Alice stared up at the top of her and Ingrid’s tent. Ever since they had fully confessed to each other, Ingrid had been sheepishly asking if they could share a tent at night. Alice sure as hell wasn’t about to look that gift horse in the mouth. Getting to fall asleep with Ingrid in her arms had always been one of her greatest joys. Getting to do it every night, knowing the elf felt the same? It was like nothing she had ever dared to imagine for herself before.

The whole failed divination attempt had kind of soured the mood for everyone though. Well, except Kallen, which was unfortunate. Regardless, dinner had been uncomfortably quiet. At least the human had learned to read the room enough not to ask stupid questions when everyone was either depressed or pissed off. Natalia just didn’t care. They had all wordlessly cleaned up after themselves and went to bed. Except for Natalia, who simply leaned on a tree to keep watch.

“I don’t know what to do…” Ingrid had asked as they were getting into their bed roll. “We could keep going to Reach, but something about it just puts a pit in my stomach. What if he isn’t there? What if we can’t find any sign of him and there’s no way to keep tracking him?”

“Let’s slow down a bit. You’re catastrophizing,” Alice said calmly, rubbing Ingrid’s shoulders. “Remember what I said? We can look for other diviners in Amalthea. It’s a big country, and we’re gonna have to hit a few towns or cities on our way to Reach. We’ll work something out, Love.”

Love. Not a nickname she ever thought she’d be able to call Ingrid. Just saying it out loud made her heart jump. Thinking about it made her smile. Malori would probably lose it if she knew that. It seemed to do similar things to Ingrid, given the way it had calmed her down enough for get into the bedroll and nestle up to Alice.

There was a double edged sword to getting to sleep next to Ingrid. Nights like this where she had to listen to her cry herself to sleep was a pain like no other. At the very least, she could be there for her. The only way that pain could have been worse was if she couldn’t comfort her, make sure she knew she was loved. She took a deep breath as she looked down at Ingrid’s sleeping form. What she wouldn’t do to make all the pain she felt go away.

Thoughts like these were the reason she couldn’t fall asleep. Well, a mix of those, and what Malori had said were a wonderful combination to make sure the knot in her stomach was nice and tight. She needed fresh air. Gently slipping out of the bedroll like she had so many times before without waking Ingrid up, she pushed aside the tent flap and exited into the cool night air.

She had to give it to these shitty mountains, they really were gorgeous at night. She stared up at the sky, able to see more stars and nebulas and celestial formations than she ever had before. If Ingrid didn’t desperately need rest, waking her up to show her would’ve been the first thing Alice did. Beautiful things just weren’t the same if she couldn’t share them with Ingrid. It wasn’t long before she looked over to see Natalia on the ground, wings splayed out under her as she lay on her back and stared up at the sky.

“You’re up late,” she said without looking towards her.

Alice sighed, walking forward to sit on one of the rocks that had acted as a stool while they ate dinner. “Couldn’t sleep. Figured I’d clear my head a bit.”

Even without either of them looking at each other, Alice could tell Natalia nodded. “As good a reason as any.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. It was strangely nice. Neither feeling the need to say anything as they stared at the sky. Alice couldn’t tell if the two of them were enjoying or simply tolerating each other's company. Maybe the answer didn’t really matter. After a few more minutes, thoughts of the past night made their way into Alice’s head. One in particular wormed its way in as she glanced over at the illian.

“Hey, Feathers?”

The woman made a grunt of acknowledgement.

“Mind if I ask a question?”

“Depends on what it is.”

“Think my reason for hating the crown is pretty damn obvious, but what’s your deal? Don’t exactly meet many people marchin’ on a literal warpath,” she mused.

There was another silence between the two of them. Probably Natalia weighing her options. This kind of pause would’ve driven Ingrid nuts. Something about silence always drove her up a wall. There needed to be some sort of sound to keep her grounded normally, and Alice had learned real quick to not leave her hanging in conversations. It was kind of irritating, but she hoped it would improve as she gained confidence.

