“She turned you down, didn’t she?” Zeyn asked with a decidedly gloating tone. Heron rolled his eyes and shrugged.

“I said how I felt. Yuriko…she said…”

He shook his head. His memory was worse than swarmfodder and he had trouble remembering the details. His emotions were clear though, and they burned through the fog.

All the while he had put himself under enormous pressure. An unacknowledged burden in his heart. But the moment he confronted his fears and said his piece out loud, the burden lifted. His heart felt light as a feather now, and his muddled intentions were clear. He loved her and that was that.

The jealousy that had always fed on his rampant emotions was notably lacking. Even though he had mended fences with Mikel back then, a tiny bit of him still roared in anger and hate. But no more. He loved her, and if she returned it then he would be satisfied enough to die with no regrets. However, from her words, he knew that she wasn’t emotionally ready for anything of the sort.

He laughed to himself. All the while he’d been pushing his feelings towards her in the hopes of getting a reaction. If earnest attempts to ingratiate and help didn’t work, then perhaps standing out by acting out of turn would work. To his gratification, it did. Even if he had to be on the back foot, at least he had gained the attention of his goddess. Unfortunately, only now did he realise that she wasn’t ready. He didn’t know when she would be, but he intended now to wait until she was. Even if he had to wait his entire life for it. Forcing things now would only lead to tragedy.

“That’s such a creepy laugh,” Zeyn remarked.

“Aye, heh. She said I should take the time to sort out my feelings as she believes that one of her inherited abilities affected my mind.”

“Really? The Davar family has no such inclination.”

“She said it was her Mishala side.” Heron shrugged. “I have examined my true feelings and realised I’ve been a fool.”

“Huh.” Zeyn pursed his lips. “I can’t believe it.”

“What?”

“You actually realised it. How did you become so mature?”

Heron blinked, then glared at his friend.

“Hahahaha!”

“Just because you’ve got a girlfriend doesn’t make you…” Heron growled.

“Yes it does, hie hie hie!”

“Oh? And how far have you gotten with Maryn?”

Zeyn rubbed the tip of his nose and smirked.

“What? All the way?” Heron gasped in shock.

Zeyn reddened. “No, of course not,” he muttered. “Heh.”

“Hmph, show off!”

The sun beat down on the two of them as they walked on the pavement. The Olde Sweet Shoppe was quite a bit of a walk from Heron and Zeyn’s houses but they’d left early. Besides, the Season of Air’s sun wasn’t too warm. The Refraction was only a couple of weeks away and Heron hoped that nothing would happen until then. With the Season of Water, an assault would be unlikely.

While Western Rumiga wasn’t as cold as the east, it rarely got cold enough to turn rain into snow, the constant precipitation would turn most of the fields into mud. There was only a thin road between Cierra and Faron’s Crossing, and any earthmelders trying to widen it would find it difficult to go against the mud. Not unless they brought millions of MiJin of quarried stone from the Zarek.

He didn’t think the next two weeks would result in a clash. Perhaps a few skirmishes or scouting.

He was actually more worried about the situation in Rumiga City. The Chaos Channel had been blocked, cutting them off from the rest of the Empire. But nothing should have prevented the outside legions from regaining control. Yet, nearly a Season after everything happened and still there was no word.

Once they reached the Olde Sweet Shoppe, they found their old friend, Millie, bustling around the tables.

“Oi, Keryn! How’re things going?” Zeyn called out.

“Strider, you foddering lunatic, you actually got together with Maryn?” Millie laughed. “That girl’s ambitious, you won’t get a quiet moment in your life.”

Zeyn shrugged. “I’m getting it now since she refused to leave Rumiga City.”

“Yeah? Huh, haven’t seen her in a while. Been busy.” She chuckled. “Our little Yuriko’s back, isn’t she? You going after her, too?”

“I’m not going to cheat if that’s what you’re asking. And Heron here probably won’t let me. Hie hie.”

“Huh?” Heron blinked, wondering how he got pulled into their banter. He was innocently perusing the menu. “Oh, if you wanna go after Yuri, go ahead.”

