Chapter 13

“Who… are you? Why… Why can’t I remember you?”

She did not know how, but she was able to see the small, gentle smile sent her way from the figure before her, shrouded in darkness as she was

“It does not matter,” came the answer, and much to the teen’s ire, a finger came up to now-smirking lips in a shushing manner. “You will remember me in due time. For now, I believe there are people you need to return to.”

“Huh…? What, no, wait!”

~*~

Rityu sighed, scratching his head. He’d just came out of a meeting with Cain Kileros and his followers and… the spy hid a shudder. Not for the first time, he thanked whatever higher power up there that it was him who was doing the spying and not Phiol – his elder brother might’ve just cracked under Kileros’ aura of menace.

He ducked his head as several of who he knew to be directly under the evil lord’s command – to him, a mocking sign of humility. They paid him no mind as they walked by, but their conversation got Rityu’s attention.

“…Lord Cain said that the Thyride girl would not be a problem. Hah!” one scoffed. “She took out the majority of our forces with that spell of hers.” A swell of pride for the youngest Thyride and his brother grew within him at that, knowing how much time his younger brother had spent with her to make her – in crude terms – grow a backbone.

“We cannot afford to send more there, either,” another commented with a sigh, a feathered fan covering half her features. “There are far more important lands we have our sights on, after all.”

The biggest man among them chuckled – a dry and unnerving sound that forced Rityu to drop his previous train of thought. “I’ve sent them a message,” he told his companions, his grin nearly as demented as their leader’s own. “Since they are smart enough to underestimate our lord’s main piece, they should battle her and that Aitelorn brat the lord has his sights on to death.”

There was laughter and chuckled all around, all with the same dry and unnerving quality but one. “Fitting,” the formerly silent man said, his voice that tad bit muffled by a half-face mask. “That is,” he continued with a grin on his face, “if they could even do that; incompetent as they are.”

By that point, even Rityu’s sharp ears could not catch onto what they were saying anymore, but he had heard enough to draw his own conclusions. Battle… to the death? he thought, feeling his heartbeat increase in panic and fear for the two youngest in his family’s household. No. That cannot happen. They still have a whole life ahead of them!

Steeling himself for the potential explosion from Kileros’ twin brother, Rityu made haste towards the teleportation point Kileros had been oh-so kind to provide him with – to avoid suspision, he had told him with a smirk that sent chills down his spine.

~*~

“What?!”

Rityu hid a wince. As per his expectations, the good twin had a fit when he heard the news he brought. Doing his best to hide his own worry, he flipped his ponytail off his shoulder and regarded the silver-haired leader before him calmly – a far cry from his earlier panic.

“We need to inform the people in I’yn about this,” he said, a mask of calmness already settled onto his features. “Send word with a messenger bird or something. I wouldn’t know. I’m not the leader here; you are.”

Lord Abel closed his eyes and took a deep breath… then another. “You’re right,” he answered, his demeanour much calmer. “I’ll go there myself.”

The middle son of the Aitelorns raised an eyebrow. “And how are you going to get there, exactly?” he asked. “Pardon me, but you aren’t exactly a speed-type…”

The older man had to grin. “My brother is capable of setting up teleportation points,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I, on the other hand, can teleport.”

Teleportation points were easy to set up, Rityu knew. He had set a few up before… though it was mostly for the training the spartan Aitelorn patriarch led. Teleporting, on the other hand, required a huge degree of magical control that most people generally did not have – he had only known of his own mother and Seloria (even though the elder Thyride did not use as much magic as his mother) who could teleport anywhere they wanted, and even get others to teleport with them.

“Are you serious?” he asked, unable to keep the curiosity out of his voice. Lord Abel grinned, gave him an almost cheeky two-fingered salute, and vanished.

“…” Rityu stared at the area the elder man was for a moment before he groaned and brought a hand up to meet his forehead, producing a loud smacking sound. “Yea, rub that fact in, why don’tcha?” he groused, having told the man that he was trying – and failing – to be able to teleport on his own.

Despite that, he was not able to keep the desperate hope out of his heart. Please, he thought, his features turning grim – an unnatural look on his normally smirky face. Don’t let anything happen to them.

Chapter 12 [unedited]

*Note: This chapter has yet to be beta'd/proof-read. This is due to the fact my usual beta-reader is having some personal problems to deal with, and I don't want to pressure her. I'll remove this little note when it is beta'd.

~*~

Stein frowned as he fiddled with his swords on his belt, somehow not finding their weight to be as comforting as he remembered. They were already in position for a counter-attack, but as the sun continued to rise without any sign of the enemy on their side… No. Focus, Aitelorn. She’ll be fine, he told himself. They had all heard the alarm go off earlier that morning, and a runner informed them the group at the Jajya wall was under attack.

Stein’s first instinct then was to get to Kairi, but the commander of his group stopped him with a stern look. “Let her grow,” he’d told him, and while Stein was hot-headed… he understood. Granted, they did not know Kairi the way he does, but if he kept on coddling the younger teen; kept on protecting her... she would not be able to get over her irrational fear – and that fear is deadly in times like these.

So instead of rushing to where she was, Stein had taken deep breaths, saluted the commander, and returned to his position – in the opposite direction of the Jajya wall.

Remember our spars, woman. You can choose who to hurt and who to protect, he thought, as if hoping his unspoken words would reach Kairi’s ears.

~*~

Dodge. Parry. Counter. Attack. Slash. Roll. Flip. Evade. Stab. Leg sweep. Kick. Duck.

“Archers, fire your arrows!”

Ah, that’s a signal. Roll to the back. Do not let the enemy pass. Wind-elemental spells would blow the arrows off-course, but other elements work. Flare, Ice Wolves, Lightning Bolt – that guy’s too close; cut him down – Quake, the arrows are slowing down; Tornado.

“All right there, Thyride?” someone called, and Kairi barely acknowledged that with a nod. Noticing the signal to resume attacking, the cocoa-haired teen darted forward again, orange eyes dull from exhaustion. They had been at it since three in the morning; the fact that she was still going at it speaks volumes about the determination she has... and perhaps stubbornness.

They had a rotation pattern going on – every time someone switches in to rest, someone else comes out and joins the fray. Kairi had only gone in for a quick heal before she ran right back out. The healers had tried to stop her, but her eyes flashed a dangerous shade of red, shocking them enough that she was able to shake them off.

“I can’t… stop now…” she told herself between pants, sweat forcing her clothing to stick to her skin uncomfortably. Sure, she surprised herself by managing without a partner by her side to watch her back so far, but she was starting to feel the strain. She knew it; heck, everyone around her knew it, but she just would not stop.

Kairi felt childish doing it, but she justified her stubbornness with ‘it’s not their motherland that the enemies are coming from’. The teen stopped short when a chuckle resounded in her head.

Damn straight it’s not their motherland, Kairi, a voice said. Said teen chanced a look around as she evaded several swords, certain that the voice was in her head but not daring to believe it. Oh come on, little one. I’ve been with you since you were… well. You know.

“…what…?” the now-confused teen muttered softly, her movements slowing to a halt. The voice sighed, sounding a little amused.

Right. You probably don’t remember much. It’s okay, though. Here, let me--

And Kairi’s world turned black.

~*~

“What the…” someone muttered in shock. The commander did not blame him – he was just as shocked. He was ready to order someone to get Kairi back into camp when he noticed the teen slowing down, but just as suddenly as she stopped… she moved again.

In fact, she moved faster than she used to. Her spells were more powerful; her strikes more accurate and less hesitant. Kairi… did not seem like Kairi anymore, at that point of time.

