bond with Maotelus at the sight, but not the bone-rending fear he expected; regardless, Symonne brought her here and the stranger stood ready to strike, expression firmed into a stern mask. He had been betrayed.

Without ever taking his eyes off the clear threat, the Lord of Calamity addressed his most trusted with but one word: "Why?" Despair bubbled in his gut together with fear, then turned to anger before being pushed back. Symonne's gaze rested on the ground.

"I started to love this world," she admitted softly, fingers clenched into fists. "I can no longer accept consigning it to oblivion." After a long pause, she forced out a shuddering "I'm sorry".

Heldalf wanted to rage and shout, to tear her apart for betraying him, but he still remembered his own fall from grace. He had sworn himself to never be like those who turned him into what he was now. He always desired to be better and so he forced back the vitriol. Rather, despite the bitter taste his words would leave, he lied: "I forgive you."

Symonne shuddered and sunk to her knees, tears glistening between her fingers. The woman she brought glanced at the sobbing seraph before sizing him up again. "You're different than I expected," she decided a moment later. He had to fight not to bellow still, rather inclining his head in attempted politeness.

"I am Georg Heldalf. Who do I have the honour of speaking with?"

Her eyes narrowed, but she did not attack yet. It would happen eventually, they both knew that. "Velvet Crowe," she introduced herself curtly. "First Lord of Calamity and now goddess of darkness." He was taken aback by that, but even more so when she made her demand: "But from what I've seen, I'm going to give you a choice here: sever your bond with Maotelus and give up on spreading Malevolence. Leave this world at peace so that it can be rebuilt into something greater than it ever was!"

Symonne's sobs cut off, his former confidante just as astonished as Heldalf himself; he had been offered mercy despite Velvet Crowe's clear intentions. All he had to do was to give up his dream of a kinder world in favour of her own. He ground his teeth at that, once again tempted to berate the woman for her insolence; but Heldalf held his tongue, claws and tail tensing. Malevolence began to ooze out of his body. "I am afraid not," he declined. "I have to refuse." She nodded as if she already expected it, once again making no motion to attack despite her own tense body.

"One last thing then: tell me, why do you think birds fly?"

What an odd question to ask. He knew that there were philosophical aspects to it, but disregarded thinking about it for long. "It does not matter why, they are birds and they fly. That is all there is to it."

On the last word, he charged.

Heldalf expected Velvet to be surprised, but she leaned under of his swipe smoothly, pulling out his leg with the same motion; she was faster than even him, delivering two swift kicks that sent Heldalf flying. He steadied himself and made to land, having to deflect a blade of Malevolence moments before contact; the force in her strike tore through the village's center, leaving a gaping wound. More kicks kept Heldalf on the defensive as he found no openings to exploit before she closed them.

Velvet was like wind, ever in motion. She was like water, flowing from one stance to the next without pause. She was like fire, relentless in her assault. She was like earth, holding steady against even the strongest of blows. But more than all of that, she was darkness incarnate; the world screamed as she rent reality itself asunder, bridging any distance he took in an instant. Her might forced it all to contort, his own domain drawn away to fuel her dark artes. The soil melted and began to entangle him, forcing Heldalf to block. He took a knee to his left claw and felt it shatter just as black flames encircled him.

He managed a single step back before being held tight, barely enough to evade Velvet's haymaker; then he saw her arm contort and form into a vicious, crimson claw mid-swing; it was more than long enough to reach, a single glance at it enough to see death. Velvet screamed at him and he noticed the single scratch on her cheek in that moment. The only wound she had taken despite his power. Heldalf could not dodge and could not block, no, so rather he leaned into the strike with his own claw, hammering it into her face just as half his body was torn away. More than that, something reached into his very soul to sever the bond with Maotelus.

Velvet stumbled while he hit the ground in shock; a trickle of blood rolled down her nose and forehead, he saw in his fading vision. Heldalf nodded to himself, content with having at least landed a solid blow on the goddess. Then a flurry of red beams split space and himself apart.

Elsewhere, in a maelstrom of Malevolence that warped the very world around it, Maotelus shuddered in fitful slumber. For but a moment, he could think clearly, beheld through the eyes of another that which he never thought to see again; his very being ached to see her once more, but he already forgot who he saw. His mind was clouded, yet the aching in his seven hearts did not subside.

Flame fluttered over his curled-up body again, divine silver meaning to burn away his shackles. It sputtered out before more than a smidgen was removed. Yet despite the renewed failure, this terrible pressure on his mind was gone; the Malevolence barely grew stronger now and despite the agony, he could hold against it. Even steeped in darkness, he could rest in the confines of his heart's flame. He hoped for something he no longer remembered, certain that all would be well.

. .
. .​

Velvet breathed slow and steady, staring down at what was left of her enemy. They did not fight for long, but a large swath of land was broken and ravaged. Pursuing Heldalf left holes in reality that would take months to close up, plains were currently warped into spirals reaching for the heavens, and the like. She would have to fix that before leaving, same as the hellions her rampage created.

First of all however, Velvet devoured the pieces of Heldalf and felt his soul pass through her body; to be stripped clean of Malevolence and be returned to the world.

Next, she made the trek back to where it all started; Symonne was still there, curled into a ball and sobbing quietly for what she had done. Velvet scooped her up and held her tightly, giving the girl time to cry it all out as she whispered soft reassurances. She had loved Heldalf like a father and Velvet could see why; yet traveling with Margaret and Alisha, being with Nica, Laphicet, and Edna returned something to this seraph that she likely never knew she had: a conscience.

"I'm not sorry I did this, Symonne," she whispered once the girl calmed down somewhat. "But I am sorry that it had to be." With Heldalf dead, the Bloodwing Butterflies could get to work tearing into his agents and allies from within; his own secrecy would be his undoing as only his most trusted knew the full expanse of his supporters. Therefore, his death could be kept a secret.

"It's okay," Symonne assured her softly. "I made this choice. Thank you for giving him a chance, at least."

"It felt right." Velvet admitted, having been moved by how much humanity there still was in Georg Heldalf; she expected a monster, not a gentleman. Perhaps in other circumstances, they would have even been allies. Seeing how devastated the seraph girl was, she carded through her hair a while longer. Morbid curiousity welled up as the minutes passed. "Did you love him?"

"I don't know." Symonne hesitated before pushing out of the embrace with a lost look. "Can we go home now?"

Home, she said. Her defeated tone made Velvet's heart clench, but that one word gave her hope it would turn out well in the end. "Alright," she agreed and picked Symonne up, letting her ride piggyback; she was lighter than expected. "Let's go. I'll make you something nice to eat and we can talk a little." Symonne just hugged her from behind, completely silent. "Or would you rather be with Laphi for a bit?"

"...I don't know."

"That's alright, we can figure it out."

 

Laphicet, Margaret, and Alisha listened quietly as Velvet laid out what happened. Symonne wandered off on her own for a time, leaving the four of them to their own devices; her friends gave no clear signs of their feelings on the matter, but she could see that both had their fists clenched. Laphi was just worried.

"This is where we are now," she closed and summarised again: "The Lord of Calamity is dead and all his allies will be confused when no more orders come. We will use that confusion, which is where you two and Symonne come in: I want you to eradicate them wherever necessary." Margaret's eyes narrowed, but Alisha's expression fell even further in distaste; Velvet nodded at her. "I know you don't like this-" "This is an understatement" "-But we don't have the time to comb over every single one of them to see if they can be redeemed. They supported a man who wished to plunge Desolation into darkness, so they have to face the consequences of their actions. If you find any that were forced or blackmailed into the position, let them go free. Anyone else dies."

Alisha took a shuddering breath before bowing her head. Meanwhile, Margaret mulled over the plan and scrutinised Velvet curiously. "Why not do it yourself? It would go faster that way."

She began with a shake of her head. "I'm not subtle at all and my own task isn't over yet. Heldalf is dead, but it means nothing if we fail to free Maotelus in time." Both of them nodded again, already appraised of the situation; Alisha had been horrified when she learned of this matter and even now, being reminded of it made her frown diminish. Velvet continued: "We fail if his followers close rank and finish what their master started, that is what we need you for. Laphi and I are busy figuring out where Maotelus is and what needs to be done to cleanse him of the Malevolence."

Laphi frowned at that, tapping the table with a finger. "I just don't understand how he got corrupted in the first place when his blessing is the silver flame. He purified himself before, I was there." Now that he mentioned it, Velvet remembered that occurence as well. He had a point.

"Perhaps," Margaret reasoned slowly, "it is simply not possible for an Empyrean so far corrupted? That he is too powerful to cleanse the entirety of himself?" He shrugged in response, just as unaware of what went on there as Velvet.

When no one else spoke, Alisha took a deep breath to center herself, then let it out in a heavy sigh. "I loathe to admit it, but I agree that we have no time for proper conduct. If you can provide a list of people for us to purge, it shall be done." The gaze in her eyes spoke of many things left unsaid; of the trust she offered in becoming their personal reaper, killing on their command. Velvet could not help but smile.

"Thank you, Alisha."

Laphi nodded along. "We don't need to worry about this if it's in your hands and can focus. Thank you."

Margaret, whose agreement had never even been in doubt, chimed in next with worry: "...what if Sorey finds out what we're doing? He abhors killing people, for any reason." She had a point as well, Velvet found. Having Sorey stumble over this particular operation would lead to an all-out war, which would end with him dead. A thoughtful noise from Laphi dispersed the thought, though.

"Hm. I think I can get him out of the way for a month or two. We got something interesting from Pendrago recently." Seeing that he had everyone's attention, her brother smiled cheerfully and explained: "Some time ago, a fishing ship found a lone island far out from the coast. A storm washed the ship up there and they found ancient ruins, so now the scholars in Pendrago are discussing to send an expedition."

"I see where you are going with this," Alisha answered his expectant silence. "We are all aware of Sorey's love for ruin diving. Regardless, I do not think he would let himself be distracted like that. Not after what happened with Lailah."

"Perhaps not," Laphi admitted, "but we can try. He knows you and Margaret are out and about, doing good on your own. If we can convince him that nothing is about to explode, he just might. And think of the poor people with that expedition if there are any hellions on that island!" He exaggerated, but Sorey was the type to go for such an idea. Alisha nodded as well, though she frowned in distaste once again.

"It will be a few months until then either way," Velvet chimed in with a motion for the snow falling right outside the window. "They won't launch an expedition in Winter. We can spend that time cleaning up any small fry and Heldalf's more elusive allies. Anyone important can be kept where they are until we have Sorey distracted."

Her brother groaned quietly in response. "Time, always time," he muttered. "I need to keep working on this."

"No, you don't." He met her unamused gaze stoically, but folded the moment Velvet raised an eyebrow. "You already worked a lot and need a break. Go talk to Symonne."

"Alright." He rose immediately and made to look for his girlfriend, leaving behind the three women to share smiles over his behaviour.

For Laphicet, finding Symonne was not difficult anymore; he knew she liked to brood near bodies of water, preferably where nobody would bother her. So he teleported himself to Hexen Isle, where she stared out onto the endless sea while basked in orange light. The deliberate crunching of his steps garnered no reaction, but she did not turn away from him either; Laphicet sunk to the ground and gently pulled her against his side. Symonne's head came to rest on his shoulder, eyes puffy.

