· · · · · · ·
Under the scorching sun, she appeared just as a little girl curious about the warriors. Only the best Zenaffa wielders knew their armor well enough to hear them whisper : it was no mere child watching them. Like the good Sailoon soldiers they were, the soldiers didn't ever voice this out loud. Even those that asked, they did so in silence to their superiors. The answer they received bound them by duty and honor to keep the secret, but most of all, their pride as citizen of Sailoon kept their tongue.
Humans took pride and joy in their success. Those mastering Zenaffa armors often felt it, but the intensity lessened the more common the achievement became. They simply found new things to take pride in. Tricks, inventions, formations, driving on the fuel for their own cravings. As every day, they came together to display their ability in the palace square, and as every Claire, came to eat until it became a personal ritual. Her very first. And when they knew she watched, they always tried a little extra.
If not a social kind of love, at the very least she loved the craft and the routine. So when one shiny day an angel arrived, she felt like a violation of her order had occurred. Yes, an irrational feeling, but it would not just go away. An undesired side effect of having such a small mental space? Lyos's proximity turning her more human? Alas, she had to wonder later. If an angel had come, trouble would too.
This angel took the form of a mouse, but on the astral plane appeared as a bygone emerald dragon.
"Lord Ragradia?" he asked, sitting up on his tiny hind legs.
"Yes?" Claire asked.
"Lord Rangort has informed me you await your rebirth. I have come to bring you to safety, as it turns out Zelas Metallium has ulterior motives. She and the other retainers came to hell to free the remaining hosts of Shabranigdu, having tracked them down with the machine. Lord Rangort believes we can still execute the plan as it was presented, minus whatever Zelas intended. Once Lina Inverse returns, we will put it back on track our way. You can still be reborn."
"Oh?"
Hmm. Lina knew everything and Ragradia's rebirth had never been the final goal. No, the true outcome would see Rangort dead. Even if it would help existence, such a thing would not go over well with the god in question. If Rangort was able to get into her mind, once recovered, Claire would be dead. Too much of a risk, feigning ignorance and joining Rangort was off the charts.
Knowing Zelas, she merely played along with the other retainers to keep her cover. With the gods blinded, the devils would soon try to free Lei Shabranigdu. If he knew what what Zelas up to, Zelas and Xelloss would be dead. But only if, which looked unlikely if Zelas openly aided the others.
"Lord Ragradia? At risk of being disrespectful, I must urge that we depart now. Earthlord Rangort has ordered the recruitment of Sailoon, they will likely resist."
"Oh." She mentally called for Lyos and closed a small hand around the mouse, preventing the angel from withdrawing. "I don't understand why ever Earthlord Rangort would need to recruit Sailoon?"
The mouse wriggled for a bit, the dragon on the astral cast her a confused look. "Ehm, well ... we will go to Kataart to reclaim your power."
"I'm not going near Lei Shabranigdu," she said. Lyos rounded the corner to the training square.
"But lord Rangort said—"
"Lord Rangort is cut off from direct communication and was subjected to a power that distorts the mind. If I should be in Kataart, I would have stayed here."
Lyos jumped across the bush that gave her shade, by then well informed of the situation. On the astral plane, he grabbed the angel and knocked them out, carving down his power deep enough to give Megiddo a pull on the mortal soul.
The sun still shone, the Sailoon soldiers still practiced, birds chirped, real mice skittered a few meters away. All the humans had seen was Lyos's sudden arrival.
He feigned not knowing her well, walking up to the soldiers instead. Through their shared telepathy, though, he was loud. A barrage of restrained panic poured into Claire's mind, threatening to muddle her reasoning. Lyos had experience with high tension situations, Claire hated that her own brain did not.
"~ Make up your mind. ~" Lyos said. "~ These guys want to fight, and I bet you that Phil and Amelia do just as much. ~"
"~ I want to leave. You, the angelsblood talisman and Filia should not fall to Rangort's claws either; they may not know you and Luna are even here. We relocate, contact Zelas. Make a new plan that starts with calling Lina Inverse back. Sailoon should feign cooperation until then. ~"
"~ I don't like that at all. We're not weaklings? I bet you I and Luna can deal with all those dragons! ~"
She smiled at Lyos's eagerness, then dumped every single thing that could take them out into his mind. Sleep spells, Zenaffa armors around them, dragon piles, heat from laserbreath, and so on.
He had a very simple answer, and they agreed to disagree. He'd stay as long as possible, throwing all his heroic willpower at the situation. She reminded him Luna would split, and if he revealed his presence here, that would jeopardize her as well. She would not be happy.
"~ I don't care. ~"
He was all too human. Hopefully, that would not stick.
· · · · · · ·
As Lyos found Zelgadis and organized a defense, Claire made her way deeper into the palace. Her heart beat too fast, the sensation fouler than it tasted. As an astral being, only the pure emotion was detectable, the physical effects had always eluded her. Fear wasn't a foul taste, it was a biological state. No matter her age or knowledge, it crept into her soul. Changing body did not help at all; her brain was the constant feature of all. Such a singular organ, dominating all of her ... humans weren't small, they were this.
