As the moon reaches its highest point in the sky, torches are lit in an open air courtyard of the Aquamarine mansion. On the ground, a woman is bent over, leather pants and a white shirt with blood on it. She is being restrained by chains infused with Aura. Two men, Beheaders in common light weight armor, are at both sides of the woman, and inside the Aquamarine mansion, separated by a curtain, there are two more Beheaders, with decorated light weight armor and three yellow stripes going down from their necks to their chest, the head Butler of the Aquamarine mansion, and Lady Aquamarine, wearing a waist high ankle deep form fitting single dark dress with golden patterns, high heels, and a silver necklace which holds something now deep between her large breasts.

“I have reached a conclusion,” says Lady Aquamarine after a moment of silence “for the crime of murder of six people… I sentence you to death.”

“Tch!” says the woman on the ground “You there, looking all high and mighty, believing that you have the right to judge people’s lives! Get down of your high-horse bitch! You can’t judge me!”

Silence.

“What?” says the woman on the ground, while chuckling “Did you realized the error of your ways?! Free me at once you royal bitch!”

“You,” starts Lady Aquamarine “You are a mother aren’t you?”

The woman on the ground suddenly felt silent, opening her eyes wide “wh-what do you mean?”

“I understand completely,” continues Lady Aquamarine “the pains of being a mother. I am one too.”

Silence. The woman on the ground has opened her mouth, and started to tremble, unable to say anything.

“My daughter, she is one of a kind. As a mother, I have left much to be desired, that… is a least what I believe. But even so, my daughter, she has turned into quite the woman, a functional adult in society” she stops for a moment, looks at the criminal, and then continues “I could have been a better model for her, and I truly regret not being able to do more, to not even realize that I could have done more” suddenly, she stands, letting the shadow of her figure come through the curtain “One day, when my doubts were whirling in my head, she came to me by herself and said to me that she loved me, that I didn’t need to worry about her, that I could rest assured that I raised a good kid” a chuckle could be heard “Fool, as if a mother, as if I would never be able to stop worrying about you.”

“What… what is your point? Why are you telling me this?”

“Can’t you tell?” says Lady Aquamarine “I’m here wondering if your boys would be as well mannered members of society, having being raised by such a skunk they had for a mother, such a low life that just because she had a Yellow Aura, she went on killing other fellow Aquamarine with Red Auras under the cover of the night, all in a pitiful attempt have some form of control of your life that it amounts to nothing more than a grown up throwing temper tantrums. You’re disgusting to look at.”

With the face red, the woman on the ground wriggles, trying to get up, while the guards at both sides keep her on her knees “You mon-”

“And this is why” Lady Aquamarine interrupts, elevating the tone of her voice “I’ll add to your judgment, the death of you, the death of your two boys, and it will be done by beheading.”

“You bastard!” starts yelling the woman on her knees, with tears coming of her face “leave my boys alone! I’m going to kill you!” while the guards start taking her off to the prison, outside of the city, deep inside the Stardust forest.

As silence falls back in the Aquamarine mansion, William comes close to Lady Aquamarine “Madam?”

Lady Aquamarine sat back, and putting her fingers to her temples, she says “It is all for the future of my baby, William. Her future… and the future of everyone in this city. Can’t let the criminals go lightly, lest the lawful people see it and decide to turn into criminals themselves wanting to get more… of everything.”

“Yes, madam” says William “but it isn’t that madam: Ray and Olga are here.”

Lady Aquamarine sits there for a moment, sighs, and says “so it has come to this” as she gets up, and leaves the courtyard. Before getting back into the mansion, William lits up a candle to light up the dark.

Lady Aquamarine follows William in the dark. It is night, so the barely little light that the mansion has during the day is gone, and so the mansion is almost in complete darkness. Still, having lived in the mansion for so long, Lady Aquamarine knows it like the palm of her hand, but only William knows where Ray and Olga are waiting for her.

They cross over to the other side of the mansion, passing through many maids and butlers in the process who at the sight of Lady Aquamarine and William they move aside and bow. As they get to the other side, they make a turn and face a long corridor, with many sliding doors at both sides. They walk at about half the length of said corridor, and William stops by a door with a number in it and opens it.

“We are here, my Lady.”

“Yes, we are.”

As Lady Aquamarine enters the room, a chandelier that is hanging on the ceiling is lit up, revealing two people already inside the room.

