Maiden of the Sky, Master of the Tower
By CrimsonStarbird
-Crisis Point-
By the time that Wendy, Carla and Lahar had tidied themselves up, brushed off all traces of their stint as trainee chefs, and returned the forlorn maid outfit to the store room, they were in a much more serious mood. In fact, it was Matthias, sat sipping a milkshake outside the café with his feet resting on the table, who wasn't acting appropriately for his job – but then again, that was nothing new.
"I assume the fact that you're here means that the Blue Pegasus mages arrived safely," Lahar began.
"Indeed. Turns out the delay on their train wasn't sabotage at all – the storm had brought a tree down across the line." He laughed at the disappointed look Wendy shot him; she had been hoping for a daring tale of adventure. "It happens. Life isn't always that exciting – and trust me, Wendy, once you've been in this job for as long as I have, you really start to appreciate just how precious these boring, mundane events are. Those days when everything just turns out to be a misunderstanding, and you can go home and laugh about it with your friends… they're the days we live for."
"I'd take an ordinary storm over fighting a dark mage any day of the week," Lahar admitted. "I look forward to the day when inclement weather is the worst danger our society has to face."
"Not that dragging an enormous tree trunk off the railway line in torrential rain was much fun either," Matthias added with a grin, before the conversation could become too sombre. "The weather really is quite severe down in the south at the moment. I only just managed to stay ahead of the worst of it getting back – the storm will probably reach Era this evening. So the mages ended up going back to their guild, before the weather got any worse, and I brought the pendant here. You still alright to take a look at it for us, Wendy?"
"Yup!"
With a nod of approval at her enthusiasm, he tugged at a thin string around his neck, which revealed itself to be the long, fine chain of a necklace, most of which had been tucked away beneath his armour. He pulled it over his head and handed it to Wendy. A small octagonal medallion hung from the chain, small enough to fit snugly into the palm of her hand. The shape of a snake was carved into it; elegant and intricate, it might have been a stylish design, were it not for the sinister light which seemed to glimmer in the snake's ruby eyes.
She gazed at it for a few moments, though she was doing much more than just looking with her eyes. She turned it over slowly in her hands, letting the light catch on the twin fiery gemstones. "I don't think it's dangerous," she said, looking up at Matthias. "It's creepy, but it's… what's the word Siegrain uses? Dor-something… dormouse? No, doormat!"
"…Dormant?" Lahar hazarded.
"That's the one! The dangerous ones are the ones that wake up when they feel me looking at them, but this isn't one of those, so it's fine."
Matthias nodded. "I was pretty sure it was something along those lines, but it's reassuring to know that it probably didn't put me under some sort of curse on the way here. Just out of curiosity, Wendy, do you know what it's supposed to do?"
"Nope." She could have described what the magic looked like to her, but she had learned from experience that other people didn't find that very helpful. Instead, she offered, "That's the sort of thing Siegrain is good at."
"I'll go ask him then." Casually swinging it around his finger as if it wasn't an ancient, creepy artefact, Matthias got to his feet. "Well, I'll get him to take a look at it when he's not busy doing whatever the hell it is he does these days."
"And if he is busy," Lahar interjected hastily, "Then at least wait for him to finish what he's doing before bursting in on him."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Wendy glanced between the two of them, sensing that there was something more to that warning. "What…?"
Lahar gave a sigh. "Just something that happened a few weeks ago. You know how Siegrain has been avoiding us – well, avoiding everyone really – for a while? Well, Matthias got fed up of it. He stormed into the room, slammed him against the wall, and refused to let go until he promised to go out drinking with him that weekend."
"What happened?"
"He threw me out of the window," Matthias told her cheerfully. "We were five floors up. It hurt. Worth it, though. It was the first time I'd seen him smile in a long time."
As an approving grin stole across Wendy's face, Lahar hastened to add, "Of course, what this idiot isn't telling you is that Siegrain had been in a meeting with the Council at the time. Both of them were suspended for a week, and they had to pay the repair costs for the window."
"A small price to pay," his brother replied, with a dismissive shrug. "Or, it should have been, anyway."