The servants were up and about as soon as the military gave the warning. As she ran, she had to avoid worried people urging her to come with them. Even as she was in the form of a middle aged woman, they tried this. Typical flock behavior that wasn't so antsy up close. She figured out how to reject them quickly; tell them she was in charge of looking for those lagging.
Filia was in the palace's smith workshop. If Claire could get to her, she could teleport her to find everyone else. Maybe on their way out, they could alter the fusion magic shield over Sailoon, which would require on the spot alterations. As it stood, the dragons could just scale the walls on raw strength, even if the shield disabled their flight magic.
Claire sent Filia a warning, only to learn they were already inside. Filia's jumbled thoughts were hard to decipher, but Claire made out two dragons had teleported in ahead of everyone. They knew Filia by name, so Rangort must have found an indirect way to communicate with hir followers.
Filia tried to teleport away, but the dragons were teleporters too. Hitching onto her flow, they dragged her back, claimed all her magic items and knocked her out.
Claire's run had come to a halt.
What now?
Lyos didn't know either, but went on his his strategic ideas anyway. Maybe she could get to the shield in another way? Where was Luna anyway?
Claire stood still in an empty corridor, forcing her breath to normal. It didn't make sense to be afraid. It served no purpose. Rinse, repeat ... didn't work.
This was a horrible time for her brain to develop this response. She should not need this emotion, her mind knew what to do. Fear was for organics and devils.
As the dragons closed around the city, one teleportation circle after another, the drumming of her heart sped up her breathing. It had to be the fault of Lyos being closer, this had to be temporary. How could she make it stop in this body? It messed with her focus.
Somewhere to the east, Xelloss passed the barrier without notice. That helped, a little. He could be a way out, she'd be his priority. Then the angelsblood talisman (with Luna), machine blueprint source (Val) and Siephied channel (Filia).
She forced herself to walk. The palace yet quiet, only in the distance did the shouting of humans rise.
Xelloss would look in the places he had seen her before, starting with the palace. She could alert him, but if any other angels scried for her, they would notice them both. She kept her flow influence low and only received. Breaking into a run, she arrived at the room where she and Zelgadis experimented with prototypes.
She also sought out Val and ... couldn't find him.
Oh, not now, please.
He must have seen the dragons and panicked, raising that strange hollow around him to hide, shutting her out by accident.
She ran for the room where she had always dispersed Zelgadis her knowledge. Xelloss would find it eventually, he'd was already near Zelgadis. If her bet was on, they'd talk soon.
Once there, she scribbled down a quick note : I will find the moon and you must seek the night. The day was eaten by the serpent.
Any ally of Rangort coming here would see just another bit of bad poetry; Zelgadis wrote similar mush in secret to express how he wandered the wastelands of his soul. A more discerning mind would notice Zelgadis preferred rock metaphors and had an uncanny tendency of rage against doll collections.
As she penned the last letters, she hesitated.
The most rational thing would be to let Xelloss take her away, worry about the rest later. She wished she could do that, and more than ever she hated that she couldn't.
She had to ensure the survival of as many lives as possible. Luna Inverse and the angelsblood talisman were important for this, she could not shed or risk them the way Xelloss and Zelas might. If they tried to save their hides and abandon it all, it'd be over.
Did that logic hold? They already had Filia, they would have to visit the dragons anyway. Xelloss could handle that ... but she didn't trust him to do so without murder. Better get him away ...
A world where the only allies she had were either too weak or too cruel, and her fear was so useless yet true.
She put the note down and left.
Scrying the palace area for a way out, she found Sylphiel. How peculiar. The Sailoon royals, Lyos, Zelgadis and everyone else were engaged in battle down south. All enemies marked by magic, yet there was Sylphiel and Memphis.
Oh. She'd have to ask Xelloss how deliberate he'd been when planting Sylphiel on the dragon's side. Either him or the Sage of Siephied must've had the idea.
Sylphiel marched down the temple walls, heading straight for an corner covered with vines, intent to move under cover of the crowded garden behind it. While Claire made her way there, she kept track of the conversation and emotions of the two. Memphis wrung her hands, muttering half hearted reasons why Sylphiel shouldn't do this. Apparently the shrine maiden intended to hijack the temple as a teleportation front or something like that. Claire dismissed the information, she had another purpose.
Just as Sylphiel floated across the wall, Claire peaked up the other side.
"Ack!" Sylphiel almost lost her spell, but Claire grabbed the magic and pulled it together.
"Miss Claire?"
"I'd be much obliged if either of you could escort me out of Sailoon."
Memphis in her armor shot up. "And who are you?"
"Aqualord Ragradia, about a month or so from rebirth if my sibling doesn't mess things up," she said.
"Yeah, right," Memphis snorted. "Like I'd believe that. Sylphy, you've gotten—"
Claire grew a wing and tapped Memphis's Zenaffa armor, commanding it. It obeyed her by ensnaring the elf's mouth and pulled her across the wall. Claire grabbed Sylphiel and pulled her along too, so the three were covered under a magnolia tree.
Though Memphis couldn't speak, the question in her eyes was clear.
"My own design. Didn't you wonder why Sailoon has so much perfect Zenaffa running around?" Claire said, and then peppered it with a lie. "Listen to me. The devils plan to invade the Kataart Mountains to free Lei Magnus. Rangort is desperate to prevent this and thinks that putting me back there will stop the unsealing. However, I want to stick with plan A : my rebirth. Unfortunately Rangort's been quite insane lately. Surely you've seen the damage Vrabazard has done in the south?"
