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Chapter Text

758

"I think he looks just like you."

Lewyn squinted at the baby's face, which was very round and seemed to lack any defining features. He couldn't really see the resemblance. "Really, Erin?"

Erinys just giggled. "Want to hold him?" Lewyn nodded and sat down beside her, holding out his arms. She carefully placed their son in his father's arms, but he began screaming immediately.

"Oh gods, Erin, he hates me!" Lewyn immediately passed the baby back, but he didn't stop wailing.

"No he doesn't!" Erinys hurriedly reassured him while trying to soothe the baby. But now matter how much she rocked him, he kept crying and crying. "I bet he's upset because we didn't name him yet."

Lewyn snorted as she continued to try and calm the baby down. "Alright you little cretin," he wagged a finger at the screaming baby, "you're making your mother stressed, so— Hey!" The baby had grabbed onto Lewyn's finger, but he quickly wrenched it away with a gasp. "His hand feels like it's on fire, Erin."

Confused, Erinys put her finger on their little baby's palm, and sure enough, it was extremely warm. "Is he sick?" She asked worriedly.

"No…" Lewyn had gone a little pale. "I know exactly what this is." He took the baby's hand again, turning it so Erinys could see the back of it, which was clearly marked with dark lines. "He's inherited the blood of the Crusader Ced."

It would've been happy news for most people, but knowing how Lewyn and his family had suffered from succession disputes, Erinys could only grimace. Lewyn apparently felt the same way, frowning intently even as the baby continued crying and the mark continued growing.

"What if we named him Ced?"

"Huh!?" Erinys was aghast. "We can't just use the name of a Crusader like that!"

"Why not?" Lewyn countered. "It's just a name. Not to mention, it would have Myos rolling in his grave—"

"Our son isn’t a tool for you to spite your family with!"

"You're right." Lewyn quickly backtracked. "But… I do think it suits him. And you like these kinds of names, right? Cute and short."

"Ced, huh?" She glanced at the baby in her arms, whose cries had finally begun to quiet.

"He's already destined to be someone important." Lewyn picked up the baby's hand and examined the now-complete mark that had formed. "Why not make him stand out a little more?"

"I should've known you would come up with such a contrarian choice." Erinys sighed, but she was smiling. "But I like it."

"Hear that, kid?" Lewyn asked the baby, who had fallen asleep, probably exhausted from crying so much. "Your name is Ced."

760

The innkeeper's teen daughter was the one who broke the news to him

Sorry mister. She didn't make it.

It wasn't much of a shock. After all, he could clearly hear the voices in the other room, and her's wasn't one of them.

He couldn't do anything except stare blankly at the wall as she continued to talk, and then the innkeeper came too, holding his newborn daughter. He had half a mind to ask the lady to keep her— after all, he didn't exactly know how to take care of a baby. But then she said something which made his blood run cold.

She's got some weird mark on her back.

The baby continued to sleep peacefully as Galzus took her, and he carefully examined her to confirm what he already knew was true. Her tiny back was completely covered in dark, intricate marks, forming the crest of the Crusader Od.

Most people considered Holy Blood to be a blessing, but the last thing he wanted was for his child to be cursed with this fate. You're going to have a difficult life because of this.

"Did you have a name in mind?"

"Yeah." Galzus admitted, although he felt like his voice would give out any second. She had picked out a name, and with great enthusiasm. "Mareeta."

761

"There were no survivors, Your Majesty."

"You're wrong." Erinys said, cradling the newborn Fee while trying her hardest not to cry. "I know Lewyn is alive."

Lewyn had made her a promise. It didn't matter if no one else had survived— she knew that he had to be the exception. But clearly, no one was willing to believe her, so they would just have to wait until Lewyn showed up himself.

And so, Erinys felt quite validated when she woke up one morning to find Lewyn already in their room. “You're back!” She sat upright so quickly that it sent her into a wave of dizziness.

Lewyn put a finger to his lips. “I can't stay for long. I—” Strangely, Lewyn looked like he was trying to say something, but no sound would come out of his mouth. “I'll come back, but for now, I have to go.”

“You just got here!” Erinys protested. “Everyone was sure you were dead, but I knew that couldn't be true.”

“Mama?” The door to the adjoining room opened just a bit, enough for little Ced to poke his head through. His eyes caught on the new person, staring in confusion.

“Come here, Ced.” She gestured to him, and after a moment of hesitation, he went to his mother. “Our kids don't even recognize you.” Erinys said sadly.

“It doesn't matter.” The callous response caught her off guard, but even more alarming was when he tossed Forseti on the bed. “And I don't need this anymore.” After a brief pause, Lewyn jerked his arm awkwardly and took off his scarf too.

“Lewyn, what's going on?” She protested, standing up with Ced in her arms. “You're not making any sense.”

Again, he looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't.“I have to go.” He just ended up repeating.

“What about Fee? You don't even want to meet your daughter!?”

“I'll come back.” He vaguely promised, opening the balcony door and stepping out.

Erinys rushed to follow him, but he had already disappeared.

She knew that Lahna or anyone wouldn't believe what happened— in fact, Erinys might've doubted her own memory too— if it weren't for the Tome of Forseti now in her possession. They all hoped that Lewyn would come back sooner rather than later, but the Empire soon came right up to their doorstep, forcing her to flee to Tófa with an infant Fee and young Ced.

"Mama, why do we have to move houses?" Ced asked.

"It's not safe here, dear." She told him, but her heart was heavy as she helped pack up her children's essential belongings. The very last thing she packed was Forseti, right at the top of her things, so that she could immediately give it to Lewyn as soon as he returned.

764

Only once the last slaver was dead did Eyvel realize what she had done.

Her sword had moved of its own accord when she saw that tiny girl in chains, a little girl whose back was drenched in what unmistakably was blood.

She didn't really have time to consider the consequences either, knowing someone would stumble upon the scene any second. So Eyvel scooped up the girl and slavers' gold, and fled Connaught.

"I can't promise she'll survive." The apothecary told her. Eyvel could only curse her bad luck that the nearest village she had been able to find didn't have a proper healer, but at least an apothecary was better than nothing.

"Just do your best." She replied, almost unable to look at the little girl's body, motionless except for the slight rise and fall from breathing.

The girl's wounds began to close, but it had been a few days and she hadn't woken up, which was really starting to worry Eyvel. Just as she felt like she might have to give up hope, Eyvel woke up one morning to find the girl's bed empty.

It turned out she was hiding under the bed, which wasn't too difficult to figure out thanks to the bloodstains that she had left while trying to fit under there.

"Come out from under there," Eyvel pleaded. "You're going to make your injuries worse."

The little girl stared back with huge, distrustful eyes. After a long silence, she finally responded. "Where's Papa?"

Eyvel managed to coax the girl out, with the promise that she would try to find the girl's father.

"What does he look like?"

"Umm… tall." The little girl held her hand up as far as she could above her head.

"And what's your name?"

"...Mareeta."

"How did you get seperated?"

This was where the girl hesitated. "I got lost. I was looking for Papa, but…" She started to sniffle.

"But someone else found you, huh?" Eyvel asked, thinking back to the slavers. "Some bad people."

Mareeta nodded, her sniffling turning into earnest crying. Eyvel cradled her in her lap, trying to calm the little girl without touching her wounded back.

"Don't worry." Eyvel reassured her. "I won't let anyone hurt you again."

Two problems quickly arose.

The first being, Eyvel couldn't find Mareeta's father anywhere. She asked around in the village where they were staying, the surrounding ones, and even went back to Connaught to poke around.

The second problem was that, although Mareeta's wounds had begun to heal, the skin that grew back was a strange, dark color.

She chose not to mention it at first, but soon it became clear that there was some kind of mark spanning across her back.

"Papa said it's, uh, a…" Mareeta frowned as she tried to remember. "He said it's a Croo-say-der mark. That I can't show to anyone."

She wondered if the slavers knew that when they had found her, because Eyvel certainly hadn't, and neither did the apothecary who was treating her.

One thing was for certain though— the girl was still pretty badly wounded, and Eyvel didn't trust anyone else to look after her.

"Do you want to live with me until we find your father?"

Mareeta hid behind her legs as all the citizens of Fiana came out to welcome Eyvel back.

"Don't be shy." She took Mareeta's hand and gently pulled her out into view. The other village children rushed closer, eager to see. "You'll have a lot of new friends here."

Tanya came up fearlessly, and took Mareeta's hand to pull her away. "No roughhousing!" Eyvel called after the kids as they went off.

"Are you sure bout this?" Dagdar asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Am I sure?" Eyvel repeated with a disbelieving laugh. "Absolutely not. But… I couldn't just leave her. You should've seen the state she was in…"

"Eyvel…"

"Trust me. I know I'm the last person cut out for motherhood." She said with a resigned sigh. "But I'll do my best."

