Well, this took a bit longer than expected, but here it is. Next chapter might take a while to get up. Probably a month and a half if not two. Thanks for all the reads, faves and follows so far. If you want, please leave a review, they're always welcome.
~Kalafinn
It had taken Ciel days to get anywhere close to the path, or rather, the thread that bound his soul to Lu's. What had been an ample path that merely required him to say her name had turned into floating stones of light, drifting further and further away from one another. He had to take a few steps back, run, and jump to get high enough to reach the first stone.
His hands gripped the rough, glass-like edges of the first step to reach her. Then, he heard the thunderous roar of a crowd. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and once he set his two feet on the ground, he was watching two people standing in front of a giant gate that led to an arena of black sand. He saw everything around him as clear as day except for those two figures. The walls around them were made of blue limestone. Instead of torches or even lamps, the hall was lit by carved lines on the stone itself, which seemed to be filled with some kind of energy.
The half-demon took a step forward, rubbing his eyes as he yawned. He really should have slept more before attempting this. The figures in front of him became clearer. One was a white-haired demoness, most likely in her late teens, covered in full-plate armour. She carried her helmet, which seemed to replicate the skull of a blue-eyed dragon, under her left arm. A sword almost as big as her hung over her back. The weapon alone should have broken her spine, but the girl stood as if she were only wearing silk. Her blue eyes and horns shone under the twin blue moons, and when she turned around to face the open gate as well, Ciel saw her two beautiful sky-blue wings and the cross-like pattern that covered them.
She looked to the side, offering a cocky smile at the man who stood by her side. Ciel could not understand a word they were saying, but the appearance of the man caught his attention.
The man who she was talking with was probably her age. His silver hair was tied in a side braid that fell over his shoulder. His two black horns grew like the ones on a ram. The moonlight that fell over him revealed a crown of crystal-like magic hovering over the back of his head. The demon's eyes were a light turquoise like the seaweed off the coast of Hamel. He was not carrying a weapon, and, unlike the girl's wings, his were as dark as coal.
That man reminded him of someone. Ciel looked at his own hands, noticing he had long, white hair, and that his fingernails had grown blue. In fact, they looked closer to claws. The Steel Cross looked ahead, his ears perked up at the hearty chuckle of the girl.
"Come on," she said, tapping his shoulder, "Believe a little more in me."
"I'm just a bit concerned about your short temper in battle, my lady."
"Hmph. I don't get how you Cizins can fight with a numb heart. Bloodshed tastes better with a bit of joy and rage."
"Perhaps. And I know you're above the level of most other heirs right now, but I have to insist: be careful of Lord Macca."
The young Luciela rolled her eyes, "Barkat's too much of a coward to fight me seriously. He'll yield against me, Ainrad."
The silver-haired demon raised an eyebrow, "How are you so sure, my lady?"
'Ainrad?' Ciel mentally repeated. He watched in horror as an endless wave of memories submerged him. He was here to piece Lu's soul back together. The resemblance that man had to the monster who had nearly killed Luciela was uncanny. Even the name was only a syllable away.
He was in a memory, sure, but there had to be something he could do to purge whatever was making Lu drift apart from her body.
Lu turned briefly away from Ainrad, kicking the sand under her feet, "Because he came asking for my hand that day. If we're the last ones standing, he'll let me win. If I get cornered before then, he'll kill whoever I'm fighting."
The servant slowly nodded, "Understood. Then, I trust my lady will bring honour to the Lurelle household no matter what."
The young Luciela turned towards her vassal, and her childish pout broke away, "Drop the act. Nobody's hearing us."
Her intense gaze made her servant look away and pass a hand over the nape of his neck, "You say that, but I think there's a reason your father sent me away on that day."
"I know that much, but this arena is not under his authority. I doubt any of the Suzerain's men care about our relationship."
Ainrad turned towards where Ciel stood. The half-demon instinctively took a step back, but the Cizin did not even react. He simply looked back at his feet before returning a small smile back, "It's a safe bet, I suppose, if you're expecting Barkat to become the Soulscream. Nobody would care about his wi-"
Lu's gaze grew cold, "I'm not going to marry that disgusting freak."
The Cizin pressed his lips together for a moment, his fists clenched. His gaze locked in with hers, a complicated frown marred the light in his eyes. A moment of silence passed between them before he spoke again, "Ru, how long do you want us to fight a losing game?"
Her gaze softened, but not with hope. She licked her lips tensily, passing her free hand over the nape of her neck. She turned away from him, "Why do you think we're losing? You won against my father. You came back to me."
She took a quiet breath in, her voice became a whisper lost in the crowd, "As long as we're stronger, we'll win. That's...how it was supposed to be."
Ainrad suddenly rushed towards her, putting his hands over her shoulders, "Ru, are you alright?" His hands gently cupped her face, and his thumbs wiped the tears that began to roll down her eyes.
She nodded softly, but she would not say a word. The Cizin embraced her and left a kiss on her head, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said something so grim. I'll fight with you, Ru. We'll definitely win."
"It's nothing you said," Russiela replied, looking up at him, "I just...thought I saw something horrible."
The demon raised an eyebrow, "What was it?"
She shook her head, "There was a rain of light and then...I suppose the best way to describe it is that, for a moment, I was sure you had died right in front of my eyes."
The demoness broke away from the embrace, leaving Ainrad frozen in place, growing paler by the minute. She took a deep breath and put her helmet on. A brief halo of blue flames lit the dragon's eyes. Her horns protruded from the sides, from where the circles of demonic runes lit up, and careful links of mana formed a crown of blue flames above her head. Her weapon, too, seemed to come into life as its edges glowed with the same blue energy.
Even as a teenager, with that armour, Russiela was no longer a young woman crying into her lover's arms, but a fearsome warrior, wearing her courage as a cape. There really was no better name for the warrior she was going to become but Steel Queen.
"Ru, wait-" Ainrad reached out for her, and she turned back, tilting her head at him.
"What's wrong?"
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before he crossed his arms, "I'll tell you after you win, Ru. Don't let them beat you up." He flashed a brief smile at her, "It'd look bad, considering a Cizin warrior has been training you."
A warhorn drowned the cheers of the crowd, and the future Steel Queen tilted her head at him.
Lu chuckled, "You got that one right, Ainrad."
The horn echoed for a second time. She headed to the arena. In the distance, the crowd grew louder as the names of other participants were announced: Barkat Macca, Liore Imeron, Sui Wenjhi, Kaïr, and Sahir Saeron.
The man who was listing the names gave a brief flattering speech about each participant. Barkat was the last hope of the Macca to get a chance to rule as the Soulscream, a combat genius. Liore was from a family of ice mages, Sui was rumoured to have perfected alchemy for combat. Kaïr and Sahir were twins; the former was a genius spearman, and the latter was an equally talented shadow mage.
Lu took flight and stood at the gate of the arena where her name was announced:
"The lone maiden of the ring, fighting for the Lurelle clan! Woah! Her armour speaks volumes about her improvement! The wildcard of this tournament...Russiela Lurelle!"
Ciel followed Lu through the gates. Although he thought about running, when he looked at his feet, he noticed he was levitating. The moonlight was almost as blinding as the sun, forcing him to look at his feet until the discomfort in his eyes subsided. When he felt comfortable enough to look in front of him, Lu was only at arm's length away, her weapon ignited with bright blue flames. He reached out to her, grabbing her shoulder. The roars of the crowd faded slowly away, and Ciel could only hear a heartbeat. He felt the coldness of steel in his hands, and the icy blue energy enveloping his entire being. The half-demon no longer saw Lu, but he felt her to be close, almost as if she had finally connected her consciousness to his.
