Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Rising to the Call


|i.|

Before they were known as Vastago, the species of steel-feathered avians from Alma Torran were known as the Valdovai, a name they bestowed upon themselves in their early millennia of existence.

Capable of flight further than any other species in the world, they were the apex predators of the skies. Though existing as disparate tribes, they were respectful of one another's strengths and thus, though separately, conquered the skies, claiming them as their domains which no other species would dare touch. No Valdovai cared for the prey confined to the ground, nor did they fear any species that roamed the skies beneath them.

They were sovereigns of all that the eye could see above them and beyond.

For centuries, the Valdovai's reign remained unopposed. Until the day came that a creature rose to the challenge.

It was a being not unlike the Valdovai that could soar the skies and darkened them as it flew over them, obscuring the sun. A creature the Valdovai disregarded at first, but one they learned to fear as their people began to perish in the claws of the beast that hunted them in their own sacred lands. One whose hunt was always heralded by the darkening of the skies and the fall of blinding azure lightning, that which gave it its name: Zydros Zaibas.

Legend has it that countless warriors succumbed to the dreadful creature and that the species would have certainly become extinct had it not been for one of the few remaining Valdovai who chose to take a stand against all odds. It was said that the Valdovai warrior spoke to the remaining twelve tribes to convince them of his stance. That the only way to stop their annihilation was to strike back as a united front against the Zydros Zaibas.

Many believed him mad. That the young warrior was leading them to an early grave. No one believed in the word of a Valdovai that had yet to shed his fledgling feathers. But the young warrior could not allow his people to perish without at least attempting to take a stand. So he challenged them instead, each and every one of the eleven chiefs that mocked and disregarded him. One after another, they fell to his prowess and astuteness, and once all had fallen, the Valdovai understood that if there would be anyone to lead them out off the road to extinction, it would be him.

Under the young Valdovai warrior, the twelve tribes united. Together, they faced the Zydros Zaibas, and though many a brave warrior was lost, in the end, the Valdovai stood victorious over the beast that had hunted them.

From that point onward, the tribes stood as a united species consisting of those twelve surviving tribes joined together under one leader. It was after the defeat of their biggest threat that they relinquished the name of Valdovai and became the Vastago.

They abandoned their old roots as rulers separating the many to unite as one species and allow the fittest to rule and lead them all.

Eons later, tales of their first Vedlys and of the origin of the conclaves stood as a point of pride and encouragement to fledglings like Noélia who sought to answer the call.

The same one that the Valdovai warrior took when their people were faced with the brink of destruction and against all odds flew beyond the darkness and shone upon them the light once more.


|ii.|

Noé was sure that she would die before the week was done if this kept up.

After having her wing severed, there was no rest for her. Imprisoned during the daylight and only fed scraps with little to no water, Noé struggled to get even a modicum of sleep between her stomach pleading for food and the incessant thirst that appeared tenfold. During the night, though, was when the real struggle to survive happened.

Having disregarded Seraphina's earlier comments during her first match, Noé hadn't thought the priestess would put her to fight every night against tougher and tougher foes. Exhausted as she was and still not fully healed, there was little Noé could do when each time she was brought down to her knees. Even giving what little strength she had to fight back, there was no stopping fully-fledged Fanalis and seasoned Yambala warriors from knocking her out each and every time, and that was without mentioning their even further augmented prowess given by the parasites Seraphina infected them with. And to her dismay, all matches ended the same way, with her losing and the victors paying the price for her loss. All the while Seraphina stood above them with that same sweet smile plastered on her face.

The little girl was enjoying this—relishing in it, even. It didn't escape Noé's eyes the way Seraphina's shone that bright cyan while hidden in the shadows of the viewing box. The girl savored her suffering. Such a thing should've been made obvious when, ever since returning after the second night, Noé was welcomed by the sight of her wing mounted on the wall before her by dim torchlight, its feathers steeled and forever capturing the fear and suffering Seraphina had put her through. The torches were always put out by the amalgams before leaving her to the darkness once more.

Noé hadn't simply stayed put these past few days, though. Despite how completely exhausted she was, there was no way she would not attempt to escape. Though her gift served little purpose during the day when she was imprisoned, there was the chance during the matches. She tried the third and fourth nights but to no avail, and after the fifth, Seraphina ordered the amalgams to cut her Achilles tendons to avoid any further disruptions during the last couple of days. It made the sixth match the next day a laughable excuse for a fight.

Hell would fall short when compared to this, everything else considered.

One other thing remained constant, as well. One less harmful though just as puzzling. The person who had come that first night to care for her wound continued to do so each subsequent night to tend to whatever new injuries she sustained during her unfair matches and to continue to tend to the wound left by her wing. And though they always came a long while after the amalgamates left, she always knew it was them. The crispy scent that came in the air before springtime rain always came in with them.

Noé hadn't cared much about who they were. At least not until the sixth night when she bothered discarding all other possibilities to find the only plausible one. And it was while they tended to her tendons, carefully stitching the skin back together after having treated it, that Noé voiced her suspicions into the air.

"Enough," she snarled, her voice raspy and barely intelligible through the pain that talking caused her. "You can fuck right off with this act. Helping me won't make me choose you as Grace of Sunlight's next vessel. Not when you and Seraphina have been working together this whole time, Rakah."

The hands that had so deftly been healing her these past few days stopped in their tracks before retreating. Noé heard shuffling as he moved seconds before the torches around the circular prison lit up with embers that despite being faint were enough to help her see she had been correct in her guess.

Before her stood the magician she had come to know as Rakah Azeri, but there was something off about him. Though different, it wasn't his appearance. After the scare she gave him a few months ago he seemed to favor his hair short now. It was swept back and to one side with only one long strand of hair braided and barely brushing his shoulder. Away from his face and leaving in full view scars she had never seen before.

One ran along the right side of his face, from the high of his temple breaching his hairline and downward crossing his eye and ending at the edges of his lips. The other snagged his right cheek bone and had cleanly cut his right earlobe off. Both were still a tender pink, seemingly having just healed after whatever caused them. It dawned on her after a moment where he suffered those injuries, and what had done them.

My talons.

Those were the injuries he suffered after their fight at the Summit.

Pity threatened to surface but she buried it deep down and let the bitterness of her current situation take hold instead.

"Leave."

"Your injuries—"

"Will heal, now leave," she growled.

"Not fast enough before tomorrow," Rakah said, lowering his face. "I've been using magic to heal you. The damage on your tendons may be rough but they'll only hurt a little if you let me finish—"

"I don't care what you can do! You can tell Teosa that no amount of torture or feigned kindness will have me surrendering Grace of Sunlight to any of you!"

Her raw screams echoed against the stone walls and silenced the one sided conversation Rakah appeared to want to have. At least for a moment.

"I'm not doing this under her orders. Nor am I doing this to help Seraphina." Before she could spit back at him and claim his words as nothing more than lies, Rakah beat her to it. "You may not believe me, but I've cut ties with them. Neither know I've been here these past few days."

"You're right," she spat back and bared her teeth at him, "I don't."

A faint chuckle escaped him before the solemnity returned to his expression. "That's fine. I don't need you to believe me. I just need you to fight. Persist like you've always done until the last day so I can—"

Thick blood fell before his feet as Noé spat back at him in defiance. Undeterred, the magician simply picked up the cloth he must've been using to clean her wounds and reached out again to continue his work. Noé fought back once more, struggling against her bindings to get as far away from him as possible. To her distaste, there wasn't much space for her to go anywhere though and Rakah found purchase against one of her most recent wounds to clean it. She didn't want his help, despite how much she might need it, but seeing as there was literally little close to nothing she could do to stop him aside from throwing curses and spit at him, Noé found herself letting him treat her again.

He hasn't done anything…yet. Letting him do this won't hurt me if it hasn't before.

That was what little compromise she could make with herself. One that wouldn't have her admitting just how very vulnerable she really was now before him. Everything was silent for a few minutes as he treated her, and it wasn't until he moved on to the next wound he found on her body that she heard the soft lilt of his voice.

"I'm working on getting Titus out of here." Noé tensed against his touch and he stopped treating the cut on her abdomen that reached around her back. Glancing over her shoulder, those emerald eyes watched him as she asked where the magi was. "It took me a couple days of searching. I guess it was stupid of me not to search the place where they had hidden their original magi though. He's still alive. Not well, but alive."