766

He had started wearing gloves.

Ced didn't like the way everyone gaped at his brand. Tófa, home of the Silessian rebels, wasn't a place he particularly liked.

"Mother," he asked one day, a little frustrated. "Why did you name me after the Crusader?"

"Oh dear," Erinys smiled as she pulled her son to sit beside her. "Are the other children giving you a hard time?"

"Yes… but it's not just that."

That Queen Erinys is an arrogant woman.

Who does she think she is, naming her son after the Crusader?

She has no respect for the Twelve.

"They say things about you too, Mother. Really bad things."

"Oh, really?" Erinys just laughed. "Don't let it bother you, Ced."

"But—"

"Really, love. It's alright."

"But why did you pick this name?" After all, his sister had a normal name… or at least, more normal than his.

"Well," Erinys ruffled his hair. "Your father suggested it. He always did like going against the flow for these things."

Ced just frowned. "You said he would come back someday. When's that going to be?"

"I don't know." Erinys admitted. "All you and I can do is wait."

Ced continued to pout— Erinys could tell he wasn't satisfied with her answers. But she didn't have much else to say— she was also waiting for Lewyn to come back, hopefully for good this time.

Chapter Text

768
Obviously, raising a child wasn’t going to be easy. Eyvel didn’t have many memories, but the time she had already spent in Fiana had made it clear that child-rearing wasn’t for the uncommitted. But she didn’t think any of the other parents in Fiana were dealing with a child quite like this one.

“Don’t worry,” Eyvel tried to soothe her daughter, who was currently sobbing into Eyvel’s shirt. “No one can hurt you while I’m here.”

Nightmares like this were unfortunately very frequent for Mareeta, even though four years had passed since she came to live in Fiana. Not that Eyvel blamed her— Many adults would be hard-pressed to get over an ordeal like what she had gone through, let alone a young child. But still, she wanted Mareeta to have a normal life— or at least, one without nightmares, because that symbol of Holy Blood on her back meant that Mareeta could never really be like the other kids in the village.

“I wish I didn't have this." Mareeta said sourly as Eyvel carefully rubbed a salve into the scars. Even after all these years, some of the wounds weren't properly healed, and the ones that were left their mark in the form of rough, raised lines that stood out against the rest of her skin.

She often didn't know what to say to that. The power of the Crusaders was supposed to be an important gift, but it hadn't brought any value to Mareeta's life— none that Eyvel could see, at least.

"There's no use lamenting it." She finally told her daughter as she finished up with the medicine. "Now, do you still want to train?"

"Yes!" Mareeta jumped to her feet eagerly, her brooding about the scars seemingly forgotten. If there was one thing Eyvel had found out, it was that Mareeta absolutely loved sword fighting. And she was pretty talented for a little kid, not to mention light on her feet. It was a strange form of bonding, to be sure, but it always cheered her daughter up, without fail.

770

"Ced! Ceeeed!?"

Ced groaned as Fee's voice came floating through the hallway. He didn't usually mind his sister's company, but it wasn't welcome when he already had a headache from studying spells.

"Oh, Ced! There yo—" Fee was cut off by a strong gust of wind slamming the door shut in her face. "Hey! You said you wouldn't use your wind magic on me!" Fee hollered through the closed door, and Ced just buried his head in his arms. "I'm telling Mothe—"

"Don't!" Ced was up, and the door open in an instant. "Don't bother Mother with stupid stuff like this, alright?"

Fee just sniffed. "But that was pretty mean of you, Ced…"

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" He sighed. "Just don't bother Mother. You know she hasn't been feeling well lately."

"Yeah…" Fee trailed off, looking rather serious for once.

A chilly gust of wind blew through the room.

"Ced! Stop that!"

"It's not on purpose!" He snapped, unconsciously rubbing the mark on the back of his right hand, which was concealed under gloves.

"Do you seriously wear those gloves even in your room?"

"I don't like looking at it."

"You're so annoying!" Fee spat. "It wasn't enough that only you got the Crusader's power— you have to complain about it too, huh?"

"It's really not as great as you think it is, Fee." Ced tried to answer calmly, even though his sister's words actually cut rather deep. He was sure that it wasn't easy for Fee, but he also didn't love the way the shadow of the Crusader Ced constantly hung over him. But he didn't want to irritate her further with another cold breeze, so he stomped down the feelings of frustration.

"Yeah, yeah, I could never understand what it's like." She rolled her eyes. "And I don't want to, either. I'm going to be a Heavenly Knight, just like Mother."

“Good for you.” Ced sighed. Sometimes he wondered if his sister deliberately tried to start fights, but there were more important things to worry about. “Let’s go see Mother.”

"Sorry to disappoint," Eyvel said with a bemused shrug. "But I'm not your Lady Brigid."

Finn seemed utterly lost for words. Clearly, he had been very confident about his guess, but to Eyvel, it was about as far from the realm of possibility as one could get. "Sorry," he finally replied. "You just, really reminded me of someone I knew."

“You’ve met many descendants of the Crusaders, haven’t you?” Eyvel asked, trying to lighten the awkward mood. But this was also a valuable chance for her— outsiders almost never came to the village, let alone ones who were knowledgeable about the Crusaders.

“Lord Sigurd’s army had many.”

“Did you know of any who had a mark like this?”

Eyvel just showed him the Mareeta’s mark, which she had long since kept a drawing of. With the way Finn’s eyebrows instantly furrowed, she knew that he had recognized it.

“The crest of the Crusader Od?” He asked. “Why do you have a drawing of this crest?”

“My question first.” Eyvel reminded him. “Have you ever met someone with this mark?”

Finn hesitated. “Not exactly,” he said slowly. “But I've met the descendants of Od.”

“Are you saying they didn't have a mark? ”

He shrugged. “I never heard that he did. But Prince Shannan is without a doubt the full-blooded descendant of the Crusader Od, the only one who can wield the holy sword Balmung.”

Eyvel frowned.

“So now, I must ask— Why would you ask about something like this?”

Eyvel crammed the drawing of the crest back into her pocket and cast a sideways glance at Mareeta, who was crossing wooden swords with Leif. “Because it looks like your Shannan isn’t the only descendant of Od.”

Finn followed her glance. “Are you saying… your daughter…?”

She nodded, but Finn’s brow just furrowed more. “I don’t see how this can be.”

“What do you mean?” Eyvel asked. “She has this mark on her back, clear as day— she said she’s always had it, in fact.”

Finn stared at the girl. With her dark hair and eyes, there was little doubt that Mareeta was of Isaachian descent. And it was true that she was pretty light on her feet compared to all the other kids, just like he remembered Shannan to be. But that alone wasn’t enough to believe that… “Another princess of Isaach exists?”

“You think she's related to that prince you met?”

“She has to be.” Finn insisted. “But I’ve never heard of any Isaachian princess by that name.” Or any other name, besides Larcei, Finn reflected. Ayra’s daughter was around the same age, but he was confident that this was not the same girl.

He didn't share it with Eyvel, since he wasn't quite sure, but there also wasn’t supposed to be more than one person with Major Holy Blood in each generation— At least, as long as you weren't crossing bloodlines in a way they shouldn't be. So safe to say, there was something very amiss here.

“Is it possible for us to go to Isaach?” Eyvel asked. “Mareeta and I, I mean.”

He shook his head. “Like most of Jugdral, it’s under the Empire’s thumb, and survivors of the royal family are scattered. You won’t gain anything by going— only putting yourself and your daughter in danger.”

Eyvel gave a disappointed nod, but the truth was that the conversation was quite fruitful— more useful than anything she had uncovered in the last six years, for sure. Now the only hard part would be explaining this to Mareeta…

“A princess?” She asked in disbelief, when Eyvel explained Finn’s conclusions to her. “Like Nanna?”

“Maybe.” Eyvel reminded her. Finn seemed pretty sure that there were no alternative explanations, but Eyvel didn't quite agree with that. “It could be something like that.”

Mareeta frowned, deep in thought. Eyvel thought the mention of Isaach would stir some memory, but she just shook her head. "I don't remember. I don't know."

"Well, we could go." She suggested, deciding to ignore Finn's advice. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for her daughter. "Maybe we'll be able to find out something about your father—"

"No!" Mareeta shook her head earnestly, startling Eyvel with the outburst. "I don't want to go."

"You don't? But your father—"

"I don’t care." Mareeta stubbornly insisted. "I don't want to find him— I want to stay here with you."

Eyvel considered calling out her daughter on such a bold-faced lie, but she also hated to admit how vindicated she felt at that moment.

I want to stay here with you.

She knew those words couldn't be entirely true, when that night Mareeta woke up violently sobbing from yet another nightmare. And as usual, her involuntary response was to ask for her father.

Eyvel really tried not to take it to heart, and mostly she didn't, but it was a firm reminder that the trauma from her childhood was not quite gone.

