Riala had expected that Talia would have joined Elder Kahua’s School to be close to her after going to Placid City to save her sister.
Riala had expected that Talia would have joined Elder Kahua's School to be close to her after going to Placid City to save her sister.
She had thought, perhaps naively, that the fact that she had saved her sister's life so spectacularly and against an even stronger senior student would have made Talia's first priority to be around her as much as possible, to learn from her, to finally give her the respect that she, as an older sister, deserved. However, the fact that Talia had been in a coma for 6 months and Riala had to attend to other duties at that time meant that the two sisters barely had time to spend with each other before Talia went out first with Professor Iakopo and then alone for training. And Riala, taken by the duties of her school and as the champion of Elder Kahua, now in her final year before graduating as a full-time Water Rider, had a lot of things to take care of herself.
She brooded as she crossed her arms and sat on the other side of Elder Kahua's desk. Meanwhile, the man signed some documents and prepared for the upcoming academic year. As soon as he was done, however, he raised his eyes to the white-haired woman before him and spoke.
"Riala, you should stop brooding."
"I'm frustrated," she said petulantly. "I don't understand what happened. I thought that Talia would join our school. I thought that I would be mentoring her by now and that after I graduated, she would take my place as the champion in a 3rd year. I thought she had all the potential in the world, and I thought—"
"Riala," Elder Kahua said with a frown. He cut himself off and looked around. He raised a hand, and a powerful shield of Mana encased the entire room, cutting it off from the outside world. "You understood what it meant to join our order."
Riala slowly unfolded her arms, letting her hands rest on her legs. She now had a completely serious expression.
"I don't think that it will be necessary to—"
"Riala," Elder Kahua cut her off. "I said that you knew what it meant. Your sister has taken the path we always feared she would take."
Riala refused to let go of her hopes. "No. She's with Professor Iakopo now. He's not a damn Cultist."
"He's not a Cultist," Elder Kahua said. "But I believe, and so do the others, that your sister is now on the path that your mother had gone through."
"That doesn't mean anything," Riala protested. "That doesn't mean we know what Talia will become."
Elder Kahua let go of the pen he was still holding and rubbed his face. "Riala, do not speak yourself into treason, please. You were told what it meant to join the covenant. We have a mission that is more important than anything else, more important than me, you, and even your sister. The fact that she is going through what your mother went through means exactly that. Talia is going to fulfill Yalena's wish. And I'm not sure that even if she joined my school, you, me, or even the others would have been able to do anything to prevent it from happening."
Riala looked down, feeling tears starting to come out of her eyes, and suddenly angrily slapped them away, trying not to cry as hard as she could because she knew what Elder Kahua was saying.
“Principal Kaimana warned you,” Elder Kahua said. “The man told you what it meant to join the covenant, child. You agreed. And now, you're bound by its pacts. We’re above our ties, our families, and everything else that is material. We have a more important mission to carry out. You wanted to do what’s best for the Great Archipelago, and now you know what that entails.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Suddenly, a strong knock startled both, and Elder Kahua dropped the cover of Mana.
“Enter,” he said, frowning.
A man with red hair and rose-tinted spectacles, sporting a magma-made arm attached to his shoulder socket, entered the room, immediately raising the temperature in it by several degrees.
“Elder Krakatoa,” Elder Kahua frowned.
The man looked at Riala and then at Elder Kahua.
“Kahua, I need a word,” the man said, looking tired and rather disheveled, far from his usual self.
Elder Kahua gave Riala an emphatic look, and the white-haired girl left without saying another word.
After she closed the door, Elder Kahua sealed the room once again with his Mana.
“She’s worried about her sister,” Elder Krakatoa said, a statement, not a question.
“She is.”
“Is there no other way, Kahua?” Elder Krakatoa said, inhaling sharply and seemingly more distressed than even Riala had been. “I’ve received word from the Principal. The covenants’ plans… I can’t do it, Kahua. I can’t do it.”
Kahua reclined in his chair and turned toward the window at the side of his office.
“What do you want us to do, Krakatoa?” Elder Kahua asked in a low tone. “Do you have any ideas?”
The truth was that Elder Krakatoa had no idea what to do, no more than Elder Kahua. He knew the Kahua, despite how hard he had gone on the girl, didn’t like their job any more than he did. But unlike Elder Kahua, Elder Krakatoa had been consumed by the latest meeting they had with the covenant. After hearing what Principal Kaimana had said, Elder Krakatoa had probably had trouble sleeping for the past 17 years.
He had been Yalena’s shield. He had been the one supposedly in charge of her protection, of her life. But how could he have guessed what Yalena had really been trying to do? The day she faced the Kraken...
“I know this is bringing old memories back,” Elder Kahua said. “You know as well as I do that it wasn’t your fault.”
“If it wasn’t my fault,” Elder Krakatoa said, adjusting the rose-tinted spectacles on his face, “whose fault was it? Whom do you suppose we should blame for the death of the greatest Kraken slayer we have ever met, for the person that could have put an end to it all?”
“Krakatoa,” Kahua said, “I wish Yalena had made the right choice as much as you did, perhaps more. I wish I could have taught her. I wish she had listened to me. I wish she had told us all her intentions. I wish she’d joined the covenant. But for the Deep’s sake, you only did what every sane person would have done. You should stop blaming yourself. You’re an old man now. Get your bearings straight. Classes are about to resume.”
“I’m not teaching any classes this year,” Elder Krakatoa said. “I don’t have it in me. I will follow the orders, Kahua, but I’m done teaching for at least this year, maybe forever.”
Elder Kahua sighed. He knew that this was the least they could allow the man to do, considering what was brewing under the surface.
“Seventeen years ago, you went against your orders,” Elder Kahua reminded him. “The Principal pardoned your actions because you did what had to be done in the end. However, the old man is near the end of his life. If he believes you’re not capable of doing what’s necessary for the Great Archipelago, he’ll take your life.”
“I know,” Elder Krakatoa replied with a straight face.
“Anyway, the Principal said we have to wait anyway, especially now that Iakopo is behind her.”
“How strong is he?” Elder Krakatoa asked, momentarily distracted from the main issue.
Elder Kahua fell silent, frowning. Then, after a while, he started speaking slowly. “The principal believes that if we were to attack him, we would have to do it all at the same time to ensure he dies.”
“The old man fears Professor Iakopo more than he does the Sword Demon,” Elder Krakatoa mused and then got up.
“Take care, Kahua,” the redhead man said.
“Stay well, Krakatoa. I wish we could have prevented this. I wish that your plan to keep her on the island had worked.”
“Me too,” Krakatoa said, shaking his head.
They wouldn’t move just yet, but he knew that soon they might have to take Talia’s life before it was too late. He felt an immense weight on his chest. He had already taken her mother’s life, and he wasn’t sure his conscience would survive taking Talia’s as well.