"It's odd," she told him blankly, "I don't want to be around people, but I don't want to be alone either." Rubbing her cheek on his shoulder, she remained there; Laphicet squeezed her once, then picked her up and deposited her in his lap to embrace from behind.

"Then I will just stay here and shut up. Talk to me when you're ready."

He could not see Symonne's face, but he just knew she was smiling. She leaned back and relaxed a little, staring forward in quiet contemplation. Sometimes she sniffled or shed a few tears, but never spoke; Laphicet knew this kind of wound would take a while to close and far longer to heal, if it ever did.

Night had fallen on Hexen Isle when Symonne spoke up, lacking her usual pep: "I'm a little tempted to have you kiss me silly, until I forget this whole mess for a bit. Maybe even a little more than that. Or maybe I can just try getting blackout drunk like I saw some humans do. But I know it won't make the pain go away." Laphicet almost responded, but decided not to; he did not dislike her first idea, but now did not feel like the right time for fooling around. He pecked her neck gently and leaned his chin on her shoulder to give his opinion, earning a weak giggle in response. "Thank you for being here. I wish Edna was here, too."

"That would be nice," he agreed. The two of them together might do better in comforting Symonne; then again, Edna suffered personally under Heldalf and lost Lailah to him, so he quietly appreciated her absence.

. .
. .​

"She's still looking over here."

"Well, of course she is. No other old lady flies so high!"

Magilou cackled quietly and paid no mind to Alisha's befuddled stare. The therion was seated with Margaret at a table some paces away, though their conversation kept being sidetracked. Velvet gave the younger girls a pointed look until they both went back to discussing how to proceed, then rolled her eyes at Magilou. "I have a feeling she hadn't worked out that you only play the forgetful grandma."

"That as well, though I technically am a grandmother."

"And who was insane enough to put a child in you?"

"Hey now, that's rude!"

Velvet snorted and ignored her friend's mock indignation. "Also true, though. Just... please tell me it wasn't Rokurou. I don't even want to imagine the chaos a child from the two of you would create." Magilou just grinned and refrained from commenting; at first Velvet took this as an admission, but then she realised the other woman was playing around again and turned away with a huff. Desolation appeared so small from atop Innominat's grand structure that she could not help but marvel time and again.

"I didn't thank you for working on Symonne yet, did I?" Velvet allowed herself a smile, but kept watching the planet beneath instead of Magilou. "She gave up Heldalf's secrets and lured him to me just earlier today. We have a chance to free Phi now."

"All's well that ends well," the elder agreed cheerfully, though she nudged Velvet's shoulder with her walking cane right after. "Though I doubt she is well right now."

Velvet sighed in response. "She isn't and won't be for a long time, but I think she will get better. Laphi is with her right now. She's good for him, and he for her, so I have to thank you for that, too."

"My, just the two of them? I wonder what they could be up to right now...." Magilou trailed off with a teasing grin, her intent clear. Velvet ignored it entirely in favour of deadpanning at her.

"Likely one is crying and the other trying to comfort her."

"You're no fun." When Velvet ignored her complaint as well, Magilou rolled her eyes and leaned back. "Oh well, no matter. So Symonne came through in the end? I gave Edna a little nudge so she had a chance, but it seems that wasn't enough."

"Oh, it was enough alright," she countered her old friend with a grin, finally meeting the other woman's curious gaze again. "The three of them are an item. We just sent Edna off to Elysia about a week ago, so she isn't around."

"Huh. Surprising, but not unwelcome. They are all starved for genuine relationships, in one way or another." Magilou nodded sagely to herself. "Symonne and Edna had no one until recently, while your baby brother had only you and Artorius for all his life."

Velvet nodded, though she felt obligated to interject: "Edna had Eizen." She was given a raised eyebrow and inclined her head in agreement. "Yeah, he wasn't around, but still." Feeling uncomfortable for having brought it up, she changed the subject: "Speaking of, Laphi worked out a method that might work for purifying a dragon, but it takes three Empyreans to pull off." Seeing that she had Magilou's undivided attention, Velvet elaborated: "First we need myself to draw out as much Malevolence from the dragon as possible, then Innominat to suppress its raging emotions somewhat so the personality beneath can claim control, and then Maotelus to cleanse the dragon in that exact moment."

Of course they could not test it yet, but Velvet saw the wisdom in her brother's theory. Apparently, Magilou did as well. "Impressive," she agreed. "Tell me the details."

The younger woman grimaced, but did as asked. The moment her old friend began to make further inquiries beyond what Laphi told her however, she had to shake her head. "Sorry, I'm still trying to wrap my head around a lot of it."

"You have an Empyrean's mind and still need time to get stuff like this? For shame, young lady. You should study more!" Magilou's mock stern look was met with incredulity, at which point she dropped it in favour of a chuckle. "But that aside, I get most of it. Laphicet will have to explain the theory.

"So you're a nerd, got it," Velvet deadpanned, satisfied to see her friend grimace when the barb registered.

"I am an alpha nerd, thank you very much!" Magilou fell quiet after that and mulled something over; Velvet gave her the time and waited until she continued on her own: "Now, I notice that this entire plan hinges on Maotelus being retrieved safely."

"Nothing we can do about it. The silver flame is necessary for it to work. Besides, this is a proof of concept; if we can restore one dragon, we can restore others if need be." It was a weak reason and they both knew it; Magilou thankfully did not point out how this was done for Eizen in particular. Instead, she produced a gently shining arte square above her palm; the spell completed moments later, letting a silvery flame burst forth and burn silently.

"Quite," she agreed with the astonished Velvet. "Then how about I help you with that?"

She could not help but stare at the impossibility before her. "You're... a shepherd?"

"Psh, no! Magilou Mayvin, a shepherd? Please, sweetie, be real." She left a pause to be dramatic, clenching her fist to extinguish the flame. "I analysed Maotelus' blessing and created an arte to replicate it."

"...that's possible? Why didn't you say something?"

Magilou rolled her eyes at that, resting her chin on steepled hands. "Maotelus and I had a deal about this, kinda. Just think, Velvet: if it's possible to replicate a malakh's blessing, and something as potent as the silver flame at that, this is proof positive that others can also be replicated. If I told or taught others, what would they do? What could they do? The Reaper's Curse, Innominat's suppression, Symonne's illusions. Others could wield any of them and any other dangerous or destructive blessing they can find."

She had a point, but it sounded far too negative for Velvet's liking. "On the other hand," she retorted after mulling it over, "it could also be used to copy any positive blessing."

"Oh please, sweetie. You know how humans are, and no malakh has the drive to figure out an arte that complicated. Besides, who would want to let others use their own unique power in the first place?" Her reasoning remained sound; Velvet figured that a lot of thought had gone into the matter. When she inclined her head, Magilou offered her a small grin. "That aside, a few select individuals do know about it. I created the Firekeeper's Oath based on it, to grant a seraph access to the silver flame as if it were their own blessing."

"That was you?"

"Indeed it was me! Who else but the wicked witch Magilou?" This time Velvet sighed, which drew a chuckle from the other woman. She could not help but smile herself a moment later.

"Would you teach Laphi?" When the question did not draw an immediate refusal, Velvet elaborated: "The fact aside that he could figure out how to transfer his resonance-boosting blessing into an arte, we need it now. Of course no one but you and us will learn of it."

"I don't dislike the idea, truly I don't. Odd how life changes at times. Another student." Magilou, paused before throwing Velvet a grin. "Is he a good boy like Laphicet?"

Velvet huffed over the jab. "That one rebellious phase aside, he is." Her friend laughed heartily in response. However, this entire subject matter impressed another idea upon Velvet. "We could go and purify Eizen right now," she suggested with a nod toward Magilou; the witch nodded sagely.

"That we could, but he would leave the moment he's back."

She did not even need to agree with Magilou; they both knew it was the case with Edna so close. "That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about," she admitted. "When Lailah turned, she became a white-horned dragon. You remember what that means, right?"

"As if I could ever forget." All levity was gone now, both women painfully aware of the difficult choices that awaited. Unconciously, Minkkubi curled a little tighter about the slumbering dragon in her grasp. "Alas, nothing important in life is ever easy. We have to sort Lailah's fate out sooner or later... but for now, I agree that we should get Eizen back now. His will is great, but even he will break eventually."

"I'll say. That madman has been fighting so long already that he deserves a break." Velvet hesitated there, a sudden idea popping into her head. She glanced toward Margaret and Alisha, who were still absorbed in a map. "Think those two and Symonne would like another friend along?"

Her suggestion drew a snort which became laughter moments later. "Oh my, Eizen among those three? I would pay money to see this! Tell your baby brother to prepare, I was bored anyway!"

 

"It will be a while, so you can take some time to see more of Rolance first," Laphicet reassured Sorey. "The expedition's ship will lie in port Anselm, straight west from Pendrago at the coast."

Dezel listened with a certain sense of curiousity, but no real motivation to follow that lure the boy set out. Going by what he learned of Sorey however, their de-facto leader was intrigued by Laphicet's spiel about ancient ruins on a forgotten island. Rose chimed in asking for details and artifacts, likely to see if they might find anything to sell for profit. Mikleo listened just like Dezel did, Zaveid and Edna had both vanished the moment they arrived, though the latter stopped to exchange a chaste kiss with Laphicet. An odd couple, but not his business.

They needed two weeks to return ever since leaving Elysia; while Sorey was still rough around the edges, he learned quickly how to utilise the winds. As his element was not needed at the moment, Dezel took in the room's long since familiar design instead. He may not see like others, but his winds had their own perks; he knew Edna returned before she even opened the door in the back. The girl she held hands with was a surprise, though; he measured her, finding the shape oddly familiar yet subtly off from who he was looking for. Admittedly, so was Edna; they had a similar build.

"Laphi," a chipper voice interrupted the discussion Dezel since tuned out, silencing everyone. "Velvet says she needs you in the back."

"I see. I'll have to take my leave then." The boy rose with an almost unnatural grace and shook hands with Sorey. "Please do consider it. I'd love to go myself, but I don't have the opportunity." That was a bald-faced lie, but only Dezel and Rose knew. He understood that they wanted to distract Sorey from something else.

"I will, thanks for telling me."

"Wow, Symonne. I like the new look!" Dezel's finger twitched when he heard the name, but the cheery response was so unlike the dead monotone he remembered that he refused to believe it was her. A coincidence, most likely; people could share names.

"Thank you! It took me a while to get just right! Even gets my sweet Edna grabby!"

"Does not."

"Does too!"

The two petite girls stared at each other while the men wisely stayed out of their standoff. Dezel studied this Symonne's getup for a moment, though Rose snapped her fingers a moment later. "Right, you can't really see it. Look, she's got this long, light grey dress that goes down to her calves with lovely golden trims. The sleeves go all the way to her wrists too, so it would be super modest... well, except for the neckline, her boobs are almost spilling out."

"Yup." The other seraph did a quick twirl that made her dress fly, then curtsied at everyone. "I based it off something I used to wear and now felt like a good time to switch wardrobes. The only thing I really kept are the boots." She presented heavy, likely white boots. Dezel also noted some kind of socks, but did not explore further up her legs; that would be rude.

Regardless, the wind seraph could not help but throw an unseeing stare at Rose. "I noticed all that," he deadpanned. He still felt that he had the right person in front of him even then, having to forcefully unclench his hands. Thankfully, Rose ignored him in favour of discussing Symonne's cleavage; for some odd reason, the seraph girl decided to push up her modest bust. Whatever appeal it had was lost on Dezel, who could not be tricked by optical illusions.

