Wheels of Fate, BoF II novelization.

Summary: Novelization of Breath of Fire II: Shimei no Ko (The Destined Child). Some events altered. Strong language will be in play.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; they belong to Capcom, as the game does. I own nothing, hear ye, lawyers. But that doesn't get you the permission to publish this as a book without the proper written and legally signed consent of whoever holds the copyright. Other characters belong to other companies, unless specifically said that they'd be my creation.

Additional Note: I hereby declare that in no way whatsoever I encourage relationships of this kind between a minor and a legally declared adult (I'm assuming legal age to be 18). You have to consider that in a medieval-fantasy setting the princesses and noble girls were used as 'commodities' for securing alliances between kingdoms; they usually ended up promised in marriage at five years old, and ended up marrying at 14 or 15 years of age; anything beyond 20 years, and for all purposes they were considered old maids.

AN2: 2018-12-10, new chapter… took my time. Don't know when the next will come though. Let the creative streak flow. And is a bit shorter than I intended… but in the precise cliff-hanger I wanted it to be. And will be some intermission after it. also Ch 11 has some tidbits for consistency.

Chapter 12: About Humanity, and the ways of mortals.

2nd travel day, Wastelands, around 2 hours before noon.

"Again, hush." Ryu whispered to the girls. All of them were hidden in a small forest/rock patch at some distance outside of small mining settlement belonging to some pioneers trying to make a living in the middle of the waste, but these had seemed like lucky. There were some large rocks seemingly laced with different metals, some pieces of chrysm and underground there would be more, if they started a mining operation, and some very large pieces of complete but blackened slabs of something that would be metallic... Star-Metal they whispered among themselves in one part that it wasn't blackened there were some letters distinguishable "E..SH..N M..G..T..K S….t..m.."

Today the same Eaglehorn troop of bandits and cutthroats as Mina had christened them,led by the Cedric guy, was there… as if they were following Ryu and his group. In the mining camp, the possible wealth was much larger and evident, he asked for a monstrous amount in jewellery, ores or money… and since the miners and families were not talking, he took some rather drastic measures.

To make his point clear, he had a soldier give three lashes to an old man in the family… they still were silent about things. So, the guy Cedric went to a little boy about seven years old, who had long fox-like ears and tail, and was about to hit him when a wyndian with light bluish feathers, wearing a white cowl with a rich embroidery went next to him, and the scrying spell faded as Mina fainted for exertion, falling in Katt's arms... Nina saw that, paled and then felt dizzy for a moment, then made some gesture with her hands, and put her hand to the soil, making some magical energy flow into it, the ground absorbing it almost eagerly, and breathed more easily. Yet, for Mina since she was unconscious, before Nina could try and dome something, some instants later a bit of blood started flowing out of her sister's nose.

"Magical feedback! That magician knows that we are around them, but not exactly where…", Nina said, worry etched on her visage, "We leave now, unless we want a fight. Thank the dragon god, the damage is not serious, a simple healing salve should do the trick but she will be knocked out for almost all day."

Ryu quickly gave Mina a healing salve, picked her up and signalled the girls to get out of there as silently and fast as they were able to, asking Katt to throw some smoke bombs very far away from them, to give a misdirection lead; once they put several hours of distance from there until nearly dusk not seeing any pursuit party, nor Nina detecting it magically, even when stopping for short breaks. While he carried Mina, she sometimes snuggled to him, getting a firmer grip in her sleep, without waking up. He swore that he heard "Draco" and "Millenia" being uttered from her.

Katt and Nina were still behind, but slowing their pace, Ryu not looking tired at all, but as they felt their own exertion, they asked him to stop.

"We will have to do so, even though I do not want, nor think is safe… I'd give anything right now for several horses, so we can put even more distance, and quicker. Nina… We aren't being followed, yes? Also, could you recognize any symbols or anything else in the wyndian?"

"No, it seems we are not being followed. The only sure thing I discerned, she was a woman. There was something strange in her aura, as if two things that would not go hand in hand usually... are doing so. But I can recognize it again, if I were to encounter something like that again. The light blue in the feathers is not usual, but also not unique." Paused Nina and then exclaimed "Ah! It has been recorded that some members of royalty had feathers on that shading. But start thinking about legitimate and illegitimate offspring, try and pinpoint who could be. We could be trying to get leads for several years. Also, blue hair like Mina's follows the same kind of pattern; there have been many commoners born with blue hair."

"So, we cannot do much, save for getting to Wyndia as soon as we can, and report… I'm fuming, I want to whack something… will go hunting." Said Katt.

"No, no hunting this time, and doubt we can find something quickly and edible in this barren land. There is a stream nearby, so I'll see what we can get… but I suspect only 'crappie' fishes. I prefer that and save the jerky for eating on the move. Good thing that we bought some dried fruits on Colossea."

"Well… better than starving. As far as I recall those fishes are poisonous and only badly foul tasting if you remove the poison glands," Nina said with a pang of worry in her face.

