Warning: There are mentions of abuse discussed between characters in the latter half of the chapter. If you are sensitive to this sort of content, please read with caution.

39. Tough Decisions

"The Sechs have a place in the sky?" Arthur looked towards Frey as he asked. The former Prince heard about Arganan, Frey, Doug and Therius going to try to take the Rune Spheres back, and hurried over to the Clinic where they went to the moment they reentered Selphia. None of the group had any huge amounts of injuries, save for mostly scratches and bruises, but those were quickly remedied with potions and bandages.

"Yeah." Frey nodded. "Ethelberd said that he wanted to see me in his castle in the clouds. And that he'd make me go. But I don't know how."

"That could mean kidnapping. Or threatening the lives of everyone living in Selphia." Therius mused.

"I'll ask Forte to get the knights in the town to double their watch." Frey managed, with a sigh. "Just in case."

Arganan frowned, thinking of the last time he saw Calista get kidnapped, back when he was Count. "What about your own safety, though? Ethelberd wants to kill you because you're an Earthmate, doesn't he? He'd be more likely to kill you if he kidnapped you. Or force you to give yourself up without a fight."

"Let's not forget that you might be a target to kidnap as well." Therius looked towards Arganan, his emerald eyes glinting with concern. "Ethelberd might not know that you have the Outsider's power, but he does know that you were involved with Frey now, seeing you in person. And he likely heard from other members of the Sechs Empire that you were present when they initially tried attacking Selphia."

"What do you want me to do?" Arganan raised a brow. "Go back to Lazulis and hide in the castle? I don't think that's going to work."

"That…was what I considered." Therius managed with a sigh. "Ever since the first attack from the Sechs on Selphia, and you getting injured, your niece, nephew-in-law and I have been discussing that you should return to Lazulis for your own safety."

The former Count frowned at that. "And abandon Frey to do all the dirty work? Seems rather inconsiderate. You saw me out there, Therius. You know I can battle and defend myself fairly well."

"That might be the case, but we might not have much choice." Therius's gaze sharpened as he looked into Arganan's eye. "

"Then," Frey managed, "What if you, Sir Therius, became Arganan's bodyguard? You could stay close by his side and protect him."

Arganan made a face at that. "You don't consider me that fragile, Frey, do you?"

"Not usually, but you did just get out of having cracked ribs and so on." Frey sighed, shaking her head. "I mean, I guess I could contact Calista and see if she can bring in temporary reinforcements, or see if Arthur can pull some strings with the main capital and get some extra help, but I don't know what we can do."

"Perhaps I can help?"

The group turned to see the owner of the new voice that spoke up. It was none other than Zael, who stepped in. Zael, who looked much more familiar to Arganan in the armor he wore, befitting of his status as a knight and as husband to Arganan's niece Calista. The younger man offered the others a soft grin. "Sorry to interrupt. I just came into town again at Calista's request."

"Calista sent you?" Therius raised a brow. "I heard nothing about this development."

"It was a last-minute decision on her part." Zael admitted. "She's holding things down at Lazulis while I'm here. She figured, since I do have the Outsider's power and now my uncle-in-law has it…maybe we can find a way to use our powers together to assist all of you in stopping Ethelberd."

Arganan, Frey, Doug, and the others exchanged glances, before Arganan looked Zael in the eye. "If it's going to prevent Sir Therius from being my personal watchdog, or at least help us get rid of the Sechs Empire, we'd be happy to have the help. But we have a lot that you need to catch up with, first."

The explanation of all that happened, with Doug stealing back one of the Rune Spheres from Ethelberd and Ethelberd himself telling Frey to come up to his castle in the sky or else, took about ten minutes.

Zael looked like he needed a whole day to process all of this. "And this happened in the past twenty-four hours!?"

"Yeah." Frey offered him a sheepish grin. "It was quite a wild ride."

"More than just wild." Arganan couldn't help but mutter. "We faced a literal dragon."

"What?" Zael's eyes widened, his gaze snapping towards his uncle-in-law. "You…faced a dragon?"

"Ethelberd's been using remains of the actual Divine dragons and fusing them with regular beasts to create copies." Doug explained, before a groan left him. "I can't believe he'd…do that."