Dark energy crept from the tip of his toes and was rapidly consuming him. A wave of irrational power made him dizzy as he continued to dash around the battlefield. Ciel took flight, and time slowed down. The steel in his hands craved blood, and, more than everything, he wanted to crush everything in his path. Ain's grief-stricken face came back to him, the way his eyes stared at Lu's body. At that time, none of that registered in Ciel's mind. He simply took his daggers out of his pockets and slammed the Celestial against the wall, disregarding the pain of his skin turning red at the touch of Ain's skin.
When he threw the first hit at him, Ain merely closed his eyes as if acknowledging he deserved the injuries. Ciel hit his shoulder and felt the sting of the knife in his own shoulder. All the damage he did to Ain was mirrored in his body. Had he gone for the kill, he would have died as well.
'It doesn't matter anymore. As long as I get to avenge Lu…'
The mercenary embellished the memory, picturing a pentagram where thousands of swords erupted from the floor, tearing everything to shreds. As each blade flew, Ciel saw images of Lu's face, growing up from this moment onwards, but they all slipped away too fast for him to make out a coherent picture.
He squinted his eyes, blinking a couple of times before he felt he was back in Lu's memory. Ciel saw he had pierced the spearman's heart with the sword Lu would eventually name the Beastslayer. Kaïr wheezed his last breaths. He was a child no older than Elsword. His hair was a light pink, stained by the blood of another enemy. His grey eyes had a red, cat-like pupil, which was growing closer to a dead brown as each breath became shallower. Blood overflowed from his torso, and the petals of the gruesome flower that soaked his clothes poured down his arm. The kid's fingers were trembling, barely clinging onto his golden, bloodied spear in a vain attempt to pierce enchanted armour.
'What?' Ciel wondered for a moment if he was the one wearing the armour in Lu's stead. But before he could even process the fact that it was the weapon in his hands that had killed that child, his feet moved on his own, leaping away hundreds of spikes of ice that impaled Kaïr's corpse until it effectively dismembered him.
"Caelum Thaxra has drawn first blood! The wildcard is off to a good start!" the announcer cheered as the crowd's howls became louder than they ever had, chanting for him to continue. The half-demon froze in place, wondering why the demons in Lu's memories would know his real name. He was here to change Lu back to normal.
But he had just killed a child.
'No. I didn't do this. But Lu would never do something that cruel,' he reasoned. 'Maybe this is not a memory but a nightmare. That must be it.'
The chants for his name grew quieter, and the arena itself vanished, leaving Ciel standing in complete darkness. Islands of light floated ahead of him, way too high to be reached by merely jumping.
Lu's voice resonated within the darkness, "Yes, your books are right about that. We demons are monsters. Even as children, we kill to achieve our dreams. Or we die trying."
Ciel's eyes widened. He dashed around the darkness, looking around for that memory. He remembered Lu had said that when they were in Sander, just after he had confirmed she was a demon.
"Lu!" he screamed, looking left and right for any chance of stepping into a common memory and not the nightmare he had seen.
"You called those rules something...morals, was it? Hm, well, if those have any real weight on you, then I could give you a fast death. Which is what you would have chosen, I suppose, had you known my true nature."
A crevice of light pierced through the darkness, bringing a grin to Ciel's face. He ran towards it, ignoring the pain that crept up his legs and arms. As he approached, the light moved, growing wider and wider. He stopped, feeling someone's gaze focused on him. He could not tell exactly where the person was, but there was only one person that could reach him. He looked around him, but he could see nothing but darkness all around him. Ciel decided to turn around, but there was nothing new on the horizon.
"Why did you show me that?" She asked from behind him, where the light was.
The teary voice even sounded younger than the one in his memories. Was he talking to the younger Lu he saw in that arena? He raised an eyebrow, turning back at the crevice of light. He had to get there. The more memories he gathered of her, the sooner she would be back.
"Why did you stab him so many times, Caelum Thaxra? I don't understand. You have demonic energy so similar to mine coursing through you...why would you hurt Ainrad?"
Ciel continued to advance towards the light and coldly gave his answer, "He put a curse on you. I'm only here to undo it."
"I don't believe you. I remember he told you to 'save' me. If I'm cursed, he wasn't responsible for it. Ainrad and I love each other, so there's no way he'd ever hurt me."
The mercenary was only two steps away from the next memory. He could try to enter it, but instead, he stopped. Even if this was a younger Lu who did not remember anything beyond that battle, her cheerful certainty when speaking of the Celestial was repulsive.
He touched the crevice of light, closing his eyes as he searched for less venomous words to say. When he found them, he took the first step into the light. Ciel spoke softly as if to console her, "The Ainrad you knew turned into a monster. A monstrous Celestial who would not think twice before hurting you."
"Get out." Hundreds of voices identical to Lu's echoed as teeth appeared on the crevice. Then, eyes glowed with blue fire, lighting up the snout of a dragon flying in to eat him alive.
The mercenary leaped away from the dragon's jaws and sighed in relief when he saw it fade away. He looked around him, trying to find Lu again, but only an eerie, unnatural darkness remained. He saw something shine underneath his feet and thought it was the second shard he had to piece together.
He clenched his fists, seeing his hair grow shorter and back to its natural indigo. The light opened into a grin with hundreds of fangs that swallowed him whole. He felt his entire body burn from the inside out, and hundreds upon hundreds of warcries, wails, and roars mixed themselves into a grim requiem whose tempo was scarred by the sound of steel and flames colder than ice. He screamed , fearing that this would be his end, and closed his eyes.
Ciel felt himself being lifted into the air, away from the flames. When he opened them, he was back in his room, holding Lu's hand. The Steel Cross was drenched in sweat, completely out of breath. He looked around his room; the bags of weapons and clothes he left near the door were still there. His coat hung on the chair on the other side of the room and, most importantly, Lu was resting in the bed in front of him. He looked at her hand, the one he was holding. The hideous scars Ain had left her were completely gone, and he could feel her warm pulse.
Ciel felt nauseous by the same rapid breathing he could not quite slow down. He didn't feel ill, merely exhausted as if he had dashed around for a dozen miles. He had gone through all that, and he had barely undone the curse on her hand. The half-demon pushed the covers away, only for the candle of hope to be snuffed out. He let go of Lu's hand and, with a heavy, tired sigh, he passed his hands over his face, combing his hair back.
Lu was probably the one to kick him out of her mind. Yet, he swore to reach her soul again, whether Lu wished for it or not. They had watched over each other's back for so long; Ciel could not picture a single reason why he would give up on her now.
The door opened. The half-demon turned left, only to see Rena. The elven ranger had eyebags, and while her hair was tied back, locks of hair stood up on her head, some dangling over her ears. The bandages over her legs and feet worried him.
"Rena, did you get hurt?"
The elf combed some of her hair back, "I'm not injured. I was just training for a bit."
She grabbed the only chair in the room and sat next to him. Tears began to form in her eyes as she put a hand over her mouth. Ciel pulled the cover over Lu's head.
Ciel turned away from Rena, softly caressing Lu's hand with his thumb. Death's silence lingered around the three until the Steel Cross finally broke it.
"I managed to enter a memory," he announced.
"Oh, that's great," the elf managed to smile, but her quiet voice betrayed her weak facade.
Ciel glanced at her, his gaze focused on her bandaged hands and how they were nervously fidgeting. He had to ask someone about what he had seen, but perhaps not her. It was obvious she cared for the monster.