Her arms relaxed a spot second before becoming even more taut at that information. Don't get your hopes up. He could be lying. Noé was fully aware of that. She didn't want to outright believe him either, but she couldn't deny the bit of relief that coursed through her at hearing about Titus's well being.

"He's in a pretty deep bind, connected to something," Rakah continued as he carefully wiped away at her wound before starting to stitch it closed. "I don't know what it is but it can't possibly be good if it's that crazy girl's plan. I can't free him without hurting him in the process with how ingrained he is to this thing, but I've noticed the tethers holding him to it have weakened over the past few days. My guess is that they're getting weaker the closer the process is to finishing."

What he was saying matched with what little Seraphina had told her. Then again that didn't assure her that Rakah was on her side anymore than his so-called 'help' did.

"Our best chance to safely get him out still alive would be when that thing is on the verge of finishing. If I cut off Titus before it can finish whatever it's doing to him, I may still get him out of here alive."

"Liar." The word spilled from her lips without warning. She'd been thinking it the whole time, wondering just how much trust could be placed on his word and coming to the conclusion that none could.

Not after everything that happened between them.

Rakah seemed to understand that much at least as he said, "Like I said, I don't really care whether you believe me or not. I'm getting him out with or without you. But if you want to be useful, then at least keep Seraphina's attention diverted and don't die while she plays house with you."

"If you truly wanted my help, then you would have set me free from these chains the first night you came," Noé said, her voice low and threatening despite her current predicament.

"And what will you do exactly?" he asked, his own temper starting to mix into his tone. "I'm not just talking about the sorry state you're in, either. You're more of a liability than even the worst kinds of help the way you are now. Especially because we both know you won't touch a hair on the girl's head."

"You think after all she's done to me, after all the people she's inconsiderately killed, that I won't do the same to her?"

"Exactly," he said without missing a beat. "There's a reason Ira chose Seraphina as her proxy in Reim. Aside from the wandering magi, the biggest threat to her plans was Scheherazade. Even more so because she knew you. It is why that monster ordered both of us to work together against you. The reason why she specifically chose Seraphina after you made contact with her."

Those words hit like a ton of bricks and wrenched the air out of her lungs. "What?" she breathed.

"I wouldn't blame myself if I were you," he said with a shake of his head as he finished his treatment and faced her. Something about the way his bright amethyst eyes averted from her sunk her stomach. And by how his expression fell into a tinge of melancholy perhaps it was obvious why. "Wrath is meticulous about who she chooses as extension of herself in this world. People who've exhausted every avenue and cannot see beyond their own desperation or who cannot withstand the world as it is and wish to change it but do not have the power to do so. It picks on the lowly, lost and depressed and offers them a chance to right the wrongs of the world. It is because of this that we never fall into depravity, either; we do not wish to defy the world, only change it, and she promises us a way. She promises a new one where our greatest desires will be granted, only if we are willing to give up everything for the answer we so desperately seek. No matter how wrong it is."

There was a raw pain to his words that Noé couldn't disregard. Her instincts told her that even if all his words before this had been lies, these weren't. He spoke the truth when he spoke of the process of being chosen. Of being reminded why Ira chose him, as well.

Rakah gave a slow shake to his head before lifting his gaze to meet hers, unflinching even under her glare. "I can't defeat Seraphina the way she is now. Not without wrecking my body in the state it's in. The best I can do to help is get Titus out of Regia's Temple and find him refuge somewhere before whatever that thing Seraphina's feeding magoi into hatches and destroys all of Remano—hell, all of Reim. If that is to be the case, then the best case scenario I can see is that he as its magi survives."

"You're nothing but a coward if you claim that's all you can do to stop this madness from happening," she snarled.

"I could say the same fucking thing about you," he finally shot back with a hiss. He suddenly paused then as he scoffed instead. "I suppose a bleeding heart would be the best description though because no matter how much you hate her for what she's done, you won't kill her, Noé. Even in the state she's in, so engulfed by Wrath's mark as she is, you won't kill her."

"You can't tell me what I will or won't do—"

"Then say it." The chains rattled as her arms became even more taut than before at his sudden request. "Say you will kill her and I'll prioritize setting you free."

Noé opened her mouth, ready to give voice to the rage and pain and deep-seated hatred she had borne for the priestess during the past six days of torture, but as the seconds passed on and no noise escaped through her lips, a sense of dread and realization dawned on her. One that appeared to dishearten Rakah as well.

"I know you don't care, but I think you still see her as that kid you saved when she isn't anymore. I don't know when Wrath made contact with her but she hasn't been the innocent kid you knew for a long time now." Rakah let loose a sigh as he picked up the medical aids he brought with him. "After all that's happened, I was doing this as some sort of apology. Maybe it was a bit self-absorbed of me to think you'd forgive me so easily, but I wanted to try anyway because, out of everyone, you were the one I respected the most. But it saddens me that all I see when I look at you now is nothing more than a shadow of the greatest person I ever knew."

A pang struck her chest, tightening it, but Noé refused to say anything. Rakah finished picking his belongings at last and turned to glance at Noé once more before leaving.

"You always told us you were neither human nor Vastago and I could see how proud you were about that fact. I always thought it was because it meant that you were made of something stronger than either of them." He let out another sigh and his shoulders slackened, the coldness in his eyes all but gone as their color deepened and glazed over. "But I guess accepting neither left you with nothing at all in the end."

Noé's lips parted as if on the verge of responding to his ridiculous allegations, but even as she watched his receding back as the dim torchlight went out behind him to leave her once more in darkness, no words left her. Even after his footsteps faded away and left her to the dark and quiet, there were no words for her to say to denounce his accusations.

Bitterly and begrudgingly, she admitted he was right. Despite everything that had happened these past few days, even with all the threats Noé herself so brazenly threw at the girl, there was a part of her somewhere deep within that couldn't think of killing her. Even if ending her would mean ending this horror. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't erase the image of the little girl she remembered saving from those pirates. The same one that fought back with all her little might to survive even despite the odds against her.

oh.

The sudden recognition of that simple feeling and why it seemed so familiar brought the whole bravado she had feigned before Rakah tumbling down. This little girl that had been brought up in disparate circumstances to hers was so much like her. Was that the reason why she became so attached to the girl without noticing it?

It had to be…because…this was so unlike the kind of affection she felt for others. It was clearly unlike the way she cared for Muu; this wasn't the kind of love she felt for him. If she had to give it a name, it was the kind of love she felt for people like Elior, Titus, Maahes, Aladdin and even Alibaba. The kind that made her want to care for them, teach them…protect them.

But it was that same kind of love that had her turning a blind eye towards her actions now. Because of it Noé knew Rakah's words were true. If given the chance, she wouldn't be able to kill Seraphina. Not even to save Reim.

As those thoughts stirred, others accompanied it before long. Other what-ifs that needed her lucid to even consider.

If she made the choice to trust in Rakah's words even when she didn't want to, then Titus would be safe before this was all over. Even if she didn't, it wasn't like she could get out of her own predicament and save him, anyway. Resignation constricted her throat at thinking what they were saving him from. A terror that would tear Reim asunder. The beloved nation that both Scheherazade and Pernadius gave their lives for gone in the blink of an eye…because of her mistake. Her gullibleness. Because of what she failed to see in someone so much like her.

Someone who didn't want more power than what she already had, but instead only searched for a single thing.

"Give me Grace of Sunlight."

That was her goal—Ira's goal. Because she couldn't receive it willingly, she now had her lackey doing it for her. If this continued on, though, Seraphina would obtain it once she killed Noé. If not given, it would be taken. But if she gave it to her…then at least some more people would be able to save themselves. Noé could give them some time, even if only a little, to escape before the ancient bird hatched.

Maybe—

"I always thought it was because it meant that you were made of something stronger than either of them."

That one sentence rang in her head at the mere thought of giving up Grace of Sunlight. The culprit was clear, too. Her pride. It wanted to prove him wrong…and prove that her choice to keep it had been the right one to make.

A faint light glimmered behind her closed eyelids. Opening her eyes, Noé observed the small, dim lights that floated before her. Like small fireflies in the midst of summer, they flickered as a faint show of power made them burst into tiny bits of sparkling light. As they died off the bits of light that sparked off swayed in the wind, leaving a faint trace of light like a path towards the outside and those beyond.

As if reaching out for something out there. Or…someone. Her lips parted at the sudden idea.

If she's going to take it away, then I won't give it to her whole.

