Soleil was back outside Wisteria’s store. This memory felt unusual in its mundanity. “Promise me. You’ll come home safe.”

Aster had sealed the promise with a kiss. “Neither of the requests should involve me getting into melee…”

Soleil wished events could have played out in any other way than they did. But Malady was her responsibility now and Aliza was alive. That had to be worth something. “I’m sorry.” Soleil let the words escape her lips, not really intending them for Maeve or Kismet.

In the present, Kismet lingered by the door. The look they wore was sympathetic. Kismet gave her a small nod. “Whatever it was, it’s okay. You’re back here with us.”

“I overheard Aster promising Wisteria that she would come home safe.” Soleil gained another regret to hold onto in the place of hurting Maeve. “But I led her into Malady’s den. If Wisteria is the last person that Malady had tried to corrupt…” The emotions just kept piling up.

Maeve offered Soleil with a reassuring touch that she was happy to lean into. “Aster already knew what she was getting into and followed us anyway. After all was said and done, she was the one that made sure the rest of us were okay.”

“Nonetheless, I’ll try and be delicate when I ask for her assistance.” Kismet stared at Soleil, leaving only once seeing her nod in agreement.

Soleil and Maeve decided to focus on learning what skills most interested them. Whether they were venturing back out into danger or engaging in a mock battle with someone that might show them animosity, they agreed to both make what preparations that they could.

Soleil found herself once again clutching at [Chain Mastery’s] skill book. Maeve expressed a desire for more control. But what did Soleil want for herself? Should she say something? Could she quietly share this burden with her knight?

She eyed the stack of books Maeve had deposited in front of her. [Parry] and [Charge] made sense. But [Bow Proficiency] and [Cleave] were not skills Soleil was familiar with. All of them were bound in red bindings.

Between one skill book and another, Soleil found herself with a question she could no longer ignore. She approached Maeve, gently placing her hand on her beloved knight’s shoulder. "Does mana still… work for you?"

Maeve nodded slowly. "I feel weaker. But it is still there."

"You can still use skills alright?"

Maeve almost smiled at that. It remained a frail and precious thing. "Throw me Malady."

Soleil did so, reaching into her satchel on the table to retrieve the orb with a sickly yellow pallor. They were not about to leave their pet monster hooked up to the Magitech Armor. Who knew what trouble Malady would get into behind their back?

With an underarm throw, Malady flew through the air.

Maeve [Parried] the orb, knocking it to the ground with a loud thud.

The two looked at the orb. Soleil gasped with surprise and concern. Maeve breathed a sigh of relief before donning a sense of smug satisfaction. "Yeah. My mana and skills still work."

"Maeve! That was rude." Soleil watched as the orb rolled against the wall, seeming otherwise unharmed.

"Maybe Malady will think of that when she tries to manipulate you again."

Only then does Soleil permit herself a brief giggle. She hugs Maeve tightly. "You'll protect me."

"I don't know. Oathbreaker sounds kinda badass." Maeve pulls away, tugging Soleil's hand into hers. Unafraid, she tenderly laces her fingers between the pointed claws. "Thank you though. For believing in and releasing me, even if I have nowhere else I can go."

"You can still be my knight. If you want to. No obligations. Just two girls who want to be together."

"I suppose I can be persuaded to perform my knightly duties." Maeve eases up on her grip on Soleil's hand, allowing her a moment to escape before slowly lowering her head.

The thought is sweet. And in this moment, Soleil feels comfortable accepting the intimacy. Soleil allows her knight to plant a kiss against the back of her hand.

Maeve brushes her lips against the callused skin where mana formed denser bones in support of five monstrously large clawed fingers.

Never before has Soleil wanted so desperately to be aware of, acknowledge, and claim this hand as her own.

It is a precious gift Maeve has given her, this kiss. It is almost enough to allow her to forget the persistent wrongness that has plagued the back of her mind for the last few days.

"But only for you." Maeve finishes her declaration with a whisper, her breath caressing Soleil's scales.

And to Soleil, everything suddenly felt right in the world.

“Can I… get a look at you? A proper one this time. I want to see the whole you, no matter how much mana it costs me.”

“Only if I can get a look at you.” Maeve said, giving Soleil an almost genuine smile and reassuring squeeze of the hand.

Seeing Maeve’s smile lose its fragility caused something within Soleil to flutter. She closed her eyes, savoring the moment.

