Hello again to my viewers! While I'm here I'd like to thank presea221, for being a constant reviewer, and Defiance of Fate, for helping me work out the kinks in this story. I hope I didn't leave you on a bad cliffhanger, cause if I did then you'll hate the cliffhanger at the end of this chapter. I'm not sorry. So without further ado: Chapter 7! Enjoy!


Broken Peace

~6 weeks and 5 days before Fall of Akzeriuth~

Listening to the council men argue was not how Lythia wanted to spend her day, but alas, once again she was watching two representatives from some of the Minor houses argue against each other with a representative of one of the Major houses occasionally made casual imput.

"I do believe gentlemen," Lythia snapped, her eyes closed and brow creased, "that this argument has progressed far enough. I fail to see your point though, Lord Vyathir. How does starting a war with Kimlasca gain us anything?"

The man turned to face Lythia with a slight sneer on his face. Lythia still hadn't regained the lost respect from some of the council members even after almost eight months.

"Princess Lythia," the man said in a condescending tone. "It is not your place to understand the delicate art of war."

Lythia's eyes snapped open, flashing with anger. In a fluid movement she walked towards the dark haired lord, drawing her rapier from her side and slashes the weapon forward with an upward stroke that would have sliced the man's chest open if she hadn't stopped her hand when the blade was an inch from Vyathir's body.

"It would serve you well to remember that I was one of the soldiers who fought in the Hod War fifteen years ago," she growled. "I saw first-hand the effect of the war upon this country. No matter what you say, you cannot justify another war with Kimlasca. Nothing will come out of yet another war with the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. Never insinuate that just because I am the princess I don't know how war works, for you, Lord Andreas of House Vyathir, know very well that despite twenty-four years of living with the name Lillian, I still am a Major of the Third Division, of our Imperial Forces."

She sheathed her weapon and addressed the room.

"I will not sanction war with Kimlasca until they are openly hostile, at which time, should my Lord Brother remain reluctant, I will join you in your attempts to convince him."

"Princess," she heard the voice of General Frings, and she winced at his use of her title.

"Yes General?" she asked, looking towards the white haired man.

"Emperor Peony wishes to speak to you privately," the man said. Lythia left the room, listening to the dead silence that filled it with a smile. Sometimes, very rarely at that, Lythia loved being the Princess.

"What did you do to them Lythia?" Peony asked, his hand brushing imaginary dust off his sleeve as the blonde woman approached him.

"Nothing much," Lythia replied with a grin. "But I wouldn't be surprised if someone demands my execution."

"Nothing much and they'll be demanding your execution?" Peony spluttered. "What would they call for should you suddenly go rogue?"

"The same thing," she replied cheerfully. Peony shuddered as the blonde woman yet again showed that she was indeed Jade's sister.

"Well, the council aside," he stated, growing serious, causing the grin to slip from Lythia's face slightly. "I need you to accompany Jade on a mission."

"Where are you sending us?" she asked.

"Daath, then Baticul," the Emperor replied. "I'm sending you on a mission of peace. Jade will explain the rest to you, so go now."

With a salute and a quick goodbye Lythia ran off, leaving a chuckling Peony behind her. Along the way she saw Arya talking to Caius, her newest retainer, in addition to Arya, who had taken up the position as her retainer as well as handmaiden. They were wearing fitted Malkuth military uniforms which Lythia really didn't like, but couldn't do anything about until they reached the age of eighteen.

"Good to see you both here," she said, slowing to a walk. "I'm glad your both wearing the uniforms I had you get. Come, we must go meet Colonel Curtiss."


"Hello brother."

"Lythia."

"Is there a reason why you are looking at my file?"

"How much has changed in twenty-four years?"

"A lot Jade, but how is that relevant?"

"I've just noticed that your artes are darker."

"Darker yes, but no less powerful."

"Perhaps more powerful?"

"I don't care if they are more powerful or not. They helped me hide who I was."

"I suppose they did. Can you still cast them? Your old artes?"

"O light of the heavens, guide my hand… Smite!"

"So you can. Not much has changed it seems, while at the same time everything has."

"Are you alright brother? It's not like you to speak such common riddles."

"Oh I'm fine."


~6 weeks and 2 days before Fall of Akzeriuth~

"You, there! Move your coach before you get caught in the crossfire!"

Chasing the Dark Wings was annoying. Lythia knew this, Jade knew this. However, her brother still insisted that they go after the fontech vehicle that the bandits rode.

"I swear to Lorelei, Jade Curtiss, if these damned bandits get away I will personally murder you," Lythia growled with a glare at her brother. She watched the passenger coach that Jade had called out to swerve to get out of the way. She sympathized in them, before returning her attention to the men on the bridge.