They needed Grace of Sunlight along with the other six for what Ira had in mind to do with the world. But they would surely need it whole. Fractured, it wouldn't be of any use to her. And the only way to fracture it was to give part of it away by linking with someone else. What Rakah had suggested all that time ago was the only way to break the seal in half and with it its powers.

But who could I even choose that Ira won't get to? Even those powerful enough to fend for themselves wouldn't last long against this harrowing hunt. So long as Seraphina was there working for Ira, anybody who possessed Grace of Sunlight would be hunted down to the ends of this world just like they had done to her.

this world… That's it.

There existed those who were apart of this world. Those who lived across the wall on the other side of the Great Rift. People like—

"Muu…"

The light flickered brightly. That was their answer.

On the other side, Ira was kept at bay by the barrier she built. Were Grace of Sunlight whole, it would be easy to undo the kind of magic she helped cast. But if Muu possessed it, Seraphina wouldn't be capable of doing a thing to break it; Ira wouldn't be able to escape from her gilded cage or that barrier. What was more, Seraphina caused their own downfall when she gave her a choice. If she could believe even for a second Rakah's words, all she had to do was last until Titus was gone before fully bestowing Grace of Sunlight to Muu through the link. By then it wouldn't matter who killed her to attain it since it would already be gone. And even if she died before that, with Muu being the only one linked to her, it would be bestowed to him by right of succession alone regardless of who killed her. And once beyond the wall, Seraphina would have no power to cross it. She would never reach either of them.

It was the best course of action.

Gripping the shackles encasing her hands from within, Noé held herself taut and took a deep breath as she concentrated. Linking was foreign knowledge to her. It was just a part of their power that she knew existed but had never performed the connection before. Even so, Noé could feel a gentle hand guiding her through the process. A small gentle hand that brushed against the innermost part of her.

Closing her eyes, Noé pictured what that tiny hand was doing. The way it struck that part of her that was as foreign as it was inane. The way their fingers slowly went from stroking a solid surface to suddenly stroking the surface of what seemed like fabric. Fluid and soft as silk. Her fingers began then parsing through the threads, unweaving the tapestry until it became nothing but thin threads gleaming in the faint light.

Then it began reweaving it, but instead of returning to being whole, the silken tapestry broke off at one end. The one silk strand flickered as it returned to being light and traveled off into the darkness far away where she eventually lost sensation of it. Noé could feel that part of Grace of Sunlight missing now, not just because of that odd sensation of being fragmented but because of how she suddenly felt less parched now.

It's done.

Her exhaustion took over once more but there was a sort of mild satisfaction to it this time. And also a bit of remorse for what she had given him. The gift and curse she bestowed upon him.

I'm sorry, Muu. This weight I'm placing upon your shoulders is one I wouldn't wish on anyone.

On second thought, Noé scoffed lightly before releasing the tautness of her chains and letting herself fall limp within her bindings.

Then again…

"You kinda owe me after having lied."

{ii}—

Muu settled once more against the shade cast by the mountainside that had become his shelter for a while now. It felt like a week—must be by his count—but time appeared weird there. Somehow eerily fast and slow. What he knew was certainly no more than 6 days felt like months on the other side of the Great Rift. He wondered if that was just part of this world.

It's my world now, too.

Right…

He was having trouble remembering that. Especially when he could still interact with Yunan who could so casually cross the barrier unlike him. There had been a scent of panic in the air around the magi when he encountered Muu, though it was something that was easily discernible with this further heightened sense of smell. Yunan hadn't let him question him too much about it. He had a job for him from Noé. The mere sound of her name had him a bit less hostile against the magi who had been acting quite unlike himself from the time they met and he helped Muu deliver the flowers to the tribes up to when they returned to the edge of the barrier for him to leave.

That scent had never once left him. That scent of dread and panic.

Muu dared to ask before he crossed the barrier what the matter was. And to not lie to him, for the love of everything. It was painfully obvious Yunan hadn't wanted to disclose what he knew, but when Muu gave a few guesses as to what could have made the magi so worried and finally landed on Noé, those blue eyes averted from his gaze.

What's going on?

He asked him as much. When the magi refused to answer, Muu couldn't help his temper from flaring so quickly. If this was enough to cause him concern, then Muu wanted to know what it was. Especially if it concerned Noé. So at last, after many snarled threats, Yunan caved and told him everything. From what happened to Reim from the moment he and Noé crossed the wall and who was behind it, to what Noé had so foolishly done by going back into Remano in her condition and with no Metal Vessel.

"I intend to return to Remano's borders and oversee the situation," Yunan quickly said. "Rest assured, I won't let her do this alone."

That was it. That was all he had to say to Muu before crossing once more. The sight of the magi doing what he couldn't despite how desperately he wanted to turned his stomach, especially now more than ever.

Muu couldn't find sleep that night. Not like any night before hadn't been as restless. After what he heard, however, he couldn't even dream of getting any sleep. Not until Yunan returned as he promised with word of how everything ended. Because that was all Muu could do now.

Wait.

A deep growl thrummed in his throat at his own powerlessness. It left him bitter, the thought of all the pain and work he had put forth to gain power that served no purpose in the end. Power that was useless when those he loved needed him the most. Unable to contain his rage, Muu struck at a nearby wall destroying it to smithereens and leaving a crater on the ground for good measure as well. Controlling his strength wasn't something he cared about lately, so the damage done didn't bother him as much as it used to. They didn't matter.

Few things did anymore.

But getting angry would get him nowhere. Especially now. Finding a way to be useful, to anybody that needed it, was the only…the best thing he could do now.

Tomorrow, he thought to himself. I'll go see the tribes tomorrow and help them however I can.

Tonight though, he needed to rest. Or at least the least bit of rest he could muster. Settling on a patch of undisturbed ground, Muu made himself as comfortable as possible before closing his eyes and taking deep breaths to help him calm down.

One. Two. Three— He smacked his lips and swallowed a bit of saliva. One. Two— He swallowed again and coughed before settling down again. One…Two…Three… He sighed and cleared his. He needed water.

Rising from the spot, Muu trotted over to the small pond that was nearby and lapped up a bit of water. When the strange scratchiness at the back of his throat wouldn't go away though he drank more. Then more. Then even some more. He drank and drank until he filled his stomach and it began to hurt, but even then couldn't feel his thirst lessening in the least.

It was as he cleared his throat yet again and lowered to drink more water that he suddenly saw their reflections in the water. Small bright reflections of little lights dancing about. Raising his head, Muu watched the tiny lights float delicately up and down, flickering in and out as they hovered around him.

Fireflies? No, they didn't seem like insects. Besides, all the animals he'd found here were completely different from the other side. The insects wouldn't be the exception, he felt. But if not fireflies, then what?

As he mulled over the question, one of the tiny lights finally made its way toward him and landed on the tip of his nose. As its light ebbed and flowed, a sudden warmness came to his face.

Whatever they are, I guess…they're sort of cute.

"Why thank you."

Jumping back, Muu got low to the ground as a deep growl rumbled through him. The light that had landed on his snout hovered in place, its light only dimming a bit as that voice—a child's voice—chuckled softly. It was then that Muu realized what was wrong with it. This one wasn't flickering, it merely dimmed and brightened as the voice came and went.

"What are you?" he snarled.

"Relax," it said, its voice faint when out in the open. "I don't mean any harm. I'm actually here to meet you, Muu Alexius."

"What are you?!" he asked again, snapping at it and not once letting his guard down.

"A gift," it said this time, "from your precious one."

Muu blinked a few times at its claim, unraveling its meaning word for word and slowly letting his guard fall as he remembered a certain conversation with Noé and finally understood what exactly he was speaking to.

"It's the closest thing I can compare it to. It's also one of its names. But I've known it as a Gift for as long as I've known about it."

"You're Noé's magic."

"Very good, young one. And clever. That is precisely what I am." The child's voice echoed once more before the light slowly made its way toward him until it once again landed on the tip of his nose. "I suppose that makes you a fine choice."

"Choice? For what?"

"To share my powers with."

Its light blinked before floating forward once more and seeping into his right eye. Muu blinked away the blinding light that he saw suddenly, pawing at his face to try and make it go away quicker. Once gone, he blinked a couple of times and found the lights gone. Instead, all he felt now was a warmth that clung to the right side of his face.

"You and I are linked now and so, I am at your behest," it proclaimed, its voice echoing in his head now.

