-13-

[https://i.imgur.com/LoYByv0.png]

In a flash the ache in my mind was gone but when I opened my eyes I was no longer in the Citadel.

A small fire crackled as flames licked dry wood. I was slouching on a lopsided stump. Around me were a number of people I recognized: the Consulate members, the Ministers, Luke, Hanna, Mei, and Tatsuko.

I had came to in the middle of an impassioned speech by Luke.

“—leaving the obvious route out of the question. Patrols hound us day and night on the highway.”

Ridwan Bashir, the Minister of State spoke up quickly, “There is no other way to get to Cahir. I’m no logistics expert, but even I know that taking a path through the broken terrain of the Commonlands is going to delay us by weeks. We simply don’t have that kind of time.”

Hanna stood up from her seat, a rough-shaped stone, “The Commander’s decision to stay behind may have given us half a day’s time at best. We have to make use of it while we can.” She turned to me with a pained look, “Hailey, you’ve got to give the orders to move on.”

Commander’s decision? Wait—did she just call me Hailey?

Everyone around the fire was looking at me expectantly.

I sat up straight and glanced down quickly at my body. Long cherry-red hair ran down my shoulders across my chest. Lying next to me, propped up on a small rock, was Hailey’s staff.

Great. I must have passed out and now I’m having another one of those wacko psycho-memory-whatsit.

In an eerily familiar way, a voice came up out of my throat; not mine, but Hailey’s. It wasn’t the strong and reliable voice of the woman I had been adventuring with the last few weeks. Her voice was strained, weak and wavering.

“The plan remains the same as it was while we escaped Axio. We continue south, past Cahir, to the outpost at the Tolin Pass. Minister Bashir is right, we can’t be slowed down trail blazing. We take the highway… We’ll just have to deal with any patrols if we come across them.”

Luke clapped his hands twice, “You heard the Commander, pack it up and let's move out.”

The group dispersed, except for Luke and Hanna. Luke came over to me and placed his hand on my—err… Hailey’s—shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Seems like you’re taking Commander Vanixi’s choice to stay behind pretty hard. Were you two close?”

“I… uhh… when we were younger I thought so.”

Hanna placed her finger on her chin, thinking for a moment before raising it in the air and exclaiming, “Oh! She’s the girl you always go on about, right? The one from that academy you went to. That V-X-A place!”

Luke’s eyebrow raised as his expression flashed quickly to a grin.

I could feel Hailey’s cheeks go flush as she shook her head and flailed her arms around in front of her.

“We were friends!”

Hanna was now wearing the same grin as Luke, “Some of your stories come across as more than just friends.”

Hailey jumped to her feet and shouted, “Shut uuup!”

I was a silent passenger, watching out of Hailey’s eyes as she stomped our way through the small canyon they had been holed up in.

Divisional soldiers were already making their way out of the ravine and forming up a distance away where the green landscape was broken up by a sun bleached stone roadway.

Hailey’s two companions followed close behind her.

We silently walked the trampled footpath leading to the main group. The three of us mounted up and trotted behind the mass of soldiers. A sharp order from Luke and they set off on a march.

Luke’s voice sounded from behind Hailey.

“The civilians who joined us are going to slow down the main force, but if we rotate those who have weaker stamina into the wagons and make camp only as a necessity… we might make it to Cahir in two days.”

Hanna sighed wearily, but said nothing.

I felt Hailey shift uncomfortably in her saddle before she turned back towards her two companions.

“We’re not pushing these people to exhaustion. Standard march protocols will be adhered to. Last thing we need is for the civilian population to fall ill under our care.”

Luke looked away from Hailey.

“Understood.”

A horn sounded loudly from far behind the group. Three short high-pitched blasts, the signal for a raid regiment to elevate to an alert status.

Two mounted parties of Divisionals broke from the right column, circling back past us. Hailey pulled her reins tight, her steed mimicking their motion and following fast behind.