Her gaze caught his, and she clasped her hands together, "You should get some rest, Ciel."
The half-demon sighed, "I look terrible, don't I? But I can't rest. Not until she's back. I got her hand to look normal again, so I have to keep fighting."
The elf half-smiled, "And here I was hoping you'd be less stubborn than me." She stretched her arms up and yawned.
Ciel yawned as well, finally feeling the weight of three days without much sleep. "Was it my turn to collect information today?"
Rena shook her head, "No, you're free until tomorrow. The map shreds we've been gathering point to a deep region of the Shadow Forest. We're going to scout there tomorrow."
Ciel rubbed his eyes, trying and failing to shake his fatigue away, "We as in who?"
"Well, you, me, and…" Rena briefly pursed her lips and took a deep breath. She passed her hands over her face, "I'm sorry. I still can't process what happened. Today is the first time it...really hit me."
The half-demon looked at his feet, "Don't sweat it. I don't really hate you for that."
"Thank you."
Ciel glanced at her, "But I still hate that you're defending that monster."
Rena's ears drooped slightly, "I feared so."
"I don't get why you're attached, but I think I'm the last person who should judge you."
"I see. But you're still set on killing him, aren't you?"
"That's right. I don't know how hard it'll be, but we both know he needs to be executed. Will you still protect him, then?"
The elf slowly shook her head, "I'm not that juvenile. I can only hope I have time to say my farewells."
Ciel got up, "He's conscious right now. What's stopping you?"
"As he is right now, he is not the Celestial I want to thank for protecting me. But just like you, I saw some progress today."
The Steel Cross stared at her for a moment but turned away and walked towards the door. Before closing the door behind him, he glanced one last time at her. A single thought crossed his lips, but he could not dare say it, not when he watched her carefully pull the covers down, look at Lu's face without turning away, and wish her a quiet 'Good morning'.
With a pained frown, he closed the door and trotted out of the hallway, grabbing the bag he had readied the day before on his way downstairs. As had become his habit, he left the mostly empty dining hall with only an absentminded wave at the 21st who observed him. Winter was not quite done, but, for the first time in months, the grey sky over Elder offered the warmth of spring, and some waned bushes were unearthed from their graves of snow and ice. Puddles and small streams of water flowed like blood from the piled snow on the sidewalks. Ever since the fight between Rena and The Band, carriages had become a rare sight. Until the bridge was fixed, Elder's meager food supply was bound to become a shortage sooner than later.
Ciel yawned as he walked among the crowd, not quite as vigilant as he should be, but his armband seemed to be a good enough deterrent from petty thieves and the like. As he passed the ruins of the chapel, Ciel turned left, walking down an alley that led through five sets of stairs, each less decrepit than the last. The few rich merchants who remained in town lived in the suburbs.
In Lanox, the suburbs were villages like Ruben, but here, they were within the fortified city, only separated by rows of guards and tall Moonstone fences. The Fifth Water Guardian resided in some merchant's mansion, and Ciel had been ordered to give him a report on any changes in Ain's situation. He would give the lad the damn report, but first he had to ask him some questions.
What he had seen from Lu's memories gave him goosebumps. Were Celestials demons worshipping a different god from Sult? He vaguely remembered reading about the real El Ladies, who were blessed by the goddess Ishmael with enough Light to overcome all Darkness. Yet, there was something incredibly cruel in giving the Light to beings of Darkness and having them kill their compatriots.
As he finished climbing the fourth set of stairs, a gust of wind forced him to look at his right. The alley branched into a public balcony of sorts, where the snow was mostly untouched, save for the steps left by a half-elf standing at the edge of the place, resting his arms over the stone railings.
'Exactly the person I didn't want to see. Let's get this over with.' Ciel grumbled as he walked towards him, his steps unknowingly following those of a man whose steps crossed the place before the snow buried them.
"What gives?" Ciel asked as he approached the lad. "I was going to go to you, as planned."
The half-elf turned towards him, "Oh. I thought you'd rest first, considering how devoted you are to frivolous matters," he shrugged, "You also might have, I don't know, taken your time with a copious breakfast, talked a lady into sharing a room for-"
"If she dies, I die. It's not frivolous," he dryly cut the half-elf off.
The 5th Water Guardian yawned, "That's what the Altar of Dedication is for. For better or worse, if she dies here, you'll get more time than if she died any other way."
Ciel rolled his eyes, "Well, aren't you wise. I wanted to ask you something about the time when the real El Ladies existed. Were you even alive back then?"
The half-elf chuckled, "Oh, for sure. You've grown bold, 21st, asking your superior to answer personal questions."
The mercenary sighed. He really did not miss this part of his old job, "Apologies, sir."
"Apologies unneeded, but accepted for future reference," the elf sighed, "So? What is it you want to know about the old world?"
The half-demon furrowed his brow, not sure what kind of person the lad was. "I think it's odd for demons to cross the barrier from their world to ours so easily. So, I wondered if there were demons who crossed the barrier before."
The half-elf nodded, "Of course. They're natural conquerors. I personally lived through one of their invasions, but elven scripts suggest that they had tried at least twice before then."
Ciel tilted his head, "Why wouldn't there be scripts in Elrian about it?"
The fifth Water Guardian took a silver flask from his pocket and drank from it, "To fight the demons, humans developed technology so powerful that they later destroyed themselves with it. The survivors weren't literate, so all of that history got lost."
The copper-eyed lad stared down at his flask for a moment, slowly shaking the contents of the flask. "And of course, the oh so benevolent elves just stepped in to protect the meek humans."
The Steel Cross slowly nodded, realizing that he should have suspected a half-elf would not have the greatest bond with either race, "I see. So, I assume that the demons attacked where the elves used to live."
"For the most part," The Guardian nodded, his gaze snapped back at him, "Demons appeared around Ruben's forests first. Another group settled around Feita's mountains later on. And yet another group settled in the North of Fluone, near Farhman's Peak. They've always chosen one of those three spots."
The Guardian briefly smirked, "So, when the Church detected the 3rd invasion, I was sent to the only spot no humans could go: Ruben's Forests." He then put the cap back on his flask and continued talking as he put it around his belt again. "They were surprisingly hard to find. Even Celestials had no clue where to look. But once I spotted that one settlement, the Celestials carried out their duty."
"Wow," Ciel breathed out, masking his apprehension as surprise, "Was that what made you jump to your current position?"
The half-elf smirked, but something dark lurked in his gaze, "Of course. I'll tell you one last thing." The copper-eyed lad hid his hands in the pocket of his coat, "Three demons managed to flee that night. Two nobles and a young child."
His copper gaze became as sharp and cold as the blizzards that had shaken the sky, "Your mistress is one of those demons, isn't she?"
The half-demon blinked, taken aback by the conclusion the Water Guardian had taken. It was logical to think that, but he was sure Lu had never stepped into Elrios before he knew her. "I don't think so."
"You don't think so, huh?" the half-elf looked to the side, "Well, whatever. I want your report at this very instant."
Ciel sighed, "Alright."
He began explaining the state he had found Lu in, and the strange guilt seen on Ain's face. When he was reporting about Ain's suggestion to save Lu, he noticed the half-elf had turned his gaze back at him, looking no more interested in what had happened than before. The Steel Cross then filled in the events during the past few days, mainly focusing on the chase of Banthus' henchmen. He hoped that the Church would at least have some information, but to no avail. The Fifth Water Guardian shook his head, telling him to skip all of that and return to the matter with Lu.
