Several miles away, back inside castle walls within her room, impatiently paced Krista alongside Amelia who was calmly sitting down reading a book. Although Krista had wanted to go chasing after Matilda, she found herself out of time and forced to return by her own escorts.
“He isn’t back yet, Amelia, if Damien isn’t back here by tonight, I’m going back to that University, and I’m going to get them to tell me where that woman lives.”
“Now, Krista,” Amelia responded, “Damien’s better off with ‘that woman’ considering that she’s one of Stellar’s foremost researchers of wattiez and its history, along with having a life affinity. It’s for the best.”
“But did you see the way she was assaulting Damien, mind you while he was unconscious?!” argued Krista.
It took a second before Amelia could respond, “She’s eccentric, yes, but I stand by want I said. Either way, aren’t you being a bit too clingy, I don’t think Damien the type to appreciate that.”
“She kidnapped him, I think I’m being the perfect amount of clingy!”
From outside her door, the girls heard the loud rumblings of quickly moving feet. From outside they could hear a voice call out, “No! No, Fierce get back here!” before the door blast open.
Entering was Krista’s griffin, the young Fierce, who rested her head into Krista’s lap. At only four weeks old, she had already grown so that her head reached Krista’s waist. Her feathers were beginning to darken, her fur had gained a more lustrous sheen, and she was beginning to have some control over her wings. Fierce displayed that new ability when her caretaker, a very unfortunate young man, came running in only to be tripped when she spread her wings out.
“Your majesty, I apologize for my incompetence,” the young man said scrambling to his feet, “It’s my first time taking care of a griffin, but I swear I’ll be better!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Krista commented while cradling onto Fierce, “Honestly, I should have a way for Fierce to enter my room whenever she wants, I love seeing her,”
“Yes, of course!” he said quickly as he ran towards the door, “I’ll have someone get on that right away. Grandmagi! Excuse me”
Behind him came the girl’s Grand Auntie Cassandra being pushed in her wheelchair by her maid Emily, “I came here to speak with you and Amelia, but it seems like you are busy right now.”
Krista was in the middle of play wrestling with Fierce when they decided to pop in, but she stopped when Cassandra came in, “Fierce, attention.”
Upon hearing Krista’s command, Fierce stood nearly completely still and at attention. Over the last week, Krista had discovered that Fierce responded well to military commands, though only when they came from herself or Damien. Considering they were the first two people Fierce met when she was born, it made some sense.
“Grand Auntie Cassandra, what do you need?” Amelia asked.
“Emily, some privacy please,” Cassandra asked of her maid who deeply bowed and closed the doors, making sure that no one could come in or go out without Cassandra’s permission, “I have to speak with you in regards of Shining Twilight.”
This was the last thing Krista had expected to hear coming out of Cassandra’s mouth, especially now, “Why are you asking me? I know very little if not nothing about them, you’d be better off speaking with Damien.”
“And I will, but right now, I need to ask you something,” Cassandra spoke seriously, contrary to her usual casual tone, “That boy, Damien, do you intend to continue helping him?”
“Of course, I owe him, it’s only right that I-” started Krista but she was stopped by Cassandra.
“From what I heard from Amelia, you promised to bring him to New Dawn, yet you seem to be going much further than that, why?” Cassandra inquired.
Krista internally sighed, first Amelia now her Grand Auntie asking the same question. She was hesitant to answer, for Krista was aware of the real reason she followed the guy, but just saying out loud felt far too embarrassing. Unfortunately, Cassandra’s unwavering glare clued Krista into the fact that she wasn’t going to escape with just a halfhearted answer.
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“You’re right, my promise to him doesn’t matter,” Krista finally answered.
“Then why does it feel like you’re about to tell me otherwise,” Cassandra retorted.
“Because I just want to help him, okay!” exploded Krista, “Do you really need me to say it, then fine! I like the guy, and I want to stand by him, but that’s not the real reason why I want to help him, I think… I think he might be able to realize my dream.”
Krista’s words made Cassandra’s go wide, “Your dream? Of becoming a great warrior?”
“Being a great warrior is about far more than just being the strongest,” Krista explained, “Even the Moonlight Knight had an entourage. I want to create real change in Stellar, but with my parents the way they are, I don’t think I can make those changes in New Dawn.”