"Commander!" The soldier closet to Lythia called. "Enemy has crossed Rotelro Bridge! They are putting gunpowder on the bridge!"

Lythia walked behind the soldier, watching him assess what was happening.

"My, my. They intend to drop the bridge do they?" The crimson eyed man asked cheerfully.

"Brother," Lythia snapped, aiming another glare at him.

"Fon slot activation detected!" Called the soldier in front of Lythia.

"The enemy set off fonic artes using the Fifth fonon!" Another soldier called. "The bridge is going to explode!"

Jade looked at his furious sister as he gave the command for the Tartarus to stop. Her violet eyes screamed retribution. Well he was saved from whatever pain she wanted to put him through by Caius walking up to her with a report. Lythia stopped glaring daggers at Jade as her full attention was focused on her young retainer. Then she followed the boy off the bridge with one last chilling glare at her brother.

Walking the corridors of the Tartarus was interesting when Caius and Arya were together, even more so, verging on amusing, when Lythia was with them. The two children would get confused and argue over which doors where the right ones. Such was the same now, as Arya had been waiting for Caius to extract Lythia from the bridge. With a smile, the ward princess of Malkuth, followed the two children as they fought.


~6 weeks and 1 day before Fall of Akzeriuth - Engeve~

"Fon Master," Lythia called. "Why are you so intent on searching the storehouse?"

Engeve was a lovely town, Lythia always enjoyed visiting the villagers and she knew that she had their unwavering loyalty. She was glad for that. At current, Lythia was following Fon Master Ion through the empty storehouse of the innkeeper, Kelly.

"I have to know who stole the food Lythia," Ion replied, picking up something from the corner, turning back to the woman with him. "And it appears that I have discovered who."

"Cheagle fur?" Lythia exclaimed, plucking the pale fur out of the Fon Master's hands and raising it to her eye level. She placed it back into Ion's hands, then brought her finger to her chin in contemplation. Suddenly, she remembered something, a letter she had received a few days ago from Arietta. It had mentioned something about cheagles and ligers. She had a feeling that the letter held important information, but Lythia couldn't recall that information.

Arya ran into the storehouse with a panicked look on her face.

"Milady!" she called, desperately. "Caius found that letter you showed me when I first became your handmaiden!"

"Which letter wa_?" Lythia's question snapped off, as her eyes widened in horrible realisation. "No… Forgive me Fon Master, I have to go."

The green haired boy watched with a wry smile as the blonde haired woman chased after the black haired child.


~6 weeks and 1 day before Fall of Akzeriuth – The Tartarus~

Lythia hated when her safety measures failed. The one letter she kept hidden from everyone was discovered on chance by her retainer. Curses upon Peony's dead sister. Lythia had left Arya on the bridge of the Tartarus as she went to find her other young retainer. Caius was looking at the top of the letter, it seemed to mostly folded, causing Lythia to suspect that he hadn't read far before he had stopped.

"Lythia Kari Malkuth," the teen murmured.

"Yes, that is the name that I was given when I was taken into the Emperor's family," Lythia said blandly, causing the boy to jump. The blonde woman snatched the paper from Caius' hands, folding it neatly and placing it in her uniform pocket.

"No one ever says it around the palace," he stated, confused.

"Of course not," Lythia replied, indicating for Caius to follow her through the corridor of the Tartarus. "There is hardly anyone in the palace who knows that name. Even Emperor Peony doesn't know that name."

"But_?"

The lightly tanned hand of Lythia cut Caius' question off before he could ask it.

"You will not tell anyone, not even the Emperor, that name, nor tell anyone anything you may have read in that letter," Lythia ordered quietly. When Caius had nodded, Lythia let a gentle smile form on her face.

"Thank-you child," she whispered, before raising her voice cheerfully. "Now, since we are here, why don't we go collect Arya and then see if we can convince Captain Eden to spar, see if we can't jog that memory of yours?"

She placed her hand on the teen's head, ruffling his brown hair lightly. Lythia remembered the day, about a month ago, he had come to the palace, asking for work, unable to answer questions asked of him because of his amnesia. All he knew was his name. Jade had verified his claim of amnesia, and Lythia had taken pity on the teen, taking him on as her retainer. He seemed to be quite good at fonic artes and he could use a staff with great skill.

The two of them walked to the bridge, and Lythia sighed as she saw Jade talking quietly to Arya.

"Stop trying to corrupt my retainer, Jade," the woman complained lightly to her brother. The wicked grin that she was given in return had Lythia suspicious, but she said nothing about it.