I don't understand why you won't admit your true feelings.

But Eyvel bit back those words, continuing to console her daughter. She tried waiting a while before asking again, and again, waiting months in between sometimes, but Mareeta remained insistent in her refusal, until Eyvel eventually gave up.

773

The guard had caught them in the middle of yet another bickering session.

Fee was in the middle of telling him that he’d never make a good sage, or something to that effect— Ced had already started tuning her out when one of the soldiers came up to them.

“Prince… Ced…” He wheezed, clearly short of breath.

“What is it?” Fee snapped before Ced could give his own reply.

The guard looked up at the pair of siblings, still breathing heavily. “The Queen…"

"Mother?" She asked, her voice softening slightly. "What happened? Is she okay?"

"She fainted in her study. We thought… you two would want to know."

Ced traded an alarmed glance with his sister, striking a temporary truce as they rushed towards their mother's room with an icy wind blowing behind them.

Once they got there though, they found Erinys sitting cheerfully in her bed, chatting with a healer. "Oh, Ced, Fee!" She smiled, as if nothing was wrong. "What brings you two here?"

"Mother!" Fee wailed, throwing herself into Erinys's arms immediately. "Are you okay!?"

"Oh, I'm fine, love." She reassured Fee, patting her on the back, but she was looking at Ced. "No need to be so worried."

He frowned. How could she be so relaxed about this? If it was a strong front, then it was incredibly convincing— His mother looked downright carefree as she consoled Fee.

It probably helped, Ced thought, that she didn't show any visible signs of illness. It made it easier to pretend everything was totally, perfectly, fine.

He visited later, without his sister. His mother didn't seem surprised to see him, beckoning him closer with that same reassuring smile. Ced perched on the edge of the bed, but Erinys wrapped her arms around him, bringing him closer.

"I see so little of you these days!" She complained playfully, ruffling his hair.

"I've been studying hard." Ced told her. There were almost no skilled mages in Tófa, and the few that were there were too busy with the rebellion to tutor a kid, even if that kid was the prince. "I finally mastered the Grafcalibur spell."

"Amazing!" Erinys smiled broadly. "You're so talented, Ced."

He decided to test his luck. “So you'll let me use Forseti, then?”

“Keep dreaming.” Erinys tapped him on the nose. “You don't need that kind of power right now.”

Though it was disappointing, he pretty much expected that answer. "How are you feeling now, Mother? Did the healers find anything out?"

Her eyes darkened slightly, giving the answer away. "I feel perfectly fine." Erinys reassured him. "The healers didn't find anything amiss either."

That wasn't what Ced wanted to hear. He was hoping the healers here could figure out the reason behind her illness, but they had been coming up empty-handed ever since Erinys had started falling ill. "We need better healers, then." He insisted, but she just laughed. It wasn't a joke to him, though. Their healers were far from skilled— most of them were still in training, and Erinys herself was probably the best staff user among them despite being primarily trained in combat.

"Don't worry about that." She told him. "Just focus on your studies. I'm sure you'll become a great sage to rival your father— or even the Crusader."

"Mother…" Ced sighed. That kind of confidence was unwarranted. He knew he could never reach the height of his father— the most powerful sage in recent history— let alone his namesake. "I don't understand how you can be so sure."

"It's simple." She giggled. "Every parent believes in their child's potential."

He scowled again. If every parent cared about their child, then surely… “When do you think Father will come back?”

Ced knew it wasn’t a fair question. He knew that his mother was just as clueless as the rest of them when it came to King Lewyn’s whereabouts, and all she could do was tirelessly repeat that he was alive, out there somewhere.

“I don’t know.” Erinys admitted, just as he knew she would. “Hopefully, soon.”

“Do you know what they say, Mother?” Ced was so offended when he first heard it that he inadvertently caused a tornado right where he was standing, but since then he had become desensitized. “They say he's dead. Everyone thinks that. How come you still think he's alive?”

“Oh, Ced.” She didn't seem bothered at all, just ruffling his hair. “It's simple. To love someone is to have faith in them.”

He frowned, unconvinced.

“Your father told me he would come back, and so I believe that he will.”

“Is that really all it takes?” He asked, more to himself. Ced's eyes caught on the scarf Erinys always wore— Lewyn’s scarf. He had come, abruptly, to give his wife Forseti and a scarf, and left right away. “Father wouldn’t know, would he?” He asked. “That you’ve been ill?”

“I don’t see how he could.” She said with a rueful smile. “But even if it reached Lewyn somehow, I don’t expect it would change anything.”

“What!?” Ced was floored. “You’re saying… he still wouldn’t come back, even for you!?”

She shook her head. “Lewyn has reasons for everything that he does, even if I don’t always understand them. Whatever is keeping him away from Silesse is probably important—”

“I hate him.” He didn’t really mean to say the words out loud, but he realized his mistake when his mother’s eyes widened. But he didn’t find himself wanting to take the words back. “He’s a horrible father, and a horrible king, and—”

“Enough, Ced.” Erinys cut him off sharply, but it was clear she didn’t have anything to refute his words with. “I know Lewyn loves you.”

He was sure his mother meant it. She told him many stories of how Lewyn doted on him, played with him, bought him toys and presents. But that meant nothing to him in their present situation.

After he left Erinys’s room, he went straight to the barracks. Maybe his mother had the wrong idea. Even if his father didn’t care about him or Fee, he at least had to care about his wife. He had to, if he loved Erinys even half as much as she loved him.

“Ced? What can I do for you?”

“Listen, Misha,” Ced pleaded. “I need you to do me a favor— and you can’t let Mother find out about this…”

“Wake up, Mareeta!”

She bolted upright, blinking wildly as she took in her surroundings— her shared room with Eyvel, who was the one shaking her awake. Her blankets, drenched in sweat and entirely suffocating. Mareeta shoved them off, still breathing heavily.

“Sorry…” She muttered, burying her head in her hands, the nightmare still fresh in her mind. The scars on her back burned too, as if she was actually reliving that day from so long ago. Doubtless she had woken up Eyvel with her screaming again, but her mother was just as patient as the day they had met.

“Don’t apologize.” Eyvel said, hugging her tightly. She patted her hair too, soothingly, and carefully avoided her back. Mareeta returned the hug, but these nightmares always put her in a foul mood. “I’ll make you some tea.”

She was so tired of this.

She didn’t want to have nightmares anymore. She wanted to be able to share a room with Nanna, and to not wake anyone up in the middle of the night with her screaming. But giving up this memory, moving on from it… It meant that she would be putting her only memory of her father behind, too.

Sometimes, Mareeta felt like she should just forget him. Her father hadn’t been part of her life for over ten years now— how long would she keep disrespecting Eyvel by clinging to his memory? He didn’t find her again after the slavers took her, maybe he didn’t even try.

But no matter what, she couldn’t bring herself to actually stop caring, which was probably the most frustrating part of all.

Eyvel never held it against her, though.

“He's your father. Of course you miss him.”

“I don't even remember him.” Mareeta would stubbornly protest. But that was the problem. She wanted to remember him more, but the only memory left was of that day.

“Are you okay?” Nanna asked, poking her head into the room. “Eyvel said you had trouble sleeping again?”

“I’m fine.” Mareeta lied. Nanna knew about the scars and everything, but making a big deal out of these things always just made her feel worse.

Eyvel had offered so many times to take her to Isaach, her apparent birthplace, but the idea of it made her sick to her stomach. Finn had claimed that she was descended from the royal family, but she was certain that it couldn't really be true. But the real thing holding her back was just fear— the fear of upending her current life, which was pleasant for the most part. The fear of having to travel through places controlled by the Empire.

The fear of finding her father, and realizing he didn't want anything to do with her after all.

So as far as she was concerned, Fiana was her home and Eyvel was her mother, and she didn't want anything to ever change that.

775

“Prince Ced!”

His heart hammered when he heard Misha calling for him. It was a typical reaction, but he tried to stomp down his anxiety, telling himself that just like all the times before, there would be no clue about Lewyn’s whereabouts. “Let me guess— no news?”

Misha shook her head. “Actually, we may have found something—” Ced jumped to his feet, knocking over the tower of tomes on the desk with a loud crash. He sheepishly picked them up as Misha resumed the report. “One of the knights reported that he was in Thracia, near Munster…”

“And what’s the catch?” Ced asked, noting Misha’s hesitance.

“There’s no catch, exactly,” she corrected. “But it’s just another rumor. Just about a man using some strange wind magic. There's no guarantee it was actually your father.”

Ced sighed. This wasn’t the first false alarm they had gotten since he asked Misha to send some of the knights to search, or at least keep an eye out, for his father. Every time there was a lead, it was so weak that Misha recommended that he just ignore it, for some reason or another. He finally gave her a reluctant nod, but just as she turned to leave, the door flew open.

