"What is the status of the priority subject EL-E2?" a white-haired man asked. His black robe with gold ornaments starkly contrasted with the light blue and green walls and furniture in the facility and his steel-like eyes, in both colour and hardness, were focused on a short scientist in front of him, who, despite having bright pink curly hair, looked serious enough to be recognised as someone important.
"Physically, she's in perfect health. She eats properly and we take her twice a day for a short walk in the safe area. Mentally, however, she's in serious despair," the woman found the latest report. "We have changed the decorations in her room to more natural motives, added more fresh vegetables and fruits into her food, but it didn't have any effect. She has requested, and I quote, 'at least one living plant', which is pending your approval."
"Will this despair affect the offspring?"
"There is a high probability of negative effects."
"Fine, approved. Next, EL-E3?"
"We have finished the analysis of his blood sample," she found another report. "Concentration of the MD-H18-Superbia has passed the second threshold. If we don't lower the doses, the third threshold will be reached within approximately two months and as experiments have confirmed, that state is irreversible."
"Lower it just under the second threshold. Slowly, I don't want to see any withdrawal effects," he said.
"Yes, my lord."
"Do you have any new information on EL-A2?"
"Yes. The reports from our observers were not very clear, so I went to check her myself. Despite the presence of healers, her physical state is suboptimal and it is slowly deteriorating. Her mental state is unique, I haven't seen anyone like this during my career. She is lethargic to the point of not responding to her surroundings, except for a set of actions required by EL-E3 or the maintenance personnel. The level of stress hormones in her blood sample is above standard, which doesn't correspond with her lethargy. We suspect it is a result of overusing AA-B36-Luxuria on her."
"Any chance of her bearing a healthy offspring?"
"If we don't restrict EL-E3's and his subjects' access to her, right after she conceives, then no. If we can, it is difficult to say, we don't have enough data for that."
"I'll take care of that," he sighed. He remembered the incident from half a year ago very well. Despite all the precautions he and his science team made, EL-E3's aggression, severely amplified by the drug, was a factor they didn't account for. "If EL-A2 becomes pregnant, you lower the Superbia doses for EL-E3 until it reaches the first threshold. Even with the withdrawal effects. I want him out of the way."
"Yes, my lord."
"Did any new EL subjects appear?"
"No, my lord. We have tested the EL-A3 relic on fourteen new candidates, who were able to touch it without being immediately injured, but it didn't react to any of them. For EL-E1's relic we found only nine suitable candidates, but again, no reaction. As for EL-A4's relic, we're still waiting for the latest reports from Gelkmaros, although as far as we know, there was no change."
"Keep looking. After you're done here, move the relics to Alquimia and test possible candidates from there."
"Yes, my lord."
~ o ~
She was back in the desert world. The sand was everywhere she looked. This time, she was there alone. Even the stars seemed to be further away than the last time. She picked up the brightest shining star and walked towards it. After a few steps the sand began to move around her. Again it created a whirl and tried to pull her down. Again she saw the hourglass, even more empty than before.
Cathy woke up on a soft bed in a room with a rocky ceiling. At first she didn't know where she was. Then she remembered the travel with Mister Lonewolf and the nice green-haired woman, who was healing her. She sat up and checked her leg. It was much less swollen than before and a proper splint was bound to it by clean linen. Someone has also given her a blanket, a real blanket, not a spare rug like she used in Morheim. This one reminded her of times before the war. She was also not alone in the room. Other three beds were still occupied by sleeping patients and a man was walking among them. He had white hair, extremely pale skin and red eyes, which have now settled on her.
"You're awake, good," he said. He had a deep calm voice. "You're Cathy, right? I'm Engor, the main healer here, nice to meet you. Are you hungry?"
She nodded.
"Good," he said.
No, it's not good to be hungry, Cathy frowned, but didn't say anything.
"It means you're healthy," he explained, when he noticed her expression. "If you weren't hungry after not eating for as long as you did, and after the healing I did on you, that would mean problems. Don't worry, we'll get you some food. First I'll check again on that leg, it was really badly broken, what happened?"
She stared at him for a few seconds.
"The gate fell. In that ruined city," she said quietly. "It fell and I was too slow. I pulled it from under the stones, but it hurt. Then I crawled and I felt earthquake and the statues started moving... and then I woke up elsewhere, in a cave with Mister Lonewolf. He... bandaged it, but it still hurt..."
"Does it hurt now?" he asked.
Cathy shook her head.
"Good. It was also broken before, right? It wasn't properly healed, so that's why it was so bad this time."
Cathy felt a heat of embarrassment rising up her cheeks, and she stared at her blanket.