“I’ll answer if I may ask another first,” she finally said.

Alice glanced at her again, then back at the stars. She shrugged. “Shoot.”

“You don’t even trust your lover with your magic. So, why do you trust me?”

She sighed. “I don’t. But I do trust your drive, so to speak,” she explained, holding up her knife and messing around with it. “You said back there that you wanted something real bad. Think I’ve got a pretty good guess what it is at this point, but I believe you when you say you want it. I don’t think actively fucking someone over when you want to use that person as a tool is a good way to get it. That is what I trust. Make sense?”

Yet another pause. This one was broken by something Alice hadn’t heard from Natalia before; Laughter. It took her by surprise as the illian laughed heartily, even seeming to try and subdue it so as to not wake up their companions.

“I probably should have expected an answer like that. Yes, I think you’ll do nicely. We’ll have to work out more defined terms, but working with you would certainly be beneficial,” She said, satisfaction in her voice.

“Well you got your answer. Am I gonna get mine?” Alice mused.

Natalia let out a long sigh. “I suppose. Within reason, at least. What do you want to know?”

Alice tapped her foot, leaning back until she gently plopped onto the ground. Something about the sky felt even prettier when she was just laying on the ground like this. She felt more relaxed, without a care in the world.

“Like I said, why’re you so eager to see Cordelia get dragged into another war? Seems pretty basic to me.”

A pause. “Why wouldn’t I want to burn away the country that stole two families from me?”

Alice raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, any chance you can elaborate on that? Not exactly very specific.”

Natalia didn’t answer at first. She was probably trying to think about how to answer it. After all, whether or not the rest of the group helped her kind of depended on whether or not she was an absolute psychopath. Glancing over, Alice saw her lift her head up and toss out her hair, letting it splay out just like her wings and arms.

“Let’s just say I was from a very powerful family, but one that hid in the shadows. I didn’t particularly care what it was like. I was with my siblings, and my mothers. I was happy,” she started, her voice wistful and reminiscent. Alice could practically hear her expression souring as she continued. “I was young. Maybe fifteen when it happened. There was no pomp or circumstance to it. Just a painfully normal day. Certainly not one where we expected to see our personal guard march into the building. Or the crossbow bolt pierce my oldest sister’s throat,” she took a shaky breath. It was hard to tell if it was from sadness or rage. “One by one I watched my siblings die. I heard my mother’s scream when they killed my mom in front of her. The details and specifics are not important. Other than the fact that they were led by a dark elf woman in a black feathered cape, and armor that made no noise when she walked. I want to find the people that decided my family needed to die, and burn them until there aren’t even ashes remaining.”

Alice certainly didn’t mind the silence that came after that. If she could have it her way, she’d get right back up and leave. How was she even supposed to follow that up? Damn girl, that sucks. My mom was either gone or dead for as long as I can remember and my dad abused and threatened to kill me on the regular. Totally get the struggle.

It didn’t seem like Natalia was too keen on continuing either. She just let the silence happen. Maybe she didn’t care about the response. She did sound like she’d been carrying that around for quite a while. Quite frankly, Alice didn’t want to hear about whatever the deal with the second family was.

Regardless of what it was, one thing was apparent that probably should have been already; Natalia was out for revenge. She let out a sharp exhale from her nose as an ironic smile formed on her face. Vengeance craving lunatics made up no small percentage of her contracts. It was hard not to at least have a little respect for someone who was clearly willing to do some of the dirty work herself.

“Did you find something amusing?” Natalia asked, deadpan.

“Nah, just noticin’ something’,” she lied. “If it makes you feel any better, that kinda motive is something I can trust even more. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that happened.”

There was another pause between them.

“The dead have no use for apologies.”

“I apologized to you, smartass.”

“I know.”

Alice was fairly certain that calling her a ‘ray of sunshine’ would have twice the irony given her sorcerous abilities. She grunted as she rolled over and stood back up, glancing at Natalia one more time. The woman had her hands clasped over her stomach, while her wings folded up to act as a makeshift pillow.