"W-What?" Muu stuttered, unable to fully comprehend what was happening with how fast it was happening. He cleared his throat and swallowed some saliva before asking, "What do you mean at your behest? Why did you come? What are you exactly?"

"So many questions." It tutted but after a pause returned to its more solemn tone. "Grace of Sunlight is the name my creator bestowed upon me. I am the source of all light in your world. The source of what your people call Light magic. We were freely given upon our creation, that is why we are called Gifts."

Sparking to life, a few orbs of light floated around Muu and as they hovered away blown off by a gentle breeze, he followed after them. In the end, Muu stopped before the wall as the lights blinked in and out before the barrier that separated him from the world he knew. That separated him and Noé.

"My current vessel has chosen you to share me with," it continued. "What piece of me resides within you now is small but powerful all the same. But while sharing me bestows upon you control of me, it also bestows upon you the same penance she chose to pay by stealing me away."

Penance?

Though he was about to ask about it, an image suddenly popped into his head. One that he had seen portrayed by Clairvoyance Magic by three magi as they retold the story of the world before theirs. Of how seven recorders stole the magic of their world to create this one. And more vividly than any of them was the sight of Noé in that dark place suffering a most devastating desiccation that almost drove her mad.

Muu cleared his throat and finally noted just how the scratchiness wouldn't go away. And with it noticed just how thirsty he'd been for a while now. After processing all that information, Muu thought of one more thing to ask it.

"Why did she decide to share you with me?"

"We found no other way to safeguard me," it said rather somberly. That alone sunk his heart into the pit of his stomach. "The way things are progressing, we believed this to be the best-case scenario."

He almost didn't want to ask but found himself voicing the concern that plagued him most at those words. "What is happening to her?"

Grace of Sunlight spared him no detail. It saw no use in doing so. With every gruesome detail it gave, the more Muu wanted to empty his stomach, the more his body shook, and the more his head filled with rage.

"And so she made her choice," it said. "So that once she is gone, I shall come to you."

"I-It can't be—It can't be the only way!"

"It is the only way we—that she could think of that would keep me away from Ira. I am here because she trusts you with this burden…and with an apology."

Apology? Muu clicked his tongue. Why was it always like this with her? Why was she always making decisions that cost her the most for the sake of others? What was worse, why was he always accepting her apologies after those kinds of choices?!

Forget it, he thought to himself as he took a step forward, his claws digging into the dirt. I'm done enabling her.

"I'm not accepting her apology."

The lights around him flickered as if Grace of Sunlight couldn't understand his sudden turn of heart. Snarling at them, they flickered again, their light trembling this time as they moved aside to give him way toward the barrier. Claws extending outwards, Muu charged at the barrier with them, and though they made not so much as a dent, he didn't stop. He simply stepped back and continued pouncing at the wall with all his might while the flickering lights around him spectated his futile attempts.

"Why are you so adamant? Even if you go to where she is, it is unlikely that your presence will make a difference."

"I don't give a damn about how unlikely it is!" he shouted as he once again threw himself at the invisible barrier. Not deterred, Muu charged again and this time put his whole weight on the pounce as he tried digging his sharp claws through. "If things are as dire then I will go to fight by her side! Even if I won't make a difference, even if we end up dying all the same, I don't care! Because whether it's to fight or die, I'm not ever letting her be alone again!"

A chuckle echoed in his head then before words that sounded playful and delighted echoed in his head.

"You both are so stubborn."

Crack.

Crimson eyes widened at the brilliant fissure one of his claws caused. One that was coated in golden light. It didn't take long before all his front claws were coated with the same light and with that brilliance came something else. Pain erupted in his throat as he tasted metal—blood—and his thirst tripled. Muu jumped back as the light engulfed at last his front paws and charged once more with his claws sharpened by Light magic right at the crack he made.

More formed on impact, cracking like spider webs across fine glass before completely shattering.

The instant he saw it break, he didn't hesitate. He crossed.

At first, there was nothing but a blinding light, then an all-encompassing darkness that took hold of his vision. He didn't wait for it to return, though.

He took one step. Then another.

With four paws. Then two legs.

His body changing so suddenly brought him to his knees as from the beastly form he'd taken across the barrier he returned to his own. To the body that belonged to Muu Alexius as a human. Deep breaths rattled his body as he composed himself from the sudden change and use of this new power.

"You'll get used to it," it said. Little lights flickered to life around him, lighting his surroundings. Finding the strength, Muu staggered to his feet as the warmth from the right side of his face began to suddenly move until it found its home on the left side of his chest, right above his heart. "Better. Now…what is your order?"

Muu paused for a moment as his breathing evened out and thought of what the fastest way to get to Remano would be. As if reading his thoughts, the voice chuckled.

"I'll be generous this time around." The light around his body began to flicker and refracted. His crimson eyes narrowed at the sight but soon recognized where he'd seen this happen a thousand times. "Hold your breath."

Muu barely had time to do that when a strong pull took him. In a blinding light, Grace of Sunlight flashed him out of the Great Rift. Not knowing where he'd land, Muu prepared himself as he arrived blinded to his destination. The moment he did a sudden breathlessness hit him first followed by a sudden surge of energy that rattled his body. Holding onto his chest, Muu allowed him a moment to regain his breath and recover his vision.

Flashing had left him with white patterns in his eyesight and it took him a moment to rub them away before he could open his eyes. That in itself, however, was a big mistake because when doing so he was welcomed by the sun that shone brightly above him. Blinking away that brightness, Muu glanced around only to frown.

This isn't Remano.

"No, but it is where you need to be to set everything into motion."

That still didn't tell him where he was.

A bucket crashed onto the ground, bouncing off of the ground a few times, and had him turning about to the sound. Crimson eyes widened at the sight of a young man in what might be his mid-teens accompanying a familiar face.

"Uncle Muu?" Rhea muttered, her hands still hovering by her waist after dropping the bucket full of water.

The boy beside her muttered the word she had said as if unable to believe it, but before he could question either of them, Rhea dashed off towards him and jumped. Muu caught her, pleased to see a familiar face after everything and twirled her around as the young girl cried into his shoulder, telling him things he couldn't comprehend through her sniffling.

"Muu!?"

Lifting his gaze away from Rhea gave him a full view of the crowd they'd gathered from the nearby inn. From the handful of people, he recognized three others: Shambal, Maahes, and Yunan. It'd been the latter that called out his name and it was clear by that wide eye look on his face that he was astounded as to how he'd gotten there in the first place. The other two who were unaware of what he'd been up to simply thanked god that he had gotten out of Remano alive.

When Yunan and the other strangers joined them, it was he once again that questioned Muu. "H-How—"

"Later," was all Muu said while placing Rhea down without looking away from Yunan. "I thought you were heading to Noé."

"I-I was," he assured him, blinking away the confusion for now and trying to focus on the matters at hand. "But when I crossed back over, I heard Maahes and Rhea's voices. Not just theirs either."

The magi motioned towards Rhea with his staff. Looking down, it took a moment for him to recognize the silver arrowhead that hung around her neck.

Andromalius!

Kneeling before the young Fanalis, Muu smiled at her as he held the arrowhead gently in his palm. He stared at the warm metal for a moment before looking up tenderly at the little girl whose eyes were still glazed over with even more tears that she now refused to shed and simply sniffled away. The thought of what she had to go through to get it was unfathomable.

"I can't believe you got it all the way here. You've been really brave, Rhea," he said and brushed the tears brimming from her eyes with his other hand.

Rhea sniffled again, wiping her own eyes harshly with the heel of her hand. "Maa-nii helped me. He found me and took me away before the mean priestess could find us."

Mean priestess… Rhea had rarely ever seen Seraphina but after whatever unthinkable things they saw to escape, he wouldn't dissuade her from using such words. With just as kind of a look, he turned towards Maahes who stood straighter at his scrutiny. Muu couldn't help the small smile that came to him as he nodded at Maahes.

"Thank you for keeping her safe."

Maahes wrung the edge of his tunic before his expression turned determined and he nodded. "It was the right thing to do, to both keep her safe and to keep Andromalius out of the priestess's hands."

"It was," Muu agreed and turned to Rhea once more. "Now it's time to get it back to Noé."

"How?" It was the boy that had been together with Rhea that answered this time. He was standing closer to a couple of men and a woman that were strangers to this group. "Uncle Shambal says the capital's being kept under a very strict eye."

