Cora's mother, the Valkyrie Eir, stood before Seiji and her daughter with an unamused scowl. She turned to Seiji, who returned her intense gaze with a noncommittal shrug. Her frown deepened as she turned to Cora. When the Cadet said nothing, Eir closed her eyes and spoke.

“I must have given you two the wrong impression.” Eyes still shut, she extended a hand. “Give me the map, and I will allow you to continue participating in this year’s Valkyrie Exam.”

Cora turned to Seiji, her eyes pleading. Hesitantly, Seiji revealed the map from his jacket. Eir opened her eyes, hand still extended, and reached for it. Seiji snatched it back.

Part of him was surprised by how readily he did so, but the other part, the part Seiji agreed with, understood why. Not only did he and Cora spend hours on this map, but it represented something deeper now, something a bit more personal. They’d both opened up to one another because they decided to draw it. If they hadn’t come to the Grand Garden, they would’ve never had that moment. Giving it up felt like undoing all of that.

“I’m not giving you this map. No one told us it was against the rules, and no one stopped us while we worked on it.” Seiji said, hoping the Valkyrie couldn’t sense his nerves.

Eir loomed over Seiji with a single step. The room grew claustrophobic as she slowly extended her wings. Old instincts screamed at Seiji, urging him to comply and run, but a single glance at a fearful Cora was enough to firm his resolve. He gripped the map tighter, tucking it away back into his jacket.

“You have not broken a rule,” Eir allowed. “But you are tampering with the sanctity of the Exam and I will not allow it.” Eir placed a hand on Seiji’s shoulder, and it took all seventeen years of training to keep him on his feet even with his resolve. “I will not ask again. Give me. The map.”

Seiji shot another glance over at Cora. She nodded furiously to Seiji, silently urging him to give Eir the map they’d toiled and cried over. Though he cursed himself for it, he spoke aloud.

“What kind of mother are you?” Seiji spat.

For a split second, Eir’s eyes widened, her iron grip on Seiji’s shoulder loosening. Just as quickly, she returned to normal.

“You see your daughter for the first time in six months and you do this instead of saying hello?” Seiji nodded to Cora’s horrified figure. “Look at her, is this how you planned on introducing yourself?”

Seiji couldn’t help but consider his own ‘parentage’. This wasn’t how a mother treated her daughter. It was how the Hidden Hand treated an assassin, and Cora didn’t deserve that. No one deserved that.

Eir turned to Cora and stared at her for a long moment, the Cadet’s feline ears falling as she looked away. When Eir turned back to Seiji, her tone was far more bitter.

“During the Exams, I am a Valkyrie before I am a mother. How I choose to conduct myself does not–”

“That sounds like a justification.” Seiji interrupted, borrowing Cora’s words. Eir winced, and Seiji immediately seized the opportunity.

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“If you truly love your daughter, you’ll allow us–”

“That’s enough, Seiji. Hand her the map.”

Seiji turned, but Cora merely held up a hand. She nodded to him, and – with a groan – Seiji slammed it into Eir’s waiting hand. The Valkyrie lowered her wings as she read its contents, leaving the entryway exposed. Cora grabbed Seiji’s hand and began for the door.

“Seiji and I will resume our combat training, now. Please excuse–”

“No!” Eir shouted blocking the exit with an extended wing.

Seiji and Cora froze, taken aback by Eir’s shout. When Seiji turned to her, the Valkyrie looked… strange. She stared at them with wide, constantly blinking eyes. After an awkward moment, she retracted her wings, once again affecting a stoic posture. Seiji waited for her to say something, but words never came. Instead, she motioned for them to sit back down with her free hand.

The two shared a glance before sitting back down, focusing their attention on Eir. Seiji again waited for words that never came, the Valkyrie staring intently at the map. When he turned to Cora, though, she had a smile on her face as though she’d won some sort of argument.

“So, mother, how has your time away been?”

“Fruitful,” Eir said immediately. The Valkyrie stuffed the map into a slit in her armor, leaving the paper partially exposed. “Would you like to know what transpired?”

Cora made that same sly face she made whenever she was holding back laughter before she spoke again.

“Yes, I would.”

The Valkyrie went into detail on her six-month excursion to an uncharted land named Iphilia. She’d received reports that the local leaders had been turning the citizens into unwilling sacrifices for some sort of long-forgotten magical ritual. She’d spent her time befriending the locals, learning their techniques, and absorbing their culture. Using all she’d learned, she killed the leaders of Iphilia and turned the country into a colony of Haven.

As Seiji listened to the story, he couldn’t help but wonder how the Hidden Hand would’ve handled Iphilia’s crisis. They would’ve kept the leaders in power, killing all but those who believed in what the leaders are doing to their citizens – leaving only a few dissenters. Then, they would’ve sold their services to the dissenters they left alive. They’d go back and forth, letting one side gain power before snatching it away, all while the Hidden Hand benefitted.

Conflict equals commerce.

The longer they talked, the more sure Seiji became of something. Cora was in control of this entire conversation. She started by asking questions about Iphilia before moving on to questions about… anything. They spoke about whatever Cora asked about, and Eir had an answer for everything her daughter wanted to know. Seiji couldn’t help but notice Eir seemed sheepish in comparison. It wasn’t in her tone, though. It was the way she blinked like she had a daily limit, the way she barely held Cora’s gaze, the way she’d immediately initiate a conversation as soon as Cora subtly indicated her readiness to leave. Seiji likened it to Cora, how flustered she’d get whenever she gets called out. On any other day, Seiji would find it adorable. Today, though, he was bitter about a stolen map.

As afternoon slowly turned to evening, Eir finally brought their conversation to an end. She’d been talking to Cora about her first few times working with her Servant, the King. Seiji had been curious to learn more about that, but she’d stopped before anything interesting could’ve been shared.

“Listen, you two,” Eir said. “I understand there were no rules against drawing a map, so taking it from you is quite unfair.”

Seiji nodded contemptuously, but Cora said nothing.

“I, however,” Eir said, spreading her wings wide. “am a Valkyrie.” She stood in silence for a long while before speaking again. “Valkyries sometimes must make their own rules.” Eir turned to Cora, her expression stern. “When a Valkyrie decides upon something, she must deal with the consequences of the choice she makes. Do you understand?”

“...Yes, mother. I do.” Cora said, inclining her head. “Thank you for your time.”

Cora glanced over to Seiji in her seated bow, motioning with her free hand to return the gesture. He did as much, repeating Cora’s thanks moreso out of obligation than agreement. When they raised their heads, Eir was gone. She hadn’t made a single sound.

Seiji sat back in his seat. He was happy Cora got to spend time with her mother, but he couldn't get the map out of his head. Sure, he already remembered it fully thanks to his great memory, but the map itself was… valuable. It stung to–

“Get up! We need to get back to it! It’s getting late, and I’m getting hungry!”

Seiji turned to her. “What do you–”

In her hands were a fresh sheet of paper and a set of markers. Cora beamed, and Seiji couldn’t help but meet her with a smile of his own.

“Valkyries make their own rules!” Cora declared. She slammed the mapmaking supplies into Seiji’s chest. “Come on, let’s go!”