As she spoke, she pulled at the affinity elves held to the gods, compelling Memphis to oblige her. By the last sentence, she tasted enough goodwill to order the armor to relase her.
"You are really Aqualord Ragradia? But ... how?" Memphis asked in a shivering voice. Her proud act held no water here.
"Lina Inverse had a hand in it, as did Rangort before the pillar tampered with hir rational thought. Really, I'm in a bit of bind here. E's not as bad off as Vrabazard and Valwin cause e was in hell," she said, making sure to pour expression in her face : distraught, a little desperate, a little childish, with an undertone of commanding. It wasn't easy when said face rather showed fear.
Memphis caved. "Right ... off course I'll help you, Aqualord, as you wish ... shouldn't we explain this to uncle and the others, though?"
If Claire could really hijack Lyos's power and work through that to compel the dragons, she would do so with hesitation. Since she didn't, she lied again.
"It wouldn't do for the elves and dragons to doubt their leader now. Rangort's plans to stop Lei Magnus aren't wrong. It is better if I go to Rangort and help hir regain their sanity."
By now, Sylphiel gave her odd looks. There probably were discrepancies between what she's heard from Filia and Xelloss, but that didn't matter now.
"I'd be honored to aid you, Aqualord Ragradia!" Memphis said as she bowed. "Just tell me what to do."
"I'll leave that to Sylphiel," Ragradia said. "She's our expert in smuggling things out of highly guarded locations into holy trees."
"Ehm ... miss Claire, are you sure we shouldn't do something like helping the Sailoon army?"
"They don't need you," Claire said. "Your Drag Slave should not be used in the city. Now help me."
"We should listen to the Aqualord, Sylphy," Memphis said. "It's the right thing to do!"
Sylphiel's plan for escaping was simple. Claire flying was out of the question, she stood out too much. She instead asked Claire to turn into a form as young as possible, so Claire turned into a baby. Like this, Sylphiel placed her in a bag of holy herbs from the temple garden. Under the excuse of having fetched some very useful holy herbs, she bypassed a squad of elves. Memphis met her in their sight, feigning happiness that Sylphiel had found the food she asked for. Judging by the emotions Claire tasted, the other elves bought the little scene.
Said elves moved into attack the palace directly, striking a decisive blow against the Sailoon forces.
Memphis didn't join them, but separated from Sylphiel to go ahead to the wall to prepare their exit point.
While Sylphiel skipped through the streets, she passed by shop owners sweeping, little groups of people clustered together to discuss the dragons that had been seen near the walls, children enacting heroic battles against the invading monsters. There were no explosions or aerial battles.
The way these elves and dragons operated had a quietness to it that surprised Claire. Scattered information revealed the operating name to be a certain Ospirias, no one she remembered.
Sailoon soldiers died right now, and the first dragon went down. There was an explosion, but the population of Sailoon rarely was surprised by those anymore.
Lyos was caught by a combination of sleep spells and teleported away from the city.
Filia was imprisoned on a noticeable area near the palace, they hoped to draw Val out.
Xelloss was gone; either shielded by Val or teleported away already.
"We'll be at the restaurant soon," Sylphiel said. "Don't worry."
The kind of thing said with confidence and kindness, and unfounded. It worked nothing for a creature that saw everything go awry.
Sylphiel slipped in through the backdoor of the restaurant, where Dilgear sweeped the floor.
"Excuse me, where is miss Luna?" Sylphiel asked.
"Backroom, changing," Dilgear said. "What's going on?
Claire grow a little taller, crawled out of the back and turned into an adult. Ignoring Dilgear, she ran for the room.
Luna just finished lacing her boots, her aura thick with building bloodlust.
"Do not fight them," Claire said. "They are swifter with their sleep spells and obscuring magic than you are. Lyos has already been subdued."
"Fight who?" Dilgear asked, who had followed her.
"The dragons are invading," Sylphiel said, voice breaking.
Luna shoved them all aside, marched to the kitchen and grabbed a knife.
"Luna, don't. They have half a dozen variations of the sleep spell, they fired all of them at Lyos simultaneously. He's knocked out. You won't fare better," Claire said.
"He can't see the astral plane," Luna said. She set down the knife in favor of another, then called to the chef, "Hey, Rardos, I want to have this one."
The chef leaned through the door, nodding quickly, "Whatever you want, miss Luna."
He disappeared just as quickly, Claire couldn't tell whether he feared the invasion or Luna.
"Filia healed you, didn't she? Your body naturally needs sleep. You've been skipping on it for weeks now. Do not let them cast on you," Ragradia said. "It will not be the first time clever magic outmatched your brute power. This time, Filia won't be around to drag you back from hell. They just caught her too."
Luna finally looked at her.
For the shortest moment, she was a human woman. Worry for another and doubt about sparked, mingling with that quiet rage of her. Within one astral breath, the conflict died. Using her own flow, Luna erased whatever unpleasant emotion brewed. Only the rage she was so familiar with remained, like a thing precious to her.
"Well. Wouldn't want that again." She slid the knife in her boot. "Spot, run home and get my bags."
