It turned out to be a very good thing that I’d had such a restful sleep, as the next morning, we were woken by extremely polite and extremely determined castle staff, who informed us in no uncertain terms that our gear and skills were woefully lacking, and the ‘clearly and obviously superior’ sylvani equipment and training were to be ‘offered’ to us on the orders of the queen.

I was about to argue the issue, when Caeldrim announced that the Sparrowhawk was being retrieved from the crash site of the Dryad and if we were willing to wait, we could see her safely to a berth at the royal docks. That pretty much killed any ideas I had of hurry, since Lakshimi was completely unwilling to go before her baby was safely docked.

Reluctantly, I even had to admit that it made sense. At the very least, I’d want our boardgames from the Sparrowhawk, and Eshaan was positively glowing with excitement to learn some of the sword fighting that he’d been shown. And darn it, yes, the sylvani’s spellcraft was intricate and beautiful and the staves they had to offer were positively gorgeous.

And so a week passed. Since Eshaan had mentioned it, I found that it was hard to ignore just how many stares I was receiving, but something still seemed off about it. It was like an itch at the back of my neck, I couldn’t get rid of it.

I was just about to break down and ask Caeldrim for help when I had a thought.

Alright Lily, we’re supposed to be the Avatar or have prophecy. Why would I be feeling uneasy in the sylvani capital? Ok, we’ve got the plot widget. What happens in cities. Fetch quests, minigames and dirty politics. Politics… but we have the plot item? I tapped my chin in thought. We are staying longer than expected though…?

Eshaan dropped down next to me making me startle and give a little ‘eep’ of surprise. He was munching on some vendor food on a stick.

“Hey Lily. I called your name three times, what’s got you so absorbed?” he offered me one of his food sticks. “Want one?”

I blinked at it curiously, sniffing slightly. It didn’t smell bad…

“What is it?” I said, taking it cautiously.

He shrugged carelessly, taking another bite. “Dunno, but it’s good, whatever it is!”

I sighed and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. The gush of mingled flavors hit my tongue, and my eyes widened in surprise. My hand flew to my lips and I gasped in surprise. “It’s good!”

“I know, right?! Probably leaves and mushrooms and berries or something. Sylvani sure know how to eat, even if they don’t have a lot of meat on the diet!”

I took another bite, slowly working my way through the flavors, and making a mental note to try and add a few more ingredients. “I think this is some kind of tree grub, actually…” I said. “Not a mushroom at all. With a fruit glaze…? Oh! I bet these are glowberries!”

Eshaan enthusiastically tore another bite off the stick. “Bugs?! Awesome! I had no idea you could cook with bugs! And they’re tasty! Let’s make more of these and share them!”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “You know, stereotypically, I should be shrieking and flailing around at the mere suggestion of eating a bug. Or anything weird.” I took another bite of the skewer, though nowhere near as huge as the bites Eshaan was taking. I swallowed and whapped him on the hand. “Slow down, you’re making a mess.”

Eshaan stopped chewing, licked his fingers clean and looked at me in confusion. “You? Lily, you’re one of the most adventurous, bravest people I know. If you weren’t a girl…” He blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Look, you’re not like other girls, and…”

I could feel my temper starting to rise as he fumbled across his words.

He hung his head. “Oh Dragon, I’m going to dig my grave again.” He muttered to himself. He looked up staring me directly in my eyes.

“Lily, you’re not just my girlfriend, you’re probably my best friend. I don’t think we’d be friends if you shrieked at cool but weird stuff, or just fluttered around uselessly like other girls.”

My budding irritation vanished like a candle flame in one of Soriya’s air spells. I flushed and smiled, then reached across and gave him a quick hug.

“Thanks. I like you too.” Though I do wonder if he would like one of those helpless damsel heroines just as well. It’s who he’s supposed to be with after all. I’m… half the stereotype, and half not. I… I really don’t mind girly things… in fact I kind of like them. My room at home is… very me. But eating a bug was definitely weird. But delicious.

