She could feel the softness of the spirit's white fur, and the warmth that her body strangely produced. But, was that warmth physical, something spirits shouldn't be able to produce, or emotional? Its origin is unclear, but its effect is ever present, the young woman allowed herself to enjoy every bit of it.
She was separated from her dearest, and probably only, companion for too long. These days every second apart counted as too long, so the weeks spent apart tore at her heart. But now they are one again together, not to be separated ever again.
"Echidna." Anastasia's soft voice traveled through the air.
" Ana." an equally soft one returned as an answer.
These two might not have been contracted, but the bond they share was as strong as any other spirit/spirit user. Perhaps even stronger. For these two were forged through the grates challenges the world could bring about. Through thick and thin they stood side by side, and now that is again the case.
" I missed you so much..." Ana's eyes started to shed tears as her mind processed all the emotions she was feeling now.
" I missed you too." In contrast to Anastasia, the white spirit's voice was much more composed. Her age and maturity made it so that Echidna was able to enjoy this reunion in a less expressive fashion. One shouldn't get the impression that she wasn't deeply affected, she was. But, importantly, she knew that Ana now needed someone to rely on. Someone who would allow her, even temporarily, to feel weak. Considering her traveling companion, Echidna knew she had no option but to contain her feelings and protect Ana.
Truthfully Anastasia didn't think of Echidna at all after her escape at the hands of the Rose Revolutionary. Her mind kept the fox spirit away in order to protect the young woman. To protect her from sadness, grief, from the terror of possibly never seeing the last remnant of her family alive. But, now that she could see her spirit again, feel her presence, all those thoughts all those feelings rushed to her. So the future ruler of the Republic hugged her mother figure tight as her knees gave way and she found herself sitting on the ground.
To his credit Halibel didn't interrupt this touching moment. He even felt a little bit of pride for causing it. For all of his, less admirable qualities, he knew to enjoy this now rare show of sincerity. Plus, he also felt a bit of joy at the final confirmation of Su-san's plan.
Truthfully, the spirit's words in the carriage did put some unease in him. After all, much relies on this little woman. Future of the Revolution, of the Republic. Perhaps even the existence of this great project of theirs hinders on her compliance. Halibel, of course, trusted Su-san full-heartedly, and would, and did follow him to the ends of the world. But, no matter of trust, or familiarity, can put one at ease when such big and glorious matters were at hand.
There was a genuine chance that Anastasia would bail on him, or even worse set up a trap for him. While Halibel, for obvious reasons, wasn't particularly bothered by the prospect of having to fight for his life, this nevertheless brought some unease. He hears of Hoshin years back in their mutual homeland Kararagi. Back then she was a rising star, a young girl that out of nowhere came to head one of the largest trading companies in Banan. He was pleasantly pleased at the time that such an occurrence happened in his city, strange how these two not only share a country, but also hail from the same city. Nevertheless, such an event touched the deepest part of him, the part that at the time he had hidden. There was no place for it in Kararagi, especially in the heart of the country's champion, but he allow himself to feel it just a bit. What wrong could such a small indulgence bring? He chuckles now when he looks back at his old mindset.
Perhaps now he isn't the only one? Anastasia then became a candidate for the foreign country's throne. He didn't think much of that, when he first read her name among the other candidates he only thought to himself
'It is that girl from a couple of years ago.' He thought nothing more and continued his existence. Of course, all changed when the Revolution broke out. Those were hectic days, much happened, and much will happen still. Getting his hands on her took a lot of effort on Su-san's part. Hoshin had definitely proven her skill and genius when she actively avoided the Republic for almost a year.
But, her genius was no match for the power of the people, and the Republic they created, and she was captured. Originally she was to be put to death so the ever-present counter-revolution would finally be crushed. But, Su-san seems to have changed his mind and they are now here. Hopefully, she saw the error of her ways and now is ready to perform her duty. If not, it could be dangerous for him, his raw power as great as it is could possibly be overcome by her intellect. There is a possibility that he might get assaulted by the monarchist remnant, the white knights that got away.