· · · · · · ·
Sylphiel, a packed Dilgear, a bagged Claire and Luna appeared on an ally near the city's outer point, which lay closest to the forest and hills. No one was allowed to leave the city or even enclose the walls,
Claire called out to Memphis's Zenaffa armor, which responded already within the barrier's tower.
The fusion shield over Sailoon was upheld by duos of sorcerer friends from Sailoon, using directions from Claire to ensure the shield did certain things. The two here lived nearby and were on a shift with three other duos.
A cluster of Zenaffa wielding elves stood outside the building, while inside small explosions wrecked the building.
"Who allowed Memphis to take care of this strategic core?"
"I don't know, the guys from the palace say they're happy she didn't join them. I bet they suggested she come here."
"Should we help those humans? Lord Azonge told us to minimize casualties."
"And go in a small space with Memphis on rampage?"
"Good point."
Sylphiel decided on the technique, which involved copious abuse of her innocent air, the same kind of social power that had no one figure out she was one of the few who could have taken Flagoon's sword from the shrine. It worked because innocence was more of an aesthetic than a ethical indicator, the power of human imagination at full swing.
"Oh, excuse me," Sylphiel said as she skipped up. "I had agreed with Memphy to meet at my friend's restaurant to prepare her a special meal. I have these special herbs and everything, yet she didn't show up!"
The squad lead sighed. "She went ahead of us, Sylphiel. If you could get her away from there it'd be appreciated a lot."
The entire group nodded along.
"Who are those two?" the squad leader asked.
"Mister Dilgear helped track down miss Memphis by scent, and miss Lumina came along in hopes of learning whether there truly is an invasion."
Luna took this as her cue to engage the elves in conversation. Though she couldn't poke them astrally, her holy flow had an indirect effect on their mood to her. With their backs turned, they didn't notice that Dilgear followed Sylphiel into the building.
Inside, the Sailoon soldiers and the two wielders of the vessels idled in the hallway while Memphis wrecked everything upstairs, bravely frighting furniture.
"Hello, we have been told you were on our side?" the secretary asked.
Sylphiel opened the bag, allowing Claire to climb out.
"Memphy, we're here!" Sylphiel called.
The elf and armor bounded down the stairs immediately. "Good, I was getting bored. I got the vessels!"
"What's going on anyway?" the secretary asked. "She first beats us up, but then won't hand over the vessels to the enemy army."
"Stop asking," Luna said, astrally dragging the woman's confidence down. Claire watched it for a second, curious whether she herself could do something like that. Her heart still beat, her focus was still a little off.
Memphis produced the two vessels from their grip on the back of her armor. She handed the more elegant one to Sylphiel, while giving the black one a scornful look. "No matter how often I see this, Xelloss's art sense will be forever unholy."
Claire didn't care, but Memphis had to consider her a friendly god if she wanted her to keep quiet once she couldn't compel her anymore. She lied again, "I agree, next time I'll hire someone else."
Luna stepped in and said, "Hey, elf. They noticed the racket stopped. Go stop them from coming in."
Memphis nodded quickly and darted out the building, shouting to the other dragons about having accidentally broken the vessels but secured the post. This harvested a collective groan about who allowed Memphis a Zenaffa armor and unquestioning belief in her statement. No one came to check for the truth, to the satisfaction of Claire and the offense of Memphis.
"What now?" Dilgear asked.
Sylphiel tiptoed back to the door and called, "Memphy, me and my friends are going to stay for a bit. You injured people!"
More collective groans happened, as well as a shout for whether they should call in a dragon healer.
"No thank you, I can handle it. You have to understand the people are a little spooked. You are invading after all."
Claire tugged at the secretary's cloak. "Tear your clothes a bit, and go outside ten minutes from now. The others must go through the wall's corridors. You will tell the dragons outside Sylphiel and the others went to find other injured."
It'd be left in the air whether the dragons believed it, but if they met up with Xelloss before they smelled something fishy, it wouldn't matter. He could teleport them away.
They couldn't walk out the gate, but Sylphiel knew an earth spell normally used for gardening. Starting from a tunnel, she dug them a way into the forest outside.
Circling around dangerous zones, they made their way to Rygoon. Claire used her wings, Sylphiel a Ray Wing spell and Luna just picked up Dilgear with projected claws and ran along.
For a daring escape, this was a welcome bore. The ridiculous responses of her body faded down, clearing room for thought. She scryed for how Sailoon's defense held up, which was impressive despite the dragons having the advantage of surprise and more experienced Zenaffa wielders and most Sailoon soldiers being off duty at the time of invasion. The dragons took care to avoid injuring citizens. Two more angels had appeared, searching for her and for Val.
Once near Rygoon, Sylphiel's face lit up. "I believe Xelloss is here already. The tree isn't happy with them, but they're okay so far."
A short trip through the roots later, Sylphiel was proved correct. Xelloss and Val, but no Filia, were in the makeshift living room. Xelloss had helped himself to the tea storage, smiling as happy as ever but feeling less so. On the astral plane, his true form bore scars of holy power, but she couldn't tell how severe — he lingered on the edge of Val's hollow. The boy himself set in a corner, face hidden in his arms.