"Yes, and foul tasting, but with a woren secret technique, passed from generation to another, as soon as we can walk, we make it safe to eat… though it basically doesn't have that much of a taste. Will see if we find some wild spices to at least give it some decent flavour."

Katt went to that as Ryu fished the dinner for the four of them, and she shown them the need to use a knife in a specific way to take the fillets in a predetermined and intricate pattern dance of slices, with a speed and flexibility of technique that only a woren could achieve, seemingly.

"We call the path to channelling an inner power the Worent-Do. Every single one of us, is born with it… supposedly a gift from the ancient gods of the land, but must be developed and practiced. Sometimes you only can use it for minor things like this… yet it gives us food; I haven't had this dish in a long while. Just so you want to know, the complication of the crappie fish is that if you don't do it in that order, timing and precision, it will go badly. Or so taught me someone..." and she looked to the stars for a moment, seeming lost, but recovered and put a smile towards them.

"Ok, we make fire only for the cooking; nothing else. And it will be a cold night by what I can see in the clouds.", Ryu said as the prepared the food as Katt directed with the spices and was really, really surprised that is was very edible… even delicious and nourishing… and filling, considering how much Katt and him ate. Nina enjoyed it quite a bit and they still saved some for Mina.

Mina yawned rather loudly, and once she recovered, she took some wisdom berry she had in a pouch, winced and then drank a healing salve, ate forgetting all her table manners to the mock-horror of Nina. Mina once finished eating, with a never seen before fury in her face spoke: "Ok… much better. We go to that mining site and kill that Eaglehorn pest. I sentence him to death, I saw enough to figure that he has abused children time after time… for years. Not to mention the torturing and enslaving..."

"No Mina, we don't," Ryu and Nina stared at her at the same time, and the younger sister lowered her head, still seething as Ryu continued speaking "We will be trying to put as much distance as possible… we must reach Wyndia as soon as we can, safely. That sorceress worries me."

"No buts, sister. You can't just sentence him because you aren't the Regis or Sovereign, nor are you acting as Judicator. Also, they may be too many a troop and are with a weird magician that I can't gleam a proper idea of his or her power, and don't forget you got hit by magical backlash, so their sorceress might be trying to pinpoint us. Once you are inside the castle, you could ask father or uncle Davan to start an internal inquiry…" Nina said with a slightly wicked expression, but changing to another… thoughtful, and pained.

"And kill everyone in mountains of paperwork." Ryu said, smirking.

"If only were that..." Mina said, her expression somber. "I will have to tell mother of these abhorrent actions, and the iron fist will make the whole mount Windia tremble in fear, and the tempest will be even felt by the wind dragon himself."

"Really… sister…. Will you unleash her on the Eaglehorns?" Nina asked, her face a bit pale.

"What is that iron fist thing?" Ryu asked curiously.

Nina replied wincing for a moment as if she had a bad memory, "It's a nickname… a royal one. Well you see, we told you that my mother has a temper when it comes to injustice and heinous crime, and Uncle Davan has known her for a very long time; before she married my father, he told me that she took to running the estate and not a single thing was out of order; the men who wouldn't obey her at first, quickly and rather painfully, learned she was not one to be crossed, much less belittled. Mina told me in a letter that it went so much the nickname around the castle, and mother could not stop the whispering without bursting a vein, that she decided to indulge them on that… so they stopped the chitchat."

"She ordered father to change the insignia of the elite guard to a winged fisted gauntlet over the castle. Father didn't want to do it but relented after some really serious negotiations… the type where the man has always the last words: Yes, my queen."

"She's from the house Skye, the ones with a reputation of being the most valiant when it took to fighting, and unrelenting to complete what they have to do, sometimes costs be damned… but very ancient history has some records of cruelty in hard times, discipline is learnt by bleeding, said the scrolls. When I lived in the palace, some new and stupid ministers used to belittle her for being a pretty woman and only that. The ones who did not apologize, swearing to her that they won't do that again, she would make sure their life in court was nigh impossible to survive."

"My father used to complain that he was rotating ministers too frequently to be efficient as a king, and she answered, that then he should be thinking on pruning the nobility of idiots, and he laughed... both agreeing and at the same time asking what do we do with all the holdings? There would be no educated people to run them… not that nobles would accept a loss of privileges to educate more people on the country… she sighed and told him that he does as he pleases but bother her not with their idiocy, that if he wanted better educated people he would start to break some proverbial eggs."

Mina interrupted her sister, worry evident in her face, "Yes… but there is a recent story that I had not been able to tell you, not written, nor with our aunt in the house… It's too unlike her, and it frightens me a bit, to be honest. I recall that about a month ago, some guards bringing a winged very minor noble who had killed in cold blood and gloating about his mark being a 'cursed one', even parading the corpse, who had black wings, but those were like your colour… the description of the victim was a blonde commoner… no more details could I heard while skipping lessons being hidden in one secret passage…". And she paused, shivering.

"Are you ok, sister?"

"Yes… but…" she sobbed a moment and continued "Mother panicked for a moment, but then, cold rage seethed from her as she ordered that his feathers be plucked very slowly, and immediately after… drop him to the ocean from the highest point of the castle; if the wind dragon himself came to save him she would start to forgive, but not earlier."