He just shook his head, turning around to leave at that point; Mikleo and Sorey wordlessly fell into step with him. Dezel doubted they were agitated like he was for some reason, but he would not refuse the company.

Left behind, Symonne cast a glance at the retreating seraph's back and tried not to frown. Instead, she pulled Edna against her side and threw a sly grin to Rose. "Honestly, I just want to look pretty for my lovelies. Maybe I'll drop this getup entirely if I get tired of it in a week, but going a bit more prim and proper than before isn't bad. Now shoo, your friends are leaving and I-" she got that far before Edna covered her mouth.

"No more innuendo," she demanded flatly, much to Symonne's disappointment. Considering that her girlfriend's other hand took to wandering behind her back however, she appreciated the do-over.

For her part, Rose giggled and waved goodbye. "Fair enough. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, girls!" And with that, she ran off to leave the two alone. Symonne's smile dropped the moment she was out the door. Edna wordlessly pulled her out of the taproom and back into the cozy quiet of the living room they vacated earlier.

"You're not good to be around people yet," the earth seraph remarked as she sat Symonne down. "But was there something with Dezel? You kept sneaking glances at him."

Symonne did not really want to talk about the many atrocities she committed, but felt she owed Edna at least something for her peace of mind. She flopped down to rest her head on her girlfriend's bare thighs. "I ruined his life at one point," Symonne muttered morosely. "He and Rose used to be part of a famous mercenary group that I brought down a few years back." They both knew on whose order; Edna hesitated for a moment, but then she began to card through Symonne's hair as she spoke: "And I know he recognised me. My illusions barely work on him, so he found me back then. I was so sure he'd start fighting, but for some reason he didn't."

"You changed a lot this last year," Edna argued softly. "Maybe he didn't recognise you."

"He did, I'm certain."

Edna hummed and continued to caress Symonne's head; the sensation calmed her as she continued to babble: "I think it's that his anger calmed down over the years. Maybe he didn't want to recognise me, is what I think. So that he can keep moving forward instead of always looking back. He's lying to himself either way, but I'd be happy if it were like that."

"How so?"

"Because he'd die if he tried to take my life. If Laphi didn't kill him, then Velvet definitely would." The hands paused in their ministrations, but Symonne knew that Edna understood. Regardless of how much warmth those two siblings exuded normally, they were fiercely protective of everyone dear to them. Perhaps if she explained that to Heldalf, it would have changed things. Feeling her gut clench, Symonne sighed into Edna's soft thigh. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Can we go back to who of us is more lewd?"

"You, no contest."

"Big contest!" she argued coyly, one finger poking her girlfriend's bare leg. "I might show cleavage, but you're one stumble or a strong gust of air away from flashing everyone. And you're not half as grounded as you pretend you are. Could it be you want others to get an eyeful?" Edna fidgeted and Symonne knew that had she looked up, she would have seen a luminescent blush.

"I just like it," she muttered quietly. "I'm not a pervert."

Symonne gently reached up and rubbed her shoulder. "There there," she soothed, "you're not immediately a pervert for wearing something that's not completely prim and proper. Besides, you shouldn't let what other people think dictate who you are and what you do. If you want to wear a short skirt, you wear a short skirt. If you want to go nude, you go nude."

"So you want to let everyone take a look down your cleavage?"

"No, just you and Laphi." She managed to find Edna's cheek and stroked it without ever looking up; the other girl leaned into her touch, revealing the heat flaring through her face. "I'm probably going to close it up when neither of you is around."

"Good." Edna hesitated, but then shifted until she could pull Symonne upward to sit in her lap. "I may not be the dragon in this relationship, but I don't want others to look at you." She then kissed Symonne possessively, who could not help but smile and kiss her back.

. .
. .​

Just a day later, minutes after Sorey and company left for Pendrago, a most unusual procession made their trek along Rayfalke-Spiritcrest. A weary, old witch constantly complained about her back and old bones, but was consistently ignored by the gods and Normin. Only the sole other human took heart and attempted to help by steadying Magilou Mayvin, but was shooed away the moment she tried.

"She only does it for show," Velvet advised Margaret, "just ignore her."

"I see." The teen mulled this over for a moment before sighing softly. "It still galls me, in a way. Though I still do not understand why I am allowed to witness this miracle, either." Velvet shrugged in response and pointed to Magilou, who had insisted Margaret accompany them. The elder merely grinned. From this moment onward, a heavy silence hang in the air; they all knew what was to happen. This day, the gods would declare there existence and their might to the world. They would prove once and for all that nothing was beyond one's ability to achieve if only they wanted to work for it; this day, they would do the impossible.

They took a short break right before Eizen's nest, the slumbering dragon already in sight. Velvet pretended it was to go over the plan one last time, but they all knew she was looking out for Magilou. Laphicet curiously settled next to the elder who muttered about being too old for journeys like this. "You mentioned that you can rejuvenate your body. Why haven't you done it yet? Being young again would be a great boon, right?" His questions drew Margaret's attention immediately, though any follow-ups were delayed by Magilou's chuckle.

"Because reason says so, eh? No, no. I could rejuvenate anytime, anyday. It would be objectively better if I did, but you know what? I like playing the wizened elder and I want to do it a little longer." All but Margaret remembered her senile-appearing behaviour and knew what she actually meant; Magilou simply grinned toothily. "It's not reasonable, but it is what I want."

"Pardon," Margaret interjected quietly into the ensuing silence, staring at Magilou with unabashed curiousity. "I assume you use an arte for this... rejuvenation?" The elder nodded. "Could this arte be taught?"

"...ah. No, my dear. It can not." Both Crowes were listening as well now, never having considered to ask. "Maybe it can be improved beyond what I created, but it is an arte solely for me. It integrates in my body's structure, so any like it would need to be fitted to a given person. The human body is too complex and too varied to be conquered with but one arte." She huffed and tapped Bienfu's gaudy hat for emphasis. "Not to mention that you need to either draw mana from an earthpulse or have two Normin to cast the arte."

Magilou then studied the Malevolence-coated sky. "Perhaps once Maotelus is free," she mused, paying no mind to Laphicet giving his sister some last-minute instructions on how to best draw darkness from a dragon. "It seems we're about ready to get going. You will keep me safe from any stray attacks, won't you, sweetie?"

"Of course."

"That's a good girl." She gave Margaret a pat on the head as she rose to her feet. "Not that there will be much of a fight. No dragon can stand against the might of two Empyreans."

"Then again," Velvet countered, "this is Eizen." The dragon had woken and watched them, slitted eyes completely focussed on them. Though his head still rested on the ground and his front legs were folded, he was clearly tense. This tension thankfully subsided when Velvet's domain and thus her blessing washed over the entire area.

"Too true. Maybe your little trick will keep him docile."

Velvet did not grace that with an answer and stepped forward alone, leaving everyone else to watch. Eizen rose to peer at them, but his attention clearly lay on the woman in front. His head lowered as she neared, followed by a rumbling "Vel-vet". She smiled ever so gently, reaching out; he loomed closer, allowing her to touch his scaly head.

"It's alright, Eizen," she soothed the beast. Her caresses, her affection made Eizen's eyes fall shut.

"Is. It. Over?" he asked, almost hopeful in a way that tugged at her heart. Margaret watched with a hand clasped over her mouth, needing Magilou to drag her aside and away.

"For a time, yes. Hold still for us? For me and Laphi and Magilou."

His eyes snapped open at once and turned to where Laphicet stood, narrowing. "In-No-" -"hush now, none of that." Eizen glared at Velvet, having recognised the golden monster in an instant. His thoughts were clear enough to recall seeing him recently, too, but not when or why. Eizen relaxed again, slumping down bodily; the impact and his latent powers sent a small earthquake through the mountains, setting off rockslides and making Bienfu stumble. "End. Me." he growled in resignation. Velvet shook her head.

"Just hold still."

Eizen twitched in response, clearly agitated, but he did as she asked him to. The young goddess willed her arm to change shape into a vicious claw; at the same time, Laphicet began to weave an arte. Golden light shone into the heavens while Magilou and Margaret took position at the side; the elder beginning to craft a silvery arte of her own. Eizen watched it all, his tail flicking back and forth in erratic fits.

Velvet took a deep breath to focus; she could kill him quickly from where she stood, were that her goal. Stepping forward, she ran her human hand over the dragon's flank, felt for the Malevolence surging beneath; it was plentiful and the sensation became ever stronger as she neared his center. The darkness surged with every beat of his powerful heart, pumping Malevolence like blood. The fact Eizen still retained some of his memories and the ability to think was a miracle.

"Quick. Now!" Eizen ground out while she walked back and forth; he shuddered, the steady heartbeat quickening under her fingertips.

"Don't worry." Velvet chose a spot close to his heart as she soothed the dragon. "It will be alright." He tensed when the tips of her claw pressed against his hide, but there was no pain. Hundreds of teeth unsheathed themselves on reflex within her palm, but Velvet kept herself in check. Each digit was aligned with Eizen's scales. "Laphi? Magilou?" She did not avert her gaze from the being in front of her; Eizen watched their actions with a mixture of anticipation and curiousity, his long neck bent so he could see Velvet. Her brother and friend both confirmed they were ready, drawing the dragon's attention for a moment.

This was when she pulled back and struck, slamming all five clawed fingers into his thick hide. Eizen screeched as the force of her strike pushed him back half a metre, transitioning into a roar. He tried to stand and shake her off, but Velvet simply hovered along; her teeth ground as they could not tear away any more than the outer scales, but she endured the instinctual hunger and began to pull instead. Malevolence came flowing down her gullet like a river, devoured just as quickly as it arrived. From this added power, she created chains of darkness to direct with her free hand and feet; Eizen spread his wings in an attempt to flee, but the chains bound them in place before he could.

His neck and body were tied to the ground, but even her overwhelming power could not seal his nature; the mountain shook as the earth dragon fought, pillars of rock erupting all around her but shattering upon impact. The legendary bringer of the end roared challenges toward the goddess of darkness, but was found wanting. Velvet remained focussed, pulling more and more Malevolence out of her old friend; as Minkkubi, she could devour it faster than Eizen produced it. Less and less coursed through his body with every second. The earth rumbled beneath and fell away, but they just hang in the air by Velvet's chains instead, slowly lowering themselves to follow the collapsing mountain. She could not tell how long it took for the dragon to grow sluggish, but eventually felt something beside the darkness; Eizen's original soul yet remained within the dragon's core. Velvet raised her free hand. "Laphi! Now!"

The golden light grew brighter in response, five more circles joining the first; one below Laphicet, one above him, and one to each side in a triangle. He began his chant once they were all aligned in front: "Oh being of darkness, heed my call! Thy reign of terror hath ended, thou shall be freed, thy shackles fall! Rejoice, for thy wounds shall be mended, rejoice and submit, submit soul and heart alike!"

Circle by circle faded from view, only to reappear around Eizen; Innominat's power stood meaningless against Minkkubi, but even she could feel it tear at her momentarily before sinking into Eizen. Laphicet's light pierced through the veil of darkness and reached the remains of Eizen's soul. The dragon roared louder than before, furiously bucking against her chains. Distant mountaintops exploded and sank away in her peripheral vision, but Velvet did not give. The weakening dragon could not keep up his thrashing, his soul slowly enveloped in gold.