“So what’s got you so lost in thought that you eat a bug without a care?” Eshaan said, heaving a quiet sigh of relief that he’d managed to avoid sticking his foot in his mouth again.

“Something’s bugging me-” I stopped, and then giggled, waving the stick. “I mean, other than this. I don’t know what it is, so I was trying to figure it out.”

“Well, what’s causing it?” Eshaan asked curiously.

“I don’t know, that’s just it. So I was going over the plot, and trying to find what I’m missing.”

“Oooh, Seer stuff!” He nodded. “So? What have you figured out?”

I repeated my thoughts to him, glad I could talk to him about this, even if he was a bag of pretty hammers.

“So, that’s what’s going on.” I said. “It’s probably politics, and I mean, the plot is big on any major institution being corrupt and broken, that’s why we go on adventures to work around the nations and people in power, so we can do the right thing when they want to stop us. But the sylvani queen was super nice, and everyone has been really respectful with this ‘Avatar’ thing, and we got the arcanum without any real issue at all as well as guides to the next two. Some really heavy history, but…” I trailed off, shrugging.

“I don’t see what the big deal is.” Eshaan shook his head. “We solved that weird mental scream thing, but there’s just no way all the sylvani can be ok with us. If you look at it from their perspective, we just reactivated a war machine that eats souls, and we’re off to bring it up to full power. It’s probably that. Some group here who’s going to try and kill us to prevent another Ancient’s War.”

I stared at him eyes wide. Since when has my Eshaan been able to put two thoughts together in coherent order!?

He pulled the last of the forest grub and berry skewer off the stick and chewed thoughtfully. “You know, it’s too bad this isn’t like an army in the field thing. If it were, we could just lure them out with a classic deception ploy.” He waved his hands in mock dismay “Oh nooo~, we are too weak, I sure hope they don’t attack us.” He grinned fiercely. “Then, when they leap out to attack, BAM!” He smacked his fist into his palm. “Got em.” He shrugged again. “I’m no good with all this shadows on the wall stuff.” He smiled wryly at me. “You may recall that’s how we wound up on this adventure together.”

I sat there, my mouth open in shock. What the honeysuckle happened to my pretty bag of hammers boy?! I thought in confusion.

“Eshaan…” I stopped in confusion.

“What?” He looked at me with the typical cow expression I’d grown used to.

I licked my lips and then shook my head. “Never mind. I think… I have an idea.” I hopped up and grabbed his hand. “Come on! Let’s go talk to the guard captain.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Eshaan looked at the vendor stall nearby. “Sure, but… can we get some more of those skewers first?” He said plaintively.

I laughed. “Sure.”

Skewers in hand, we hunted down the guard captain, who was overseeing the drills in the castle training ground.

Being ‘the Avatar’ and being able to ‘prophecy’ made it fairly easy to explain, without going into all the reasons that wasn’t quite right.

“…and so, I think there’s some group or cell that wants to kill me, so they can end the System entirely. I think we should let them, make them think they’ve killed me, and then while they’re celebrating, we just… leave.”

I watched Caeldrim carefully as I laid out the first part of what I’d… what Eshaan had come up with. He was in a position of power too, and the plot demanded that such people be corrupt or useless. It was honestly even odds that he would be part of the conspiracy, especially since he’d been so adamant about giving up the arcanum.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then nodded. “What you say has value. I’ll let her majesty know, and we’ll get to the bottom of this.” He turned and abruptly strode towards the central castle.

I gave a huge sigh and turned to Eshaan. “I do believe that man is going to try and kill us.”

Eshaan looked at me with wide eyes. “What?! You can tell?! But why did you tell him?!”

I smiled at him, then slapped my fist into my palm. “Bam.”

Eshaan’s eyes got wide, and then he grinned. “Oh wow… that’s… wow Lily, you’re good at this!”

I tipped my head to the side, looking at Eshaan with new eyes. Could it be… he’s not dumb, just… as naive as I’m supposed to be?

