'Stop playing with your victims, Khedar, and kill him immediately. Faith!', the grandfather said while casting a spell on her, and I saw the story of my life passing before my eyes.

'True, honorable Counselor. You often give me this advice and I forget to apply it… Thank you for the Magic augment. From the earth to the sky, to the unworthy from the high: Ice Break!'

That's when… the spell bounced right at her, instantly putting her in a similar state as mine. I wasn't under Reflect status, but the person who appeared in front of me was.

'Just in time to avoid Lady Drace slander, huh?'

'It is too late. She will make hard-nosed reminders of the operation's order as soon as she hears of what her dömavän did here. What folly did lead you to place yourself in such disadvantaged role? Did you not hear your mission was to observe?'

Judge Chau-Anh… Judge Zecht…

'I… I thought to save time… my Lord…'

Chau-Anh nodded to one of the troops that came with her, and they took me apart to heal me. I could still see the Garifs.

'No! What are you doing here?' Khedar desperately asked. 'Where are the Bangaa?'

'They are in no shape to take a spear for a good while', Chau-Anh answered.

I saw other Garifs coming from the sides. Where were they hidden? But Chau-Anh's spirit was far from going down:

'Take down the leaders and the others will follow!'

My battalion was facing me with an anxious attitude. I gave them a sign and they all raised their arms in a relieved victory exclamation. Was that their happiness to see me safe? I hinted at the generals to join the strike, and combat resumed.

'You know… Do you know how much we hate Humes?' Khedar yelled. 'Initially, there were Humes in our tribe.'

Just like what I had been told with the other Judges, when we decided on the operation with Lord Vayne. We were supposed to be welcomed by Humes and Bangaas, not Urutan-Yensas surfing their fishes on rocks.

'We asked them to spread the word that Dark Masks only were after land, and told them we would only be attacking a small portion of cruel Humes, to hide our true intent', the grandfather added. 'We asked from them a lot of things which we, lesser beings for the current rulers, could not do ourselves in this Ivalice. And they gladly did them all.'

'They truly were persuaded that racism in Ivalice had to end; each of them showed us they would fight on our side to the end in order to suppress their own kind and let other races exist', Khedar pursued. 'We promised to let them be the kings of our world, for politics in Ivalice is exclusively a Hume monopoly, and we would have needed them to exist in the Concert of Nations – at least in the beginning. They were happy to work on this goal. And guess what? We killed them, one by one. The last group of Humes in the Dark Masks was beheaded this morning… as a sacrifice to our cause.'

Her methods were definitely another level of treachery.

'Let me show you the Archadian way of sacrifice: spending the rest of your days behind bars and sparing us your voice.'

Judge Petra's paces were steady, regular, light, and elegant.

That's the moment the old Etmen-Fa chose to explain to his granddaughter:

'Khedar… Unlike the other elders at Jahara I was indeed aware of your true nature, the one that allows you to shine, and followed you for this reason. But there was another reason… Had you started to shake Ivalice alone, I would have lived my remaining days in constant worry. Your father, my son and biggest disappointment, chose to focus on his other children, so it was up to me to lend my humble experience to the genius he left aside, and use it to do what is right.'

The young Garif stopped and felt thoughtful, affected by something rooting in Kerwon childhood memories. It was almost as if an Archadian Judge Magister wasn't walking to her. She slowly looked around, and displayed an annoyed attitude:

'Yes, honorable Counselor: we shall act soon. But where are the others?'

However, when her grandfather shook his head, she entered a rage state and raised her fists at Petra.

'Khedar! No!' he shouted.

'I have to kill them! All of them!'

Etmen-Fa arrived at Petra's level before she could join Khedar, and took out an explosive belt from under his light armor.

'No! Honorable grandfather! Do not do this!' the Garif granddaughter screamed.

'Carry your ideal, Khedar… You are strong enough now.'

'Will Petra…' I asked, back to the First's dömavän's side.

'You don't know her. She has no intention of staying here', Chau-Anh retorted, her eyes set on the scene.

And indeed, in a single second, the formal Judge Magister had raised her axe, cut the old Garif in two, and sent the corpse several meters away where it exploded. As the ashes fell to the ground in a big burning cloud, I wondered, astounded, why she'd resort to such extremes, and understood. It was more than likely Garif bombs weren't dealing huge damage, but the old Counselor was carrying so many, and the slight tiny risk was not worth taking.