"Vel-Vet... why?"

Eizen's question received no response, for their souls were aligned in this moment; she knew how betrayed he felt, how angry and scared. Yet even then, his heart lifted when she answered with love and hope. "Shh," she soothed again. "Trust me, just once more."

She looked up to meet his gaze evenly and the world held its breath for an instant.

Then Eizen closed his eyes, his body falling slack. The suppression completed, separating soul and darkness just as they hoped it would. Velvet's heart hammered in her chest as she roared for her friend: "Magilou!" No more than a cackle answered her. Glancing over to where one of her brother's artes kept Magilou and Margaret afloat in mid-air, she saw the elder grin; Bienfu and Grimoirh flanked her, channeling power into the singular arte circle she held ready. Their eyes met briefly and Velvet nodded, only to be enveloped in divine silver flame.

They burned her, greedily licking at Velvet's exposed skin, at her hair, at her claw. She was a being made of Malevolence, now wreathed in pain as the sacred fire aimed to cleanse it all. Not even having her heart pierced by Artorius' blade compared, every second feeling like minutes.

Yet with each second, the docile dragon's scales were burned away. The dragon himself was burned away, revealing his remaining soul draped in gold. Several pieces fitted themselves back in as she watched, the creature around it shrinking ever further. She ceased drawing Malevolence out of him and let the flame take over; Laphicet dropped his suppression by the time the dragon was twice Velvet's size. It kept shrinking regardless, bathed in the flames of purification. Her chains were burned away and they descended further, the sibling gods' power seeing them safely settle on the ground as the fire faded.

Shaking off silvery sparks, Velvet smiled down at the man kneeling in front of her. He was breathing evenly and completely naked for the time being. When his sharp eyes opened to take her in however, she felt her heart leap. "Welcome back, Eizen."

She had longed to speak those words; now, finally, they had become true. He rose to the height she remembered, standing taller than Velvet herself. Broad-shouldered, soon cloaked in mana that formed a rugged, dark suit over an orange shirt. His ochre hair and sharp features, it was all the same, even that roguish grin of his. "I should have known you would find a way," he greeted her in turn, voice raw. "But we both know it won't last."

"I know. Rather a dragon than eternity with the Reaper's Curse. We are looking into that."

They held each other's gaze for a long moment, but were interrupted when Laphi chimed in from the side: "That aside, some respite from this existence should be good for you. How do you feel?"

The reminder of his presence earned a glower from Eizen, who then glanced to Velvet. "Weird to see you both together after what happened before."

She shrugged, rather drawing him into an embrace before responding. "He got a good spanking after that rebellious phase, so we put it behind us." His laughter vibrated through her from how close they were.

"Please stop trivialising this in my presence. I want to slap you each time you do." They separated and turned to Margaret, who had closed the distance together with Magilou and was scowling at Velvet. "That aside, perhaps you should take a look around."

She did as told, only to realise with a start that the devastation wrought was greater than she noticed. "Um." Rayfalke Spiritcrest was gone for the most part. Eizen's might leveled the mountain range, leaving but a few distant peaks in place; they reached into the sky like skeletal fingers, surrounding a barren plain. "Oops?"

"Yes, 'oops'." Margaret pinched the bridge of her nose in clear annoyance, but let the matter drop in favour of introductions. She offered a bow to Eizen. "Anyway, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Margaret."

"Eizen." He appeared somewhat amused by her proper conduct, but did not comment; his eyes rather went to the elder grinning at them. "Did I hear right earlier? Magilou?" The grin widened. "You're still alive? How long has it been?"

"A thousand years now," she disclosed cheerfully, placing a wrinkly hand over her heart. "Now we only need Rokurou to come out of the woodwork and the old guard is almost back together." Both Velvet and Eizen shared her smile for a moment, though it did not last.

"We still need to free Phi," Velvet reminded her friend somberly, "and there is no sign of Eleanor. It wouldn't be the same." Then, with a glance at Eizen, she added a quiet: "I'll explain later." He nodded and returned to studying Margaret, who stood a little awkwardly among them; by the way his eyes narrowed, he noticed something familiar. Her stance was little different from Artorius, always on guard, ever vigilant. She had grown up a little more, still short in comparison to Velvet and Eizen but certainly as fit as either of them. Yet her very presence presented a conundrum that made Velvet eye Magilou. "And now out with it, why did you insist on bringing Maggie?"

"I concur," her erstwhile student added curtly. "It is a great honour to become witness of this miracle, but you impressed how delicate a matter it is. Am I truly that trusted?" Despite being who she was, she did not say; Velvet could read it out of her tone and posture just fine.

Magilou snorted at them, straightening her back somewhat but failing to stand at Margaret's size. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked with a soft chuckle before motioning for Eizen. "I wanted you here to see for yourself that the world can and will change. There is no limit that can not be broken by dedicated effort and determination. I still stand alive after a thousand years and a dragon was returned to being who he once was. So take heart, child, and stride into the future."

"I see."

Margaret's voice was blank as she and both Crowes understood Magilou's meaning quite clearly; to prevent another disaster like the fall of Artorius. Despite the clear manipulation however, they all knew it had worked. Margaret shook her head with a sigh, then turned to Eizen. "Regardless, I would like to bond with you." He had been watching the whole proceedings curiously, but her sudden proposal surprised the reaper. Velvet and Laphicet, too. Magilou merely smiled, as did the Normin by her side.

Eizen's eyes narrowed once more, although he did not refuse her outright. Rather, he crossed his arms. "You know who I am?" A nod. "Then perhaps the others didn't tell you everything. I am forever bound by the Reaper's Curse, to bring misfortune upon all who walk by my side. If you seek to bond with me, I doubt you will live another five years." He waited for a horrified reaction or Margaret taking back her proposal, but was surprised when she simply nodded; ignoring Velvet's snort and Laphicet's laughter, he studied Margaret more intently. "Besides, I like to walk my own path." The young woman inclined her head.

"I understand and yet I ask this of you. To walk with me for a time, lend me your power, and strike me down should I lose my way again. My current partner, as dear as she is to me, would not have the heart to do it." Her gaze never wavered from his own until he glanced at the people surrounding them. Margaret took a deep breath before offering her hand and creating a bonding arte circle between them. Her voice rose in volume but never lost its clarity: "I am Margaret Randgriz, inheritor of the soul, the will, and the sins of Artorius Collbrande. Despite all their reassurances, I deny that rebirth absolves me of the past; even if it did, I would still wish to make amends. To bring light and fortune to the people of Desolation, cast back the darkness, and truly earn the title of shepherd this time around. This I ask of you: lend me your power until such a time that I can ask for Maotelus to do the same."

All but Margaret and Eizen himself laughed about the flabbergasted expression on his face. Moments passed in consideration before he nodded, placing his own hand on the circle. "I am Eizen," he returned her words, "whom they call the Reaper. To walk with me is to walk with a near and eventual death. I accept you as my vessel, for now. Should you lose hope in humanity again, stray from your path, I will end you. My true name, thusly, is Uzfmiwuw Uexuv."

His true name began the bonding in earnest; Margaret could feel the moment his mana joined hers, flowed through her body in a way much different from Symonne's. Eizen lost corporeality to join his essence, settling deep within the young woman. For a moment, her flesh felt like stone and the very earth resonated under her will. Then it passed, only for Eizen to reappear by their side. He was met with smiles and gratitude.

Wordlessly, woman and seraph shook hands on their new partnership.

 

Odd times befell Hyaci Maltran; the brewing war she had expected, seeing how her careful machinations escalated hostilities. The lack of orders from her lord in this crucial time, she had not. Heldalf was usually quite punctual in his response, which worried her. The letter she penned should have been answered by now, but he kept his silence to all of his agents in Ladylake. Moreover, the local seraphim were up to something she had yet to discover the purpose of.

Hyaci sat in a complicated position; trusted beyond any doubt at court, but in need to carefully remain distant of conflicting situations. Yet she had to investigate the lack of orders and the seraphims' actions, all while having but a handful of people trustworthy and capable of doing so discreetly. Calloused fingers tapped a slow rhythm on her desk as she pondered the conundrum, which was when the soft flap of wingbeats caught her attention. An oversized eagle landed moments later, clouded in a thin layer of inky Malevolence.

"About time," Hyaci murmured as she turned to the messenger; her worry hardly had time to dissipate before it returned with a vengeance, though: the bird shook its head when she reached for its leg, but presented it anyway. With her own letter still attached. The messengers were intelligent and faithful, but this particular event meant... "You can not find him?"

The bird nodded slowly and hung its head, cooing softly when Hyaci administered gentle scritches. "Do not falter, you did well," she soothed even as her mind raced. He might be overseeing something vital in person; she knew the messengers could not reach Camlann or Artorius' Throne near it, which was where she suspected her lord. Yet at the same time, Symonne had not reported in for months; her own agents reported the seraph girl traveling with other people recently.

Hyaci had been a slight bit suspicious of Symonne and her goals for quite some time, but especially so for the past year; something changed with that one. This, she needed to investigate as well. "I need your services in an hour or two," she told the messenger, who fluttered its wings in agreement. Perhaps even in determination to make up for the previous failure. Hyaci immediately began to pen letters to the other agents she knew of. Until Heldalf returned, Hyaci simply had to work harder; her faith in the fact he would return was unwavering. And once the new world order was established, she would be crowned queen.

. .
. .​

"I see. Times sure are interesting."

Eizen regarded the people around him with a half-grin, though Velvet clearly noticed how it faded when he came to Laphi. It would get better over time, or at least she hoped it would. "Anything else I need to know?"

"Not right now," Velvet answered nonchalantly, though she knew a few things they had to cover soon. "Let's get back home for now." Then she hesitated at the reminder that the mountain was gone. "Laphi, where is the gate?"

"That way," he pointed helpfully, although with a hint of trepidation. "But it's a delicate arte, so I don't know if it survived the sudden shift in position." He led the way without hesitation and everyone filed in behind him; Laphi had been mostly quiet until this point, clearly uncomfortable around Eizen. Velvet could not tell if it was because of Edna or Eizen's own dislike of him, but he apparently got over it and chattered along: "Oh, and do tell me what kind of catalyst you want."

Margaret threw him an incredulous look for that. "We just bonded," she reminded Laphi. "Armatisation is a long way off."

"Aye, the trust it takes to do so takes a long while to build."

"It's good to see you both in agreement, but I disagree that you shouldn't have a catalyst now." Laphi turned to floating backward so he could face human and seraph. "Even if you can't use it yet, it's better to have one ready than to lack it when you need it. Not to mention, Margaret, you and Symonne pulled it off within a month of knowing each other."

"A fluke, nothing more," the girl muttered abashed. Eizen gave a thoughtful noise, but did not comment further. Margaret's eyes narrowed and she threw her friend an accusing look. "You just want to build more catalysts, don't you?"

Laphi smiled at her cheerfully. "Guilty as charged," he admitted without remorse. "It's just so much fun to lay intricate spellwork like this in various objects. So, any particular things you'd like? I heard Sorey's earth-catalyst is a gauntlet and I remember that you're focussed on martial arts or something, right?"

"Aye." Eizen raised one hand for emphasis. "My body is the only weapon I can use safely. My curse has a habit of breaking anything else at the worst time." He studied Margaret by his side for a moment, then reached out to take her hand and look it over; Velvet noticed him pause over the clear callouses that spoke of dedicated practice. "How about a pair of gloves?" he then suggested. "Fingerless, probably. If you can make them sturdy, they'd add some additional protection for Margaret's hands as well."

