Sigi rose earlier than expected. Courtesy of Astrid, who was tuning her favorite lute as quietly as she could.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Astrid looked at her apologetically. “I just thought of the most wonderful song and I couldn't help but--”

“It's fine, sister.” Sigi smiled groggily, wiping the morning fuzz from her eyes. “I was thinking of getting an early morning in.”

“Oh... Well that's good!” Astrid exclaimed, and clearly she hadn't slept. “What are you doing today?”

“I think I'll...” Sigi thought of a logical excuse. “I'll go practice a bit, good luck with your... Composing.” Astrid frowned at her, looking like she might have something else to say – but she didn't.

Sigi got in these 'moods' of hers. Times where she needed to be alone. Astrid knew her better than anyone else and didn't begrudge her these moments. Sigi had seen more than anyone needed to, and while she was strong... It left scars. But she'd never talk about them no matter how hard her 'sister' had tried.

Sigi grabbed a cloak, slid her dimensional ring on her finger and left. She wasn't sure how long she'd slept, but it'd only been a few hours at most. The sky was still black and the halls were quiet. She remembered the days she'd been under an enforced curfew, but the more 'veteran' students experienced no such restriction.

There was still a hammering in the forge she passed beside. Had to be Tyr, few people worked that late. One of the few good things about him was his lunatic work ethic. Even the others thought so. But when she peeked her head inside to take a look, the only person in the forge to be seen was Professor Valkan.

“Sorry, little sister.” He turned his head toward her with a gentle smile, but his hands never stopped working, a man of legendary talent. Or... Anu, but calling him 'male' as an identifier seemed a bit impersonal. Unlike Alex, Sigi was no racist. “Did I wake you?”

“No sir.” Sigi replied. “Our rooms are soundproofed, and a bit too far from the forge hall for such a thing to happen. What are you working on?” Runesmithing and engineering were sort of... 'Sister trades', in a way. Proper engineering couldn't be done without runes, after all, and she had taken no less than three classes under this particular professor. They were more than familiar with one another.

“Nothing important.” Valkan said, his thick fingers seemingly immune to the heat of the cherry red copper alloy he was wrapping around a shaft of dark metal. “Toying around with some different theories I have regarding a focus. That husband of yours is quite ingenious at times, he's given me so many ideas and I couldn't help but to make them better than he ever could.” The massive Anu winked slyly.

“Like those gloves you were wearing at the trials?” Sigi smiled, feeling tired under the waves of heat pouring off the open forges. Her mood was grim, but Valkan was a good man and a great source of knowledge, the perfect mentor. “People still can't stop talking about them. Some think you're going to invade the republic any day now.”

Valkan laughed. “Fear not, we have no interest in conquest. The lands we were given may not be our own but they are enough. You're half right, but these would be something more akin to an implant than an external focus. You've a good mind for this, Sigi Faeron, should've been a runesmith. But as you're well aware, I've said that many times already.”

“I'd prefer to go by Mornstone when we're alone, if you'll do me the pleasure.”

“Understood, Sigi Mornstone.” Valkan nodded curtly. “Want to join me?”

“Not tonight, professor. Or this morning, I'm not sure what time it is.” Sigi frowned in consternation, wishing she could sleep - but some instinct kept firing off in the back of her head telling her something wasn't right.

“By my reckoning...” Valkan paused in thought. “About two or three in the AM. Good thing it's a Saturday or you'd be having a difficult day tomorrow.”

Sigi left with a relaxed goodbye. Seeing Valkan always lifted her spirits. He was so simple and focused, giving his whole life to one discipline over all others. She liked the Anu, or just Anu – their grammatical structure was quite strange. One day, she wished to meet more of them, but that was unlikely considering their disdain for humankind. Spending time with him wasn't her goal, however, she wanted some fresh air. These days – she didn't have much of a goal at all. Prosper, create, and succeed in all things – and when that was done... Liberate. Return home. It might not come for many decades, but she'd do it – just for that single journey. Closure.

An end to the things that kept her up at night.