An awkward silence, then…

“Who are you?!” Zeyn yelled as he grabbed Heron around the shoulders and locked him into a naked choke.

“Urk! Gerrof!” He grunted and used his Facet to pry Zeyn’s arm off his windpipe. “What in the Abyss are you doing?”

Millie pressed a palm against Heron’s forehead. “You don’t seem to have a fever.”

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“What are you two so surprised about?” Heron grunted. “If you can get her interested in you, who am I to decide?”

The other two exchanged long glances.

“Yup, the world must have ended and we’re locked in a terrible nightmare,” Millie said melodramatically.

“What? Why?”

“You… Hmmm,” Zeyn shook his head. “You’ve changed. Too quickly! What, just because you confessed then….”

“Wait, what?!” Millie yelped. “Oh, was that what happened a couple of days ago? Huh, I guess Yuriko rejected you?”

“No, she said to think about it.” Heron shrugged. “So I have. But that’s kind of the worst thing, isn’t it?” He laughed ruefully. “She didn’t say yes, nor did she say no. Now, I’m just hanging in the Chaos Sea, with no idea where to go.”

“Hmm, at least it’s not an outright no,” Millie mused.

“No, that’s worse. She could just be stringing him along,” Zeyn pointed out.

“Wait, it’s more she doesn’t know what she feels, I think,” Heron hurriedly interrupted.

“Hoh, what makes you so certain?” Millie asked.

“‘Cause that’s what she said,” Heron said simply. That seemed to put a damper on their enthusiasm. In any case, the others had arrived by then.

The conversation revolved around the impending war with Haveena and Kadrac. They had struck at Cierra Village after all. But…

“Why stay there?” Mikel wondered. “They’ve held the place for several weeks now. It couldn’t be that their entire campaign is to take that one village and the surrounding area, consolidate and leave it at that?”

“No, they’re definitely planning to strike. It’s more a question of when,” Heron pointed out.

“Right, you think they’ll strike before the turn of the year or after? A campaign during the Season of Water is unlikely to end well,” Mikel pointed out.

“Hey, hey, they’re only twenty-five longstrides away from Faron’s Crossing. That kind of distance can be crossed in a day even if they just walked,” Krystal said.

“Only if they ignore everything else. Didn’t Commander Stuart give the go-ahead to construct several redoubts midway?” Mikel pointed out.

“No, that’s stupid. We barely have the manpower to protect the town at this rate,” Zeyn interjected this time. “Better to focus defences.”

“You think they’ll strike here or at the Watchtower?” Heron asked idly.

“Probably here,” Krystal opined. “Although the Watchtower holds the district’s Chaos Shard reserves, the defences there are more than even a couple of enemy divisions could take.”

“And the warehouses in the foreign district, as well as the Church temple contain enough loot to satisfy a bandit.” Mikel frowned, “And if they occupy Faron’s Crossing, they also cut off the Watchtower and have a good staging ground to push east. With Ivala in the southeast pushing north, another front against Rumiga City would put a lot of pressure on Agminis.”

“I don’t understand why they don’t focus all of their efforts in the east though,” Millie muttered. “Why don’t they leave us simple folk alone?”

The discussion had circled around several times before Yuriko entered the dining hall. Heron took notice immediately of course, and his eyes drank in her visage. She wore the same type of clothes she came to their rescue in: dark slacks, boots, and a long-sleeved button-down shirt. She didn’t wear the overcoat today. He was quite appreciative of her feminine curves now, especially since they were quite a bit more prominent.

“Yuri! About time!” Krystal laughed. “You’ve got a lot of things to spill!”

The goddess’ smile was quite radiant.

“Where’d you been?” Krystal asked.

“The school,” Yuriko said affably. “I thought to help train the children since Rami said Armsmaster was too busy. Trevor and I ended up sparring for several hours. He said I could qualify as an Armsmaster myself!”

“Oh, that’s amazing!” Krystal whistled. “But we’re all curious about your adventures since you disappeared from the Frozen North. Go on, go on, tell us more!”