When Xelloss saw Luna, he shifted to the farthest end of the room, cup still in hand. "Hello, miss Luna. How wonderful to see you again. Did you ever find your sense of adventure?"
"Guess. Your mommy's chasing my tail," Luna said, just as she grabbed him with her tendrils. She forced him down on a chair, leaning on his shoulders. Her fingers dug in. "Talk, little clown."
Xelloss leaned back his head, one eye open. "Uhm ... it would be much appreciated if you left me intact. I took a blow from a god the other day. I'll be happy to talk once we are on a safer location."
"Hmm." She let go of him and plopped herself down in the nearest chair. "Now what, oh Aqualord? Take your time figuring it out, I'm happy to stay here for a loooong time. T´s comfy. Sylphid, do you happen to have a good bottle of wine?"
"Is mom not with you?" Val asked.
Luna stopped smirking. "Yes, Xelloss. Do explain the attendance record."
"I first figured that miss Luna and miss Filia would be near one another, then I saw she´d been captured and figured miss Luna would get her." Xelloss scratched cheek, confused. "I went for Val because him freaking out would be a bigger problem than you breaking her out, miss Luna."
"I don't hang with Frilly anymore. She objects to my dog," Luna said with a nod at Dilgear.
"Oh my, how unpleasant for you," he said with the kind of smile that wished to have seen it.
"I'll bet you it'll taste even better if that brat makes a move again," Luna said.
Claire stepped to Luna before she could project the blade she pointed at the boy. "Don't, please," she whispered.
Luna stood up and shoved her away. "He can't be trusted. He stole part of my power," Luna told Xelloss.
There, both of Xelloss's eyes opened. "Oh my. We can't have that, now can we?"
Xelloss shifted to Val locked a hand around his neck, lifting him up. Val forced his wings out and tried to age, but Xelloss just clacked his tongue and said, "I wouldn't do that if I had a windpipe. You'd just choke yourself by growing."
Val stopped, but didn't withdraw his wings. His wide eyes settled on Claire, then Sylphiel, pleading for help.
"Miss Claire, do you have anything to say?"
"Don't bother," Luna said, her voice cutting. "He has both Filia and her wrapped around his claws. Filia sees a perfect little angel and I don't know about her, but she's not talking for me."
"Please put him down," Sylphiel said. "Maybe it was just a misunderstanding?"
"Think what makes you happy," Luna said. "Xelloss, you gonna do something about it?"
"He may still contain knowledge that we need. Unless he clearly has become Valgaav, I may not kill him. Hmm, let's see ..."
He threw Val against the wall and knelt before him. "Val, I'm not going back to save your mother. She'll be taken to Kataart by the golden dragons, possibly to be on trial and executed. That is, if Lei Magnus Shabranigdu is not released first, in which case the devil armies will likely kill her. I'm taking you somewhere you can't help her."
Val roared as exploded with black feathers and threw himself at Xelloss, expanding that dreadful hollow. A shockwave threw Claire, Dilgear and Sylphiel back; her senses blacked out yet again. It took a few seconds before she willed her body to look with her organic eyes.
Xelloss had twisted a speed-grown Val's arm behind his back, the wings hooked on his staff. Leaning his knee on his neck, he said, "Well, miss Luna, I can only ascertain his appears to be Val Ul Copt all the way. Valgaav was a narcissist, they do not really love others. This one doesn't taste like that."
"Let me go!" Val screamed. "I have to get mom!"
Xelloss just leaned his foot on his back and pushed him halfway into the ground. Claire's instinct kicked into overdrive, only to be blocked by the fact she couldn't do anything. Not against Xelloss, even in this state. Not against Luna.
"We will come for him later so my lord can investigate him. Until then, we'd appreciate it if you kept an eye on him, miss Luna," Xelloss said.
"I can, but will I? Your bitch of a mother still hasn't paid me," Luna said.
"Eh ... no. Let me rephrase it. You can only be useful to us or a liability, but let's dwell on more positive aspects : hide in his hollow and any magical tracking of the dragons cannot find you."
Luna's mouth drew in a thin line. "I'll kill him if he tries anything else, but alright. It's just a guess but those dragons may just notice this giant holy stick in the mud."
"Are you serious?" Sylphiel asked. "Are you really not going after miss Filia and mister Lyos?"
"I'm supposed to not be seen, so why don't you take care of that?" Xelloss pointed to the north. "Simply tell miss Memphis you'd like to spend more time with her."
In a time of need, humans look to their gods, only to receive a divine shrug. Luna did it literary, Claire just shook her head.
Sylphiel sighed. "Alright, I will see what I can do."
"Good. Now, I have an acquaintance in Ruvinagald," Xelloss said. "Allow me to teleport the rest of you there."
Xelloss stepped off of Val, borrowed holy magic from Luna. A shaky transportation brought them to a cityside hill, not without further damage to him. He collapsed on arrival.
Claire let herself drop face first into the grass, the anxiety fleeting off of her in waves. The dense trees above provided solid shadow while the city basked in sunlight. The shiny day felt relevant again, but just for a short second.
A wave of Val's pain hit her senses and she scrambled up. He wasn't hurt too bad, but his wings bled. She couldn't heal with her own power, but she could cast shamanistic magic like this. The lush lands provided plenty for Resurrection.