“I’m sure you already know I’m gonna charge for this.”

“Naturally.”

“Cool. Let’s get Princess’s brother back and then I’ll tell you my rates. Enjoy the stars,” she sighed as she headed back to her tent. Natalia didn’t respond. Alice lifted up the flap to find Ingrid still sleeping soundly. No matter how weird of a position she was in, she never failed to look beautiful. She knelt down, brushing a few stray hairs out of Ingrid’s mouth and tucking them behind her ear. It was hard not to have a genuine smile when looking at her.

“Gods, I love you so much,” she chuckled, planting a small kiss on her forehead before worming her way back into the blanket and wrapped her arms around her. Even while asleep, Ingrid seemed to instinctually nestle back up to Alice. It was a lot easier for her to go to sleep this time around. Talking to Natalia tended to be exhausting.

Ingrid really wished she could say that her anxiety was getting easier to deal with over the next few days, but she really didn’t like lying. They had come up with the haphazard plan of looking for someone who could help in Amalthea, but it didn’t change the fact that they were going to have to lay low. Actually lay low this time, not whatever nonsense they got up to in Baile Stioballan. While Alice’s track record wasn’t exactly great when it came to looking for information in shady places (Although Ingrid tried to remind the group that it was the only time they tried), there weren’t exactly other options. Dark elves were practically nonexistent in public in Amalthea, and Malori tended to attract unwanted attention on her own.

As usual, Ingrid had to make sure there would be no sign of her druidic abilities. If it would have been a problem in Cordelia, it would be infinitely worse in a country just itching for an excuse to declare war. No matter the way she looked at it, there was one glaring issue with the plan to hide themselves, which led to the current conversation.

“...I’m not doing that.”

“Please? I know it’s difficult, but there’s no way we’ll be able to get places when you’re so noticeable.”

“And this is your solution? I might as well write to Berith and tell him I miss him.”

“Kay so I get that this isn’t ideal, but unless you suggest somethin else, it’s what we got. All ears if you have any other ideas! Seriously, I wanna hear this, it’ll be funny.”

“M-Maybe we should try to think of something else? If she doesn’t w-want it, it would be rude to force her.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“I can’t really think of anything. I have a spare poncho that I’d carry around traveling, maybe that could help?”

It was an odd experience seeing Natalia look somewhat embarrassed as the four others tried to convince her to cooperate. She sat on the rock with her arms crossed, and an angry look on her face. Ingrid had to look closer to make sure she wasn’t seeing things, but she looked to actually be blushing as well. Her wings were spread out, and her feathers stood up in annoyance. It was almost comical to see, like a bird trying to assert dominance. It did, however, consistently remind the group why they had to do this.

The idea they had come up with was one that Alice wholeheartedly supported, but it wasn’t hard to tell that it was simply because she found it funny. Ingrid held out a large cloak for her to wear, with a deep hood that could conceal most of her face. To wear it without drawing attention to herself however, Natalia would have to wrap her wings around herself, which prevented her from using her arms.

“Let’s say we sit down for a meal, what then?” she growled.

“Oh, I could feed you if you want!” Kallen said happily.

Natalia just glared at her, not deigning to respond to the genuine offer. She looked over at Ingrid again. “Is this really the best you have?”

“Um, maybe?” she admitted sheepishly, “And since your eyes glow, you’ll probably have to walk around with your eyes closed. Otherwise people will notice…”

“I want to find a plant I can burn that will make you sad.”

Ingrid’s awkward smile faltered as she winced. She couldn’t really say that it wasn’t an expected response. If someone asked her to do the same, she certainly wouldn’t be pleased.

Alice stepped forward. “Alright alright, let's not get too sassy,” she chuckled, “Again though, do you have any other ideas? Can’t exactly complain about something and not propose an alternative.”

Natalia gritted her teeth, staring directly at the ground. An awkward silence pervaded the air as no one was willing to say anything that might annoy the illian further. Just when Ingrid felt like the breath she didn’t realize she was holding would pop her lungs, Natalia marched forward and swiped the cloak out of her hands, then wordlessly marched off behind a few trees.

