Rita got a surprisingly good amount of sleep that night, exhausted from preparing for that stupid meeting, going to the meeting, stuff like that. Oh, and the near death experience was sorta bad.
The only reason she woke up early was due to her "anchor" to the ridiculously soft bed, Estelle, had moved. She whined like a child, feeling around for her to try and grab her arm and stop from sinking to the bottom. She was half asleep, trying not to fully wake up, she successfully found her wife and grabbed onto her leg, now she could safely fall back asleep without sinking.
"Rita," Estelle spoke softly, Rita simply made a whimpering noise, not wanting to wake up.
"Rita, did you read my diary?"
Those words woke Rita up faster than someone bursting in the door and screeching.
"I'm sorry!" Rita shouted, not even trying to deny it, "I was curious and you were taking forever in the bathroom, not that it's your fault, I'm so sorry."
Estelle smiled, "It's fine, it's not supposed to be private or anything, or else I would've locked it."
Rita stopped her rapid breathing and laid back down, "I have no idea why I'm so tired, I'm sorry."
"Maybe because it's 6am and we were up til 4ish probably?" Estelle asked.
"What?!" Rita shouted, "No wonder I'm so tired! Why are we up so early?"
"Actually, we're late," Estelle told her, "You overslept."
"Overslept for what?" Rita asked.
"Your lesson with my master, he demanded everyone be there by 6:15, no excuses," Estelle imitated him and shook her finger, sternly.
Rita groaned, sitting up and muttering to herself.
"I have all of your clothes laid out for you, all you have to do is put them on," Estelle told her.
"Sure, just let me get changed..." Rita yawned.
"You are changed," Estelle informed her, pointing at her body.
"What?" Rita looked down, she was already dressed, "You dressed me in my sleep?"
"Well it's nothing I haven't seen before," Estelle shrugged, "And you don't wanna be late, trust me."
Rita felt less violated and more concerned with meeting this fellow, he sounded strict.
Rita equipped the rest of her outfit and followed Estelle down the hall and down the stairs.
"Goodmorning princess," a knight nodded at her.
"Call me Estelle," she replied to the knight.
"Goodmorning princess Estelle," he said again.
"Just Estelle, thank you."
They reached the training room on the lower level, where some knights were sparring out of uniform in a ring similar to the one in Aurnion.
"Goodmorning," Estelle said to them.
"Princess?" One asked.
"Just call me Estelle, thank you," she told them, getting tired of telling people that.
"Estelle," the knight struggled with it, "What brings you here?"
"I'm looking for a lesson with Drake," she told them, and an awkward silence filled the room.
The knight sighed, "Drake is... no longer with us."
Estelle didn't understand, "Well, where is he then? Vacation?"
"Not exactly..."
"Then is he retired? Maybe I can visit him at his private residence," Estelle was still innocent as ever, in some ways it was good for her. In times like these? not so much.
Rita gripped her hand to prepare her for the blunt news that was to follow.
"Drake is dead, Ma'am," the knight tried to say it as comforting as he could.
Estelle squeezed Rita's hand, "What? That can't be... I just saw him a few months ago and he was fine..."
"There was an accident," he told her, "Drake was just on patrol outside of the capital when a general horde of monsters attacked, he slayed them easily but his heart just gave out."
"But, he wasn't even active duty... why was he out there?" Estelle's eyes began to water and her voice began to break, "This can't be happening..."
Rita comforted Estelle with a hug, to which Estelle replied with soaking her training outfit with tears.
"He was the only one who believed I could be anything but a princess..." Estelle cried.
Rita, not knowing what else to do, just hugged Estelle and let her cry it out. The knights just stood there awkwardly, trying not to watch.
Once Estelle had finished crying, she sniffled and began walking to the castle doors.
"Estelle?" Rita asked, "Where are we going?"
Estelle simply continued her march outside, walking nearly a block without saying anything, and dragging Rita behind her.
Estelle was walking down an old neighborhood in the upper quarter, and Rita was beginning to get an idea of where they were going.
They stopped and turned at a somewhat large, two story building. Not big enough to be a castle, but much bigger than an Inn or a house in the middle quarter.
Estelle rang the doorbell, anxiously awaiting a response. She had gone from sobbing uncontrollably to calm and collected fairly quickly for someone who had lost someone so important to them.