While Claire healed Val, Luna filled the time with questioning Xelloss on everything he hadn't explicitly been forbidden to say. Claire listened, which didn't help her mood.
"So her grand plan fell on its nose," Luna said at the end of it. "Nice."
"What now, Luna?" Dilgear asked.
"I'm going to run to Rangort and tell'em everything, that's why I didn't escape Sailoon." She slapped him on the head. "It's not like I'd want to stay low ... at least until I can whip Lina's ass for getting me involved."
"That's the spirit, miss Luna!" Xelloss said, clapping.
"Yay. I've never had the spirit before. How novel of me." She grabbed his cloak, jerking him back on his feet. Charging her hand with holy power, she pried off his silver clasps. Oozing like a Zenaffa armor, the silver revealed but did not release the red shard. It did mingle with the clasps of Xelloss, copying them.
"Ehm ... that's a bit rude, miss Luna," Xelloss said, leaning on her shoulder.
"You're welcome." Luna ended up with an triple clasp binding her sleeveless shirt at the top, the squared talisman at its center. She let go of Xelloss, who dusted off as the clasps reformed.
"I'm done, Val," Claire said as she finished. "Let's take our child forms."
"Oh, yeah ... thank you," he said, smiling at last, but only for a little. "Hey, you have to learn me about the flow allowing thing, like with fusion. I think I'm blocking stuff somehow."
She nodded. "If you can teach me a few things as well."
"There's nothing to tell," Val said in a strange monotone.
Xelloss cast him a skeptical look and a cold smile. "There isn't, is there?"
Val returned his glare and brought a hint of bloodlust in the air. Claire didn't disagree, she wasn't that comfortable with Xelloss anymore. Still, for Val's sake she tugged at his wing to distract him.
"I'll be on my way," Xelloss said, chill already replaced by cheer. He pulled a piece of paper from his satchel. "Go to this address. A good acquaintance of mine lives there, he will welcome you."
Luna snatched the paper. "You gotta be kidding me."
"You know him?"
"Yeah, he sent me a request to help detain my little sister a few years back." She crumpled the paper. "This'll be easy."
· · · · · · ·
The Freion home had blue doors and windowsills filled with geraniums, which attracted a few sprites. Luna knocked thrice on the door, and far away, Ragradia soared between the clouds.
Despite the physical distance, her link to Lyos thrived and poured his anxiety into her. Perhaps he was the reason why she felt this much fear. Was that even better than it it being the result of her small life?
Val tugged at her hair. "Hey, are you okay?"
She forced a smile and said, "Only as well as you are with some other mind taking over."
"I don't have another mind taking me over," he said. "You're talking weird, so you're really not okay."
Luna tapped her feet, and knocked another three times.
"Maybe he's not home," Dilgear said.
"No, I see him."
"I bet he's tired," Val said. "Hey, Claire, am I right?"
She focused on the house's inside — table filled with case files, a room full of court outfits, a hidden compartment below the cellar filled with illegal tools, and somewhere in a messy bed, a blurry human. With a little magic, she poked him away, lest Luna do it.
"Just a minute," Wizer soon called.
Two minutes later, a wrinkly human with graying frizzy hair opened the door. Judging by the bathrobe and drooping smile, he was not yet caffeinated.
"Hello, Scruffy," Luna said with a tilted head and wide smirk. "I'm Luna Inverse. Your buddy Xelloss sent us. Let us in."
"Huhurgh? Oh! Off course, come in! Friends of Xelloss are always welcome here," he yawned.
Luna picked up both Val and Claire and pushed past Wizer. Dilgear slammed the door behind them.
Seeing it with physical eyes brought a different picture : decorated in warm colors and rich with the scent of coffee. Cozy and neat, despite occasional spots of work related chaos. She liked it, to her surprise.
Luna dropped herself on the biggest couch, one kid on either side. Arms spread across the back, she demanded, "Tell me how often dragons cross this city."
"Uh ... we've seen two goldens last month," Wizer said, rubbing his head.
"Any golden haired humans in white clothing and aristocratic demeanor?"
"I did see a few of those at court," he muttered. "What's going on?"
"The dragons are preparing for war and we're not on their side," Luna said. Though her tone never changed, she already lost patience. Her tendrils snaked across the astral plane towards the man, ready to shock him into swifter obedience. "I want more information."
"Huh?"
Luna lashed out, but Claire's instincts moved just as quickly. Though her power meant nothing compared to Luna, Claire could redirect the flow. For just a meter or so, this distorted Luna's sense of location.
Luna's human body never moved, but the malformed skull on the astral plane did. Hollow eyes peered down at Claire, and cold fury hissed up. This was what had become of her progenitor. She dropped off the couch, taking a step with each loud heartbeat. What ought to be her sibling force terrified her now.
But still, she had to speak. "Why don't we wait until he's awake? We can talk much better then."
"I can wake him quite fine," Luna said. "Trust me, I did this many times."
Still on the couch, Val expanded his hollowness, careful not to disturb Claire's effect.
Luna's lips twitched a little, but she didn't push her power further. "Nuisances. Behave or I'll pay attention to you."
Oblivious Wizer yawned. "I need a cup of coffee."
He needed three coffees, a shower (Claire was pretty sure the model was a cheap copy of Jillas' original design) and regular day clothes. When he reemerged, he wasn't scruffy anymore.