"Ah, Major Balfour," Jade said, both siblings twitching slightly at the name. "How kind of you to join us, perhaps you can end this debate?"

Lythia tilted her head to the side, silently telling her brother to continue.

"Young Arya here believes that the Emperor's sister died at the hands of an assassin," the brunette soldier stated, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "I, however, am quite certain that it was confirmed that the princess died due to poisoning."

"It's not possible for my lady's adopted sister to have died of poison," Arya interrupted snappishly. "She taught Lady Lythia about poisons. There is no way she'd_"

"Arya."

The black haired girl fell silent as Lythia's cold voice rang out loudly, her eyes glinted like steel.

"It doesn't matter how my lady sister died," she said, her voice frosted and hard. Her eyes flicked to the left, away from the faces of Jade and Arya. "I don't know how she died; I only know that she did."

Jade's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but he didn't say anything. Beside him, the young black haired girl shivered. The cold atmosphere seemed to lift as Lythia muttered something in Ancient Ispanian, before smiling and brushing her fringe away from her eyes.

"Arya. Caius and I were about to go spar, would you care to join us?" She asked, as if she hadn't just spoken with frozen tones. All the child could do was nod her ascent and follow as the blonde haired woman walked back off the bridge. Jade followed them, claiming to wanting to make sure that they didn't destroy his ship with their attacks.


"Arya, arm up! Your rapier is lighter and moves easier than Caius' staff and you must move and defend him while he is casting. You don't have time to let your arm rest! Attack Colonel Curtiss like you did months ago!"

Lythia called out correction after correction at her two young retainers as they worked together to try and knock down Jade, who had grudgingly agreed to be their target. In the hour that the bout had progressed, both siblings had shouted out their fair share of advice, even if Jade's had been thrown out as insults.

Arya ran forward again, growling in frustration, trying to keep the modified weapon in her hand raised high. The rapier in question was a fair bit shorter than the one that Lythia wielded, to accommodate the child's young age. The black haired girl cried out in shock as Jade's lance knocked her weapon out of her hand, and she quickly jumped away.

"Milady, this is different from then!" Arya complained. Lythia called a halt to the fight, and Caius allowed the fonons he had gathered to disperse as Arya picked her rapier off the floor. The blonde woman walked to stand beside her brother.

"Is it really?" she asked, pulling out her knife that always slept in her sleeve. Handing the knife to Jade, she suddenly found the blade at her neck and her arm restrained behind her.

"How about now?" she asked, quite calmly. "Is this still different? In a mock battle such as our sparring, same as the mock ambush that was set up to catch out Serill, the combatants simply act out a scenario where the outcome is unknown. The victory is dependent on the combatants' skill and experience on the battlefield."

Caius frowned, tapping his finger against the wooden pole of the practice staff he had been using.

"Therefore, you are saying that we should treat our opponent's in the sparring ring as enemies?" he asked. Jade handed Lythia her knife back and released her arm. The brunette man then cast his gaze upon the boy.

"That is exactly what she is saying," he replied. "Now, Lythia, it is time for the children to go to bed. They have a long walk to St Binah tomorrow."

The two siblings started laughing as Arya and Caius protested. With a smile, Lythia ordered her retainers to pack up their weapons. The children did so, as Lythia and Jade spoke quietly in the corner. The blonde woman had seemingly forgotten her annoyance from that morning, or perhaps she was just waiting for the right time to get her revenge.


~6 weeks before Fall of Akzeriuth – Lythia~

Her brother had helped kill the Liger Queen. That was all her mind focused on. She didn't care that the man had brought back two strays, or that the red haired one was extremely rude. Lythia only cared that Jade had helped kill Arietta's mother. The blonde woman was furious, but understood that there was no time to think of the aftermath when one was trying to protect the Fon Master. Though, she kind of wished that she hadn't stayed on the Tartarus when Jade followed Ion and his unlikely companions into Cheagle Woods.

"I will try to talk Arietta out of revenge killing, brother dearest," Lythia had said with a poisonous tone, as he went to interrogate the people who had been accompanying the Fon Master. "I cannot however say I will stop her from maiming you."

How she found herself face to face with the people who her brother had brought aboard the ship was a good question. Apparently Jade had told them to ask around and learn about the people on the Tartarus. So here she was.

"Hello," Lythia greeted pleasantly, avoiding a noble speech pattern deliberately. "Are you the two strays that Colonel Curtiss collected from Engeve?"

The red haired boy looked indignant and opened his mouth, probably to make a rude retort if his expression was anything to go by, but he was stopped by the woman beside him.

"Greetings, I'm Tear Grants," she introduced herself, before indicating to the red head. "This is Luke."

