Few weeks later, Sora was sitting on his throne, for once feeling quite satisfied about the situation. The task of integrating Elkia and Elven Garde had become even more difficult with the addition of the Eastern Federation to the Empire, but the continuous commitment of Stephanie, the Senate and Miko was preventing the process to ground to a halt. On the technological side, an experimental steam train had been tested to connect two stations in the capital, and plans were being drawn to start connecting the capital with its neighbouring cities via railways. The first hydropower plant had become operational and was providing electrical light and heating to the Imperial Palace, and soon to the entire capital. The elves seemed instead more interested in the mining techniques of Earth. The Flügel wing of the Imperial Palace was now home to more than 300, and Sora had started to receive requests from Elven Garde to send some Flügel to help with tasks requiring the unmeasurable raw power of the Sixth Exceed. On a different front, Iruel was put in charge of a delegation of humans, elves and Flügel sent to the Eastern Federation to learn as much as possible about the werebeasts computer technology, that apparently was even more advanced than Earth's.

He noticed a movement at his side, and smiled at Supreme Commander Jibril. The Imperial Military counted now 100 Flugel in ten squadrons, and acted as the eyes and ears of the Emperor, providing information, communication, delivery of Imperial Orders, and acting as high-ranking officials in local disputes.

"Good morning, Master"

"Good morning, my LAD, how is it going today?"

She didn't answer, and looked away instead. Sora grew uneasy "Jibril… are you alright?

"I am fine… but somebody else is not"

He nodded slowly "I see… Do you want to talk about it?"

"it's about Azrael, Master… she really never liked the way in which you bonded with the Flügel, and now…" she opened her mouth as if to say something, then looked away again "…I don't know if I should tell you…"

Sora was now very uneasy "Jibril… I will trust your judgement on this but… I cannot help you if you don't tell me anything…" his eyes went wide as a terrible suspect sneaked inside his head "Did she forbid you and the other from living here? Did she threaten to use the Race Piece?"

Jibril looked appalled "No! No, absolutely! Sora… please! Azrael would never do such a thing!"

His shoulder slumped out of relief, then he put his hands forward as an apologize "I am sorry… I am sorry… I just got scared for a moment. Of course… of course the Chairman of the Council would never do this to the other Flügel…" he looked at her "…but then, I have no idea what she did, that can make you so worried…"

Jibril looked at him for a few seconds, then decided to tell him "It's not that I am worried about her actions... I am just worried about her"

"What do you mean?"

"She went onto exile. She left Avant Heim, and went to live in the mountains in some remote location"

"Did she tell you why?"

Jibril looked ashamed "She said that you are corrupting the Flügel, and you just want to make us slaves. She will stay hidden, protecting the Race Piece until we realize that… I am so sorry Sora, after all what you did for us, this is just so insulting…"

He waived away her concerns "That's not a problem… Besides, it looks like she is even more worried about you than you are about her. I think you can talk this out"

She shook her head "No, we cannot. She stopped talking to me, or anyone else. If we visit her, she acts as if we are not there at all!"

He scratched his head

"Jibril… are you sure that it is necessary to do something? I mean… maybe she just needs some time"

"But she is all alone!"

"You were living alone too when I met you…"

"Yes, but we are different. I have been campaigning solo for my entire life, and then I was often living alone anyway. She always was either the right arm of Lord Artosh, or the leader of the Council altogether… she has never been alone in her entire life! I am really worried!"

"I understand, but… can't you just check that she is fine every now and then, without pressuring her?"

Jibril did not seem to hear his last suggestion "Can you talk with her?" she asked

His eyes went wide "Me?"

"Yes"

"I never even met her… and she hates me"

"Are you afraid?"

"Isn't she going to feel pressured if I approach her? And then react badly? Maybe disappearing completely for who knows how long?"

"You are a human, you don't understand Flügel. I do"

He made a face "Ehm… I think that I understand you at least a little bit…"

She stiffened "I… I am so sorry… I cannot believe that I actually said that! Please forgive me!"

He sighed "You are forgiven, don't worry about it"

She took his hands and almost begged him "Sora… I trust you! You did so much for all of us… I am just convinced that if she sees you and talks with you, she will realize that you are not our enemy and she will come back"

Seeing her in that state, Sora tried to be as delicate as possible "But I never met her… she hates me… and she lived for thousands of years. There are just so many things that I can say that could drive her angry, if she just decides to take it the wrong way" Sora was basically begging her now "Jibril… please… think carefully if it is really a good idea to do something at all in this case…"

She clasped his hands tighter, and lowered her head "I cannot abandon her! I have to do something! I would be dead if she hadn't been constantly healing me when I was battling that Dragonia in the Great War… I have a debt with her!" she looked at him with teary eyes "Master, please… help me!"

Sora sighed "I see. Well, if you have a debt with her… I guess that I have a debt with her too…" he patted her head "Do you know where is she right now?"