The young woman had been squirming a little, but allowed her hand to be scrutinised that closely; she quickly agreed with the proposal once he let go, though. Laphi then took her and Magilou ahead through the gate, leaving behind the older Crowe and the reaper. Velvet stopped her old friend from following the others. "One more thing," she began, then paused. "Actually, several."

"Oh?" He stopped and turned to face her, waiting expectantly. Considering how to start for a moment, Velvet began to grin.

"You remember what Margaret told you earlier?" she then queried, only to receive a nod. "Well, she isn't the only one who came back. I found an old friend of yours some time ago. He was just like people described him whenever we asked." Her grin widened when Eizen's eyebrow rose almost imperceptibly. "Van Aifread is back."

The reaction was immediate; at first Eizen went slack, but then his resting grim expression was replaced by an almost beaming smile. "He is?" The seraph grabbed her shoulders in exuberance, surprising Velvet a little. "Then I need to go there soon!"

"Say no more, of course you will." She could not help but chuckle. "You and Zaveid are similar in some things, you know?" He joined in with a snort, but left it at that; Velvet sighed at the silent motion to continue, knowing that this was the easiest part. "Next is Edna." At once, the mirth faded and Eizen's grasp grew far more tight. "She's fine," Velvet added before he could start to panic, "but you will see her, even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming. Don't give me that look, she's a sweet girl and deserves the chance."

Any lesser person would have tried to take distance from the mighty scowl Eizen now leveled at her. Velvet merely stared back, just as resolute. "For two," she continued, "she is seeing someone."

"What?!"

While Velvet had expected a violent reaction, she was not prepared to be let go, only for a gloved hand to grab her by the collar. She stared askance as the reaper glared at her from up-close. "Who is it?" he growled. "Tell me right this instant! I'll kill him and spread the pieces all over the continent!" Velvet's unamused look yielded no reaction, he simply waited for her to reveal the culprit.

"Eizen?"

"Nothing, Velvet. Who. Is. It?"

"You're trying to threaten a goddess."

"Your point?"

Velvet sighed, realising she should have seen that coming. "Why am I even surprised," she muttered, "I'd probably act similar in your place." Then however, she grabbed his hand and dislodged it forcefully, tearing off her tunic's collar. "Anyway, there will be no killing and no spreading pieces like some kind of barbarian. The only who'd get killed is you either way; you can't beat Laphi, no matter how hard you try."

Eizen stood stock still for a moment before his incredulous expression became furious instead. He made to go for the portal, but Velvet kept him in place by his hand. "Let go," he ordered, but she did not heed him. "I don't care who he is, he lays a hand on my sister, he dies. And Innominat at that, he probably-" "Don't."

The sudden edge in Velvet's voice shut him up, instinct overriding even Eizen's anger. She slowly leaned closer, holding his burning gaze with her own. "Do not, ever, talk about my brother as if he'd take advantage of a girl. Do not, ever, talk about him as if he'd suppress her to become his toy." She left a pregnant pause, squeezing Eizen's hand hard for emphasis. Then she hissed at him: "And for that matter, stop with the hypocrisy. Edna is all grown-up, strong, and smart. She chose Laphi and that makes whatever they get up to none of your business."

"That's not the point," Eizen growled back, agitated once more. Velvet raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, it isn't? Remind me who just wanted to kill a young man for daring to return his sister's feelings?" She received another, wordless growl in response, but the tension slowly drained from her old friend. Knowing that she would not get any further by pushing, Velvet relented as well. "I know you adore her, I love Laphi more than anything too. I'm not going to tell you not to worry, I do too. But I won't just let you interfere in this like you would have otherwise. They are old enough to make their own choices, wherever they may lead."

Her tone had grown softer with every sentence, but when she ultimately let go of his hand, Eizen stayed. He placed a hand on his face and sighed, the other clenched into a fist. "I'm going to have a stern talk with him anyway," he ground out. "But you made your point." For one insane moment, Velvet considered bringing up how Edna apparently offered her own body to repay them for the chance to get her brother back. She discarded the thought immediately, both for the guilt and the boundless wrath she knew that anecdote would earn from him.

To fill the ensuing silence, Velvet rather decided to continue with actually relevant information: "And for that matter, she has a girlfriend, too." Eizen tensed, but wisely kept his mouth shut and let her continue: "Her name is Symonne and she is Margaret's other partner. Don't be too hard on her, she had a lot happening in her life lately."

"We'll see."

Knowing that this was the best she would likely get, Velvet nodded. "There's one other thing, before we go. About two months ago, the Lord of Calamity cornered Shepherd Sorey and turned his firekeeper into a dragon." Eizen's eyes flashed in anger, clearly aware that it could as well have been Edna who was turned.

"But the Lord of Calamity is already dead," he felt out her reason to bring it up. "Losing a shepherd is a problem, but I don't see what's important about this. You don't need me to retrieve the firekeeper."

"I don't," Velvet agreed. "But she became the only white-horned dragon Laphi and I saw all around the continent. Her heart can remove your curse. I know you wouldn't want to have it," she silenced his immediate protest, "but this one is out of your hand. A firekeeper is worth purifying, but your continued presence stands on the other end of the scale. This is a choice Edna must make. I know very well you won't stay around her, so if she wants you more than her friend...." She left the words hanging in favour of holding Eizen's gaze. "And if need be, if she makes that choice, I will force that heart down your throat. She loves you." She could tell he was irate about having his freedom to choose taken away; regardless, the warning growl he let out did not faze her. "You're a dear friend," Velvet continued gently, "but so is Edna. I have a hand with stubborn boys and sometimes you need to be forced to do something for your own good."

The tension ran high for a long moment, both of them ready to throw punches. Velvet did not know what ultimately made Eizen relent; he sighed heavily, shelving the subject: "We will see what happens when we get to it. For now, show me your body." When Velvet hesitated in confusion and a bit of sheepishness, he rolled his eyes at her. "The dragon, Minkkubi. I want to see for myself, my memories from before are hazy at best."

"Ah. That makes more sense."

Concentrating, Velvet tore at the earthpulse running beneath to open it up; Minkkubi had lain in wait right beneath Rayfalke, just in case. Now she rose up to tower above Eizen, obsidian scales glinting in the afternoon sun. She still held a slumbering, crimson dragon in her arms, however; Eizen tensed at seeing Lailah's curved horns, glancing toward his friend for an explanation. "It's kinder to keep her like this," Velvet provided. "She can still think."

Her words woke the harbinger of flames, whose eyes slid open to take in their surroundings. They focussed on Eizen and Velvet, studying them with curiousity as well as remembrance. "Vel-vet," she growled, making to reach out but aborting the motion as she remembered her own claws. Both sides studied the other for a long moment.

"Tell me," Eizen then addressed Lailah, whose gaze focussed on him. "What is it that you want? To be returned to normal, or to become a sacrifice?" He left out a great many things there and Velvet's frown made clear she knew it was on purpose, but he did not amend those parts. Lailah contemplated first the question and then him.

"You. You are... Eizen." His surprise was obvious. "The. Cursed. One." Then it turned into irritation while Velvet huffed quietly. The dragon remained silent for several minutes this time, an uncomfortable silence that kept stretching on. Clouds of darkness emanated from Lailah with every breath she took, though Minkkubi's larger frame absorbed most before it could even reach Eizen. When she spoke, her grunts had a contemplative edge to them: "Either, fine. I want, to live, yes. But if it, it is, ei-ther that, or, or, Edna, Edna, being happy? She smiles so, so rarely. Make her, smile."

"Don't worry," Velvet soothed the forlorn dragon gently. "We will. All of them will smile, but it's still not a choice I'm going to take from them. Now sleep some more." Her draconic form began to sink back into the earthpulse, never relinquishing her hold on Lailah. The smaller dragon lowered her head as she vanished from sight, leaving only Velvet and a somber Eizen.

"She's willing to sacrifice herself," he muttered after a long pause, eyes seeking Velvet's. "You could just do it right now, get it over with." He was still unhappy, but no longer actively opposed to the plan.

Velvet let out a soft sigh, squashing the urge to hug herself for comfort. "I could and I considered it. But this is really not my choice to make, Eizen. Even if Lailah agrees with it, I can't keep making decisions for humans and seraphim; I am a most cruel goddess, after all." The joke drew a grin from her friend, which Velvet matched. "So my puny lessers will have to make the hard decisions on their own."

"You're not wrong. But this is Lailah's choice first and foremost, isn't it? It's her life and her heart."

"Agreed." Velvet watched the contemplative dragon with her true body, wondering if perhaps it would be kinder do grant her wish after all. "I'll consider it. Maybe we'll go ahead after your curse almost kills the girls a few times."

They shared a laugh over that and once her mirth faded, Velvet made to activate the teleportation gate. Her hand paused right above the arte however; something made her hesitant, be it instinct or caution. She threw a glance to Eizen and examined the arte, then dispelled it with a huff. "Your curse is already active," Velvet informed her friend as she weaved the arte anew. "The gate's formula got corrupted while we spoke, probably from Lailah's Malevolence. Going through like that probably would have destroyed us. Or thrown us into the void, I don't know." She would have to ask her brother for a better idea what might have happened. Eizen did not respond either way, though he reached into his pocket for something that was not there, then frowned.

"You know what you signed up for," he reminded her, to which Velvet nodded. "By the way, do you know what happened to my coin?"

"Zaveid has it. Said he picked it up after you turned and kept it since." They spoke about that some time ago, she remembered; the exact conversation coaxed another smile out of Velvet. "He said he wanted to give it to Edna at some point, but only after you died. So she can remember you by it."

"I see. And where is Zaveid now?"

"Working with the shepherd, same as Edna. I'll see about getting him alone to get your coin, but I doubt we'll have that chance." Just as the arte completed, Velvet threw Eizen a saccharine smile. "Looks like you have to go there instead." The glare he returned only made her huff, though she slowly began to understand what Magilou found so funny about taunting people.

She took the gate first and Eizen followed right behind; he appraised their new surroundings cautiously while trailing after Velvet, being led from the basement to the upper floors. Margaret was already expecting them, as was Alisha. Symonne apparently preferred to cuddle with Laphi, the two of them immediately drawing Eizen's attention in the back. He made to stalk over to them, but Margaret intercepted him with a smile. "Now that we have everyone here, meet Alisha. She is our resident therion."

"A pleasure," the older blonde murmured, unaware of being studied because her gaze was directed to the ground. Velvet glanced from her to Eizen and back, then made an understanding noise; he was handsome after all.

For his part, the earth seraph offered her a nod. "Likewise. I'm Eizen." He then stepped past the befuddled woman on his original path, looming over Symonne and Laphi.

"You two," Eizen growled, "a word."

The three women at the room's other side watched how both seraphim glanced up at him, then at each other. He frowned when neither of them rose, though Symonne pre-empted any demands: "Let me guess: 'if you touch my sister, I'll kill you'?" Either the prediction or her attempted baritone made Eizen blink down at her in surprise, prompting a giggle.

"No, no," Laphi corrected his girlfriend cheerfully. "I'm sure it's more like 'you better stay away from Edna, or I tear you apart'!" He, too, attempted a deep voice that only sounded hilarious. Velvet huffed, offering a shrug to the befuddled Alisha.