The former Count grimaced. "In my experience, and as Zael, Calista, Therius and many people have pointed out to me before now, meddling with things of a divine nature didn't end well. I can't imagine it will work out for him as seamlessly as he did earlier, all the time." He shook his head, frowning at remembering how smug and confident Ethelberd was with fusing that one dragon into existence. "Either he's found a way to perfect that meddling without himself getting any setbacks, or…he has yet to see failure. Either way, he's pretty confident that he can destroy Frey and likely all of Selphia."

"Is he close to Selphia?" Zael asked. "You said he was in a castle in the clouds, right?"

"He's in a castle in the sky, yes." Therius managed, looking towards him. "Why do you ask?"

"I remember…On the way to Selphia earlier, I spotted a floating castle slowly making its way towards Selphia." Zael explained, his brows furrowing a bit. "I sent word of it back to Calista the moment I landed to let her know, but I have a feeling that might be where Ethelberd is."

"That also might mean he's on the move to potentially attack Selphia." Therius' eyes darkened a little at that. "Especially if he's heading here."

"Attack Selphia to draw me out…" Frey grimaced, shaking her head, before getting up from her chair. "I have to go speak with Volkanon and Forte immediately about the town's defense. Who knows how soon they could get here?"

"Princess?" Therius asked, his gaze looking towards her. "Is there any safe place for the townspeople to hide, should the Sechs invade in more than just one person fusing with a monster or two?"

"Not too close…" Frey grimaced, shaking her head. "I mean, the castle basement is pretty spacious and could fit a lot of people, but I don't think it's enough. The sewers aren't big enough, either. We could evacuate people by airship, but then we risk the Sechs seeing us."

"Meaning," Arthur finished, frowning, "That we're trapped here. The Sechs must've figured that our main routes are either by foot or airship at this point. Yokmir Forest is relatively safe compared to most places immediately outside of the town, but it could still be too dangerous to hide in unless we started clearing the area of monsters as fast as we could."

"What if we stopped the Sechs before they could reach town?" Arganan asked, looking between everyone.

"I know this sounds crazy, but what if we just found a way to shoot down his entire castle before he can make a move? Are there cannons we could use? Special weaponry meant for flying objects?"

Zael stared at him, eyes wide. "The last time you tried to do that, you almost died and the plan failed. I don't think that's a good idea."

The former Count resisted the urge to roll his eye at his nephew bringing it up. "Okay, sure, provoking the Outsider's power to use the Cannon was a bad idea in hindsight, but we were desperate at the time. And desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Speaking of desperate measures and outcomes, I also should remind you that as far as I know from Frey, you still have your debt to pay for the airship incident." Therius raised a brow, looking Arganan in the eye. "In the event that you die before it's fully paid, Calista will have to pay for the remainder of it. And Lazulis is already strapped for resources as is, due to the all the economic repercussions the war with the Gurak had on damaging the entire island several times."

Frey could only shake her head. "Besides, I don't think we have any huge cannons like Lazulis does. We couldn't just shoot Ethelberd out of the sky, even if we wanted to. Not easily…"

The former Count did his best not to groan aloud at that, shaking his head. "I promise I've been working on that. I'm about halfway through, at this point! Frey and Volkanon can testify for that. Same with Illuminata, if you want to ask about my work…"

Then again, the former Count realized, he hadn't exactly done as much work at the florist shop lately, due to him going out with Frey earlier to try to track down the Rune Spheres, on top of recovering from his injuries. That debt is not going to pay itself…then again, I doubt that's the least of my worries right now, given Ethelberd's threats to potentially attack Selphia.

He made the mental note to make sure to pay it off completely immediately after the whole issue with the Sechs was done with. And speaking of Sechs…he had some ideas of how to deal with them, but he also thought about how it could potentially affect Lazulis. There was a lot at stake here, and more than just Selphia's overall safety and Lady Ventuswill's health. It all clicked at once for him. He had to tell someone about it, and that someone was right here.

"Can Zael and I speak alone for a moment? It's important." Arganan requested.

Therius looked towards Zael, who paused, before nodding. "It's okay, Therius. I can handle it from here. You should get back to the inn and get some rest."

"Understood." Therius moved to leave the Clinic, and soon Frey and the others left Zael and Arganan alone. The former Count took a deep breath, before looking towards his nephew-in-law. Before he had a chance to speak, however, Zael took something out of his coat—an envelope.

"It's a letter from Calista." Zael explained. "I figured you'd want to read it first. She sent it with me on the way here."

Arganan took the envelope from him, before opening it up and reading the letter inside.

Dear Uncle,

I hope you are recovering well from the Sechs Empire's attacks. I'm sorry that you got so injured during the time I saw you, and I only you wish the best for fast healing.