"It is," Yunan said, ascertaining the boy's words for Muu. "Not only is it how I previously told you but I also gathered from just overhearing things from here that there are Dark Djinn roaming the streets of Remano. None are left without their surveillance."

"And the citizens?" Shambal inquired.

All Yunan gave him was a short shake of his head. "The Djinn are all there is in the city streets. Any human voices I hear come from the colosseum."

"She must be keeping everybody there," Maahes concluded.

Weighing his options, Muu held tightly only the arrowhead as he lifted the leather cord from off of Rhea's neck and held it in his open palm. There, the eight-pointed star on the rough surface of the arrowhead glowed dimly. Yunan came to stand by his side as both stared down at the Metal Vessel.

Pursing his lips, Yunan looked up at Muu. "Andromalius is aching to go."

Me too.

But charging in with no plan wasn't the smartest thing. They would have to come up with something at least to help them get through and give Andromalius to Noé. That by itself would be a step in the right direction to getting Remano back.

"That's your cue then, Captain," Barbatos said, the sword of his djinn warm by his waist.

"Then this is what we'll do."

After a quick glance at what they had at their disposal, Muu placed Andromalius around his own neck and turned to Yunan first.

"Return to the Great Rift." Baby blue eyes narrowed at his suggestion and it was obvious why. Muu understood it to be an odd order. A magi could be a great help, after all. But after what I did, I don't know how safe it is to leave that place unguarded. "I broke through the barrier. I think…I might have broken it."

That comment in itself took the magi off guard. "That's not possible. I can make openings because the rukh heeds my call. Noé can tear through it because of Grace of Sunlight. But neither of us can do that. How would it be possible for you to break it?"

"I don't know." It wasn't an answer, but honestly, it was the best he had. "But I'm guessing that as a Fanalis with this had something to do with it."

Muu reached up to place a hand over his heart. In doing so, he felt the warmth that he had before, and by the small glow on his chest and the stupefied look of both Yunan and Maahes, they understood what it meant, too.

It was Maahes who spoke up after a second, his complexion white and eyes wide, trembling at the horrid thought that came to his head. "I-Is she…"

"She's still alive," he said. Maahes visibly relaxed at that assurance. "She's somehow given me some of that power she's always had with her. But now isn't the time to go on about the intricacies of the how," he quickly added when he saw both Yunan and Maahes opening their mouths. "What matters is that we need to act before things get any worse. Yunan, will you go back and guard the valley?"

This time there were no more questions from the magi; Yunan nodded. Muu turned towards Shambal next. He'd known the proud chief of the warrior tribe. He'd been a mentor during his younger days and even now sparred a few times against the man in private and away from prying eyes. Muu was fully aware of what the chief of the Yambala was capable of. That alone made him the right choice to take with him.

"Master Shambal, I'll need you to infiltrate back into Remano." The warrior chief didn't hesitate. Much less when his own people and family were at Seraphina's mercy.

Rhea and Maahes stepped up then both seemingly determined to be of use for this counterattack. That however was something Muu wouldn't allow and the disappointment along with anger was clear on their faces. The loudest to disapprove, though, was the latter, those dark oceanic eyes gleaming intensely as he glared back at Muu.

"Miss Noé saved me when I needed it most. I intend to do my damnedest to pay that back tenfold," Maahes proclaimed.

A soft half-smile came to Muu's lips as he placed one hand on the young man's shoulder. "I understand your feelings, trust me, but I can't risk your safety—either of yours."

"But I'm her Household Member—!"

"And you've only been training for a few short months, Maahes." This time, the stern tone of his voice had Maahes flinching. Having his attention now, Muu squeezed his shoulder further to emphasize his words. "I admire your determination and loyalty, but we can't risk either of you, Household Member or not. So promise me you'll stay here where it's safe."

"Bus Mister Alexius—"

"Promise me, Maahes."

The Heliophatian wanted to protest. That was plain as could be on his face for anybody to see. The boy was smart though. That was why he trusted he would make the right choice. After an long glare, Maahes finally averted his gaze with a click of his tongue. He understands. And for as upset as he was, he wouldn't protest any further. Convincing Rhea wasn't the least bit easier, either. But after making him promise to save her big brother with tears once again coming to her eyes, Muu added to his vow.

"I promise I'll get him out, Rhea. Him and everybody else."

With a furious expression on her face, Rhea nodded, accepting her lot in the current situation in the end.

"If you'll allow it, I would like to join your efforts as well."

He and the others turned towards one of the men that stepped forth as he volunteered. Muu was about to decline him—this was no place for ordinary humans—but stopped when he glanced down at the sword that hung by his waist. He didn't need to wonder what would make a person think themselves capable of fighting toe-to-toe alongside them if they didn't have the power to do so already.

"You're a Metal Vessel user."

It wasn't a question, though the man took it as such and nodded as he gripped the hilt of his sword. The light of the sun reflected off of the gemstone on its pommel as he angled it forward.

"A year ago, Noé helped us when nobody else would. And I repaid her…by letting the people oust her from Maladh when we saw what she hid on her back."

A vein popped at Muu's temple at the sudden flare of anger that arose in him. If what he said was true and it had been half as bad as when the crowd badgered her back during Remano's festival, then he didn't want to know. He sensed that he would pummel the man onto the ground if he did.

"I was wrong," he said. The tight fist that Muu had kept unknowingly by his side relaxed slightly at his words. "I don't only wish to apologize for my mistake; I want to repay her as I should have in the first place."

"It's another handy one," Barbatos said as if to convince Muu. It wasn't necessary though. Muu had already made up his mind about the man.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Nikotis Ramal."

"Then I hope you've trained well this past year, Nikotis. You'll need it." Nikotis agreed with a nod.

As Nikotis said his goodbyes and Maahes and Rhea returned to the woman and child's side, Yunan turned to Muu and asked, "If you want me to guard the valley, how will you get to Remano in time?"

"I think I have that covered," he muttered, placing a hand over his heart.

Right?

The voice inside his head sighed for a second before agreeing and adding, "Only because you're helping the child. Once all this is over, I will not help you. You will need to learn as she did."

That is more than fine by me.

"I can get us as close to Remano as possible. I'm guessing you two used the underwater channels." Yunan grimaced before nodding. "Then we'll get inside through them as well."

"Be careful," Yunan warned. "If Seraphina knows we used them, she'll have them guarded to keep anybody else from entering the colosseum through them."

"When you say underwater channels, you mean the sewer system?" Maahes's question was an easy 'yes'. "Then you can get to my laboratory through them. It's a short distance to the colosseum from there."

Perfect.

"We'll use them to get in through there then." He stepped up to where both Nikotis and Shambal stood ready to leave. Strapping his Metal Vessel tightly on his belt, Muu gave a small touch to the arrowhead around his neck before turning to look at Maahes. It was obvious how much it pained the young man to remain behind, but it was also crystal clear that he understood what was at stake.

And that everything rested on their shoulders now.

Ready.

"Then we're off."

The light around the three men refracted and before anybody else knew it the light fractured, flashing the three of them out of Maladh and towards the outskirts of Remano.

{ii}—

It was daybreak when Noé stepped out of the colosseum on the seventh day.

Her emerald eyes stared ahead from her place under the threshold separating the underground and the arena, watching the sunlight illuminate what had been a near-dark stage before. Wanting her eyes to adjust a little before entering, Noé slowed to a stop at the threshold. The amalgams gave her no such time, though, and in their impatience shoved her into the arena without a warning. Her pupils narrowed at the sudden intrusion of light and had her instantly closing them as she tried rubbing them against her shoulders the best she could. Through her temporary blindness, Noé heard the crowd erupt just as enthusiastically as they had been for the past week.

Noé had wanted to hate them—she supposed that to some degree she did—but she was also fully aware that they too were under some kind of control much like the gladiators.

Speaking of which…

As if the thought alone were enough to do so, all remaining gates opened and through them, her opponents stepped forward, infected Fanalis and Yamabalas as par for the course. Added to the mix were amalgamates like the bladed one that had hacked off her wing, its razor-sharp blades gleaming in the burning sunlight. Noé counted at least fifteen in total.

A spectacle for her last fight.

Within her shackles, her hands tightened.

The euphoria around her quieted to a low mumble as from some feet above and directly across from her, Seraphina stepped onto the balcony and into the bright morning light. The rays fell on her and illuminated the brilliance of her attire. Though she still wore the simple white robes of an Alma Torran magician, she adorned them with lavish golden ornaments and beautiful teal sashes, one crossing one of her shoulders and wrapping around her waist to tie off to one side of her hips to let the remaining fabric flow freely beneath her in the soft morning breeze.