"Your body is exhausted, so for now just rest here and don't try to walk. When you get some energy back, we'll continue with the healing. I'll go fetch someone with food, so stay here. Alright?"
"I... I'm sorry," she said as she fought with tears. "Miss Nesha and Miss Aielyn were injured too. I'm sorry, I didn't know... I thought... I didn't want to hurt them..."
"I don't understand, Cathy," he sat next to her. "What happened?"
"It was me. That leg. I... Miss Nesha had to carry me and I didn't want to slow her down, so I... I healed it. But it was wrong. And I healed Miss Nesha's arm too and Miss Aielyn... but what if it was wrong too? Did I hurt them? I'm sorry. I didn't know..."
"Cathy, are you saying you can heal?"
She hesitantly nodded.
"That's awesome. We're really short on healers here. Where and how did you learn healing?"
"I... I didn't. I Ascended, I think, two weeks ago. And when I saw Miss Nesha's wound, she told me to bandage it, but... the aether told me how to heal it. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise, you did nothing wrong," he said. "Every beginner makes mistakes, I wasn't an exception and you're not one either. And the healing you did wasn't wrong, in the sense that tissues would connect incorrectly, it was correct, but it was rushed, incomplete. That's a common mistake of beginners. Healing needs time, even if it's assisted by aether. If you heal a bone or a muscle too quickly, it will become fragile and needs time and proper care to become healthy again. But sometimes it's not possible to give the time needed, in a battle or on a run you have to close the wounds as quickly as possible, but the healing spells need to be specifically adjusted for it. Don't worry, you'll learn all that."
~ o ~
After Veille left, Nesha remained alone in her cell. The initial shock from that revelation receded in several minutes and she got up from the floor and finished her bowl of porridge, trying to focus on the lacking taste, instead of anything else. But memories have crept into her consciousness anyway.
Please, Nesha, don't do this! Mastarius's voice echoed through her mind and his terrified gaze burned behind her closed lids. Veille's words gave her a new perspective on that encounter. It was only after he heard her name from Cerullon calling at her, when his defences faltered.
He knew about me, she thought. He knew that. And he wasn't begging for his life, he was begging for someone else to kill him.
She wiped the tears that slowly appeared in her eyes.
But I didn't know! It wasn't my fault! Why didn't he say anything? Why... because I wouldn't believe anything he said.
She put the bowl aside and drank fresh water from the jug. She wanted to sleep, but she couldn't even close her eyes. Those moments were constantly replaying in her mind and when she had nothing to look at, she saw them very clearly.
It wasn't my fault, I couldn't have known. I didn't have any other choice.
Runa's words suddenly made sense. It was suspicious that they chose her into the elite group. At that time she assumed the more senior assassins were just needed somewhere else and with Cerullon from Hushblade as a leader it didn't even look like a personal cleaning unit for Lord Israphel. But what if Cerullon was secretly a Lepharist? How many others were like him? Several times she began dozing off, but a thought like that has always snapped her awake.
The door opened again and to her surprise, Ylrian entered and quietly sat on the stool.
"It became kind of a public secret that Veille had a baby," he said.
"And? What do you want?" Nesha grunted.
"I can't imagine what you're going through right now, but I can guess it sucks. So I thought I'd stop by and check, if you need something? Perhaps if you don't want to be alone and would like to..."
"Not interested."
"...talk?"
"Oh... Why?"
"What do you mean, why?"
"Why would you just want to talk with me?"
"Maybe I need a conversation with someone, who also has doubts about the decision to come here," he said. "And you did have doubts, right? Did it change?"
Nesha didn't reply.
"But if you want to be left alone..."
"Why did you come here in the first place? Why did you leave your Lord?" she asked before he could get up and leave.
"That... wasn't an easy decision, you know? Imagine you serve someone for hundreds of years and he's like your big brother. Which is what the five of us were, bunch of crazy siblings, always there for each other, even though we didn't share blood. Now imagine there's an intense war and your big brother starts changing. He's impulsive and loses control and stops caring about everyone other than himself. People start saying things. Bad things. Then your big brother does something absolutely horrible. You have now two options, either stay silent and let it eat you from the inside, or confront him. So you confront him and he just yells at you, mostly nonsense, but also accuses you of betrayal and kicks you out."
"So you were dismissed from the Wings?"
"No, he just kicked me from the room. I want to believe it's not him behind all that, maybe someone else is controlling him with spell or drug or hypnosis, I don't know. I have a rough idea about who could gain from that, but no proof. But even if that was true, it would still be bad. So that's why I'm here, to find answers about what's going on. Yeah, maybe I should have stayed, you know, and investigated from the inside. But at least here I'm mostly free. Sanctum was..."