Ciel obliged, telling him the memory he had seen in more detail and omitting anything that came after.
"That's all, sir," the half-demon concluded.
"Good." the copper-eyed lad nodded and gave his back to him, "Follow me. The Priestesses must hear your report."
The Steel Cross raised an eyebrow, wondering if he would have to testify in front of the seven priestesses. Ciel followed the half-elf half a dozen steps behind, catching up to him at the iron gates. The lad glanced at him before knocking on the metal with a ring on his finger. He gave three light taps on seemingly random spots of the posts. The gates glowed with mana for a moment before opening. The Guardian entered first. As Ciel followed behind, he could feel the elemental defence spell buzz like dormant lightning as he passed through.
The defence that went into this gate was nothing to joke about. Since he had not felt the mana of the gates until the half-elf tapped it, Ciel assumed the spell only activated when someone tried to open the door. Only the El knew what would happen if the wrong person tried to enter.
"You'll need to stay closer to me," the half-elf mused, "If you're afraid of turning to dust."
"Roger that," Ciel said with a yawn, speeding up his pace as the Water Guardian waltzed into a scenery that had none of the stench of Elder and none of its decay for that matter. The limestone blocks that made up the buildings had kept their beige colour, and the copper ceilings shone in green and gold. From the distance, Ciel could see the golden dome of Wally's castle crown the top of the hill. The surrounding walls were massive enough that half of the portcullis was visible from where he stood.
Trees and gardens welcomed them into a plaza where an imposing statue of Wally saluted the sun. With the palace behind it, one could have also thought the statue was giving an order for its troops to advance on any intruders. The latter was Ciel's first thought since it was possible the tensions between Elder's tyrant and the citizens of his town broke down as soon as hunger ignited the flames of rage within them. It had happened in Lanox less than a year before he was born, and the power-vacuum lasted for long enough that Ciel could not remember a day where Lanox was truly at peace before he left with Lu.
'Hopefully we'll all be gone before the real bloodbath begins,' the Steel Cross thought. The image of the demon kid that got killed in Lu's nightmare came back to him. He could see something like that easily happen to either Elsword or Aisha. If those two kids were taken out…then what? He did not hate the two kids, but if he had to choose between them and returning Lu back to normal, then their lives were meaningless.
The half-demon glanced at the mana particles dispersing right in front of him. The guard uniform the Fifth Water Guardian was wearing dissolved, revealing a white cape underneath it. The crest of the Senacian Church was woven in golden and sapphire threads on the back: two blue serpents wrapped around Illipia's golden, eight-pointed cross. The Kingdom of Senace had, for better or worse, never completely denied the history of the elven empire that used to rule them. In fact, they showed it with pride, and their church's crest exemplified it best.
'Kinda ironic that the Senacian wearing it doesn't share that blind pride,' Ciel thought as he passed the mostly empty streets of Elder's wealthiest suburbs. The silence around him bothered him more than the filthy black-haired thieves that roamed the streets. He saw some children and their mothers here and there. Judging by their clothing alone, it was obvious they were all members of the court, or at least the families of those who were part of Wally's court.
Once they passed the statue, the Fifth Water Guardian turned to the right, heading down an alley where the only other pedestrian was a woman that came from the opposite direction. She had short blonde hair, and she kept her blue gaze down. Her uniform was distinctly from Cobo, but it was fairly different from Ariel's. For starters, the bow on her hat was bigger than the other Cobo employee. There were two armbands over her sleeves. The one on her left arm looked to have something written on it, while the other seemed purely decorative. None of them looked like his own, so Ciel discarded the possibility that there was a third Steel Cross also working for Cobo.
The Water Guardian waved at her, "Good morning, Luriel!"
She lifted her gaze from the ground. Her gaze grew a bit wide as she adjusted her glasses over her nose. Luriel then practically ran towards them and deeply bowed. "W-welcomebacksAurelian!Ididn'tquiteaccept- NoImeanexpectyoucomingbacksofat! I mean, so fast!"
'Did she call him Sir Ellian? Was it Sir Elliot? Damn, that woman is good at speaking fast.' Ciel glanced at the armband that had something written on it. It read: Apprentice - please be patient with me.
A woman like that was not even good enough to be a Steel Cross apprentice, although now that she was up close, Ciel could see she and Ariel looked alike. They were perhaps related, but Luriel seemed to be only a regular Cobo employee. 'But if she were a mage,' Ciel thought, 'She'd screw all her opponents before they figured out what kind of spell she just casted.'
The half-elf chuckled, "I didn't expect to be back fast and fat in your eyes, Luriel. I hope I'm not hideously fat."
The blue-eyed woman stopped bowing, and Ciel saw her nervously fidgeting as she took a shaky breath in. This time, she spoke at an intelligible rhythm, "Uhm, well, no. You're as….as healthy as ever, Aurelian."
'Aurelian? I was not even close…' the half-demon thought as he sighed in defeat. 'And to think I considered myself the best at reading lips.'
"I'm glad~" Aurelian said with a grin. The darkness in his eyes had vanished so perfectly, one could be forgiven to think that, at that moment, Aurelian was really a kid.
Luriel looked calmer as soon as he grabbed her hand, and he looked up at her, "Did you contact Yoon?"
"Ah," Luriel shook her head, "No. I've tried all week, but he's unreachable."
The half-elf pouted, "That old man...Well, since there's no choice, I'll call him. Can you take the 21st to the bathhouse in the meantime? He really stinks."
Ciel could not help but frown a little at the comment, but before he could say anything, the half-elf had leaped out of sight. The half-demon then thought about the warning Aurelian had given him. He looked at Luriel, who simply adjusted her glasses before looking away. Then she took one step back from him.
"Uhm, Luriel. Do I smell that bad?"
Luriel vigorously shook her head, "Oh nonononononono!" She then bowed to apologize, "I'm s-so terribly sorry!" She then stood straight again, but her gaze was still fixated to her feet, "It's just something my sister often tells me to do. Uhm, you know, leaving Steel Crosses some space."
"Well, that's generally good counsel. But I'm practically retired now, so don't worry about it. You can stand closer if you want," Ciel replied. Almost immediately, the Cobo apprentice took a step closer. She stood at arm's length to his left.
"Alright. Then, let's go. The bathhouse is nearby."
They continued their way down the alley, and Ciel could only suppose that the warning Aurelian had given him before was just another one of his eccentricities. Between his madness and the one of maniacs, there really was only a small step.
He noticed Luriel glancing at him, but the moment he glanced back, the woman simply looked away.
"Did you want to ask me something?" he asked.
"Uhm, well…" The blonde readjusted her glasses again, "Usually, people ask me a lot of things about Aurelian. He's... he can be a bit of a weird kid sometimes."
"He's definitely weird, but he's no kid."
Luriel sighed, briefly pressing her lips together, "I suppose so. But I think that says more about how cruel the world was when Aurelian was growing up. I've heard that Guardians stop aging after they're selected for the role. I can't really imagine how young he had to be when he started as a Steel Cross."
"Elves age way more slowly than us," he replied with a frown. His ears were ringing.
Ciel slowed briefly his pace, the image of Kaïr dying in a fighting pit flashed again in front of his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes to push the image out of his mind, but instead of peace, the other image that came to his mind was that of Terre's death.
"Uhm, are you okay?"
The half-demon nodded, "Yeah."
"...Ok. If it's something I said, I'm sorry. You won't have to put up with me for long."