Upon opening them, [Analysis] showed her Maeve’s yet fragile and dark soul blossom into a dim blue light spilling out from the knight’s chest. Out from the cracked and darkened lower section that once held Maeve’s Faith, words began to flitter into her understanding.

Name: Maeve

Class: Oathbreaker

Soul Level: 8

Status: Wounded 30% Exhausted 50% Weakened 20%

~Soul Attributes~

Vitality: 14/14 (20)

Endurance: 10/10 (20)

Focus: 10/10

Strength: 16/16 (20)

Dexterity: 10/10

[Empty]

Her eyes lingered on the status markers. They reflected wounds that had not healed, pushing herself past her physical limits, and an inability to bring her full strength to bear. Like Level Drain, the status effects would recover with time. Soleil was fairly sure Maeve would be nearly back to 100% after a good night’s sleep.

Soleil herself would only regain 1 Level worth of stats a day from the Level Drain effect. She took one last look at Maeve, seeing the full skill list in detail.

~Skills~

Smash - Rank 2

Cleave - Rank 0

Charge - Rank 0

Defend - Rank 1

Parry - Rank 0

Taunt - Rank 0

First Aid - Rank 1

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Sword Proficiency - Rank 2

Bow Proficiency - Rank 0

Shield Proficiency - Rank 0

Heavy Armor Proficiency - Rank 0

~Covenant~

Everqueen’s Chosen: Rank 1

First Aid and Defend would increase Maeve’s Vitality.

Charge, Heavy Armor, Sword, and Shield Proficiency would increase her Endurance.

Parry demanded and built up Focus.

Smash, Cleave, and Bow Proficiency would all build up Maeve’s Strength.

Maeve figured she could get by without Dexterity for a while. A lot of its skills keyed off of fundamental life skills and archery trick shots that she could pick up later. For now, Bow Proficiency had been primarily chosen to give her a ranged option that raised her strength.

Soleil felt somewhat dizzy all of a sudden. [Analyze] ended up dismissing itself.

“Hey, are you okay?” Maeve offered a hand to steady her, but Soleil waved her off.

“I forgot how much Focus maintaining an active [Analysis] would cost me is all.” Soleil did however accept the chair that Maeve pulled out for her.

“Yeah. Kismet said as much themselves. They could use [Analyze] for the experience, but it’s a lot bigger drain than the more common perception skills.”

Soleil had to wonder about that. “What makes some skills uncommon? And why do skills like [Heal] key off of attributes you can’t access?”

Maeve pulled up her own chair, close enough to reach out and hold Soleil’s hand or turn the pages of a skill book for her. “Imagine what the end of the world is like.”

Soleil didn’t have to. She’d felt the… sudden absence, the disquiet, heat fading into cold emptiness. “Scary.” Is the only concession she could offer Maeve.

“Hopelessness, is what I understand the prevailing sentiment to be among the survivors. Take away everyone's support structures and leave them in a world hostile to them rebuilding…” Maeve’s voice tapered off as she began to stare into the middle distance.

“Have you seen any memories from that time period?”

When Maeve spoke, it was a distant thing. “Everyone in Haven has. The faithful remind everyone that Faith was all we had to get us through our darker days. As I understand it, Faith was a peace offering offered up by a select group of Demons who would go on to offer us stability in the form of Haven.”

“So. You’re saying that the people of Haven… worshiped Demons?” It certainly didn’t sound like the picture of Haven that had been forming in her mind.

“They did. Until other more corrupted Demonic forms attacked and attacked and attacked. Entire generations lived and died confined within Haven’s walls. We grew resentful.”

Soleil’s hand reached out to rest gently on Maeve’s. It had not been a conscious gesture, but her concern remained on Maeve and not herself. “What changed?”

“Certain Demons eventually grew strong enough to shape various territories. We called them Demon Lords. Humanity tried to do the same. In doing so, many became Demons themselves, allowing this world to change them in an attempt to find a place outside Haven’s walls. We couldn’t hate every Demon. So many of them were family and not everyone was willing to turn on loved ones. The Everqueen became our own Demon Lord, although the faithful work hard to keep others from seeing it that way.”

“So these faithful,” Soleil said, drawing out the word. “They’re responsible for custom tailoring skills into something that works for humans?”

“And only Humans.” Maeve said with a sad sigh. “There’s a lot of human anatomy and understanding bound up in those skill book like [Healing Light] that just don’t let us heal the world in the same way. The Order’s alchemists and the Grove’s tenders have done so much more in terms of coming up with better ways to channel mana.”

