News-broadcasts about the ‘accident’ at one of the First Wing’s research facilities was starting to gain traction in the wider zeitgeist of the civilian population. Images from the site were nonexistent, given the wide restricted border surrounding it, but from afar, the dainty sight of the Bulwark could be seen.

The thing that had really gotten people’s attention though was the Aegis, and its warped and twisted forward cannon. Footage of that was easy to collect, given that it was finally limping back towards Agarthan airspace. Chevrons along the bottom of those collective screens had precious little to say about it though.

[Sixth Wing LCSF Aegis returns to shipyard for assessment after apparent malfunction of forward cannon.]

Kourin pulled back the hood on her sweater to get a better look, and grabbed blindly for her companion’s arm to get his attention, “Phex, Phex look.”

They were in a little café, and she pointed at the displays above the merchant’s kiosk – displays that could only be seen with access to the World Cloud; they each sported a pair of those special glasses.

Phexides yawned behind one hand, looking on blearily, “What am I looking at?” He whispered.

“Ugh you always take so long to fully wake-up after stasis.” She grumbled, and turned towards him, “I told you before we came to Agartha… Our ticket outta here had to make a pit-stop to wipe-out the Fafnir and snatch a hostage that it can use to get to Lugios. Finding out if and when that happened is the entire reason we’re here right now. The state the Aegis is in…that can only mean the fight has happened, and the Aegis overtaxed itself in the brawl. To think, it was strong enough to make a whole SkyFortress fight…”

“…Does that mean it got what it wanted, then?”

“We’ve gotta wait for Tallus to find out that part from Latheroux and tell us.”

“…Who is that again?”

Kourin stared with narrowed eyes, “How does Tallus trust you with anything half as important as manufacturing identities for us when you can’t even remember who’s who? The Latheroux persona was your damned idea!”

“Sorry, sorry… Post-stasis brain-fog is hitting me hard this time…” Phexides whined and went back to his snacks, “Just…tell me again in a couple days…”

There was nothing for it; Kourin mumbled - annoyed – into her drink.

.

The barest sliver of sunlight was fading off the eastern horizon when an out-of-place grey and white Himalayan long-hair with bright purple eyes hopped into the tall-grass. It trilled as it stuck its head up to get its bearings, and trotted off with that bouncy-fluffy tail held high. The outdoor patio area had been vacated for the indoors a while ago, but those lines of gentle flame behind the deck-chairs were still lit, and the cat walked gingerly by, looking around as if it owned the place. It stopped in its tracks though when the sliding-glass doors from the house opened, and two sets of feet came back outside.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to just leave like this.” Ren was saying, “I just need some air…”

“Things probably won’t feel very much like normal for a long time, hun.” Dianna answered, and pushed the doors back together. She followed the Dame out to the ledge of the upper deck, and sat beside her where legs could dangle over an alcove to the lower section. She gently rubbed a hand up and down Ren’s back before setting both down onto the wood-planking behind her and leaned into them, “But you just take it a little bit at a time, and eventually you make room for the void that’s been made by the losses.”

“…It still doesn’t even feel real.” Ren replied quietly, eyes down on the railing farther ahead of her, “But I feel guilty none the less. If I had been there from the start, would the outcome have been any different? …Would I have been able to prevent a single death?”

“Or would you have been counted among them yourself?” Dianna noted, and lifted a hand to brush a few strands of dark hair over Ren’s left ear, “Don’t torture yourself with questions like that. Face the reality. Guilt for what may have been won’t change what is.”

“The Fafnir have never faced anything like this before though. There’s…no precedent to follow. No example to learn by.” Ren countered, and gestured futilely into the darkened expanse, “That creature we faced…? What even was it? I’m probably not even allowed to ask those questions out loud like this.”

“Don’t get yourself into trouble.”

Ren nodded, but after a moment, she pushed off that short ledge and walked forward on the lower section, “I think I’ll just hang-out here for a little while.”

“Okay.” The matriarch answered, a concerned look on her face. She stayed a few seconds before standing, and quietly made her way through the doors again.

Slouched over the black-iron railing, Ren set her sights onto the dark waters, the ‘stage-fright’ dread still swirling in her chest. She bent her arm inward to rub her knuckles against her sternum again and gave a quiet whine, …I hate this feeling. It’s like a constant, loud drip of water when I’m trying to sleep; gnawing and raw. I can’t even truly spare a thought for the others because this thing won’t let me think of anything but Gabe…

“Prrt…” That trill sounded, and soft-paws tapped on the short set of wooden stairs from the deck behind.

Ren glanced backward, thinking for a moment the household cat had gotten out, only to spot a different familiar creature. She just about jumped out of her skin at the sight of it, “L-Lord Xanarken!? What are you doing here!?”

The Himalayan just hopped-up onto a nearby drink-table, and sat down, looking at her inquisitively, “Partly personal interest, partly on behalf of another.” He answered, “Mostly…wondering why you’re using a color-augment on your hair that’s the same color as your hair.”

