He remembered the day he saw her for the first time.
From what he could gleam from the memories of his vessel, this body had been quite fond of her and she in turn had been fond of this vessel. Not that it would be any use for her…that man was long gone; his body belonged to Grima now. His memories nothing more than a book that Grima could use or discard at his leisure.
This body had taken a strange form of pride of tutoring this little girl, believing her to have some great potential.
But as he starred at her unconscious body lying there in the ruins of her home, he saw…
Nothing…
A just small weak little thing, nothing remarkable truth to be told. A girl, nothing more.
It would have been so easy, a trifle really to just end her then and there alongside her bothersome mother, but there was this voice…A little voice that Grima at first had thought to be his own.
''Where is the fun in that?''
He had listened to it. Figuring out that he might as well make some entertainment from all this.
Why not? He had won, he had his body and no Exalt would be able to take the Rite of Awakening anymore. He was free to do as he pleased and all the time in the world to do it.
A few scattered survivors here and there could be fun to stamp out from time to time.
If she survived this encounter, he could always finish her off later. And he was curious to see if this little princess was as special as this body believed her to be.
This little game would cost him nothing.
Or so he believed.
He would meet her again in a years' time after he left her for dead in that ruined castle. The little rat had managed to gather a large group of survivors and hidden themselves inside a huge underground cave, making a nuisance of themselves by waging a pitiful resistance against him.
When he found their little hiding place, he considered to just send wave after wave of his risen down that hole to slaughter them all, but once again the voice spoke to him.
''Just collapse the entire thing and be done with it. Let the rocks do the work.''
And so, he did, but she survived and would continue making a nuisance of herself. For she and her little band of ''Shepards'' would oppose him again soon after.
This would go on for years.
So much so that he came to regret sparring her all those years ago. The girl proved herself to be an elusive little annoyance and any amusement he thought he would have by hunting those survivors down soon turned stale and even bothersome.
Her blade even wounded him once. A slight he would not forgive, not since the time of the first Exalt had anyone been able to make him bleed. Even if it was just a small cut.
She would pay for her continued defiance…Oh yes, she would pay…He would see to it that she would lose everything again. He would break her before he would even consider giving her the release of death.
Yet her continued survival was not entirely her own credit.
There was that voice…
The voice he thought was his own…that he thought offered wise council, but it's suggestions always proved itself false and poisonous.
It seemed that the soul of this vessel was more resilient than most others. Being able to retrain itself without being fully absorbed was no small feat, but that would end now.
Grima had seen through its little deception and made efforts to rid himself of this little irritation.
Now that voice was gone, separated in another container where it not only would cease its little distractions but maybe even serve him in a more beneficial way.
Finally, his mind would be free of any outside influence.
Free to once and for all get rid of that girl and her bothersome Shepards…
''…My lord?''
Aversa asked again. It was unusual that her master would be in such a deep trance. Normally she would just patiently wait for him to address her, but she had been waiting for the better part of an hour, and time was short.
They had chosen a small and abandoned village as their place of meeting. It was barely a mile from the Ylissean camp and while they did have people who would cover their absence from camp, their time was by no means infinite.
But then again, maybe Aversa should be grateful for her master unresponsiveness. Her work of identifying the princess companions had by no means gone without cost, and then there was the failure in Plegia…
She had not been looking forward for this meeting. Aversa hated failure; it vexed her pride and her master more so. She still remembered what he did to those people all those years ago, when he appeared in the court of Plegia.
It had been a marvel to behold how he cleansed the entire upper echelons of the foolish, stupid, and greedy. A hundred nobles where cast before his judging gaze and only a dozen would survive. He had torn them apart himself after he rendered his judgement. While she remembered the slaughter of those incompetent nobles fondly, she also knew it's message; Failure would not be tolerated before their God.
And if she was not careful, she too could end up among the number her master deemed as inadequate.
Finally, her master seemed to notice her.
''Rapport…''
He said bluntly as if they had just meet.
Better start with the good news, Aversa thought for herself.
''As you commanded my lord, I have compiled a list of suspects amongst the members of the army that have the most contact with the princess.''
Her master grunted as she handed him the list. Taking a moment to read through the names before he addressed her again.
''This would suffice, but I suspect that it has not been acquired without cost?''
He knew, sometimes she wondered why he bothered to order her people shadow that princess. It was clear that he already knew nearly everything that was happening in the camp.
Aversa allowed herself to take a deep breath before answering.
''Yes, nearly everyone I sent to spy on the girl would turn up dead or suffer some accident shortly after. I have already lost half of my men in the Ylissean army…''
She should have pulled them back and devised a new approach once it became clear that her people were being picked off, but they were at war, so she had not suspected anything before it had gotten out of hand. To her shame, she had been too slow to act, and now one of their most potent assets have been squandered. All for a list that even Aversa suspected to be of little use, she had herself studied the list closely, but have been unable to find any connection between all those names.
''I suspect that the girl knew that we have been watching her and have taken steps to arrange for the disposing of our people. I doubt that any in that list is even in league with her.''
Grima made a dismissive wave at this.
''I would be disappointed if she did not. This is a good development…''
That surprised her. She had expected Grima would be furious that they have been outplayed, but instead he seemed pleased.
''My lord? Forgive me for my ignorance, but how is this good? We have lost most of our people amongst the Ylisseans, how…''
Her master waved the list in front of her before setting it on fire with a simple fire spell from his hands. Aversa could only stare in disbelief. All that work discarded on the whim.
''Those pawns matter little in the long run. Let the girl believe that she has won…that she has removed an important brick in our plans...''
He laughed, an awkward and stiff laugh. It was clear that her master still struggled to imitate common human interactions.
''But she forgets that I control the entire board and all the pieces! Her little victory will make her confident and blind. Her belief that she has cleansed her father's army will make her less hesitant to rally all of her comrades to the army in an attempt to assassinate me. With them all gathered in my net, we can move on to the next phase of our plan; The cleansing of all those travellers of the future.''
''So, all our efforts to shadow the girl…''
''A distraction, a ruse…nothing more.''
It was all a trap to lure the girl and her comrades out, and all that for the cost of some expandable underlings. Grima never failed to impress Aversa with his foresight even if it came at the expense of her own resources and pride, yet one thing puzzled her.
''How can we be sure that they are all gathered together?''
Her master smile remained plastered on his features.
''I have my own eyes and ears. She has found the last of her companions. They have all just joined the army posing as wandering mercenaries. The only exception…''
He turned his gaze to her; a glint of anger was suddenly visible on his smiling mask. Aversa felt a shiver down her spine.
''…is that small group that escaped your people's clutches in Plegia…''
Aversa blinked at this. Did he know about that too? Then what was the point of her coming here and give him a rapport that he already knew?
''Time for you to correct that little failure. You will take whatever men you have left and go back to the harbours under the guise of organizing our next wave of reinforcements and supplies. Take a ship and intercept those children when they attempt to cross the sea. Deal with them and do not fail me again.''
She would not dare to do anything else.
''My lord, forgive me, but how are you planning on dealing with the girl after you send me and our people away?''
''You forget…I control the entire board. Contact Excellus and tell him to prepare his people. I have something planed for our next destination at Fort Steigner…''
This will be the last chapter from the POV of Aversa. Next chapter will be from POV of Lucina. Planning on making that chapter particularly long, so stay tuned.
Thank you all for reading.