“If you need me, I’ll right besides the door.”

“Thank you William.”

While William closes the door, the two people already inside the room stand up, a man and a woman. The man has silver hair with crimson eyes and a good build, while the woman has brown hair, yellow eyes and brown skin.

“My Lady” both of them say at the same time. They both were wearing the decorated light weight armor, but this time with five yellow stripes going from their neck to their chest.

“Ray, Olga, good to see you in good health. Please, lets sit” Lady Aquamarine says, as she sits on one chair, while the others follow suit “Guess it is something important the reason you’re here, otherwise I would have seen you here in the morning.”

“Yes, my Lady” starts saying Olga “something isn’t quite right.”

“I fear I agree, My Lady” speaks Ray.

“Must be serious if you get right to the point, but well, tell me: Why would you say that? What isn’t quite right?” Lady Aquamarine says, while making emphasis on ‘quite right’.

“Sophia’s team.”

“We haven’t got any contact with it since they went to the outpost, My Lady.”

“What… I see” says Lady Aquamarine, while putting a hand to her chin “and we should have already received reports from her.”

“Indeed. Ray and I suspect that something unexpected is coming toward us, really fast.”

“There are too many things, happenings, that have been out of place last month or so, and with the discovery and capture of the Fire tamers last night, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“Outside of this state, the cold war went hot once again” says Lady Aquamarine.

“Well… it is a bit soon to tell for sure, My Lady, Sophia’s group may have faced a harsh encounter in the Stardust forest” says Olga.

“But with this, we can’t discard it either” says Ray.

“We still lack information” concludes Lady Aquamarine.

“My thoughts exactly, My Lady” says Ray “that is why I and Olga have been discussing an hour or so ago.”

“A solution?”

“Yes, My Lady. We have been thinking of sending another group, in order to complete the mission and search for Sophia’s group.”

“At this moment, I agree is the best solution, but who do we send?”

Silence has now fallen on the room.

Lady Aquamarine looks to one, and then to the other, a bit perplexed by this.

“What is suddenly gotten into you? Speak” Lady Aquamarine says, as a chilling sensation starts making rounds on her skin.

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“Please, My Lady, consider that we know how hard this is going to be for us to, saying this to you” says Olga.

“What?… What is it so hard that you have to make such grave expressions and be all so secretive and… such” says Lady Aquamarine, starting little by little to raise her voice “Ray, tell it to me straight.”

Ray, who had crossed his arms and closed his eyes, sighs, and opening himself, he says “straight it is, My Lady. We, Olga and me, came to the conclusion that the best solution would be to send another group, with your own daughter at its head.”

Silence fell again, but not for long. Lady Aquamarine gets up from her chair, with her arms and fingers crushing the table were she had them resting moments ago. The room started trembling, the chandelier causing a ruckus. Olga backed away from the table as the trembling went stronger and stronger. Lady Aquamarine’s face went red, her neck joined her face turning red, and her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

“Please, My Lady, you know she is our best option right now!” says Ray, starting to get pale himself.

“You want me, her mother, to send my own daughter, to danger…” replies Lady Aquamarine, containing her own voice, while the tremblings get worse and worse.

“I know My Lady, but please, I know that you already know the reason why: She is the best river rider we have. Anything that happens, she can switch away into a river and come back to the city in an instant!”

Tears start coming off Lady Aquamarine’s face.

“Please understand My Lady, anyone else would have less chances of survival” says Olga.

“Wasn’t for moments like this that she volunteered to enter the Beheader Corps?” says Ray.

And to her memory came that very moment, of that very day. Her little girl, that day came home together with Daisy, a rarity of both of them appearing together. Donned in her aspiring priestess clothes, unable to look eye to eye, she was a bit troubled trying to talk to Lady Aquamarine. After being slightly pushed by Daisy, Tomoe came clear with what she wanted.

Mother, I want to be in the Beheader Corps!

That was the very first time that she wanted anything at all, that she decided for herself. With a trembling voice, but now pushing herself, she told her reasons, of how while performing her priestess duties she has seen some people getting killed in front of her and how she couldn’t do anything to protect them, and how she felt when she did stepped in to save a little boy from some thugs afterward. Tomoe, her shy, silent daughter, she said many things that evening… it was the first time that she talked so much without stop.

Anxiety creep in her. She understood very well how her daughter felt, and thus, with her blessing, she allowed Tomoe to turn and join the Beheader Corps instead.