"Then she lost it and screamed that some stupid law had been abolished like ten years ago and put an order for proclamations kingdom wide two times per day reminding that believing in tales of that curse being mere old wives' tales, and the murdering for something as idiotic as that would be meeting the iron fist in person to check if they dared call her ice queen to her face... Oh, I forgot about the large ice stalactites in the throne room for several hours… even the elite guards were scared of that outburst." Nina paled at this… she remembered some harsh aspects of her mother, but this was outright cruelty.

Mina continued speaking. "She oversaw in person the whole process, and accepted no interruptions at all, and did not accept any kind of compensation arrangement with the noble house, specially when some of them asked why the fuss, if the dead was only a peasant. She started by casting every single one of them out of from nobility, seized their assets, and told them to go work the land somewhere in the wastelands or leave the kingdom… alive hopefully... And put the family of the victim under an intensive education to manage holdings and gave them those lands."

Ryu noticed a lot of expressions and feelings going through Nina, as she asked now worried, "And what did father say to that? He wouldn't have done such an extreme expropriation, even if within his rights to order so as sovereign, much less allowed the cruelty at all."

"It's not yet known in public… but he has started to feel a bit sick, not getting better even with the best doctors available in Wyndia looking at him, so there is not a definite diagnosis. So, he only looks at very urgent documents in his room and goes to some of the simpler or critical activities for appearances sake. So, as he left most business in the hands of mother, this murderer who would have only served some years in the castle dungeons for around five years if he paid a very high amount of money, or lifetime if none... got cruelly executed, and his family disgraced, well… some by their own actions."

Mina paused for a moment and continued "Some courtiers as they started seeing the king less and less, thought it would be easy to get everyone what they wanted, but they were wrong. In less than a few hours mother had everything running smoothly, and this last execution... as barbaric as it may sound, has frightened them into discipline."

"Well… we saw how monstrous that Cedric is." Katt said, "I say, unleash hell on earth for that idiot."

"But not this way, Katt… not with the cruelty. One thing is giving harsh justice, but it doesn't need to be cruelly handed," Ryu said. "we want to be better than the ones who act horrendously, so we have to prove it in every single step, including the sentencing and execution if that were the case; and to be ready to make proper amends in case you put through jail someone who was innocent from the start, not to mention the case of killing someone who has committed no crime. Will another death pay for the wrongful execution of an innocent? Yes, I know that in the case we can assert guilt of such a crime, death penalty insures it won't happen again by that perpetrator. Yet, I can't but find it to be barbaric."

Ryu asked, and left them wondering, as he paused and continued, "Though in these days, only demons would be the exception to the rule, because we are defending ourselves… and their terms seem to be 'us or them'. Animals and monsters, it is in their nature to attack if needed; humans… they choose willingly how to act. We need to prove beyond doubt that savagery and wanton cruelty are not the way, no matter how quickly and effective they seem to be at first. That is the base about ethics… we behave humanely because we consider ourselves equal: no matter the colour of hair, skin, or other differences like wings or fur… and not because the gods or their agents order us to be good; we decide on our own."

Nina looked at Ryu with appreciation, nodded and spoke, "Agreed; we choose to prove there are better ways, we are responsible for ourselves. We educate, and sanction… but we will not do savagery. The plucking punishment is something that in ruthless times, around eighty millennia ago… ruling monarchs decided that it would do for a time after some horrors of war. For wyndians the punishment was so effective that it worked for millennia with only the memory of that, since they were done in public humiliation and sometimes whole families; stopped being used when Empress Nina de Fou ruled, but it would be what you call an ancestral memory, one that is too ingrained to forget easily."

Katt seemed deep in thought, as Mina followed the reflections with a pleasant surprise. "Only with uncle Davan, or sometimes with mother I could talk about these subjects… and we had the same thoughts, but something changed on her. I don't know what it would be, though."

"Well… monsters do not discriminate about humans looking different if they are hungry… Ok, you convinced me… in essence we are all the same... the same taste for monsters!" Katt smirked, making Mina cover a giggle, as Ryu and Nina looked at each other and took the palm of each of their hands to their faces.

"Well, now that we finished the debate… Today we will have two persons on every watch, and no fire for the night. We will be vigilant, and tomorrow we will try to make as much progress as possible. We won't be sleeping that much as we are used, but we have to pull it; Mina, it will be hard, but of these efforts in the long term will depend the future of the people in this barren land, who are under wyndian rule."

"I understand now, Ryu." Mina smiled. "Royalty has its duties and sometimes sacrifices… some are harsh, and others are simply… selfless. The legend of the Queen of Angels is an example if I remember it correctly."

Nina seemed lost in thought for a moment… but her thoughts were something in the line 'I think I have dreamt about it…'. Mina continued speaking, "That legend… is about an ancient wyndian queen who protected castell de Windgaard -as it sounded in the tale sung by minstrels-, at the cost of her life… invoking a holy rainstorm and the warmth of the sun radiating from the highest point of the tower afterwards. If I remember correctly, said something about the world being almost covered in ice… but it ended when she became a sun in our world and her love for life and this world, thawed the ice."