Luke and Hanna both quickly exchanged a look of surprise, but as Hailey passed by them I could hear them turning around to chase.

The cavalry unit slowed their pace as they approached two lightly armored men on horseback, arms at the ready.

One of the guardsmen called out, “The Light of the Divine calls.”

“And those who are righteous answer.” The lead man responded back.

The two parties of guards lowered their weapons and circled back to rejoin the main force. Luke rode ahead to meet the scouts. Hailey spurred her mount forward, maintaining a close distance to him.

“You two, what was your post? What do you have to report?”

The lead scout saluted as soon as Hailey trotted up. He was wearing plain clothes but introduced himself as a member of the Divisionals.

“Commander. Knight-Lieutenant. I am Waystrider Garret, a scout under Knight-Lieutenant Braken’s Division. We were ordered to remain near the city-gate. I have information on the First Division Commander who remained behind.”

Hailey’s eyes were glued to the scout.

“Give me your report, quickly.”

“Er… Of course, Commander. Early this morning Commander Vanixi and her attending officer were taken captive by the Renaultians. We watched the exchange… A large group of civilians were attempting to flee through a collapsed segment of wall. After they had made it through safely, the Commander discharged a spell bolt that sealed the gap, but it also trapped the two of them within the city. It appears that they surrendered after that.”

Hailey’s body was trembling.

Both Luke and Hanna grabbed her by the arms, nearly pulling her off the horse.

“You can’t just run off to try to save her!” Luke pleaded.

“You’re just going to get yourself killed! We need you here. She made her choice—she bought time for us. For you.”

----------------------------------------

I landed with a loud ‘thud’ as my body face-planted the ground. Painful groans emanated from my throat as I rolled over and opened my eyes.

“Uuugh…”

There was a ceiling was above me. Wooden rafters crossed the space, supporting a hardwood floor.

Wherever I was, it was definitely an actual building and not one of the modular canvas tents I had been sleeping in for the last few weeks.

I glanced over to my right and looked over the bed I had just rolled out of. It was the same style bedding I had been sleeping with on our trek to Tolin.

Sore muscles screamed at me as I sat up.

Still lying in the bed, fast asleep and oblivious to my plight, was my little sister, Rias. Her hair was a wild mess, which partially obscured her face from view.

I used the foot of the bed as support and after an embarrassing struggle, managed to stand.

Light spilled into the room from a set of bay-windows. Through the glass, I spotted two red-clad guards posted outside the door.

It looked like I was in the common room of a fancy manor house. A stone hearth crackled with life along the center of the outer wall. In the back corner, a kitchenette had been stocked with some supplies. I found a few apples and hardtack in a sack. The sweet juicy fruit sated my dry throat.

Frantic pulsing light along my left wrist finally caught my attention. The eerie sporadic orange glow was probably not a good thing…

Or maybe that's just how it works now?

» YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED A PSYCHOMETRIC EPISODE

Yeah, no shit.

I waved my hand over the rune and dismissed the notification.

More important things to worry about right now.

As I nibbled on one of the hardtack biscuits, a pressure filled the room. On the counter closest to me a small portal sprung to life—vibrantly orange and sparking with magicka. It was no more than a foot in diameter, much smaller than the massive portals I had witnessed in the planes of the afterlife.

Out stepped a white-furred fox. Its coat gleamed with the same eerie orange glyphs and runes that adorned a certain Celestial Goddess of Aether.

The unmistakable scent of cinnamon stung my nose.

Capricorn.

A familiar silvery voice tickled my ears, hushed as if in a whisper.

“Soooo, you’re finally awake. I will admit, I am surprised that you didn’t succumb to the feedback you suffered. That is twice now you’ve defied death with poor odds in your favor. Quite irresponsible of you, to use that level of magick so soon after being revived.”

“…”

I blinked absently at the fox.

“Are we just going to breeze over the fact that you’re an animal?”

“Is that really what you want to discuss right now?”