“I don’t really feel all that clever, but… I’m so tired of these delays. Let’s go back and tell the others. We have to plan for an attack.”

Lakshmi was anything but calm. “This! This is exactly what I’m talking about!” She shouted at me. “You were going to cost me a fifth ship!”

Daniyel laid his hand on her shoulder, and Camaxtli said simply “But we have not lost the Sparrowhawk, your count is off by two.”

Lakshmi rounded on him angrily. “I’m still counting those as losses!”

Daniyel patted Lakshmi lightly on the shoulder and said “Perhaps we should figure out a plan, so the count does not climb higher then?”

Lakshmi scowled, but flopped down into a chair, her arms crossed.

“I think the direct approach is best.” Said Soriya. “It seems most likely that they’ll just sink the elven mothship, so we should let them do that, and we’ll sneak away on the Sparrowhawk.”

“I think they’d notice if an alien airship goes missing from the royal palace!” Lakshmi said sourly.

“No, we’ll just replace it with an illusion.” Soriya replied smugly.

Lakshmi sat upright. “Wait, you can do that?”

“Well…” I said. “We can do that. My magic is very effective at illusion and deception.”

Startled exclamations of shock an confusion met this exclamation. Camaxtli looked around in confusion, then said “Why is there confusion on this point? Lilyanna’s magic specializes in affecting the Mind and Body. She uses it for healing and warding purposes, but it can just as easily be twisted to darker purposes.”

“But… but it’s white magic!” Eshaan protested.

I tapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Eshaan, remember how eager Commander Khine was to have me in his army? Illusion and deception magic. There’s a reason why people call the darker side of my magic ‘witchcraft’.”

“But that’s Soriya!” Eshaan protested. “She even calls herself a witch!”

Soriya giggled nervously. “Well yes, but… Lily’s better at this kind of thing. Dark and spooky, I can do. Mind stuff… not so much.”

“The more important part is, how can we convince them to plant a bomb in the mothship, and then set it off when the ship is empty?”

Lakshmi flipped her hand dismissively. “If your magic is as good as you say it is, that’s easy. The sylvani tech is weird, but no real difference. I can rig up a remote control easy.”

I raised my eyebrows to my hairline. “Really? You’ve already figured out sylvani technology?”

“Well, I’m not a master of it, but I’ve picked up a few useful tricks.” Lakshmi said smugly.

Eshaan broke the silence with a laugh. “That’s our captain!” He said, and slapped Lakshmi on the shoulder.

Lakshmi rubbed her shoulder gingerly, but grinned up at him. “You bet. When I have some time, I already have a few ideas for modifications-”

“Later. Did they refuel the Sparrowhawk?” I asked.

Lakshimi girnned. “Even better. They put the mana fuel barrels inside with all our supplies.”

Soriya groaned. “Oh great. So now there’s even less room?”

Daniyel patted her gently on the arm. “It is preferable to the alternative. And the barrels will not occupy too much space for very long, as the Sparrowhawk drinks them.”

With that, our plan was set into motion. Fortunately for Soriya and I, cooperative casting illusion magic was not nearly as showy and dramatic as pinpointing the nearest Arcanum, or calling down the wrath of Light and Dark.

It’s almost like illusion magic is subtle. I thought with a smirk. It was, however, deeply uncomfortable to cast. I discovered that my compulsions towards truth did not stop at just a surface level. Soriya helped me as best she could, as I did the magical equivalent of stammering and stumbling over obvious lies as I wove the illusions. I had to start over three times.

“Think of it like this! We’re fighting bad guys! A lie is just a weapon for that!” She encouraged me.

I glared at her. “Soriya, you do know I still have crying jags or break down when we have to fight people?”

Soriya looked to the side, then back. “You still do alright. This is just like that.”

I sighed. “Right. So…. Just keep hammering my head against the wall, and it’ll do.”

“Hey, you’ve got the hardest head of anyone I know!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Really? What about Daniyel? Or Eshaan?”