“I think that went well!” Kallen chimed, looking at the other three. Malori let out a sigh of relief as she slumped back against a tree.

“Does she have to be so t-terrifying all the time?”

“Shortie, I’m pretty sure you’d think basic slimes are terrifying.”

“P-Prolonged exposure to them can corrode steel! Some blacksmiths have even k-kept special types as pets to help m-metalwork!”

Ingrid blinked as Alice facepalmed. She couldn’t tell if that second part was her reflexively spouting trivia out of fear, citing it as a reason she was scared, or a mix of both. Regardless of the answer, another minute of Alice continuing to tease Malori while Kallen unknowingly helped was interrupted as Natalia marched back out from behind the trees. The group went silent as they looked her up and down.

It worked surprisingly well. The hood fully covered her eyes, and with her wings wrapped around it simply looked like she had on thick clothing. Her being muscular didn’t exactly help the look, but she could easily just pass off as a strange person that appears on every street. If anything, people would be more weirded out by Kallen.

“Well, say something. If this doesn’t work I’ll… Think of a threat I can carry out. I hate this,” she grumbled.

Alice was desperately trying to hold back laughter. “Oh it looks great! Really brings out your–” she looked her up and down again, snickering. “Calves.”

“Alright when I get out of this, you’re first,” she growled.

“Well, you’re gonna need to get used to extended periods like that if we don’t want people in the streets thinking you’re some sorta demigod. Maybe you stay like that for a little longer?”

Natalia didn’t move, but it looked like she was practically vibrating with either annoyance or anger. Ingrid took a few careful steps back.

“Alice, I love you, but I really don’t want to be in her way,” she whimpered.

“You know, I can’t really blame you. I mighta miscalculated. Hey Feathers, uh, you know I was joking right?” she chuckled nervously.

There was a scoff of annoyance, followed by Natalia mumbling something unintelligible. Alice looked at Ingrid, then back at Natalia.

“Uh, didn’t catch that?”

“...I can’t take this off by myself. Help me and I won't pour snow in your bedroll while you sleep,” she muttered, before silencing a small giggle that came from Kallen.

Alice stifled another laugh, but walked forward and helped the woman out of the cloak. As the two were working on making sure none of Natalia’s feathers got caught or pulled while taking it off, Ingrid turned to Kallen.

“Um, Kallen, you said you grew up in Amalthea, correct?” she asked.

“Oh yeah! I wandered all around too. There are a bunch of neat places here. Why do you ask?” she said cheerfully.

“Well, we’re approaching the border, and we’re going to need a place to get some proper rest and restock,” she explained. “Your hunting has helped a lot though! We would have started to run out of food and water much sooner without your help. Regardless, do you know any places we could go first?”

The human put a finger to her chin as she thought about it. “Oh! Kydanthus is nearby! It’s a border city, so it’s pretty well guarded if that’s an issue. It has an area in it called Lowcliff that might be what Alice was looking for. It kind of fits her vibes,” she explained happily.

Ingrid nodded, glancing over at where Natalia was stretching her wings and complaining about the idea of keeping them at weird angles for so long. “That should work. Do you think you can get there from here? We’ve gone so far off course that the map isn’t very useful anymore. We’ve just been going in the general direction of the border,” she said apologetically.

Kallen tilted her head. “Oh, really? You should’ve said something earlier. I can definitely get us there!” she looked up at the sky. It was decorated with the oranges and pinks of sunset, not a cloud in sight. “Just give me a bit to look at the stars tonight. I’ll have us on the right track by tomorrow. Don’t you worry!”

“Um, don’t you need a map for that? Isn’t that how triangulation works?” Ingrid asked, furrowing her brow.

“Triangu–what? No, I just need to see the stars. A map is nothing compared to a wanderer’s instincts!” she said happily.

