The bright smile was a set fixture on Margaret's face after she heard the good news. Laphicet congratulated her and then settled down to wait for his sister's return. Margaret went to do some work around the place to distract herself and he decided to leave her be with her joy, instead trying to finally get his stasis-enchantment to work.

The elderly man at the bar left after a time and others entered, but he gave them little more than a glance; he simply needed to find the correct mana structure to slow decay, but nothing short of a complicated and convoluted double-helix even began to work. Even those still warped the space inside and tore at whatever was placed into stasis. He had already given up on ever achieving a field that would put a living being in stasis without killing it, but now he was beginning to get frustrated.

The taproom began to fill up by the time his sister returned; Laphi had not made any actual progress and left his arte be with a sigh, only then noticing the receding light levels. For once in his life however, he was not the happiest person in the room to see Velvet step in; Margaret appeared to have lain in ambush, for she was on her within moments and peppered her with questions. When she could start, how long Velvet would stay, so on. The siblings exchanged an amused look at that.

"Do you have a backyard, or some other place where we have some room?"

"Oh, yes! This way, come!"

He followed with a wry grin as Velvet let herself be led through the inn's large structure, toward a staff area, where a maid crossed their path and merely dodged them with a knowing smile; the news spread like wildfire due to Margaret's giddiness. She led them out into a fenced off backyard, which appeared to be used for larger food deliveries and the like, being paved with even cobblestone and offering enough space for a half dozen people to move in comfortably. The fence reached higher than Velvet was tall, which she seemed to appreciate. "This will do," she gave her own assessment a moment after Laphicet was done taking it all in. She put down her looted backpack and rummaged through it while Margaret waited, almost vibrating in place and looking a small push away from crawling in there herself to look for whatever Velvet was searching.

Laphicet had no such restraints; he stepped next to his sister and peeked over her shoulder to find a bundle of clothes up top. That made sense, as well as the other necessities. What his sister finally produced, however, was a belt with attached scabbard; glancing at Margaret told him that the girl's gaze was focussed on the sword's hilt the moment she saw it. Velvet held it out to her calmly, lecturing at once: "This is a wooden blade you're going to use for practice. You're not going to so much as touch an actual one until you are proficient with it, are we clear?"

Margaret took it with clear reverence. "Yes, teacher!"

"Good, now- stop." Margaret was in the process of drawing the sword out of its scabbard but halted, blinking at Velvet who frowned ever so slightly. Laphi took a seat at the side and waited for where this was going. "The first thing you will learn is not how to draw a sword, but how to put it on properly." What followed was a series of repetitions in which Velvet demonstrated how to tie the belt and the height at which it had to sit so as to not pose problems. She let Margaret practice the motions a few times after tying the blade to her waist the first time, ignoring the protest that the girl knew how to work with a belt.

He could not help but laugh in the sanctity of his own mind; Margaret's disappointment and impatience were obvious. Her mother, Cynthia, wandered off after a few minutes of discreet observation. After attaching the sword came actually drawing it. Which, once again, Velvet ordered her student to do repeatedly; drawing and sheathing, both of which happened only with some bumps and fiddling respectively; Laphicet, who was used to Arthur's fluid drawing of a blade, saw just how great the difference was.

It took about half an hour for Margaret to stomp her foot. "Ahh, how many more of these things do I have to do before we start with the actual lesson?!"

Her outburst received an unamused stare and the girl wilted immediately, apologising with a soft voice. Velvet just shook her head, voice stern as she explained: "Everything is part of the lesson. How to get the sharp edge into your enemy is no more than half of what you need to know, perhaps even less. You need the right footwork, the muscles, and the endurance to not die. You need knowledge and even a bit of philosophy."

Laphicet's eyes widened as he realised just what she was going to do. And he was intrigued, curious, wanting to try as well in that very moment. He never got much of a chance to even make the attempt in his old life, so he got up now and formed a blunt sword of his own to join with Margaret; Velvet just gave him an odd look but did not shoo him away. Margaret's eyes grew a little wide, but she said nothing either. He usually got by on overwhelming force and speed, as well as the bits he learned from Arthur in what little time they had after his reincarnation, but he knew that was a bad habit.

"Either way," Velvet continued then, glancing to where the shadows kept growing longer. "There isn't much time left today, so we won't have a full lesson until tomorrow anyway. I'm starting out with the things you will need most today. After what we already have... we continue with the five maxims my own teacher hammered into me when I started. Listen well and remember them; you will know them inside and out by the time I leave."