Such a possibility is now unlikely if not impossible. Halibel can't sense anyone who could count as a warrior in this place. Plus, there don't seem to be people around Hoshin, only a single man who couldn't be anything other than a farmer.
Well, Halibel still doesn't feel like interrupting the spirit-human reunion, and he doesn't feel like keeping completely silent. So he decided to start a conversation with this genuinely confused young man.
" What is your name citizen?"
Taken aback by this Robert with a stutter responded. "RRobert, sir"
Halibel chuckled at this and with a wave of his hand quickly added. " No need to be worried, just asking. My name's Halibel" With more force in his voice than before he added, "No need to call me sir either."
" Alright...Halibell."
"Good." Seemingly satisfied with the farmer's response the demi-human got to the main part. " Are you a friend of citizen Anastasia?"
Robert was unaware of why this man wanted to know about Anastasia. From what she told him and his wife, Ana is in a dangerous predicament, many would probably seek to harm her. After, all if it was necessary for Natsuki Subaru, the conqueror of Vollachia, to send her into hiding. The situation must be quite severe. This wasn't helped by Halibels' appearance. While Robert didn't have any particular dislike of demi-humans he still feared them. Such people were rarely seen in this town, and never in his village. As such the only thing he knew about them were the stories he would here from travelers, and such stories rarely depicted demi-humans as heroic.
Even still Robert was a kind person, almost naive, and he was ready to give anybody the benefit of doubt. But, Halibel made it hard. He towered over Robert, so much that it hurt his neck if he looked the demi-human in the eye too long. Halibels words were casual and laid back, but his presence wasn't. Robert couldn't put it in words, but there was an energy around Halibel, one that only conveyed danger. So Robert answered truthfully.
" Ana has been living with my family for some time now. I found her near the entrance of our village in distress and offered her shelter." His voice was small and weak. But, he still showed bravery by omitting any information that may be of use to this demi-human. In truth. Halibel could have guessed all of this by himself.
" That is quite nice of you. Do you know who she is?" Unfazed by Robert's fright Halibel continued.
" Only that she has something to do with the capital."
" Indeed she does..." Halibel trailed his words in so giving himself time to think. He, in truth, felt bad for scaring the young man, so he decided to give him some good news.
" I overheard that you acquired fifty gold coins in trade just a moment ago. Is that true?" Cheerfully Halibel asked.
" Yes." Appearing confident Robert answered
" It is unfortunate that the country's current predicament dictates a great deal of sacrifice on the part of the citizenry." With heavy heart, Halibel was unable to go on a monolog about citizen duties so he got straight to the point." You were about, as the law dictates, to give forty-eight of those coins to the state. In doing so performing necessary service for the Republic."
" Yeeess." His makeshift confidant act dropped at this statement. Failing to pay the dictated taxes carried a brutal punishment.
" Citizen Robert, in sheltering citizen Anastasia you performed a service greater to the Republic than any amount of coins could rival. As such you and your family are permanently exempt from paying any amount to the state." Halibel carried little for his speaking partner's bewilderment and simply continued. " As a member of the Public Safety Committee, I give you this accolade. In truth, you deserve more, but as of now, we are unable to repay our depth. Rest assured in time it will be repaid."
" But, the mayor would never..." Yet Robert's words were rudely interrupted.
" You better keep your word, Admirer." Anastasia, after returning back to reality firmly commanded.
" Citizen Anastasia, how wonderful to talk to you again. Did you make up with your spirit?" Ignoring Robert, Halibel turned to Ana and cheerfully spoke. Finally, he is able to continue his fight. So his demeanor was fully in place.
" Will you, or will you not follow your word." Ana was in no mood for games. She felt deeply indebted to this family and wanted to repay them in any way possible, and Halibel proved to be a great method to do so.