The imitation of a smile decorated her lips as she stared down at her from her perch above before looking out towards the crowd and addressing them with a voice that projected outward.

"Citizens of Remano! Rejoice! Today is the day that all your insignificant lives take on a mightier purpose. So now relish the entertainment I provide with our prime gladiator's last fight!" The crowd didn't cheer. Almost as if they were hesitant. Seraphina didn't mind their silence though. It was almost like she couldn't hear it. Instead, her seafoam green eyes fell on Noé instead. "This is the final time I ask you, Noé. Relinquish Grace of Sunlight to me. Spare yourself and the whole of Remano another day."

It was quiet at first but the crowd soon enough burst into pleas for Noé to do as she was told. For her to give her gift up. To spare them the sure death that would come upon the match finishing. Noé's ears hurt from their cries after a minute. She didn't know whether this was them or Seraphina simply puppeteering them with the parasites infecting them, but either way, her answer remained the same.

Noé stood as straight as she could on somewhat healed heels and glared daggers up at Seraphina.

All the priestess did in reply was smile sadly before tapping her staff on the floor of the balcony. Heeding her command, the gladiators in the arena jolted to life and charged toward her all at once. Noé gritted her teeth to bear the pain that tore through her as she bent her knees and dodged her way through the onslaught of enemies. Fighting like this was hell. No matter how healed her feet were, they were not healed enough to spare her the burden the pain brought on her. Not to mention that in the sunlight, her seal was gathering magoi haphazardly and without a way to use it, it was harming her body more than it usually did with its repercussions. She could fight though, and that in itself was advantage enough for what it was worth.

The ones more manageable than the amalgams were the Yambala and Fanalis, but with them charging at her all at the same time, it was hard to engage a counterattack on any one of them specifically. All this jumping around to avoid them while trying to find an opening long enough to attack was already exhausting her, too. The little bit of sleep she had the night before didn't help either.

I'll collapse from exhaustion if this goes on much longer.

Dodging a kick and slash simultaneously, Noé jumped back landing hard on her left heel, opening the barely closed wound and falling to one knee as the pain struck her. The tearing of the tendon was loud in her ears, crackling loudly.

wait…

That hadn't been the sound of her tendon.

Emerald eyes rose to look at the sky beyond the colosseum and noticed what she hadn't in the last few minutes of fighting. The skies were darkened by giant black clouds. Inside them, lightning flickered followed shortly by the loudest clap of thunder she'd ever heard that shook the whole of the arena itself.

It sounded like the roar of a mighty beast.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared a second time, and this time a heavy pour followed without warning. Within moments, Noé felt herself soaked to the bone from the rain pelting down on her but not once did she tear her eyes away from the thunderstorm roaring ever ferociously above them. The crowd's unease began to rise the longer the storm went on, but nothing sent them into a greater panic than the mighty crack of lightning as it flew down from its black cloud to strike Regia's Temple.

"Would you look at that?" Her eyes finally peeled away from the roaring storm before them to Seraphina who remained dry thanks to her borg. Even through that barrier, however, Noé could see the smile still plastered on her face. "It seems I have smoked out the other rat."

Smoked out?

Without another word, Seraphina leaped into the air and flew out towards the temple. It was unbelievable that she would leave Noé in the midst of a fight like that. Then again, in the state she was in, what current threat could she pose even if unsupervised? Noé had to admit that even with the opportunity presenting itself and it maybe being possible to escape now that Seraphina was gone, there would be no way her body as bruised, battered, and tired as it was would last long enough against these many opponents without giving out on her.

As if sensing her sudden vulnerability, all the amalgamates rushed at her, their limbs dislocating and reattaching with the speed they were charging at. Noé couldn't take even a breath as she began dodging out of the way of their slashes, blades missing her each time by a hair's breadth and causing sparks as they grazed the ground each time. Breath ragged and limbs trembling, she could barely keep up with the blades ambushing her, so when she caught a blur of red from the corner of her eye, it was already too late for her to react. The kick hit her squarely in her abdomen and sent her flying across the arena. Though her body didn't hit the wall, it struck the ground hard and bounced her off of it a couple of times before rolling to a stop. Dizzied by the hit, Noé saw her world spin as she tried standing. All she could do in her state was barely manage to sit up with the taste of bile coating her mouth.

Noé could see them through the rain and blur of her vision, but no matter how many times she tried getting up, all that would end up in was her falling back down to a knee. There were no more attempts after the third time with how close they all were to her now. As if sensing no further threat, they all stopped. All except one of the amalgamates that kept walking towards her, blades held at the ready before it charged and leaped into the air—intent on striking her down once and for all.

Instinctively, her eyes closed shut. A dying screech filled the air, but when she opened her eyes, it wasn't her that was dying.

A wall of bright blue flames had seemingly caught the amalgamate mid-jump and was burning it down to its very core. Even with the rain pouring so heavily around them, the flames that engulfed the creature weren't extinguishing. Neither were the blue flames that surrounded her and kept all the other opponents at bay. Ragged breaths filled her lungs with enough air to think for a moment and her hand reached out toward the firewall nearest to her. Her fingers touched the flame before she could think of anything else and like she had thought—hoped—the flames didn't burn her.

They were barely lukewarm.

Sitri?

Gates that had closed when the match began suddenly burst out from their hinges beyond the circle of fire that protected her. Through the curtain of flames, she saw the iron gates broken as more Fanalis and Yambala surged through the open gates. Noé's blood ran cold at the prospect of all those foes, but when she realized what they were doing, it simply stopped for a moment as her heart did.

The Fanalis and Yambala that escaped were subduing the others—the ones she'd been fighting.

They're on my side.

Panic erupted above her in a loud cacophony that rivaled the roaring thunder in the skies. Everything was happening so quickly that Noé barely had time to catch her breath. Judging from the cries and screams overhead, whatever was happening down here was also going on up there. They were being set free too, and as things stood, it was only logical to panic.

In spite of all the fighting, however, Noé hadn't let her guard down completely. Perhaps that was what saved her from the sudden ambush from behind as an amalgamate somehow got through the ring of fire surrounding her while brandishing its blades against her. She didn't know where she got the strength to stand back up, but Noé did and held her shackled hands aloft to use them as a shield as a last resort.

Lightning flashed in the skies once more. The roar that followed, though, sounded louder to her somehow.

Where

The split second it took her to even wonder was enough for a large crimson beast to leap through the flames unscathed with its jaw opening to the fullest and tearing into the amalgamate without a second thought. As it bore its sharp teeth into the dark djinn, Noé gawked unabashedly as the blood was washed away from its crimson fur by the rain. Once it was done, it stood up to its full height. Something in its eyes shone at seeing her and had Noé stopping altogether as it rushed towards her out of the blue.

But there was no fear in her when she saw that beast rushing to her. Her heart didn't waver at the sight of the bright orange light that engulfed the giant beast and shrunk it to the vague shape of a person. Her breath only hitched when arms suddenly scooped her entirely into them and held her flush against another.

Their skin was warm despite how drenched they were. Their arms were far stronger even as they trembled while holding her. And their scent of earth and side spices—

It's not possible.

"...Muu?" her voice cracked with unshed tears as that scent permeated her nostrils and that warmth engulfed her whole. "Is it…is it really…?"

He didn't need to answer for her to know. Not when this sudden feeling overtook her, one she hadn't given herself a chance to feel until now. The way Grace of Sunlight's splintered halves found each other—almost like an invisible hand reaching out from within her and touching something inside of him and merging together once found, uniting them before fading away from sight. That sense of wholeness, of finally being able to breathe again, of never-ending warmth.

It really is you.

Noé didn't hesitate in burying her face against his broad shoulder, tears spilling and mixing with the rain that fell on them as she repeated those words over and over against his neck. His strong arms held her at arm's length as a smile crept to his lips. Carefully, he brushed away a wet strand of auburn hair behind her ear before leaning down to brush his lips against hers. Noé breathed in the touch as if it were the very air giving her life and sighed as she pulled away only to breathe against them when he spoke.

"Thank goodness you're safe—ack!"

She didn't hold back when she reeled back and smacked the side of his head with the shackles on her hands. Muu stumbled back, falling to a seat and holding his injured head, and was about to call her out for the sudden attack but stopped short at the look of pure irritation that burned in her emerald eyes that were brimming with tears.