The blonde turned into an open boulevard to the right, and the sight of giant trees with foliage on their trunks lining up on each side of the road looked identical to the rows of moving trees that haunted the nearby forests. Ciel tensed up, fearing that those trees would start attacking them. Without even thinking about it, he took his gunblades in his hands, ready to fire it the moment the trees started to creak to life. Luriel had probably nothing to do with the danger ahead, but the thought that whoever put those creatures there had no regard for the life of a normal human revolted him.
"Uhm, 21st. I, uh, are you sure I didn't say anything wrong? I'm really not in the same line of work as my sister."
"Hm?" Ciel raised an eyebrow. "So, the 21st of Lurensia is your sister?"
It did not seem to him like she was lying, but he hoped the Lurensian Steel Crosses at least had qualms for their families. If so, then just who was the one who wanted him to die here? Aurelian? It was far more likely an elf like him could control those trees. If the dark elf in those ruins could do it, a half-blood could do it too.
Luriel hesitantly nodded, " ' 'tknowwhatshemight havesaidordonetoyoubutthere'sreallynotatraphere."
The half-demon blinked, "What?"
"Y-Your weapons. You, uh, thought this was a trap, no? There isn't any, but in the case there were, I swear to the El that Aurelian would guarantee our safety here with his life."
Ciel hung back his twin weapons over his back, noticing that the mana-sensitive tattoos on his left hand were not itching him. There really was no mana around them, which meant the trees would not move at all. These were normal trees.
"Not sure if I trust that guy coming to anyone's rescue, but I'll believe what you said before that."
Luriel turned towards him, adjusting her glasses. "That's uhh...It's been a long time since I heard that from someone. Thank you for believing in me."
"Huh? Seriously?"
The blonde bowed once more and gestured to the wooden building behind them, "Anyhow! Here's the bathhouse, uh...may I, uh, address you by your code name?"
The half-demon shrugged, "If you wish."
Luriel nodded, "Then, Ciel, I will wait for you here. Please introduce yourself to the owner with your full rank."
"Got it."
Ciel turned away from her, and before he pushed the door, he turned around and saw her standing in the same place, looking at the nature around her. She seemed far too naive, but that mirage hid someone who was undoubtedly wise. Without even knowing him for more than five minutes, Luriel had read him like an open book.
'Yeah, right.' he thought with a bitter smirk as he pushed the door in. 'Who's to say if it's really the first time she's ever seen or heard about me.'
Once inside, the air was warmer and oddly humid, considering there was nobody else but him and an old man behind the counter. While everything but the ceramic floor was made of wood, Ciel could not see nor smell the faintest trace of mould. His left hand felt briefly itchy. There was some mana around him, but not enough to be threatening by a long shot. The counter had two purple, and probably exotic, flowers sitting on the counter in black and white pots. The old man turned his gaze towards him and greeted him with a polite nod.
"Welcome, good sir. Are you part of the royal guard perhaps? We have a good discount for you."
The man had a long face, dried out by age like a prune. His nose was a beak from which two warts grew on the edge of each nostril. His eyes were a pale shade of grey; he was blind, or at least about to be.
"I'm not. I'm the 21st Steel Cross of Fluone. What are your prices?"
The old man's gaze widened a little, then he curled his lips into a smile as he stepped out of his office as naturally as if he could see. There was no doubt in Ciel's mind that the old man had memorized every corner of his establishment.
"Don't worry about prices today. Mr. Aurelian told me that he will cover your tab. Besides the bath, I can offer you what you need to cut your hair and shave, if you wish."
Ciel passed his hand over his cheeks. They were rough to the touch. "I'll take your offer, thank you."
The man clapped once, "Perfect."
He returned to his old post and crouched, disappearing from Ciel's sight. "Mr. Aurelian left a change of clothes for you." He took a deep breath and pushed a grey cloth bag towards the edge of the counter with crooked fingers. "Here they are."
The Steel Cross raised an eyebrow, taking the bag in his hands before untying the thin rope that kept it closed. Just by taking a glance at the set of clothes, Ciel could tell these were top grade. It was just the kind of uniform he would wear when carrying his missions before he met Lu.
The order behind the gift could not be more clear: Aurelian wanted him to look like the 21st Steel Cross in front of the priestesses.
"Thank you," he said before tying the bow that held the bag closed. He lumped the bag over his shoulder and waited for the old man to guide the way into the changing rooms. Once in front of the door, the owner asked him to leave his weapons outside.
"I don't like the idea of being alone and unarmed, sir." Ciel coldly said.
The old man nodded, "As expected of someone of your trade, but I can assure you they will fare better outside. This bath is heated with a spell that has already broken down quite a few enchanted weapons."
"What kind of spell?"
The old man scratched the side of his balding head, "My family has owned this bathhouse for generations, but we did not build it. We can only warn our guests of what we've observed through the centuries. If you insist on keeping your weapons, then you'll assume the risk."
"Fine." The half-demon took a deep breath, and left his twin gunblades where the owner had told him to. If anything happened to them, he would know it in an instant. That was the only kind of enchantment he ever put on his weapons, and the only one he had ever needed.
The old man nodded and excused himself, leaving Ciel to open the door to the changing room.
The room was wide and completely made of stone, save for the series of wooden cubbbyhole that were glued to the wall. He spotted two towels on top of the third cubbyhole to his left. He put the clothes Aurelian left for him next to the towels. He undressed quickly, already feeling the complete silence weigh on his mind.
He passed his hands over his head, undoing the mana threads that held back locks of his hair from getting over his eyes. For a moment, he thought he saw the tip of one lock turn white, but after blinking a couple of times, his hair was the same natural indigo.
There was no way he was turning into a full-fledged demon, he reassured himself. Lu had promised him that much. He grabbed the two towels, covered himself with the biggest one, and simply hung the other over his shoulder as he headed in for the showers at the end of the corridor.
The room he entered was built like a chapel, with arched ceilings and tiny coloured tiles that coloured the walls with a flower motif. There were six wooden stools in front of six taps. To the right of each stool, there was a shallow but wide wooden bucket with two soaps, one white and another yellow.
Ciel looked around to see if there was anywhere he could leave the towels he brought and found some hangers on the opposite side. Once he left the towels there, he sat down on the nearest stool and took the two soaps out of the bucket before filling the latter with water.
He emptied the hot water over him, picked up the yellow soap, and began scrubbing himself. The aroma of the soap was fresh like the smell of rain over the fields of Lanox. For a moment, he thought that he should take this chance to finally relax. He had no bandits to chase, no one to kill, and no nightmares ahead.
Ciel turned on the tap again, and as he watched the water fill the bucket, more and more thoughts came into his head. The water overflowed over his hands, and he simply emptied the bucket over his head, trying to chase away those thoughts, but they were an avalanche he could not escape from.
The bath was supposed to be relaxing, but the hot, perfumed water did very little to calm the thoughts that raced his mind. The monotonous sound of rubbing the dirt away from his body could not silence Lu's words from his mind.
Ain would never hurt me because we love each other.
He turned the tap open once more, filling up the wooden bucket to the brim. Then he poured its contents over his head, washing himself off. His hair fell around his shoulder blades, covering the only scar he had gotten from fleeing from an opponent. His shoulders, his forearms, his legs...they all counted scars of every tough target he had killed. And, most importantly, among them, there were some left by demons that sought to kill Lu.
Ciel got up and looked down at the scar that had cleaved his chest. The cross of his contract with Lu was painted over it, but the tissue had never fully healed. Karis's scythe burnt his bones with dark magic. He walked to the bath where he could soak for a while and sat down. The water reached his clavicle. Ciel put his fist over the mark of the contract. Ain, back when his name was Ainrad, had also served Lu.