Just like he thought. Margaret tensed up and stood at attention, an action which Laphicet mimicked somewhat; he already knew what would follow, could recite the first four from memory just through osmosis, but he listened raptly anyway.

"First: Plans must be solid, reactions flexible. Repeat it."

They both dutifully spoke her words back at her and Velvet nodded. Laphicet could not help but smile at the thought of what she would do to Margaret; his sister had to recite all of those maxims before bed and after every meal for months until they burned themselves into her mind.

"Second: Know your enemy, and strike them where they are weak."

They repeated this one without prompt, which drew a faint smile. The shadows dancing over her face made that appear a lot more sinister than she meant it, though. Margaret did not notice, enraptured as she was.

"Third: Never waver once your sword is drawn. Control your feelings to control the tide of battle."

As before, they spoke the words back at her; this time Laphicet threw a sly grin at his sister however, knowing that this was the maxim she had the greatest difficulty with herself. She rolled her eyes, having gotten the message.

"Fourth: Never let your guard down, even when victorious."

Another repetition and Velvet nodded; in the longer pause however, Margaret, turned her gaze to her hands in wonder. "I, I think I get them. They just feel... right. I already forgot numbers two and three, but I promise I will learn them all soon."

"See that you do. I want you to repeat them to yourself at every toll of the bell." As if on cue, the bell's distant gong filled the air nine times; Margaret nodded vigorously but needed an expectant look from her teacher to realise she had to start already. True to her words, she only remembered the first and fourth maxim. Laphi added the other two afterward.

"Okay, I think I have them. What's the fifth?" The question prompted Velvet to close her eyes for a moment, posture shifting. It almost appeared as if she was about to snarl, but she remained calm. When her lids opened back up, Margaret and Laphi both were rooted in place by her stare's intensity.

"Don't give in to fear. Don't despair, no matter what."

She enunciated each word slowly, with a calm that belied steel. Boy and girl stayed silent for long moments after she finished, but then they repeated the fifth maxim back at her. The following, pregnant pause lasted for a while... until Margaret lowered her head in shame. "I forgot the first maxim again. And half of the third."

Velvet stared down at her befuddled, but then she huffed and shook her head at the situation. Laphicet did much the same, though he had an idea: "Maybe you should write them down so you can read them later?"

Surprisingly however, this got him a confused look from the girl. "I'm a peasant, I can't read. Or write. I can do math, but that's it." Both siblings eyed her owlishly and she blinked, then looked between them. "Wait, you can? Both of you?"

Velvet sighed and gave her brother a look. "I'll teach her in the mornings, you get her in the evenings." He nodded at that without need for any clarification while Margaret stared at the both of them; her eyes only widened further when Velvet addressed her: "Starting tomorrow, you will learn to read and write."

It seemed that skill had been more common during their time; then again, Laphi thought, he and Velvet only knew it because Arthur taught them. Celica had been illiterate, much like the rest of Aball except a few people. He found it a shame that so many were unable to make use of the written word, past and present.

Night truly began to fall at that point, drawing a sigh from Velvet. "This will do for today," she declared. "We're starting early tomorrow, so don't stay up too late." She ushered the girl back inside and got no backtalk at all, probably because Margaret was still reeling from the new development. Laphi sympathised with her, but did not stop. He followed Velvet as she first talked to Cynthia and then walked to 'her' room which was actually theirs. The clothes he saw in her pack came out now and she spread them on the bed. "I bought a few different things so we can pick what we like and have some spares. Better sooner rather than later, before my focus slips."

"Good idea. At least we know that humans can still see the clothes you weave, imagine if they couldn't." He got a nasty look from Velvet, but only stuck out his tongue and started to go through the things in his size. His sister followed soon after and he found his thoughts idling on the last few hours. "Who would have thought that you end up teaching someone else one day?"

"No one, not even me. But if she wants it so much, I can at least try." Velvet then muttered something about putting together a training dummy before they left town. She then proceeded to pick an outfit much like her mana-crafted one, except that the tunic was dark brown and she wore actual pants of a similar colour underneath. Her boots were sturdy leather, though nowhere near as sharp or blade-carrying as those she used to wear. A simple red ribbon bound Velvet's long, raven hair into a ponytail, which he vowed he would turn back into a braid before the night was out.

Laphicet just picked up a white shirt that fit him well enough and similar pants to those his sister wore, if smaller. He did not need actual boots, but the sensation of wearing footwear that sturdy made him decide to keep them on. Thankfully, even material items worn by a seraph would not be seen. He had no idea why, but he did not much care either. Neither of them would need to sleep that night, but they had to pretend; Laphi knew he would use that time to prepare a few things for Margaret. He was surprisingly giddy to teach and figured that his sister felt the same.