Since returning to Lazulis, I found out that the Gurak have chosen their new King; Zesha, former right-hand man to the late Zangurak. Though I doubt the Gurak will want business dealings with Selphia or any part of Norad too soon, especially given that Selphia is in conflict with Sechs right now, I thought it was pertinent for you to know for the future.

I also hope that you are keeping yourself safe. In the event that your life is endangered, I may need Zael or Therius to take you back to Lazulis for your own safety. We will not risk losing you to the Sechs Empire, and I'm sure you're more than aware of that yourself. I know very well of your wishes to help Princess Frey in her endeavors, but based off how you acted during the previous battle with the Sechs, as well as everything you did back when you were helping Frey with Lady Ventuswill's health, I know you are going to risk your own self. Though I appreciate you helping her, I also know that if the Sechs were to capture you, it would end badly for not just you, but potentially Lazulis as well.

I've yet to make a decision on this, but take this as a warning for your own safety. If you continue being so reckless, I might have no choice but to take you back to Lazulis temporarily until the conflict between Selphia and Sechs ends.

I'm still in the middle of finding all that I can on the Sechs. Once I do, I'll send information immediately. Stay safe.

Sincerely, Calista

"Gods." Arganan put the letter down, looking up at Zael. "She wants to make me her prisoner, doesn't she."

The younger man's brows furrowed. "What?"

"The way she phrased her wish to bring me back to Lazulis 'for my safety'…that's exactly how I would speak to her, after the guards caught her and dragged her back to the castle every time she ran away." He looked up at Zael, forcing himself to take a breath. "She's taking after me in how I treated her. And now that our roles are virtually reversed at this point, she's using this opportunity to rub it in."

"How are the roles reversed?" Zael frowned. "I know you hurt her. But she's concerned for you, and for Lazulis, and…"

"Exactly my point." Arganan raised a brow, and he resisted a growl from his own throat as he spoke up. "She's using the safety of Lazulis and my own personal safety as a reason to take me back and keep me with her. I would use those same things against her. I didn't think of it as taking advantage, but that's what it was. And now she's doing the same thing to me. She has all the power in Lazulis, just like I did back when I was Count. And she's using it to her full advantage."

Silence fell between both men. Zael averted his gaze from his uncle-in-law's own, clearly uncomfortable. Neither of them had really talked to each other much on such a personal level. Arganan knew that, for sure.

Neither of them had ever bothered bringing up Arganan and Calista's tumultuous relationship, either. Not really. Not until now.

"What are you going to do?" Zael swallowed, looking up at him again. "I don't know what I can do from here. I don't know what both of you were like…before I met either of you. I can't fix this."

"And you wish you could, don't you?"

"I know you're both talking to each other, at least." Zael leaned back against the wall behind him, and Arganan noticed how tense the other's shoulders were as he did so. "And I think that's a start…but if that's what she's insiting, to bring you back to Lazulis if things get even further out of hand…"

"Either I continue helping Frey, risking my life in the process and potentially the future I have here in Selphia, or I just…go back home? Back to where I once ruled, knowing that I'll have no freedom?" A hoarse laugh left him, and he shook his head as he recalled the past days of his reign as Count; the countless times Calista ran away, the times when they argued, the times when he planned to use her as a puppet, never caring for her wellbeing. "I made her miserable, Zael. I'm smart enough to acknowledge that now. But if she wants to bring me back to Lazulis, she'll have to drag me all the way back herself."

"So you're just going to risk your life and get killed?" Zael asked. "The last time you fought the Sechs, they could have done worse damage to you than they did."

"Actually, the last time I fought them," Arganan corrected, raising a brow, "was recently. And I still got injuries, but it's not as bad as the time before that. Clearly I'm improving in some way."

The younger suddenly broke into a brief laugh, and he covered his mouth, but Arganan could see the mirth in his eyes. The former Count frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, it's just…" Zael lowered his hand from his mouth, and Arganan could see a faint smile on his face. "I forgot that you're so determined. Stubborn, even. You and Calista both."

"It must run in the family." Arganan remarked. He wouldn't be surprised, if that was the case. "But as we were talking about just earlier…it's clear the way that I treated her affects how she treats me. That's my fault. And I intend to fix it in any way I can, if I can."

Zael went silent, and Arganan saw doubt flicker in his gaze, darkening slightly. "You…you really are serious about reconciling with Calista, aren't you?"