The problem was that she was no closer than she had been. Growing bitter and desperate, trying to find some answer before it was too late, and she was too old. Soon, though. She couldn't fail now, not after all she'd done to achieve it, and all the sacrifices she'd make in the future.

Sigi wasn't sure what brought her to the faculty facilities. They weren't closed to her, while she still attended her graduate program, she was a TA just like Alex – and could access them with no issue. The break rooms, offices, and living quarters of professors all bundled into one neat facility. As expected, most were empty, the rooms were dark and only a few offices had their lights on.

One of which surprised her.

It was Tyr's, of all people. Tyr was never in his office, Alex did all of his paperwork and that was the reason why many of them believed he'd taken her on as a TA. She hadn't shared with the others the content of they 'heart-to-heart' – or whatever it was. There seemed to be multiple people within the room, speaking so softly as to be inaudible.

But that didn't matter. Merely seeing his name made her want to spit. She left and made her way down the spiraling staircase to the ground level of the academy. Exiting into the inner courtyard. Similarly empty, there were a handful of familiars frolicking about the titanic form of Okami, slumbering beside the snow white maple that sat at the center of the space. It was so calm and beautiful at night, the stars above stretching on endlessly, reflected by the calm brook splitting the verdant grass.

She seated herself at a bench and sighed. Sigi wasn't tired despite her short rest. It had been one of those days prior that she'd exhausted herself a bit too much and ended up sleeping early, resulting in a broken sleep schedule that she'd have to fix yet again. It was either too early, or too late – nailing that sweet spot was hard for her. Inspiration didn't obey a schedule, hence their lesser restrictions as they progressed in the study of magic.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Her thoughts were interrupted by shuffling steps. Tyr, completely naked, was dragging his feet awkwardly out of the passage and rubbing at his eyes. Mumbling to himself. Sleep walking, maybe, Sigi only looked on with amusement. This went on for some minutes, with him having an animated discussion with someone who wasn't there. Leaning against a fountain and reviewing some sort of plan into the bubbling water.

And then, like a switch had been turned on, just as Sigi rose to shake him free of the delusion, his body was covered in armor and he stabbed his sword into empty air. Slashing several more times as if surrounded by enemies, before jogging free of the courtyard and back into the academy.

What the...? Sigi squinted. At least the morning would be entertaining, if nothing else. She followed him as quietly as she could, he avoided the city, taking a circuitous route and plodded along with his head pointed directly at the ground. But then, in a flash, he was gone. Tyr's legs beat into the earth, moving at a pace that would embarrass any horse Sigi had ever ridden on. Kicking up dust as he headed straight for the Baccian border when she finally lost him.

“Shit!” She ran, and ran, and ran some more. This went on for hours with him outpacing her easily. Thankfully, his tracks were not so hard to follow. Tyr wasn't one to show much self control and he left an easily followed series of divots in his wake, sprinting madly into the distance. This was it, she was certain of it. What he'd been doing all of this time, that which even Alex herself had given up on investigating.

But Sigi had always wondered, how could she not?

But she never expected to see what she was about to. Some kind of small town or camp, there was blood and death all over. A macabre display of violence tucked neatly between two ridged spires of stone. There were multiple rotted remains of men nailed to the walls of the buildings, their ribs splayed out to display their crow-picked insides. Swarms of flies and torn corpses were everywhere, some new and some old. One of the most disgusting things she'd ever seen. Sigi flashed back to a similar sight she'd had a child, frozen in both fear and revulsion at the brutality he was capable of.

Tyr, of course.

Surrounded by yet more bodies of the recently butchered dead.

Tyr, of course.

Dragging a frail, screaming woman across the ground by her ankle before slamming her down and caving her head in with repeated strikes of his steel clad fists. All the while, a hundred archers were harrying him, and he allowed their arrows to sink into his flesh by the score. Another of their number was flailing her arms about, eyes streaked with tears and begging for help. Sigi felt such shame at not being to act in order to stop the first, but she wouldn't leave this innocent woman begging like that.

Watching as Tyr hoisted her up by her neck in preparation to crush her like he had all the others around him.