Velvet had certainly made plans; the next day, she took a bleary-eyed Margaret out of her comfortable bed soon after the sun first revealed its shining face to Lastonbell. She grumbled and moaned, but woke up nonetheless and recited at least the first and second maxim from memory when the bell tolled. It was a start.

She started them slowly, let Margaret wake up some more by having her do a few stretches to get limber, made her draw and sheathe a few times. When the girl appeared ready to absorb knowledge, Velvet began: "The style I will teach you consists of six basic stances and a number of more advanced techniques that all build on those basics. You will spend the first few months building up the muscles you need and internalising those six stances. Everything builds on them and they will be the most important tools at your disposal."

Her first student nodded just as fervently as she had the previous evening. Velvet reserved her judgement for another day and began to describe the first stance in detail; it was just a straight slashing motion at the end of the day, but it had to be completely straight and required some proper footwork. As she did, Laphi began to perform that same stance somewhat shaky but passably; it was a well-enough demonstration, though his blade shuddered a little even as he swung.

"Um, Velvet?" Her attention turned back to Margaret after she gave her brother a few comments on how to improve; the wide-eyed girl was obviously hopeful. "Can't you show them to us, too?"

Now there was another problem, one she had hoped to get around. Velvet sighed and shook her head. "Maybe some of the basics, but not more. I remember all the things I was taught, but my body just moves on its own and does something else, something more my own. And I can't teach you that because that downward slash can come out like so," she drew her sword in a fluid motion, then slashed down at an angle, "like so," the blade rose and came down again, "or like so," and she twirled around on her heel, delivered a straight kick into the air with her other foot to use the momentum, then followed that with an angled slash in the same direction. "And none of this is technically part of the original style. I just play it by ear and decide what to do as I fight."

"Ohhh!"

Margaret appeared more impressed by the precise and fast motions, but Velvet hoped her point was understood. She added to it regardless, a little sheepish for that failing on her part. "So I'd rather get into the habit of explaining them to you instead of demonstrating; I can't do that for long. You don't need to worry too much," she reassured after a moment of thought, "they're all basics after all. Downward swing, upward swing, block, dodge, turn, kick."

"The original style is like clockwork," Laphi chimed in with a sly grin. He motioned at Velvet and she already grew a little annoyed. "Velvet's own version is more about wild and chaotic combat, almost the total opposite." He was right, but he did not have to phrase it like this.

"Essentially, yes. Now it's your turn, Margaret. Do you want me to explain again?" Margaret nodded and received the instructions a second time, closing her eyes to let them sink in. Velvet waited once she was done, watched the minute changes in her student's posture. Her feet were put further apart, her center of gravity lowered, she held the handle firmly with both hands. Then she raised her arms slowly but with varying speed... and brought the blade down in a perfect downward slash as she made a half-step forward. The strength of her entire body went into it and a quiet woosh of displaced air hit Velvet's ears.

Margaret did not stumble forward or backward, she remained balanced as she returned to her original posture. She did not lose her sword. Eyes now open, she waited for Velvet's verdict.

Meanwhile, Velvet herself was confused. "Again."

The motion repeated, then again, then again. Laphi peered at Margaret as well once he realised what was going on; he balanced himself by being able to fly, Velvet knew that. Margaret could not, yet she remained perfectly on her feet.

"Look at that," she muttered more to herself, impressed. "we won't need months if this wasn't just a fluke. Laphi, keep practicing the first stance. Margaret, to me." Both children did as they were told and Velvet finally gave her verdict: "You were a little shaky on raising the blade, but everything afterward was close to perfect. We're doing another for today and you will practice those two." She began to explain how to perform the upward swing right after and tried not to get too affected by Margaret's bright grin.

Later that afternoon, Velvet sat together with Cynthia after another trip through Lastonbell. Margaret worked upstairs at cleaning a room and Laphi wandered off to explore on his own, leaving Velvet in the taproom with Cynthia as the other woman prepared for the evening rush; much as she expected however, the obvious question was soon asked: "How is she doing?"

Velvet took a sip from the water she was offered and considered; a smile broke through her calm facade rather quickly. "So far, it looks like she's a natural," she revealed. "My brother started learning a while ago, but she is already better than him at what I showed her so far. She's tutoring him, even. She took to it like a fish to water."

Cynthia's eyes widened slightly, torn between joy and resignation. "Truly?"