“Has she been holding back?” an archer wondered, watching as the cocoa-haired teen zipped through enemy ranks, pausing only to help those who were struggling on their side. Even then, she did not really stop that long – just enough to make sure they were fine before she moved on.

The commander continued watching Kairi’s movements without comment. Kairi had, after a while of charging headfirst into enemy lines, started to pull back – and the power of her magical aura at that point was unmistakeable. He mentally ran through all the powerful spells he knew – even though he could not use magic to save his life – and his eyes widened.

“A Gravity-oriented spell…” he muttered, surprise evident on his features. “Issue the signal to fall back! Thyride has a powerful spell in the making!” he ordered, and the runner scrambled to convey his words.

The originally grim-faced commander felt a smirk break out across his face. Echoing Kairi’s statement from the day previous, he muttered: “They’ll never know what hit ‘em.”

~*~

“Well now,” she muttered to herself with a wry grin, flexing her fingers, “we’ll see how this spell works, shall we?”

She heard the commander give out the order for everyone else to fall back a while ago, and while the enemy forces were confused, they were still attacking. She sensed no magic from the commander, but for him to be able to pin-point the basic nature of the spell she was about to use…

She chuckled. “The commander’s quite knowledgeable about spells. I’m impressed,” she said airily, as if she was not in the midst of battle. Timing was crucial for the spell she was about to use, and the fact that she needed to cast it twice… well…

“Ah, here they come,” she said with another chuckle, her eyes taking on an interesting red hue. The ground beneath her started to shake, forcing the soldiers before her to falter when they lost their balance, but they continued advancing on her.

“Kairi!” someone yelled from the other side of Jajya’s wall, “what’re you doing?! Run!”

“No need for that,” she whispered, chuckling as her eyes continued to take on a darker hue of red. “Not when the spell’s already in place.”

An abrupt silence washed over the battlefield – even from those behind the wall. “W-what is this pressure?!” someone yelled, though who it was could not be identified. Friend or foe, both sides were feeling it effects, though the men before her were feeling it more; they were falling to the ground like dominoes.

She felt herself stumble slightly, but quickly casting the same spell on herself rectified that little problem. “Dark Gravity,” she announced with a predatory grin. “Most people don’t know this one spell, being too used to casting Gravity.” She chuckled. “This spell can only be countered by the same spell, and after that it’s a battle of magical prowess. “ Another giggle. “And it’s doubtful any of you lot know this spell. Almost no one knows of it… ah, of course, except for your leader. Cain Kileros. Too bad for you that he’s not here, now is he?”

“Y-you…”

She giggled in a tone that made one think she was in an ice-cream shop instead of being in the middle of a battlefield. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I’m sure you all have families. But so do we. It’s do or die for both sides in situations like these.” Her daggers disappeared from view, and ‘Kairi’ raised a hand, the beginnings of fire on her fingertips.

She regarded the men before her with calm, almost pitiful eyes. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I’ll make it end fast.”

A flick of her wrist, and the flames grew. Another flick, and the fireball flew downwards, crashing into the ground before her. The flames caught onto several soldiers and from there, continued to grow and grow and it seemed as though a sea of red had appeared out of nowhere. Screams of horror and pain from the soldiers died as quickly as it began.

“…rest in peace,” she whispered a little brokenly as the flames began to recede. “…it’s better this way, for you to die in what you believe in than be broken by that man…”

She took several steps backwards as she released her spells, stumbling again. “Haha…” she laughed a little breathlessly, “so she still cannot stand the force of this spell.” She sighed. “It’s okay though… there’s still time for her to learn.”

“Kairi!” someone yelled, and she heard footsteps running in her direction. She smiled.

“You have wonderful comrades by your side, Kairi,” she whispered, “don’t let go of them.” She heard gasps and hastening footsteps when she felt herself fall.

Of course… Kairi’s fatigued. For me to use that spell so carelessly…

“K-Kairi!” Someone caught her. “You stupid, stupid woman!” Wait, from what she knew, Stein was not posted here! “What did you think you were doing? Mother’s going to be so mad…”

Instead of responding, she chuckled lightly and allowed Kairi’s body to get some much-needed rest.

After all, she mused with another chuckle, it’s not me they’re talking to.

Chapter 11

It was hard, Kairi decided, to be so close to her country yet be unable to go see it. Yes, she heard of its destruction-slash-death and she was on a mission, but it didn’t make it any easier for her to kill the need to set her eyes on what used to be the place she called home.

Stein had – probably rightly – decided that he’d represent the both of them in the currently-ongoing meeting with the other leaders who would lead platoons in the upcoming battles. She did not know how Stein was planning to handle the meeting, but she was going to put her faith in him. He’d told her he would try to get her posted at the Jajya wall so she could deal with the enemies that came that way (‘personally’ was left unsaid between the two).

Karyme offered to give her a quick tour of the estate, and Kairi accepted it. As already implied, the tour was quick, with Karyme pointing her towards rooms she would need to use in the duration of her stay there, and a cursory mention of the other rooms available in the estate. After that, she showed the younger girl the gardens.

“This is also the place I practice whatever spells I have in my arsenal,” Karyme knew she was blatantly lying, but she felt justified doing it. Kairi was restless ever since Stein entered the meeting, and from what little she knew of the cocoa-haired teen… “Go ahead and practice some spells. I’ll watch.”

Surprised, Kairi turned to the blond. “Seriously?” she asked, her tone one of disbelief. Karyme elegantly quirked a brow – Kairi did not want to know how such an action could be done elegantly – and the younger conceded. There were several spells from the book she read that she was itching to try out, with most of them being in elements she never used before.

Karyme stared at the younger female for a while before she decided she did not like that smile on Kairi’s face. It was creepy. The “oh you don’t know what you just asked for” sort of creepy. The Doyle heiress resolved to have Aydan’s spells on hand… just in case.

Twenty minutes and fourteen heat shields later, Karyme resolved to never be near the younger Thyride whenever she was trying out new spells. The almost-insane giggling every time Kairi managed to get a spell right – and when she did not get it right, for that matter, was quite disturbing. It was as though the younger female had never had so much fun before in her entire life – which led Karyme to question what kind of childhood Kairi had lived through.

Oblivious to the thoughts running rampant through Karyme’s mind, Kairi continued her attempts at perfecting the Lightning-element spell she was learning. It was a hard one – then again, Lightning was a difficult element to learn, much less master. She had her right hand in front of her chest with her left gripping her right wrist. The spell she was aiming for required her to mold the element into a ball, and releasing it would cause damage equal to ten explosion spells… or so it said, theoretically.

“Oy, Kairi!” Stein’s voice cut through her concentration just as she nearly managed to finish compressing the tennis ball-sized lightning. Yelping, the ball dispersed and she was thrown backwards, stumbling a little to get her footing back – Karyme’s heat shield kept her firmly in place. Kairi flailed her hand – for such a small thing, that spell packed a lot of punch.

“What is it?” she asked as Karyme dropped her shield and came up to check on her hand – the elder winced slightly at the mild burn marks on Kairi’s visible. Stein came up to them, took a look at Kairi’s hand himself and smacked her upside the head.

“Let’s get your hand looked at first, then I’ll let you know.”

~*~

After Kairi’s hand was bandaged with a stern warning from one of the doctors to not attempt Lightning-based spells without a Lightning-user nearby, Karyme surprised herself by still hanging around with the Duo. They found themselves back in the garden, settling themselves comfortably under a tree.

“It will be dark soon,” Karyme commented, and Stein glanced at the sky, as if surprised the day was ending so soon.

“What was it you wanted to tell me?” Kairi asked, prodding Stein’s arm to get his attention back on the matter. Stein shook his head, as if to rid his mind of intruding thoughts and grinned at the younger teen.