“But what’s so special about that boy?” Cassandra asked.
“More than you’d think,” responded not Krista but Amelia, “I think I’m starting to get what Krista’s talking about. Damien pulled me out of a dark place when during my test. His words were harsh, but I needed to hear them, if he hadn’t said something there, I probably would have failed.”
“I’m strong, I know that, and I hope you know that too, but lacked the ability to do what he did there,” continued Krista proudly, “Damien’s clever but he lacks the strength I have. Damien asked me, ‘Where do you see yourself in ten years,’ and I answered standing next to a partner of whom I’ve sworn devotion to. I think Damien could be that person.”
Listening to her grandniece closely, Cassandra began to shed a single tear. Seeing that, both girls took to her side and Emily presented to her a handkerchief, “I’m fine, I’m fine, just some old memories from that line. You just reminded me of an old flame.”
“Old flame,” thought Krista until it suddenly hit her, “You couldn’t possibly be talking about Damien’s grandfather?!”
“That’s not important, like I was saying!” Cassandra sheepishly cried, “Listen, I already knew there was nothing I could say, or your parents for that matter, that would stop you leaving again or chasing your dreams. Since your path will be leading to Shining Twilight, I’ll have to agree with everything you said in the war room, especially the fact that if anyone where to want to strike at Shining Twilight, they should strike now.”
“Then what was that in the war room!” Krista shouted, “You seemed so wishy washy about that before, but Mother and Father aren’t just going to change their minds, you know how stubborn they can be.”
Cassandra placed a hand on Krista’s shoulder, “I know exactly how stubborn they can be. How headstrong and persistent they can be. I also know now exactly how bad they are at keeping secrets.” Cassandra put on a pleasant smile, one that Krista used to see a lot when her Grand Auntie was going to say something insulting, “Kind of like someone else I know. That’s exactly why I needed to keep them in the dark awhile longer.”
That same smile turned into a smirk, signally that Cassandra was scheming something, so Krista asked, “I know that smile, what are you thinking?”
“I’m going to be straight with you girls,” Cassandra said, “Krista, your parents are a bit dull, or rather, they can be quite a bit dense, dear, again, just like somebody I know. Now, don’t be mad dear you know it’s true, Amelia here had Reymalia to teach her sense. Moving on, I needed to make sure that your mother and father continue to not focus on Shining Twilight, but did keep them in the back of their minds, otherwise they’d probably make things worse overall.”
Grand Auntie had always been this way. Always trying to do things for the kingdom behind my mother’s back, even if her position dictates that she shouldn’t be showing any favoritism to anyone kingdom. What I still don’t get is why my parents would make things worse.
“You’re not giving Mother and Father enough credit, sure they can be a bit… dull, but when push comes to shove, they always pull through,” argued Krista.
Cassandra started chuckling, “Is that right? Did you know that there was a spy in the room a week back?”
“A spy?” Krista asked, “No, I didn’t. Were they from Shining Twilight? How did they make it past the guards?”
This is serious business, it wasn’t particularly rare for members of the other Great Kingdoms to send spies and agents to gleam information about prospective adversaries, but when these acts are discovered, that’s close to an act of war. Krista knew that if Cassandra had proof of these actions, then they would need to do something! Before Krista knew it, her Grand Auntie had already grabbed onto her shoulder and held tightly to her clothes.
“It’s not your parents they were after,” Cassandra basically ripped Krista’s shirt off, leaving her extremely confused, “Grand Auntie! At least give a girl a warning before you start stripping her!”
Amelia, in turn, was eyeing her back inquisitively, “Krista, when did you get a tattoo?!”
“What, was there something on my back?” Krista thought, “I didn’t or rather I shouldn’t have one, what happened? Did Damien draw something on me? I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Cassandra put her hand on Krista’s back. When Krista looked back a black, lizard like shape crawled from her back to Cassandra’s arm. As it stopped moving it pulsated, but so did her other arm, making it noticeable that another one was on that arm too.
“No, it’s a mistletoe from when-” Cassandra was about to explain what they had saw was only to be immediately shocked at the sight of Krista’s back, “Vitnova, damn it, girl, just what kind of people did you hang around with all this time?! Amelia.”
“What, what is it?” Krista’s asked confused.
“Y-Your back, there’s a burn in the shape of that mistletoe,” Amelia explained.