“…Yes, actually. But I guess we can double back. Look, I know what I did was reckless. My emotions got the better of me, and I acted without thinking of the repercussions. But hey, I survived. Sooo, let's move past it. What are you doing here?”

“Have you forgotten already? Your soul is bound to my Essence. I sensed you wake.”

“This is a friendly check-up because you just happened to be in the neighborhood, huh?

“Basically.” Capricorn the fox strutted around on the counter tops, digging out an apple from the open sack.

“Oh, and don’t forget your deal with my sister. You’ll have quite a lot of work to do to satisfy her wishes. She asked me to give you a message… What was it again?”

Taking small bites of the apple, the fox chewed as her tail swished back and forth.

“Oh yes, the Phoenix God’s rebirth cycle closes in a fortnight.”

“Waah?”

A single rune near her forehead lit up brightly. A small blood-red crystal materialized slowly in the air. Crystalline structures formed a base, and steadily grew upwards until the jagged diamond-shaped gem was finished.

I cupped my hands, catching the gemstone as it fell.

LOOTABLES

ITEM

ATTRIBUTES

DESCRIPTION

SHARD OF REKINDLING

Relic

An oddly cut crystal that pulsates with a strange energy.

“What in the Aether do I do with this thing?”

“My sister mentioned some sort of ritual, buuuut it’s not really necessary. You’re a chaos practitioner now. Just channel your magick into this crystal and will the Phoenix God to be reborn.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“And that’s it?”

The foxen Goddess lifted her snout up in a show of disdain. “Just like how you channeled the resurrection spell. You wanted your comrades to be revived, and so they were. If you think about this too hard you’re going to end up back in that bed for a few more days. Just have faith, you are a paladin after all.”

“What do you mean a few more days? How long was I out for?”

“Two days. Remarkable really, considering the spell you cast drained over twenty-thousand magicka.”

Twenty… thousand!? How in the Aether is that possible?

As if reading my mind, Capricorn responded to my unasked question, “You’re bound to my Essence. It's like having access to an unlimited font of magicka—but don’t get any stupid ideas, it comes with a cost to siphon from that font. Your bedridden hiatus should be proof enough of that.”

Her ears perked up sharply, and a new portal materialized quickly in an empty space on the counter. She leapt through the portal with zero notice, it closed behind her almost immediately.

Her final goodbye sent a chill down my spine.

“Good luck, Soul bind. You’ll see me soon.”

I’m not sure if that's a good thing. Dammit, I wanted to ask her about these ‘psycho memory’ things! And why was she a fox?

“…A-Airis?”

I spun around to see Rias sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes. Fumbling for a place to hide it, I slid the crystal shard between the waistband of the trousers I was wearing and went to sit next to her.

“Hey, Rias.”

She leaned into me, letting out a sigh. Her words were soft and muddled with sleepiness, “I was worried you’d be asleep forever. When they brought you back into camp and told me what happened I… Well I didn’t handle it very well.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re awake though. You really gave us a scare. Hailey didn’t want to leave your side, but she had to go to some meeting this morning.”

Rias sat up straight and turned towards the kitchen, “Were you talking with somebody?”

“Huh? Er… I wasn’t. Maybe I was just talking with myself.”

“You’ve been out for a few days. I guess that makes sense. Just be careful, sis. I don’t want you passing out again… Speaking of, did you eat anything already? I can make you something if you’re hungry.”

“I had an apple and some of the biscuits that were out on the counter. I don’t feel hungry, but I could probably eat something light. What else do we have here? Oh, and where exactly is here? We’re still in Tolin I gather?”

“Yeah. The army has been clearing out houses. This one was one of the bigger and least damaged ones. So I guess it’s ours. Julius has a room upstairs—he’s also at the meeting, if you were worried.”

Rias must have sensed my panic at the mention of his name. I hadn’t really thought about the outcome of the resurrection spell until she brought him up.

I grabbed my sister by the shoulders, “Rias, how many people came back from the Citadel raid?”