“Guess where I got you posted,” he announced a little smugly. Kairi blinked at him slowly for a moment before her eyes widened.

“No way. You got me the Jajya wall? Seriously?” Stein’s response was to continue smirking his ‘hah told you I could’ smirk and the youngest among them did something Karyme thought Kairi would never do. She squealed and proceeded to hug the life out of Stein, who flailed his arms in a desperate ‘get this mad woman off me’ moment.

Five minutes later (in which Karyme took two minutes to snap out of her surprise, two to laugh at Stein’s predicament, and the final one minute to pry Kairi off him), Stein broke the other news he had. “We aren’t sent to the same area, though.”

Kairi froze then. “What?” she asked, all joy gone. The younger’s reaction was confusing for the Doyle heiress, but Karyme watched silently as Stein poked her right in the middle of her forehead, a gentle smile on his features.

“Hey, relax. I’m close enough that I could provide back-up when your side needs it,” he told the suddenly-glum female. “Remember what I told you whenever we spar? You can choose who to hurt and who to protect.”

Then, Stein did something that made Karyme laugh inwardly. Completely breaking the almost-touching mood he set with his own words, he started shaking the cocoa-haired teen, with each shake emphasizing his sentence: “You. Can. Choose. Who. To. Hurt. You. Stupid. Woman.”

“I think she gets your point,” Karyme chided gently, her tone one of extreme amusement. Stein blinked at her, as if to say ‘fine, steal my fun away’, but gave Kairi one last forceful shake before he huffed and crossed his arms. Kairi blinked the dizziness away from her eyes, shaking her head in an attempt to right her world.

The moment her vision was not swimming anymore, the youngest of the three began chasing her partner around town in a game of tag of epic proportions – Karyme swore she saw the Duo pass her at least five times in the span of three minutes. She stood there, trying hard to hide her amusement at their childish antics before she called for a halt to their impromptu game fifteen minutes later.

“Time for food, then rest,” she told them, laughing at their playful teasing of each other. They really are relaxed, Karyme thought to herself as she played sarcastic peacemaker to their cheerful banter. It’s as though they aren’t at odds with the upcoming battle at all!

A little more silent observation, though, told Karyme that it was all an act. Kairi, if possible, was even more restless than usual, hiding it behind smiles –her eyes were what gave her away. Stein was worried all right – his agitated fiddling of his swords’ straps said it all, but he focused his worry on making his partner more confident in her abilities. Her family’s bodyguards and the additional soldiers sent by Lord Aitelorn, as if noticing and realizing the Duo’s banter to be a way for them to deal with the stress and nerves of an upcoming battle, made no comment.

Dinner was a peaceful affair, but Karyme was pretty sure none would sleep soundly that night. She did not realize when she nodded off, but when she had awoken early the next day, neither Kairi nor Stein were within the walls of her home anymore.

~*~

The first thing Kairi did when she got to the Jajya wall, much to the surprise of the other commander and soldiers with her, was scale it. It was her motherland beyond these walls – she could not help herself. She remembered traditional buildings intermingled with more modern designs; greenery that was cared for by the elderly; the feel of “home” no matter which part of the area you were in…

“…I should’ve known better,” Kairi muttered to herself, taking in the unsightly rubble that was once the place she called her country. “It was a false hope.” And it was. Everyone told her that – even Seloria. But she still clung onto the prospect that something would have been saved.

It was a subdued teenager that returned to the area they dubbed camp. Kairi deflected all questions by running around to help get things organized, and politely steering the concern away from her when asked. She kept it up for quite a while before running away with the commander and other squad leaders for a strategy meeting.

They were barely three minutes into the meeting before a runner came up to them, out of breath and holding onto one of the chairs they did not occupy for support. “The enemy has been spotted!” Kairi’s eyes widened and the older individuals in the room with her began muttering amongst themselves.

Rather surprisingly, Kairi regarded the runner first; her bright eyes a hue darker than usual. “Are they attacking?” she asked, voice oddly calm. The runner shook his head, already catching his breath.

“No, but-“

“Perfect,” Kairi cut him off, already thinking of their next move. “Knowing Cain, we’re outnumbered, correct?” she asked, lacing her fingers together as she propped her elbows on the table. The runner nodded, and her grin was absolutely feral. “You guys start thinking,” she declared, standing up and turning towards the exit of the huge tent they were in.

“What are you doing?” one of the squad leaders asked in mild annoyance, but he was mostly concerned. Kairi was the same age as his oldest daughter, for goodness sakes!

“Simple,” she said, smirking. “I’m going to tear through their numbers. Makes things a lot easier for when we have a set plan to take them down.”

Kairi chuckled darkly, and her departing words caused chills to run down the others’ spines. Being so used to Kairi’s happy-go-lucky attitude, the promise of pain and death in her tone shocked them. “They will never know what hit ‘em.”

~*~

Kairi got herself slightly beyond the Jajya wall. She shed a few tears when the full weight of her once-home destruction hit her, but kept going. Much of the landscape remained the same as the once-bustling country she remembered, much to her surprise, but she still mapped its current state of destruction into her mind as she walked, ducking into nooks and crannies when she sensed people walking around her.

She moved in that manner for a while, making sure her footsteps were quiet and constantly hiding behind walls or ducking into a hidden corner whenever she heard noises or sensed human presence – more than a few times she barely escaped having to engage in combat. Finding the area that was once her home, the cocoa-haired teen ignored the pang of sadness that rose within her, choosing to focus on the task at hand.

She ran up a hill that, in her memories, was behind her home and skidded in an abrupt halt when she spotted tents. So they’re here, she thought, a wry smile on her features. How ironic, Cain. How ridiculously ironic.

“Mystics,” Kairi called in barely above a whisper, smiling when she felt the familiar weight of her daggers fall into her hands. In slow, careful moments, she stood, mentally running through what she remembered of Jajya’s land – the hill was quite prone to landslides, and the only reason why her family’s home once stood where it did was due to the spells that were previously up to stop the soil from hitting the residences.

“This definitely works to my advantage,” she muttered, a slow smirk forming on her features. Kairi started chanting a spell under her breath, but cut herself short and ducked behind some rubble when she heard footsteps and voices.

“Man, this sucks,” a male voice – possibly around 20, grumbled. “Why can’t we attack immediately? I came for the action, not to scout around like idiots.”

“Fool,” an older-sounding male voice retorted. “Scouting is as important as fighting.”

While the voices bickered, Kairi did a discreet scan. Besides the obvious two, there were three others. Perfect, she thought, before tuning back into the little debate they had going on about scouting and fighting.

“-what would happen if you don’t scout and you run into kinks in our plans, huh?”

Kairi emerged from her hiding place then, snickering in an almost insane manner. “Something like this,” she answered in an oddly gleeful tone, daggers spinning frightfully fast. Two of the people she sensed earlier panicked slightly, but followed the lead of the oldest looking one in pulling their swords out. Another two stepped forward, looking as though they itched for a fight.

The oldest one appeared to recognize her somewhat – though from where Kairi did not know. “No, fools, fall back!” he ordered, but the two engaged her in combat, charging with far-too-eager battle cries. Her eyes flashed an odd hue of red, and no one saw how she felled the two rash fellows. All they knew was that she used her daggers, for she took a quick moment to flick the blood of its blades.

“So… who’s next?” she asked with a benign smile, as if she did not just kill two men in an action far too fast for their eyes to follow. “Don’t worry though,” she added as she advanced on them, and the oldest of the remaining three moved to guard his two still-alive charges, even with knowing it’d be futile.

Her eye colour changed from orange to red, and her smile was not assuring at all. “None from your end will escape alive.”