“Ced!?” A desperate looking Fee stood in the doorway. She spared one confused glance at Misha before turning back to her brother. “Ced, you have to come, it’s Mother—”

He didn’t have to hear anything else. “We’ll talk later.” He quickly said to Misha before following Fee towards their mother’s room. “Fee, what happened?”

“It happened again.” She said, her voice quivering.

Ced held her hand and quickened his step, pulling her along. When they got to her room, they found several healers inside, surrounding her sleeping form. He chose to wait by the door, but Fee rushed closer, sitting on the empty side of the bed.

"Don't cry, Fee." He said, hearing the sound of sniffles. "You know Mother doesn't like that."

Fee only started crying more in response, and as if she had heard, Erinys's eyes fluttered open.

"Fee…?" She sat up with great effort as Fee scrambled to help her. "Why are you crying, love?"

She didn't have a chance to answer, as the healer got their mother’s attention, but Ced joined his sister by the side of the bed so he could listen in. Just as he had come to expect, the healers had no clue what had caused the illness, or how to cure it, even after all these years. As soon as they left, Fee threw her arms around Erinys. Ced winced, seeing his mother sway from the sudden movement, but she still circled her arms around Fee and rubbed her back.

"I'm alright, dear. You don't have to worry." She glanced at Ced, who remained expressionless.

"You should rest more, Mother. Recover your strength." He chastised. "Stop working in the supply room all the time."

"Yeah!" Fee piped up. "You're the queen, you shouldn't—"

"A queen should be an example for her people." Erinys gently corrected. "And in a time like this, we all need to do our part."

His mother was really as stubborn as they came, Ced reflected later that day. She insisted that she was fine, despite the regular fainting spells and bouts of fatigue. But unlike before, it wasn’t easy to pretend that there was nothing wrong. The weakness showed in her sunken face, her shaky hands and trembling legs.

There had to be something he could do. He couldn’t bear watching his mother’s health fade away like this, all while being told there was no cure. Ced was certain that wasn’t true— there had to be a cure, because the alternative was too painful to accept.

They just needed better remedies, better medicines, and… better healers.

Ced waited until he knew Fee was busy to check on his mother. As usual, she had been banned from getting up for the rest of the day, so she was looking over paperwork while sitting up in her bed.

“Here, Mother.” He handed her a cup of tea. “I hope you’re feeling better.”

She smiled. “I feel much better already. But,” she set the mug down on her table. “I can tell you have something important on your mind.”

He fidgeted. Was it really that obvious? His mother giggled, and only just then he realized the breeze in the room had picked up slightly. “I’m still not that good at controlling the wind.” Ced admitted.

“Actually, you’re doing very well.” Erinys corrected. “I’m just used to these tricks by now.”

He stared. “Are you saying… Father was like this too?”

“Mhmm.” She smiled, taking a sip of tea. “You two are so alike.”

“We’re not!” Ced was affronted. “I wouldn’t—” He caught himself before he said too much, because there was something more important to discuss. “Actually, it’s about Father.”

“I don’t know when—”

“I know that he’s not coming back.” Ced cut her off. “I just wanted to know… you said he’s a powerful sage, right?” Erinys nodded. “Do you think he could heal you?”

His mother smiled sadly. “You're a clever boy. You probably know by now that there's no cure.”

“There's no cure here. None of our healers can even understand your disease. But maybe Father would know something, especially with how much time he’s spent outside of Silesse.”

Erinys faltered. “Ced, this isn’t something you should be worrying about.”

“How could I not worry!?” He demanded. “You’ve been sick for years, nothing is working, and I…” I don’t want to lose you, Mother.

She just smiled again. He didn't understand how she could. “I understand your feelings. But the thing I want most, if you’ll grant it, is for you to stay here with me.”

Ced hesitated. It was hard— whenever his mother smiled like that, promised that it would be fine, he always lost his resolve and chose to believe her words. “...Alright. I understand.”

He packed some food, clothes, and his tomes, as well as plenty of pairs of gloves. He also took the Ced scroll his mother had given him a while back, just in case. And then, there was just one thing left to get.

Ced waited until the next day when his mother went to work in the supply room, which he knew she would do despite his protests. Inside her room, her bedside table had the mug from yesterday, a book, and some paperwork. For as long as he could remember, Erinys always left one side of her bed empty. Sometimes he or Fee would come sleep in the empty space, but they always knew who she was actually saving it for. And on the table next to that empty side of the bed was the thing Ced was here to claim.

As soon as he touched the Tome of Forseti, he knew this was the right choice.

“Sorry, Mother.” He said, looking back at Tófa Castle from a safe distance. He doubted that anyone had discovered his absence yet, and by the time they did, he would already be well on his way to Munster. “This is all for your sake.”

Chapter Text

You don't need that kind of power.

That's what his mother told him whenever Ced asked to use Forseti. He didn't really understand why she didn’t let him— he had mastered every wind spell except for Tornado, but even that one he could use pretty consistently.

But quickly he realized that a Holy Weapon was a whole different arena. Once he had put a few days of distance between him and Tófa, he finally dared to open the tome, and was immediately assaulted with a wind so strong that it stripped all the leaves from the surrounding trees. Ced slammed the tome shut, hoping there was no one nearby to see such an unnatural display of magic.

It became abundantly clear that his typical methods of studying and practicing spells wouldn't help him here, but still he persisted, practicing with the tome whenever he found himself in a remote enough location. And with all the other spells at his disposal, he managed to make it to Munster without incident.

Ced never liked Tófa, but he liked Munster even less. It was an eerie, quiet city— No one kids playing in the streets, people shopping in the market or running their errands— just Friege’s soldiers, wherever he looked. The worst part was that it would clearly be a struggle to get information, if the people here were as cagey as they seemed. Try as he might, Ced had no better idea than to just sit and wait for a lead to show up.

It took an odd few days of hanging on rooftops, trying to avoid being spotted by the patrolling guards, that he finally saw something. A young girl ran full-speed into the alley he was watching, several soldiers closing in on her. She was too young to bear any kind of clues, but still, he didn’t think the Freige soldiers could be the ones in the right, so he jumped off the rooftop, landing between the girl and the soldiers.

She gasped as the guards pointed their lances at him, but sharp blades made of wind pushed them back, making them trip over each other. “Quick, this way!” She yelled, grabbing Ced’s cloak and tugging him forward. He shot a few more bursts towards the guards to prevent them from catching up as he let the girl pull him through the alleyways. She had a sword, he now noticed, as well as several knives— Probably not as helpless as he thought she was.

“We’ll be safe here…” She panted, ducking into an abandoned building, and then through a trapdoor hidden in the mess of the floor.

“You’re letting me into your hideout?” He chuckled. “Even though we just met?”

“The other members and I have been seeing you wandering around for the past few days. You’re clearly a foreigner.”

“Members of…?"

"The rebellion, obviously!" The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm Lara, by the way. I didn't need your help back there, but… thanks, I suppose."

"No problem." He laughed. The girl reminded him of Fee, in a way. And she had brought him somewhere where he finally might find some clues.

"In exchange, I'll give you a piece of advice." Lara said. "Leave this city while you can."

"I can't." Ced shook his head. "No matter how dangerous it is, there's someone I must find."

"It's your grave." Lara shrugged. "I'll let you talk to Machyua, our leader. By the way, what's your name?"

"Ced." He instinctively said, biting his tongue only after the word was already out of his mouth, but Lara didn't give much of a reaction. It made sense, actually, that she wouldn't know— why would a bunch of Munster rebels know the name of Silesse's dethroned prince?

"Weird name." Was all she said. "But if you're intent on staying, then… welcome to the Magi, Ced."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine!" Nanna made quite the show of standing up from her bed, but there was no hiding the circles under her eyes.

"You don't have to hide it from me..." In the beginning, when Leif first started going on Freeblades missions, Mareeta remembered how Nanna would literally worry herself sick, on the verge of tears whenever she had to say goodbye to him. She was able to remain composed now, but Mareeta could tell that she was still just as anxious on the inside as she had been back then.

They had both spent the past couple of days griping about not being allowed on the mission— Nanna because she was usually not allowed to team with Leif, and someone had to watch the house anyway. Mareeta was supposed to go, but another panic attack had rattled her the morning that they were supposed to leave. She insisted to her mother that she was perfectly fine, but Eyvel forced her to stay in Fiana with Nanna.

At the very least, Mareeta had hoped that Finn wouldn't go. She liked to probe him with questions about Isaach and the old war, waiting until Eyvel wasn't around so that her mother wouldn't think that she was too curious about her birthplace. Honestly, the only thing she really cared about was figuring out the Astra technique Finn had told her about, but he had no advice for how to actually execute it.