–

Alex rolled over in the wide bed and swung her arm about, searching for that warmth. Things had been awkward at first, but Tyr's simple nature made it all too easy to acclimate to. He'd never begrudged her any of the things she'd done in pursuit of her own selfishness, he was awkward... And at the same time, his bluntness made him the opposite, communicating well enough.

They were both 'cuddlers' in a manner of speaking. The problem was, despite the hour – he wasn't there. Again... Alex was a light sleeper but even she hadn't noticed him leave, which meant he'd probably never arrived to begin with. The room was clean, bare of any ornamentation. There was a cubic artifact for chilling food and drink, a bed, desk covered in well worn books, and that was about it.

Without him here, it felt so empty and lifeless, but he refused to allow for any alterations to his practiced routine. From floor to ceiling it was all monotone gray, Tyr claimed he couldn't see color the way 'humans' did, that word again, and that made him such a poor decorator.

He only slept because she'd asked him to, and she appreciated that – but to wake and find him gone and the covers on his side undisturbed was not normal. One of the few rules she'd set for him for their relationship to continue was that he tell her when he was leaving or arriving late. Not where, just when. Normally, she'd be angry at this – but something felt... Off...

She checked his office, only a hundred meters or so down the hall. The lights were on, but it was empty. More concerning though was the fact that the desk in the corner was overturned and all of the drawers were open. Paper strewn about and the place a mess. It wasn't unlike him to erupt in a rage and angrily toss something aside, but he was very particular about his placement of things. Unlike Alex's room, which was a mess of clothes and chests full of trinkets. That's why they slept in his, and not hers – which was arguably more accessible considering the fact that it was so near his classroom. The courtyard was empty except for the sleeping form of Okami, and the only person in the forging hall was Valkan. Narrowing down where she might find Tyr.

Alex barged into Astrid's room, happy to find her awake and, albeit a bit surprised, not overly disturbed by the interruption. Scribbling on parchment with her head flopping back and forth. “Are you alright?” Astrid hummed.

“Do you know where Tyr is?” Alex asked.

“You're the one who sleeps with him.” Astrid glared at her, not angry but not exactly happy about it either. She was the only one who truly knew what the two of them had been up to. At least the regularity of their escapades. Because they'd told her about it directly, rather than the others who'd just assumed it was a one time thing.

“He's gone.” Alex frowned. She wasn't sure whether to be angry or not in this current moment. Very suspicious all of a sudden, and coincidental. “Sigi is, too. Do you know where she went?”

“To the training facilities, or the field.” Astrid replied, and Alex was gone before she could say much else. “Good morning to you, too... Wait, what time is it? Oh, I'm talking to myself again, aren't I? Uh...”

Both were empty except for a very naked and very surprised Garth who's wide eyes stared into Alex's own as he... He was doing something. A something better left unexplained, in the showers of the locker-room. But Alex was no longer that innocent girl anymore. She'd seen a penis! And his was... Better left unexplained as well. It was massive, the biggest dick she'd ever seen.

“Morning... I'm, uh... It's not what it looks like...?” Garth choked, but again – Alex was already gone. Leaving him red and embarrassed that his pre-game ritual had been discovered. One that he'd continued even after graduating beyond a point where he could continue to play...

Alex pulled out her communication amulet and pressed several buttons to send a message to their group chat. An SOS of sorts, opening up her locator beacon and sprinting down to the courtyard. She didn't know why. It was just instinct, but something was incredibly wrong. Okami rose before she'd reached him, snuffling at the air and growling.

“Get on.” He said. "If he has been taken, we will need more."

Leaving Alex in awe that he could speak in the first place. Tyr had never mentioned such a thing, but clearly she wasn't the only one with a bad feeling about the situation.

“I am sorry.” Okami said to her from her place at his back as the wind whipped around them, threatening to pull her from her position. “I should have noticed something was amiss. I was so secure in my place here, I thought us safe due to the wards. Filthy rats.”

“What's wrong!?” Alex cried, looking for answers.

“I am not sure.” Okami replied. “All I know is that six unfamiliar scents followed Tyr through the courtyard and beyond my senses. Hang on tight, I'm about to go faster.”