It didn’t exactly put much confidence in Ingrid, but maybe if they followed her, they’d at least find their way to some random town where they could get proper directions. Ideally, they could get a proper map as well. Though with the way things had been going, she didn’t want to be too hopeful.

“I have a question,” Natalia grumbled, marching back to the rest of the group. “You were so worried about how I was going to pass off as a normal human, what about her?” she demanded, gesturing towards an incredibly smug looking Alice.

Ingrid stopped. It dawned on her that she had been so busy trying to figure out how to avoid people kneeling and trying to worship Natalia that she hadn’t even considered how they were going to keep Alice hidden. They couldn’t exactly change her skin color. Hell, the only reason Ingrid had successfully done it in Berith’s camp was because her eyes were just as red as all the other dark elves there.

“I’m so glad you asked, Feathers! Shortie, mind passing me the bag?” she chimed. Malori froze up for a moment as attention was put on her, but she walked forward and passed it to Alice. “Believe it or not, I thought about it ahead of time. That’s why I borrowed this from our good friends at the camp.”

She rummaged around, then pulled out a small porcelain half-mask. It didn’t have any designs on it, and was only made to cover the bottom half of her face. It looked a little big, all things considered. Before anyone could bring that up, she tossed the bag back to Malori and placed the mask on her face. It vibrated briefly, but stayed in place even as she pulled her hand away.

Alice’s form began to wobble like a mirage, before her entire form began to shift in the light. Her clothes remained the same, but her hands and the visible half of her face began to change color, as well as the mask. After just a second or two, Alice was back to grinning smugly. Her skin had changed to a much more human color, and the points of her ears were rounded off. She looked, well, human.

“So? Cool trick huh?” she said, spreading her arms like a showman expecting applause.

“W-What is that? I’ve never seen anything like it before! Does it use i-illusion magic? But what enchantment keeps it from f-falling off?” Malori spouted off immediately, rushing over and looking at Alice from every angle she could. It had been too long since Ingrid heard the esper fangirling over different types of magic. It was kind of refreshing.

“This fine piece right here is a Doppelganger’s Impression,” she explained, reaching up and taking it off. Her form shimmered once more before her ears regained their points, and her skin returned to its dark gray shade. “They’re expensive as all hell. Only times I’ve ever used ‘em were when the client provided me with one. They always wanted ‘em back after too. It makes an illusory body that layers over the wearer’s, like a new paint job. They’re hard to make, and to do it you need a bit of whoever you’re making it of. Blood, skin, hair, nail clippings, that stuff. This one seems like almost an advanced version though. I still look like myself. Whoever made this knew exactly what they were doing and then some.”

Natalia tapped her foot angrily. “So I have to walk around with a babysitter, and she gets the magical form changing mask?”

“Sucks to suck, Feathers. Shoulda been better at robbing people!” she laughed.

Ingrid breathed a sigh of relief. Of course Alice had a plan. She always knew what to do in situations like these. She couldn’t help but smile a little bit. If Alice wasn’t here to help, she had no idea what she’d do. Both emotionally and logistically.

“Well, now that we have that sorted out,” she said, stepping forward to hopefully help calm Natalia down. “There’s still some fish from the river. They’ll probably go bad if we don’t eat them now, Kallen did catch a lot. We could have a bit of a feast!” she suggested.

Natalia was quiet for a moment, then turned back to Alice. “You’re not going to do anything to them, are you?”

“My lover is eating it too. Course I’m not. Why, don’t like my cooking?”

“...No, I do,” she admitted, clearing her throat. “This is acceptable.”

Alice looked at Ingrid with a sly grin that said she was having far too much fun teasing the illian. “Alright, I’ll get to work. Princess, mind giving me a hand? You’re real good with seafood.”

Ingrid smiled. “Of course. Let’s get to work.”

After learning that Kallen was going to be the one leading, Alice wasn’t exactly pleased, but some pleading eyes from Ingrid quickly quieted any arguments to some annoyed mutterings. Ingrid knew she couldn’t expect Alice to get over whatever issues she had with Kallen immediately, but she was at least happy that it didn’t seem to be getting in the way of things. Even after her talk with Alice about avoiding conflict, it still wasn’t exactly a great idea to switch to wanting conflict.