"She had the help of several friends, two of them were a legendary hero of the creeping clan and his adoptive human sister who was a powerful priestess bearing the morning star… their names were Earendel and Zorya; he bore the Sol Blade… a sword imbued with pure sunlight and singing the musical note dictating how music starts in the writing."

"The legend says that when the queen sacrificed herself, she bore two pairs of wings, golden as sunlight and radiating warmness to thaw the ice, and that she ascended to the heavens to give her warmth throughout all the ice, and any demon that was touched by her light was immediately incinerated. The name is not recorded in the story, though."

"So… she died for our world?" Katt asked, interested.

Nina coughed a moment, exchanged a look with Mina, and she answered, "Yes… she went against a demon lord called Ahrimani, who was the cause of even the oceans being frozen. After she used all her power, she obliterated the monster from the face of the earth and shone like a sun to start thawing the ice" She paused, and continued, "Have been thinking if that were possible, if I were to put her sacrifice in magical terms… if the theory that the Magic School of Newhaven dismisses about the Astral Realm is true… it would mean that she consumed both her life in this world, and her lifeforce in the astral realm."

Nina was so enthusiastic about it that she did not perceive her listeners were not following her anymore, but Ryu looked fascinated as she was telling them the lessons, "The theory of the astral realm is that we live in some sort of mirrored realms. That we are a trinity comprising Consciousness, Lifeforce and Bodily vessel. But that it's for wild magic, like the ones used by the now extinct shamans of the fusion clan… or so states the official doctrine of the school. How I know about the extra bits? Well… I sneaked with someone else to the forbidden lore library!" she giggled while remembering the antics, and even some sleepless nights just reading and reading there. "No, a girl who was on advanced classes with Yoji, but got demoted to basics."

Mina, Katt and Ryu looked at her with a bit of a non-understanding look, and the blue haired princess just giggled as she teased her sister "Bookworm!"

Nina just stuck her tongue out, and Ryu sighed while Katt was just smirking. Ryu spoke then, a bit annoyed, "Ok… Mina, you are doing first watch with me, you are well rested after sleeping all day while I carried you, and my arms are starting to hurt a bit. Stop teasing Nina; knowledge is interesting… even if I'm a hillbilly and don't get some of it!" Then he stuck his tongue out to her as Nina and Katt giggled.

Then Nina regained her composure and spoke. "I will put some runes of warding around us. I feel hostile after seeing Cedric's foul deeds, and in the doubtful case they were to try and attack us we would face less danger, and just maybe… call it harsh justice."

"What are those?" Ryu asked.

Mina looked at him and told: "Magical enchantments that can be used somewhere or into pieces of chrysm or other objects. If someone who is not aware of them, comes too close, it will trigger the magic. Almost any minor spell could be put on those, but if you use a fire one with some pitch, you can have a long lasting magically powered firebomb, or as Nina told me she started using at setting camps, once we entered the wastelands, as tripwire alarms for detecting if we are being followed."

"That way I'm sure that we are not being followed. If you try to dispel them, they give a dose of backlash, but fade after a time or I get beyond a couple kilometres."

xx-X-xx

3 days later, Maekyss lake coast, near dusk.

The party had finished their passage through the wastelands reaching fertile holdings and went around just half a day on the Pazzuri family-controlled lands, without having any issues with people during the past two days, save for occasional monsters. At the end of their fourth day of travel the southern coast with the trading city of Kerachi was down south; they didn't care about visiting... Wyndia was but one and a half day away north, after a plateau and then a descent.

Through the Pazzuri lands went the great Maekyss river, wide enough to permit shipping in some parts near the sea, but with a stronger current as they went northwards contrary to the flow; the river came to the falls of the same name which started from the homonymous lake at the top of a high plateau that they were climbing, by a travellers road; the royal road went somewhere around the east in an easier slope that allowed carriages and several horses at once.

Once they reached the top of the road, they saw the lake, which seemed to have some very large stones, at least thrice as tall as Rand was, seemingly carved with strange symbols. They continued walking, until they found an adequate place for setting their campsite, and when looking towards the other side of the lake saw at some distance of the surface a large arm protruding from it, unmoving. Ryu smiled and spoke. "Those are the remnants of the 'Fort of the gods' of the past dragon war around five millennia ago. It was some sort of golem that was controlled by the dark dragon army, but somehow the magical core got a consciousness of its own."

Nina smiled at him and winked "So the country boy knows some history?" and her sister teasing Ryu made Mina and Katt laugh too openly.

Ryu just sighed. Seems like he wouldn't ever win against the Windia sisters… and he was taking them into their proverbial nest, hopefully not to get his eyes plucked out. "Yes, my parents told me the story. The construct had earned conscience and humanity… and sacrificed itself, instead of being used for slaughter of innocent people. The explosion wiped out an army division hellbent on destroying part of the humans, forest and grass runner clans around here… and made a large enough crater for a lake to be filled."