" How fierce." He commented before adding. " Of course, I will. Before leaving for the Capital we will visit the town's mayor and inform him of the exception for citizen Robert."
" That is not all, I want you to give him a letter with your seal. So no one would get the idea to harm him or his wife."
" Sure, I have my seal in the carriage. We can do it before we get going." Halibel added, " We should go as fast as possible, the situation in the capital isn't the best. It isn't likely that my methods to keep the status quo will last for long, so we should hurry."
Ana thought a bit before answering, " You are right we should go as fast as possible."
"Where are you going?" Robert who was all but forgotten by the two interrupted.
Anastasia saw the genuine worry in his eyes, which made her feel bad for letting herself forget about his presence.
" Robert, I am deeply grateful for what you and your wife did for me." Unlike with Halibel, Anastasia made no attempts to mask her true emotions while speaking, " But, what I am doing is dangerous, and it will become even more so. I can't allow myself to put all of you at risk." She paused a little in order to arrange her thought before finishing, " Once you are finished here, go back to your village and remain there for the foreseeable future. I will have some guards visit you, but until then don't draw any attention to yourself."
He had no answer for this. The large demi-human and Anastasia's words made him feel small and insignificant. So he accepted.
" Alright... Good luck, and take care."
" I will."
With those words, they left for the town's exit. There the dragon carriage waited for them. In order to fulfill their promises to the young farmer they will have to stay here for a couple of hours. Writing and sealing the letter was the easy part but getting to the mayor wasn't. Or, more accurately would have been had it not been for Halibel's personality. The demi-human just walked to the mayor's house and broke in, taking the man by surprise. At first, the poor man didn't recognize the Archangel of Death and tried to argue. When that failed he took a sword and attacked Halibel.
The mayor found himself sitting in a chair completely exhausted but without any physical injuries. Halibel then proceeded to say what he came to say, and the mayor agreed to give an exemption to Robert. Satisfied with the results they left.
During the entire ordeal, Anastasia stood back and tried not to draw any attention to herself. Halibel argued that it would be unwise for anybody of importance to recognize her before she made her appearance before the Convent. Anastasia agreed and she stood back and watched the pathetic scene. Halibel's behavior left much to be desired, it is no wonder that he had gained the reputation he has. But, this time he got the job done.
So they once again headed back to the carriage this time fully intended to set off on their journey. But, as Halibel was about to give the driver the command to go, Anastasia stepped in
" Take us to Costuul."
Both men were surprised about this, but Halibel was the only one to speak.
A bit annoyed at Anastasia's sudden derailment of plans he spoke, " What are you doing? We need to get to the capital as fast as possible."
" That is true, but Natsuki instructed me to go there. I was at first unsure, but now I agree that is the best course." She calmly answered the demi-human.
Halibel keenly looked at her, scrutinizing her every facial expression. But, after a short wile when he couldn't find any evidence of her lying he gave in.
"Alright." Turning around so he could speak to the driver he commanded, "Take us to Costuul then."
The man, for his part just shrugged his shoulders and did his job.
But this wasn't all, Anastasia had one more thing to say, " When we get there I won't you to stay outside and don't follow me into the city.
The carriage rushed through the woods at a speed that leaves one amazed. The abysmal quality of the roads was the only limiting factor to this vehicle. That was all thanks to the ground dragon's divine blessing of wind evasion. Thanks to it, these creatures and the carriages they would pull were capable of reaching impressive speeds.
This proved a great convenience to the young woman traveling. Anastasia was given by Halibel new clothing, a simple white dress. While living with the family, Mary gave her one of her own dresses. If one could even call it a dress. Of course, Ana didn't mind. Especially when it is taken into consideration that Mary had to shorten the clothing article in order to fit this short woman.