Arganan nodded. "I have to take it seriously, Zael. My relationship with Calista, as is, is strained because of me. And even if both of us want to reconcile, we will need to talk things out. And the best way to do that is if we get this bloody war with the Sechs over with. In order to get that accomplished with…"

"You're sticking to your guns and helping Frey, even if it results in Calista taking you back to Lazulis." Zael finished.

"Exactly." Arganan nodded. "That's what I have to do. I can't back out on helping Frey, even if it risks my life. If I die in the aftermath, or something bad happens to me because of it, that's a risk I'm willing to take. But I'm doing this not just for Frey and all of Selphia, but also for Calista and all of Lazulis. And you, too, since you are married to her and you're practically my nephew-in-law. I'm doing this for all of you, Zael." He swallowed, before asking, "Do you understand that, now?"

Zael went silent. It was the first time Arganan saw him so stunned, in all honesty. But he nodded, after a moment, in agreement.

"I think I understand that." Zael finally stated. A soft sigh left him, and he looked Arganan in the eye. "I know you're determined. I can see that enough. But whether that determination will take you through...we'll have to find out."

"Thank you." Arganan closed his good eye for a moment, before speaking again. "And…one more thing. In the event I do actually get captured by the Sechs…don't rescue me."

"What?" Zael burst out. Before he could protest, Arganan quickly butted in to explain.

"I'm not a Count. I may be related to Calista, being her uncle and all, but I don't have any political power. And if Calista's smart enough, she won't rescue me, because if she tries, that gives Ethelberd enough justification to start a war with Lazulis over me as a hostage, even though I lack any power whatsoever, because Calista and I are biological family. And Lazulis is still recovering from its war with the Gurak. With the new peace treaty between Lazulis and the Gurak, the Gurak would also have to join in that. And that wouldn't end well, would it?"

"Er…"

"And," Arganan finished, "Don't let Frey rescue me, either. She needs to focus on taking down Ethelberd and stopping his plans, whatever they are."

Zael grimaced at that. "I'm…not sure if I can stop her."

"I know she's stubborn. I think I have too much evidence of that at this point." Arganan still remembered chasing after her in Yokmir Forest, trying to rescue her with the airship incident, and…well, there was a lot that happened by now. "But if she focuses her attention on trying to rescue me, Ethelberd will likely figure that out and try to use me as a hostage. Make her give herself up in order to gain my safety. And knowing him, he's probably not going to keep his word and end up killing me anyway. It's a lose-lose situation if Calista or Frey try to save me in the event that I get captured. So make sure they don't, okay?"

"You trust me to do this?"

"Calista won't listen to me. Not now, anyway. Frey is stubborn, and she's a devoted friend, which makes her highly likely to try to rescue me. I'm sure Vishnal might try to dissuade Frey, and maybe Forte, but Calista is more likely to listen to what you have to say than me." Arganan pointed out. "That's why I have to entrust this task to you."

Zael took a deep breath, before he finally nodded. "I understand. And…I don't know if I can do it, but I'll keep it in mind."

"You used to be so sure of yourself." Arganan managed. "You certainly were when you turned down my offer of knighthood and ran off with my niece on the day you were supposed to marry her."

"That was another time, and another circumstance." Zael frowned. "This is different."

"Is it, really? What we do now could prevent a full-out war between four nations." As much as Arganan didn't want to point it out, he also knew it was necessary. "And I know you have your doubts. But please, trust me on this."

Zael paused, then spoke up again. "When I finally became a knight, my vow was to protect people. I want to protect Lazulis. And you might not be physically in Lazulis, anymore, but you're still a part of it." He shook his head. "I don't know if I can promise to try to stop Calista from rescuing you…or anyone else from rescuing you."

Arganan felt his hands ball into tight fists, shaking his head in disagreement. "You can't save everyone, Zael. And if it comes to me potentially dying to save a lot of other people, I'd rather take that chance right now. Please understand."

"I'm sorry. I…" Zael paused, then swallowed, lowering his gaze from Arganan's own. "I need some time to process this. Okay?"

Arganan knew that it must be a lot for Zael to take in. No matter how good the younger man's intentions to set things right, there were things that would be complicated for him to understand. He didn't grow up in a world of politics like Arganan and Calista did, but now that Zael was married to Calista and also an official knight of Lazulis Island, that was something he'd have to learn, and fast.

He just hoped Zael saw the bigger picture of everything before it was too late.