Yuriko’s eyes fluttered open and she stretched languidly on her bed. For a long, long moment, she simply luxuriated in the strange sense of tranquillity that overcame her senses. It was as if she had no worries at all, and that she had a nice long, full-body massage that hit every twisted knot in her muscles, even those that went deep within her. Even the flow of Radiant energy coursing through her body and Anima were flowing smoothly.

She glanced at Gwendith’s sleeping form tangled in the blankets. Her skin was cool to the touch, a product of her Animus scales and her Ennoia. It felt nice.

Yuriko sighed as she stroked the other girl’s golden locks. Her fingers trailed down to Gwendith’s cheeks, then down her neck and shoulder. Yuriko thought that Gwendith’s freckles only covered her nose and cheeks, but she had quite a few along her back. Cute.

Gwendith murmured sleepily, licked her lips with a pink tongue that had been in places where they really shouldn’t have.

Shaking her head, Yuriko spread her perception around her and beyond the house. It…was the next day already? Gwendith had pounced on her late afternoon, and both of them had skipped dinner.

Grrrgle…

Yup, she was hungry. Still, she settled for a few minutes of meditation to get back into the proper mindset. The current languid slowness was, uhm, a bit too unusual. Her cheeks heated up as memories of the night before flashed across her mind.

Her Anima and Gwendith’s had joined that time, and it had taken all of her Will not to overwhelm the other. In the process, she knew far more about Gwendith than she ever expected before, even considering the fact that her Actualisation had strengthened the ties the Mien had made between the two of them.

Her Mien…huh.

There was an absence of pressure within her mind. She hadn’t noticed it before, but she did now. A weird little thing that seemed to push at her emotions…it was…well, gone? Or maybe it would return. Hmmm.

As she pushed her Anima to its fullest, she jolted in surprise. Her reach seemed to have grown an inch or so, which would not have been that remarkable until she checked the seals that kept Damien’s memories contained. Normally, that would have taken fifty paces of reach or two thousand inches. But now, it only took one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine.

She frowned and glanced down at Gwendith’s naked body. She wasn’t sure if she liked the implications of that.

As for what their Anima joining had engendered…well, she now had a better idea of what Gwendith’s Ennoia energies were. It wasn’t an aspect of cold at all or, well, not just that. It was also heat but taken to the opposite extreme. The idea had not even occurred to her. While the Karcellians’ natural science books had written about such things, when inspecting Chaos, there was a clear aspect of cold. It was just surprising that Gwendith wasn’t using that.

Anyway, that little flash of insight from the melding gave her a bit more confidence when she tried to manipulate heat directly. Most of the room’s heat actually came from her, and it was nice and toasty inside. In fact, Gwendith was covered in a sheen of sweat, and her Anima perception could taste it right off her skin since the other had not restored her Anima protections.

The Anima pressure must have disturbed Gwendith’s sleep since her eyelids fluttered and she woke up in short order.

“Breakfast?” Yuriko asked teasingly, even as her, uhm, girlfriend’s eyes drank in the sight of her nakedness. Those lovely freckles really stood out when Gwendith flushed.

“Yeah. I’m feeling quite,” a wide grin, “ravenous.”

Rolling her eyes, Yuriko pointedly glared at her clothes. Many of the buttons had been popped right off, and her camisole had more than a few tears. Thankfully, her forceweave underwear survived Gwendith’s ferocity.

“Sorry.”

Gwendith’s clothes were in better shape, at least.

She reached into her closet and her Animakinesis brought out a blouse and a short skirt that Yuriko shimied into. Gwendith got dressed quickly and soon enough, both of them made it into the kitchen where Ryoko had fried up some eggs, and ham. Breakfast rolls were piled up on a plate, and there was fresh butter on a saucer. Now that Faron’s Crossing was no longer on a war footing, and there were no raiders torching the fields, food variety was back up, though only in limited quantities.

“Good morning, young mistress!” Ryoko said brightly before turning back to the frying pan. Yuriko didn’t miss the knowing smirk she sported afterwards though, hmph!

As the two of them were breaking their fast, Rami wandered into the kitchen, rubbing the crust out of his eyes, and yawning widely. He froze when he saw the two of them, stared at Gwendith for several seconds, until she raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Then, he turned really red and spun around to flee. Yuriko caught him around the middle with her kinesis, lifted him off the floor and plopped him down on the seat across from her.

“You need breakfast,” she said pointedly, to which he could only nod silently, even as he avoided returning his stare to Gwendith. Ah, young infatuation.

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She felt Gwendith’s Anima brush lovingly against hers. Yuriko chuckled and glanced at her. Gwen had a teasing smile on her face, directed at both her and Rami. The grin widened lopsidedly, wider at her side while concealed the other way. Gwendith reached for a breakfast roll at the same time Rami did, and not-so-coincidentally, her younger brother’s hand landed on Gwen’s rather than the bread. A hand that was quickly snatched back while his face turned completely crimson while Gwendith, smiling beatifically, picked up the roll and handed it to him.

It was almost too much to bear, and he snatched the bread and ran off, this time without Yuriko holding him back. The two of them exchanged glances, then both giggled.

“You’re mean,” Yuriko gasped.

“No more than you.” Gwendith chortled.

Yuriko rolled her eyes and focused on her food. She wasn’t as ravenous as she was before, so she ate only a normal amount. Had she been such a tease before? Her attempts to ruminate on her memories were disturbed when Gwendith hand-fed her a roll stuffed with eggs and ham.

