[Author's note: Author loves iambic hexameters, and hopes you'll enjoy the few verses below like she did ^.^

~ Also Gabrace 1/4; these 2 are precious *.*]

'It is… Something I had been gifted in the army.'

'Really? I know you have become someone important, my son, but this looks more than something they could offer you. It rather belongs to a museum. Your father never brought me anything of the like, when he came back to visit and showed us the swords that your brother grew to love.'

My father never became anything big in Landis army, Mom. He never wanted to and died before he could anyway.

'Can't you keep them in the army's buildings, then? Or wherever you work… It is more convenient for your trainings than leaving it inside our house! And why was it so well hidden? I was about to hurt myself…'

'Sorry, Mom. I should have warned you. You are right. I shall take it with me when I leave for work today.'

Fortunately, the court sessions were in the afternoon, and the first task in that cold morning was… the Palace. How could I bring such a sword to Judge Drace? However, I had no choice; my mother made a dreadful discovery and there's no way I wouldn't do something that kept her smiling.

While a soldier, I had learnt to make my weapon and armor appear and disappear at will. It didn't work with much else, but it was a welcome skill. Especially when you have to take a Mighty's sacred sword – which is since missing from their estate, and a Landis-hating monster madman might ask about – to the place where all your employers lived and considered the very core of the country.

'Greetings, my Lord!'

I was used to soldiers recognizing me at my division's corner of the Akademy, to lawyers at the court, and even a few neighbors of my mother's apartment. However, being recognized and smiled at inside the Imperial Palace was a strange feeling.

'Greetings.'

'I was just told of your participation in the Bò operation last year! Your strategy was pure genius. Ah, I've had a comrade who was in your division and switched since. She can't stop praising your commandment! The victory you secured gave her hope for the rest of her career.'

'I'm… I'm glad.'

'Since you have so much ability in battle, why don't you join the 699 global tournament? It's only once every four years! You are still young, my Lord; you'd have a fair chance of winning!'

How could I politely explain that leadership in battle is nothing like doing the actual battle…?

I had no desire to be involved in combat with the intensity of the one won by the mysterious Judge Magister Larse. And no desire to draw a sword.

'Is the winner always promoted to the rank of Judge Magister?' I asked.

'I'm not that old', he answered with a confused look, 'but I've been told it happened more than once, if there is such position open, and the fighter fits the Magister requirements.'

'I… I'll think of it. I have too much on my hands now to be certain to have enough time to train and attend.'

'Ah! Not easy being Lady Drace's dömavän, is it?'

I showed him a bitter smile and moved on.

I arrived at the Twenty-Sixth via the imperial lift, wearing regular outdoors clothes. I found Judge Drace in full armor, taking so much more space than she normally did with her petite woman's body, cape waving with the draught.

'Good morning, my Lady. During this time off before my duties, I would like to store an item in a safe place.'

'An item?'

She looked genuinely curious – which wasn't her habit.

'What is it?'

I lowered my gaze. According to my knowledge, it wasn't illegal, but the Palace was the property of House Solidor – those I was supposed to respect and protect with my life, via my Magister's orders. I couldn't just come and bring personal belongings within their walls. But then, I put Book among the other chocobos of the Akademy before even getting to my current position, and no one complained.

'A blade, my Lady. It has been entrusted to me, but…'

"But I am afraid of blades"? "But I feel completely helpless every time I'm asked to fight with a sword"? "But all swords to me represent the way to chaos, like the one that happened in my homeland eleven years ago"?

Come on, Gabranth, you can come up with something that makes sense to the others.

'But… I… cannot keep it at home… We moved too much furniture recently, and I fear it would get lost among them.'

Now that excuse was even worse that all I had thought of previously, but let's see if Judge Drace would agree. Not understand, not even believe – for she was much more intelligent than most other people on Ivalice –, just… agree. And help me forget this blade for a while.

'A blade, huh?'

I could not bring myself to raise my chin even a little. She sighed.

'Ah, that brings back the memories I haven't lived. Come.'

I rolled my eyes in awe, stayed still for a moment, and then realized she was already in the lift.

Twenty-three floors later, we arrived in a corridor with a significantly lower number of doors than usual. There was no laundry room, for example. Lady Drace opened the central one with a green magic spell – which was enormously shorter and less Mist-consuming than Judge Zargabaath's in the Thirteenth.

'The Third is the equipment storage area; here are the weapons', she explained.

'Whose weapons are these?'

'See for yourself.'

I walked around the room, stopping at every collection. That storage area was designed like a museum. A vast majority of weapons were swords – one or two-handed ones. The bottom right-hand corner, hidden by a group of halberds, was arranged in a different way than the others. Several layers of support for blades were aligned in the shadows. One was one-handed swords, another one greatswords, yet another one daggers, a fourth one katanas, and the last one ninja blades. It left an impression of serenity and being part of the furniture, although the weapons clearly were less old than the other corners. Suddenly, at the corner's edge, almost stuck to the wall, I saw a small discreet sign written in red:

To my beloved mother, guardian of Archadia,

Your weapons are put on display in this area,

Ever brave, ever strong, they will watch on us all,

The power you admired still by you will befall.