My child… as your mother, how could I ignore your own noble desires?

Yet she couldn’t be still. Lady Aquamarine vowed to protect her daughter, so she could be safe protecting the weak and the righteous law abiding Aquamarines.

I want to be in the Beheader Corps!

The voice of her daughter still echoed in her head, together with that determined look in her eyes. Yet now she heard another thing, as clear as a trumpet blasting at her ears: The call of duty.

Lady Aquamarine thought about the woman she has just sent moments before to her death by beheading. A tinge of shame invaded her face at the thought of them not being that different after all. The time for her daughter to step forward has just came, however vexing it is.

After some more moments of trembling, they start to get less and less severe. As the room goes back into silence, Lady Aquamarine sits back, with her hands covering her eyes, and biting her lips.

“Pardon my intrusion, My Lady” says William, having opened the door “Do I bring you something?”

“No” says Lady Aquamarine, while also dismissing the request with her hand “no need. Everything… everything is fine.”

“I understand, My Lady” says William, as he closes back the door.

“My Lady?” says Ray “please-”

“No need Ray, I understand were are you coming from” says Lady Aquamarine, interrupting Ray “It is…”

“It isn’t easy” says Olga.

“It isn’t easy, it is completely vexing” says Lady Aquamarine “but, she can’t be the only that doesn’t contribute to the well being of the city, no matter how much I would like that.”

“Thank you, My Lady” says Ray.

“Please Ray, and Olga, I apologize for the needless little show I just made.”

“No need My Lady” says Olga “so, having decided this, where is Tomoe? We need to relay the message to her.”

“I believe she is in the Muscle Squid. It is her off-duty day, and it coincided with the people she knows the most…”

“Oh dear” says Ray, letting a chuckle escape “that migraine is going to be a bitch I can tell ya. Nothing that a good old Aura can’t heal though.”

“She has a Blue Aura, and plenty of it at that. She will be fine for the morning” says Olga.

“Lets conclude the meeting then” says Ray.

“Wait…” says Lady Aquamarine.

“Yes, My Lady?”

“How are the preparations for the coming of Polsen tomorrow?”

Both Ray and Olga looked at each other, and Olga answers “Everything is going on course, My Lady. Some problems there and there, but it wont affect the grand scheme. We will be ready for him.”

“I see” says Lady Aquamarine “You’ll go for Tomoe at the Muscle Squid, right Olga?”

“Yes, My Lady. After that, I planned to go back to continue helping the Priests and the Beheaders that are there with the preparations for Polsen.”

“I see. I’m sorry that I’m going to impose on the preparations additional stress, but Ray…”

“Yes, My Lady?”

“I want the entire city, for when the sun rises, in a state of alert.”

“Excuse me, my Lady?” says Ray, as his eyes gained a stern look.

“I don’t like how things are going Ray. If I’m honest, I find strange that Sophia’s group hasn’t come back, I agree with you there. Call it a hunch if you will, but everything is really strange” says Lady Aquamarine, as she brings a her thumbs to her mouth and starts biting her nail “Thinking about it, if everything actually comes true, and we are getting invaded, I just don’t want to find us between the sword and the wall, the invading army and Polsen with the Cinders. I want all the Beheaders and the reserve leave the barracks and come here.”

“It would be really bad indeed, My Lady, between the sword and the wall, or between two swords” says Ray, as he puts his hand on his chin “better safe than sorry it is. I’ll call them all and put everyone into good use.”

“Lets be on a high alert then, at least until the day tomorrow ends” says Olga.

“Yes” says Lady Aquamarine “lets end the meeting right here, we have our work cut out for us.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“I agree.”

“Get the most rest you can get. We will need it” says Lady Aquamarine, as both Olga and Ray start leaving the room “please William, accompany them all the way to the exit.”

“Will do, My Lady. Please, Sir Ray, Lady Olga, follow me” William says, as he starts going down the corridor.

“Did ya hear that ‘Lady Olga’?” says Ray.

“Can’t deny it sounds good” says Olga, as she lets a snort get away as they walk away.

Staying behind, Lady Aquamarine brings out of the silver necklace, revealing an Aquamarine ring tied to it. As she looks at it, she whispers “Dear… what you feared would be the worst situation… it may come to happen. And yet-” she stops, and bringing the ring close to her face, she embraces it tightly between her hands.