Luna helped herself to the kitchen's food storage, Dilgear followed her lead. Val didn't. Right now he was just Filia's son, Filia insisted it was impolite to eat other people's food without being offered; Xelloss had a great deal to do with that.
"Ahem," Wizer said as he sat down at his table. "I believe you owe me an explanation, miss Inverse. You may start with who your company is."
"The big guy is Spot, my dog. Those two, the kids of Xelloss and Filia," Luna said. "We're on the run from some obnoxious dragons with bad designs."
Wizer put a hand on his chin, as typical to detectives that must've inspired him.
"Xelloss has told me of a Filia the golden dragon, but I was under the impression that their relation was more antagonistic," he said. "The phrase was stinky dragon ex-priestess was dropped a lot."
"True. They are very devoted to their no budget sequel to the War of the Devils' Descent,"Luna said, nodding gravely. "It was only a matter of time before it was paid for with life."
"Aha ... I see," Wizer stated, looking at Val and Claire with new and wrong understanding.
Claire clapped her hands together, looking happy and squinting as she flared her wings out. "It's normally a secret, but since you're a friend you can know about us!"
"I see the resemblance to Xelloss with her. But the quiet one doesn't really strike me as a child of him."
Val pouted. "Luna's mean. I'm just mom's son, not Evil Wizard Cone Person Thingy's."
Luna broadly gestured at Val. "The brat takes after mommy. Broody, tormented, chronic refusal to admit Xelloss is part of the screwed family. Also very moral, unless he wants to mutilate."
"I see," Wizer said. "Will that be a problem?"
"You don't see!" Val cried. "Claire, explain him!"
Claire shrugged before raising a finger. "Symbolically, it can be framed as Luna did, but if we must frame it in mortal ways, greater accuracy stems from Filia and Xelloss both as father role and Lina Inverse as mother."
Val slammed his forehead on the table, groaning. "You're all horrible."
"Does this have anything to do with why they are pursued by dragons and elves?" Wizer asked.
Luna chuckled. "You're sharp. No wonder you resonate with the clown. Yeah. Him cause he's a monster, her cause she's a little piece of their god. They're gonna be stupid and bring them right under Crabtan's nose."
"If it is something so deep, you can't stay here. The Alliance of Coastal States has already partially allied with the dragons. But if I may recommend a place to hide : Zoana."
"Why Zoana?" Dilgear asked.
"Nobody likes Zoana," Wizer said with a grin. "In fact, just the other week they were kicked out of the Alliance after the queen brought her devil deity to a summit."
"Worth checking out," Luna said.
"This is stupid," Val said. "Claire, we should do something to help my mom and your brother. I don't think Sylphiel can do it alone."
At those words, and the spike of emotions, Luna again almost felt something.
The way Luna cut off her own emotions ... the psychological structure of it existed, sure, but the blossoming of it kept nipped in the bud by the flow cooling off any negative emotion. It remained small, manageable and under control. Fear couldn't grow to panic, because nothing but the smallest hint of warning thrived.
Ragradia envied her.
"No, we're not going to take such a risk," Claire said, feeling regret and trying to cut it. It didn't have to be part of her, it'd get in the way when she was a god again.
· · · · · · ·
They spent a day with Wizer, who prepared their route. He and Xelloss kept tabs, and Wizer had soon learned to benefits of having a devil owe him. Claire bet that Xelloss for his part just did it for fun.
While Wizer sorted through files and routes, Luna and Claire stayed in the astral shadow of Val. Sometimes Claire approached the edge, checking for Rangort's prying power, and yes, angels were on the lookout. The hollow neutralized their outward flow well, but the inward flow worked. She still lived as Lyos too.
It didn't really make sense that Val's astral hollow could be visually hidden by covering it below a bigger astral body, like that of Xelloss, yet also serve to disrupt flow sight when he expanded it. It was so convenient ... for him. She couldn't pry into him to discover what it was.
Fusion magic had an effect on whatever it was, she was sure. Val reverted to standard mode after being pulled under the shield of Xelloss and Filia. If only she had some vessels available. Too bad if only didn't get her anywhere.
Lyos shared the sentiment for a very different reason. He'd like to escape rather like right now, thank you very much, but a combination of sleep and muscle fatigue spells coupled with a Zenaffa armor kept him firmly in place. At first they stuffed him in a makeshift prison cave, but after a day or so, they brought him into her old temple. His response to the structure was ... something.
She held memories of the birth of the world, there was no power in mere rock that could impress her. Lyos on the other hand had an all too human response, Claire no longer had choices in what to feel.
Ragradia had seen and tasted the emotions of thousands of mortals beholding the (for her) average stone masses. Sanctified awe had been closest to a favored taste back then, but now ... experiencing it personally was ...
She had never learned the kind of words to describe this kind of thing. Abstract concepts are vital for a mind give structure to formless experiences, up to the point that people without words for left and right could not orient as well. She didn't know whether she wanted to flee or to revel in it, but at last she understood why humans had a purpose for poetry.
Lyos laughed at that, saying he didn't need to tell anyone, except maybe her?
One of his guards distracted him by asking about the laughter, and Claire didn't pursue the topic.