Ana was immensely grateful to her hosts, and she will see that Halibel keeps his word and properly reward them. They showed her kindness, mostly Robert. They sheltered her, gave her food, and even thought her some convenient skills. All of those skills served to make her useful to the host family, but Ana didn't mind. The world is in flames, at some places even literally, to expect genuine kindness is insanity, but that is exactly what that family offered her. All of this only made the events of her past hurt further still.
Yet, one can't allow to let the pain rule them. If Ana was one of the people who do, she wouldn't be here now. She would either be a slave in Kararagi being forced to do unimaginable things. Or a dead slave, that was once forced to do unimaginable things. So Ana did the only smart thing she could now do and read the book Natsuki gave her.
She brought it with her when she embarked with Robert. She brings that book everywhere. She must, after all, that thing is now her most important property. It offers her countless knowledge, and the ability to set things right.
Yet the book was strange. On the margins of the page, she was now reading stood an ominous warning 'Beware!'. This word repeated itself many times, and by all accounts, the message was hurriedly written. The page itself was about Zeus, a strange deity worshiped by people called Greeks. They seemed to have been wise people overall, with many ideas that Subaru seemed to have adopted. That is why she decides to take the warning seriously, and examine the page.
But she couldn't find anything that could relate to her. Zeus was the king of the gods, and a scoundrel, but she can't see how any of that could apply to her. Having no idea she decided to ask Halibel who sat just across her.
" There seem to be some warnings written here." She got his attention with these words and continued, " Did Natsuki warn about anything."
" Nothing in particular." He seemingly thought for a little bit before answering, "Perhaps he is telling you not to go into a dangerous city alone." Still unsatisfied with Anastasia's decision the wolf-man took this opportunity to argue again. He hated her decision to ditch him when they get to Costuul, so he made sure to vocalize this hatred whenever the opportunity arose.
" We already talked about this. I don't want you there." With emphasized her words in order to sound as strict as possible. She must, after all, attempting to link with the remnants of royal guard while this fanatic is around would be suicidal. But she might use his beliefs against him.
"Natsuki himself directed me to Costuul."
" All alone?" Came his immediate reply.
" I am not alone. Echidna is with me." Seeing that the conversation wasn't going her way she decided to lead it in a different direction.
" Why are you so afraid for my safety in a city full of demi-humans?" This was a low blow, but she decided to press forward. " Are you saying that demi-humans are dangerous?" Unsatisfied she gave one last jab, " You poor thing, do you suffer from some self-hatred."
All amusement that Halibel might have had now left him. He was dead serious, with an emotionless expression on his face, and a gaze so piercing that it could kill. Ana would be frightened by it, If it weren't for the fact that a single strand of Halibel's hair could kill an average soldier.
" I am not concerned by race, but by beliefs. Costuul is known to house monarchist scum." He spoke slowly, purposely demeaning Anastasia by treating her like a child.
" Those people are just trying to live their lives and follow their duty." Anastasia firmly countered, "But you are making them sound like they are the worst of slavers."
" Follow their duty... Live their lives..." Halibel was strangely lost in thought as he repeated her words. But soon his expression sharpened, and his eyes carried only passion.
" Following duty, such a nice thing. You can do anything, no matter how horrid, no matter how disgusting, and it won't matter because someone crueler than you ordered you to do it." He stopped short as what little composure he had started to brake, " Take a random woman off a street and have those above use her as they please, Oppress bunch of people, extort money from destitute, murder a village full of runaway slaves begging for their lives!" To betray his falling composure his tone heightened a bit at the end. But he was able to real himself in.
" No. If your duty is horrid then so are you. Those horrid will be given no freedom no mercy. Those two are already scarce as it is, and they won't be wasted on trash"
For a moment Anastasia thought she made a grave mistake, but Halibel seems to have given up on this tangent and simply finished with.
" You, as the leader of the Revolution aren't safe in Costull."
" They don't know that." She quickly countered
" Worse still, they will make you a figurehead and in doing so make it harder to convince the Convent of your true allegiance."
