Chapter Seven: Part Two

"Pesmerga?"

The name left Astraea's mouth involuntarily. She knew that the intruder standing in the middle of her bedroom wasn't Pesmerga. But the black armor and black helmet…she knew that the intruder was a Black Knight.

But this wasn't Pesmerga. Pesmerga didn't have long blonde hair.

Behind Astraea, David's breathing suddenly quickened and became shaky as the intruder turned to face them. His long hair fell into his face; Astraea couldn't see his eyes. But she saw his mouth move. "Astraea Reiser?" the voice was low. Cold.

Astraea didn't respond. Suddenly the man was a blur. She didn't see him draw twin swords. She didn't even realize that she was under attack. Her only warning was the glint of light catching the duel blades as they stabbed towards her chest—

Her right hand suddenly shot up and a blast of wind erupted from the True Wind Rune. The wind struck the Black Knight head-on and he flew backwards, his feet skidding across the floor.

His frown deepened. "A True Rune."

"What are you doing?! He almost killed you! FIGHT!"

The voice of the True Wind Rune rattled in Astraea's ears, causing them to ring. She unwound her knout and lunged forward, swinging it over her head and towards his face. The tip met its mark; striking him square in the middle of the face. Astraea worked quickly, swinging her arm rapidly and striking three more times in succession.

But the Black Knight did not flinch under the strikes. He stood there, unmoving, as the tip of her knout landed four blows on his nose, cheeks, and mouth. The strikes did not break skin or create welts. They appeared to be as effective as if she were wielding a paper fan.

"Your Majesty—!" David shouted from the door.

"Stay back, David!" Astraea snapped. She glanced at him for just a moment, but when she turned back to the stranger he was no longer standing in front of her. She suddenly felt a presence directly behind her and she summersaulted forward, feeling the 'whoosh' of air as he nearly stabbed her again. Astraea rolled onto her back, but had to roll away when the swords came down upon her slicing through her carpet. She raised her hand towards him. "FUNERAL WIND!"

The powerful spell struck the Black Knight and laid destruction to her bedroom. Furniture splintered and turned over, loose paper ripped and flew everywhere, and her window cracked and shattered.

But the Black Knight was still unmoved. His hair whooshed with the violent wind, and his body recoiled from the blows of the spell, but he did not appear hurt at hurt. Instead his frown became more pronounced, as though he was annoyed.

Astraea's breathing quickened as she scrambled to her feet. For a moment panic overtook her senses and she picked up her overturned broken chair and hurled it at the Knight with a, "HAAAA!"

The Black Knight made no move to dodge the chair. It slammed into his upper body; his sternum absorbing the blow. But he did not move a hair. When the chair crumbled to the floor in a heap, he was unfazed, uninjured, but exceptionally angrier than he'd been just seconds before.

He then lunged again—"THE SHREDDING!" Astraea shrieked the spell—and the spell stuck him. But he did not falter. Did not stop. Astraea screamed as she dove out of the way, and the twin blades became embedded in her headboard.

I can't hurt him! I CAN'T HURT HIM! What do I do, what do I do?!

The Black Knight yanked the swords free, but then suddenly David threw himself onto the Knight's back, pushing down on his helmet to obstruct his face. "RUN, YOUR MAJESTY!" he shrieked. "Raise the alarm for the intruder, GO!"

"B-But—!" Astraea began to protest.

"This is Yuber!" David quickly spat out. "I've heard the tales, you can't beat him on your own! Get our allies QUICK! RUN!" he snapped when she almost protested again.

Yuber?! But Astraea didn't give any more thought to it. She scrambled to her feet and took off running towards the door. No sooner did she disappear down the stairs did David find himself flipped over Yuber's body and slammed into the floor beside Astraea's bed. He was dazed and winded, and before he could regain his senses Yuber slammed his foot into David's diaphragm and pinned him to the floor. David gagged for breath.

Yuber glared down at him with his mismatched eyes and pointed one of his swords at David's face. "That," Yuber seethed. "Was a mistake."