~*~

It was in the late evening that Kairi returned to camp, and with her being almost completely covered in blood, it served for them to panic – especially since Stein mentioned that she was not completely confident in her skills.

“What, no, I’m not injured,” Kairi told them in bewilderment when someone sent a healing spell her way, her bright orange eyes blinking in confusion. “The blood isn’t mine.”

They were a little slow on the uptake, Kairi noticed, watching in something akin to bemusement as they slowly turned and gaped at her. “What?” came the chorus of confused-slash-concerned shouts, and Kairi rolled her eyes.

“The blood isn’t mine,” she repeated slowly, peeling off a torn sleeve that stuck to her skin from the blood. “Be prepared to fight tomorrow, though. I’m sure they won’t continue to keep quiet after tonight.” She made a little disgusted face at the torn fabric. “I’m going to change. Be back later.”

She left them at that point to disappear into a tent she claimed as hers the day before whilst the rest of them murmured and whispered amongst themselves, confused by her flippant attitude. It was less than a minute later that an odd-sounding explosion occurred, and Kairi flew out of her tent with a zipped-up jacket hiding her half-nakedness, scaling the Jajya wall once again. She swept a glance over the horizon and giggled.

“That spell really works well,” she commented, jumping off the wall and hop-skipping back to her tent, humming. Just as her being disappeared into the tent, a runner came up to the other leaders, panting.

“That… that explosion,” the runner said, attempting to catch his breath and report at the same time, “caused a landslide in Jajya. I... I don’t know what caused it, but…” the runner took a breath, “it happened in the area where most of Icolo’s tents were set up. We… we stand a decent chance at winning this battle now!”

As one, everyone but the runner turned to the tent Kairi disappeared into. “What else is she capable of?” came a hushed whisper, but no one had an answer to that.

Early the next morning, a runner sounded the alarm – the same one that indicated enemy forces were attacking. All that were fighting found themselves awake and prepared within seconds, and with Kairi at the very front of the lines, they charged out to meet them.

The war had officially begun.

Chapter 10

Their run to Hundaf was really… boring… if Kairi had to pick a word for it. None of the bandits Karyme warned them of appeared, and they had basically zoomed through the route they chose to use – quite literally, with Stein freezing the ground to slide along as Kairi’s Wind-enforced jumps brought her further down the path. Hundaf itself was rather plain, being a small, little town meant for ships to dock, unload passengers or items, and move on. Besides a random inn, some shops and a relatively small housing area, the place was absolutely…

“Boring,” Stein completed her train of thought, his mismatched eyes looking about the area with silent regard. He stretched slightly, trying to relax his muscles. “We made good time reaching here; we expected to reach at five, but we got here at,” he checked the nearby clock for the time, “four thirty in the afternoon. The next ship leaves in another 15 minutes.” He nodded rather self-assuredly. “Yup, we made good time.”

Kairi sniggered at him. “Yes, yes,” she said, rolling her eyes as they walked towards the ticketing counter. There was a pause in conversation between them as they bought their tickets, rushed into the ship, and grabbed refreshments. When they found a seat with a table and set their drinks and food down, their discussion began.

“Okay, if I remember correctly,” Stein began, pulling a map (courtesy of Abel) out of his bag, “we’re expected to look out for weak areas, places that can be converted for healing purposes, and places that might be targeted for surprise attacks, yeah?”

Kairi nodded, taking a bite out of the apple she chose to buy. “We should split up when we get there. Covers more ground that way,” she said, grabbing her own map (again, courtesy of Abel) out of her bag. “I’yn is not all that huge to begin with. We could split up, cover some ground, take a break, and later switch to make sure we got all the same spots.”

Stein blinked at her for a second. She blinked back. “What?” she asked, taking another bite out of her apple. “You know…” he began, and Kairi gestured for him to continue. “For someone who spent most of her life kidnapped, you have a really good brain.”

The younger stared at him for a while in bewilderment. “I can’t seem to decide if that was a compliment or an insult,” she deadpanned, taking another bite out of her apple. She ignored Stein’s chuckle as she took another look at the map. “I’ll take north and west I’yn. We’ll trade maps when we switch so we know which spots we got. Savvy?”

Stein snickered again for reasons Kairi did not bother finding out, but uttered his agreement.

~*~

“I’m bored!” Kairi whined for the umpteenth time in…wait, only five minutes? Stein suppressed a sigh and faced the younger. They’d just finished their checking of weak points about three hours ago, and the Doyles’ were not due to arrive for another two hours. He definitely was not warned about how easily bored the younger girl could be (‘Curse you, Seloria!’ he yelled mentally).

(Miles away, Seloria sneezed in the midst of calculating the money needed to restore Destila to its former glory.)

Wordlessly, he grabbed the younger girl by the head (yes, head – he was that annoyed… and that much taller) and steered her into a nearby bookstore. “Book. Pick,” he said simply, and picked out a thick volume of… something. He really did not care at this point. Kairi’s mouth formed an “o” of understanding, and took her time scanning the shelves of books – she came out with a tome of spells… which was pretty darn thick, too (they paid for them, obviously).

Stein gave her a questioning look, and Kairi shrugged. “Never hurts to review what I know and learn what I don’t,” she said by way of answer. Stein shrugged in response to that, and proceeded to drag the younger (by the head again) over to a nearby café.

There, they sat for the better part of an hour – Stein immersing himself in an odd fictional story about a boy who was thrown into an Abyss of sorts and returned only to find ten years has passed, and Kairi mumbling to herself about spell theories – one in particular caught his attention; something about “Ice Wolves”? He’ll have to snag the book off the younger later…

“Say Kairi,” the purple-haired teen spoke after a moment. The other “hmm?” in question, eyes not leaving the page she appeared to be fixated on – it’s probably a really interesting spell, judging by the way she’s so keen on it.

“Are you okay?”

Apparently, his question was not something the cocoa-haired teen expected. She looked up from her book, eyes wide. “What?” she finally forced out after another moment of staring, blinking rapidly.

He sighed, marking his page and closing his book, setting it on the table. “Are you okay?” he asked again. When the younger Thyride showed no sign of comprehending his question, he elaborated.

“You… have something on your mind. I know that much, but I can’t tell if it’s because of the mission or if it was something else.” He leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, and folded his fingers together in front of his face. “Don’t look so shocked, Kairi – I could read you like an open book seventy percent of times. So, really… are you okay?”

Kairi stared at him a little longer before she, too, marked her page and closed her book. “The border wall… the one that separates I’yn from Jajya… it scares me.” She shuddered. “There were too many weak points the enemy could exploit, and there mere thought of enemies attacking from my homeland…”

Ah, Stein thought, so that’s what it was.

Be as it may, though, he had no words of comfort for the other. Stein reached over; ruffled the younger’s hair, gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile…

…and then the Doyle’s arrived.

~*~

Watching with a bemused smile as Kairi jumped around her in a moment of… she-didn’t-know-what-induced-hyperness, Karyme attempted to try and not follow the younger female’s bouncing with her eyes… and failed. Rather spectacularly at that. The girl just bounces so much like a ball!

“Was your trip back here pleasant?” Kairi asked as they made their way towards the Doyle’s abode. Stein was with her parents, discussing something-or-other as they walked, and the orange-eyed teen probably found it fit to leave her partner alone for the time being. The Doyle heiress actually paused for a moment to think over Kairi’s question.

“Honestly,” she finally said, “if it wasn’t for the looming threat of an attack, the trip back home would be far more pleasant.”

She didn’t understand it, but Kairi’s smile turned a little sad and her eyes travelled in Jajya’s direction a little. “I see,” she said by way of answering and muttered something under her breath. Karyme was sure the younger did not intend to be overheard, but with her senses as enhanced as they are with Aydan’s help…

What does she mean by ‘unlike us’? She wondered, but continued the track to her home in silence.