Well, she made sure the other ate to satiety and when both of them were done, she took Gwendith’s wrist and brought them outside in the backyard. The snowstorm was gone, but it was still cold. Neither of them was dressed for the weather, with her still in a rather skimpy outfit, and Gwen in a pyjama set.

“So what now?” Yuriko asked softly as they both sat down on the porch armchairs.

Gwendith shrugged, “It’s entirely up to you, beloved.”

“Oh.”

“I…merely wish to be at your side, to share your burdens, and help, as I can,” Gwendith continued.

“Ah, I may go to dangerous places, and I might not be strong enough to protect you.”

Gwendith shook her head. “While I appreciate that, I’d rather become strong enough to protect myself. I’m not unreasonable.” She paused to swallow nervously. “I’m not even asking or expecting any kind of exclusivity between us.” She smirked for a moment. “I know you’re also pining for Heron.”

“No, I’m not!” Yuriko squeaked.

“Uhuh, I guess you’re not,” Gwendith agreed while sporting a look in her eyes that said she was lying. She reached over and stroked Yuriko’s cheek with the back of her finger. “I don’t mind at all. Hmmm, maybe let me watch?”

“Gwen!”

“Hie hie hie!”

“Be serious!”

“I am.” Gwendith said as she choked off her laughter. “I’m serious. I don’t mind. Just…please…don’t throw me away.”

“I won’t.” Yuriko reached for Gwendith’s hand.

“That’s all I ask.”

They sat in silence for a long while, with Yuriko’s face getting a bit red when Gwendith playfully leered at her. She didn’t mind, of course, and when she tried returning the favour, the other girl simply squirmed in such a way to emphasise her body.

After a moment, Yuriko sighed and leaned back. “What is it, Saki?”

Her handmaiden and Shadow Guard materialised out of the shadows and knelt down on one knee. She ignored the cold and the snow and bowed her head in obeisance. “Young mistress. Lady Sadeen and Lord Virgil wish a word with you.”

“At the Watchtower camp?”

“Indeed.”

“Thank you.”

With that, Saki faded back. Not that she was truly concealed. The Radiant energy infused into Yuriko’s Anima meant that Saki’s Facet and Ennoia couldn’t truly conceal her. But unlike the previous times, the presence of Radiant energy did not dispel Saki’s invisibility.

“Come with?” Yuriko asked.

“Hmm, no, I think working on my newfound power would be more useful,” Gwendith said. She leaned into Yuriko and whispered, “Tonight?”

“Ah! Uhm, if you want…”

“Of course. I live to…serve.” With a last giggle, Gwendith went back into the house, while Yuriko grumbled under her breath.

After a moment, she went up to her room and changed into something more modest, mainly a dress that covered hade sleeves and covered her shoulders, a pair of dark blue tights, then sneakers. She contemplated wearing a shawl but decided not to in the end.

“I’m heading out!” she yelled just before leaving. The flight to the Watchtower didn’t last more than a couple of minutes, and every time she saw the ruin, she couldn’t help but stare.

The dark tower was covered in vines, branches, and the winding trunk of an Adaviren Tree. The crown covered hundreds of paces wide, and its roots were a tangled knot above and below the ground. Yuriko had not had the chance to observe the trenches that formed the runescript circle Mum made, but they were all filled in by the roots.

Right outside the perimeter was a legionnaire camp. Well, a fortress would be more appropriate, she thought. It was walled, had a central keep, and was warded with more runescript formations than she could decipher. Everything that could be salvaged from the Watchtower was now in the fortress.

There were some platforms built on the Adaviren Tree, but they mostly served as marksmen nests. Yuriko spotted her Da perched on one that was halfway between the ground and the crown. She flew towards him, ignoring the way the roots, the branches, and the leaves, shifted in her presence. The branches bent down as though to catch her, but she felt no malice, but and painful attraction, instead.

Virgil spotted her easily and waved a greeting, which she returned. But she didn’t head straight for him, intending to pay her respects. In the middle of the trunk was a small alcove. She landed inside, her Anima flare illuminating the surprisingly deep chamber. She walked towards the opposite end and beheld Finan’s emaciated body.

The tree grew from his flesh, leaving only his head, shoulder, and a few bits of his limbs outside. Ah, it was a corpse, no longer living. His face was preserved well enough that it only looked as if he were sleeping.

“Yuriko…” A thin voice whispered from its lips.

It was a corpse because Finan’s Anima no longer inhabited the body. Instead, it had moved into the tree. He wasn’t strong enough to remain conscious, and who knew how long it would take for him to grow strong enough to really awaken?

She stared at his face for a long while, before she sighed and left the alcove. As soon as she was out, the wood twisted and closed it off.

She alighted at her Da’s platform, and he turned to smile. “Hey, baby. Thanks for coming so quickly.”

She shrugged. “It’s no bother.” She leaned over and hugged him.

“Ah, well,” Virgil coughed. “It wasn’t that urgent, but the Silver Tiger will arrive within the next few days. With a new Gemheart to tether the plane.”

“Oh!”

“Yes, the ordeal will truly be over by then.” Virgil sighed. “Which does bring me to this question. What do you wish to do? You’re already a Knight-Captain, and you’ll be eighteen in less than a Season. How do you want to spend the next few years of your life?”

Yuriko shrugged. “I don’t know. Kato…” She broke off with a gasp. “N-no…”

“What happened?” Virgil asked, alarmed.

Yuriko swallowed, then held up a hand. She pushed herself into the dreamscape, hoping desperately that she had been wrong, that it was only an illusion.

The thread was snapped. Its frayed edge whipped about in the illusory winds.

She returned and collapsed into Virgil’s embrace and howled in pain and grief.