"Why?" Wendy inquired.
He swung the medallion pensively back and forth. "Because I really thought I'd managed to get through to him, but then, that weekend, he never showed up. No one even knew where he was that week, while we were suspended. I went to his house, but the old lady who lives in the flat below him said she hadn't seen him for ages. Apparently it was normal for him not to come home for several days in a row. She figured he'd been sleeping at the office, but he definitely wasn't in the Council Headquarters; I searched that place from top to bottom. When I next ran into him in the Archives, he acted like none of it had ever happened. And I'd like to say that it was an isolated instant, but really, that's been the story of the past few months…"
Then, as if aware that he was drifting off into an uncharacteristic despair, he gave a sudden grin. "Still, I'm not giving up on him just yet. I actually have an excuse to talk to him this time; there's no way he can get out of this one. He's going to have to sit and chat to me until we've worked out what this creepy old thing does, whether he likes it or not." He tossed the medallion up into the air and caught it deftly between two fingers. "Thanks again for your help, Wendy. I'll see you round."
With that, he waved in farewell and began walking off in the direction of the offices.
"I know I've said this before, Wendy," Lahar remarked, "But that's one amazing ability with magic you have there."
"Well… I don't think I told him anything he didn't already know…"
"Maybe not this time, but imagine what you'll be able to do once you're as experienced a mage as Siegrain or my brother. And besides, if not for you, we'd probably still be searching for the first R-System, rather than being in the process of tracking down the fifth."
"I'm just glad I could help." And the wonderful thing about her was that she meant every word.
"Actually, Wendy, that reminds me. There is something I've been wondering about that, if you don't mind me asking."
"I don't mind. What is it?"
"How is it that you can find the R-Systems?"
"I can sense them. Siegrain's better at identifying them, but he has to get closer than I do. They all have pretty distinctive magic, and usually a lot of it, so they're easy for me to spot, even from far away."
He struggled to find the words to frame the question in his mind. "But how do you know what the R-System magic does?"
She blinked at him, not really following his line of questioning but wanting to answer to the best of her ability nonetheless. "I don't. I don't even know what the R-Systems are supposed to do, and I've been inside two of them. I just look for the signals. Siegrain's in charge of the rest."
"But…" He thought back to their second meeting within the Council Headquarters, when she had come running into the arena to announce the discovery of the very first R-System. "That day, Wendy, when you came to tell Siegrain that you had found the first one – do you remember? You had sensed its magic out near the ancient ruins, but you couldn't possibly have recognized it as R-System magic, since you hadn't seen any of them before. So how did you know to come and tell Siegrain about it?"
"Because it was the same magic that the Tower of Heaven had," she shrugged.
Just for a moment, his breath caught in his throat. "The Tower of Heaven… is an R-System?"
Wendy's eyes widened then, as if she was only just realizing the implications of what she had said. She clapped both hands to her mouth in horror. "I shouldn't have told you that!" she exclaimed. Her voice was so muffled that Lahar could hardly make out the words, but their meaning could easily be inferred from her frightened actions.
"Wendy…"
"Now he's going to be really angry with me…" she whimpered.
"Who is?" he asked, as gently as he could. She had clearly resolved not to answer, but with that girl, it was never too difficult to guess. "Siegrain?"
She gave a short, tight nod of her head.
"The Tower of Heaven is an R-System, and Siegrain knows?" Lahar repeated to himself. "He's intentionally keeping it from the Council?"
"Please," Wendy burst out. "He's going to be so mad… I wasn't supposed to tell anyone…" Her anxious eyes implored him; he felt a rush of guilt, as if he were the one who was keeping potentially deadly secrets from the authorities. "It's just… he's only doing it because… if the Council attack the Tower of Heaven, he'll lose any chance he has of saving Jellal…"
He gave a sigh. "I understand, Wendy. Really, I do. I'm sure you're right, and he's doing it for a perfectly good reason."
She still looked uncertain. He hated seeing her like this. After an entire day of working so hard, didn't she deserve to be happy? He added, "I won't tell the Council, or Siegrain, so you're not going to get into trouble. Okay?"