Chapter 9

Whilst Kairi stood dead centre in the training room and had her eyes closed in concentration, Stein, who was leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest, had taken to muttering under his breath about how dead he would be once his mother found Kairi out of bed; and how Seloria was going to skin him alive – or something along those lines, Karyme was not too sure. Her gaze remain fixated on the youngest, and Aydan hummed thoughtfully at the back of her mind.

‘Do you think she’ll be able to do it?’ she asked her Swordian mentally after a moment of watching Kairi in silence. Aydan hummed again.

If her weapons are what I think they are, she will. The Swordian’s response made Karyme blink in surprise. Did he know something she did not? Before she could question Aydan further, a quick flare of magic and a muffled curse from Kairi had her snapping her head in the cocoa-haired teen’s direction. When had she look away? Karyme could not remember. Beside her, Stein raised an eyebrow at said teen, who giggled a bit sheepishly.

“Mystics are… rather childish,” Kairi began by way of explanation – which was not much of one. She huffed a little and settled herself on the ground, sitting cross-legged. “This will take a while.”

From the corner of her eyes, Karyme noted that Stein regarded the now-appearing-to-be-meditating teen silently for a few minutes before rolling his eyes and sighing. “Time to face the music,” he said, pushing off the wall and sauntering towards the door. The minor task accomplished resulted in the older duo exchanging glances, then laughing sheepishly in unison before Stein bolted in a mad dash around the training room with Seloria hot on his heels. Karyme retreated to a dark corner with her claymore summoned, brandishing it defensively as Yula stared her down the way a disappointed mother would.

The blonde noticed Kairi – who was supposedly meditating – crack an eye open, the girl trying her best not to laugh at Stein before resuming her meditation. Karyme mentally shrugged; she figured that if she was in Kairi’s place, she would find it amusing as well.

~*~

Rityu crossed his arms, pondering over the titbit of information he had gained from Lord Vermios as he marched towards the training room to get some practice done. Like his father, he knew of the ritual each and every Thyride had been forced to endure at some point of their lives, and Kairi’s reappearing seals did not strike him as particularly comforting.

In fact, from what the man told him, the seals were flaring brightly and almost angrily. “Almost as if trying to warn us,” Lord Vermios had said, before Rityu went on confirming the information he had sent, then walking off in search of his father. The Aitelorn middle-child scratched his head as he raked his brain for something that he may have missed.

He stopped short, however, upon noticing the door to the training room he had planned on utilizing was left open. Peering inside, Rityu was greeted with possibly the oddest scene ever to have now graced his clan’s household.

Seloria, one person he had thought would be able to remain calm and composed in a lot of situations, was chasing his younger brother around the room with her scythe swinging wildly. Stein in a very un-Stein-like manner, was running away and shouting constant apologies, though for what he did not know. Yula was lecturing the Doyle heiress over something-or-other, and Karyme herself was hiding behind her massive weapon. Kairi – silly, ridiculous Kairi, who gave her the idea of leaving the infirmary? – was in the middle of the room, seemingly meditating and not-really oblivious to the happenings about.

“…what’s going on?” he finally decided to ask after five full minutes of staring. Stein explained the situation to him – all the while running around the room and only talking when he passed him, making one very otherwise-short explanation a lengthy one. Karyme shot him a pleading look – one he never thought would appear on the Doyle heiress’ face. Rityu stared for another minute – Karyme looked about ready to cry, oddly enough – and sighed, walking in and poking his mother’s shoulder.

“Mother, I think she gets it already. Have pity on the guest.”

As he expected, his mother whipped around and stared him down – being on the receiving end of the Healer’s stares one too many times, he’d grown somewhat immune to it – and he raised an eyebrow. “Mother,” he tried again, “they’re teens. Rule-breaking is bound to be one of their priorities. Remember when Phiol and I-“

“Okay, I get your point,” Yula snapped – there was that affectionate undertone in it, so Rityu was not all too worried – and rolled her eyes. She did not look all too convinced at letting them go, however. The middle Aitelorn son shrugged.

“Kairi’s sitting down, so that can be counted as resting, don’t you think?” he ventured. Yula turned to look at Kairi (who appeared to really be meditating now, considering the fact she stopped peeking at the room’s situation) and sighed, nodding before glancing over at her youngest and allowing a small smirk to form on her lips. Karyme decided she’d best hide behind both her claymore and Rityu, for that smirk on Yula’s face was disturbing.

“Ah well… let’s let Stein run for his life even more now, shall we?” The sentence was spoken in such a sweet tone that Rityu nearly missed the sadistic gleam in his mother’s eyes. He slapped a hand to his forehead, groaning.

‘Good luck, little bro,’ he thought, inching himself (and subsequently, Karyme) closer to the corner. ‘I don’t want to be in your shoes right now.’

~*~

It took her a while but once she managed to concentrate, Kairi completely lost track of what was happening in the training room. Mystics were within her psyche, she knew, but they felt… out of reach. It was frustrating.

We’re right here, she heard them call out to her countless times. But whenever she reached out to grasp them, they slipped through her fingers rather tauntingly. It was annoying. Very, very annoying. Kairi swore she had yet to feel such an amount of frustration since she was first given Mystics to wield…

…Wait a minute…

Was that what she was supposed to do? Summon them as if she had never summoned Mystics before? That realization seemed to bring the gap between her and her weapons closer, and inwardly, Kairi smirked.

We’re right here, they called again. Instead of reaching out to grasp them like she did before, the cocoa-haired teen remained as she was. As if surprised, Mystics recoiled before calling for her again, moving towards her at the same time. This time, Kairi reached out – but not as fast as she did the many times before. Slowly, almost hesitatingly, she reached for her weapons and this time, they did not slip from her grasp.

Welcome back, mistress, the voice (or perhaps it should be ‘voices’?) of Mystics greeted her. Welcome back.

In the material world, Kairi smiled. ‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘I’m right here.’

~*~

“I got them!”

‘I have to thank that girl for her awesome sense of timing later,’ Stein thought, flopping onto the ground tiredly as Kairi jumped up from her sitting position. She blinked rather innocently at both her sister and the Aitelorn matriarch, smiling and tilting her head to one side.

Seloria promptly marched up to her sister. “Who gave you the smart idea of running out of the infirmary?” she asked, an eyebrow quirked in a manner Stein thought only mothers could do -- Yula probably gave Seloria lessons.

Kairi’s answer was innocently-phrased: “No one.” Stein did not have to look up to see the innocent smile he knew she had on her face. Before anyone could say anything else, Phiol popped his head into the room.

“Ah, that’s great. You’re both in the same place,” Phiol said, stepping in. He raised an eyebrow at the room’s occupants, but said nothing about them. “Stein, Kairi,” the aforementioned duo either nodded or raised an eyebrow, “Father wants to meet you both in his study.”

Kairi nodded and walked over to him, offering a hand to pull him up – which he accepted quite gratefully. “Oh, and he says he wants you both there in five minutes,” Phiol added, causing Stein to groan and Kairi to pat his arm sympathetically.

“…race you,” the cocoa-haired teen said simply. Darn her, did she not know he was incapable of turning down a challenge?

…Wait, she did know.

Stein growled. “You’re going down,” he said. Kairi grinned.

“We’ll see,” she answered easily. Both took down the hallway at an unknown signal… and knocked Phiol aside as they went. The “sorry” they tossed over their shoulders had Phiol and Rityu laughing, for reasons the remaining females present did not know nor understand.

~*~

“I reached first!”