“Ah! Uhm, almost everyone I think? A lot? There’s a memorial service planned for tomorrow night…”

Phew. That gives me hope it was successful.

Rias was rummaging through the cupboards. A loud clanging was followed up with a high-pitched, “Eep!”

“Everything okay in there? I can help you, I’m not completely useless, ya’ know?”

“No!—I mean, yes I’m fine. You just stay put. I’ve nearly got it.”

“Got what? What are you doing in there?”

“Flames that burn beyond the veil. Gather by my will, Fireblast!”

A burst of red-orange flames erupted from the kitchen. My heart pounded, I shot up from the bed and rushed towards Rias.

“Rias, are you okay!?”

“Bwahaha! It’s perfect!”

The smoke cleared, leaving Rias in view. Her hair was tied up in a bun, a pair of amber-tinted goggles covered her eyes, and she was wearing a leather apron. She looked more like a mad-artificer than a chef.

“What in the Aether are you doing in here? You scared me half to death. Which is saying something, since I feel like I’m a foot in the grave already.”

“Heh-heh, sorry. But look at this!”

She thrust a perfectly golden-baked pie at my face. The crust was a beautifully done lattice-weave, with small chunks of apple peaking through.

“So all we actually had was apples, huh. Where did you get a crust to make a pie with?”

Rias smirked, “I used some of my basic alchemical prowess to turn these hard crackers into dough!”

She looked so proud of herself.

“Tell me your secrets, oh wise and young one.”

“A true artificer never reveals their tricks! But really, it wasn’t too hard. I just imbued them with water using an Aether spell.”

“And then almost burned down the house with fire magick.”

“Not fair! I had complete control of that FLAME BLAST…”

I waved my hand around my face, disturbing some of the remaining smoke, “Uh huh.”

“A little residual aetherial smoke is hardly burning down the house. Anyway, here! Eat up.”

With a big smile, she handed me a small plate with a slice of pie. The tender apple pieces were warm and juicy, complementing the crunchy crust.

“I can’t eat another bite.” I groaned in pain, lying on my side in bed.

“You didn’t have to eat so much. I thought you said you weren’t hungry.”

“That was before I had real food. I just couldn’t stop… You must have bewitched the pie, there’s no other reason it should’ve tasted so good.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Oh great mage of the kitchen.”

“You know, I thought Hailey and Julius would be back by now.”

“Must be some meeting. I kinda want to go check on them. Wanna go for a walk with me?”

The two guards seemed rather shocked when I came through the front door. One of them thought I was Rias, but once my sister came through behind me—he scrambled to attention and fumbled a salute.

I laughed it off, telling both guards to calm down. I wasn’t in uniform, though I looked everywhere for a clean set, instead I borrowed some clothes from my sister.

A long silk collared shirt covered by a jet black vest, clung a little too tightly around the waist, ending in a ruffled skirted bottom.

The outfit was complete with dark cloth trousers, leather boots, and a long red hooded cloak.

In every sense, I did not look like a military commander at all. With my hood up, we passed by a number of soldiers, most of whom didn’t acknowledge us as we passed. A few wary sentries stopped us but after recognizing me, they would salute and we’d continue on.

Until we ran into a familiar face, that is.

A little blonde-haired elven girl peaked her head up under my hood.

“Airis? Is that you? It is! Good evening, Commander. And a good evening to you as well, Rias.”

“Good evening, Tatsuko. Good to see you.”

“Even better to see you, and in good health it seems. Are you headed to the Citadel?”

“Oh, maybe. Is that where Hailey and Julius are?”

“Definitely. I just came from there actually. Got kicked out of the meeting. Apparently my rank is still too low to join in for the important stuff.”

“I’m sure if you mentioned it to Hailey or Luke they’d make an exception.”

She sighed, “You’re probably right, but I don’t wanna stir up any problems. I’m not entirely used to the military life just yet. Not sure if it’s really for me, you know?”