He thrusted the blade down, but before the tip could pierce David's cheek Yuber felt his body freeze. His arm trembled as he struggled to follow through with his thrust and stab the pathetic human in his face. But his body would not move. He could not force his arm down. It were as though an invisible force was preventing him from—

Yuber stiffened, and he clenched his jaw as the realization dawned on him. "…I see," he said after a moment, his eyes narrowing at David. "You are a Silverberg, aren't you?"

David's eyes widened in shock. "H—How—"

"Rule number one," Yuber snarled, shaking his head in disgust. "Damn it…!"

He lashed his foot towards David's face, and to his relief his toes connected with the underside of his chin. David's head flew back, the back slapping against the floor and knocking him unconscious.

Yuber turned towards the door. "I only need to kill her anyway!"

"TO ARMS, TO ARMS! INTRUDER! INTRUDER!"

Astraea shrieked the words as she ran down the stairs. Her heart was in her throat and she felt violently ill. She reached the ground floor and burst through the door of the great hall. "INTRUDER!"

"Y-Your Majesty!" Viki screamed. She left her position in front of the mirror and hurried to her side. "Where's the intruder?! I'll teleport them away!"

"You can't beat him, RUN!" Astraea screamed. She stumbled forward and fell into Viki's arms, and they both tumbled to the floor. "D—Denzel!" Astraea cried out. "Sigrun! Vahan! Bre—"

Her voice broke off when she felt the familiar 'whoosh' of air behind her. Astraea spun around to see Yuber standing over them both wielding his two swords. Two clean swords.

He didn't kill David! Astraea almost burst into tears from relief but Yuber's voice drew her attention. "Now, little princess. Playtime is ov—"

Yuber's voice abruptly died in his throat. From his tussle with David Astraea could now see his face; he looked a man. Were he not an unstoppable monster he could have been considered handsome. But his eyes were…unnatural. His left eye was silver with a round pupil but his right eye was blood red…and the pupil was slit. Like a cat's.

Or a demon's.

It was an involuntary thought, but Astraea's attention drew away from his eyes as she noticed the color draining from his face. His mouth parted and hung open, as though he were in shock. And his mismatched eyes widening to further show his shock.

Astraea then realized that Yuber wasn't looking at her anymore; he was looking behind her. Astraea looked over her shoulder and she saw Viki still sitting on the floor with her. Her face was also pale and her eyes were also wide, but not in shock. It looked more like terror. Her breathing was shaky as she swallowed thickly and spoke. "…What are you doing here?"

Astraea quickly looked between them, momentarily confused. "D—Do you know this thing?" she asked Viki.

"Yuber may have fallen in love with Viki."

Daunte's words from ages ago filled Astraea's mind and she gasped in shock. She quickly looked at Yuber, who was still looking at Viki, and pointed towards him with a trembling hand. "Y—You?!"

"I knew you would come for her."

Pesmerga's voice carried over to them, before he slammed into Yuber on his right. Yuber had been blindsided by the attack and screamed in rage. The two Black Knights became engaged in a furious battle; their bodies black blurs as they moved rapidly around.

Astraea's arm was seized and she screamed in fright. "Your Majesty, are you all right?!"

Astraea looked up to see Dawa. She quickly looked around and she saw that the main hall was filled with people, all of them armed. Before she could say anything Dawa had knelt in front of her, patting her down. "Are you injured?! Did he hurt you?!"

"I'm fine," Astraea said quickly. "But David—David's still upstairs! We need to help him!"

"Who the hell is that?!" Denzel snapped, pointing towards the flight with one of his plumbata's.

"P-Pesmerga, and the intruder," Astraea said. "It—It's a monster named Yuber!"

There was a loud 'CLANG' and Pesmerga and Yuber broke apart. Pesmerga was…smirking at his foe. "Love has made you soft," he said, his tone coldly smug.

Yuber pointed his swords at Pesmerga. "I'll make your body soft when I pulverize it!" he rasped, and lunged forward again.

"Yuber!" someone shouted. Yuber stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around to face the person who had shouted his name. The crowd of warriors parted, and Daunte stepped forward with Arin trailing behind him. Arin's eyes were wide, but Daunte wore a calm expression. He boldly approached Yuber, and Astraea sensed no fear from him. Daunte continued moving forward until he stood directly in front of Yuber, holding his gaze.