The dragons weren't certain why the angels had told them to arrest Filia and Lyos. They were after Val and there was mention of a blue haired girl who they thought was another Ancient Dragon; the angels must have decided to keep her identity a secret for now. Devils would not be interested in an Ancient Dragon, unlike a god particle.
She didn't dare to look for too long and hid within Val's hollow for a few hours. Most of that time she spent trying to not panic over the lack of sight, and building noodle palaces with Val in Wizer's kitchen.
· · · · · · ·
The next time she looked, Filia and Lyos were before separate councils. Filia had opted for saying nothing useful at all and chewing everyone's ears off with rants. Lyos tried to convince the dragons that a devil invasion was on its way, which wasn't easy without citing a source.
· · · · · · ·
By evening, she looked again. Lyos had been bound with the magical techniques meant to enslave Luna Inverse, and a conflict had risen between the wind dragon leader and her own followers over the details. Claire tried to feel pride over the fact her old dragons still had standards, but couldn't manage. Why did she develop fear yet not this more positive emotion?
· · · · · · ·
Filia tried escaping the Zenaffa armor she'd been sealed within next time Claire peaked out; she failed. Out of some vague sense of curiosity, Claire told Luna about this.
Luna just shrugged and cut away her concern, rendering herself back into her uncomplicated status quo. This time, Claire caught the emotion before it dispersed, a simple selfish kind of concern, but unpleasant either way. Had she not seen Luna as a grown woman before her, she would have mistaken it for a child's.
· · · · · · ·
The next morning, she asked Val to lessen his hollow again ... oh, would you look at that. Milgazia and Azonge had paid attention. Well. Good. They had readied their troops in response to Lyos's warning, which came in handy because the devil invasion on Kataart had begun.
Claire rolled some spaghetti on a spoon and calmly informed the others. Val and Wizer produced so much miasma, Claire lost her appetite. Not that she wasn't worried for the situation, but it existed more on a cognitive level. She herself wasn't in immediate danger nor could she do anything. For that much at least, her mind was in her preferred state.
"Is mom okay?"
"There's a magic sucking device near them and Zenaffa armors, but don't worry. Sylphiel finally got enough freedom of movement to do something, and Memphis is about to realize she wants to help her. She's going to get Lyos's Banisher first, then she'll join Sylphiel."
"Can't you give more details?" Val pleaded.
· · · · · · ·
Sylpiel peeked through the small window atop the cell.
"Mister Lyos?" she asked.
"Come on, Sylphy. Quick!" Ah, Memphis. Claire told Lyos to stand back, just before Memphis hurled his sword in. He caught it by the hilt and waited until Memphis had pried open the door of his cell.
He geared up to make heroic exit and smite some devils, but Memphis beat him to it. She stepped in, hands on hips and demanded, "I want to know what's up. I met someone who was close to convincing me she was Ragradia. Off course I'm not so easily led along, but you can confirm it, right? You're the Aqualord's Knight after all."
"Yes, but try to keep this to yourself. If the devils know she exists, they'll hunt her down," Lyos said.
"I knew my senses were accurate," Memphis said with a satisfied nod. "But I don't agree with not telling at least uncle Milgazia. He can help better than anyone!"
· · · · · · ·
Claire stopped telling the others what happened, a queasy feeling settling in her stomach.
Perhaps they should have.
Following Memphis's trail to the past, she pulled visions into her own mind and learned.
The others dragons were ready to arrest Filia without even being sure their god had decreed it; Milgazia didn't want to. Azonge ... didn't want to either?
A lot of things happened in the world she had never bothered paying attention to. When had Azonge changed his mind? How?
If they had told Filia and Milgazia years ago, if they had trained them to lock out gods from their mind — she now knew Luna and Filia could do it, albeit with flawed technique, she could have taught Luna to use her own power, or steal it from Rangort — if they'd known.
They might have had their army now.
If she had ...
The invasion was happening too early. Everything was off mark. Rangort was blind and deluded. Valwin and Vrabazard mad. Dolphin in possession of their talisman.
Lina Inverse was still not home.
If they had tested whether Filia and Milgazia could be trusted with the touchy information, maybe not even all, but more, just how different would it have gone?
They might have had a soul jar. They might have done the reincarnation with Milgazia and others around to witness it, and no one would have stolen the talisman.
They might have trained Filia in teleportation, allowing her to bring them all over the globe. Hiding and acting out roles wouldn't be a big problem if they could be on the run instead. Teleportation was the ultimate escape.
They might have given Milgazia knowledge and a method to subvert the war movements, away from Lei Magnus entirely.
Blind trust is foolish, but that only meant they had to figure out whom could be trusted. They hadn't considered any mortals worthy to be moving players, rather then merely strong pawns.
Pride was hers after all. Not the feeling in particular, but the cognitive side of it dominated her and the others on her team. Before she left, Lina Inverse had put together a plan that involved telling Filia and Milgazia, and eventually even Luna. With Lina gone, why exactly had it sounded like a good idea to treat future allies as pawns?
Because hey, Zelas and Ragradia were deities so much older and larger than them. That had always sounded like logic.
"The hell is happening there? Your emotions are sick, girl," Luna said.
"I just figured out I'm never going to be a deity again," Claire whispered.
· · · · · · ·