The door opened again and an albino Asmodian with bright red eyes entered.
"Hey, Engor, what are you doing here?" Ylrian asked, immediately changing his voice to jovial.
"What would you think? To check our prisoner's health. The judgement wasn't passed yet, I have to make sure she's alright," he replied.
"I'm fine," Nesha said. "You don't have to waste your time here."
"Let me determine that," the healer said. "You were injured on your way here, right?"
"Just some minor scratches."
"Alright, I'll leave you to it," Ylrian stood up and walked to the door. "Have fun."
"Wait..." Nesha called.
"Hm?"
"I just... good luck with those answers."
"Thanks, Nesh," Ylrian grinned and left.
The Asmodian walked over to her.
"If you have only minor scratches, miss, it won't take long," he said and quickly weaved aether around her. "Are you in pain?"
"No."
"Good, please show me your left arm."
"Why? It's fine."
"I was informed you had a bad injury and it wasn't healed properly. It would make your friend happier to know it has been checked."
"I don't have... oh, was it Cathy, who told you?"
"Yes."
"She... speaks with you?"
"Yes."
"Oh... well, that's good," Nesha pulled up her sleeve and showed him her forearm. A small, round scar from the arrow wound was still visible there. She didn't mind it, back then she was glad Cathy was able to heal it and she could use that hand. So Cathy speaks now.
"It looks good. It appears it wasn't too bad at the first place and you had the rest you needed. All things considered, you look good. Try to take a rest," he finished the examination and turned to leave.
"As if I could do anything else here," she grunted.
"Not only for your body, but for your mind too," he replied and looked at her. "I don't believe you're at peace, after you heard that news."
Great, so it spread to everyone.
"If you know what this news was, why do you bother with my health at all?"
"Most of the people I've healed did at least one horrible thing in their lives. That's the price of war. I had to learn to ignore that, if I wanted to heal them properly. Maybe the nature of your crime is different, but you yourself are the same as them."
"Uh, I... don't understand."
"Maybe you will in time," he slightly smiled and left the cell.
~ o ~
Lord Vaizel, dressed only in his pants, was comfortably sitting on a sofa and letting an Elyos woman give a massage to his shoulders. Another woman, an Asmodian, was sitting next to him and kept refilling his cup with wine. Both were dressed in fancy lace underwear and ornate half transparent chiffon scarves wrapped around their hips and chests. Their expressions and giggling hinted, they were either drunk or drugged. The Lord of Freedom seemed to be far more interested in their bodies than the general in front of him. The general, whom he himself has summoned from Heiron.
Perento was watching the scene with a stone expression, waiting for his Lord to notice him. He despised such behaviour, but these days people were punished and demoted for less than displaying a disgust for one's superior. He was content with his post in Heiron and he intended to keep it.
"Ehm, my lord," he coughed to get his Lord's attention, when the waiting began straining even his patience. "It is an honour to be in your presence. Would you tell me, why have you summoned me?"
"Ah, yes, Perento, of course. I got excellent reports on your success against the Krall and I wanna give you a reward."
"That is very generous of you, my lord."
"Take this... ah, sweetheart, have you seen the badge I have prepared for our amazing general?" he turned to the woman with wine. She giggled, put down the flagon and picked up an ornate piece of gold and mithril and gave it to Lord Vaizel. "Yes, this is it. Perento, take this. It is a pass to a special pleasure chamber in Beluslan. I made you an appointment for... not tomorrow, the day after, yes day after tomorrow. They will have everything prepared."
"Thank you, my lord, I greatly appreciate this," the general took the badge and bowed.
"Good, good, now go, I have, ah... something important to do," the Lord said and slid his hand under a bra of one of the women.
General Perento bowed again and left the chamber. On his way out, throughout the whole Sanctum, he kept his expression the same, the chance of being watched was high and he never believed in luck. Only when he arrived at his office in New Heiron Gate, he allowed himself to take a careful look at the badge he received. It was a standard-sized medallion with a detailed embossment of Lord Vaizel's symbol. There was no aetheric enchantment on it, as far as he could detect, so its purpose was most likely what the Lord had said. He had two days to decide whether he should use it or not, although he knew it would be dangerous to ignore such an invitation, Lord Vaizel was too temperamental and fickle these days and he could interpret it as an insult. No, there was only one option in this case.
What could go wrong with a short trip to an exclusive deluxe brothel?
~ o ~
Aielyn was sitting in a corner of the Shelter's dining hall, holding a cup of water, shaking it a bit, watching the liquid spin.