"You've got the fucking nerve, Alexius!" she shouted, face flushed from the effort to do that. Muu blinked a couple of times before picking himself up, all the while taking every last bit of anger that Noé yelled with. "How dare you fucking lie to my face like that?! You're the biggest idiot—the most stubborn and selfish mongrel! How dare you tell me you love me and leave me—leave me alo—"

The softness of his lips against hers didn't let her finish her sentence. Noé didn't push him away. Even in spite of how much anger still boiled from the sheer audacity of this man. The tenderness of his kiss and the way his hand so gently cradled her face didn't let her be mad for long.

"I promise I won't ever do that again," he whispered to her as he pressed their foreheads together, a half smile tugging at his lips. "So long as you promise not to leave my side ever again."

"You cheeky bastard." Cheeks as crimson as his eyes, Noé pouted at his little play on words. A soft chuckle escaped him as Muu made quick work of the shackles encasing her hands whole. Freed at last, Noé rubbed away the ache from her wrists while averting her gaze. "Don't think this is all going to get you off the hook. I'm still terribly angry at you."

Muu chuckled before saying, "I can bet there's someone even madder at you than you are at me."

Her brow furrowed at that statement, but before she could ask what he meant, Muu simply pulled off a leather strap from around his neck and placed it over her head.

"YOU IMBECILE!"

Noé screeched at the ear-piercing scream that got shouted in her head and could only shake it over and over to try and dispel the thrumming that hit her eardrums as Andromalius continued her furious rant.

"HOW MUCH OF AN INSENSITIVE IDIOT ARE YOU THAT YOU DARE TO LEAVE ME LIKE THAT?!"

Covering her ears did nothing to help her. It actually made it worse. I get why Muu just sat there and let me yell at him. That was very much easier than trying to appease the hurricane that was Andromalius now.

"You bet your pea-sized brain it is." As if the single thought brought her some calm, Andromalius took a deep breath and sighed, releasing what was left of her anger. "Never do that again, Noélia. You and I decided to embark on this together for a reason. If we are separated…if you leave me then what was everything we've gone through for?"

"I…" The faux smile that had spread across her face wavered at her words. And as her lips trembled and her eyes stung, new tears blended into her already wet face as she cried. "I thought it was for the best," Noé said, admitting it at last to both Andromalius and herself. "I thought you deserved a new master once I was gone. A better one!"

"You daft girl," Andromalius retorted, her own words and voice shaky. "I chose you. I wanted to be by your side back then and I still do now. I want to be there for you the way I never was before. The way I should have been from the very beginning and until the end. No matter what."

A wider smile curved the edges of her lips upward as the tears that spilled now were from the joy of Andromalius's words.

I'm sorry, Chief Romali, but I promise…I'll never ever part with you again.

The roar of thunder brought their attention back to the horizon where dark purple lightning continued to strike down upon Regia's Temple. Standing beside her, Muu sniffed the air. How he could smell anything beyond the crisp air that overwhelmed her own senses was beyond her.

"I smell Seraphina and Titus," he said, turning towards her. "Whose the other fighting her though?"

"Rakah." The chains around her ankles clamored against the floor as she stepped forward. "He's…He's helping me get Titus out. Seraphina had it out for him though. This was all set as a trap to gather us here."

Muu grimaced but faced all the same when he asked, "Do you trust him?"

Her emerald gaze fell as the question circled in her mind. Did she? After the lies and after the attack, she hadn't. She was just as skeptical of him now, too, but there was no denying that he had told her the truth about saving Titus. He was risking himself to save the magi. Her mind ran a mile a second with every pro and con it could conjure, but all the noise in her head quieted when Andromalius raised her voice above them.

"Trust your instincts, Noé. After so many years, they'll never again lead you astray."

Blinking away her doubt, Noé closed her eyes and simply let herself feel for a split moment. And that split moment was all it took for her to voice what really lay deep within her as the answer.

"I do." Facing backward and beyond Muu, Noé couldn't tear away her eyes from the chaos that continued around the colosseum. People ran from monsters that plagued their city, warriors fought to safeguard those people, and all of them strived to stay alive.

Titus isn't the only one who needs help.

All of Reim did.

"They're at Regia's Temple," she quickly told him, "but we can't just leave the citizens with all these Dark Djinn roaming free."

"Let us take care of the evacuation." Both turned to the voice that spoke to them to find Shambal Ramal along with the small elite Yambala warriors that she often remembered around him. The best of the best, some that even taught her while learning magoi manipulation. Capable warriors. The old man grinned at her as he hauled his broadsword out from a Dark Djinn he'd pierced not moments before. "Go after the girl and the young Titus. We'll take care of things here."

Noé furrowed her brow, pensive. There was no denying their capabilities to fight these creatures, but even with magoi manipulation and the Fanalis, the amalgamates held the advantage so long as they could make more of themselves by simply devouring not just them but the defenseless people they were trying to evacuate.

Before she could protest, however, sizzling took her attention overhead as another descended feet from Shambal. A man she recognized even despite the djinn equip that clad his body.

Nikotis Ramal—Sitri's master and Maladh's chief. The reminder of what happened at Maladh had her tensing inadvertently, something quite visible to them by the way the feathers behind her ear steeled.

"Noé…"

It wasn't a warning nor a well-meaning push to listen. Her words were simply a voice to her concern for her knowing full well what the sheer sight of the man before her reminded her of. But even as those nasty feelings brewed in her head, Noé didn't let them go far as she took a deep breath instead.

Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't had Andromalius with her after all this time. Or maybe that part of her that had opened up after so long wanted to do it. Whatever the reason it was in the end, she chose differently from what she would've chosen what felt like ages ago.

Offering him a cheeky smirk, Noé stared at Niko for a good second before saying, "Good to see you made something of yourself with what you got."

Shock laced his eyes at first, then, as he blinked it away, sincerity and regret replaced it. Noé cared for neither, but she supposed she appreciated he appeared to feel the latter. After a long second, Niko gave a slow nod with a rather demure smile of his own.

"And I owe it to you," he responded.

Clicking her tongue, Noé's smirk widened, her eyes gleaming. "Damn right you do." Pivoting on her heels, her auburn hair whipped around with her as she faced away from both Nikotis and Shambal. "We'll leave the evacuation to you then."

There was no agreement or acknowledgment of her words. Only the deep rumble of Shambal's booming voice as he gave out orders to the Yambala and the fiercer sizzling of flames as they grew against the falling rain. Stepping up to Muu, she raised her gaze to meet him. How she hated that smug smile.

"Wipe that shit-eating grin off of your face, Alexius," she snapped, "we've got work to do."

Not waiting for his response, Noé focused on Andromalius instead.

Ready, Chief?

"Ready when you are."

With a deep breath, Noé spoke the words she had taken for granted all those years with pride in her heart.

"Spirit of Candor and Credence, in the name of my magoi, envelop me to grant me greater power. This I command of you and your household. Dwell in my body, Andromalius!"

A blinding light erupted from her metal vessel, engulfing her body and destroying the remaining chains binding her when it burst out into a flurry of light that left her body in her djinn equip. Everything was the same—it felt the same—except there was no heaviness weighing her down anymore. Now the light that had formed on her right shoulder blade and created a veil of feathers against her arms before flowed from both the scars on her shoulders and erupted outwards behind her as fully formed golden wings.

They weren't like her Vastagian wings, and neither were they human contraptions. They were something more. Something stronger than either could give her.

Taking into the air, Noé noticed how much easier it was now to take flight in her equip but disregarded that as she turned to Muu with a cocky grin.

"Think you can keep up, cub?"

Muu scoffed but didn't answer. At least not with words. Noé could only gawk dumbfounded as the seal that she so often felt but never saw from Grace of Sunlight etched itself over his heart. The surplus of rukh surrounding them made something around his body visible—chains. Chains that were wrapped tightly around his body and that, as he activated the link to her seal, opened the links of the chains keeping his body hostage. Once undone, his body glowed as hers had in her equip, but instead of a djinn equip, Noé watched astounded as Muu took on the form of the crimson beast he was at the Great Rift.

Chuckling the amazement away, Noé flapped her golden wings to gain some height before darting off towards Regia's temple with Muu in his true Fanalis form hot on her heels. It didn't take them long to reach the goddess's temple on the other side of Remano. But the closer they got, the lower Noé flew as the lightning struck down from above indiscriminately. At least at the outskirts of the cumulonimbus, it did. Once closer to the actual epicenter of the storm and to the battle that was happening below, it was easy to see what the lightning was actually aiming at.