He sighed again, and then said to Nina, "Well, at least you are more kind with your words than immortal sky pirate captain Mina de Wyndia.", winking at her. Mina just stuck her tongue out.

"Well... if that were the case, I definitely would ransack shipments and liberate the slaves captured by other pirates and make them join my crew or let them go home, on my sky ship, the Millennia. And the villains would walk the sky plank!" Mina winked dreamily at them, while pointing forward with one hand, as if holding a sword. "Yet, ships like that soaring the heavens are just fantasy; in times of yore there were boats that sailed desert sands as ships through water, but the only thing about the air, were the floating fortresses in history and myth… and the legend of the great bird, lost to our clan."

"Ha, and you call your sister a bookworm? The bird talking about feathers?" Katt smirked at her.

Mina for once ignored Katt's remark and continued talking, "Well… when you have the iron fist worried about the heir of the throne, given that she considers almost all nobles a bunch of morons, she forces me a bit to be like miss perfect here. In her words Better to make sure you are the reliable one, instead of hoping to find one, make your own path, and if someone reliable comes… well, the more, the merrier." And Mina stuck out her tongue again to Nina, making her and Ryu sigh at the same time. "It's easier to endure that, than fight with mother constantly. And if she tells me those words again, I just ask him about father being her partner… she just smiles and ends the lecturing."

"Come on, would you leave the country as you have seen it in their hands?" Ryu asked, rather seriously.

"No, but enough of this." Mina glared at him for an instant, and continued, "Changing the subject, would it be around late afternoon the day past tomorrow that we would reach Wyndia? Before you mention it… yes, hot bath and soft bed are on my top priorities; cakes and pastries too. Pirate queens need their vices, you know." She winked at Ryu.

"Well, for the time being we better set up camp. I'll go hunting. I could eat fish every day, but I bet you want something different, since the land looks healthier than the wastelands. No supper but wild berries around here." said Katt, smirking, as the other three nodded at once.

When the monster-ward was set, and the couple wild turkeys Katt brought were roasting in the spit, and Nina finished berry-hunting, they could finally relax. They were each one on their thoughts for some minutes, until they heard the music of a lute, and a voice singing.

xx-X-xx

Long ago ran the sun on a folk who had a dream
And the heart and the will and the power:
They moved the earth; they carved the stone; moulded hill and channeled stream
That we might stand on the wide plains of Windshire

Now men asked who they were, how they built and wonder why
That they wrought standing stones of such size
What was done 'neath our shade? What was pray'ed 'neath our skies
As we stood on the wyrd plains of Windshire

Oh what secrets we could tell if you'd listen and be still
Rid the stink and the noise from our skirts
But you haven't got the clue and perhaps you never will
Mute we stand on the cold plains of Windshire

Still we loom in the mists as the ages roll away
And we say of our folk, "they are here!"
That they built us and they died and you'll not be knowing why
Save we stand on the bare plains of Windshire

xx-X-xx

Ryu, Mina and Nina immediately recognized the melody, thinking each by their side 'Stones'… but the voice… they had never heard the lyrics in the common language, for the song did not have known lyrics, even in Melodia. But something stirred in Ryu, and he stood and faced the direction it had come first and started singing it… in a beautiful language, unknown to any of the girls... and maybe the world in several millennia.

As he sang, Mina, Katt and Nina were sort of fascinated. The latter would have sworn that some sort of golden wisps came to him and floated at a distance circling, as some sort of river of aura flowed from him to the heavens. When he finished singing, Nina noticed that some of those wisps disappeared, and others were just fireflies, and those went back to flying around the trees.

They heard the song being sung back by the same female voice, in the same language Ryu used, with lute totally matching the lyrics in the language. It was said that the song was several thousands of years old, according to Melodian and Wyndian records; for Ryu, had been his mother telling him that she had learned it from both her mother and father as did they in their times, but she would not say anything else to him when he asked about grandparents.

Ryu said "Twice be sang the hymn that P'ung-Yorae sang to P'ung-Windland, be'eth welcome to our hearth. Consider thyself our guest. We be thine hosts for the night.", on reflex, before even thinking it. As he considered just what he had said, he noticed that did not feel animosity being conveyed from the dragon tear… if he had been looking at it, he would have seen a deep dark blue with stars… but was so entranced on his own automatic reply that he did not look but felt the warmth when someone gave the feeling of goodness.

Mina covered her hair with the mantle, and Nina made sure her wings were well covered... Katt just readied her staff, but her heart wasn't in it, and her senses did not say.

A small cloaked figure carrying a lute strapped to her back showed herself, standing not taller than Katt's breast level and uncovered her visage, showing and orange-pinkish skinned creeper clan middle aged woman, with some expression lines around her eyes, but a gentle smile on her frog-like face.

"Greetings travellers, I am a minstrel roaming the lands and saw your hearth. I would like to spend the night in your camp, and share food and tales. I bring two wee wanderers and a lass who took to protect them,"

"Not all who wander are lost," Nina said, smiling, as Mina stayed back, as she had been instructed at the beginning of the journey from Colossea. Since Ryu was at ease, she felt that she could continue the talking. "May we know the name of our guests?"