As long as we're stronger, we'll win. You won against my father. You came back to me.
He sank more into the tub, putting his arms over the edges as he continued to stare at the mark over his chest.
There was a rain of light…
Ciel closed his eyes, and the image of the twin moons lighting up the night as if they were the sun transformed into hundreds of arrows of light falling from above. It was perhaps no different from the glow of Karis's scythe. Lu had to be behind him, or perhaps below him.
You had died right in front of my eyes.
During his last moments as a human, Ciel had also died in front of Lu's eyes. He remembered hearing her yell something he did not understand. The despair in her voice was unmistakably raw, and even through his fading vision, he could picture her reaching out for his shoulder. Perhaps it was something she could not do when the rain of light fell over Ainrad.
He opened his eyes and straightened up, wondering why, if he was correct, Lu would be remembering something that had not happened yet.
'What am I even thinking?' he thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his pruney fingers, 'They both lived through something like that before. That was the whole point of her saying you came back to me…'
With a heavy sigh, the mercenary looked up. Lu had said so many times she did not remember anything, and yet, when it came to Ain, she was inexorably gravitating around him. Her mind might not have remembered anything, but something in her soul did. She had had a close servant who clearly fought for her sake. A servant she grew fond of, up until the point she fell in love, and her servant loved her back.
"What does that make me, Lu? What was the real reason you saved me?" he whispered.
Ciel took less than an hour to finally return to the entrance of the changing room for his weapons. He had cut his hair back to his usual hairstyle and had completely gotten rid of his growing beard. His clothes made him look like someone even Lu would not recognize. His long, leather coat had the crest of the Hamelian church woven onto the back: an Illipain Cross surrounded by two cornucopias with the most recognizable gems of Senace, Sander, Lanox and Northern Fluone. The threads that made it had a special enchantment to make it so most onlookers would be too afraid to approach him, let alone attack him.
The white shirt he wore underneath was not that different, but instead of the ribbon collar Lu had given him, he forced himself to wear the standard onyx collar of a man of his trade. The black gem rested over a small silver cross, from where a simple black knot streamed down to his collarbone. His pants were also as black as a raven's plumage. Ciel would have felt completely at ease if it were not for the new leather boots, which felt stiff and rough on his feet.
In the end, he decided to put the boots back in the bag with the rest of his old clothes and took out his old ones. They were dirty, and the leather had started to crack, but they felt like heaven.
He picked his weapons back up, hung the cloth bag with his old clothes over his shoulder, and walked out of the establishment. At first, the sunlight hurt his eyes, and he had to look down for a few seconds before daring to look for Luriel.
The blonde woman had not moved an inch from where he had last seen her, and she looked at him before walking up to him.
"Uhm, uh, nice change!" she said, hesitantly putting both of her thumbs up.
"Mhm. So, where is Aurelian?"
The blonde Cobo employee muttered an almost inaudible 'Ah' before adjusting her glasses again. She combed her hair behind her ears and looked down, "I, uh, he told me we had two hours before everything was ready on his end."
She passed a hand behind her neck, "So, uhm, well, I don't really want to upset him. We have about an hour ahead of us. Uhm, is there anywhere you want to go?"
Ciel furrowed his brow at Luriel, remembering the elf's comment about getting a woman to share a room, "What did he ask you to do?"
The blonde clearly grew more nervous as she fidgeted in place, "I, uh, well, it would've been nice if he, uhm, you know, left me more instructions than just making you wait for two hours. It's, well, you know, uhm, really boring just waiting in one place. I candoitjustfine on my own,but,uh I'veheardissorudetoaskpeopletodoitaswellsothat'swhyIasked."
"I've surprisingly understood more than before," the half-demon thought out loud.
"Huh? For real?"
The mercenary nodded, "Well, I got up to the 'I've heard'."
The blonde tensed up, "A-are you gonna ask me to repeat it?"
Ciel shook his head and began to walk with determination back to the entrance to the wealthy district of Elder, "I'm not interested in knowing."
The Cobo trainee had to trot to match his pace, "Ciel, wait for me!"
Once she caught up, she was already breathing heavily, "Where...are you...going?"
"Back to the park in front of the entrance. If all we need to do is wait, then that's a good spot."
Luriel nodded, "Oh...Alright."
Ciel looked at her and saw that her face was completely flushed. Even if he had already seen her as someone weak, this was a bar even lower than what he had expected from someone with ties with the Fifth Water Guardian. It did not even take another minute before her steps were wobbly, and Ciel stopped, hoping she would not injure herself and force him to carry her.
Luriel immediately fell to her knees, desperate to catch her breath, "I thought...you were not gonna stop. Thank...thank the El."
"Do you have some water on you?"
The blonde nodded as she took a pouch out of her skirt pocket and drank desperately for it until her thirst was quenched. With a deep sigh, she got up again. "Can you please walk a bit slower? We're almost there."
"Right." Ciel looked at the end of the alley they were in and saw the statue of Wally he had first spotted. He turned back at Luriel, watching her get up slowly. She dusted off her skirt and gave him the two thumbs up once again.
Ciel made sure to match her pace, which was ridiculously slow by any means. Even Lu could keep up with him, and she inhabited a body even smaller than Luriel's.
The park was completely empty even if the sun was almost at its peak. There were some puddles here and there, but nothing that would make most people turn down a good day outside. Luriel found a dry bench and sat on it, taking her water pouch out once more. Ciel stood by the other end of the bench, staring at the castle in the distance.
"I think you'll beat him," Luriel finally said after a moment.
The Steel Cross turned back at her, "You say that because you think that's what I want to hear?"
The blonde woman shook her head, "Not really. I mean, it's obvious to anyone who's been paying attention to your group what you want to do," she paused, putting her closed pouch to the side. "But it's more like an inevitability. You're a group full of exceptional people who are still united."
Although she adjusted her glasses like so many times before, something about the aura that emanated from Luriel completely changed, "Wally only has a bunch of thugs he hired as soldiers defending him. Their only loyalty is to money and weapons, and that's about to run out soon. Even if you didn't plan to, cutting Wally's memorial bridge was your best move. You're starving them." She rested her chin over her knuckles and sighed, "What's more is that no one in his Court supports him. Even if you all split up, whoever stayed here would win against Wally."
Ciel chuckled, "Now I get it. You're an Agent for the Steel Crosses, aren't you?"
Luriel shook her head, "I could have been. But I failed my entry exams," she passed a hand over the nape of her neck, "I'm glad I never got into that world. I... see an assassination like a boardgame. I only have to predict the moves of the enemy to win. But once I know that victory means the death of people…"
She chuckled, "Well, uhm, I just can't think anymore. I picture everything I write so clearly that just seeing the target dying the way I've written it to happen disgusts me. Instead, I've dedicated myself a bit to alchemy."
"Hm, I see."
The half-demon frowned, rubbing his temples as the ring turned into a headache. He sat down on the bench, holding his head with his hands. His breathing grew heavier. He felt his heartbeat in his temples, and his body was growing cold. It was exactly the symptoms he felt whenever Lu had overexerted her powers. However, he knew she was still unconscious, so there could not be anything that she had done to inflict this on him.
'What is it then? What happened? Is it Ain again?'
He could hear Luriel say something, but he was no longer seeing anything besides what was directly in front of him. He felt her hand over his shoulders and saw her other hand leave a flask of the purple-blue potion that had saved him so many times.
Ciel took it and emptied its contents, recognizing the bitter flavour of the potion.