" Only if you don't do your job properly." She looked him straight in the eyes. Ana was fiercely determined to get her way. Truthfully she gave up trying to convince him of anything. So she simply spoke.
" My words are right, aren't you to follow my lead? " Her beautiful aqua-green eyes glinted shortly as she spoke.
At first Halibel's demeanor didn't change a bit. Yet his emotionless face for a split second showed what seems to be a slight smile. He composed himself immediately but, this reaction didn't go unnoticed by Ana.
" I follow the leader of the Revolution." Halibel simply spoke, and in doing so ended this conversation.
Overall this short interaction wasn't perfect. But, she seems to have convinced him to do what she told him. Nevertheless, all of this was strange, yet she currently couldn't do much about it. She will have to wait before she can confirm this with Halibel. But, there is another issue here. The travel and all that surrounds it left Ana tired, her eyelids felt heavy but she forced herself to move forward regardless. Now she had nothing to do but to read the book Natsuki gave her until sleep took her by force.
Darkness surrounded her. She could squint her eyes in hopes of finding the light. She could try and roam around in a vain attempt to see an exit to this place. But, she didn't. She did nothing, She felt nothing. She observed her surroundings almost content with her situation. Yet something didn't give her peace, something forced her to interact with the space around her.
Unfortunately, she couldn't. Nor her hands, nor her feet would move on command. Does she even have them here? Maybe, maybe not. She can't look down to see. She can sense that she has them, and that was true. Or was it? Was her mind deceiving her, or did it simply fail to adapt to newfound circumstances?
Since she had no emotions here, her mind was able to think clearly and with a great deal of speed.
' Am I alive?'
' Am I dead?'
' Is this a prison?'
' If it is, am I a prisoner?'
' If I am not, am I a warden?'
' If I am not, then am I a guest?'
' If I am deceased, is this afterlife?'
' If it is, are they here?'
' If they are, I have to find them!'
' If they are, I must find them!'
' If they are, I will find them!'
' If they are, I will have them again!"
Soon she could once again feel emotion. She could feel the desire, the uncontrollable urge to get back what is hers. There was no bargaining with her now, she wanted, she desired. In such a state no one or nothing could possibly stand in her way. She cared not for the consequences her action would carry, nor for the effect it would have on others.
Her desire was selfish. It stood above the people she wanted to find. It stood above the people she would have to destroy to get what she wanted. It even stood above the world, which would seek to deny her desires.
And in such a state, she was approached by a figure. He was of average height for a man, with black hair and piercing eyes. The figure knew what it wanted and it seemed to have something to do with her. She didn't at first, but after a short while she recognized the man as Subaru Natsuki, the Rose Revolutionary.
Yet he didn't look the same now as he looked when they last separated, His carmagnole jcaket was now pristine, his hair was well done, and he lacked the prominent eye bags. He looked much more presentable now, but his presence brought something forth.
' If he is here, this is an afterlife.'
' If this is an afterlife, then they are here."
She wanted to ask questions, to demand answers. But, she couldn't. Unlike with her limbs, this wasn't a physical problem, she had no problem vocalizing words and forming sentences. No this was another thing, for every time she would want to speak she found herself unable. She was about to open her mouth, but then instinctively she would close it. It was like her own mind was telling her that her words were wrong and better not spoken. Naturally, this carried the implication that proper words would be allowed to surface, it was only needed of her to find them.
But she had no time for that because the figure in front spoke first.
" You were warned to beware."
The voice, identical to Subaru's, echoed in this empty space. How? No one knows. Perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her.
" You indeed should. Many will seek to use you. So you ought to use your power and protect yourself."
The words made sense, almost too much sense, but the man wasn't done speaking.
" That power was a parting gift. You should use it."
Subaru did imply that when he was dying.
" So beware... Princess."
With those words, the world around her started to break apart. Soon the darkness would be replaced with bright light as Anastasia woke up.
All powerful, yet slaves