Yuber made no move to attack him. His chest rose and fell rapidly, and he visibly gritted his teeth. "You," he said quietly.

"Yuber," Daunte said, narrowing his eyes. "What do you think you're doing?"

Yuber's breathing quickened, and he was visibly becoming more enraged, but he still made no move to attack Daunte. And he said nothing more.

Astraea suddenly had an idea and she turned to Viki. "Viki, now!"

Surprisingly, the girl seemed to understand. She scrambled to her feet and raced towards Daunte and Yuber. She ran up behind Yuber, who reflexively turned at her approach. But despite his incredible speed, he made no move to attack as she thrusted her right hand towards him. "READY!"

The symbol of the Blinking Rune rose into the air, and bright light surrounded Yuber. To Astraea's immense relief the spell did not backfire, and the Black Knight was spirited away.

"I know that guy!" Futch exclaimed, rushing forward. People leapt out the way to get out of Bright's path. "That was Yuber! He's a Black Knight with a True Rune!"

"A True Rune?!" Sigrun snapped, quickly looking at Astraea.

"I remember that guy," Viktor said, his tone grim. "I fought against him twice. Tough bastard. Merciless bastard."

"But you know him, Lord Daunte?" Vahan asked the young man in question.

Daunte nodded. "I…summoned him during the Nagarean Civil War. He was bound to me."

"Is he still under your command?!" Brendan demanded.

"No!" Arin cried out, stepping forward and raising his hands. "Big Brother ended their contract when our war ended!"

"Why was he here?" Vahan demanded, looking around the room.

"H-He tried to kill me," Astraea said. "He was waiting in my—DAVID!" she shrieked, and ran towards her tower.

"Damn!" Viktor rasped, and took off running after her.

"He was here to kill Astraea," Sigrun said as Dawa and several others ran after them. "Why?"

"There's only one reason why he would come to kill Her Majesty," Daunte told her. "Someone must have summoned Yuber, and told him to do it."

"David!" Astraea shouted as she burst into her destroyed bedroom. She saw David curled on his right side on the floor next to her bed. She ran over to him and she heard him groaning quietly. She choked on a sob and knelt beside him, directing him to roll onto his back. "You're alive!"

David's eyes were half-lidded and glazed, and his complexion was waxy. There was a purpling bruise underneath his chin, and his hair looked matted at the back of his head. She felt around the back of his head, and she felt a lump the size of a grapefruit. "Get Dr. Tieling!" she shouted over her shoulder.

"Looks like a concussion," Viktor said, kneeling beside David. He shook his head. "Damn kid…what were you thinking?"

"He was trying to buy me time," Astraea said, emotions flooding her voice. "So I could escape and raise the alarm."

Viktor snorted, and Astraea gave him a look. Viktor covered up the snort by coughing loudly.

"That monster spared him?" Dawa asked, her brow raising as she took in the destruction in the room. "Why?"

"If his goal was to kill Astraea, he probably didn't want to waste time on anyone else," Denzel said. He shook his head at the state of the room and hurried over to Astraea. He touched her shoulder. "Are you really okay?" he asked gently.

Astraea shook her head, and she closed her eyes to prevent tears from falling. In the moment she felt hopeless, and…inadequate. The last time she had felt so utterly outmatched was when butchers tried to assassinate her. Nothing—absolutely nothing she did—had been enough to stop Yuber. He had beaten her, and had nearly killed her.

And what made her feel most helpless was that…she wasn't sure the Reformation Army would be enough to stop him.

"I told you."

Viki's head snapped up. Once the chaos had settled she had returned to her spot in front of the mirror. The main hall had become deserted once more, but Pesmerga suddenly appeared before her. Viki hugged her staff to her chest. "…Please leave me alone," she said. "Or I'll teleport you away, too."

Pesmerga tilted his head to the side slightly. "Heh," he said after a moment.

"Please leave me alone," Viki said, her tone desperate and sharp.

"I wonder," Pesmerga said, and Viki realized that he was holding his sword. "If I try to hurt you—will he come back?"

Viki raised her right hand. "One more word and I'm sending you away!" she exclaimed.