"Is that funny to you?" Eizen's growl curiously did nothing to intimidate the two; Symonne continued grinning and Laphi rolled his eyes.

"Of course it is," he lectured the older seraph with incredulity, "because you don't get to decide about Edna's life, just like Velvet doesn't get to decide about mine. If you think you can intimidate me into behaving, you probably forgot which of us is god here."

"And if you think you need to threaten us in the first place," Symonne chimed in while poking her foot into Eizen's stomach, "then that says more than enough about your opinions, which we will disregard on principle. So spare us all the trouble, yes? We're not doing anything she doesn't want, just like she won't do anything we don't want."

They held his glare nonchalantly, completely relaxed. Velvet tensed up however, expecting a brawl. To her surprise, Eizen backed off with a nod. "Good," he acquiesced. "At least you have a spine about yourself. We will see about the rest. I don't have to say what happens if you hurt her."

"Probably about the same that would happen if Edna hurt Laphi," Symonne chirped idly with a glance to Velvet. "Would be a shame, wouldn't it?"

"Don't pull me into this," she deflected the implications. "I know my Laphi is old enough not to need coddling."

"You still coddle him", Margaret immediately backstabbed her with a grin. "But it's more cute with a big sister and little brother." Alisha nodded along sagely while Laphi made a face. Eizen barked out a laugh, shaking his head at the situation.

"Alright. I'll leave it be for now." His gaze went to his vessel right after. "But there is someone I want to visit. It's your choice if you want to tag along, but if he's at all like I remember him, he will be intense."

"I'll say," Velvet muttered in agreement. Seeing the curious expressions all around, she provided some information for the others: "He's based in Horsa village at the moment." Laphi understood at once while the other women did not; Margaret pulled out a list Symonne made, nodding a few times as she skimmed it.

"We have some, er, targets near Horsa. I recall that there are bandits in the area as well, so we need to go there anyway. Wait a second." Laphi's laugh coincided with her remembering the elusive group's name; Margaret pocketed the list with a sigh. "It's van Aifread, isn't it?"

"Aye."

"I am not sure I understand the significance there," Alisha admitted as she glanced between everyone, "but I have been curious about the bandit king for a while. If you would not mind our company, Eizen?" He nodded to her and the therion's expression brightened. "Then I would like to meet him as well."

"I'm half-tempted to stay here," Symonne added with a glance to Laphi, who unceremoniously pushed her off the couch. "But it seems I'm not wanted right now."

"Stop being so dramatic," Margaret chided her first partner as she sauntered up to them, dress swishing around her calves. "We're all going, you can make out with Laphi some other time."

"Spoilsport."

The group trooped off, leaving only Velvet and Laphicet. He rose with a dramatic sigh and filed in behind her as well. "Back to work, I guess."

"Yes. And while we're at it, keep anything sensitive or vital under observation. We can't afford Eizen's curse messing things up now."

"Can do. At least Heldalf is already dead. No curse in the world can raise the dead. Except Malevolence, but... yeah, I'm going to shut up now."

. .
. .​

Alisha's first reaction to the bandit's main base was... surprise. They arrived not in a roughshod camp or cave, but rather a small chapel; she halted for a moment to study her surroundings and found the place well cared-for. Eizen did similarly, one hand on his chin. "The architecture is odd," he mused. "Those surfaces are too smooth and the edges too sharp to be made by human hands. I'd say this is a seraph-built room."

"I can see what you mean," Margaret agreed after scrutinising their surroundings again; Alisha felt lost, unable to see what they saw. "Likely the furniture was pilfered from elsewhere, but the room itself and the altar there appear like they were shaped of the very earth and not put together from stone." That was clearer for Alisha to follow, though she still exchanged a helpless shrug with Symonne.

Margaret, thankfully seeing their casual disinterest, pointed toward the door. "Perhaps we should keep moving," she suggested. Eizen nodded, but fell into step with her instead of charging ahead. Alisha followed as they left, entering a corridor that appeared just slightly off like the chapel. There were distant voices audible, but no one in sight at first; they needed to turn a corner and enter another room to meet people. A tall blunette was busy sharpening her spear on a grindstone when they entered the small forge. She perked up at their sight, first confused and then cheerful.

"New recruits, eh? Did Alvin just send you in again?" No one knew what to respond to that and she filled the pause herself. "Ah well, give me a moment and I'll take you to the boss. I'm Judith."

Stumped by the warm welcome, Alisha gave her own name before Margaret did the same; Judith did not react to Eizen and Symonne keeping their silence, continuing to chatter at them: "Pretty sure I know what you're thinking, place is way too neat and tidy to be a bandit camp, no? We've got some friends who built it for us, and we've got enough money to afford proper clothes and food, so don't worry too much, girls. We look out for each other here, no matter where you're from or who you are. Doesn't matter if you're hellions either, not that I could tell." Alisha fidgeted self-conciously at that last part, which the lady noticed with a chuckle. "Right on the money, I guess. Now come, come!"

She ushered them out of the forge and further down the corridor until they all entered a bigger room taken up by a large table, one man, and two lamias. The table held a map, which in turn held the attention of all three occupants; the crimson-scaled lamia slithered around restlessly while the blue one remained in place.

"New recruits, boss!"

With those words, all three turned to them; the lamias immediately focussed on Alisha as a fellow hellion, whose tail swished weakly. She in turn studied the bandit king, van Aifread; he was tall like Eizen and just as handsome, his long, black hair disheveled. The only orderly thing in his face was a neatly trimmed, pointy beard; every other symmetry was destroyed by a vertical scar running over his left eye, though the eye itself appeared fine. His gaze lay on Eizen, the two men sizing each other up. An odd tension gripped the room and the men, clearly noticed by everyone else; Judith faltered a little, looking between them while Eizen stepped forward. Aifread did the same and then punches started flying.

Alisha and her friends quickly stepped back to the wall, soon joined by the other three women. They watched the brawl in a momentary silence, broken by a resigned Judith: "Is this Zaveid fellow visiting again?" She received a headshake from the crimson lamia.

"This one is different," the woman muttered, then peered at Symonne. "How many people did you bring here?"

"Two, why?"

"Count again," the water seraph chimed in cheerfully, evoking clear shock in Judith. "And don't get used to it; I'm pretty sure it looks a lot less stupid when you can see them both." The blunette's attention went back to the brawl, where she could now actually see Eizen. Her jaw fell slack while the lamias focussed on Symonne now.

"That is a curious power you have," the blue lamia commented. "But regardless, welcome. I am Enid, this is my sister Rodeen." Her crimson sister nodded, neither of them fazed by the ongoing fistfight no ten metres from them. Eizen and Aifread were unrelenting, like forces of nature colliding.

While Margaret introduced everyone in their little group, Alisha pondered the goings-on and found herself curious. "Is he, um, always like this?"

She motioned for the men, her question clear to everyone. Judith quickly shook her head. "Not always, but he often goes on about how men speak with their fists." The women rolled their eyes at each other as they watched on.

Into the sounds of fists colliding, Margaret began to muse: "I would say it depends on the kind of man. Although, admittedly, throwing punches is refreshingly straightforward if you are used to careful social manipulation and intrigue."

"Aye."

Alisha needed a moment to realise it was her who agreed with the comment in such a casual manner. No one so much as batted an eye, but the realisation highlighted just how much she changed since leaving home. Thankfully, her mild embarassment remained unnoticed; Enid had been studying Margaret from the corner of her eyes, speaking up as the brawl came to a close: "You are no new recruits, are you?"

"I am afraid not," the girl admitted with a nod to Eizen gasping on the floor. "But he wanted to visit his friend, so we were curious how, er, people such as you live." Alisha winced over the less diplomatical phrasing, but none of the bandits took offense. "Word of your exploits is starting to pass through every corner of the empire," she added. There were a few understanding noises, though any further conversation was disrupted by raised male voices.

"About time you showed your ruddy face around here! It was getting boring without you to spice things up!" Though bruised and sporting a black eye, van Aifread clasped his old friend's hand in a firm shake.

Eizen chuckled darkly in response, crossing his arms when they let go of each other. "I doubt the rest of your new crew would be that happy with me. Besides, I can't stay, at least not yet."

"Oh? Prefer the ladies this time, eh?" The bandit king ran an appreciative gaze over them all, which had the lamias bristling and made Alisha feel somewhere between affronted and flattered. Her tail swished once before she shook off the sensation; she ought to be used to being complimented, though not in such straightforward a manner. Eizen just rolled his eyes.

"No," he deflected. "There are things that need to be done and that they will need all the help they can get to achieve. But I'll be around." Aifread laughed heartily and slapped his shoulder before fully rounding on Alisha's group.

"And you, what brings you into our humble abode?"

Margaret repeated their reasoning for him, then she and Alisha introduced themselves with polite smiles. Symonne merely shrugged, peering up at the bandit. "I don't know about them," she teased with a grin, "but I heard there's drink and booty to be had!" She offered her hand, which the chuckling Aifread shook vigorously. "But for real now, we have some work in the area, so we figured we might as well drop in here so Eizen can say hi."

"Aye, I like this one. Should consider her, old friend." He threw a wink to Eizen, whose frown darkened further. Symonne giggled.

"Nope, not happening. Already seeing his baby sister."

"And suicidal, too! Now, I'd say you make for perfect companions!" Aifread laughed again. Meanwhile, Alisha wondered if she could inch away from Eizen; if she had thought his scowl was severe before, he appeared positively murderous right now.

All of a sudden, one leg of the table next to them collapsed and brought down the whole thing; Alisha flinched into a ready stance, but relaxed once it registered properly. Aifread just shrugged. "Ah, there we go. I was wondering how long it takes. Now, Enid? Call everyone together, we're having a feast to celebrate Eizen's return!"

"I, why? ...yes, of course." The lamia had made to argue, but decided against it. She slithered away with her sister close behind, shoulders slumped despondently.

Everything moved at an incredible pace from there on; within the hour, dozens of men and women were gathered under the open sky in a derelict village. No less than seven cooks tended the fireplaces, barrels of ale and bottles of finer spirits filled first wooden mugs, then their stomachs. Well-cooked meat and roasted vegetables went onto her own plate as well, a meal worthy of being called feast. Some people were singing, others danced to the tune of strings.

Alisha could not help but stare at the goings-on. She had been swept up by the cheer and was even convinced to partake in drinks with the bandits. All around her sat rugged yet clean people enjoying themselves; much to her embarassment and secret pleasure, she had to turn down approaches from three men and even one woman so far. Currently, she watched Aifread convince Margaret into accepting a mug of ale.

"Your age doesn't matter, lass! You're old enough to fight, so you're old enough to drink!" He motioned for a couple of young adults sipping from their own mugs; the boy smiled timidly while the girl toasted with cheer. "See? One mug won't kill you."

"My mother just might," Margaret quipped back, drawing laughter from the bandits.

"What kinda pussy talk is that?" someone threw in together with a cleaned bone. "Just try it!" Others joined in and agreed. Alisha sighed softly as she tipped back her own mug, only for another voice to sound over the others: "See, your friend's doing alright!"

"Only a bit too uptight to fit in," another voice joked; Alisha almost choked on her drink upon being singled out, but managed to catch herself and finish the rest in slow gulps. Once she was finished however, she deliberately set down the mug before wiping her mouth with a napkin. A part of her remained flattered about being so desired, but yet another was appalled by the assumption she would be up for such casual intimacy. Then again, she wondered, perhaps an erotic adventure might not be so bad. No one would ever know, anyway.