"Yes, I was quite surprised. But you don't need to worry about her running off for adventure anytime soon, these things take time." Velvet motioned for herself. "A proper form only takes her so far. She will have to exercise daily beside the actual training to build up stamina, and that for a long time. It helps that she already lives an active life, but that isn't enough for what she wants to be." The older woman nodded along slowly, taking it all in while Velvet took another sip and continued: "I started my own training when I was ten. The first time I was allowed to go out and fight anything was at fourteen. Margaret is older than I was and good at what she does, so in the very best case I'd say two years. She is still slow and a little shaky, but that's normal for a beginner."

"I see." There was silence, though Cynthia's relieved smile did not go unnoticed; she put a hand over her heart for a moment and turned her attention to Velvet herself with a hint of curiousity. "I was wondering, miss Crowe. Or Velvet, if I may?" The younger woman nodded and she continued: "I was wondering, you said your 'brother' is learning with Maggie. Is that something which happens... often? For a seraph and a human to be siblings? How does it work?"

This was not quite where she had expected the conversation to go; at least Margaret had not shared that bit with her mother yet, even though she asked before as well. Velvet lowered her gaze to the table and shrugged, a pang of leftover pain striking her chest. "It doesn't, normally. Most seraphim are born from pure mana in specific locations around the world. Some, like Laphi, are reincarnated from a human after their death." Cynthia's eyes widened even though Velvet kept speaking: "Though those don't keep the memories of their previous life in most cases."

"Oh, oh no. I am so sorry." Cynthia's voice was almost toneless and she covered her mouth with one hand. "I wasn't thinking-" "It's fine."

The older woman cut herself off while the younger one let out a deep breath. "It's been a while ago. I... dealt with it all. And I still have my Laphi." There was so much more to it, but she did not want to discuss any of it with a near-stranger. Velvet just put on a weak smile. "I'm fine."

The first week of her stay in Lastonbell passed rather quickly after that, though there were two more rainstorms rolling over the city in as many days. Be it outside or inside however, Margaret soaked in the remaining basics like a sponge and Velvet told her to practice them for an hour every day once her and Laphi left town. She introduced the girl to several exercises she had to go through herself, to strengthen her arms, legs, stomach, and other important muscles. Margaret started on them all without complaint, though she quickly began to whine.

"Start slow," Velvet told her not much later. "Start slow and ramp it up a notch whenever you start to feel comfortable, until you have a good workout. You don't need the strength and endurance right now, you have time."

Margaret also learned to read in the evenings, which progressed quite nicely as well; Laphi had her write all the characters on a chalk board they procured and read to her from a book they got for cheap.

The second week, she decided to cover two of the more advanced stances. Flowing from upward swing to downward swing and combining them into a one-two combination, as well as going from a turn into an upward swing immediately. Again, Margaret did well even if this took her a bit longer to get through.

As the days went by however, Velvet could not help but feel a little odd. Something which was not because of the sudden storm uprooting half a forest fifty kilometres to the north. No, it was because of what her student learned and did. These were Artorius' teachings; the same style, the same motions, performed by a girl younger than herself. The art of the blade as it had been devised and perfected by King Claudin Asgard himself, the man who taught Arthur everything. And yet they were performed so well by this child, who wore any expression between a bright smile and a frown of concentration as she practiced.

This age would see their accomplishments once more, if Margaret's early achievements were any indication.

Toward the end of that second week, Laphi nudged his sister's side as they were dozing next to each other. "If need be, she would make a good shepherd," he suggested. Velvet just shrugged at that, unsure whether they should make plans that far into the future. But she knew they would have to at some point. Laphi had begun to eavesdrop on the bar's patrons, which gave them a few trickles of useful information. He also went to talk to the native seraphim, for much the same result; from there they also learned that the seraphim kept culling local hellion populations, which helped lower the amount of Malevolence near most cities and villages.

After some more thought, she nudged him back. "I guess I have to get used to thinking strategically. You're probably better at this than me, so you can be in charge of our long-term plans."

He nudged her in turn and she had to chuckle. "Not true, you're decent. You led a one-ship guerilla campaign against an empire. You're just unused to the change in perspective."

That was not entirely wrong, though she disagreed with his assessment and nudged him once again to keep the little game going. "I'm good enough at leading small groups of people myself, but I don't think I'll be good at this. You have the smarts to keep something bigger running." Laphi hummed and they both fell quiet to think for a while. In the end, Velvet sighed and nudged her brother again: "We still have to decide just what exactly we even want to do. I guess there's still some time before we need to commit, but we can start laying the groundwork on the way if we have a basic idea soon."

She was nudged back almost immediately and winced slightly from the force of his elbow. "You're right, but I don't have any real ideas right now. How about we talk it out tomorrow?"