"I am called Breskta the traveling bard," the lady answered, almost singing. "I have been through Highland, Melodia, Farmtown and many other places singing my songs. Wyndia was next in my path… And here come the wee ones." As she spoke, two small children in tattered clothing appeared from behind a bush and came next to her and behind. "Show yourselves children, we are in safe company; you have nothing to fear from these noble souls. The older girl be called Una, while the wee boy, Lorenz. And there be another lass, Clarisse."

They appeared into the light, in front of the frog lady, where the light of the fire and the monster ward… the little boy had long fox-like ears wearing a rag covering him as if a cloak it were, the girl had feline rounded ears and tiger like fur pattern and wore dirty and tattered clothing and had in her right hand something that look like a stake, with dried blood on it. The last person, a human woman, was wearing the cowl of her cloak but showing that she wore a form fitting set of light armor; had a crossbow and a dagger holstered.

"Thank you for receiving us… we did not expect it. I'm Clarisse Añañuca, adventurer and treasure hunter" Said the woman called Clarisse by the bard, taking her cowl off, and showing the face of a woman with a slight tan, and copper red hair arranged in a neat braid.

"Travellers should watch for each other in these times," Katt said. "sharing food, hearth and camp. Specially if you are with one of my tribe; we don't see that many around, Una." Katt went to the girl who looked at her with admiration as she noticed the grace of her movements. "I'm Katt. The guy with the blue hair is my friend Ryu, the other ladies,"

Nina, started coughing a bit, so Katt didn't spill the beans, "Erina, magician hailing with the ranger guild of NewHaven, and she is lady Millerna di Falconia." As she pointed towards Mina, who stood and waved, taking the cowl off. Since the blue hair wasn't that unique, she could pass for maybe some random noble or rich merchant.

"Yes, lady Millerna hired us to escort her to Wyndia." Ryu said, opting to avoid elaborating too much the twisting of the truth, since he remembered having seen the boy before on the scrying, "It is no problem at all. In fact, the food is about to be ready. The children must have had a hard journey by what it seems, of course we can share the tales, and our vigilance."

"And more songs!" said the little boy, to what the rest of the group agreed smiling.

xx-X-xx

"Yes, he said he was the lord of Eaglehorn, future king of Wyndia.", said the girl.

Mina whispered to Nina, "not while I live.", receiving the elderly-sister glare, and sighed.

"And you say he took all the people in your encampment as slaves, because the leaders had already paid, even in star-metal to the crown, and refused to pay any more, since they were not with the envoy… you hurt him badly with a stake and ran away with Lorenz,", Nina asked, "because he had ripped his clothes after hitting him…", trying to control her anger, with a commendable success, so her magic didn't act of her own, and Mina was clenching her fists so hard, to avoid yelling, that they were getting white.

"And after running a lot, you found Breksta, who took you to Clarisse, and under her guidance you arrived here."

"Yes, I brought them to the place of Asgardo, who would always protect the innocent ones.", Breksta said while playing music on her lute, as fireflies flown high around them. Some even posing on her shoulder for seconds and the flying away. "That is the other name for the Fort of the Gods. A place of respite, and around his aegis, no one will harm you, and you may even know some truths about life."

"Don't worry, In the ranger guild in Wyndia we can help Una and Lorenz quite a bit, even if they wish to train and join in the future, or do not… It's the right thing to do."

Mina stood, extended her wings, flapped them angrily and stomped the floor, a typical tantrum would have said Nina before, but it was justified. "Even better, I'll get an audience with the crown, and let the full force of the law be known to that… idiot of Eaglehorn."

"If only… talking to the king or the queen is something nearly impossible to," Clarisse said, "you see, even some nobles have a hard time getting to who to talk, to speed up things, not to mention pass some bribes around. And if that were the case, would they believe? By what I have seen around, specially in the wastelands… the nobles supposedly send patrols to control bandits, but who controls their own bandits?"

Ryu coughed, "Well, lady Millerna here has some connections that owe her some favours."

Mina looked at him, smirking. "Yes, and if those connections, decide not to help, well… they will lose, a lot."

Clarisse looked at her, skeptically, but decided not to press the issue. "Well, I at least will accompany you to the city of Wyndia, until the children are in the ranger's guild. It's the better we can do for now."

"By the way children… did you mention there was a wizard with that lord?" Breksta asked, still playing the lute, not noticing the very quick and slight surprise of Ryu's party, detail that Clarisse noticed. "What colour were her wings?"

"Yes, there was a wizard" Una said. "She had white and blue wings. I saw them, and they were large."

The little boy stood and shook his head. "No, they were black as night, and much smaller than the ones of lady Millerna here. The wizard walked almost all the time… and they glowed in a bad way… like the legends of the dark angel who would destroy Wyndia, if we were bad children."