“Sh-shit, not again.” She muttered under her breath, and grabbed her head with both hands, “That’s the second time in a row…”

“Dame?”

She didn’t give it a second thought; she grabbed the cat with both arms and literally leapt out of sight. She landed on a rocky outcrop roughly halfway between the patio and the spot where the Sixth Wing skiff had been parked, then jumped again a little further towards it, and finally glowered at the little creature, “Lord Xanarken, you can’t just show up like this.”

“Funny, I’m outside…I thought I could.”

“Can you not be a cat if we’re doing this now?”

The Eidolon flicked its ear, but then dissolved from the Knight’s grasp, and reformed as his normal self a few paces away. Ren immediately gave that instinctive salute, but the Fourth simply waved her down, “You don’t have to do that. I’m here as a friend.”

“…My friend the Eidolon…” Ren muttered to herself in disbelief, but lowered her arm, “…Sir…”

“Rylen admitted he took a pound of flesh earlier today. After everything you’d already been through, I thought it prudent to come check on you.” Xanarken explained, “Gabe’s worried about you, too.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

She could feel one eye twitch, “Sir, I…uh… I don’t know what to say about all that right now.”

“I’m not here to offer relationship advice, but…you’ve got about two weeks to figure out how to break it off with him before it happens by proxy.” The Fourth explained, “And the sooner you do, the less it’ll hurt.”

That just made her heart sink into her stomach, “…It…was a mistake. I have no excuse for my actions.”

“Gabe will be in Agartha until after the Fafnir Memorial. If you’re going to take him, you should probably do it then.”

“What? Take him?” She echoed.

“Take him?” Xanarken said curiously, “I said break up with him.”

Ren’s brow wrinkled in confusion, …Did I hear him wrong? I’m sure that’s what he said.

“He’ll understand if it comes from you. I can beat him over the head with it until I’m blue in the face but it doesn’t matter as long as he still has hope.” The Eidolon continued anyway, “But as soon as he starts using a mantle, he’s going to be really difficult to reach, and he’ll be stuck with the regret about what if. He thinks he can make something work by only using the mantle part-time. Speaking purely from a leadership perspective, though…I can’t have him distracted by this. You need to get through to him as soon as you can.”

I know he’s right, but the last thing I want is to put Gabe at risk with this, Ren thought, biting the inside of her lip.

“Your last chance will probably be the Dawn of Ages at the end of next week.” Xanarken continued, “Let that be the deadline. He’ll be in Trazad for that one, alongside the Emperor. …Although, if you drag it out that long, I would ask that you wait until after the party’s over before you pull him aside.”

“Yessir…” She answered, head bowed down, heart pounding hard behind her ribs.

Xanarken’s discerning eyes were not content to just stare at the guilt-ridden woman though. In a clear abuse of his power as an Eidolon – and a Lord of the World Cloud Mountain – he took the moment of distraction to roll-back the effect Ren’s hair-augment, starting at the crown. He saw a palm-sized chunk of pure white before Ren lifted her head again and Xanarken took his finger off the dial.

“I’m sorry for how what I’ve done has given Gabe the wrong idea.” She said, clear hurt on her voice, “I…I know that what I did was wrong.”

“You are, in fact, Captain Rydell’s partner, are you not?”

Ren cringed at the mention, “Yes, and…he knows. I just…never conferred that fact to Gabe himself.”

“People do inexplicable things in the aftermath of traumatic circumstances.” Xanarken noted, and took those few steps closer. He reached a hand forward to press softly to the outside of her shoulder, and gave it a pat, “But, Gabriel did chase you all the way out there, so maybe you felt like you owed him something. Please don’t feel that way. You already did him a world of good while you two were partnered together. Let that be the take-away.”

“…Yessir.”

“Miss Reeeeennn!”

She looked back with a start, and spotted Seth out on the patio where she’d just been. When she turned around again though, Xanarken was gone. She could feel her hands trembling lightly at her side, and she pulled one up to press against the side of her face, I can’t stay here tonight… She thought grimly, a nervous bead of sweat on her brow, trailing down her other cheek, If Scyrexian’s able to make me mishear what people are saying…maybe it’s only a matter of time before it starts changing what I say, too.

“Miss Ren, why are you all the way out here?”

For the second time, she thought she would jump out of her skin. She flipped around frantically; Seth was right behind her already somehow, “How did you get up here that fast!? You were on the balcony like four seconds ago!”

“…I’ve been calling out to you this whole time. Didn’t you hear?” The teen wondered, “…Are you okay? You’re not trying to leave, are you?”

“No, I…” Ren started, only to stop and shake her head, “Never mind. …I need to talk to your brother.”

.

The evening crept onward far in the west, and Far’nah looked up with satisfaction at the SSCF Tuonela, hovering above her city. Dressed-down from her typical royal garb in just a silk night-robe – and without the antler-crown or make-up – she seemed rather pleased with herself.

And that persisted for all of 10 more seconds, before her pitiable husband made his presence known.

“…Can we talk?”

She glanced back over a shoulder and watched that uncertain approach, but she turned around anyway, “What is it?”