The person who answered the door was of a race unfamiliar to Rita, but Estelle seemed familiar.
The woman was around Estelle's age, had mostly human attributes except for her elf like ears and tentacles, similar to Judith's, although not quite as long. The thing that stood out was her darker skin tone, the consistency of a cappuccino.
"Estelle! How good to see you," the girl hugged her, "It's been forever!"
"I know, I'm sorry for not visiting, I've been very busy," Estelle told her.
"I've heard!" She was impressed, "Escaping the castle, helping the needy, saving the world, and getting married!"
"Speaking of," the chatty girl turned to Rita, "Introduce me?"
"Oh yes, sorry, that's rude of me," Estelle motioned to Rita, "This is my newlywed, Rita Mordio, she's an accomplished Mage from Aspio and is solely responsible for the new blastia that will be soon mass produced."
"Aspio, huh?" The girl asked, "I'm so sorry."
"Thank you for your condolences," Rita said, awkwardly trying to fit in amongst the royalty.
"I'm Luna, Drake's daughter," The light blue haired girl offered her hand to Rita.
Rita shook it, "I'm Rita... but you knew that..."
Luna laughed, "It's fine, just be yourself here."
"I'm sorry," Luna apologized to them, "Would you like to come in?"
"Most definitely, thank you," Estelle and Rita entered the fancy building.
"I'm pretty sure I know why you stopped by," Luna told them, pouring them some sort of warm beverage, tea, perhaps.
"Yes, I just found out around 30 minutes ago..." Estelle breathed heavy and stopped herself from crying again.
"It happened just a few weeks ago, we weren't really surprised," Luna told them, setting their drinks down for them, "His heart has always been in poor condition, and he always told us he'd work until it gave out."
"He was very brave and considerate of others..." Estelle sipped from her tea, gently, with proper manners, "He meant a lot to me."
"And you meant a lot to him," Luna took her hand, "I mean, seriously, he talked about you all of the time, you were like a second daughter to him."
"Really?" Estelle asked.
"My goodness, yes, when I finally met you for the first time a few months ago I felt like I'd known you all my life, because I had!" Luna was clearly very excited and obsessed with Estelle.
"You don't know how much that means to me, Luna," Estelle shed a single tear.
"Gosh, growing up I always wanted to learn to wield a sword, but my father was very strict and was too worried I'd get hurt," Luna continued on.
"He'd tell me stories about you, and I'd get a little jealous and play with some footwork. One time I even played with one of his swords and that's how I got..." Luna lifted her dress to show a long scar on her thigh.
"I wasn't as much jealous for my father's attention as I was... eager to meet you," Luna just stared in awe of Estelle, "You were like a sister to me, and when I finally met you you were exactly as my father described. Pink hair, kind hearted, overly nice sometimes."
There was a slight lull in the conversation before Luna spoke again.
"So, Rita, I assume there's something about my appearance youve never seen before?"
Rita seemed frightened, was she staring? "Well I..."
"Don't worry about it, I get it all the time with as strange and unique my appearance is," Luna reassured her, "Is it the hair, the ears, or the skin color?"
"Not the krytian... We've actually been to Krityan and one of our friends is Krityan, but she's..." Rita was trying her best not to pull attention to anything or seem judgemental.
"Hey, I totally get it. Feel free to just relax and ask anything you want," Luna smiled at her, "First off, the light blue hair? That's not my natural color. I dye it."
Luna laughed a little bit, "But I know that's not what you meant, I'm half human from my dad, but my mom was a rare survivor of the old Krityan race war.
"Krityan race war?" Rita and Estelle asked in unison.
"Oh yeah, it's not well documented since the Krityans are such a closed off people, your Krityan friend may not even know about it unless she's a book worm," Luna leaned her chair back, informally.
"I mean, it's a classic tale of biological life. One species doesn't trust the other because they look slightly different, so they fight until one is extinct," Luna had clearly dealt with these questions before, being a unique person.
"I mean, technically, our side started it, but obviously not everyone wanted to participate in such a war, my mother's family was among the general citizens that were caught in a cross fire."
Rita butted in, "It's amazing how even a third of the population can destroy an entire society."
"That's correct," Luna told her, "Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but eventually our entire village was wiped out and the few dozen of the other side that remained sealed themselves away in some city with an unknown location. But you tell me you've been there?"