"I can't wait for everyone to get back." Nanna sighed as they worked through the daily chores together. "I hate how quiet it is."

"Just a few more hours." Mareeta tried to keep the mood light, but Nanna wasn't wrong— it was borderline depressing when so many people were absent from the already tiny village.

"Yes, I know…" Nanna tried desperately to wipe the pout off her face. "I know that it's pathetic for me to be acting this way. We're fifteen. Not kids anymore."

"Numbers don't make you more grown up, you know?" She said, trying to console not only Nanna, but herself. Mareeta felt even worse about having not outgrown her own struggles, especially since she was already a year older than Nanna and Leif. "I'm going to go take the food to Patricia. I'll be right back."

As was routine, Mareeta packed food for Halvan’s little sister, but when she opened the door of their house to deliver it, she found herself face-to-face with several soldiers. The lunchbox clattered to the ground. “Na—”

Before she could voice the warning, the soldiers grabbed her by the arms, pulling her out of the way while more stormed the house. “You must be the chief’s daughter. What’s your name, young lady?” The man who spoke was an imposing one, clearly the commander of the group, but Mareeta just scowled. She would never give information to an Empire soldier, regardless if it was about her or anyone else in Fiana. But her response just seemed to amuse him more than anything. “Hah! A fighting spirit to match a pretty face.”

“Lord Raydrik, there’s no one else here.” One of the soldiers reported as the group of them dragged Nanna out of the house.

“Search the village from top to bottom.” He ordered the other soldiers. “And you…” He looked over Nanna carefully. “This must be Nordion’s princess. You certainly don't lack for grace, despite living in this backwater hovel.” Nanna paled, giving Mareeta a panicked glance. It was certainly a bad situation— This Raydrik man fully knew who they were, and…

“I’ll be departing for Munster.” He told the soldiers. “Find the prince, and bring him to me— or let him come running himself. I’m sure he’ll do as much for these pretty young women.”

The operation was about to start. Ced checked his equipment one last time, and once he was satisfied that everything was in place, tucked the Ced scroll into the pouch on his belt.

“Sir Ced?” Asbel asked, leaning forward with interest. “Why do you always keep that scroll with you? Is it a spell?”

“It's just… a good luck charm.” He vaguely answered. The truth was, he didn't want to forget his real reason for leaving Silesse. He was still here in Munster because there were people in need, but eventually, he had to continue the search for his father.

"Are you two going to be able to handle it yourselves?" Lara asked, worried, but Machyua elbowed her.

"Ced can definitely handle himself— you should be more worried about yourself!"

He just smiled ruefully. Lara should be more worried for herself— they all should be, since it was a fairly risky mission. But he gave Machyua’s group the easier of the two tasks, leaving him and Asbel to manage the more difficult fighting.

“Are you sure we’re not too late?” Asbel asked worriedly. “It’s been almost a week since the kids were brought here…”

“There’s still time.” Ced reassured him. “Raydrik will want to wait until he’s gathered as many children as possible before sending the convoy to Belhalla. And besides, there’s another reason… I heard he’s captured the Prince of Leonster as well.”

He expected that Asbel would be awed by the mention of a prince, but he didn’t quite anticipate the reaction. “Seriously!? Prince Leif— I’ll finally get to see him again!?”

“You know him?”

Asbel began eagerly recounting his history with Prince Leif, but the story was cut short when several guards appeared. They worked in tandem to defeat the guards and free the children from their cells, everything going according to plan. The other Magi appeared with Leif, when an unexpected but familiar voice rang out.

"Prince Ced!?"

Asbel and the other Magi traded glances, first confused ones and then alarmed ones. The source of the voice quickly became clear— he recognized Karin, one of the junior pegasus knights and Fee’s best friend, pushing her way to the front of the group. "Karin…" She was just in training, so he couldn't make sense of her being here. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to search for you, Your Highness!" She said earnestly, quickly throwing herself into a clumsy curtsy.

"Please keep your voice down." He pleaded, feeling the daggers Asbel and the others were staring into his back. "Why were you looking for me? Did Fee send you? Or was it Mother?"

Karin's expression paled. "Oh… I suppose… I came to tell you something important.”

“A message, then? What is it?”

She flinched. “Well, the truth is… Her Majesty… Queen Erinys…she passed away."

Karin's expression wavered in his vision— he quickly took a step back, trying not to let the despair show on his face to everyone who was watching. “No… that can't… be…”

“It’s been two months.” Karin’s voice trembled, as if she would start crying at any moment. “Prince Ced, return to Silesse with me—please. Lady Fee is waiting for you.”

Fee. They always had a bit of a tense relationship, but Ced was certain she absolutely despised him for sneaking away. Did she really want him to come back, or was it just Karin’s assumption? “How is she?” He finally asked. “Is she alright?”

“Lady Fee acts strong, but when it’s just us, she cries until there are no more tears left in her eyes.” Karin recounted sadly, but her expression suddenly shifted. “You’re cruel to her, Prince Ced, running away like this. Some heir you are, walking out on your mother, sister, and country! You’re a disgrace to the Crusader’s legacy!” Her eyes widened at the last words, realizing what she had said. “Erm, Your Highness, I didn’t mean that—”

“It’s fine.” He lied. Karin’s words cut deeper than he would ever admit, and although he wasn’t in any mood to explain himself, he wanted to correct her misconception. “I was trying to find Father, so that he could cure Mother’s illness. But it seems I was too late.”

“Oh, Prince Ced… I’m so sorry…”

He barely heard whatever Karin said next. All he could think of was how it was just too late.

Too late.

If only he had resolved to leave sooner. If only he had followed any of Misha's past leads. If only he didn't spend all those months in Munster even once it was clear there was nothing here.

"Go with Prince Leif." He finally said. "All of you."

Machyua and Lara immediately protested, but he brushed them off. He could handle himself— and even if he couldn't, it didn't matter anymore.

"Take this Karin. As proof that we spoke." He rummaged in his bag and handed her the priceless Ced Scroll. “Go back to Silesse, or stay with Prince Leif— whatever you want.”

Happy Birthday, Ced. This is for you!

What is it, Mother?

A little family heirloom. Your father gifted it to me, and now it's your turn to give it to someone special.

Karin wasn’t exactly someone special, but the scroll suddenly felt as heavy as a lead weight, and he needed to get rid of it, at least temporarily. "And you, Asbel… you should take this with you." He handed his student the well-worn Grafcalibur tome. It was one of his favorite spells, but there was honestly little use now that he had Forseti's power at his disposal. He had already been letting Asbel practice with it, and although he hadn't completely mastered it yet, it was only a matter of time.

"Prince Ced…" Karin asked hesitantly. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm staying in Munster." After all, there was no longer any point in searching for Lewyn, and the people in Munster still needed his help— more so now that he was sending away so many talented members of the Magi. “I won’t leave without overthrowing Raydrik.”

“Can you really manage that?” Leif asked. “He’s incredibly strong—”

“I will.” Ced promised. “We’ll meet again, I promise.” Although he was trying to keep his face expressionless, he knew it was only a matter of time before the wind gave away his feelings. "Now, you need to hurry and leave this place. I’ll cover your escape—”

"Wait! There's still three people left to find!"

He scowled. It was wrong to be impatient, he knew, but Ced didn't know how much longer he could keep up this composed act. And three people? He only knew of two prisoners that came along with Leif. “Remember, Sir Ced?” Asbel piped up. “Those guards were talking about the prisoners in the arena?”

“The arena is on the first floor.” Ced recounted. "Regardless, there are no more prisoners beneath the castle, so you need to take your leave.”

Leif's reply was drowned out by the clanking of armor and weapons coming from the stairwell. Soldiers began pouring out, and his eyes widened.

"Just go." Ced said again through gritted teeth, opening Forseti. An intricate rune began appearing in the air in front of him, and just as the first soldier was about to reach them, a violent gust sent all of them flying backwards, slamming into the wall.

Leif, Karin, and the Magi were gone when he looked back.

It's not her. It's not her.

Even as he kept repeating those words in his head, he stayed glued to the little window looking out into the arena.

"Mareeta, please!" The woman, one of Raydrik's new prisoners, pleaded. "It's me, your mother! Please wake up!"

Mareeta— but it couldn't be his Mareeta, of course, because why would she be in a place like this? She kept attacking the woman with movements that even from here, looked jerky and unnatural, until Raydrik's superior, a creepy Loptrian bishop, came and warped her away.

And he turned that woman to stone.

He couldn’t bear to not make sure, so as soon as the coast was clear, he ducked out of the arena, heading down to the dungeons. He heard from quite a distance, a girl’s anguished screaming, and followed the sound. As soon as Galzus laid eyes on her, it was clear that it really was her.

Even as she screamed and attacked the bars with the flaming sword still in her possession, even with those abnormally glowing red eyes, he didn’t have any doubt. The resemblance to her mother was uncanny.

