The Citadel, St. Binah

We finally reached St. Binah, but Oracle Knights had closed off the entrance. Dammit, they got ahead of us! But as we were thinking about what to do, a wagon from Engeve came by to deliver food supplies, so we hitched a ride and snuck in.

Now we have to find Anise without those Oracle soldiers finding us. Anise should be waiting at the Malkuth base inside the town.

Chapter 3

Raine drew a map and wrote down what she'd learned from Elder McGovern. So, Tethe'alla had three autonomous states Chesedonia, Malkuth, and Kimlasca. Daath was possibly a fourth autonomous state, though she wasn't sure how it was ruled. At the very least, it was a city whose name she could read, since the letters in "Malkuth" confirmed it for her. Elder McGovern had given her the map and a couple of books for recommended reading and the freedom to explore his library, which she took full advantage of.

As she explored the map and the library, she noticed that the Tethe'allan symbols represented sounds just like in Sylvarant, which would make it much easier for her to translate. She couldn't read everything, but thanks to the map, she could at least make out some information. She did run into some trouble with translations, though. It seemed that not all sounds translated equally. "Chesedonia" didn't read with the same "k" sound as "Malkuth" and "Keterburg." Cleary, Tethe'alla used different symbols to accommodate the same sounds. Even so, she copied as much as she could into her notebook to study on.

The more that Raine tried to translate, the more confused she became. Rather than finding familiar words, the words were very unfamiliar. The phonetic system must be slightly different than she thought. Still, she was determined to figure out how to read before anyone caught on that she couldn't.

Satisfied for now, she stepped into the hallway and closed the door to the study. She carried four books in her arms with the map safely tucked into her pocket and started back towards her room when she heard voices coming from the audience hall. They sounded angry. Curious, she peeked through the crack in the door where she could barely see Glenn standing near the fireplace, his shoulder to her.

"What is the letter about?" Elder McGovern asked. "Does it explain why the God-Generals are here?"

"How should I know? It's for Colonel Curtiss." Glenn waved an envelope, flipping it over to see the other side.

"Ah, probably not then. You really should get rid of them."

"They look like they're searching for something. Her, maybe?" He glanced back at the door and she instinctively ducked back. Someone was looking for her?

"I doubt it. Send them away."

Glenn sighed heavily. "Father, you know I can't just send them away." He paused. "But I should see what a Fon Master Guardian wants with Jade." She heard him tear open the envelope to read the letter. Fon Master Guardian? What was that? After a lengthy moment of silence, she heard, "Huh, it seems he is headed this way. 'Really scary time...'? Hm, I wonder what's happened. Is it related to Raine?"

"Quit obsessing about her."

"Father, there's so little we know about her. And now the God-Generals are here? I'll bet it has something to do with her. Why is she here?"

"We brought her here, Glenn," Elder McGovern said. "Remember? And why would the God-Generals be looking for her?"

"Maybe she's wanted for something."

"She did crash nearby. Maybe they are just looking for the origins of the light, like we did."

"All the more reason to give her up to them. It means no one knows why she's here."

Her brows furrowed in anger. Humans never could keep their promises.

The main doors of the Malkuth Base opened and several people walked in. Three men, a young boy, and a woman entered the hallway. The young man, about Lloyd's age, with long red hair looked grumpy, holding his hands behind his head as walked in.

Behind him, a boy with green hair caught her attention. He wore white and pale green robes, which sort of resembled something Raine had seen church members wear. He also held a staff in his hand that reminded her of a tuning fork. Was he from the Church of Martel? He didn't quite look like the priests of Sylvarant. Next to him, a tall man with brown hair and glasses wore a uniform of a clean and crisp navy blue with white trim. Another soldier!

He locked eye contact with her, and she blinked, turning away.

She fled before they could talk to her.

Raine stowed the books and the map into her bag and paused. God-Generals... Who were they? They sounded like they were part of a religious faction, but she'd never heard of anything like them in the Church of Martel. Although, the McGoverns' inability to remove them from Saint Binah surely suggested a more powerful organization, which a religious organization would fit that. Was it possible Daath was where they came from? Was that the base of the Church of Martel? That would've made sense except the Church of Martel didn't have soldiers. ...Or Tethe'alla's version of the Church of Martel had become more militant.

She had to know more about them. She peeked back into the hallway and saw the group of people were no longer there. They must have gone into the meeting room, but just who were they? Were they the people from Engeve that Elder McGovern mentioned? No, they couldn't be. Rose sounded like a merchant and there was a soldier in the group. The woman herself even wore a heavy brown dress that could've been a military uniform as well, though it wasn't as obvious as the man in the blue uniform. He was more likely Jade, but she wasn't sure. With no one else around, Raine quietly hurried back to the meeting room door to listen and find out.