So she did. While he knew the gist of her adventure, her letter had only covered the period from her leaving the Frozen North until she was rescued from a place called the Pure Lands by her Mum. Her time in Realmheart was the one they focused on now.

“So you mean all Mishala girls have a mind altering aura?” Millie asked seriously.

“No, not all of them. Only a few. I think one or two every generation? In my case, the ones with a full Mien are myself and my cousin Miya.”

“Oh, is that why you…no, that can’t be right. If you’re affecting us then…”

“It’s an open secret,” Yuriko admitted, “and I’ve been working to control it. My Mum said that it can’t really be turned on or off, it’s simply a part of the Mishalas.”

“Well, such a thing wouldn’t be as effective if you didn’t look that way,” Millie continued.

“Huh, what do you mean?” Yuriko asked.

Millie rolled her eyes. “Come on, Yuri. Honestly girl, you look like a dream.”

“Oh.” Yuriko blushed charmingly and Heron felt his heart skip a beat. There was also a simultaneous gasp from everyone else.

“Burning Moon, Yuri. Don’t do that,” Millie gasp.

“Er, sorry.”

Krystal patted Yuriko’s shoulder. “Well, now that we know, I guess, and we can guard against it.”

She continued to narrate the events of her life, and when she got a certain part…

“You’re engaged?” Now he felt as if his heart stopped. But then, he shook his head.

“I am, but I don’t want it,” she answered primly. “I wanted to leave, so I pushed myself to advance.”

“Fallen Sun, you advanced to Knight just so you can avoid your fiance?” Krystal shook her head and laughed, “That’s funny.”

“Not really!” Yuriko protested.

Heron gulped down his lavan berry juice and wished that it was a tankard of ale or even a glass of hard spirits. Zeyn patted his back and gave him a sympathetic look.

“...anyway, I didn’t really follow the Imperial Way, and my path actually makes me stronger than those on my level. It just takes a bit more effort and some special reagents. I…actually, I want to ask if any of you want to follow the Ancient’s Way? Gwendith already did and she’s reached the Journeyman equivalent after a few weeks.”

The entire table fell silent. Heron exchanged gazes with Zeyn. The other boy shook his head.

“What are the drawbacks?” Heron ventured.

Yuriko smiled. “Extreme pain and hard work. Also…uhm, you’ll have to remove your Facet and Heritage to get to the Knight equivalent.”

“You did that?”

Yuriko nodded. “I had little choice. My Heritage was incomplete.”

“It’s…” Zeyn swallowed. “It’s a grave thing…to sever a Heritage line that spans from the founding of the Empire to today.”

Yuriko nodded slowly. “Yes…but I had little choice. Not if I wanted to reach my goals.” She smiled shyly. “I’m not really pushing anyone to this, I just want to tell you, my friends, about the Ancient’s Way.”

“Well, thank you for telling us,” Heron said, and when her smile was directed at him, he felt happier than ever.

However, what she said wasn’t something to be rushed into. Honestly, he was tempted. Power like what she displayed during that brief skirmish was something he desperately wanted. Also, while his father was a Knight, Balliol Muryh had long lingered at that stage, and he had expressed such frustrations often. If Heron just followed in his footsteps, there was little doubt that he’d encounter the same bottlenecks.

The conversation for the rest of the lunch hour was a bit more lighthearted. He enjoyed her company, and hopefully, she enjoyed his too. Neither of them brought up their previous conversation and as much as he wanted to push, he knew that would only lead to heartbreak.

___________

Yuriko had just returned from lunch and it was late afternoon. Nobody else was in the house. She didn’t quite know where Desire went and Gwendith mentioned that she would be settling her correspondence and her affairs in the Imperial Bank.

Thok thok!

Yuriko frowned as she wasn’t expecting anyone. But maybe it was Matron Rosie, their neighbour. However, when she came to the front door and her aura perception encompassed the front step, she couldn’t quite believe it. She pulled the door open and saw that she wasn’t mistaken at all.

“Finan? What are you doing here?”