Her real mother, obviously. Not that strange woman in the arena who was now a stone statue.

“Open the cell.” He snapped, glaring at the guards. They hesitated, glancing at each other.

“She’ll kill us!” One of them protested. “And if not her, then the Baron—”

His sword was buried in the guard’s side before they could even blink, and the other one soon to follow. There were no keys easily visible on the bodies, so he didn’t waste time looking, instead opting to smash the cell gate.

As expected, Mareeta immediately tried to take a swing at him, but it was just mindless flailing. It wasn’t hard for him to trap her arms, and once he got a closer look, he could see how her body was shaking and her face was stained with tears.

“Sorry.” He whispered, before hitting her on the back of the head— just enough to knock her out, and nothing more. Galzus tried to pry the sword out of her grip, but her hand was clenched so tightly, there was no chance he could do it without hurting her. And even if he got the sword out of her grasp, there was no way she could be left in the castle…

He shifted his grip on Mareeta to free one of his hands, reaching into a pocket hidden on the inside of his vest, retrieving a scrap of paper with a rune on it.. Galzus had firmly resolved to never use the favor the bishop had granted him, but…

“I was starting to think you’d never call on me.” Saias’s voice rang out as his body materialized in front of him, at the center of a warp circle. The two halves of the rune floated to the ground, still glowing faintly.

“I don’t want to weigh you down, but…” He unceremoniously dropped Mareeta’s limp body, sword and all, into the bishop’s arms, who almost buckled under the sudden weight. “She’s cursed. Heal her if you can.”

Saias glared at him with narrowed eyes even as he adjusted his grip to hold Mareeta more comfortably. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re employed by Baron Raydrik.” He pointed out, sparing a glance at the dead guards and mangled cell door. “So why are you protecting this girl?"

"None of your concern, Bishop."

"Who is she to you?”

Galzus didn’t let his expression change. “Nobody.” He said insistently, but Saias clearly remained unconvinced.

“It is quite a burden for a lone traveler,” he drawled. “But I’ll manage."

"Just…" Galzus hesitated. "Make sure she doesn't remember this."

But the look on Saias's face made it clear he would not necessarily be complying with the request. "Farewell, Galzus.” Just as suddenly as he had appeared, Saias vanished, taking her with him.

Her. His Mareeta. “I never thought I’d see you again.” He thought aloud— thankfully with no one around to hear. “For your sake and mine— I hope you don’t remember this.”

There was no more time to waste on introspection though— Raydrik would notice his absence soon, if he hadn’t already.

"Where have you been!?" The baron spat once he finally reached the gates of the castle. "The prince is getting away!"

Galzus squinted at the horizon— he couldn't see the group from here, which meant they were probably already too far for him to catch. Not that he really cared either way.

"I'll look." He drawled. "But I'm not stepping out of the city."

As he suspected, by the time he got to the edge of the city, the prince and the other prisoners had long since escaped. There were soldiers mobilizing to chase them, but as Raydrik's personal guard, Galzus just wandered back to the castle… to find quite the commotion.

"There's a lone rebel in the castle!" One of the guards was pleading with Raydrik. "He's too stro—"

"It's just one kid." Raydrik spat, sheathing his sword. "Go kill him, Galzus."

He raised an eyebrow. If it really was just some kid, as Raydrik said, the baron would've handled it himself instead of staying in his place outside the castle.

He's scared.

It wasn't altogether surprising— Raydrik's reputation made it clear he preferred stabbing people in the back rather than actually fighting them head on. But he wasn't afraid of some rebel kid, so Galzus made his way into the depths of the castle, mind still swirling with thoughts of his daughter's sudden and strange reappearance.

"And you…" Raydrik glared at the guard who had just come out of the castle. "Did you find the girl?"

"Her cell was destroyed, and the guards nearby are all dead." The soldier shook his head. "Someone assisted her escape."

Raydrik glared in the direction Galzus had gone. "Don't think I don't know what you've done…"

Ced stumbled through the halls of Munster castle in a daze. Now that no one was around, the sorrow was overwhelming, dulling his senses to his surroundings. But he kept Forseti clutched against his chest, and the winds responded, swirling around him and knocking away anyone who even tried to get close. By now, Leif and the others had to have made it out, so he also had to escape before Raydrik somehow trapped him down here.

He passed by an underground cell that he didn't remember seeing before— or at least, he hadn't seen it like this. The door was completely mangled, and the guards beside it were long dead. Ced stood there for a moment, trying to recall the plans they had stolen which outlined the placement of prisoners. This cell definitely shouldn't have been occupied—

The sound of heavy steps jolted him back to reality. He summoned the wind again, which had died down when he was distracted with the cell. But the figure that was approaching seemed unbothered by the icy gusts.

Are you sure about raiding the castle, Ced?

We have to save the children. There's no choice.

I know… but Raydrik has a very powerful mercenary guarding the castle. A man named Galzus…

He had never seen the man Machyua had tried to warn him about, but as soon as Ced saw that veritable giant that was approaching him, he knew this had to be the one.

"You're Galzus, aren't you…?" He asked dully. He probably should be more scared, considering what the Magi had told him, but it was hard to muster any strong feelings right now.

"Right." Galzus drew his sword. "I'll make this quick."

Ced promised he would free Munster, so that meant he couldn't die here. Maybe Galzus was too strong for the wind to knock him off balance, and too difficult to defeat, but all he needed to do was escape—

He took a startled step back. Even with the wind still fiercely blowing against him, Galzus had halved the distance between them in a blink of an eye. He didn't even have Grafcalibur’s blades anymore, having given the spellbook to Asbel. Forseti theoretically could replicate the same effect, but it wasn't really the time to be figuring that out. All he could do was increase the wind's strength to try and slow him down— and it was working. He could see how Galzus was gritting his teeth as he reached behind him…

Ced wasn't prepared for the tomahawk that came flying straight at him, impossibly fast for being thrown against the wind. He dodged, just in time to avoid getting the axe buried in his chest, but it cut his shoulder deeply as it passed.

He pressed his free hand over the wound, trying in vain to block the blood from gushing out. Galzus was closing in too, quickly— Ced gritted his teeth and abruptly reversed the wind’s direction, blowing it towards him now instead of away. Caught off guard by the sudden lack of resistance, Galzus stumbled forward, and Ced used the momentary distraction to dart around him. He couldn’t have the mercenary catching up though, so Ced grabbed a few of the small knives Lara had given him, letting the wind drive them towards Galzus. He heard a sharp intake of breath behind him, and he figured that to mean at least one of the knives had found it's mark. But Ced didn't turn back to look, running out of Munster Castle's depths as fast as the wind.

She woke up with a gasp. The scars on her back burned fiercely even as hazy memories made their way to the surface. Her mother's anguished voice, calling for her to wake up…

"Awake at last, I see."

Mareeta quickly turned towards the unfamiliar voice. It was a man sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, who she didn't recognize at all. She didn't recognize the bed she was laying in, or the room either. "Who are you? And where are we?"

"I'm sure you have many questions." The man nodded. Now that she looked closer, he was wearing a priest's robes, with a staff leaning besides his chair. "So let me explain what I can. I am Saias, a bishop of the Bragi Church. This house is in a small village on the western edge of Dacia Forest."

"Dacia…" Her eyes widened. "How did I get here from Munster!? And, my mother…"

"Tell me, how much do you remember of your stay in Munster?"

Mareeta buried her head in her hands. She remembered a little, but it wasn't enough to make sense of anything. It wasn't clear if telling this man was the right choice, but she didn't see any better option. "I tried to escape from Raydrik at Fort Kelves. He stayed there with…" It probably wasn't right to mention Nanna by name. "With my sister. The other guards took me to Munster castle, and kept me in a treasure vault.” She remembered being dimly surprised about being kept there instead of some kind of dungeon or cell. “And then…"

"Then what?" Saias prompted.

"Raydrik gave me a sword… he forced me to take it."

"And why did he have to force you?"

"It… felt evil. It had an overwhelming aura." She shivered, recounting the memory. "And then I don't really remember. I saw my sister, and my mother, they were begging me to wake up, but I…"

"But you kept swinging your sword at them."

Mareeta buried her face in the blanket, feeling tears welling up. "Why!? I didn't want to do it! It was that cursed sword!"

Saias stood up. "I'll give you a moment to collect yourself."

"Wait!" Mareeta lifted her head up, desperately trying to wipe away the tears. "Is… is my mother here too? Or the others from my village?"

He frowned. Saias didn't feel quite ready to break the poor girl's heart— not when she was already so anguished. "No. Your rescuer chose to save you alone."

Her eyes widened at the word. "...Rescuer? It wasn't you, then?"

"I'm afraid not." Saias shook his head. "To be clear, I had never met you until just two days ago, when you were placed in my care."