"She has no intention of staying here", or "dying here", no matter the means. Judge Petra already had amazed me by her physical strength – now she did by her decision process. That… Yes, that was at least as important for a Judge Magister.

The tall big Khedar was on her knees, crying behind her mask.

'Honorable Counselor…! Grandfather! How am I supposed to carry on my ideals without you?'

No matter how unfair and cruel the enemy was, they could well have legitimate things to protect, and even a family in a war context – just like me in Landis, on the other side of the rocky road.

'Don't look at me this way, Chau-Anh; I already said "Judge Zecht is not fighting".'

'But that makes no sense! What is Judge Zecht good for, if he's not fighting?'

'You're supposed to be in war, Chau-Anh.'

The dömavän was still focused on Khedar's reactions, her back facing her Magister, 30 years her senior; but hearing them gave the impression they were two friends of the same age chatting in some tavern.

'What should I do of… her?' Chau-Anh asked.

'That is precisely the question I shall not answer, and the reason why I need to let you wrap up', Judge Zecht said.

Judge Chau-Anh hadn't turned to him a single time. She shrugged – probably sighed as well – while waiting in defense position.

'You fools… You unconscious… You human trash shall taste true despair!' Khedar yelled, while rushing at Lady Petra's troops.

Chau-Anh slid so fast that it seemed she teleported to the sole remaining Garif.

'Out of my way!' the latter said.

'That's what we, on behalf of Archadia, have come to tell you. And secondarily, to pronounce all your murders as utterly illegal.'

And directly after these words, Chau-Anh attacked with a dagger. Khedar responded with quick and formidable hits using arms and legs alike, as well as all the Garif technicks such as Lunge and Screech. Chau-Anh backed up a little, and her opponent opened her hands shouting:

'By Sedna's will and Torngasak's might, icy glade of valiant battle made of revenge's wrath…'

Sounded like a Garif giant attack. I looked at Judge Chau-Anh, but she neither stepped back further nor turned to her Magister. As she was positioned, she would receive Khedar's enraged blow head-on.

'My Lord!' one general of the First Division begged.

But Judge Zecht did not raise a finger. Yes, Chau-Anh was strong, but… how much? Everyone has their limits. Wasn't it dangerous to let his dömavän risk her life this way? As it appeared, she was crucial for the First – more than I for the Sixth and Vitu for the Ninth, because Drace and Zargabaath almost never left the Palace and Military Akademy, while Zecht… was rumored to lead a parallel business in Port Balfonheim, and spend all his time off in Archades at various acquaintances' dwellings. Chau-Anh was well trained in all the tasks he had to perform – visibly going as far as leading an expedition involving several divisions –, and it was precisely the reason he should be running to rescue her. Then why was he motionless? Had I more confidence in close combat, I would be considering pushing her away from the strike myself.

Eventually, the attack left Khedar's body, and as expected, landed on Chau-Anh's without any block or parry made:

'… Lofty Pirrelvag!'

A big cloud of frost had to evaporate before her comrades and I could see what happened to Judge Chau-Anh. They called her – some even started crying. In her division, only Judge Zecht was, as earlier, still as a stone. The Dark Masks leader was panting, head low and fists closed. That assault must have cost her a lot of energy and Mist.

'Is that all you had in stock?'

A huge row of acclamation, and cries of joy and relief, followed that question. The First's dömavän was proudly standing. However, she was in a similar state as Khedar in terms of physical resources left. Additionally, she was injured from head to toe, with her helmet partially broken, revealing more blood than skin on her round face. When her soldiers tried to get close, she stretched the arm holding her weapon:

'Stay out of the way if you don't want to get swallowed. Ah… I am extremely lucky to be in so feeble health right now. I will finally be able to use this.'

There was a tiny part of doubt in her expression, and her leg balance which briefly faded, before she raised the same arm and invoked the sky:

'The Lighthouse Keeper's Asterism: Lightning Confinement.'