Pesmerga smirked again. "You should get used to my presence," he said ominously. "Now that we have the confirmation…I am going to be your eternal shadow until I destroy him."

Then he abruptly walked away. Viki sighed quietly and rubbed at her bangs. "Weirdos," she whispered.

"You're an idiot, you know that right?" Viktor said dully.

David gurgled, not forming words. Multiple rune spells had been cast upon him to heal him, but Yuber had done a number on him. When he had pinned him to the floor with his foot he had broken four of David's ribs. When he kicked David under his chin he had cracked his jaw. And when his head smacked against the floor he had cracked his skull. The fact that he wielded a True Rune himself seemed to matter little, though maybe it was because of the Shining Rune that his injuries weren't any worse.

Viktor sat at his bedside in the infirmary as Dr. Tieling casted one final spell. She checked him over one last time and nodded. "Your skull is healed," she said. "And your ribs should be fine. But you won't be able to eat solid foods until for a bit until our spells replenish. Refrain from physical activity for a while, okay?"

"…Okay," David grunted.

Viktor crossed his leg, resting his foot on the opposite knee and held his tongue until Dr. Tieling left them alone. "So," he said, looking at David. "What exactly were you thinking trying to fight that guy?"

David glowered at him from where he lay in the bed. "I was…buying Her Majesty time," he said, his words slow and careful. "I wanted…her to escape. She needed…to get help."

"Uh huh," Viktor said. "And why couldn't you run and get help when she was battling that guy?"

David stared at him blankly, as though the thought didn't occur to him. Viktor chuckled and patted David's shoulder comfortingly as he stood. "A for effort, kid. But next time, pick your battles better."

David grabbed his wrist and Viktor sighed heavily. "Look kid, I'm only teasing—"

"Viktor," David said, his tone low and eyes serious. "I…need to tell you something."

Viktor immediately dropped the teasing and sat back down. "Go ahead. What is it?"

Astraea slept in Sigrun's room that night; the sisters sharing the same bed. Dawa and Ferdinand stood watch all night over them. Astraea slept very little; she kept remembering Yuber's power and how she'd been unable to stop her. She understood why Daunte summoned him as an ally, and she deeply regretted that she never had that opportunity.

But what also kept Astraea up…was knowing who had summoned him to kill her. Her own father.

The next morning her head ached from the lack of sleep and she wasn't hungry. Daunte however was waiting for her in the main hall and he motioned to her. "Come with me, Your Majesty."

Daunte led her up to her bedroom. Astraea wasn't looking forward to seeing the state of her room after the destructive battle, but when Daunte opened the door she was stunned by what she saw. Her room—was back to normal! No furniture was broken! The carpet wasn't ripped up! The window wasn't blasted out! Papers weren't in pieces and torn and strewn about! Everything was perfect, like the attack hadn't happened!

"The Rune of Restoration," Daunte said, showing her the back of his right hand. "It doesn't just restore memories. I asked it to restore your bedroom to the way it'd been before the attack and it did so."

"Oh you're the best, Lord Daunte!" Astraea cried around, throwing her arms around him. "Thank you so much!"

"Wow," Sigrun breathed as she took in the room. They had all agreed that Dawa needed to rest after staying up all night, so Sigrun was staying with Astraea. "You did a fantastic job, young man."

There was a sudden 'POOF' and Brownie suddenly appeared between them. "Nin mel, what happened?!"

"Where the hell have you been?!" Sigrun demanded. "We were attacked last night! You're a House Pixie, aren't you supposed to be on top of that?!"

"Hey, I took the night off with Donauwelle and Eggie!" Brownie said defensively. "You humans aren't the only ones who can have a night off!"

"But did you tell us you were taking the night off, Brownie?!"

Brownie's face turned bright red. "It's fine," Astraea interjected, raising a hand. "Brownie would have gotten hurt by Yuber if he'd been here."

"Hey, I would have shrunk the intruder!" Brownie blurted out.

"…Brownie, I'm trying to defend you," Astraea said quietly. She looked at Daunte. "But thank you for restoring my room, Lord Daunte."

"I could have done it!" Brownie exclaimed.