“Nope! You’re harder!” She replied with a cheeky grin.

I heaved a sigh. “Right, Let’s try again.”

After the fifth try, we finally had the spell matrix stable enough that it would last several days. I checked my status.

{Name}: Lilyanna of Breezewood {Level}: 29

{Classes}: Spiritist 10/Orator 9/Arcanist 7/Gourmet 3

HP: 578 MP: 318/836 DEF: 124 M.DEF: 199

Oh. Well that explains why I feel exhausted. Because I’m exhausted! I thought bitterly.

The following morning saw us all down at the air docks once more, this time with considerably less shackles and armed guards, and considerably more pomp and ceremony. It might have been my imagination, but it also seemed like there was a general festivity to the air as well, a charge or spark that hadn’t been there when we arrived. I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing… but I chose to believe this was our doing, and that it was joy at being released from the curse, and not eagerness to see interlopers blown up.

The guard captain escorted us to a slender little moth of a ship, a green and brown and gold needle with broad wings on either side. Lakshmi immediately darted into the cabin and I could hear her exclamations and excitement from outside.

The captain coughed and then said “I was going to ask if you felt confident in your pilot’s skills…“

Camaxtli strode forward towards the hatch. “It appears that our captain is quite confident.” He suddenly stopped and turned to me, his look questioning.

I nodded slightly to him. Soriya and I were ready. The ship would launch, and we would all Gate to the Sparrowhawk’s dock.

The guard captain pondered, then said “Very well. I will leave you to your task then.” He ground his teeth a bit, and then shook his head abruptly. “This mothship is a loan from the kingdom. Your ship will be waiting for you when you return.” He turned and strode away briskly, leaving me to stare after him in confusion.

Lakshmi said “Well, at least he’s honest about it.”

“Is he? I… now I’m wondering, what if the ship doesn’t blow up?!”

“Then my remote will pilot away from the capital, and set it down in the trees.”

Camaxtli gently tapped me on the shoulder. “If I may, is this a prophecy?”

I shook my head. “No. Not this time. Just… that was odd behavior. And things went… differently. Than a plot. I was trying to twist the story, I didn’t want to get wrapped up in a complex three way plot of politics and assassinations and… I just wanted to find the next arcanum! But it went far more easily than I thought. I’m just… concerned.”

“Hm.” Camaxtli stroked his chin. “I am unfamiliar with what proper behavior might be in these circumstances.”

I gave a soft laugh. “I don’t think that there is a proper behavior when you don’t know what’s going on. Or maybe there is, and it’s exactly the reaction you had. I don’t know what I expect.” I shrugged and sighed.

Lakshmi popped out of the cockpit just as I said that. “Well there’s no need, the guidance system is incredibly simple, and the remote system is installed. In fact, I already have some ideas for improvements!”

Daniyel wordlessly passed her a sheet of paper as Lakshmi pulled the pen Camaxtli had given her in Jubilee from her hair and started to dash notes onto the page.

I smiled to see how quickly the mana flowed into the stylus. Lakshmi was definitely getting better at that! I wondered if she’d simply become a stronger tinkerer, or if she would actually try to branch out. She hadn’t asked Soriya or I for lessons in magical theory, but then she was a princess, she’d probably had extensive lessons long before she decided to become and air pirate.

“If we could.” I asked “Maybe just port out? Lakshmi, are you ready?”

She looked up from her notes. “Hm? Oh, yes. Yes, I think so. It will be easier to write back in the Sparrowhawk’s wardroom anyway.”

We launched the mothship, amid a throng of cheering, and Lakshmi set the remote. I summoned Gate, and we all vanished back to the royal air dock, where the Sparrowhawk lay quietly, untended by anyone.

The advantages of a big send off. I thought as we all boarded. A crackle and then a thunderous boom roared through the air, and I could feel the surge of mana. I gave a long sigh.

“Sometimes, just once in a while, I’d like to be wrong about people in power.” I said quietly, before I ducked into the Sparrowhawk and made my way towards the central lounge.