Vayne Carudas Solidor

'Did Empress Sentia use weapons?'

To me the question was natural, but a quick look on Drace's face showed me it was like I had asked her about her bath ritual.

'Why… well… no, of course not. Why… oh, the collection… yes, the collection belongs to her. There are Lord Larsa's swords a bit further, please have a look.'

I walked along and stopped a few meters away from the Empress's corner. Against the wall, in the center, a small table was covered by two or three smaller weapons.

'What is this green one?' I asked.

'It's the Emerald Sword. It used to be Sentia's. A legacy from her family or similar. The legend says that at some point, it belonged to a knight named Larsa.'

But… Empress Sentia officially had no family known to her. Nobody even knew her maiden name.

Next to it, another sign:

To my hopeful brother, the son of love and steel,

Using these sharpened blades, in front of no one kneel.

Vayne Carudas Solidor

'Does Lord Vayne like poetry?'

'He likes… many things', Lady Drace replied while moving back to the door, as if my question had awakened her from a nostalgia slumber. 'As long as it doesn't involve live people – Lord Larsa being an exception.'

Why was the Empress's poem twice longer than Larsa's? Did it mean Lord Vayne loved his mother twice as much as his brother? Was it fair? What about me? I instantly thought about Basch and my answer was immediate: of course it's fair to love one's mother much more than a brother. What did Basch do for me? Mock me? Humiliate me? Leave me working on our farm alone too many times? And of course… abandon both me and our mother, who never failed us a single day, no matter her state? Basch… Basch… once I'm strong enough, I shall find you… And I shall kill you!

'Gabranth! Gabranth, can you hear me?'

Since when had my conscience vanished?

'Yes, my Lady. Sorry about that.'

'You can put that sword of yours in the bottom-left corner, right there. There are a few free spots, next to a rapier of mine.'

I closed my eyes and made Highway Star appear. As soon as I left it where ordered, I felt I was leaving a part of me.

'That sword… is… ancient!' she exclaimed.

'I think so.'

And, since I didn't want her to ask questions about Vicky before I informed her of what she had to know, the best topic that came to my mind was:

'Was Judge Larse that strong?'

She immediately went back to nostalgia state.

'Aye. Very much so.'

'Is it true that such power in the Order hasn't been seen since?'

'It is. And if you ask me, it's for the best.'

I blinked.

'Why, my Lady? If a danger threatens the Empire, holding a higher power is always a good asset, is it not?'

'Victory is not granted by a single element's power.'

'Did Judge Larse rely on themselves?'

'Partly. When he teamed up with the rest of us, mission success was achieved much quicker and – what matters the most to me – casualties were lower.'

I could only imagine such a team.

'What I would like to work on in the Order, military-wise, is team effort. We would already be doing cross-division training if some hotheads didn't oppose me. Being less strong than Judge Larse does not mean anything if we have a strategy. Plus, Judge Zecht was not much weaker than him – Larse only had an advantage he had not.'

'Black magic?'

She sighed and turned to the door.

'Someone spoke too much. Let us go.'

She locked the room and we were back to her floor, after she said she had some things to share with me. I secretly wished for a cake, for the cakes served in these floors were a refined wonder.

She locked her personal space twice and added a magic lock, which was the first time I witnessed there. And, to my surprise, she crossed the antechamber and entered her private area. What was I supposed to do? I stayed behind, as she made paces forward and… stepped back.

'What are you doing? Follow me.'

To where? To your bed? That is not the relationship I expected from you, Judge Drace. At least not without clear framework. I remained motionless for a few seconds, before she emitted a nervous sigh and dragged me by my hand. What in the world…? My feet clumsily followed her, as she arrived at her bed of black and white sheets – which was almost as big as Empress Sentia's –… and moved to the other side. There, she turned on the lights of a room that looked very similar to the antechamber, containing a library, a table, cupboards, and two bed-like dark fabric couches. Only at that moment, she looked at my face and noticed my trouble.

'What's the matter, Gabranth?'

'I… I did not know there were other rooms… in that area. I'm sorry.'

She sighed again:

'Of course you didn't. I knew you'd never look for my concerns beyond the antechamber, unlike all your predecessors. Please put yourself at ease. Today, I want us to spend a bit more time together.'

I nodded and lied down in one of the beds.

The air was unusually fresh, although there was no window and no air-cooling system. The light from the fire magicites was slowly fading, drawing dancing flames on the wall.

'I am not in my best shape today', Drace confessed. 'There are too many things bothering me at the moment – our borders, the Draklor projects, Senator Terentius –, but none takes as much place in my mind as my past's reminders and lessons. The Larse era that you brought up does not help calming me down – I am overreacting more and more to mere memories. And that, Gabranth, is a wrong thing; for the past is archived forever and only current threats are worth our focus and energy. My brain is unable to put some situations aside, so I might as well rest today and tell you some of what eats me from the core. But before that…'

'Yes, my Lady?'

One by one, she removed her armor pieces. She had grey tights and a light long-sleeved shirt underneath. She shook her grey hair, which reached the lower part of her neck, and climbed on the other long couch.

She looked proud and sad at the same time.

'I have been told you were writing to a young damsel who caught your attention.'