A few minutes ago, back in the dimly lit brown canvas tent, Lilac was pacing back and forth as the only outlet for her frayed nerves. Watched by Eve, whose gaze drifted left and right as she stood still the entire time. Pausing as Lilac did, grabbing a handful of her medium-length locks in her stressed state.

"Ahh! Why? We should be out there, anything could be happening right now, they could need help!" Lilac exclaimed as she turned on her heels to face Eve. The latter tilting her head, pale violet backlit eyes staring.

"No no, you're right. I hate hiding my face, and you stand out with your bolt, we'd only make things worse." Lilac confessed, starting to pace again as Eve tilted her head to the other side.

"But what if it's already the worst it can be? Other than Char, I'm the only one with any aptitude for magic! While you have the rot touch and… Zap, point, thing! We can help!" she continued, as Eve's head straightened and her mouth opened as though to speak in the background.

"No! You're right, you're important. The whole Foci thing Char goes on about. If anything happens to you she's going to have my neck, and the Grand Leader will have her neck back at home. We should just stay put, wait, and if anything happens, skedaddle." she goes on. As Eve's mouth closes again in the background, her backlit eyes turning yellow.

"Waiting waiting waiting, it's always waiting. Wait here and watch the camp Lilac! You can't go foraging, what if someone sees you? You can't go and explore the cool light column place, it's too dangerous. It's your shift to watch the Foci, don't be irresponsible! I mean I want to do whatever I can to help, do my part, but, but…" she ranted on, as Eve started walking towards the exit past her.

"But Tempest as my witness, I! Hate! Waiting!" Lilac shouted to the heavens, only afterward noticing Eve stepping out of the tent. "Wait!" and proceeded to sprint out after her.

- - -

"Gods, at least the hood fits, took me all week to sew it. Come on Eve, let's duck into another tent before someone sees u-"

"You two, announce yourselves!"

"Shi- Sugar."

Lilac, after breathing a brief sigh of relief that she caught up in time to pull the Foci's hood up, froze for a second upon being shouted at by the military man with a strange moustache. While Eve continued her march towards the central gathering unabated, leaving a trail of graying grass behind.

In less than a minute, after Lilac engaged in a more than light jog to catch up, the pair stood before the moustachioed military man, off to one side from him and the Storm Follower collective. The hoodless woman needing to raise a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of a brilliant sunrise.

"Hmph. To shy away from our gifted golden sun, what nerve! State your name girl!" the officer demanded, pointing his sabre threateningly as he did so, the blade glinting menacingly in the light.

The pale violet haired cultist glanced over to Char, looking for an explanation and assistance, and receiving only a death stare in exchange. Turning back to the officer after and stating apprehensively: "It's Lilac, uh, sir. Like my hair."

"I can see that. Nothing escapes my sight." he coldly stated. One of the pair behind him raising a hand to interrupt, about the reiteration being unnecessary, before deciding better of it and putting their hand down and looking away to whistle innocently. "Stop that." and then ceasing immediately upon receiving the order from their commanding officer.

"Right…" the word left Lilac's lips without even thinking, confused by the display, another glance shot to Char practically pleading for an explanation.

"Ahem, now then. The cursed one next. Who are you?" Ewart asked with narrowed eyes that looked to the trail, before drifting to-

Who? A question the creation had yet to hear even after all this time. Some wore their self-serving intentions for it on their sleeves, others were more well-meaning certainly, but all had made their assumptions. All had drawn their conclusions, deeming it what they wished, with nary an attempt to confirm otherwise. Of course due to that it had no need to ponder its own existence, its identity. It had no relevance, no importance, no value. Until now.

I look forward to seeing what becomes of it.

"Well?" Officer Ewart continued impatiently, frustrated by the extended silence that fell for nearly a minute. "State your name!"

"..." the entity raised its head, face obscured by the hood, the lighting of its eyes beneath hidden by the daylight, as it spoke in an emotionless empty tone. "... I do not believe I possess a name."

"It's Eve!" Lilac chimed, with an encouraging nod to the entity. "Her name is Eve." before looking up to Charles, not a hint of fear of the fully armoured knight or his monster-blooded steed. Earning a displeased huff as he looks between the two, not noticing at all the murderous energy Char was emitting at the display.

"Eve, is it?"

"... It would appear I have been given the name Eve. That is correct." she stated with a small nod, accepting the name politely, knowing of no alternative to challenge it with. None that she felt attachment to at least.

"Quite." Charles states, pausing briefly, not sure what to make of the situation himself. Before deciding to brush it off as curse shenanigans for ease. "Well, unless either of the latecomers, or the rest of you, would care to be more forthcoming about anything else regarding our dearly departed Costa, I think we're done here."

"Eh?" Lilac blurted in confusion, as Charles began to turn the Dire Cheval around.

"... Another boring day in Costa." Eve spoke, voice almost distant, with a relaxed undertone that seemed almost unnatural. The disconcerting shift and its contents catching the knight commander's attention.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Excuse me? Could you repeat that?"

"Another boring day in Costa."

Despite the reiteration being more of fact, void of feeling, it still brought about a complete shift in the air. The officer patted his steed's neck, to have it kneel down, enabling him to climb off its massive frame, albeit with great difficulty. Marching over to Eve on foot after catching his breath.

Char moved first, her attempts at interceding foiled by the cheval's greater speed, cutting her off. Lilac moved second, succeeding in standing between Charles and Eve. Though was only rewarded by being ignored, despite Lilac being taller than them both. Charles coincidentally near equal to Eve's short height when not astride the giant mount.

"Remove your hood."

"You can't be serious, that would be completely against our practices-" Char's indignant shout at Ewart is quickly interrupted by a powerful stomp of the cheval's front hoof, heavy thud kicking up a small cloud of dust.

