As the night goes on, inside the big crimson Tent, a tall man with red hair is standing in front of a painting of another man, red haired too, this with large sideburns. The man lacks a right arm, and has a scar in his left eye. In his left arm, he is holding a large practice spear, and he is clothed in leather armor.

There he was, about to stand above all of Aeris. Many years he has gone through to reach to this point, and tomorrow, everything will end. The course of action is already decided, their take-over must be swift. The city they are falling upon is naturally well fortified, and any mistakes or any delayed action could hinder his conquest and extend the time it will take for him to finally see the end of his path. But he will not rest until Aeris is under his rule, for the sake of the people in the Ruby state, so they can have lives that are worthy of human beings and not pigs nor monkeys.

“I will join Aeris once more.” Falco mutters, then adding “Are you looking, father?”

Memories of everything he has gone through until now come to his head. The alliance he formed, his warpath going through Amethyst, Emerald, Sapphire, and most of the other states. The bleak world outside of never-ending snow and cold, a frozen hell-scape wherever he saw. To his right, to his left, at his back and even front, bandits, cults, magic beasts, ruins… and Cinders, Cinders everywhere. Those states where there was still a government were in a situation like his. A few of the other states where just large graveyards, overflowing with Cinders.

His heart was beating fast and hard, as if his chest was about to burst open. What is this about? He couldn’t stop wondering. Falco was about to finally end his years of war, yet he has never felt like this before. He was there, standing in front of this painting, wondering with surprise and a tinge of contempt. Was he truly afraid of the battle tomorrow? He has fought many times before, even against monsters out of this world, yet, what is it that is keeping now him up at night, unable to sleep? Hasn’t this been his dream for a long time now, of seeing all the people in this country together as one?

“My Lord?” A girl, also in leather armor, comes forward. She also is a red haired, with blue eyes.

“General, is something the matter?” replies Falco without turning.

“You’re just there, standing still, and I wondered what could have you so absorbed.”

Falco falls back into silence, stabbing the spear into the ground and putting a hand to his chin. Then, he says “I believe you’re new here no? Pretty young too.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Do you know who this is?” Falco says, pointing at the painting.

“Yes, My Lord. This, in the painting, is the late Lord Ruby, your father.”

“Exactly” Falco says, and turning to the girl, he adds “he’s the one that made me lost my dominant arm, and my left eye.”

The general takes her hands to her mouth, open wide her eyes, raising her shoulders.

“Didn’t you heard anything?”

“I… I did, but I… just couldn’t believe such thing.”

“Why?” says Falco, seeing her directly to her eyes.

“Ehm-I-I…” The general falls into silence, and casting her eyes downward, she adds “Do I have permission to be honest with you?”

“Go ahead.”

“It is… a father shouldn’t never do such cruel things to his children.”

Silence, once more, takes presence between the two. Falco then turns to the painting, and says “I… agree.”

Turning back to her, he adds “You can relax” flashing a slight smile.

While the general’s body relaxed, her expression turning back to soft, Falco continues:

“My house, one of the fifteen houses that Lord Hazuki established about eight hundred years ago, has a long history of hostility and violence, of chaos and freedom, of overbearing pleasure and duty. My father, late Lord Rasmus, was a man that was a warrior, and valued more than everything else… these sets of skills. He didn’t have a match during many, many years, and was given at a young age the position of leader, thanks to his capacity and charisma.”

“Yes, I have heard many, many stories of how outstanding as a warrior was late Lord Rasmus, with the one where he came out victorious against thirty men, all Fire tamers being the one story that was the most times told.”

“And it is true, since I was there, watching from a safe point while everything was happening, together with my mother.”

“Oh wow” the general said, as she drew closer to Falco.

“But, as with every person that I have met during that time, my father had a dark side to him. Maybe one that grew to strong once he got the position of leader and head of house Ruby.”

“The assault at Fort Frost?”

“Yeah.”

“If I may inquire, why did you, his son, staged a coup against him in the first place? For all that I have heard, I have never heard anything concrete about late Lord Rasmus, only that he was evil and such.”