"Okay…"
Doing his best to push it out of his mind for the time being, he gave what he hoped looked like a normal, reassuring smile. At least he knew one thing that would be able to cheer her up. "But anyway, Wendy, isn't there something you should be doing?" he prompted, and received a sort of adorable confused noise in response. "You worked so hard to earn that money today, and if you're not careful, the shops in town will shut before you get the chance to buy anything."
"Oh!" She jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair in the process.
Trying not to laugh, he helped her pick it up as he asked, "Have you got any idea what you're going to buy for him yet?"
"I've been thinking," she told him sincerely. "I learnt something today. I think that things have more meaning if you work hard for them. And you and Matthias have both been trying hard to reach Siegrain, so I want to do the same. I'm not giving up yet either. So, yes. I've had an idea."
Her words probably made sense to someone out there, but by all accounts even Siegrain – the most fluent of all of them in whatever metaphorical language Wendy drifted off into on occasion – still struggled to understand her at times. There was a resolve in her eyes, though; one he knew well. "Alright, then. Good luck. Oh, and Wendy!" He called out to her as she began running for the main entrance of the compound, Carla flying at her shoulder. "Come back and visit soon, okay?"
"Okay!"
There was a smile on his face as Lahar watched her go, but as she disappeared from view, that smile slowly faded. His thoughts turned once again to the truth he had just stumbled upon. The Tower of Heaven was an R-System, and Siegrain knew about it. No, it was more than that - he had known back before the Council's failed attack on the Tower, and when Councillor Melchior had informed him that Jellal's cult wasn't dangerous to society and could be left alone, Siegrain had chosen to say nothing.
Matthias's words echoed unbidden through his mind: those days when everything just turns out to be a misunderstanding, and you can go home and laugh about it with your friends… they're the days we live for.
"This is one of those days… isn't it?" he whispered.
And as the last of the winter's chill winds blew across the training ground, bringing the storm on the horizon inexorably closer, not even the joy that spending the afternoon with the pure-hearted, determined girl had brought him could dislodge the worry that had settled into his chest.
Lahar had promised not to tell Siegrain or the Council but there was someone he could speak to without breaking his word – someone who had always been there for him; someone who was, in their own way, dependable.
"Matthias, can I talk to you?"
He called out to him; a quiet voice that should have been lost somewhere within the distant shouts and the stomping of boots on cobblestones and the rising wind, yet the other picked up on it straight away. Matthias turned, unusually solemn creases around his eyes, immediately asking, "What's wrong?"
At any other time he might have teased his brother, but Matthias knew when to be serious. Lahar understood this, and was grateful for it, even if his gratitude manifested as the slightly sulky response of a child. "I never said anything was wrong…"
"But there is something, isn't there?" he continued gravely. "Something you can't tell anyone else about." They looked at each other. Lahar didn't give any visible indication that he was right, but he knew anyway. At an unspoken agreement they moved away from the grand Council building, walking side by side through the gardens.
They were a strange sight, those two. Though they were related by blood, anyone who did not already know that detail might have struggled to see the resemblance. Matthias was older, taller, bulkier – even without the leather armour he never seemed to take off – and he effortlessly emanated a commanding presence that his younger brother, despite technically outranking him, had never quite managed to pull off. His hair was untameable, in a way that the Knights' formal uniform code would never have permitted; his face was ruggedly handsome, an accurate representation of his experience as a Council mage, if making him look older and more authoritative than he actually was.
By contrast, Lahar was the Council's youngest Captain by a significant margin, and he had been mistaken for a trainee more than once even after reaching his new post. His face was clean-shaven, angular, almost effeminate, and framed by long hair, clearly cared for and pinned neatly so as to comply with official regulations. The uniform he wore, spotless and polished with pride, did nothing to mask his slim build. As would have been expected simply from their appearances, he was inferior to his brother in combat, with or without magic, and he had nothing like the track record or legendary ability which had earned Matthias his reputation – and yet he was the one whom the people they passed in the gardens greeted. His rank attested to his reliability in everything from matters of war to domestic affairs; to his more than competent leadership which could not be observed from his external appearance. Matthias was never without that knife at his back, yet his brother carried a weapon only when his duty called for it.