Her sight was blurry at this point, but she grabbed a full mug nonetheless. The banter faded in and out, only becoming more focussed when someone pulled the ale out of her hand. Blinking, Alisha found Margaret's unamused gaze directed at herself. She tilted her head. "Is something the matter, Margaret?" she wanted to inquire, but it came out rather blurred. Companionable laughter sounded all around, which in turn made Alisha giggle along.

"I believe you had enough," Margaret commented. Alisha pouted, her tail sliding open to snap at her friend, who stepped away effortlessly. Then she sipped from Alisha's mug, grimacing a moment later. "And I have to decline again," she told Aifread. "It seems I am the only responsible person around... and I won't let anyone take advantage of Alisha here."

"You shound like I -hic- I can't look after me!" Alisha slurred, all eloquence lost by this point. The more she thought about it, the more interest she found in all those things she had been taught not to do. Traveling with friends was so much fun, having friends was so much fun! Even with potentially literal pits of despair in her belly, Alisha had never been happier before. She sniffled at the reminder, tears rolling down her cheeks within seconds. "Ah, p-pardon, I...." Bashful, Alisha lowered her head and dabbed at her eyes, but it would not stop. She barely managed to stop herself from wailing like a child.

"Hey now, it's alright." She felt herself pulled up, stumbling forward momentarily; a firm shoulder steadied Alisha at once. As she wrapped her arms around Margaret on impulse, her friend sighed. "Definitely had enough," she murmured, leading the therion away. Alisha was tucked in not much later, slurring something about happiness and friendship to Margaret.

She would wake hours later, head mushy instead of in pain as others told her it would be. Yet despite the odd state she hid from her companions as they left Horsa, she wondered; seeing the bandits wave them off cheerfully conjured up memories. She had more fun this one afternoon than at any function she ever attended as princess. In the privacy of her own head, Alisha mused how things would be if perhaps she had accepted someone's advances. While her drunk thoughts remained those of a drunk, they retained their allure even once she sobered up. However, those thoughts and her actions also embarassed Alisha, who felt she would need to think about it all for a while before coming to a decision. But she had her friends by her side and much to do, so that was just fine with her.

 

The sight of happy people would always be special to Sorey. He stood a bit to the side, watching warmly how men, women, and children celebrated as his flames washed away the Malevolence; they were farmers, one and all. Some had insisted they remain as orcs but they, too, shared in the joy. Regular children played with the few that were still kobolds, unable to even see the difference.

"It's odd," Rose commented at the sight. "But I'm starting to feel I did the right thing tagging along after all." She was smiling, much like Sorey and Mikleo. "It's kinda weird how fast word got around, though."

"Ten Gald says it's Alisha's group," Edna deadpanned at the redhead, earning a chorus of "No bet"'s from her companions. Dezel did not bother responding.

A wrinkled orc standing nearby inclined his pig-head at them reverently. "I can not say if this 'Alisha' is who told of your coming, gentle shepherd." He cleared his throat with a grunt, then motioned for the main road leading through various farmsteads. "What I know is that about three months ago, a woman rode through and called out to us. She never stopped and we barely saw what she looked like, but her mount was a giant fox, twice as big as any horse I've ever seen."

"I see," Sorey commented idly. "So you believed her because of that fox?" The elder nodded, clasping his hands in joy about being helpful.

"Indeed. Everyone has been looking forward to it, sir. Are you sure there is nothing we can give you for chasing away the darkness?"

"No need," Rose reassured him. "We're not in this for money or anything, it's the shepherd's duty to help people in need! Though I won't say no if you'd make us a good price on some supplies."

"Rose!"

The orc chuckled, which came out more as a series of squeaks; he merely made a dismissive motion. "It's the least we could do," he insisted before trotting off to locate his son and daughter-in-law. "Just let me see what we have in store; we can't part with too much in the middle of Winter." He left a slightly irritated Sorey, an unrepentant Rose, and four seraphim in various states of amusement.

"Just let them do it," Mikleo advised his brother gently. "They want to give back."

"It's human nature," Rose added impishly; she made a sweeping motion for the expressions of joy all around. "They'd feel indebted regardless how long you say it's fine. People don't like that feeling, so they try to return the favour somehow." Sorey heaved a sigh in response, only reluctantly accepting her reasoning; it took him a while to realise how expertly Rose minimised the amount they took as recompense.

"Anyway," Dezel interrupted, "now we know they're still ahead of us." Rose rolled her eyes at him, arms crossed in front of her red blouse.

"As if we'd overtake them with all the detours we made. It's been a month since we left Lastonbell, remember?" She grimaced at Sorey, whose turn it was to be unrepentant. "Ruin diving, exploration, purification on the way. I never thought we'd do so much off the roads. We'd have been here almost three weeks ago with two wind seraphim otherwise." Her musing received shrugs from Sorey and Mikleo, but even less from the others.

"It is how it is," Zaveid finally commented. "Not that I'm complaining. Cities and I don't go so well together."

Sorey sighed again, still unsure what to make of their entire situation. After some initial problems, he found he got along well enough with Zaveid, so that was one issue solved. At the same time, it appeared he continued to follow in Margaret's and Alisha's wake instead of forging his own path through the world. They moved so fast and so far ahead that he had been left behind, or something like that; none of these considerations were shared with the others, though. "I'm honestly still wondering why Alisha can turn into a fox. I never saw a hellion with two forms before, not to mention one that still looks almost human."

"Now that you mention it, that's true." Mikleo glanced from his brother to Edna and Zaveid, though neither of them appeared inclined to answer the question. After deliberating for a moment, he decided who to ask: "Hey Edna, did Symonne say anything about that?"

"Not really, no."

"Heh, doubt they were doing much talking," Rose teased with a wink to the earth seraph, whose expression turned stony. "Unless she or Laphicet are into that, eh?" It had been less than a week of travel before they coaxed the names of Edna's boyfriend and girlfriend out of her; Sorey was certain that she regretted telling them ever since. He quietly sympathised with his friend, but had his own fair share of worries in that regard. Such as the fact Rose propositioned him no less than three times by now.

Much to their joint surprise, it was Zaveid who interrupted the banter thoughtfully: "Long time ago, I met a few hellions like Alisha. Odd bunch, them. Mind, there's others who still look mostly human, but the two forms are only for therions. That's a specific type of hellion."

"Huh." Sorey could not help but voice his surprise. "I've never heard those mentioned by anyone, not even gramps."

Zaveid huffed in response, throwing him a grin. "That's 'cause therions are so stupidly rare he'd never think you'd run into one. And here comes the old man." He nodded toward the returning elder, successfully distracting Sorey from the subject matter. Rose took over haggling for the supplies they bought, having added a decent amount of money to their admittedly anemic treasury when she joined.

Once they were stocked up, the six carried on into Pendrago proper, though they all stopped to marvel at its massive walls and vast size. Days were spent exploring the capital of Rolance, talking to various people about news, and purifying the surprising number of hellions living there. As they learned, a torrential rainfall a year and a half ago bred great amounts of Malevolence before Cardinal Forton successfully appeased the Great Lords with a grand sermon. Sorey decided to attend the next service she held, just for a chance to meet the woman.

In the meantime, he recalled the expedition Laphicet mentioned and went to inquire about it; just as the seraph boy expected, they were still preparing and meant to set out in Spring, once the cold winds had faded in favour of light breezes. The scholars were wary of a stranger just trying to insert himself, but he quickly found likeminded, inquisitve spirits among them. It probably helped that Sorey knew the books at least as well as they did. A quick display of Mikleo's powers was all it took to convince them of his identity after that. It was a good day, although he could have lived without Edna and Rose calling him a nerd for hours afterward.

With that settled, the day he waited for finally arrived; Sorey and Rose filed into the shrinechurch together with many locals. Their partners dwelled within them for the duration. A well-groomed elder pushed himself a bit to the side of his bench so Shepherd and Squire could sit next to each other; his smile held well-maintained teeth when Sorey thanked him quietly.

The sermon began but a few minutes later; a calming song filled the room, first sung by a soft alto and then echoed by the choir seated in the back. Sorey found himself relaxing into the somewhat comfortable bench; he recgonised the ancient tongue, but not which one this song was in. Then he took note of the woman passing by each row as she led the choir, dressed in fine robes of white. Her elaborate headdress made clear that she was more than a mere priestess; Sorey identified her as the cardinal, just moments before she fell quiet and the final syllables faded away.

"I am glad to see so many of you joining me once again," Cardinal Forton greeted the faithful; her faint smile portrayed great warmth as she spread her arms to encompass the room. "I am certain the Great Lords will be pleased with your faith." The words felt a little hollow to Sorey, who knew that none of this was actually necessary to appease the five. By now he learned that most people had no idea about that, however.

The cardinal continued her sermon reading from ancient texts and of events he was vaguely familiar with, although the tale of Artorius beholding divine splendor under a full crimson moon felt exaggerated in his opinion. Admittedly, Sorey always wondered if one could meet a Great Lord, but they were asleep most of the time. Even Zenrus only met them a handful of times throughout the eons he was alive.

He listened attentively nonetheless, trying to memorise every tale to reference with the Celestial Record later. Only when the cardinal fell silent did Sorey snap out of his own fugue; her smile had grown a fraction. "Before I release you back into your lives and the troubles you could forget for a little while as you joined me today, I wish to impart a piece of knowledge. Very recently, scholars deciphered several ancient texts that speak of more than just five Great Lords." The room took a collective breath as the announcement was taken in, even Sorey's eyes widened. Forton bowed toward the altar in front, her voice carrying across the room regardless: "We have found word of gods long forgotten in their slumber, forming a group with Maotelus. The gentle father is a being of resuscitation, of forgiveness and second chances. But to him belongs Innominat the golden, he whose might shall save the world from impending doom. And Minkkubi of darkness, by whose will we all are people and not mindless husks.

"It is these three that form a group that presides over our mortal lives, just like Eumacia, Hyanoa, Musiphe, and Amenoch preside over the very elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. It is my belief that knowledge of them should not be forgotten, regardless of whether they are awake to steer us clear of evil or not."

The cardinal hesitated for a long moment, giving Sorey time to work through his surprise; he had never heard of other Great Lords, from no one. The books did not mention them and neither had Zenrus; Mikleo quietly whispered that he had not known, either.

"During the days of ceaseless rain," Forton continued softly, "I saw great Innominat's light and gentle Minkkubi's darkness. They visited me not in slumber, but in waking times." Her gaze seemed to meet everyone's eyes at once; Sorey hung on every word she spoke, much like the entire audience. "It was then they told me how to end the plague we had unwittingly drawn, and I became an instrument of their will." A shining, golden light shrouded the cardinal's figure on those words, turning her into little more than a silhouette; the room reacted with shocked surprise, even Rose joined the mesmerised outcries. "And this be your sign that our gods watch over us always," Forton closed her sermon as the light faded again.

"Behind her," Edna whispered into Sorey's awestruck mind; he blinked, shaking off his dazzled state to follow her directions; the altar behind Cardinal Forton was no longer empty. A chubby cat with gorgeous white fur sat on it, an arte circle rotating in front of them almost lazily.