"Then who was the one who helped me?"

He hesitated. Galzus didn't want her to know, but… he didn’t owe that mercenary more than what he had already accomplished. "I'm afraid I can't tell you any more on that matter."

She frowned, but seemed to accept it. "Even if they aren't here… do you know if my family escaped?"

Somehow, he figured Mareeta wasn't going to let this go. After Galzus had rather rudely dropped his daughter into the picture, Saias had spent a little time researching Raydrik's recent activities in Thracia, knowing he would have to answer such questions when the girl woke up. "As far as I know, only one person from Fiana remains in Raydrik's castle."

"It has to be… Mother." She paled. "Mother would never escape with someone else left behind."

"There is an important detail you must know." Saias warned. "Your mother cannot escape or be rescued right now."

"Why not!?" Mareeta demanded. "I have to—"

"She was turned to stone."

Chapter Text

"What should I do now?"

She didn't remember much of what happened after Saias had told her what befell Eyvel— the world seemed to spin and suddenly her vision became dark. When Mareeta woke up, night had fallen and Saias was gone.

The next few days seemed to pass by painfully slow, but looking back, it felt like a blur. All she could think of was Mother, trapped in Munster in the form of a stone statue. The last memory they had together was her unwillingly swinging that sword at Eyvel, who refused to fight back…

She had to do something. Hence her question to Saias when he next came to visit.

"There has to be a way to undo the spell, right? And should I go back towards Munster? Or I could try to find L—" She bit her tongue right before the prince's name escaped. Even though Saias seemed mostly trustworthy to her, she was too used to secrecy when it came to Leif and Nanna.

But the bishop didn't even react. "I think you should stay here and rest for a while longer."

"Okay," Mareeta acquiesced without any complaint, because even after a few days to recover, she was still feeling the toll of captivity, and whatever that evil sword had done to her. "But after that?"

"There's no need to be in hurry—"

"A hurry!?" Mareeta was incredulous."It's my mother! If I can't…" If I can't save her, then what am I good for?

"It would defeat the purpose of this favor if I just let you get yourself killed."

"A favor…" She muttered, suddenly deep in thought again. "Who asked you to look after me again?"

"They asked not to be named." Saias dutifully replied, even though he found the secrecy maddening.

"Well, maybe they shouldn't have even bothered." She scowled.

She really didn't even suspect Galzus. Mareeta hadn't mentioned her father at all— well, except in her nightmares, according to the old woman.

"I was told that you've been having some troubling nightmares."

"That's just normal for me." Her voice was clearly bitter, though.

"I don't think I have to say that it shouldn't be normal."

"Any other thoughtful insights you'd like to share?" She snapped.

Saias ignored her. "I'll tell you what you need to know," Mareeta's eyes lit up when he said this, but her face fell when he finished his sentence. "On one condition."

"What is it?"

"You can't leave this village," Saias said with a shake of his head, "until I determine that you are ready."

"How long do you want me to stay here!?" She demanded, clearly horrified by the suggestion.

Saias just shrugged. "A week, maybe two? I suppose it depends on your recovery."

Mareeta seemed to consider protesting for a moment, but eventually she sank back into the bed, defeat written across her face. "I guess I don't have a choice."

"Very good. Now listen closely." Saias leaned forward. "Your mother's statue is inside Munster Castle, and so is the key to reversing it." She sat up a little straighter, determined to commit Saias's words to memory. "The Loptrians are hiding a special staff— Kia, the Staff of Undoing. It has the power to reverse the petrification."

Mareeta gave a determined nod, but seemed hesitant. "How… do you know?" She questioned. "All of this," she waved her hand in a wide gesture, "and even that I'm from Fiana. I never told you that." Her voice took on a hint of accusation by the end.

"I've spent time in Munster castle." He said, standing up to excuse himself before Mareeta could think of more incriminating questions. What he said wasn't a lie, anyway— just not the whole truth.

He never intended to stay with the Magi for this long. Ced only stuck around at first for the information— and while he didn't find what he was actually looking for, the reality of life in the Thracian peninsula shocked him.

At first, he had gone along with the Magi's way of doing things. Quick, discreet raids and ambushes, because that was all such that their small, ragtag force could manage. Or at least, that was all they could manage until Ced became part of the picture.

Machyua liked to say that Ced, single-handedly, was twice or three times stronger than the rest of the Magi combined, a statement which he thought was rather exaggerated. But it was true that his magic proved to be a great asset, as well as the training he was able to provide to Asbel and others. Because of this newfound strength, Ced was able to convince Machyua to take on more ambitious and brazen missions, and helped strengthen their position.

When she first tried to give over the leadership of the rebellion, he had refused. I'm going to leave soon. I still haven't found the person I'm looking for, he would tell her. But over a matter of months, she convinced him to accept the position.

You're already our leader in everything but name. You can leave whenever you want, but until then…

Sometimes he still wished that he hadn't accepted. And there were days where he sorely regretted sending away her, Asbel and the others— not because he needed their strength in battle, but because he missed the people who, in spite of his guarded nature, had become his friends.

It was only a few days after the assault on the castle that he learned just how much an impact he had apparently made by joining the Magi. He and Hawk went for a patrol in the morning, not really expecting any activity since Raydrik was still reeling from the attack on the castle.

But strangely, they found fully uniformed soldiers being positioned along the main road of the city, backs straight and lances at the ready. Raydrik stood at the front step of the castle, barking orders.

“They must be expecting someone important.” Hawk guessed.

It didn't take long for the guest to arrive after that. They carefully watched from their vantage point high up on top of a building as an ornate carriage rolled into the city, stopping where the line of soldiers started to let a woman dismount.

She was beautiful in an intimidating sort of way, with long, silvery hair tied up on one side of her head and a long cape that hung off her absurdly large pauldrons. The whole city seemed to fall dead silent, the tense quiet only broken by the click of her heels against the stone.

“It's her,” Hawk whispered. “The Goddess of Thunder.”

“So that's what the famed Princess Ishtar looks like.” Ced had heard of her— there was almost no one in Northern Thracia who hadn't. He had even been told that if you stood close enough, you would be able to feel the electricity in the air around her, but he didn't want to test that particular theory right now.

Ishtar took her time making her way down the road, seemingly oblivious to the discomfort of the soldiers being forced to stand at attention— or more likely, she didn't care. She was followed by three other women dressed in the garb of war mages.

They saw Raydrik sweep his hand when she finally made it up to the front, presumably to welcome her to the city, but they couldn't overhear any of their words.

“Too bad.” Hawk said. “This seemed like it might be interesting.”

But Ced had the solution to that. He opened Forseti, commanding the wind to change directions and blow towards them— carrying Ishtar and Raydrik's words with it.

“—son I am here is to express my father's disappointment in you, for letting the Prince of Leonster escape.”

“Princess,” Raydrik pleaded. “It was a mistake. An oversight. We never thought the rebels would be daring enough to attack the castle—”

“But they did. And now he's gone, and the Nordion princess too.” Ishtar began examining her nails, seemingly bored. “How can we trust you with any important prisoners after this?”

“This won't happen again!” Raydrik promised. “The rebels have already been dealt with—”

“Oh really?” She asked softly. “You're telling me that the so-called ‘Hero on the Wind’ is dead?”

Hawk's elbow dug into his ribs. Ced just scoffed. He may have gotten badly wounded, but he was very much alive— though the fact that Princess Ishtar personally wanted him dead was a little unsettling.

“Yes.” Raydrik said.

Both Ced and Hawk jumped a little when a bolt of thunder came crashing down a few feet away from Raydrik and Ishtar. The noise was deafening enough at a distance, but Raydrik looked completely shell-shocked, to the point where Ced even caught himself almost feeling bad for him.

Ishtar was completely unfazed though. “Are you going to keep lying to me?”

“No!” Raydrik sputtered. “No, no, I only meant, he may as well be dead!”

“Right.” Obviously she wasn't buying that. “See to it that you take care of this little rebel problem.”

"I heard you've been practicing your swordplay."

"I've been swinging around some branches." Mareeta confirmed with a sigh. "No one will let me borrow a sword— I suppose that's your doing?"

Saias couldn't help but smile. "I couldn't have you breaking your promise."

Mareeta just made an irritated noise in response. "Have I recovered enough for your liking?" She was itching to go, to find Eyvel and repay her for saving her all those years ago, but Saias, not understanding any of this, just shook his head.

"I've been told your nightmares have worsened."

Mareeta glared in the direction of the closed door, but she wasn't surprised that her caretaker had told Saias about that. But of course her nightmares had gotten worse— along with the usual ones with her father and the slavers, now she was treated with visions of Eyvel and Nanna's horrified faces as she unwillingly swung her sword at them. And now she didn't even have anyone to comfort her after waking up, to reassure her that those visions weren't real. "I have nightmares all the time." She tried to sound dismissive. "It doesn't really matter—"

"I respect that you want to appear strong." Saias's voice was gentler now, even as he cut her off. "But if you don't confront what's really bothering you, you'll never grow."