"Yes," Estelle told her, "It's quite a wonderful city that is only accessible through flight."
"A floating city?" Luna asked, "No wonder they stayed hidden all this time."
"It's called Myorzo, if Judith is willing to show you then we will take you," Estelle told her, "But we obviously can't do it without her permission."
"That would be wonderful, I hope she'll be open to the idea," Luna smiled.
After a brief pause in the conversation, Estelle brought up the sensitive topic, "Again, I'm sorry about your father... will there be a funeral service?"
"It's ok, I've taken my time to grieve, I'm sure you're still processing," Luna replied, "We haven't planned a funeral yet, mostly because we don't know what he would've wanted..."
"How about a small one in one of the private rooms in the castle?" Estelle suggested.
"That sounds good, would you be able to arrange thay now that you're not technically royalty?" Luna asked.
"Well I'm still pretty much recognized as royalty, despite my best efforts." Estelle sighed.
"Honestly, I know the isolation wasn't a fun thing, but I would've switched places with you in an instant," Luna told Estelle, "Not being the best with a sword, myself, I never felt like I was able to do any good. That's why I studied law and politics, I was hoping to be a council member some day or at least be a lawyer."
"Well, I would've traded with you," Estelle told her, "No political responsibilities, all of the freedom... My way of helping has always been through combat and Artes, not that I enjoy beating people up or anything..."
Luna chuckled, "My father was so impressed and proud of you."
"Can the funeral be tomorrow?" Estelle asked, "Not to be inconsiderate, but we do have things to attend to in many different parts of the world..."
"Oh no, it's not inconsiderate at all, I totally get it," Luna reassured them, "How's tomorrow around sunset?"
"That sounds good," Estelle said, "I'll set it up, until then we better get going."
"One second..." Luna begged, "Please visit more, you're such a fascinating person and I've always thought of you as a sister, I know that's weird since you barely know me at all..."
Estelle hugged her, "I understand, and I promise I'll show up more often when I'm in town."
"Well, I'll let you two go now, and see you tomorrow!" Luna waved, excited to see them more, but of course depressed for her dad's funeral, more of a bittersweet emotion.
•••
Karol and Raven, now together in Dahngrest since Raven summoned him, approached the den of the hunting blades, the largest guild that refused to comply with the treaty between the empire and the guilds.
"Well, I guess you better knock, then?" Karol told him.
Raven gulped, knocking on the new, large headquarters of the hunting blades.
A person in a hood answered the door, "Who goes th-" He stopped once he realized who it was, "Oh, Karol... You may come in."
Karol stepped in, Raven attempted to follow but was stopped by the door guard. "Karol only. No Altosk members, or anyone who complies with the treaty."
"Relax," Karol told Raven, "I'll be ok."
The doors shut slowly and menacingly, the inside was dimly lit, and vegetation such as vines, leaves, and flowers covered the walls.
There was a balcony on the furthest wall that could be accessed by heading to the second story. Tyson, one of Karol's old friends/adversaries, appeared at the top and looked down.
Tyson visibly had mixed feelings seeing Karol again, but mostly showed rage.
"Well, well, well," Tyson opened, "If it isn't little Karol? Running around with his fancy Blastia while the rest of us have to wait like chumps."
Karol, being the only one with a blastia, could strut around semi-confidently, just watching for any traps or weapons that could be used against him.
"I hold the cards here, Tyson," Karol told him, "I will not be intimidated by you anymore. I've matured."
"Ha!" Tyson scoffed, "You're the same scared kid you always were. Don't think you've earned any respect by saving the world, anyone else could've done the same had they have been in your position."
Clint, the Hunting Blades' leader, placed his muscular hand on Tyson's shoulder, "Tyson, go see if there's some paper that needs filing or something."
Tyson stepped out, followed closely by Nan, who tried not to look at Karol.
"Karol," Clint addressed him, "Ignore Tyson, he's just upset that he was bested by a superior foe... You."
"Flattery?" Karol shouted, "You know why I'm here, now come down so we can talk."
"How about you come up here?" Clint asked him.
"Fine. I will." Karol calmly walked the stairs, but was careful to watch for traps.
Upon reaching the top, he met the two on the balcony.
"Long time no see," Karol said to Clint and Nan.