“No, I did!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

Nerion’s attempt at appearing strict was failing, he knew – his lips were threatening to split into a small, amused smile. Abel was already openly laughing beside him at the duo’s antics. He cleared his throat to get their attention, and the duo turned to him rather sheepishly.

“Now that that’s settled,” Nerion said, his tone amused – was it possible for anyone to be more sheepish than they already were? – as Abel calmed his laughter. “We just got word that I’yn would be targeted next.”

Kairi’s reaction was almost instantaneous. “Isn’t that…?” she questioned, frowning. Nerion nodded, pausing to shift through several folders that littered the table he sat behind. He really did not want to send the two youngest under his command out on what he was sure to be a ruthless, brutal battle, but he did not have a choice. Abel needed Rityu, he was sure, and both Phiol and Seloria needed to stay within Destila for the time being – they could not afford being weak.

“I’m dispatching you both,” he said, tossing two similar folders in the air – he felt a surge of pride when the duo in front of him slipped on their poker faces with surprising ease, snatching the folders from mid-air without any hesitation.

Kairi was definitely a speed-reader, judging from how quickly her eyes darted across the pages. Stein went a little bit slower, taking the time to note details Kairi would have missed at the speed she read. Both glanced up a moment later, exchanging looks before turning their attentions back to the two leaders before them.

“They plan to get to I’yn from Jajya?” Kairi’s tone was rather devoid of emotion. Stein smacked her upside the head and she turned and pouted. Nerion resisted the urge to laugh – trust Stein to get Kairi back to acting normal.

“From the looks of it, yes,” Nerion said instead, leaning back on his chair. “I know this is your first mission, but there is no room for failure. We have talked to Patricius and Beyza; they will be departing for their country within the next 48 hours. You both are to leave within the next 18 hours.”

“Normal travel to I’yn takes a day and a half, with half a day on ship,” Stein muttered, thinking. “Which means Kairi and I have around 5 hours for rest and one hour preparation before heading off. Considering our speed and elemental affiliation, we could reach the docks within 12 hours.”

Abel nodded. “When you reach I’yn, you are expected to explore the area, note down areas that are susceptible to attacks and areas that could be converted for healing purposes. Also, keep an eye out for places that would be targeted for surprise attacks. More people will be deployed at the same time the Doyles’ are ready to leave.”

Stein nodded; Nerion could see the gears turning in his head. Kairi appeared to be that bit uncomfortable with the idea, but she nodded anyway. Rolling his eyes, Stein smacked the younger teen upside the head again. Kairi growled lowly, but turned to Nerion and Abel with a smile which appeared to be far too sweet.

“If there’s nothing else, we’ll take our leave,” she said ever-so sweetly, and Stein had enough common sense to start running. Nerion saw that Kairi allowed Stein that little two to three second head-start – she was just that much faster in comparison – while she bowed her leave before turning and proceeded to chase Stein around the castle.

“Well,” Abel said after a moment, “with those two around, the castle is never boring, huh?”

Nerion rolled his eyes and nodded.

~*~

Seloria was not sure if she was proud of her sister’s calm, if not full, acceptance of her first mission. “I’ll be fine,” she insisted while packing – just two changes of clothes; she needed to travel light. “Don’t worry so much.”

“I’ll be fine when you’re back here,” she told the younger Thyride instead, her fingers fiddling with the already-worn string of her eye patch. Kairi finished packing, shoving her sling bag to a corner on her bed before jumping off it and landing neatly on Seloria’s.

“You worry too much,” the younger teased with a grin. “And stop fiddling with the string, you’ll snap it. It’s brittle enough as it is.”

Kairi was right, Seloria realized. She had traded her more fancy-looking eye patches for a standard medical eye patch when helping out with the repair works. She sighed and sat on the bed, and Kairi, as if understanding the elder’s hesitance, scooted closer to her, resting her head on the other’s shoulder.

“I’m your sister; it’s in the job description to worry,” Seloria answered, and Kairi grinned.

“What’s in the job description for being Phiol’s personal helper, then?”

“Oh, the usual – whack him on the head if he starts to slack off, make sure he remembers to eat… things like that.”

“Ah, so you’re like his mum,” the cocoa-haired teen affirmed in mock-wise tone. Seloria stared at her blankly for a moment before the sisters exploded into giggles.

~*~

Karyme found the Duo (as she had gotten to calling Kairi and Stein in her head – the capital included) in possibly the earliest hour she had ever woken up (really, who in their right mind would be awake at five in the morning?). Said Duo were performing some stretches, chatting about which route would allow them to reach their destination fastest. Neither of the Duo’s siblings were there, nor were the Aitelorn patriarch and matriarch, but Karyme guessed the siblings were forced to sleep, and Yula was the one forcing the siblings to sleep in the first place. As for the Aitelorn patriarch, Karyme spotted Nerion in what-looked-like a study room, probably going through the mission parameters again before he met up with the Duo.

“I say we take the south route,” Stein was saying when she walked up to them. Was it just her, or were the bodyguards that came with her parents all staring at the Duo rather sceptically?

“Wouldn’t cutting through the west route be faster? We’re on a rather tight time limit.” Kairi asked, still stretching as she waved at her. Karyme idly waved back as she came to a stop beside them.

“Nah, the west route’s too crowded,” Stein replied, nodding his head in greeting. “It’s a common trade route now, so our best bet would be to stick to the south route, or cut between the east and north routes. Cutting between routes might cost us some time, though, considering the fact that the north route is another common trade route.”

Kairi hummed in thought. “What about cutting between the south and east routes? Oh, oh wait. The area around the east route is developing, isn’t it?”

“You got it,” Stein confirmed, before turning his attention to Karyme, who was feeling rather bemused. “Are you planning to join us in our half-day dash to the docks?” he asked rather cheekily, and Kairi rolled her eyes.

“No,” Karyme answered, “but I’d like to point out that there are bandits wandering the south route right now. We had a rather short run-in with them on our way here.”

“Ah,” Kairi said, “in which they got served.” Stein’s sudden coughing fit sounded suspiciously like laughter, but Karyme did not call him on it, feeling rather amused by the…‘eloquent’… manner the younger female put it.

Feeling rather cheeky herself, she gave them a mock-bow (Kairi began giggling, and Stein did not bother hiding his amusement). “Why yes. By yours truly,” she said. “I’ll be doing the same thing every time I travel, so be sure to not miss it.”

“Karyme – is it all right if I called you that?” At her nod, Kairi continued. “You’re too awesome for the trade business. Please don’t go into that line of work.”

Catching on to the cocoa-haired teen’s line of thought, Karyme gave a little melodramatic sigh. “Alas,” she moaned, still rather melodramatic, “I’m an only child. If my parents would grace me with a younger sibling, however…” Stein was rolling on the ground with laughter by then.

“I see being up at five in the morning has made you rather amusing, young Karyme,” Nerion’s voice snapped Stein out of his laughing fit, both him and Kairi straightening. Karyme turned and grinned at the Aitelorn patriarch.

“I’ve been told I’m hopeless without a cup of coffee in the morning,” she supplied the not-so helpful information in a very helpful tone. Kairi sniggered. Nerion allowed a small smile.

“I’m sure of it,” he told her, refocusing his attention to his son and charge soon after. “Are you two ready?”

Both of them slid their poker faces on at the tone used. Stein nodded, and Kairi uttered an affirmative. “I trust all required information has been memorized?” Another affirmative. “You both know your objectives. Mistakes on your first mission are fine, but do not do anything that would cost someone their life. Secure I’yn. Failure to do so is not an option.”

The Duo snapped some kind of salutation then; right hand fisted above where their hearts would be, heads bowed slightly. “Affirmative, sir.”