"I appreciate your taking her along." She heard Elder McGovern say. Raine's eyes widened. Perhaps it was Rose after all! She didn't have to wait as long as she thought. Though it still concerned her that Rose and possibly a colonel were traveling together.

"We can take her as far as Chesedonia." Another voice responded. This one belonged to another gentleman that she couldn't see well enough through the crack. Which one was he? Not the red-headed teenage boy for sure. "We'll figure out something from there."

"That should be far enough." Elder McGovern continued. "Once she's back in Kimlasca, she should be safe." Could it be…? Raine's heartbeat quickened. It sounded possible that Kimlasca had a slightly better view of half-elves. That made sense, considering the Renegades tried helping the king save Tethe'alla, but why wouldn't Malkuth be interested in helping to save the world, too? Were they that distrustful of half-elves and the Renegades? Or were they even involved in the decision to kill Colette? After all, Sheena never mentioned an emperor and that was probably the reason why.

"Also, if the God-Generals are chasing you, I'll gladly lend a hand. I was elected by the city representatives here. Come by anytime you need help."

"Thank you, Field Marshal."

So, they weren't after her. She could at least breathe easy about that. Raine started to move, but the door to the study opened behind her and a maid emerged.

"Oh! You're right here. I thought you'd be in the study still... but... anyway, go on into the meeting room. Elder McGovern would like to speak with you."

Raine nodded and entered the meeting room. Sure enough, the small group of people she saw earlier stood around the room and all faces turned to her as the maid announced their presence.

The soldier glanced at her and then pushed up his glasses as he turned slightly away from her.

The young boy in church clothes and the blond man both smiled politely while the redhead's face soured. Rose, however, hid a smile behind brown bangs that covered half her face. The rest of her long hair flowed down her back.

"This is Raine. Please take good care of her." Elder McGovern said. Then, he gestured to the soldier. "Raine, this is Colonel Jade Curtiss. He can get you home." Colonel Curtiss... So, she was correct.

"Now, now, 'home' is a bit farther than where we're going," Jade said. "But we'll take her as far as we can."

The redhead groaned. "Why do we have to take her? Why can't you guys send her with someone else?"

"Luke," Rose said. "She's in enemy territory. There's no reason we can't take her with us."

Luke sighed. "Fine, but she'd better stay out of my way." He turned to Raine. "And don't hold us back."

Well that's a rude way to talk to someone. If he were one of her students, she would've smacked him. But since they are bringing her along and protecting her, not to mention Glenn's hostility, and being in another world, she simply said, "thank you. I'll try my best not to be a burden."

"Ignore Luke," the blond man told her. "He's just anxious to get home."

"Yes, he treats everyone like that." Rose said. "Don't take it personally."

"I won't. Thank you for taking me along."

"Oh, it's nothing." Jade said. "We're headed to Chesedonia anyway. We could use the extra help."

The green-haired boy nodded and approached her. She noticed his somewhat pale face and wondered if he was why they needed the extra help.

"I'm Fon Master Ion. It's a pleasure to meet you," the young boy said.

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine," Raine said. She was curious, though, that the youngest person in the room was Fon Master Ion. What was he a master of? Either way, it his guardian who left the letter with the McGoverns, she was sure.

A little blue puff of fur floated up to her with a golden ring around its middle. It had long blue ears like human pigtails and was certainly nothing like she'd ever seen before. It was blue and white like Noishe, but smaller than Noishe's head. "And I'm Mieu!" It spoke with a high-pitched voice like a child's. Raine stared at the furry little beast. Where did it come from?

"Wh-what is—what are you, Mieu?"

"I'm a cheagle!"

"Cheagles are sacred beasts of the Order of Lorelei," Ion said. Order of Lorelei…? Another church? Possibly the organization associated with the God-Generals, but what about the Church of Martel...? Well, the existence of another religious faction didn't necessarily mean anything. Sheena had simply said the Church of Martel existed in Tethe'alla. She didn't say it was the only religious organization.

"Mieu is serving his master Luke until he pays his debt," the blond man added.

"Poor thing…" Raine resisted the urge to snatch the little cheagle out of the air to dissect it. She was definitely interested in how the creature could speak the human language. Was it possible other animals in Tethe'alla could? Was it the excess mana that did it? But she'd never heard of that before.

"I am Guy Cecil," the blond spoke and gestured to the woman at the other side of the table. "And this is Tear." What? Who was Rose, then? Confused, Raine sought answers from Elder McGovern.

"I thought Rose was coming for me?"

"Ah, well, change of plans," Elder McGovern said. "Jade is headed to Chesedonia. I asked if he could take you instead."

"Nice time for a chat, but we should probably leave." Jade headed for the front door.

"Please wait," Raine said. "Let me get something." She hurried back to her room for her bag and staff. As she rejoined the group, she couldn't help but feel a bit excited. The McGoverns had been friendly enough, but she was glad to be rid of Glenn's attitude. Not to mention now she could begin looking for Genis.