"I'm glad I could help in some way," Daunte said. "I just…" he shook his head. "I never expected Yuber to show up like that again."

"I think we know who summoned him," Sigrun said, looking at Astraea.

Astraea nodded. "Yeah—"

"Oi, Your Majesty!"

The four turned towards the stairs to see Viktor running up them. He was panting. "Damn," he said, shaking his head. "Losing my arm makes running up stairs much harder!"

"…How?" Sigrun asked with a raised brow.

"You did just fine last night," Astraea said, though her brow furrowed. "I think?"

"You're an old human, that's why!" Brownie laughed.

"What?!" Viktor snapped.

"But anyway—what's wrong, Viktor?" Astraea interjected.

"I—talked to the kid last night," Viktor told her.

"How is David?" Astraea asked.

"Sleeping," Viktor said. "But never mind—he told me why that bastard didn't kill him."

The three looked at him in shock. "There was a reason Yuber didn't?" Daunte asked.

"David said Yuber said something about "Rule number one"," Viktor said. "He said that bastard tried to stab him in the face but then his body sort of…froze up. Like he'd turned to stone, or something. Then I guess he asked the kid if he was a Silverberg."

Astraea exchanged a glance with Sigrun and then she looked at Daunte. "Do you know what that means?"

"When I summoned Yuber, he allowed me to give him a set of rules he had to follow so he wouldn't just—kill everything and everyone," Daunte said. "He only allowed me three rules. Whoever summoned him must have also been allowed a set number of rules."

"And rule number one was to not kill any Silverbergs?" Sigrun wondered aloud. "But why would the King set that rule?"

Astraea gasped, and slapped a hand over her mouth. "It can't be—!"

"Guys?!" Vahan shouted up the tower from the first floor. "You need to come! We just got some interesting visitors!"

They raced down the tower towards the first floor. As they passed Dawa's room she opened her door. "Your Maj—"

"Get sleep!" Astraea told her, not pausing in her steps. Brownie flew ahead of them. The four reached the ground floor to meet Vahan, and Kerime held the door open to the main hall. She was stunned to see not only her full-blooded siblings standing near the stairs but also all of her half-siblings standing on either side of the carpet. Two new people stood in the middle of the great hall, looking a little disheveled. Astraea cried out when she saw them and rushed forward. "Taiwo!"

"Hello, my little sister," Taiwo Winn said as Astraea gave him a hug. "I can always count on you to treat me like an equal!"

"Taiwo?!" Sigrun exclaimed, skidding to a halt. "And—oh my God," she reflexively blurted out when she saw Taiwo's companion.

Elly Drake was standing with Taiwo. The Intelligence Bureau agent looked like a mess. The usually stoic and properly groomed woman had unkept hair and dark circles under her eyes. Her tanned trench coat was sliding off her left shoulder and her glasses had slipped down her nose. She looked so out of character that nobody treated them with hostility or suspicion. Something was very, very wrong. They all knew it by Elly's appearance.

Astraea let Taiwo go and turned to face Elly. "Miss Drake," she said, keeping her tone calm and controlled. "What happened?"

Elly shook her head slowly, her gaze lowered. "…Princess," she whispered. Then she did something that stunned the entire assembly. She started crying. But not just simple tears. A sob erupted from her throat and she began to wail loudly. She covered her face with her hands, knocking her glasses off as she hunched forward and sobbed.

Astraea quickly picked up her glasses, her heart in her throat. She looked between Taiwo and Elly. "…What happened?" she asked again.

Taiwo's expression abruptly grew grim, and his mouth formed a grimace. He reached up and grabbed the rim of his hat, pulling it down so that it covered his eyes. The dread and fear quickly filled Astraea's body and she swallowed hard.

"…I'm afraid I have some bad news," Taiwo began, his tone low and barely audible over Elly's sobs. "For all of you."

He lifted his head and he took a moment to look at all the royals in the room. Sigrun, Vahan, Brendan, Denzel, and then finally Astraea. He took a deep and loud breath and then exhaled sharply. He looked away from Astraea and addressed the hall. His next words were unexpected…but earth shattering.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Princess Philomena is dead."