Nerion nodded. “Well then. Be off, and may the Lords be with you.” The Duo replied in kind (“And may you and yours be blessed.”) before turning around. Behind her, Karyme could tell several of her bodyguards were going to spring into action.

So she turned around. “And what do you lot think you’re doing?” she asked, her tone and expression betraying nothing of her thoughts. The Duo turned to look at her at the tone she used, confused.

“My apologies, Miss Doyle,” one spoke, “but we do not believe that two children will be of much help for our country. We would leave with them.”

Before the Doyle heiress could say anything, Stein scoffed, and Kairi tried her best to not laugh in her family’s bodyguards’ faces. “Follow us? Seriously?” he said, his tone one of disbelief. “If speed is not what you’re trained in, don’t bother. You won’t be able to keep up.”

“If we could reach port town Fiontar – it’s more than 500 kilometres away, for your information – in an hour, what makes you think you could keep up with us?” Kairi added, an eyebrow raised. “And you do realize you’re talking to the person who kept Cain at bay when he put his Draining Barrier up, right?”

Karyme turned to Nerion, who appeared to be amused. “Fiontar in an hour? Seriously?” she asked, bemused. Nerion shrugged. “It was actually 54 minutes 19 seconds for Kairi, and 55 minutes, 54 seconds for Stein. Kairi’s bound to be faster since she’s on a full speed-increase training scheme. And as for helping… they are more than capable. I’ve trained them personally on war tactics.”

“So,” Stein turned back to the bodyguards, who shifted rather uncomfortably at those bits of information, “still coming with us?”

Kairi had rolled her eyes and turned to Stein, poking him on the shoulder to get his attention. “Race you,” she said with a grin, a competitive glint in her eyes.

Stein grinned, his eyes echoing her competitiveness. “Oh you are so going down,” he drawled, and the youngest Thyride raised an eyebrow. “We’ll see about that,” she said simply, popping her neck.

Nerion sighed. “On my count,” he said, and the Duo slung their sling bags across their shoulders. “Begin.”

Karyme did not bother hiding her amazement. All she did was blink and they were already jumping over the castle’s walls – and the walls were at least 500 metres away from where they had been standing. “Wow,” she whispered, then turned to the shell-shocked bodyguards.

“Still plan on following them?” she asked before sauntering back into the castle. Bed was calling out to her for another two hours or so of sleep.

Chapter 8

Rityu stood in silence as he watched Seloria teleport back to the Aitelorn castle with Kairi in her arms, his hands in tight fists. Had his message to Lord Vermios arrived too late? He had sent the fastest carrier bird to inform the lord too…

As if sensing his internal plight, the aforementioned lord walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You did what you could,” the green-eyed man said in barely above a whisper, giving his shoulder a soft squeeze before he let go and walked alongside his father, discussing matters in hushed tones. Rityu shook his head. ‘If this was the best I could do,’ he thought to himself, gritting his teeth, ‘it’s just not good enough.’

“Rityu?” Stein’s voice shook him out of his thoughts. His younger brother looked concerned – and more than a little confused. “Are you okay?” Rityu held his brother’s gaze for a moment before he reached out and ruffled the younger’s hair, who protested with a frown. He flashed a half-grin and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rityu uttered as they began their trek home. “It’s no big deal.”

~*~

Seloria found herself in the infirmary feeling a little disoriented, realizing why a moment later. Karyme had clung on to the teleportation spell she had used, and she had little to no practice with teleporting three people at once. The younger female gave her an apologetic smile, her face pale, and Seloria decided there was no point telling off the younger girl – it seemed quite obvious to her that Karyme needed rest, and lots of it.

She guessed Yula was alerted to their presence from her spell as the Healer rushed to their side, commanding her to place Kairi on a bed while she directed Karyme onto one beside Kairi’s.

“The Lord and Lady Doyle offered to give me some assistance,” Yula told her after the Aitelorn matriarch gave Karyme a strength-replenishing potion and making sure the girl downed its contents. Seloria moved out of the way as Yula worked, not missing the frown that crossed the Healer’s lips when she noticed the marks on Kairi’s neck. Seloria herself winced at the angry red marks; if the Doyle heiress had not distracted Cain when she had…Kairi would not even be breathing at this moment.

“…I don’t even want to know,” Yula muttered, shaking her head and casting a diagnostic spell. The results proved to be satisfactory, Seloria thought, for the Healer’s lips twitched into a small, relieved smile. “Other than some bruising and exhaustion, she’s perfectly fine,” she informed Seloria, who let out a sigh of relief herself.

“I’ll go and assist the Lord and Lady Doyle with calming the people down, then,” the scythe-wielder said, dismissing herself from the Aitelorn matriarch’s presence – who barely realized it, being so focused on healing the bruise on Kairi’s neck – and turned to the slowly-calming crowd of townsfolk with a hopefully tranquil disposition… just as Stein walked past her and through the infirmary doors.

~*~

Lord Vermios’ interaction with Rityu was odd, thought Stein, but he had other pressing matters on his mind at the moment… one being to check-up on Kairi’s wellbeing. That, he realized belatedly with a start, was entirely the reason why he barged into the infirmary (that had only two occupants on the beds), muscles tense. Karyme glanced over at him from her sitting position on a bed, her expression gave little to deduce but hinted an emotion torn between either amusement or bemusement, while his mother rolled her eyes at him.

“She’s fine,” Yula told him before he could ask, “Her injuries were easy to heal. Kairi’s merely exhausted right now, and I’m not expecting her to wake up anytime soon today.”

Stein nodded, the tension melting out of his muscles as his shoulders relaxed. He turned to the Doyle heiress then, a bit of an apologetic smile on his face for his blatant ignoring her. “How are you, Miss Doyle?”

She waved off his unspoken apology, smiling rather politely instead. “As I’ve informed your mother earlier, I merely need to catch my breath. The potion she offered, however, was much appreciated.” She paused then, as if pondering something. “I’d prefer you call me Karyme.”

Stein blinked at that then grinned a little. “Only if you’d call me Stein,” he responded a little cheekily, pulling a chair towards himself and plopping down onto it. Karyme laughed a little, a hand reaching up to daintily cover her mouth as she did so. “As you wish,” she answered, and his grin grew.

Yula rolled her eyes at him again, and he snapped a mock-salute. “Stein, I trust you to keep an eye on Kairi,” she told him – that suited him just fine, truth be told, though that fact confused him to no end. “I will be heading over to where your father is.”

With that, Yula headed out of the infirmary, its doors shutting behind her with a soft click. With that, Stein and Karyme sat there in some sort of companionable silence, both deep in thought. That silence was broken, though, when Kairi began to stir. The duo shared a glance – Yula said Kairi was not expected to wake so soon – and the youngest amongst the three woke with a start, sitting upright on the bed with orange eyes wide open yet unseeing.

‘Uh-oh,’ Stein decided, recognizing that look – that look was frequent on Kairi’s face in the first three weeks she was rescued. These ‘attacks’ (as Seloria called them) came at random; some psychological thing that he never bothered to figure out the name to, only knowing it was linked to whatever happened to her in the years she spent kidnapped.

Among all of them, his mother and Seloria were the ones who could best calm the younger down, though Phiol did a pretty good job at it himself (he was not surprised at this fact, however – his eldest brother was the one him and Rityu had often turned to when they had nightmares and were younger). He barely gave Karyme any such inkling as he stood from his chair and sat on Kairi’s bed, his hands gently settling on her trembling ones.

“Kairi. It’s me, Stein. You’re all right. We got you.”