Once he was done, he felt almost completely back to normal. Yet, he still had a dull pain palpitate from the back of his head. It was odd, but the half-demon dismissed it as a side effect of his poor sleep schedule.
Ciel looked at her, "You...did you make these?"
The woman weakly nodded, "Yes."
"Well," Ciel kept the empty flask in his hand and put it in his coat's pocket, "Thank you. Without these, I would've turned into a demon a long time ago."
Luriel's gaze grew just a bit darker, despite the timid smile that crawled on her face, "I'm glad that it has helped you. You know, I, uhm, my mentor forbade me to make more. But, well, uhm, I got 3 flasks left with me. I can find a way to deliver them to you."
"If you're not putting yourself in danger for doing so, then sure."
The remaining minutes passed by with more moments of silence. Ciel did not mind the silence, but he could not shake the feeling that there was something a question she wanted to ask him but chose not to. Her timid nature was forged with sadness. Ciel pitied her for it, but also wondered what kind of ability Luriel was hiding. Steel Crosses led a job where no family member was ever safe. Ariel had been killing people long enough to become 21st, and her younger sister was still alive. The Church mostly left the families of their executioners on their own. Luriel undoubtedly had a brilliant mind, enough to be a mage. But if that were the case, it had to be some kind of rare magic, perhaps one bound to a Lurensian bloodline.
'Perhaps she's a noble…' he thought, 'Or was. Now that I remember, there was some talk of a recent civil war from the Velderian sailors that got to Lanox.'
Luriel looked at her pocket watch for the fifth time before getting up, dusting her skirt off once more. He followed her lead, and this time, she only briefly turned towards him before walking north, where Wally's fortress was.
The houses in the northern districts turned from being merely luxurious to full-scale mansions. Sumptuous gardens and highly decorated iron gates stretched to the end of each block..
They finally turned left over a curved boulevard, heading to an inn that had nothing to envy from the residences that surrounded it, save for the gardens. Ciel looked at the curious wood sign that read: Royal Passage. The lilac dye on the wood looked to be natural, but there were no trees around the region that were naturally purple. The building itself had more in common with Senacian architecture than the Velderian style of all the buildings around it.
The white marble facade was held by pillars of the same material, which supported an aquamarine dome from where the cross of Illipia crowned the whole. There were no windows to be seen on the main floor, but Ciel could see some on the second, and a small balcony on the turret that ultimately supported the dome. Local purple and red flowers hung from flower pots on the porch. They were held by shining mana threads that were shaped like vines. Ciel figured that since Elder's climate did not allow for the famous Senacian vine lilies to grow, whoever had built the hotel had decided to replicate the same effect in one of the most complex ways possible.
The door was made of Senacian Grey Wood, a material that, once varnished, looked almost indistinguishable from marble. Luriel opened the door for him and nudged her head.
"You have other errands?" he guessed.
"Uhm, well, yes. I actually do. Aurelian should come down to the lobby, if he's not already there. Have a good day, Ciel."
The mercenary walked up the stone-paved way leading up to the open door, and once he took a couple of steps in, the door closed behind him as softly as a breeze. The lobby was striked by rows of columns, and the ceiling had a bizel effect that made it seem as if it were made of gigantic tiles. Lamps of El crystals hung from the centre of each tile, giving the classic, creamy lighting that made the structure look far less austere than it was.
In between each space of the columns in the centre, a pattern of two chairs and a floral bush in black flower pots marked the path to the counter at the end of the room. There was nobody inside but Aurelian himself, sitting on the chair closest to the counter, calmly reading a book that, even from this distance, looked ancient to Ciel's eyes.
"I'm ready, sir," Ciel announced as he walked towards the half-elf.
Aurelian's ears perked up, but he did not close the book even when Ciel stood in front of him. Instead, he only asked a question as his gaze continued to dance mechanically over the yellowed pages of his read, "Was it fun?"
"Pardon me?"
"Your date with Luriel. Was it fun?"
The Steel Cross frowned at his superior, deciding it was best for the moment to keep his mouth shut. He could not understand why the half-elf expected him to go on something as pointless as a date with a woman he had just met.
"Is that a no?" Aurelian looked up at him and smirked, "Wow, talk about a nasty look. And here I was thinking I was doing you a favour."
"Are you serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" He closed his book and got up, "You're very good as an executioner, but that's not all a Guardian should be."
'So that was it,' Ciel thought, realizing that he had grown far too rusty at reading people. It was unlikely he would have to report anything he had told Aurelian to any priestesses. After all, that was the half-elf's role. The time he had with Luriel was a test to extract information from a person of interest without resorting to torture.
The half-demon's gaze grew wide, understanding the possible meaning behind what Aurelian had just said. He shook the surprise off his face, reminding himself to remain open to other possibilities that could be on the table. Lu was certainly a target not only for Steel Crosses, but there was no doubt some Guardians also had their sights on her. On the other hand, there was Ain's corruption. The situation could still take many turns, and most were not exactly in his favour.
"Now," Aurelian calmly said, stepping behind the chair he had been sitting on. "Let's get going." He walked up to the wall to the right and, by simply pressing his palm in the middle of it, circular waves of mana spread over the entire surface as if it were made of water. A blue light engulfed the room as a metallic gate appeared in front of the Water Guardian. He pushed it, and the heavy door creaked open, revealing nothing but darkness. Some mana oozed out from the open gate as Ciel approached.
He looked up at the edges of the door and could make out the runes of a rare concealment spell. The room they were going into might as well have been completely isolated from the outside world.
'There is a world of difference between this and whatever Ain put on his door,' Ciel thought as he stepped inside, following Aurelian only a step behind. The room was no different from the lobby, except that the gentle lighting was replaced by a blue glow that stemmed from the motifs on the walls and ceiling. The only thing that came close to it were the walls that led up to the arena in Lu's memory, but that comparison was shaky at best. The hue of the light was completely different and not as crudely bright as the one in the demon realm.
Instead of an empty counter at the end of the room, there was a communication orb in the middle of the room sitting on a stone table. Aurelian reached out for the orb with the hand he wore his ring on. The accessory shone briefly before sending a ray of mana right into the orb. It reached its target in less than the blink of an eye, and the sphere lit up in an orange light.
"Kneel," the half-elf ordered Ciel as he fell on one knee and bowed his head down. Ciel imitated him and, not even a minute after the orange glow from the orb cut their shadows on the floor, Aurelian spoke again.
"Water Priestess, Fire Priestess, I welcome you. I have brought the future Ninth Fire Guardian to you."
"Thank you," one of the priestesses said. Her voice was a calm river that cut through some of Ciel's worries. He was here to get nominated, but he could not quite change the feeling that there was something else that was going on.
"You may leave, Aurelian." the same priestess continued.
"...Understood."
Ciel glanced up and saw the half-elf get up. On the orb, the image of a hooded blue-haired woman next to a peach-haired one. The hoods matched the colours of their hair, and they were long enough to hide their face.
The light of the lobby clashed with the penumbra in the room for a moment before retreating behind the same hidden door.
"Ahem! Sasha, can I talk now?" the peach-haired priestess said.
The blue-haired priestess sighed, "No, Ignia."
She seemed to take notice of him, and when Ciel caught a glimpse of Sasha's gaze, he understood that she was not a normal human. The aquamarine flower that brought light to her gaze left no room for a pupil. It was a hypnotizing gaze, as vast as the oceans of Elrios and perhaps as unforgiving as the currents of Resiam's south coasts.