"What are you doing here? Did you come to add insult to injury?" Azrael shouted as she spotted him.

He quickly raised his hands "I just want to talk"

"I don't want to talk to you! Go back to your palace!"

His face contorted awkwardly "I… cannot"

Azrael narrowed her eyes "I said…"

Sora put his hands forward "I cannot fly! Jibril will get me later… but I am stuck here for the next hour!"

"Stay away from me!" she roared, and then flew away from him

"Ok…" he said meekly

In the following weeks, Jibril dropped Sora at the same spot for one hour every day. Azrael would not approach, simply glaring at him from a distance. On the other hand, he had absolutely no intention of forcing his presence on her, so it all ground to a stalemate. Azrael thought that he was going to get tired of wasting time, but then she noticed that he was taking work with him, so that he was actually not wasting any time at all. Conversely, his mere presence in the area was a source of stress for her, and eventually she lost her patience.

One day, almost on a whim, she teleported in front of him

"Was I not clear? I don't want you here. Why do you keep coming?" she told him angrily

He looked at her "Our common friend is worried about you. She asked me to check that you are ok"

"If she is so worried, why don't she come herself?"

"She told me that you pretend not to see her. You don't do that with me…"

She gritted her teeth "It's because your very presence makes me so angry!"

He made a face "If you promise me that you will stop ignoring Jibril… I am sure that she will come herself"

She seemed tempted by the prospect… but then suddenly turned her nose up, away from him

"Why am I talking to you? You are my enemy! I won't tell you a single word, unless you challenge me!"

He sighed "Ok, then I challenge you"

She blinked "W-what?"

"I challenge you…" he said blankly "… can we talk now?"

"You have to defeat me before!" she growled

He made a face "That's not what you said but … ok, fine by me"

She leaned forward towards him "What does that mean?"

"I just said that it's fine for me"

She narrowed her eyes "Are you implying that I am a liar?"

He raised his hands "Absolutely not"

"Are you implying that I am a coward?"

"No, not at all"

"If you lose this game, you will be my slave until you die!"

He nodded "And if you lose, you will come to Elkia to visit Jibril and the other Flügel… when you want. No need for you to do that when I am still alive"

She blinked "Are you kidding?"

"Not one bit"

She bent forward, and narrowed her eyes "Did you understand what I said?"

"I did"

"I hate you! I want to take everything away from you!"

Sora did not even flinch "And I do not hate you, and I do not want to take anything away from you"

She looked at him and stayed silent. Sora asked her what game she wanted to play

"You made a game for Jibril… an army of Flügel?"

He widened his eyes "Yes… the game is called Warhammer, but I did make up the rules for an army of Flügel"

"Good. Let's play that. I will use the Flügel army, of course. What would you use?"

"Lizardmen" he said hesitantly

"Surprised?" she asked

"Very"

"Do you want to know why I want to play this game?"

"If you don't mind…"

"I want to defeat you at the game that you created! This way I will prove that you are just an inferior human like all of the other, and that no Flügel should waste time with you!"

He nodded "I see your point… shall I assume that you know all of the rules then? I mean… It's a lot of rules!"

"We will play one dry run, and you will swear on the pledges to explain all of the rules, as we go through that game. It will be enough for me to learn everything that I need"

"That makes sense. Ok then, we can start… what are we going to use as figurines though?"

"I will take care of that"

There was a flash of light, so intense that Sora had to cover his eyes. Once he could see again, he noticed a number of things. First: he was at about one hundred meters above the ground. He started to panic, but then he realized the second thing: he wasn't falling… because he was standing on a small cloud that was solid enough to sustain his weight. He heard Azrael's laugh, so he noticed the third thing: something similar to a computer screen was floating right below him, showing what looked like a map… and his opponent's face

"Afraid of falling, human?"

He smiled awkwardly and raised his right hand "Guilty… but thank you for the cloud"

Sora noticed that the cloud had a set of controls, and tried them out. He was delighted to find out that he could move the cloud in every direction he wanted.

"Having fun?" Azrael asked. Her tone was mostly mocking, but Sora had the impression that she was actually enjoying having someone, anyone, to talk to.

"I am, thanks a lot!"

"Let's roll to see who is going to start"

Sora nodded; in Warhammer, the players take turns in deploying one unit at the time before the actual battle. Knowing the deployment of the enemy is of capital importance in war, and the rule was to avoid one of the players getting an unfair advantage by letting the opponent deploy first.

He pressed a button with a dice on it; he was going to deploy first, so he quickly tried the options of the cloud-console until he managed to deploy a unit of lizardmen on the map. Immediately, what looked like a real regiment appeared on the field below him, and he lowered the cloud to have a look at what he had actually summoned. His eyes went wide as he got closer.

A hundred skink warriors had magically appeared in the field. Sora tried to attract their attention, but they just stared blankly, no matter how close he was getting to them. So, he tried to touch them, and his arm touched the polished, shiny blue scales. They were not illusions, they were real-life sized, and looked exactly the way he was picturing them into his mind when he chose to deploy the unit.