"Good idea." Soon after, the two gods fell into a dreamless slumber, leaning shoulder to shoulder.

That following day marked the beginning of the third week after they descended from the heavens. It was also, by Velvet's choice, the final day of their stay in Lastonbell for the time being. Margaret's expression fell harshly when Velvet explained their imminent departure during breakfast with the innkeeper and her daughter; both of them appeared unhappy, but they understood.

"It's such a shame," Cynthia noted with a faint smile after some time. "You are such a wonderful customer, cleaning your own room better than most of us could and even helping in the kitchen from time to time. I would hire you if you didn't want to leave."

Both children laughed at that and Velvet had to smile, too. "I'm just used to doing chores from home," she brushed off the praise. "It's relaxing." Then she turned to Margaret. "And don't worry about me. We will be around every once in a while."

"Promise?"

"...promise." It seemed to appease the girl at least somewhat, though giving her word made Velvet a little uncomfortable for what the future may bring. She rather changed the subject and poked her cheek. "Maybe you get an audience once scary old me isn't around anymore. I wonder how many of the other children are peeking when you're training."

"Quite a few," Laphi provided without prompting. "Word about this got around pretty quickly." They did notice a few of them peeking over the fence on the last few mornings; Velvet just chuckled and Cynthia joined, though the latter rather about the first comment and not Laphi's addition. It made sense, though; she took Margaret running, among other things. They could not have kept this a secret even if they tried.

Margaret fidgeted a little, but soon her eyes went back to lie on the table. "It's still... I don't know. You get to go wherever you want, whenever you want. I'd like to do that, too."

The siblings exchanged a glance at that, but Velvet did not feel like pointing out that kind of freedom required a certain amount of dead relatives and friends. "I do get it," Laphi told his friend quietly, "but you will get there, too. Don't worry."

Only Velvet saw because she paid attention, but in that moment Laphi's eyes widened fractionally and he formed unspoken words with his mouth. Then his expression relaxed and he went back to eating cheerfully. It took until the evening for her to find out what he had thought of; after a lonely meal in the taproom that she could not taste and which she spent making a list of their current goals and how to achieve them. And after Laphi returned from tutoring Margaret once more.

"Did she finally stop getting shy when you two are alone?" Laphi only shrugged and she dropped the subject there. Teasing him about that got old a while ago, especially when it became clear this was less a crush and more a general awkwardness around a cute boy that Margaret had.

"I was thinking since earlier," her brother started without preamble once no further teasing happened. "It kind of slipped my mind so far, but I can set down teleportation artes; they don't make for constant travel back and forth, but singular journeys should be fine." Velvet listened curiously and let him explain, although the merits were obvious to her as well. "If we can hide one near Lastonbell and put down another after we reach Pendrago, we can come back here instantly. And after that, too; when we're leaving Rolance."

She immediately understood and liked that idea. She liked it a lot.

"We will do that right after leaving the city tomorrow," Velvet decided, receiving a nod from Laphi; he then peered at the sheet of parchment now placed on the ground between them and she explained it: "Beside that, I made a list of what we need. Information, allies and influence, a base of operations, and resources; in that order, too. With teleportation, we can move quickly over the entire continent once we have set up."

"And gather information everywhere without losing time," Laphi agreed when Velvet made a pause. He increased the light shining down a little to peer at the page. "It's definitely worth the mana to power them, not that I am lacking either way. Hm." A pause as she waited for him to complete his thought; Laphi tapped the 'base of operations' on her list. "We could set up a base on my other body. There is definitely enough space there and no one is going to find it."

Velvet opened her mouth to disagree, but shut it again when she realised that idea had merit. She scribbled a note behind that bullet point. "We will keep it in mind and see if it's viable later."

"Alright." Another appraisal was given to the parchment, then Laphi studied his sister. "I still wonder what we're going to do, in general I mean. With what we want and need, the best option might be to form an actual organisation. Find a source of income, recruit people to do some of the work for us, that kind of thing."

He had a point, but Velvet frowned nonetheless. "You're not wrong, but growing an organisation from the ground up takes too long right now. If we push it to grow faster than normal, that raises suspicion." She liked the idea, but it did not feel feasible. "We will have to put a lot of thought into how to proceed from here, but it's good to have some ideas ready."

"You're right. Was that everything we need to prepare for tomorrow?"

Velvet threw a glance to her pack and took stock mentally, then nodded. "We're done." It only took that long for her brother to be back at playing with his stasis-arte. She just rolled her eyes at the sight. Boys.