“I understand that feeling. But you’re a valued member of our team. I know that you’ve got real potential. You were assigned to Hanna’s command party, I think that goes a long way to show their trust in you. Don’t let the protocols get you down.”

“Heh. Thanks, Airis. I feel better, I’m glad I ran in to you. I won’t keep you any longer though, I think they’re getting into some real important stuff in there. You should hurry.”

She waved goodbye and continued down the roadway.

“Heading to the big meeting then, sis?”

“Yeah, I don’t imagine I’ll have a lot of input to give. Being out for a few days, I’m probably out of the loop. But I should still be there. I am the High-Commander.”

“Well, I’ll go with you as far as I’m allowed. If the guards try to stop me maybe I’ll be all like, ‘Don’t you know who I am? I’m the Regent Lord’s sister!’ Think they’ll let me in to your super secret meeting?”

“Ha ha, If they try to stop you I’ll just tell them you’re with me as an acting civilian oversight minister.”

“Ooooh, that’ll work for sure. Awesome, I can’t wait to see you and Hailey together again,” Rias spun around to face me, her steps continuing backwards. She held a finger up against her chin, twisting it playfully, “You know, you two look cute together.”

Heat rushed to my face and I yelled out without even registering what I was saying, "D-Don't say we look cute together!"

I clapped my hands around my mouth in surprise.

"Well what would you want me to say?"

I sighed, "…I guess that we look… cute together."

Her backpedaling steps faltered for a moment and she burst into laughter.

Once she had regained her composure, she got real close and poked me in the stomach, "Airis, are you emotionally unstable?"

“I am not unstable! I—er, I’m just shy, okay!?”

My sister was turning into a monster. I should forbid Julius from spending any more time with her.

----------------------------------------

“Halt! Authorized entry only. We’re not allowing civilians in to the Citadel at this time.”

A hoarse-voice woman called out as we approached the Citadel’s main gate. She was clad in heavy plate armor and wielded a slender longsword.

Something about her demeanor seemed familiar, I felt like I’d met her somewhere before…

I looked at her weapon, brandished out towards me.

Ah. I remember that sword.

A tingle ran down my neck and a muscle twitched, remembering the blade’s point pressing against it.

“Well good evening to you as well, Knight Pearson.”

She hesitated. Looking to another armored figure across the gateway.

Her guard companion was equipped in similar armor, but instead of a sword—she wielded a warstaff, and was holding a magickal tome embedded with a focusing crystal. Knight Aeko Monroe, another member of Hanna’s command party.

I stepped up to the gate, standing between the two of them. I brought my hood down, letting my long crimson hair spill down my shoulders. “It’s nice to see Hanna has her best guarding the gate.”

“Commander Airis!?”

They both snapped to attention, presenting in a salute.

“Easy ladies, I’m not on duty. But I would like to head in to the Citadel if that’s alright with both of you?”

“Of course, Commander. Please head on in.”

We entered, the large wooden doors closing behind us. As they were almost closed, I overheard Aeko start to tease Pearson about calling me a civilian.

Rias and I passed though the remainder of the Citadel halls without incident. We stopped in the main hall, where we had fought the seemingly endless wave of undead. Rias ran around ogling the stained glass windows.

The atmosphere here was a surprising contrast from when we were raiding the place. The broken furniture and shattered glass had been cleared out, and the looming darkness of the vaulted ceiling had softened with the placement of a few light fixtures.

“These are amazing!”

My sister twirled around in the crimson-glow of the setting sun through an ornate stained glass design of an armored warrior.

“They’re stunning. I wasn’t able to take any time to appreciate them when we were here before.”

I joined her under the window. The beautiful image was of a golden-haired man. Blood-red plate armor covered him head-to-toe. It was an older imperial style, where the plates where much bulkier and angular. With more surface area to disperse the magickal attacks from aggressors.

A relic of a time before the demon and monster hordes invaded.

Standard Divisional armor evolved quickly to allow the wearer to stay mobile, and was aimed to protect against close range attacks with claws and teeth. Most of the enemies we fought rarely used magick.