"They are modelled on your memories upon summoning them" Azrael helpfully added upon seeing his confusion.

He nodded "That explains a lot!" he noticed that she had deployed her own unit, and moved the cloud in that direction to have a look. He did not like what he found.

Floating a few meters above ground, an extremely realistic replica of Jibril was staring at him with angry eyes. He tried his best not to betray any emotions, but immediately started to prepare a counter move. It was not going to be a normal Warhammer battle, after all. He placed his next unit, and she did the same. Her second unit was made by replicas of Ramiel, Zeruel and Armisael.

"So, how are you doing?" he asked as if they were old friends

She raised her eyebrows "Are you kidding me?"

He shrugged "Jibril told me to check out on you. I am checking out on you"

"I did not ask for any help!"

"Her intentions are good"

"Do you agree with me?"

Sora sighed at the obvious cluster of traps "That you did not ask for any help is a fact. I am not saying that Jibril is wrong at being worried about you, I did not say that Jibril forced me to do it – she did not – and I did not say that I did not want to be here – it's not like that at all. Now, to answer your question: you did not ask for any help, I agree with you. But that is what friends are for"

She snorted "I cannot say anything about any of that. You really know your way around with words"

"Thank you"

She looked at him with anger "Why you? What does she see in you?"

He thought about it for a second "I used to be a warrior. On my world. War have been my purpose for my entire life. But then things changed… and I lost my purpose. Does that sound familiar?"

She snorted, and looked away "Do you expect me to believe that?"

"I can swear on the Pledges if you want"

"Why are going to such extent?"

He looked at her for a moment "I made a promise"

She smirked "I see… Jibril forced you with the Pledges"

He shook his head "No, she didn't. I am not forced to be here"

"Then why? You will suffer pain beyond imagination if you lose"

"Again… I made a promise"

"Which promise?" she snapped

"To do everything I could do to help the Flügel. That was my promise"

She did not answer. Both armies were now ready to start the battle. Azrael placed the Jibril replica in front of the Flügel army and advanced her entire line, then concluded her turn.

"Now, what are you going to do?" she asked with a tone that was pure challenge

"All units, attack Jibril"

Her mouth dropped open "What? You… you are attacking Jibril!"

"Of course I am. Jibril is the most powerful unit of the Flügel army! I know that very well"

"I knew it! You don't care of the Flügel! They are just pawns for you! You would not hesitate a second to attack us, if it was to attain your goal!"

Sora snapped "Shut up! That thing is not Jibril!" he roared in her face. Azrael was mystified "First: It is one centimeter shorter. Second: the color of her hair is wrong! To obtain the right one, you have to add 1% more red, and 2% less blue. Third: the tattoo on her shoulder is not like that anymore, but more worn out. How long has it been since you actually looked at her? And most importantly… the eyes are empty! Jibril's are alive and curious, and never stop moving, and they sparkle when she hears a new word!"

Sora took a deep breath "And she likes tea!"

Azrael snorted "Ridiculous! She does not need…"

"Who ever said that she needs it?" Sora roared, cutting her short "I said that she likes it, that's different! And she will spit it into your face if you tell a joke while she does it, so be careful! And she likes chocolate… I think, maybe she was just being nice when I cooked a cake for her… Whatever! And you think that your copy is scary? You should have seen the original getting angry at Kai! Now, that was terrifying!"

"Who is Kai?" was the only thing that Azrael could say

"Irrelevant!" he shouted "The important point is: that thing is not my friend! And that one is not Shamshel, that one is not Zeruel, and so on, and so on, and so on!" Sora took a deep breath to regain control of himself "Maybe that is the way you see them. Maybe that is the way they used to be… I don't know. I don't know what they were feeling before I met them, but I don't think that they are more miserable now. I think that they are having fun, both on the surface and in Avant Heim. But they are worried about you. They miss you. You have been their leader for … I cannot even imagine a time that is that long. Please… don't just let them go like this. If you don't like me… fine, you don't need to see me or talk to me ever again… just please… go back to your friends"

She froze, and looked at him

"I don't want to play anymore. You win. Go away" and she teleported. He had no idea where she had gone, and so he could just go back to where he had come from.

Later that day, he talked with Jibril about his game with Azrael, and they decided to suspend his visits to the leader of the Flügel. A few days later, Sora heard a great commotion coming from the Flügel wing of the palace, but knew better than going to investigate. A few minutes later, Jibril appeared in front of him; tears in her eyes, she smiled at him with intensity, but said no words.

He gave her a caring look "Is everything alright, my LAD?"

She hugged him, and held him tight for a few seconds "Azrael is back to Avant Heim" she finally whispered into his ears

"That is good news" he said while hugging her back

She nodded "It is. Thank you. Thank you so much"

He smiled "Don't mention it. That's what friends are for"