Don't let Runa and Veille control you! Carmir's words were returning to her. He can give me back my dignity! She didn't believe that for a second. She knew she couldn't survive on her own for long, she needed people around her. And people meant rules, orders, control... And she chose to follow the one, who didn't order her parents' execution. But Carmir couldn't see that. He saw... different things. Maybe, if she were able to see it through his eyes, she could have persuaded him. But would that work? Or would he try to kill her anyway? And would he really do it? Maybe he just wanted to knock her unconscious and take her with him, to convince her later? But... if that happened, what then? Would she give in and serve Israphel?
No! She shook her head and put on a smile. No whatifs! The past is gone. Focus on the present, to make a better future!
"It is alright to miss him," a quiet voice almost whispered behind her.
"Runa!" she jumped to her feet. "Don't sneak up on people like that!"
"I wasn't sneaking. You were so lost in your thoughts, you wouldn't notice even if I were Darrand."
"Well..." Aielyn felt her cheeks warming with embarrassment. She laughed to hide it. "Sorry about that, I'll be more careful. What's my next mission?"
"No mission for now," Runa replied. "If you want to go to Kamar for some time, just tell someone before leaving."
"Are you kicking me out?"
"No, I'm reminding you it's alright to take some time to mourn."
Aielyn stiffened and shot a glance at her.
"I'm fine, Runa. Don't worry. I don't need extra time."
"Lyn, you're clearly not. And I don't want you to die or endanger someone else, because you're distracted by your grief."
"You don't even know what you're talking about."
"I do."
"You do? Really? Have you ever loved someone and then lost him? Not knowing if you could do something, anything, to prevent it?!"
"No. I lost the man I loved because of a mistake I made. I failed everyone, who relied on me. I walked right into a trap and he died protecting me. I know what I should have done."
Aielyn speechlessly stared at the woman in front of her. Was it real? Did this lady Triniel's Wing, master of secrets and information, just share something so personal with her? Or was she trying to manipulate her?
"Everyone here has a burden here. It is..." Runa stopped and turned her head towards the hall entrance. "We'll finish this later," she said and ran out of the hall. Within a blink of an eye she was gone. The distant noise from outside indicated she had a reason. Aielyn pulled her bow out of the cube and ran after her.
~ o ~
They brought her food. It was simple, but nourishing broth and oatmeal and after Cathy ate all of it, she felt sleepy. She wanted to stay awake, but she wasn't able to fight it for long and fell asleep. As soon as she did, she appeared in that desert again. No one was around. Only the stars were silently watching her. They were just distant lights in the sky, but she felt they were pleading. Almost desperate. The view zoomed out at the almost empty hourglass. But this time the dream didn't end. Instead a giant shadow hand grasped the hourglass and clutched it so fiercely, that cracks appeared on the surface. The stars screamed.
Someone shook her and Cathy woke up, inhaling deeply.
"Are you alright?" the nice, green-haired Elyos woman asked, worried.
"I... uh... did I... do something bad?" Cathy was confused, the voice of the stars was still echoing in her mind.
"No, no, nothing like that," the woman shook her head. Cathy remembered her name was Anteia. "You just suddenly screamed in your sleep. Did you have a bad dream?"
"I... I saw the stars... they... screamed. They need something. But... I don't know what."
"The stars?"
Cathy looked at the other sleeping patients and nodded.
"Would the stars return if you tried to sleep?"
Cathy hesitantly nodded.
"Alright, I'll take a look at your leg," Miss Anteia pulled off the blanket, removed the splint and summoned cooling aether. She started humming a calming melody, while she worked on the healing. After several minutes the tissue was as good as new. "It would be better to leave it for a few hours, but since you won't sleep anyway... Does it hurt now? How are you feeling?"
"I'm... fine. It's good, thank you."
"Now, try to take a few steps."
Cathy carefully slid off the bed. The leg was a bit stiff, but it didn't hurt and she could slowly walk without problems. It was almost a miracle, she has never seen this healing this effective in her life. Tears crawled into her eyes and she sobbed.
"Are you alright? Does it hurt?"
"No," Cathy shook her head. "I'm fine. I... if I... could do this... grandma..."
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Let's go for a short walk, I'll show you around and you can tell me anything you want," Miss Anteia took her hand and slowly led her out of the infirmary through a short and spacious tunnel.
"Anteia, are you busy?" a huge Asmodian man in a breastplate and with a sword at his hip stopped them. Cathy couldn't help but freeze on the spot. He was bald, had dark grey skin and a faint red glow in his eyes. But it was his posture that scared her. He looked like he was ready to attack any time.