“Do you think he was a real person?”

“Huh? Oh, the person in the window. Probably. Maybe a knight with high status.”

“Maybe he was a hero of the Empire. I wonder if Father would know who it was if he were here.”

“…I bet he would.”

An agonized frown marred her face.

“Hey, lets keep going. There is a really pretty staircase further in.”

I took her arm and we pressed ahead.

The white marble of the imperial staircase shined in the light of blazing torches. The golden accents sparkled as the flames flickered.

Rias’ mouth was wide in astonishment. The main stairway in our family’s palace had nothing on this masterpiece. It was possible this double-flighted set of stairs was the fanciest thing she’d ever seen.

She danced up the stairs, not paying attention to her surroundings—She stepped back into a man who was standing on the landing, almost knocking him over.

“Hey! Watch it you—Rias? How did you get in here? Did something happen with Airis!?”

“I’m fine, Luke. Stop harassing my sister, will ya’?”

In a classic Luke move, he flailed around to search for me, overlooking me twice.

“Look, I know the civvies are a new thing for everyone… But I’m not that unrecognizable without a uniform, right?”

“Oh! Commander, You’re right there. My mistake, I must have gotten used to seeing you in armor.”

“Sure, sure. You’re supposed to be my number one scout. Can’t even spot your commanding officer in some street clothes…”

“I was just distracted is all, I was nearly pushed over if you recall.”

Rias was pleading with her hands together and bowing forward. “I’m sorry! I was just so caught up in the stairs.”

Luke chuckled, “It’s fine, no worries.”

“Luke, if you’re out here in the hall. Does that mean whatever meeting you were having is over?”

“Yep, we just finished. If you were looking for Hailey, she’s just ahead in the Command Quarters. And I think Julius may still be there too, unless he’s gone to the northern hall.”

“Northern hall?”

“Ah, so the pathways on the upper level have two more hallways. One on the north end, and one to the south. The northern hall leads to a massive armory. Julius has been set on digging through all the equipment in there the last two days.”

“That sounds like Julius. And where does the southern hall lead to?”

“A large bath complex.”

Rias froze at his words, “Did you say there are baths here!?”

Luke sighed and lightly scratched at his head. “Heh. Most of the young ladies I tell have that same reaction.”

I grabbed hold of my sisters arm once again and dragged her up the stairs.

“We’ll take a look at the baths later. First we find Hailey and Julius.”

“Fiiiiine.”

The formerly macabre hallway had been cleansed of its grotesque trophies. There were no more skulls along the walls and the blood staining the stone floors had been cleaned. The hall was now the same as any other in the Citadel.

At the end of the corridor, the massive steel-plate reinforced doors were wide open.

The room was lit up brightly and the white stone floor was welcoming. A nice change of mood from the dread inducing atmosphere the quarters had given off before.

Hailey was stooped over a large table near the back of the room.

I thought about a few different ways to get her attention. A sneak attack on the unsuspecting priest. Throwing something across the room. Even launching a HOLY BOLT through the air. But it didn’t feel right to surprise her, when I was sure she was already frazzled by the last few days’ events.

I rapped my knuckle against the door, a metal clang echoed through the chamber.

She looked up, turning her head in our direction.

“Rias? Hey, everything okay?”

“Try again!” I sang out.

“Airis!”

I braced myself for a full speed tackle. Hailey nearly knocked me off my feet. She wrapped herself around me and squeezed tightly.

“Easy, easy!” I pleaded. “I’m still a little sore from everything.”

“Serves you right! Idiot.”

“Idiot? What did I do?”

“Oh ho, where to start? How about recklessly casting high class magick and going into a two day coma?”

“Well it all worked out in the end, right?”

“Hmph.” she pouted, turning away from me.

I grabbed onto her waist, pulling her back close to me.

She squirmed against my embrace, “Noooooo! Quit it, I’m mad at you!”

“See, just like I said. You two make a cute couple.”

“Gah—Rias!”