Rakah was in the middle of the field nearest to the temple, wand held aloft with one hand while the other grasped onto Titus's slim arm as the magi limply hung from his shoulders. The magician was firing off lightning magic empowered by his gift at the amalgamates that rushed them and towards Seraphina who was shooting icicles at them from a safe distance away. Before she could rush towards them to help, something else caught her attention. It protruded from a half-destroyed wall of the sanctum and, as if having been buried deep underground, erupted from the earth almost like a massive cancerous growth. It was a sphere akin to the Medium from Magnostadt; inky black and with visible cracks already showing. What was more, there was already an opening that glowed cyan and bled the same as what looked like a wing protruding from the crack.

"An egg?" Andromalius asked.

"It's Zydros Zaibas," she clarified.

Andromalius's alarm was instantaneous and honestly quite disquieting. Noé had always believed the tales of the Lightning Bird to be simply that, tales. Cautionary stories for children much like those of how the Fanalis ate ill-behaving fledglings. But Andromalius had been alive for longer than her. Far longer than any Vastago, in fact. That in itself had formed a question in Noé that despite needing an answer to, she didn't wish to ask out of fear.

"Were all those stories about it true?" she whispered.

"It—"

"Noé!"

The warning shout Rakah gave her wasn't enough to dodge out of the way of the large icicle aimed at her, but it was enough to block it by using her golden wings as a shield. Seraphina didn't deem it necessary to keep attacking her, however. That had been only a warning shot, not to showcase the difference in power between them but to show the hefty difference between herself and Rakah.

"She's taunting you."

And I'm gonna follow her lead…for as long as it buys us time.

"Muu." Crimson eyes skewed to the side to look at her at his name. Noé didn't look back. Instead, her whole attention was held by the priestess that hovered a few feet away, lording over them with a sickly-sweet smile and vacant stare. "Destroy the egg."

He didn't have time to ask or argue about it; not when she didn't give him even a chance to think before she dove towards Rakah and Titus just in time to lift a hand and summon a triple-layered shield to cover against Seraphina's rain of ice.

"Took you damn long enough." Beyond Rakah's grumbling, Noé could vaguely hear a tone of relief in his voice as he pushed Titus towards her. The poor magi's weak body fell limp against her as she couldn't do much else except take the boy at such short notice. "Take him. He's weighing me down."

Titus, sensing the shift, could barely lift his head from where it rested now against her shoulder. Baby blue eyes fluttered open halfway to stare up at her as his voice very faintly called her name under his breath. Noé didn't take long to hoist his smaller body up into her arms with one holding his back and the other lifting his legs from under his knees.

"It's alright, little bird. I've got you." Her assurances given, Noé turned to Rakah who had been fending off several dark djinn as they rushed towards them. "You expect me to be of any help like this?"

"It'll be more than what you'll do against her," he retorted. Which is nothing, hung in the air between them as they exchanged peeved glares. Before either could say anything, though, Rakah recoiled and lifted his borg as he turned back towards the battlefield, reinforcing it with a water shield conjured from Blooming Waves as dark djinn clashed against it and ice magic pierced through the first shield and only barely stopping at his borg.

His strain as he upheld both shields was barely the tip of his visible exhaustion, too. Noé could see it plain as day that clashing against Seraphina was a challenge unto itself. Using both his seal and Blooming Waves and who knows which else he'd been using before she got to them was straining his body closer and closer to its breaking point when it had already been so close to the edge.

And she wasn't the only one to notice this, either.

"Aw," Seraphina cooed and tutted. "Poor Mister Rakah. It isn't good to abuse your body to such lengths. Though I suppose that is your just reward after turning tail like a coward and deserting our master."

"Don't make me laugh. I'm not crazy like you all are," Rakah spat back with a shit-eating grin splitting his face despite the crystal-clear exhaustion he was pushing himself through. "I never intended on setting that abomination free."

"He knows."

Noé couldn't help but agree with Andromalius's conclusion that only added to her own. He's always known.

It made sense somehow. Though he claimed he had wanted to liberate her when they first met after Maladh, something about his actions hadn't correlated. Yes, he had been chasing after the gifts, but even despite having four of them already, the fact he still had them said enough. If they had previous communication with Ira as Seraphina's actions and words suggested, they would've known where the Grand Oak was located. There had never been a need for her to show them the way. Rakah could have easily given those gifts to Ira, if only to lessen the terrible load on his body that having so many gifts together caused.

But he hadn't. He kept them to himself.

But if not to return them, then for what?

The boisterous laugh that suddenly erupted from Seraphina brought her out of her train of thought and back to her. "I see. So stupidity was your hubris, Mister Rakah. A shame, really. Master could've given you whatever you desired had you just been obedient like the rest of us. She could've given you the world if you so wished for it."

"What I want, no one can give me, you crazy brat," he growled back.

"You are far stupider than I gave you credit for then," she concluded with a soft hum.

It was as Noé watched over this interaction that she noticed something about Seraphina. There was something wrong about her, more so than before. She was more emotive now, that sickeningly sweet smile turning wider and wider the longer she watched. Her eyes roamed in search of the cause and soon landed on the very likely culprit.

"It looks like…the mark you had."

It is. Those markings she remembered seeing before had traveled farther these past few days and were practically covering her whole body in those swirls of black and cyan. Everywhere was marked except for her chest and some of her face which were the only things she could see remaining that were even vaguely like human skin. The way she looked gave her a small hope that maybe, just maybe, she had been wrong before. That perhaps there was still a way to undo it even when Seraphina herself denied it.

"Rakah…" Though he didn't answer her call, the fact that those amethyst eyes had given her a sidelong glance was enough for her to continue. "Is there truly no way to undo the parasite's control on her?"

Before he had a chance to answer her and very likely chastise her for that bleeding heart he had accused her of, Seraphina laughed apparently having heard her question. A porcelain hand blended with black and cyan patterns rose and splayed against her chest as the smile on her face widened.

"I already told you, I am not under anyone's control. I gave my body and soul completely to Master Ira. It is the price I willingly and gladly paid for her to grant me the power necessary to accomplish my wish." Brandishing her staff outwards, Noé watched as icicles formed behind her. A whole arsenal that grew and grew until they were all aimed at them. "And now all I need to make it a reality is to give her Grace of Sunlight."

"Over my dead body," Noé hissed, baring her canines as her hold on Titus grew stronger.

That sweet smile changed at last and was replaced by a manic grin that brought out the vibrant glint of cyan in her eyes as they glowed brighter together with the patterns on her body.

"That can be easily arranged."

{ii}—

Oh, bother.

Yunan could hear the battle that had broken off in Remano. Even this far away at the bottom of the Great Rift, he could clearly overhear the cries of Reim's people, both of terror and valiance, as they each ran away or fought respectively. What gave him a little bit of hope was that beyond the falling rain he could hear Noé's voice as she promised Andromalius never again to part ways with her.

He wanted to go and aid them, but Muu had been right to send him back to the bottom of the valley. Because true to his word, the barrier had indeed broken. Yunan couldn't sense the wall that separated this world from the remnants of Alma Torran and though that didn't pose that much of an immediate threat, there was no telling what could escape through now that it was open. For all they knew, it could let in an even worse evil than what already existed on their side of the world.

Maybe a spell could help.

It wouldn't be enough to withstand any sort of intruder like the barrier itself had, but it would at least warn them if anybody trespassed onto their side. But as he made his way towards where the barrier stood in front of his cottage, Yunan stopped short at what he saw before him.

"H-Hello? Um...I'm sorry, b-but could you help me? I-I'm looking for someone."


A/N:

ANOTHER! Who knew writing a little bit each night would make this so much easier. Then again also having time to write makes it possible.

I have very little to say here, tbh. There's so little and yet so much going on at once i feel. Though it's reached a peak this isn't yet the climax. That will surely come next chapter when Noé and the others clash against Serahina and the bird. What's more, I'm hoping that all I've laid out as info dump went down smoothly. I had to rewrite one paragraph in particular to make freaking sense, so i hope it helped.

For now, I'll leave you guys with this. We have 2 more chapters left before the end of The Meanderer. I hope you guys stay tuned for the next update which I'll get into writing as soon as I can!

Love you all! Many hugs~

Evie.