There was just so much for Soleil to see in the world. So many things could draw her time and attention. Beyond caring for people were the histories, families, and any number of other circumstances that remained nebulous to her.“I guess I never really asked where the skill books came from beyond the names of authors and locations like libraries or studies.”

“Haven is a complicated place, nowhere near as bad as it could be. Not half as comfortable to live in as the other territories, but there are many who have yet to leave its walls.” Maeve turned to check the orb interface of a nearby [Analyzer] before opting to feed it some of her mana. “That’s enough brooding for me I think. I would like to look at my experienced demonic partner in the same way she sees me.”

The flustered sounds that Soleil made were quickly drowned out by the hum of mana.

Name: Soleil

Presentation: Ash Demon

Soul Level: 3/19

Status: Level Drain. Moderate Mana Corruption. Wounded. Exhausted. Diminished. Numbed.

Maeve pulled the lens away, breaking the [Analyzer’s] concentration on her. “Oh Soleil. You have every diminishing status effect short of the ones for Focus, Intensity, and Adaptability.”

Soleil accepted a much needed hug. “I know I’m not much to look at right now...”

She was interrupted. “You’re probably only still standing because of your [Awakening.] That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

That members of their party might not be alive otherwise went unsaid.

Maeve instead pulled out the list that Soleil made for Kismet. [Chain Mastery] and [Potion Making] were the only new additions. She commented that one was curious weapon change, while the other seemed like a statement of intent to have an outlet for advancing herblore.

Fire Affinity - Rank 3

Rot Affinity - Rank 0

Lightning Mastery - Rank 1

Mana Manipulation - Rank 1

Mana Shaping - Rank 2

Mana Detonation - Rank 1

Analyze - Rank 3

Heal - Rank 2

Herblore - Rank 0

Potion Making - Rank 0

Pierce - Rank 1

Defense - Rank 1

Chain Mastery - Rank 0

Sword Proficiency - Rank 1

Knife Proficiency - Rank 0

Calamitous Wings - Rank 1

Fire making - Rank 1

Craft Magitech - Rank 0

“You have a lot of skills. But what are you focused on?” Maeve asked as gently as she could.

“Self sufficiency, mostly.” Soleil said with a shrug. “The early ranks of most skills come quickly. I want a diverse array of options.”

“Okay.” Maeve looked thoughtfully at the list. “Help me understand your options and priorities then.”

Soleil grabbed another piece of paper stuck to what new skills she planned to invest time into while dictating why.

[Craft Magitech] would give her more options to store mana and figure out a way to use Malady. Magitech containers were a useful way to draw upon more mana than one could naturally hold, making them a good investment.

[Herblore] and [Potion Making] would give her a supportive niche that would help her keep others alive. Being realistic, she could not heal everyone and fight at the same time.

Maeve praised her in a somewhat frustrating manner by patting her on the head. The longer Soleil went on explaining her choices, the more she felt herself missing the touch of Maeve’s hand running through her hair.

[Chain Mastery] is a melee weapon that invests in her magic stats. Whenever she can’t weave complicated spells, it would be nice to have a weapon that plays to her strengths. Besides, the other presence in her head was encouraging but not forceful. Soleil wanted to know where that would lead.

[Lightning Mastery] was a priority for fighting something resistant to fire. Eventually she might consider a third element, but she was so much more than a Spell Shaper at this point.

[Rot Affinity] [Sword Proficiency] and [Knife Proficiency] were on the back burner. Soleil had a capable sword arm in the form of Maeve. For now she would stick to using it to make herself available as a sparring partner. The other two would just be kept as options for if they presented themselves in some way. If nothing else, a knife was a tool in her crafting skills.

“What about… the other one?” Maeve seemed almost hesitant to ask.

Soleil reached for Maeve’s hand before pulling the [Analyzer] back on her. Ignoring the rest of the information, they both turned to see the display of the second soul.

Name: Give Me One.

Presentation: Calamitous Herald

Soul Level: 1

~Awakening Skills~

Awakening of Fire - Rank 1

Mana Detonation - Rank 0

Mana Deflection - Rank 0

Calamitous Wings - Rank 0

Calamitous Impact - Rank 0

Calamitous Fury - Rank 0

[Awakening of Fire] can be used again in 1 hour, 14 minutes.