A stranger might have been forgiven for thinking them total opposites – the rebellious, cheerful, wild elder brother and the solemn, mature, law-abiding younger one. In that, they would have been naïve. More careful investigation might have revealed the flour coating the Knight's fingertips or the stray soapy bubble in his hair from where he had spent the day skipping out on his duties as a Captain in order to help a friend; or could have seen how the Council's assassin knew when to calm down, be serious, and listen to the one who had come to him for help.
Their cloaks billowed out behind them as they walked. One was tattered at the bottom, and covered in traces of dirt from where it had been half-heartedly cleaned, and the other was as pristine as the day it had been made – but when it came down to it, they were twin white cloaks, proudly bearing the crest of the Magic Council. Not so different after all.
When Lahar spoke, the words that he didn't know how to say all came out in a rush. "The Tower of Heaven is an R-System. Siegrain knows. He's deliberately keeping it from the Council."
Matthias didn't reply immediately, nor did he externally react at all to those words. Anyone spying on the two of them from a distance would have been forgiven for thinking his brother had merely made a comment on the bad weather. He was, after all, a professional.
When he did speak, his voice was measured; even. "How certain are you?"
"Not at all," came the honest reply, though that honesty could not account for his worried tone. "I have no proof. However, Wendy told me, by accident, and I have never known her to be wrong in matters like this."
Once again, the other was quiet for a long time. The only outward sign that he was troubled was the palm of his right hand resting on the hilt of his blade, and even then, Lahar might have been the only person in the world who knew him well enough to pick up on it. "What do you want to do about it?" Gentle; genuinely wanting to hear Lahar's opinion before giving his own.
"I… I wanted to ask if you'd go to the Tower of Heaven and find out if it's true."
Again, Matthias was silent. Emboldened by the fact that he hadn't been instantly shot down, Lahar pressed, "You're the only one who can do it. You know exactly what an R-System is like – you've been in enough of them with Siegrain. And if you use your ability, there's no danger, and no one has to get hurt. All you've got to do is go there, take a quick look around, and come back, just so we know exactly what we're dealing with here. I know the Council has forbidden us from attacking the Tower of Heaven, or taking up arms against Jellal, but that's the whole point: we're not attacking Jellal, we're just trying to learn the truth. You can get in and out and no one has to know – not Jellal, nor Siegrain, nor the Council. Hopefully Wendy is mistaken, but if she isn't, and Siegrain really is keeping this from us… well, we need to know, don't we?"
Eventually, Matthias said, "I can't take missions from Captains. It's absolutely against protocol."
"I'm not asking you as a Captain, obviously." A little of Lahar's annoyance flashed into his tone at that; he bit it back with a sigh. He knew full well that his brother had no issue with doing things that were against protocol – he was pointing it out only for Lahar's benefit; to ensure that he knew the full weight of what it was he was asking. The Knight did. He wouldn't have said it otherwise. "I'm asking you as someone who wants something in return for having to put up with being related to you."
Matthias grinned a little at this, his usual mirth temporarily breaking through his sombre shell. "Of course I'll go, Lahar, of course I will. I do, however, feel like I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't point out that the appropriate action for a Captain in your position is to report your suspicions to the Council, rather than completely illegally enlisting the help of someone like myself."
"I know that. But I don't want to go to the Council. The last thing I want to do is bring a formal accusation against Siegrain when I don't have any evidence – when I can't see the whole picture. And besides, even if it is true and Jellal is in control of an R-System… Siegrain is my friend. I want to believe he has a good reason for keeping it from us."
"There's every chance he's doing it to protect Jellal."
Lahar nodded. "Wendy said she believed it was because, in his own way, Siegrain is still trying to save his brother. He could be lying about the Tower in order to delay our raid on it, and thus buy more time to convince Jellal to abandon his course of action. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. I almost want to forget about the whole thing and trust that he'll tell us about the Tower when the time is right."
"Almost?"