Mardu stepped warily closer, but made sure to stay on the inside aspect of the veranda door, while Far’nah stayed on its outside in contrast, “…I think it was a mistake to dare the Sixth to come for the ship.” He started, “It’s the whole world against just us. We can’t hope to win a fight like that. …For the life of me, I don’t understand why you would taunt them in this way.”

“My love,” She answered, and took a few steps closer, a hand outstretched to touch gently to his arm, “My Vindicator is not just an idle threat. I will protect us when the Council comes here. …That was the entire intent of my warning.”

“Protect us how?” Mardu asked, a pleading tone in his voice, “Even if we bring our entire military up, the Council simply has more firepower. They also have the backing of the Accord; if the Sixth comes under fire from us, every single other nation will send arms against us. There is no way to win this. You have to give the Vindicator to them.”

“Do you remember nothing from the tour I gave you?” The Duchess wondered, “I haven’t been painstakingly restoring the functionality of that ship just to lift it from the ocean floor and walk it into the arms of the Eidolon.”

“…But you’re threatening them with harm to the passengers. That won’t be enough of a deterrent to keep them beyond the border, and it certainly won’t gain you the recognition you’re asking for.”

“I know.” She pulled her hand back, and crossed her arms over herself, bracing against the evening chill, “Which is why I’m going to wrest it from them with a show of force. I expect the Luminaries to come here. The only question is how long Rylen can hold-out against the temptation. When it happens, I want the entire Accord to watch as Rylen proves himself the aggressor, and ruin him along with his fleet, in one fell swoop.”

“I don’t understand how you can be so confident… I’m begging you to make it make sense.”

“Look up, my love.” She said, and turned around, gesturing at the behemoth hovering high above, “What you see is just a cargo ship, bearing the weight and memory of a time long past. But what I see is a sword and shield. Within it is the living, beating heart of a power the Council can’t possibly stand against.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“The Eye of Kitez.” She answered, “A focus that will concentrate all the rage and resentment of the last three centuries into a weapon that will take down Rylen’s fleet. We’ve already tested and proven the efficacy of the shield-system against nanotech, so the Eidolon can’t simply infect it with their toxic Cloud. The Sixth could bring all ten of its SkyFortresses here and I’ll swat each one out of the sky as it arrives. Rylen’s arrogance will lead him to believe he can simply steam-roll us, and he won’t form any real strategy. I will humble him, by making him watch his war-machine burn to ash and dust in front of his eyes.”

“…Even if you could do all that, you would be doing it atop our people’s heads. How can you stomach knowing that those ships would crash-land in our own countryside? It would take a decade to clean it all up, even if we could dedicate all of our time and resources to the task afterwards.” Mardu questioned, and pulled the woman around, hands roughly on her arms. He looked at her desperately, “Please, stop this. Nothing about this war you’re trying to wage is worth the blood that will be spilled in the process.”

Far’nah just looked at him, disappointed, and pulled herself free from Mardu’s grasp, “…You’re so scared and naïve.” She said, and made her way back into the room. A hand went to the door, and she paused there a moment, looking back on the man she’d made her Duke with a solemn sigh, “…I once believed your timid nature to be endearing. Now it just feels like a burden.” She explained, and pulled the door open slowly. In stepped her personal guard, and she lifted her hand towards her husband, “I’m sorry you feel this way…but I knew it would come to this sooner or later. …Take him.”

“What? Far’nah, no, you can’t.” He protested, and those soldiers took him roughly by both arms, twisting them behind him as they bent him forward into an uncomfortable and awkward lean, “Far’nah!”

She wouldn’t look at him again as he was dragged out, and though she shivered slightly as his voice faded with the distance, she calmly pushed the door closed after them.

Half the palace could hear the commotion as Mardu was taken below, including a number of confused guards, Magistrates, staffers, and…Latheroux, who’d been rather abruptly impressed-upon at his chambers. Soldiers were about to break the door down for lack of an immediate answer when he finally pulled the panel aside, and he was quickly put into the same uncomfortable bent-arm-bent-over position Mardu had been hauled-away in.

“…What’s the meaning of this!?”

No one would answer. The floors and walls just whipped by as he was swiftly taken into the subterranean, catacomb-like corridors beneath the palace. Latheroux was surprised – and yet not – when he saw the faces of the three previously-detained Magistrates as he was dragged past their cells. He only saw flashes of them through the narrow vertical slits in their doors, but they were unmistakable. Soon, he was thrown into his own closet-sized space, and the same kind of door was slammed shut and locked behind him.

That one visible eye looked around the tiny room in confusion, but he was suddenly able to single-out the voice of the Duke, somewhere further down the corridor, crying out for mercy, pity, and a chance to speak to the Duchess one more time. Those pleas were unanswered, and soon, the corridor itself was locked-down, and the only thing left to listen to was that terrified man’s confused weeping.

“…Oh, Mardu, what stupidly brave thing did you just try to do?” Latheroux wondered quietly to himself, and sat back against the narrow cot with a sigh.