"Luke fon Fabre?" Lythia asked with interest. "I've heard a bit about you from Dorian General Grants during my numerous visits to Daath. Are you then, Locrian Sergeant Tear Grants, his sister that he has also told me a bit about?"

"You know Master Van?" Luke asked eagerly. He sure changed his tune quickly, Lythia mused. She looked at the boy, noting his appearance with interest.

"Yes, I do know Van Grants," she replied, before tilting her head to the side with a probing expression. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone named Asch would you?"

Confusion was evident on both their faces, so the blonde haired woman dismissed her question with a wave.

"Nevermind. Anyway, I am Major Lythia Balfour," she said. Turning to Tear, she spoke in the most cryptic voice she could muster. "If the name Fende means anything to you, be weary of the son of that family. I don't know his intentions, but his recent activity in Daath has aroused my suspicion."

Tear's eyes narrowed slightly as she nodded at the Major. Casting an assessing glance over the woman, Lythia smiled, seeing that Tear understood.

"Colonel Curtiss is a good man," the blonde woman sighed, turning away from the two, ignoring Luke's indignant protests. "His men trust him and would follow him to hell and back."

"Hah," the red haired noble snorted; his voice arrogant once again. "You speak as if you wouldn't do the same."

Lythia looked over her shoulder with a devilish smirk that could rival her brother's.

"My good nobleman, I have already seen hell and unfortunately for my superior officers, only our Emperor Peony can order me back there."

With a wave she headed towards the bridge, where the soldiers were going about their work as she had ordered. When greeted by the soldiers she nodded and signalled for them to continue working. She hoped for an uneventful trip, sadly she wouldn't get that.

About an hour later and she noticed the presence of an intruder, she shouted out some orders before she focused on summoning fonons.

"O mystic veil that separates life and dea_"

Her arte was cut off by someone hitting her over the back of her head. The last thing she heard was an annoyingly familiar, grating voice speaking to the men on the bridge, before her consciousness faded.


~6 weeks before Fall of Akzeriuth – Jade~

Leaving the fiery red head alone, guarding the door felt like a bad omen to Jade, unfortunately he had a job to do and the decision to leave Luke as the watch had already been made. Thankfully it didn't take too long to secure the bridge. The brunette man was concerned when he noticed Lythia's rapier lying on the ground, not having heard the captain report his sister's status before contact was lost. He picked up the weapon and then he and Tear ran back to Luke.

Sometimes Jade wonders if he had precognitive abilities, for when they opened the door there was a dead Oracle Knight and a shaking Luke next to the corpse.

"What happened?" the melodist demanded, running over to their wayward noble.

"I… I stabbed him…." Luke murmured with horror, causing the Malkuth Colonel to sigh. "I… killed him…"

A voice from above called out.

"If you're scared of killing, then throw away your sword, you worthless reject!"

Ice rained down, knocking out Luke and Tear, as Jade jumped away. The Oracle knight who jumped down had the same red hair as Luke, and when he turned around, Jade could see that it wasn't just the hair. This man, clad in black, looked exactly like Luke.

"And you are as hard to kill as they say, Necromancer," the Oracle knight said blandly. "Unfortunately for you, Dist has your Major Balfour, so we don't have to worry about her assisting you in your escape with her mystic arte or something dark like that."

Jade's eyes narrowed in anger. So now he had a vague idea on where Lythia was. Hopefully Dist would be idiotic enough and take Lythia to Keterburg or somewhere else within Malkuth territory. He allowed himself to be taken away with Tear and Luke, and staring at the Ligers he could see, he wondered if Arietta was on board, and, if she could be convinced to turn against the God-Generals who had attacked.


Okay, yes I am sorry for leaving you with that cliffhanger... sort of. So lets recap here - Engeve, Cheagle Woods and the Tartarus have all happened now. Lythia has problems with the council, you've met Caius - who is a retainer for Lythia, Ion is back, Luke and Tear are there, Lythia has been kidnapped by Dist and everything else. I'm totally not building up to save Arietta later *shifty eyes* Nope not at all! Well, that's all for this chapter, please don't hate me too much.

Please Review!

~Icetail of WindClan - Meta-If~

UNIMPORTANT NOTES:

So you almost got to see Lythia cast one of her Mystic Artes. I like to call it "Death's Voice" as it makes the people affected hear the voices/screams of the dead. But I wonder... what did Lythia mean when she told Luke that she's "already been to hell and back" and that "only the Emperor can order her back there"?

And Lythia knows what Van is up to? No, she doesn't, she just finds his activity suspicious. She was warning Tear to something which Tear already knew more about than Lythia.