"Indeed, I've heard of your heroic acts around the world," Clint was being unusually nice, "Your raw strength, your viciousness against the monsters, even completing the monster book, saving the entire world..."
Clint walked up to Karol, towering over him, Karol tried not to look intimidated.
"I just want to say," Clint placed his hand on Karol's shoulder, "I'm proud of you, and I'm sorry we ever banished you."
"Huh?" Karol said, Nan looked confused as well.
"Karol, with our combined strength, we could overthrow the entire union. We could go back to the way things were before, before the Empire's occupation in Dahngrest." Clint was now talking about a revolution.
"Boss- I mean, Clint," Karol stuttered, "Thee treaty between the union and the empire is more than fair, and will stop the bloodshed."
"Look around you, Karol," Clint motioned to the room, which was filled with people outfitted for combat, "Do you see farmers? Do you see politicians? No. We are warriors, and we both know that a piece of paper isn't going to be the end of the violence."
Clint continued to monologue, "No. The bloodshed won't end until we're free from their grasp."
Karol stood, semi-speechless, "Are you talking about destroying the Empire?"
Clint shook his head, turning his back to Karol to look over the balcony dramatically, "No, unless it comes to that, which I hope it won't. I'm talking about keeping them away from us, not allowing an empirical presence here at all, and letting us live completely separately from the Empire."
"Have you even looked at the treaty?" Karol asked, "It allows us to remain free, a separate part of the world, our own domain."
"I'd rather die than step outside and see one more imperial knight, or citizen even, walk our streets, eat our food, or trade with us. So would my men."
Nan looked visibly conflicted.
"You're insane," Karol told him, "If you can't see that it's a good thing for the Empire and the Guilds to harmonize then YOU are the imperialist."
Clint walked angrily toward him, his hand on his massive blade.
Karol drew his half sword, his Blastia glowing, "I wouldn't."
"Estelle has changed the empire," Karol reasoned with him, "They're a democracy now, not a monarchy."
"Karol, do you remember what happened in Capua Nor?" Clint asked, his tone now less rough and angry.
"Of course, I was there."
"The Magistrate of that town tortured innocents, taxed his population into poverty, fed people to monsters when they couldn't provide..."
"Yes, but he's gone now!" Karol assured him.
"Yes, but who stopped him? Was it the empire?"
"Well... no..." Karol replied.
"Was it the Knights?" Clint grew increasingly frustrated.
"No..."
"Was it anyone who had any connection to the empire whatsoever?"
"No..." Karol said, defeated, "It was a vigilante."
"That's correct," Clint told him, "Operating outside of imperial law, the vigilante, whoever he may be, saved an entire town. I will not abide by any terms the Empire has set for us."
"Can you promise me no violence?" Karol asked.
"No."
"Then you must know what I have to do," Karol raised his blade for combat.
"I'd set that down, Karol," Clint told him, "Attacking the head of a major guild goes against the guild code, last I checked."
"Fine," Karol told him, "But consider this your first and last warning."
Karol descended the stairs and walked out the doors, quickly met by Raven, who had questions.
Before Raven could even open his mouth, Nan came rushing at them from the back.
"Wait, wait!" Nan told them, so they'd lower their weapons, "I'm not here to fight, I'm here to say that I don't agree with what Clint is doing, and I'm here to warn you that his followers will religiously follow whoever is in command. This includes starting a civil war."
"Well duh," Karol rolled his eyes at her, "He literally just told me that."
"I-" Nan stuttered, "I just wanted you to know that I won't follow him..."
"Do you have anything useful to tell us?" Karol asked.
"N-no..." Nan bowed her head like a sad puppy.
"Well you know where to find me if you do," Karol began to walk away.
"Karol, wait," Nan shouted.
Raven and Karol turned their heads to look at her.
"I'm sorry... for anything and everything I did..."
Karol turned his head back and kept walking, "Whatever."
Nan gently sat down on the grass outside the building as they walked away, failing to hold back her tears, ashamed of herself. She knew she deserved it, but she never expected Karol to be so cold."
"Dang, Karol," Raven said, "Wasn't that a little rough on her?"
"She had her chance with me, they all did," Karol replied, "I think it's about time that Karma came back to them."
"Well, how'd it go inside?" Raven asked.
"Worse than you would've thought," Karol replied.
Raven sighed, "Tell me everything."