~*~

Karyme was not particularly certain of what happened, but that blank yet scared and haunted look in Kairi’s eyes was a little… upsetting. It did not really fit the mental image she had of the younger girl – one of an always-smiling, always-upbeat teenager who wouldn’t stay down, despite the fact she only knew the younger girl for less than a day.

Goes to show that not everything can be categorized, Karyme, a deep voice chided her at the back of her head, light humour in its tone – there was that unmistakable hint of curiosity about Kairi in that voice, though. The strawberry-blonde resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that, instead shifting on the bed so her legs could dangle off the side.

Stein was still quietly calling Kairi’s name, his tone awkwardly gentle; as if he’d never done something like this before. Kairi remained unresponsive, though her shaking had lessened down a notch – a good thing, Karyme decided, considering the amount of relief running through Stein’s expression.

Encouraged by the improvement, Stein continued whatever it was he had been whispering to the younger; daring to shift closer and bring the younger female into a hug (his position would hurt his back, however). As minutes passed, the blank look in the youngest Thyride’s eyes faded a tad bit, replaced by the usual light of life that shone – albeit dimly right now – in those orange orbs. Kairi blinked once, then twice as Stein pulled away – his hands never left hers, Karyme noted.

“Kairi?” he ventured softly. The cocoa-haired teen looked around the room slowly, as if not remembering where she was. Her eyes landed on Karyme, staring at her almost inquisitively -- Karyme herself meeting the younger’s still-blank gaze with a somewhat still one of her own -- before her eyes moved on, taking in the room before stopping on Stein.

With a sigh, Kairi fell forwards, her head landing softly on Stein’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I thought this was done and over with by now. It’s just… been so long since I last had one.” Stein sighed as well, his hand reaching up to pat the back of Kairi’s head.

“It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it,” he assured. Karyme slid off the bed then, her soft footsteps surprisingly loud in the quiet infirmary. Kairi, head still on Stein’s shoulder, turned to look at her, bangs falling in a rather haphazard fashion over her eyes as the older female stood beside the bed. Cordially, Karyme reached out and placed a hand over Kairi’s, procuring a lithe smile at the cocoa-haired teen in a reassuring manner.

“I know not much of what happened in your past,” she offered sensibly, “but whatever it was, was not your fault.” The Doyle heiress decided that whatever she said was what Kairi needed to hear, for orange eyes widened a little before that blank look in them faded away completely. A small smile graced the younger’s features then.

“Thank you.”

~*~

Nerion sighed, feeling the beginnings of a headache. Phiol was back in town with several of the town’s builders, assessing the damage done and the cost of restoring the town to its former glory. Rityu and Seloria were nearby, but found themselves in the almost constant company of some distressed town folk. Even his guests, Patricius and Beyza Doyle, found themselves helping out in the after-effects of the attack, with their only daughter stuck somewhere in its midst when the attack began.

‘I’m getting too old for this,’ he decided as Lord Vermios – or rather, just Abel to him and Yula – walked up to him, his green eyes troubled. “Lord Aitelorn-“

“Just Nerion, Abel,” he interjected. He allowed himself an amused smile when the younger male stopped in mid-sentence, jaw hanging. Nerion raised an eyebrow. “What? I, for one, have had enough of the formalities between us when you are Yula’s half-brother.”

Abel let out a quiet chuckle after a moment’s silence. “I suppose so,” he said lightly. “Right now, however, something rather… confusing… came to my attention earlier while I was working on breaking the Draining Barrier. It’s that girl,” he said, pausing a while to recall a name that Nerion already knew, “Kairi Thyride.”

Nerion nodded. “First,” he said, “how do you know Kairi’s name? Cain certainly did not tell you her name during the skirmish earlier.”

The younger male scratched the side of his cheek. “Well… I have my sources,” he answered vaguely, though the fact that Abel’s eyes flickered over to Rityu for a split second did not escape Nerion’s notice. So his middle son was involved. Nerion made a mental note to keep an eye on Rityu as he nodded for Abel to continue with his concerns.

“When I was getting about to breaking the Draining Barrier,” Abel said, his voice low, “I noticed in a quick lapse of attention that the younger Thyride had seals drawn on her right arm, and she didn’t seem to realize they were there. I’ve heard of the Thyrides needing rituals to control the demonic qualities present in their blood, but I have not heard of any one Thyride – up until their unfortunate massacre – to have the seals originally drawn on their dominant arm still showing up.”

Nerion’s eyes narrowed – this bit of information was new. Having sparred against the cocoa-haired teen alongside his youngest son, he was sure he would’ve noticed if anything out of the ordinary showed up on either one of them. The fact that he didn’t, alongside that Kairi herself didn’t notice anything odd was that bit worrying.

“Perhaps,” Nerion muttered after a moment’s thought, “it would be best for us to consult the archives. If we fail to find any information on this,” his silver eyes flickered over to Seloria for a brief moment, “Seloria might be able to help.”

Abel nodded, trusting the elder’s judgement on this matter. “There is another thing that worries me,” he confessed. “My source tells me that Cain has plans to attack another country some time within the three weeks.”

That was not at all comforting. “If we gather our people and send them there within a week, we would have a good chance of making sure that country still stands,” Nerion responded. “Which country is it?”

“Neutral country I’yn.”

Nerion resisted the urge to massage his temples. I’yn was at least two weeks away. If they didn’t deploy troops within a few days, they wouldn’t make it to I’yn on time. Yula, who had overheard what Abel said, had turned to him with wide eyes.

‘I’m really getting too old for this.’

~*~

Karyme’s easy acceptance of her attack without knowing the story behind it was confusing, Kairi thought as she ignored the older duo’s (Stein and Karyme herself) calls for her to return to the infirmary. Instead, she had jumped out of bed within minutes of recovering from said attack and ran out the door, prompting them to chase after her.

‘I need to get stronger,’ she thought, her hands tightening into fists. ‘I will not allow myself to be a burden in this war.’ Kairi pushed the doors to the training room she and Stein normally used open, marching up to the centre of the room without bothering to close the door.

Stein ran up to her and grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him. “Kairi, you need to rest,” he snapped. “You can train after resting.”

“I need to get stronger,” she reiterated her earlier thought, orange eyes narrowed slightly. “I have to. With how I am right now, I can’t be sent out to missions without making anyone worry if the mission will succeed! I cannot allow myself to be a burden to my mission partner – to you. I…” Kairi trailed off, feeling the drive that powered her sudden rant die out as she hung her head, refusing to meet their eyes, “I… can’t.”

She didn’t have to look up to see the look Stein and Karyme exchanged. She heard Karyme’s soft footsteps again and the door closing, and then she heard Stein sigh. “Okay,” he said simply, letting go of her arm. “Well first you have to get your weapons back. Think you could summon them?”

Well that was certainly not the reaction she expected. Kairi looked up only to see Stein looking at her inquiringly, arms crossed, while Karyme… Karyme had closed the door and was walking in their direction.

“Well… it’s been a long time since I did,” Kairi concurred after a moment. “I’m not sure if Mystics would answer my call.” Stein hummed in thought, and Karyme looked thoughtful.

“I don’t know if your Mystics are the same as Aydan,” Karyme started, holding a hand out and having her claymore appear in a rush of flames before she grasped its hilt, “but Aydan normally answers my calls, no matter the time period of summoning him in between.” She paused for a moment, pondering as she de-summoned her weapon. “It takes a while to summon him after a particularly long time, though.”

“So you mean to say,” Stein said, his tone questioning, “that the longer the time period between summoning your weapon, the longer it takes to actually summon it and vice versa.”

Karyme nodded. “Precisely,” she agreed, before both turned to look at Kairi, who had taken a few steps back. She smiled at them.

“Only one way to find out, don’t you think?”