Nina gasped loudly, making the adults look at her, while the children still bickered escalating to the point of getting to fight, when she composed herself after the surprise. She stood between them, holding a hand to each, firmly, but not hurting the children.

"Stop it please, let me try something," and then she made a small gesture with her hand, a small glow of magical energy shining, and it went on her greenish brown travel cloak. Everyone, save the musician, got startled as it suddenly changed to a shiny dark violet. "Lorenz, of what colour is my cloak?"

"Greenish brown." He replied nonchalantly, as the rest of the people shook their heads, save the minstrel who kept playing the instrument, as if not minding them at all. Then, Lorenz looked towards Ryu, and tried hard to not to appear as staring, and looked away.

"Yes, but the rest see it the violet I chose." Nina said. "Lorenz, seems you developed early a gift of your foxfire grass runner clan; you can distinguish illusions from truth, at least. So, you found a black winged magician, and it gave you a bad vibe?" That calmed the children, and the rest, who went back to eating.

"Yes… that's it, so I can see magic?" Lorenz smiled "Then why around sir Ryu, float not only the fireflies, but some purple and golden wisps?"

That startled everyone and left them without an answer, until Breksta started playing a bit louder, "That, may be something you only can see, may be not… let a song be heard in the night, and rest, Castell de Windgaard awaits.", and without awaiting for them to reply, started playing, and somehow they felt influenced to sit and listen.

The unfading ones,

guide and change the world.
Yorae, Yorae, a bright future you may create.

With the aid of your friends who walk the path,

All will be well.

Those who hear their voice,

Help them change the world.

After that, they seemed into a haze, and some went to sleep, or to organize watches.

xx-X-xx

Katt, Clarisse, Mina and the children were sleeping. In fact, it was kind of cute for Ryu and Nina to see Mina cover both with one of her wings, after discussing a moment with Clarisse about that and the barely acceptable clothing, having the covert royal win the argument. Said and done, just some minutes after falling asleep, both children snuggled against Mina, for warmth. It was a bit of a chilly night, so there was a fire, and Nina had made sure there were runes of warding set at a safe distance from them. They were laying with their back to a tree, standard precaution Ryu had been drilled, Breksta was playing tunes on her lute, next to the fire, unperturbed.

"Say Ryu, it's a bit cold," Nina went next to him and touched his, "Don't argue." And covered him with one of her wings; he noticed how the feathers were shining, not opaque and decided that he loved that. She came closer, laying her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for all the help, I will see later about the money for the job, my parents left me a trust fund in the bank."

"Nina, there is no need for it, I think." Ryu said, looking at her hair and feeling fascinated, and happy with the moment. It really felt right being with her this way. "Really, that was the right thing to do, we got rid of the Joker's gang, and I met you… a friend. Haven't been as long as I had with Bosch, but really… a friend for a lifetime". He took his left hand toward hers, and she took it, placing it on her hair, as he caressed her.

'Katt would really be jealous, but being like this feels so right… I want to be with him. If it comes to competition, well, I'm game.' Nina thought enjoying the moments.

"Say Nina, what are you going to do after Wyndia? After I get some leads, will continue"

"Haven't thought it yet. Maybe going back to the school… but I think I have learned everything I can from there; and it seems there is more to magic than what the school says."

"Well, I would like for you to accompany us in any case, we may very well learn a lot from this world, and ourselves." Nina said, taking Ryu's left hand in hers, and softly placing her lips on it. Before he could react, she had already turned towards him, and he was coming to her, more closely.

She shortened the distance, until she made her lips contact his, kissing him softly, and he returned the kiss. They went slowly increasing the pace, enjoying the caress and taste she was giving him using their tongues to caress each other's lips, they extended the routine for several minutes, increasing the intensity every time they kissed. Until they broke the contact, green eyes met the blue eyes… both smiled, and giggled, and she went to rest on his shoulder as they covered themselves from the cold night with her wings and the cloaks.

The music of the lute did not stop playing as they fell asleep on each other, breathing softly and easily. The dragon tear shone light blue several times, until it became a star lined night, as the Bard kept singing and playing, but not being around them, in fact… silently walking towards the lake, pointing to the gigantic arm that was there.

-x o x-

- Yorae!

** Tell me, Eolos.

- You knew! Tell me… were not for the influence of Ahrimani some years ago, her wings… She would be Celestia… my Celestia!

** Maybe… but remember that it comes from times even before than me, and you. And we know not how much long he was before you. You were summoned when the world was covered in Ice, and it existed from even before. Maybe some of the living being might carry some elements of him, making them more susceptible to being "infected".

- It's her. The same colors of sacrifice, and she may very well do it again... in a different way.

** Only that the essence of the soul might be the same, the fragments of consciousness that might remain, but the blaze of the soul, the vessel, and the consciousness are always changing. No, it will never be the same.

- This scroll you had laying says that she touched divinity for a moment…

** Yes, when wyndians grew their wings, one was able to tear the fabric of the astral realm and borrow a bit of Myria's power… That was Celestia. And that sacrifice allowed you down there to tear the Ahrimani in pieces.