"Well… there's a reason why we're destroying the R-Systems, isn't there? They're dangerous – not just to us or the Council, but to the entire world! If the Tower of Heaven is an R-System, then every day we turn a blind eye to it is another day it spends moving towards completion. We can't just overlook that. The cultists in charge of the systems need to be captured and imprisoned before they can hurt anyone else! I know Siegrain knows this – if the Tower of Heaven belonged to anyone else, he'd have ordered a raid on it months ago. If he is being blinded by his compassion for his brother, then it's our job, as his friends, to help him."
"I can't argue with that," Matthias agreed.
"So go to the Tower and find out if it really is an R-System or not. If it is… we can talk to Siegrain about it before we bring it to the Council. Once we know for sure, he won't be able to lie to us about it or pretend that Wendy is mistaken, and he'll have to tell us what's really going on. Is that acceptable?"
"Yeah. I'll do it."
"And don't-"
"Don't attack Jellal, I know, I know. Not sure I'd want to even if it turns out he does own an R-System, to be honest. They're twins, so in all likelihood, his power is comparable to Siegrain's, and I sure as hell wouldn't want him as my opponent in a fair fight. I'll be careful. In, out, and back to the Council before anyone even notices I've left."
Lahar looked like he was about to say something else, but he gave up, glancing gruffly to the side. "Thank you." Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glitter of amusement in the other's gaze – one he immediately associated with the years of teasing in his memories. A little too quickly, he snapped, "What?"
"I wasn't going to say anything!"
"But you were thinking something."
"Well, yeah, but I don't see what-"
"What was it?"
He wouldn't be happy until he heard it, would he? Even if it was something he really didn't want to hear. "I was wondering if this is the first time you've ever asked me for anything."
Lahar blinked at his brother, an expression of confusion he appeared to have picked up from Wendy. "What? There must have been plenty of times when I-"
"Not trivial things. I mean things that really counted. When you were applying to the Rune Knights, or studying magic, or learning to fight, or going on your first mission, or even when you were made Captain at such a young age – at any point you could have asked me for advice, or to help, or to put in a good word for you with the Council or the other Captains, and you didn't, not once. You came this far on your own. Now you finally ask me, as an agent, to do something for you – and it's not for your own benefit at all; it's you trying to work out how best to help Siegrain. That's so you, Lahar. That's my little brother in a nutshell."
At some point during his little speech, Matthias had attempted to put his arm around his brother's shoulders, and much to Lahar's chagrin, he wasn't taking no for an answer. "I should have known you were going to use this as an excuse to tease me."
"Yes, you probably should have done," agreed the other, nodding nonchalantly. "But I do mean it. I am very proud of you. You know that, don't you?"
"Don't treat me like a child," came Lahar's predictable retort, feigning grumpiness as he fought his way free of that embrace with practised skill. "I outrank you, you know."
"But I'll always be the elder brother. Even if you end up as Chairman of the Magic Council, teasing you will always be my job."
Lahar turned away from him abruptly, folding his arms as he looked out over the gardens. "Just go, already. And come straight back."
"Alright, alright," Matthias grumbled, but even without turning round, his brother knew that he was fighting to suppress a grin. "I'll see you later."
"Don't do anything stupid," Lahar muttered, but when he glanced over his shoulder, Matthias was nowhere to be seen.
A/N: Shamelessly throwing flags everywhere, because subtlety is overrated. It's a very short chapter this time, but I'm sure you can see why I want to end it here. I actually really enjoyed writing that last scene. I don't get much chance to develop the other characters when Jellal is around, so doing a couple of chapters without him has been pretty interesting for me. He'll be back next chapter, though. Oh boy, will he be back. Hehehehehehe.
Oh, and before I forget, I've got two weeks of Finals coming up soon, which will probably interfere with my uploading schedule. There will definitely be a chapter next week (I wouldn't leave it at a point like this!) but after that, chapters may appear on weird days or not at all. Worst case scenario, I might have to skip two weeks of updating entirely. But, essentially, if you don't hear from me, it's because I'm unavoidably busy, and weekly updates will resume once my exams are over. ~CS