As it became clear that this was it for the day, people slowly began to talk; few were more than hushed whispers as everyone discussed what they just saw and heard. The elder next to him sighed happily and rose to leave, passing him with a friendly nod that Sorey returned absently; he sought Rose's gaze, but found her as bewildered as himself. "You never heard about this before either, did you?"

"Nope, only ever knew about five."

"But we heard about this Minkkubi before," Mikleo added as he materialised next to them. "That huntress we met on the way here, she mentioned her."

"I don't remember that."

"That was before you joined."

"Ah. Oh, I see."

Rose kindly did not further go into the matter as it would have reminded them of their loss again; Sorey barely noticed, busy as he was trying to put all those little pieces together. Something did not add up, but he could not say what; his gaze lay on the cardinal, who was watching her flock trickle out of the room. When their eyes met however, she delicately arched an eyebrow and waved him over.

Sorey followed the invitation immediately, only realising he left his friends behind when Rose and Mikleo caught up with him moments later. The cardinal inclined her head as he neared, a gesture Sorey returned reverently. "Thank you for the sermon, ma'am. I learned a lot."

His earnestness earned a soft chuckle; Cardinal Forton's eyes strayed from him to Rose and back before she spoke. "It is a pleasure to impart knowledge on those who seek it. But even greater a pleasure is to finally meet the gentle shepherd; word of your rise to the title in Hyland reached us long ago." Sorey stiffened, clearly aware of the renewed excitement among what was left of the crowd; gazes bored into his back that he did not dare meet right now. He laughed weakly and scratched the back of his neck.

"Ah, well, I was held up a bit. You know, making detours and helping out."

"Commendable. I understand."

"How'd you recognise Sorey just like that, anyway? Did they distribute sketches or something like that?" Rose's quip earned a sideeye glance, although Forton apparently accepted her question as valid; she never got to answer it herself, though. The cat seraph chose that moment to jump onto her shoulder and coax out an involuntary twitch of her eyes.

"Word travels fast among us seraphim," the cat told them gently in a dark, female voice. "We, too, were looking forward to your arrival."

"Holy crap the cat's talking!"

In the odd pause following Rose's exclamation, Forton pushed the cat seraph off her shoulder; she landed safely on all fours, staring up at her previous perch in mild annoyance. "Must you always do this?"

"We had an agreement about this kind of thing."

The feline's head tilted. "You decided we had," she returned with audible amusement. "I agreed to nothing." Forton just heaved a long-suffering sigh while her companion began to approach Sorey on foot. "Regardless, it is a pleasure to meet you in person, young shepherd. There are few in this day and age who would take up the title." She brushed around his legs, then went over to Edna, who crouched to pet her.

"You mentioned that Minkkubi was asleep for a long time," Mikleo joined into the conversation to bring it back on track. "But we recently met a huntress who met her, and she said Minkkubi is young." The cardinal inclined her head at him, hands folded curtly.

"A minor embellishment," she admitted quietly. "An old goddess returning after long slumber inspires more confidence than a newborn."

Sorey nodded, more to himself than her. "That explains that. But I have to admit I never really heard of Innominat before. There is a mention or two in the Celestial Record about a seraph by that name, but nothing about him being a Great Lord." He hesitated then, unsure if his desire would not be too overbearing. "What is he like?"

Forton hummed, studying Sorey while she considered his question. "Magnificent, I would say. Golden and grand. Though on a personal level, the Great Lord Innominat struck me as a reserved, highly intelligent, and kind individual." Morgrim chuckled from where she was clutched to Edna's chest; the earth seraph hid her face in the soft fur. Zaveid snorted as well, which drew attention to him; the cardinal frowned. "Is there something you wish to add, sir?"

"Nah."

He left it at that and obviously did not care to elaborate; after sizing him up a moment longer, Forton changed the subject: "You seem quite knowledgeable about the past. Were you perhaps a scholar before taking up the mantle of shepherd?"

"Oh, er... something like that? I read a lot of books and explored all kinds of ruins over the years." Sorey could not quell his excitement about finding another inquisitive mind to talk to. "There is just so much wonder in our past, so many great things and people! I really wish Mayvin's Encyclopedia had more than three parts, it was the most comprehensive work I know of."

"I agree, although most people have sworn on the Celestial Record the past few decades."

"Well, it's small and easy to carry." Sorey quickly dug out his own, dog-eared and marked copy for emphasis. "Mayvin's books are a bit bigger and about twice as thick, so I couldn't carry them around easily. We actually had to leave my copy at home... wait, do you have the Encyclopedia here?"

"Psst," Rose stage-whispered to Mikleo, "who's Mayvin?" Sorey's eyebrow twitched at the blatant lack of common knowledge and Forton appeared just as annoyed.

"Mayvin is the historian," he told his squire curtly. "She compiled the knowledge of history from the dark period to several hundred years into the Age of Chaos. Everything that's relevant, put into words and drawing for future generations to learn from. We still know about Eleanor, Artorius, and Claudin because of her work."

"Much of the church's lore builds on Mayvin's writing as well," Forton came to his aid before dismissing Rose and turning back to Sorey. "Regardless, you are quite the curious character. Would you be amenable to compare notes one of these days?"

The surprised shepherd needed a moment before he could nod. "I'd love to!"

Needless to say, the remainder of the day included a lot of teasing from Rose for meeting with an older woman, most of which he simply shrugged off. Sorey was looking forward to studying ancient lore he never saw before. Thus it was that they spent another few days in Pendrago instead of heading out after the sermon; no amount of teasing could bring down Sorey's mood.

The day they did leave however, something peculiar happened; just at the gates, a loud voice proclaimed the crowd to part for 'the shepherd Malfore'. Sorey stopped in surprise, watching a well-dressed man strut into the city while continuously proclaiming his title; he was escorted by a group of knights.

"Huh, I didn't know there were other shepherds around."

"That's because he isn't, nerd." Rose clapped his shoulder a few times, watching the nobleman vanish down the road. "But from what I heard, whenever there's a shepherd, there's also imposters. Let's get going for now."

Sorey let himself be led, unaware of and indifferent to 'Shepherd' Malfore's goals and actions. In fact, the man pretending to be Glenwood's promised saviour continued his path through the capital. He had not yet begun to believe he was the shepherd, keeping his mind sharp and his eye open for potential threats to his claim. He gradually relaxed upon entering Bidmu district, where the nobility dwelled; as always upon returning to Pendrago, he meant to dine with General Tuller, his patron.

Much to his surprise, it was not just him and the general's family that evening; rather, upon entering the parlor, he found himself face to face with two esteemed visitors. Cardinal Forton had dressed in a conservative robe, foregoing her usual headdress in favour of an elegant updo; she exchanged pleasant conversation with an old man in pristine, dark robes. His regal features were unmistakable, the neatly trimmed beard and alert eyes. Malfore took a knee at once, keeping quiet until he was taken notice of. "Your Majesty," he greeted reverently, "I was not aware you would be joining us tonight."

Emperor Doran offered a pleasant smile in response. "Ah, the gentle shepherd. Rise, you ought not to bow to anyone, not even Us."

"I could never accept such disrespect upon your person," the 'shepherd' returned without missing a beat. He straightened up. "Your wise rule has seen the empire prosper over the past decades." Bowing his head once more, he offered the other guest a smile as well. "And Cardinal Forton. It is rare to see you in anything but your ecclesial robes; you look quite lovely."

"Why, thank you. An acquaintance of mine does keep nagging me to accept such an invitation once in a while; it is quite fortunate I did, now that most larger issues have been taken care of." Malfore carefully kissed the back of her hand, making sure not to actually touch her skin as was proper. All the while however, he pondered that the cardinal was clearly not born into nobility; she did well with her speech and mannerisms, but he still noticed.

Greeting the general's wife and son went just as smoothly, followed by appetisers to soft music. Malfore refrained from joining the conversation at first, being quite curious himself when His Majesty spoke: "Earlier you mentioned that 'most' large issues were resolved. Is there something giving you trouble? Perhaps We can be of assistance?"

The cardinal calmly finished sipping on her glass of fine wine, one hand sitting in her lap. "Your majesty is too kind," she deflected modestly. "I do not wish to burden you unnecessarily, although your counsel would be greatly appreciated as we seek to unmask the false shepherd." At once the atmosphere changed; tension entered the room and everyone present; some gazes went to Malfore, who almost choked on a bite of venison.

"Rest assured there is no need for the church to get involved in this matter," he scrambled immediately after swallowing. "I shall see to administer justice in person!" The Tullers all applauded his declaration while Malfore fought down his internal dread; Runette Forton sized him up rather curiously, though. Then she smiled without any warmth.

"I am certain you will," she agreed, cutting off the emperor's impending praise: "And so swiftly as well, seeing how you delivered yourself already."

The table fell into shocked silence, first from the clear affront toward his majesty and then from the accusation levied against his person. Malfore quickly caught himself, though. "Pardon, but I believe such insinuations are unfounded and quite rude. Such crude jokes are not well-received in the circles we dwell in, Cardinal."

"I am well aware, which is why this was no joke." She did not even react to his jab at her credibility in any notable manner.

"This is a strong accusation, Cardinal," Emperor Doran interrupted, breaking up their argument before it could really start. His gaze had firmed up now, its entire weight resting upon Runette Forton. "Do you possess proof?"

For a moment, Malfore thought himself safe; he had meticulously ascertained that there was nothing concrete to expose any falsehoods. Then Forton smiled again and his hope died. "Why, I do. In fact, I have not arrived alone; it is quite curious that the gentle shepherd, a station known to be held by those who can see that which most do not, would miss the kind seraph standing right next to me." Malfore stiffened during the general surprise; if there truly was a seraph, then he had lost. But how would she convince everyone of that?

Before he could formulate a new plan, a new voice broke the pregnant silence: "Not to mention that Shepherd Sorey has left Pendrago just earlier today." There on the table sat an ethereally gleaming cat, her fur white as snow. "Runette enjoyed his presence quite a lot as they discussed the church's ancient tomes the past few days." She began to groom herself under the flabbergasted eyes of everyone in the room; even the servants forgot their duties to gape.

"How peculiar," the emperor muttered, leaning closer to inspect the seraph. "How would we see when only Cardinal Forton appears to hold the resonance it takes?"

The cat paused to peer at him, chuckling. "A friend from Lastonbell is near to make it so."

"Ahh! So the elusive seraph that allows the Crowe's Nest tavern to be possible?"

"Why, indeed. It sounds like you were there before."

Malfore had heard of that tavern; he actually visited it several times before deciding to take the gamble of proclaiming himself shepherd. Seraphim were not the demigods some saw them as, they appeared to be people like anyone else, if with odd ideas at times. He almost spoke up, barely remembering that interrupting the emperor of all people was bad. Forton just kept smiling.

As the minutes dragged on, Malfore clearly understood that he was done for. He did not dare meet General Tuller's eyes.

Much later that night, the cardinal sent Laphicet Crowe back to his divine sister with news of these events; the false shepherd was convicted and stripped of all titles and wealth. He was labeled a liar in addition, for all the proof he claimed of others he wished to take down with him mysteriously vanished. The Bloodwing Butterflies could take over extorting those deserving, while destroying proof of wrongdoing for those who had only done so to survive. The last bit of information Runette sent with him was something curious, though; Morgrim coaxed out of the emperor that he sometimes dressed up as a common man to walk among his people unnoticed; he was more aware of current events than expected.

All in all, it had been a fruituous evening.