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“Well-” starts saying Falco. He stops, clears his throat, and continue “making the long story short: Having absolute power as the head of house Ruby for so long made him go… mad. He was a warrior, not a politician, and since I can remember, he always questioned why he couldn’t do exactly like he wanted. The needs of the Ruby state grew everyday, and many hands made the solution slow to come. One day though, he suddenly threw a coup, to wipe out the many hands that slowed the solutions, and once he was successful he… I guess grew would be the right word… his liking to his ideals grew a bit too much… or maybe he forgot himself. The fact is that he started to get concubine after concubine, formed a harem, and ruled the Ruby state with an iron grip.”

“That’s good doesn’t it? This would mean that his word was the last, and had all power in order to help everyone.”

“If he never had lost the sight of that ideal…” said Falco, as he sighed.

The general felt silent, feeling herself like he was just hit with a really large blunt object on the head.

“He had to be removed, and I took charge of that. This is the result today” says, as he taps to his right shoulder with his left hand.

After a moment of silence, the General inquires “Did you ever met eye to eye?”

“Not like I would’ve liked to” says Falco, then adding, “but that is enough of that general. Why don’t we go back to training? I’m sure you had more than enough rest.”

Now looking at him to the eyes, she answers “Yes, My Lord.”

Walking out of the tent, a rectangular area was marked in the ground. Falco went to one side, and the general to the other.

Taking a hold of his spear, Falco says “I still need to make my left my dominant side, so come with all your strength and don’t have mercy!”

Taking a grip to the training sword, the general takes a stance, and says “Yes, My Lord!”

The General plunges forward at the same time that she draws out her Yellow Aura. Falco draws a Yellow Aura too, and takes some steps back in the split of a second, keeping the distance between them. The General stops on her tracks, and puts the sword between her and the tip of the spear, evading and deflecting the coming trusts. Falco then charges forward, at which the general deflects the trust of the spear, making it point upward, at which she also changes direction and plunges forward. At this, Falco draws his Aura in, with his feet steady on ground, and turns around, taking advantage of gravity, in order to bring down the spear at high speeds while moving away from the General by just a bit. The General sees the spear coming, and tries to duck, but not fast enough: the spear has hit the training sword, making it go flying outside of the training grounds.

The General raises her head, only to find the tip of the spear right in her face, and see a Falco that is surrounded by a blue light.

“It is my win” Falco says, smiling.

“Can’t fight against your Blue Aura, My Lord.”

“That is just an excuse general.”

“Maybe.”

“You were a bit sloppy this time, why?”

“Thought that you would only use a Yellow Aura, so… maybe I had a chance.”

“You know what is the difference between us general?”

“No, My Lord.”

“I believe I always have a chance. If I wouldn’t have believed this, I couldn’t ever had come out alive facing off my father… that had a White Aura.”

The general opens her eyes wide, and her mouth dropped open.

“It seems to be easy to surprise you General. How old are you exactly?”

“Don’t you know?”

“I’m usually not concerned by things like age regarding people.”

“I see. I’m sixteen My Lord” The general says, as she is again looking directly at Falco’s eyes.

“Sixteen?!” says Falco out loud.

The general takes a hand to her mouth while she chuckles “It seems I’m not the only that can be surprised, My Lord.”

“I concede to that, general” he says, as he looks her back, right to the eyes “Lets end the training right here, general. Go get some sleep.”

“My Lord?”

“Early bird gets the worm general, or so the saying goes” says Falco, as he is turning away back to his tent ”Before the sun reaches the sky, we will do a full on march and reach the forest corridor hopefully by midday. You’ll need all the rest you can get.”

“Yes, My Lord” and as she is getting up, she adds “My Lord?”

“General?” he turns his head to her.

“I apologize in advance for this, but…”

“Go ahead, general” Falco says, as he extends his left arm with his palm upward.

The General smiles, and looking back, directly at his eyes, she says “I think you’re a fine warrior My Lord, late Lord Rasmus would be proud.”

Falco’s eyes open wide, and a sudden sensation, like a release, ran through his body.

“With your permission, My Lord.”

And with that, the General goes back, crossing through the tent, leaving Falco standing there in the middle of the night, pondering those words.

“… I wonder about that…” Falco whispers.