And as soon as Khedar began defending herself against the intense storm that was surrounding her, it split into distinct white chains, which tightened her up all around her huge body as she sat powerless on the ground. As I thought it was over, Judge Chau-Anh released the final touch of her technick, which was electricity charges dealt at the captive Garif at very high frequency. During the breaks, she was adding Thundagas of her own. Khedar's yells of pain were spreading to the horizon.

'That is enough, Chau-Anh.'

The dömavän immediately obeyed her Magister and released everything but the lightning ropes. She turned to him with such a savage expression that I felt like her blood-covered smile was satisfied of Judge Zecht giving her an order, rather than the mission's success. Just… what kind of organization was Archadia's military? Did I really belong to it?

'We need the leader alive', the Order's head said.

'That's… That's why I used this non-lethal technick', Chau-Anh answered.

'The technick was non-lethal, but your whimsicality is. Judge Gabranth, verify our troublemaker's status.'

'He seems to like danger, after all', Judge Magister Petra added.

'Y… Yes, my Lord.'

I got near Khedar, who was in KO state, but still feared she would have a regeneration mechanism. However, none activated. I checked her pulse and got back to Judge Zecht:

'She is KO and alive, Your Honor.'

'Perfect.'

'See?' Chau-Anh exclaimed. 'I always do the most skillful job. This operation was led as smoothly as an orchestra conductor!'

'You rather always do the most dreadful job. All battalions, back! Mission complete.'

After his shout and noticeable gestures, the divisions around us let out a new cry of joy, and we all set out to where we'd left our chocobos.

Judge Zecht surely was a remarkable leader. Without uttering a single battle instruction, without drawing his weapons a single time, he had been dear to all soldiers during the operation; everybody had been looking up to his reactions, even the youngest recruits who certainly were on their first expedition. As for his dömavän… Pink Zodiac was healing her, as well as casting Float to help lift Khedar.

'That should be enough', Irmhild said to Judge Chau-Anh.

'Enough? You clearly should work more on improving your Mist capacity!'

Irmhild sighed, left our area, and told her twin:

'Women who have too much admiration for a man are the worst.'

I carefully chose not to say out loud: "But you are in the exact same situation" as Brünhild nodded.

Yes, Judge Chau-Anh was also noticeable, in her own style. Although how she considered a fight was sending fear down my spine, I had to admit she was an extraordinary warrior. As a dömavän, she had mastered at least one Asterism, a prowess many Judge Magisters did not achieve. But her true quality, outside her cold-blooded confidence, excellent enemy level judgement skills, and that Asterism… was the basics. Blade, defense, and magic. Those three elements had been trained to the summit, to excellence – to a level the head of Judge Magisters himself would respect. Noticing her dagger and speed, it was safe to assume she had two jobs: Shikari and Red Battlemage. Now I knew why so many of my Shikari recruits were sent to train with Judge Chau-Anh – and came back horrified but stronger.

'Ah! I feel better', the dömavän said, as we had begun our journey back on chocobo.

Her cute slanted brown eyes were giving out such a light reassuring atmosphere that it seemed she was back from a children's park, or some cozy beach where she enjoyed the sun on her brown skin.

'I knew the zodiacal maids would prove their worth', her Magister said.

He looked much more relaxed too – helmet down, he bore a smile of pride. The end of the world was not near anymore.

'What I didn't know was that Judge Gabranth would run straight to the enemy to "save time"!'

Judge Zecht sighed.

'Listen, Chau-Anh: let's not pretend we can escape Drace's wrath; all our soldiers have seen his folly and will testify. All we can do is say we protected him afterwards.'

'"Judge Zecht is not fighting". You didn't protect anything! I did the job from start to finish.'

'I am your leader; the leader of all the brave souls here… we can therefore assume his safety was my doing.'

How could they argue over such a topic in such a moment? And why was the topic my protection and safety? What did Judge Drace tell them again?

'Your Honor…we do not often have the chance to work together. I would take this opportunity to inform you of a personal matter and seek your insight.'

Judge Petra's voice was calm and energetic at the same time. Not quiet but not overly loud either. Clearly feminine but with that innate authority.

'I have no intention to discuss personal matters on the battlefield', her boss retorted. His voice was less dry than it should have been.

'Oh? Even if it deals with another level of crime and power at Valendia level?'

She knew such introduction could only persuade the man who was leading the Order of Judges.