The officer meanwhile, only glanced up at Lilac: "Clearly." commenting dryly before focusing on Eve again, continuing: "A settlement destroyed, nearly a hundred lives lost, and a very important person missing. Presumed dead-"

"Oh right, the court mage lived there!"

"Wasn't he disgraced?"

"I heard he just retired."

"And!-" Charles spoke up, causing the commenting twins to fall back into silence. "This cursed, thing, is clearly not as ignorant as the rest of you. That is justification enough. Now hurry up, truth or lie, all will be writ plain on your face when exposed to illuminating sunlight!"

"Don't you dare." Char cannot help aggressively warn through gritted teeth, knowing no good would come of the Foci's existence becoming known.

"Eve… You don't have to if you don't want to." Lilac nervously said with a glance back, trying her best not to project her own feelings about hiding one's self into the dangerous situation.

And Eve, after a moment, simply obliged. Knowing of no reason not to. Dark hood falling back, frayed at the points her fingers made contact with it. Revealing her ashen grey stitched face beneath short white hair, sparking bolt, and yellow backlit eyes to the world. The last shifting to meet Charles'.

Who gasped and stumbled back as soon as the sight processed, drawing his sabre and flailing it about, shouting: "Monster!"

"Is that a Refin?"

"Since when can humans make them?"

"Since never, there must be another monster under one of those hoods."

"Valiance! To me!" Charles shouted in panic as the pair under his command were too busy assessing the situation to act. The Dire Cheval immediately heeding the call, turning, and charging with the power of a stampede not to the officer, but to that which he wishes to destroy in front of him. Carnivorous teeth bared, burning eyes glared, running down the stitched creature. Which in response only turned her head to face the descendant of monsters, eyes flickering from yellow to blue. Causing the horse's life to flash before it's own.

Prince Valiance Peor Esfort de Jorn, was renowned across the kingdom of Jorn not only for being one of a minuscule few Dire Chevals who survived to adulthood, but for even among his kind his temperament and intelligence was incredible. Such qualities contributed to his long life despite serving on the frontlines of the War of Day & Night. In this, his fortieth year, he had seen many sights that would break a lesser horse and a lesser man.

In war, death was no stranger, the sight and scent of corpses a frequent view. The last gasps of the dying, pleading for help, family, forgiveness, always a constant echo. But these never bothered the thick-hided beast. Neither did the sound of combat, metal clashing, bones crunching. The sky darkening as the ground erupted in great duels between battalions of mages working in unison, nay, not a whimper.

Even some of the worst terrors this world could wrought, witnessing curses that contorted the body into walking embodiments of suffering and pain. Refins, corpses animated by twisted magic seeping into lands scarred by conflict, tearing apart those they once stood beside. And of course, monsters.

In forty years, Valiance had only seen a handful of the class of creatures one of its ancestors belonged to. One smaller than a mouse, with the speed and ferocity of a whirlwind. Another in the distance, larger than a mountain, shaking the earth for miles around with each lumbering step. The most threatening wearing the face of a human, with a mind far greater, far more terrible. Its wordless eldritch magic fraying the fabric of what was, what should be. Even a truce between two armies, mortal enemies cooperating against a greater threat, barely succeeded in felling the evil being.

Never once before all these horrors, did Valiance feel fear, flee from a fight. Yet now, when charging the stitched entity, Valiance felt something. Perhaps it was due to the two short years he had served in retirement, allocated to a low-ranking fool in a cushy position away from the frontlines for it's long years of service. Perhaps it was due to the experience gained from those years, knowing that the creature before him was no refin, that the air it carried did not match that of the other monsters even. Because for all their power, strangeness, malice, they still felt like they belonged in this world.

This creature did not. That fact, more than any other, caused Valiance fear. He knew it was not as powerful as a monster, it could be felled even by the rejects that were the Shining Sabreurs. The stitched creature, the sole mage posing any threat, and the rest of the cloaks. In battle they would all fall. But before they did, before the stitched creature did, Valiance with highly tuned senses forged in life-long battle, knew that he would die first. The end reflected in the static blue behind its translucent eyes.

And if there was one thing Valiance knew, above all else, was that he was not going to die today. Which is why he veered, sunk his razor-sharp teeth into the thick metal plating of Charles' armour, threw him up across the saddle with utmost ease, and galloped away in the opposite direction before anyone had an opportunity to react. Leaving behind the stitched entity, raising a hand, stopping the motion as it watched the odd outcome.

"Wha- Valiance! Put me down this instant! Kill that monster! Stop right now!" Charles repeatedly shouted orders upon deaf ears, screaming at the top of his lungs as he clung for dear life to not fall from the speeding steed.

The twins meanwhile looked at the thirty Storm Followers, assuming at least a refin and a monster hide among their number, and glanced at each other after.

"Tactical retreat?"

"Tactical retreat."

"Tactical retreat!"

And with a single nod traded, they promptly followed after the sole veteran among their number, trusting their judgment most of all, monster-blooded horse or no. Calling out the decision to the rest of the sabreurs, who needed no declaration, turning around as soon as they spotted the one leading the retreat, sharing the twins' sentiment. All of the soldiers disappearing over the horizon in mere minutes after.

Leaving only the Storm Followers, gathered in the middle of their camp, bathed in sunlight. Most confused, Blaze quiet and nervous, Lilac tense and worried, Char absolutely furious as she narrowed in on the late pair. And Eve, with eyes back to yellow and hand lowering to her side, showed no emotion aside from mild confusion, or perhaps curiosity. What she felt, what she thought, was a complete mystery.

More than a petty mystery. It was the start of something different, something entirely new.