"Hello, Darrand," Miss Anteia smiled. "Is someone injured?"
"No, I..." he noticed Cathy. "Who's this?"
"This is Cathy, our new healer. I'm showing her around."
"Healer, uh, good. That means you'll be less busy?"
"I wish," Miss Anteia laughed. "I will be training her for some time."
"Right, well, I brought you this," Master Darrand gave her a package of bandages. He kept his hands on hers for several seconds. "Oldarn brought it from Kamar earlier today."
"Thank you."
"I'll see you later," he withdrew his hands and swiftly walked away, not paying any attention to Cathy.
"Wait here for a moment," Miss Anteia told her and carried the package to the infirmary, still smiling. "Now, let's go."
As they emerged from the tunnel, Cathy was blinded by the sudden light for several seconds. The crystals in the infirmary provided enough light for her, but those couldn't compare to the sun high up in the sky. "You'll get used to this light, most Asmodians here were fine after a few days."
"But... I was fine... earlier..." Cathy stumbled after her.
"Your body is still recovering. Give it a few days," Miss Anteia smiled and led her to a large room with tables and benches. "This is our mess hall. If you're not in the infirmary, this is where you'll be eating."
The next tunnel was narrower than the previous one and was lit with the glowing crystals. Cathy heard the sound of running water from ahead. "The Shelter isn't the most comfortable place, but we manage to get by. Over there is the most important part, the lavatory."
They reached the end of the tunnel widening into a cavern, an underground river was running on the other side and there were wide walkways alongside it on both of its ends.
"The boxes down there are toilets," Miss Anteia pointed at the walkway downstream. "And on the other side are the showers. They are reliably functional, but the water is mostly cold, unless you know how to heat it yourself."
"Cold is fine," Cathy said. In Morheim she had to wash herself in water taken from the icy lake, they didn't have many opportunities to warm it. It couldn't be worse in this hot weather.
"Well, yes, one can get used to it. But hot baths and showers are much better, I really miss our spa," the Elyos healer sighed. "Come, I'll show you how it works."
She led her to one of the boxes, opened the door and froze, so Cathy bumped into her. The girl looked up to see what startled her. At first she saw only feet hovering above the ground. But the person there wasn't floating. He was tied to the piping by a noose, his hands, neck and face were full of scratches and bruises.
"Go," Miss Anteia hastily closed the door and pushed her in the direction they came from. She sounded scared. But to Cathy, dead bodies weren't scary. It were the living, who...
After a few steps something changed with the aether. Cathy turned around. Miss Anteia was standing there, with a glowing shield vanishing from all around her and blood flowing from the right side of her waist.
"Run!" she yelled, while trying to hold on as much aether as possible.
A shadow formed behind Miss Anteia. A man, an Elyos, attacked her again. She tried to defend herself, but without a weapon she could only blast him with aether, which had only a little effect. He stabbed her again, completely dispersing the aetheric veil around her and thrusting his dagger into her upper belly. She fell to her knees, trying to cast a healing spell, but the aether only flickered and didn't take the needed form. The man kicked her and set his eyes on Cathy. The Asmodian girl was trembling with fear. She wanted to run away, but couldn't. As soon as she took one step back, she tripped on the uneven surface and fell. In an instant, the man was towering above her, with a stone cold expression in his face and a bloodied dagger in his hand.
An angry roar echoed through the cavern and a shining cord of aether grabbed the assassin and pulled him from Cathy's view. She slowly turned her head in that direction. The new combatant was Darrand, holding a glowing one-handed sword. The assassin was slammed against the wall, he clearly didn't expect such a fast and powerful counter-attack. The Asmodian punched with his left hand, but the Elyos managed to avoid the attack, only a side of his cheek was bruised.
Another assassin stepped out of the shadows.
~ o ~
Nesha was walking around in her small cell to give her muscles some movement. After the healer's visit she hasn't heard anything from anyone, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Although she hated to admit it, she was certain, Veille was trying to convince them to not kill her. But if this was an Asmodian settlement, what good could Veille's word do?
An unusual noise from outside has interrupted her thoughts. Someone was there. Someone, who wasn't supposed to be there. The noise stopped and her assassin experience told her the guards outside of her cell were disposed of. She wanted to step into the shadows, but the aether-cuffs worked flawlessly. She silently cursed and waited. In a few seconds the key rattled in the lock and the door opened. A hooded figure dressed in form-fit leathers in various shades of grey entered her cell. He pulled off his hood and revealed a tanned face with sharp features, cold turquoise eyes, short steel-blue hair and well-trimmed short beard.
"Well done," he said.