"Stand, Caelum Thaxra." Sasha commanded. As he did so, the two priestesses took their hoods off. Sasha's face was strangely pale, and despite looking like a young woman, nothing about her attitude was youthful. She held herself completely straight, with a ceremonial robe that had a cross-shaped brooch. It was different from both the cross of Illipia and the Symbol of the Steel Crosses. The fact that it seemed to be made of the copper and gold alloy the Resiam Empire was known for was a hint of where the symbol originated from. The hairpins that decorated her hair formed a crown of fins that rested over her ears. The diadem that fell over her forehead had a simple circle symbol that had more in common with the paintings of by-gone eras of Senacian fashion than any modern attire.
Ignia, on the other hand, was as bright as a flame. Her rust coloured gaze was odd, but her eyes were still perfectly human. Her hair was held in a ponytail by a childish, puffy black ribbon. Although she bore the winged brooch that identified her as the fire priestess, Ciel could tell that her red clothing was more revealing underneath her white and red cloak. While Sasha stood with her trident like a soldier, Ignia held her spear as if it were a broom.
The fire priestess tilted her head at him and briefly opened her mouth to talk, only to be shut down by a cold glance from Sasha.
The oldest priestess turned her attention back to him, "Tell me, Caelum Thaxra, do you fear the Fallen Celestial you travel with? Or is your hatred stronger?"
The half-demon could not help but tense a little at the sensation coming from his tattooed hand. Even if Sasha was not physically in front of him, her mana slithered out of the orb, chilling the room. He should have expected a question like that. Nomination or not, assuming that Aurelian was right, there were far more important matters at hand.
"Water priestess, I haven't met any enemies I was too afraid to fight. Especially if they hurt someone close to me."
"Would you say, then, that you are fond of that demon?"
He slowly nodded. Ignia's gaze widened a little, and she tilted her head for a bit before pointing at him, "Hey, Thaxra. Weren't you the one who tortured Lefaucheur and took out the rest of his mob? Why would you do that as a freelance mercenary?"
Ciel clenched his fists at Ignia's question, not so much because she had asked it, but how her gaze shone with mere curiosity at the most gruesome crime he had committed for Terre's sake. It was the crime that doomed him to choose whether to continue his road as a mercenary or die for his crime.
'Shitty brat,' he thought, 'Why is she asking me something she already knows? What kind of sick trick question is this?'
The tense silence and cold stare he directed at the teenager was enough to make her take a step back and nervously pass a hand over her neck, "I...guess I shouldn't have asked that. I'm sorry, I've just been a priestess for 6 years, you see."
"Yes. I took out Lefaucheur and his gang of aspiring blood mages," he finally answered, a tad more harshly than what he would have wanted to. "I had a personal grudge against his group."
"Ignia," Sasha called, turning to look at the fire priestess, "If you must ask a question that gauges his heart, do so directly. Asking questions you already know the answer to will breed resentment."
"But I wasn't sure if that was true, Sasha. I mean, a thirteen-year old taking out an entire-"
The blue-haired priestess glared at her junior, "If you are only here to satisfy your childish curiosity, get out or shut up."
The mana oozing from the orb intensified into a spiral current of wind, barely strong enough to be a breeze. Yet, judging from the way it lifted both priestess's hair and made their cloaks dance, Ciel could only be awestruck at the power Sasha displayed. Ignia's gaze briefly grew wide, and she took a step back as the wind died out. She looked a bit distraught but no more than a student who had angered their master.
When Sasha's gaze turned towards him again, the currents of mana that oozed from the orb returned to their steady, calm flow.
"My apologies, Caelum Thaxra," the priestess briefly bowed, "I have accumulated more power than what most humans should have. I hope my outburst did not affect you too much."
"Not at all. I'm thankful for what you said in my stead."
Sasha did not even blink at the comment and continued her questioning, " I don't know the matters in Lanox very well, but I've heard from other Steel Crosses that you are most zealous in eliminating the most vile mages. Blood mages in particular. From the moment you became a Steel Cross until now, have you only killed to quench your thirst for revenge?"
Ciel froze for a moment, but still found it in himself to speak, "What do you mean?"
"You have said earlier that you have never feared an enemy to not fight them, and that you made a point to fight those who harm people close to you even if they are stronger than you. That got me thinking that you are not loyal to the Church. You might instead find it as the only legal way to eliminate every vile person that reminds you of those who have wronged you. Am I wrong?"
The half-demon clenched his fists, looking down as his mind was growing blank of any possible answers to that question. He believed in the El and the reincarnation of the El Lady, but his faith in the principles the Church stood for went no further than what Sasha had just said.
'May it all burn in Ifritan's flames!' He thought, 'If they want me captured for cheating the law, then I can't do anything about it.'
"That's right, Water Priestess," he quietly said, keeping his head down, "After I took care of Lefaucheur, I was given a choice by a corrupt guard. I could either be hung for killing fifteen men or use my record to apply as a Steel Cross. Since then, I've taken my position as a license to, well..."
He thought about saying something more noble, like 'cleansing the world of all evil', but that was just a lie. It was a nasty lie he could not bring himself to say in front of someone who had done him a favour. "It's just been a license to kill for my own sake."
He paused and closed his eyes. Ciel could remember the evening he had met Lu. The necromancers he had just killed left a nasty trap for him. Every soulless abomination they had built went berserk. One was a giant of flesh whose skin was thick enough to stop even his highest caliber bullets. He fled from the enemy for the first time in his career.
As he fled, injured and without much hope to contain the threat the necromancers had created, he saw a girl in a blue dress, shivering under the sudden and cold rain that characterized Lanoxian summers. At that point, the only thing that crossed his mind was: If I let her die, I would let Terre die twice.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, he turned around to face the four remaining abominations. Ciel fought as if the entire world depended on him and him alone. The fight itself was a blur. Even now, he could not remember how he had riddled the flesh giant with holes. He only remembered that he went back for the shivering girl and carried her away despite the taste of blood in his mouth and the sharp pain he felt every time he took a breath.
"But," Ciel spoke again, opening his eyes. He raised his head again to look the priestesses in the eye. "That has changed since I met Lu. Maybe it's because she reminded me of my sister, but for the past year and a half, I can say I understand the Steel Crosses who do their job to save people a bit better."
Sasha put a finger over her chin, "I see. It is very strange for a demon to have any positive effect on its host. Truthfully, the chance is nil, so I must ask you a very difficult question to see if I am in the wrong."
Ciel nodded, "Go ahead."
The priestess let her finger slide away from her face and nodded gravely, "I will tell you the situation as it is. As the eldest priestess of the past twenty five generations, there are very few things that I do not know. The infatuation between humans and demons is not one of them, nor the corruption and death of a Celestial. And, unfortunately, I also know the effects of Henir's power on all living beings."
She paused for a moment, and for a second, Ciel saw her bite her lower lip. Sasha was hesitating.
"Caelum Thaxra," she continued, "you were tasked to kill the fallen Celestial known as Ainchase Ishmael. Doing so will ensure the survival of this region for millenia to come. Eliminating your target will undoubtedly kill Lu, too. Such is the viciousness of Henir's power."
Ciel's gaze widened, and in his disbelief, he chuckled. "No. You're lying. I'm undoing her curse by piecing her soul back to her body. She's not-"
"Then you have condemned yourself to death in her stead." Sasha coldly snapped back. Her brow furrowed, "Who told you to do such a thing? It's suicide."
Ciel's smile ran away from his face, and for a few seconds, he remained silent, his face paling. He swallowed and quietly uttered his answer, "Ain."