Natalia seemed to have calmed down somewhat after finally accepting the cloak plan, but she still didn’t seem particularly happy with Ingrid. Any time she tried to talk to Natalia, the only responses she got were curt and irritated, even more so than they usually were. A part of her did feel a little proud though. Before, she would have simply backed off, even though she knew it was something they needed to do. Alice had even pulled her aside before bed to tell her that she did a good job making a decision and sticking with it. The thought of it made her feel lighter.

She did wish that their days of travel could have been a little less boring. There were still the beautiful sights and nights cuddling with Alice, but the lack of any sort of visible progress was getting to her. They were in different areas, but that meant nothing when she went from one unrecognized area to a new, equally unrecognized area. She had no choice but to put her trust in Kallen, who claimed to know exactly where to go without any sort of map, just by looking at the stars. She had heard about people following one particular star to go in a specific direction, but could they really find a city like that from the middle of nowhere? If there was any doubt plaguing Kallen’s mind, it didn’t show in the slightest. Ingrid couldn’t tell if she should be comforted or worried by that.

One definitive silver lining in all of this was the fact that even among the day long marches, Ingrid was getting proper rest. That combined with not needing to actually use any sort of magic meant that the next time they ran into trouble (She knew there was going to be a next time) she would actually be prepared to fight. Maybe she wasn’t nearly on the level of Kallen or Natalia without nearly killing herself with exertion, but actually being able to do something other than stand there while her friends fought for their lives made her feel infinitely better.

The scars and wounds left by Alviss had long since healed, but they still ached. She knew that it was all in her head, but it wouldn’t leave. She had just felt so useless. Alviss hadn’t even seemed to be trying, and they nearly killed her. They would have killed her if it hadn’t been for Alice getting the drop on them. She was pulled from her thoughts when Kallen rushed ahead with no warning whatsoever.

“Hey, wait! Where are you going!” she called out after her, but the human didn’t even so much as slow down. She dashed forward, leaping across rocks and roots with the same breakneck speed she had fought Berith with.

Ingrid looked at Alice fearfully. Malori was behind the two of them, looking like she was about to panic. Ingrid tried to swallow her irritation. Now was not the time to start breaking down if Kallen had noticed something.

“Well don’t just stand there!” Natalia boomed. She rushed back and grabbed Malori, ignoring the yelp from the tiny girl. She looked back at Alice and Ingrid. “Keep up.”

Spreading her enormous wings, she surged forward with a loud whoosh, taking to the air after Kallen.

“You heard her,” Alice shrugged, running forward, “This is why I don’t like her leading by the way!”

Ingrid sighed in exasperation. She held her staff and channeled her magic into it, absorbing the energy from around her that then flowed into her body and down into her legs. It would be good to get back into things with a simple spell after all. Once it was in place, she used her enhanced speed to catch up to Alice, who was nimbly hopping over obstacles like they weren’t even there. Ingrid grimaced at the fact that she needed magic to keep up with what the rest of the group could do normally.

She and Alice sprinted side by side towards the ridge that the other three had vanished over, Ingrid desperately hoping that nothing bad was happening. Passing over the ridge, the first thing she felt was relief. Natalia, Kallan, and Malori were all standing only a few more feet forward, Kallen with her hands on her hips and her chest puffed out with pride. There was a moment of confusion as Ingrid looked for what could have caused it, but only a moment. She stood in awe at the sight on the horizon.

An enormous mountain stood in the distance, split down the middle like someone had taken the world's largest sword to it. Even from this distance, she could see the bright lights in the countless holes that honeycombed the insides of the cliffs, and the bridges and terraces that linked the two split halves of the mountain. The distant forms of flying creatures of varying sizes flowed through the opening in all directions. She looked over at Alice, who seemed just as awestruck as she was.

Kallen turned back to the group, a wide smile on her face. “Everyone, welcome to Kydanthus!”