- But not destroy it… its essence must be obliterated, completely and quickly, if not it will reform.

** We have a plan in motion, our descendants are in the Abyss standing steadfast guard as we speak; just outside the citadel lies one with enough power to maybe do the deed but cannot leave that part, more, that one has a very personal grudge. Did you know the astral closeness and the influence of the spirit of the earth changed them?

- Really? So you are saying that women have the strength and speed to use the efreeti for floormops if angry enough, and men built for heavy punishment and quicker astral attunement?

** Well, to put it in simple and not saying the jokes they throw around, yes. That changed the society down there a wee bit. And there is the star-crossed one, who won't talk to me out of spite, yet I don't hold it against him. And before you ask, no… I'm not going to look for my empress in the universe of souls; when a mortal reincarnates, they always are different by what I said before; that was part of our legacy as Yorae: future will ever change, and we are responsible of creating it ourselves.

-xx o xx-

Priestess: Come in front of the endless thee who would intertwine their auras and lives, and state thine vows.

x

Yorae: Be this jewel, token of mine own the proof of my pledge,

I pledge to honor thee,

I pledge to love thee,

I pledge to protect thee,

I pledge to live with thee,

For as long as my life fades not.

I, Ryu-Fou P'ung-Yorae sayeth… by the words of eternal honour.

Amn El Ith Tir Sol.

x

Bride: Be this feathered crown made with my inner feathers,

The token of my love; by giving it to you,

I pledge to honor you,

I pledge my undying love to you,

I pledge to protect you in any way I can,

I pledge to live by your side,

For as long as my life lasts.

I, Nina de Fou P'ung-Windland,

swear by the seven endless of Asparia, that you are the one I love and want always by my side.

And I ask… please, rule by my side as consort and emperor of Windia, let's bring peace to this land.

Yorae: Then take this blade as token of my commitment to Windia, and let it be a national treasure. Crissaegrim, I name it.

Priestess: Let it be the blade of the first emperor, then, Ryu-Fou. You may kiss your empress… quickly! We ye ol' gods want to go to the banquet, now!

x

** Come on good ol' and scallywag lizard… still reminiscing those times? Talking to Eolos wasn't that good for you today… hell, you even gave away your Dragon Tear… though it did nothing there on those times, save glowing very nicely. Hell, how did that birdie manage to convince me to act as a priestess to marry you?

- Well… what would you say to that? I can't deny I was in love. And even you warmed up to her, don't deny it… and she offered you unlimited booze and food, and you made a dent on Windland's coffers. About my second chance, well, it did not go that well. And that jewel is made of star-metal with other wee things… when they discovered that, they found how to make the ones like little Ryu has. Well, at least Eolos is at peace now… I understand him.

** I say, that you're both smitten… hard. And how come you both left your favourite blade there? You had it badly for her and believed in what she wanted to build, and he even left it in the middle of Wyndia… and even calling it Featherlight when it weighs tonnes. Hell… you outwitted manillos time after time when building that windland empire and forced them to play nice! Alas, she was a mortal and went back to the cycle, consciousness lost to the universe. On the other hand, I grant you that my sister is a case of her own… but I still believe in her.

- Manillos played nice, because she made them clear enough that it would be much better to have a single and easy way to do commerce in the world. And in the long run they saw the benefits of playing nice, hell… they must ask first, but they can use an assassin's cadre to hunt major bank robbers or 'creative accountants' who try to cheat them. Only on that aspect I'm not distanced of that world… it's ironic that humanity needs an illusion like money just not to fight over how many apples make for a pair of shoes, pure folly, I tell you… specially when it comes to something that simply can't be dispelled or they'll go back to massacring themselves. On Myria, I do feel inclined to trust you… but the army of seraphic lawyers she sent seem more like hailing straight from all the possible hells on all the planes of existence. Fortunately, there are no celestial tax collectors to pester us… yet. Ershin!

** Meanie! You know that star-metal trashcan brings bad memories! I will turn you into suitcases! Or shoes! Or better… dragon scale armour! They are all the rage in the Forgotten Realms!

-x o x-

End Chapter 12.

Author's Notes, 2018-12-10:

- The legend of the queen of angels finally came up with it.

- The lyrics are from Ultima V, with the slight modification of Windshire to the original Wiltshire on them. Basically speak of who built an empire...

- The 'star sky' dragon tear? I won't spoil my own story. Will be more evil than certain GoT author on that… or at least try to match.

- Fort of the Gods… or Asgard. In Wild ARMs, the first one, I liked how he, the spirit of disliked war, and may have been as human as Rudy… and I'd say those characters were more humane than some humans… Irony.

- Breksta, name of the star which protects from dusk to dawn.

-Well… interesting end. Keep tuned for next.

Special Thanks:

- Ryusui, for his Retranslation.

- Lady 'Kestre Wynde'; thanks for reading my ramblings... and helping me to get some order and readability out of it.

Future:

- Yes, will do Balbaroy's story, as I said on the original note of the ch 11. I'm giving it flesh and form so that it matches in the universe of BoF2 that I have…