She fidgeted, but Saias just looked at her expectantly. What was really bothering her… that was difficult, considering that there were so many things on her mind. Foremost was Eyvel's petrification, of course. Saias didn't seem to have any intention of letting her go yet, and without a weapon, Mareeta knew she wouldn't even make it past the forest. But had to rescue her mother, she had to prove that her decision to adopt her all those years wasn't a mistake. She had to be something more than just a burden to Eyvel.

Then there was Nanna's whereabouts. She did escape from the castle according to Saias, but what happened to her after that? Leif had to be with her, since they could barely stand to be seperated. And presumably Finn was with them, because wherever Leif went, Finn was there too. And she had no idea where they might be headed— definitely not back to Fiana, but no clue otherwise.

And maybe worst of all— The fact that she had been so weak, so easily controlled by that sword, and then made to raise her blade against her family.

"I wish I was strong." She finally admitted. "All these things keep happening to me and the people I care about… and I'm always powerless to stop them."

"You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened with the Shadow Sword." Saias reassured her. "It's a strong curse— few people would be able to resist it entirely."

"It's not just that…" It had been a long time since she talked about it— after all, there were only so many people in Fiana she could even tell— but Mareeta found herself explaining to Saias the story of how she had been separated from her father all those years ago, and eventually ended up in Eyvel's care.

"Do you wish that had never happened?"

"I don't know." It was a miserable question, one that she had been trying to figure out for years. Of course she wished she had never gone through that, but a life without Eyvel, where she never lived in Fiana… "I've been trying to decide the answer to that for a long time."

"You should stop." Saias's response caught her so off guard that she couldn't think of any response. "Leave the past where it is, and focus on your next steps instead."

"I-I know what to do next!" She insisted, still a little shocked by his bluntness. "I have to go to Munster and rescue Mother— if only you would let me—"

Saias shook his head. "You're not ready."

"I have some good news for you." Saias announced as he walked through the doorway. "You're free to go."

"What?" Not that Mareeta wanted to stay, but Saias's last visit made it clear that she would be here a while longer, and that was just a few days ago. "You changed your mind?"

"You've recovered fully from the possession. I think you'll be fine on your own. And besides…" Saias shook his head. "My work keeps me busy. I won't be able to come see you anymore."

"Oh." Though she had been itching to go, realizing that she wouldn't see Saias again— maybe ever— was a little sobering. "Thank you for everything." She finally said, but the words were hesitant. Though she found the bishop annoying at times, he had done a lot for her, and those words didn't seem to be enough to express her gratitude. "I don't know where I'd be without you—"

"Don't." Saias cut her off. "Regret is a poison."

Mareeta blinked. "I mean, it's true…" She mumbled, but Saias ignored it.

"I brought you something."

Mareeta straightened up, curiosity getting the better of her. But any excitement vanished as soon as she laid eyes on Saias's so-called gift. Because even without the aura, without the flames, there was no way she wouldn't recognize that sword.

"Why did you bring that here!?" She stumbled back, almost tripping over her own feet in her haste.

"You're not going to get very far without a weapon." He pointed out. "I removed the curse. It's just an ordinary sword now."

"I don't want it." She turned away. "I can use any sword— anything but that."

"I told you," Saias was insistent. "Regret is poisonous. You keep focusing on the past— your own, that of your parents, and now this blade."

"This sword is a different case." Mareeta tried to argue, but he brushed off her protests.

"On the contrary— it's the perfect example." Saias ran a finger along the blade. "Just as holy blades shine from their bearer's righteous deeds, no cursed blade will ever be more wicked than its wielder. In your hands, this sword that was once evil has the chance to create a new legacy."

He offered the sword to her again, and this time Mareeta hesitantly wrapped a hand around the hilt. As Saias promised, it had no reaction.

"Very good." He said approvingly. “Don't see this sword as a reminder of the past, but as a means to achieve a new future.”

"I understand." Mareeta tightened her grip on the sword. It was becoming clear that there really weren't any adverse effects, which made Saias's words easier to accept. "I'll do my best."

"You're a talented girl. You'll go far." Saias smiled. "If you have faith, I'm sure you'll be reunited with your mother soon."

The sun was setting when Saias left, so Mareeta rested the sword against the wall— the far wall, away from her bed, because it still made her a bit uneasy— while she wrapped up her meager belongings in preparation to leave the next morning.

She was studying a map of the area, trying to decide the best route, when her caretaker suddenly came in to blow out the lamp. "What's going on?"

The old woman quietly shushed her. "Bandits." She whispered. "If they think no one's home, maybe they'll leave us alone."

"Bandits, here?" She asked, not bothering to keep her voice down. Mareeta was not afraid of bandits. She never had been, always confident enough in her ability to deal with small threats. But that was before Raydrik and his evil sword had shattered all her confidence.

Somewhere outside, they heard a window shatter, and someone scream. "I'm going." Mareeta announced, grabbing the hilt of the Shadow Sword. "The village is in danger."

"A pretty girl like you, fighting bandits?" The woman looked horrified. "I don't think—"

"I'm the daughter of a swordmaster. I'm not afraid of some run of the mill bandits."

She took her things too— although she regretted not being able to say goodbye to any of the villagers, somehow Mareeta didn't feel like she would be coming back here.

He was already irritated. Galzus had still been unable to find the scroll— couldn't even remember when or where he had lost it. It didn't really matter, seeing as he was never planning on returning to Isaach, but…

“What are you doing here!?”

“That’s a rather rude greeting.” Saias casually stood up from the table with its lone chair that sat in the corner of the room— Galzus's quarters inside Munster Castle.

Galzus just glowered at the bishop. “You shouldn’t be here.” He didn’t think he would see Saias again— he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to remember that day at all.

“You’re so concerned about my presence. One would think that your daughter’s wellbeing would be the first thing on your mind.”

He gritted his teeth. “How did you…”

“Please.” Saias just rolled his eyes. “You suddenly decide to rescue an adolescent girl, with the same mark on her back which you’re infamous for. It took all of a few seconds to figure out the connection between you two.”

“You’d better have not told her anything.”

Saias just shrugged. “I never agreed to keep your secret.” He looked amused though, as Galzus’s hand fastened itself around the hilt of his sword. “But no, I didn’t tell her anything about you.”

He slowly let go of the sword. “Then what do you want from me?”

“I’m not here to convince you to tell her the truth, or to make things right.” He prefaced. “I only wanted to ask you a question.”

"Then ask it and leave already."

Saias frowned. "Why are there such parents who insist on hurting their children?"

Bishop Saias was the untouchable tactician of the Empire. No enemy and no strategy was too much for him— nothing was supposed to faze him, but somehow he looked genuinely troubled as he spoke those words.

“Why do there exist such parents who distance themselves, in spite of their children’s wishes?” He continued. “Why do they believe they know what’s best— and why do they always decide to abandon their children?”

Galzus glared. “You said this wasn’t about her.”

“It’s not only about her.” Saias corrected, wringing his hands. “But maybe you can answer my questions regardless.”

Galzus hesitated. It’s not like I wanted this. I didn’t ask for things to turn out this way. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

“As I thought.” Saias said with a bitter smile. “It’s children like us who are fools, because we keep wishing for acknowledgement that will never come.” Galzus drew his blade with a start when he realized there were flames licking Saias’s hands, but he barely seemed to notice. His gloves fell to the floor in burnt pieces, revealing that his hands underneath were unhurt. But more tellingly, a dark red crest decorated the back of one

“You don’t understand anything.” Galzus spat, even more irritated now. Even though the flames were gone now, he didn’t sheath his sword.

“Maybe I don’t. But I’ve gotten to know Mareeta well.” The mere mention of her name made his hand twitch. “She's a kind and talented young woman. She’s found herself a home, with a mother and two siblings, and she’s very dedicated to them.” Each word Saias spoke was like someone was driving a knife into his chest, but the bishop kept going. “I'm certain that she’ll become a renowned swordmaster in time. And most of all, I have no doubt… that she’s much better off without you.”

His sword swung helplessly through the empty air where Saias had been standing. The magic circle on the floor faded before his eyes, leaving no trace that he had ever been here.

Chapter Text

"I can't tell you how relieved I am." Nanna admitted, one hand pressed over her heart. "I've missed you so much, Mareeta."

Nanna had given her such a fierce hug that it might've actually bruised her ribs. And Leif cried, because of course he did, though he hid it quite well. But Mareeta was grateful to be reunited with them and everyone else from Fiana, even if it was unexpected.

"I'm sorry for causing so much worry." She said, feeling slightly guilty. "I should've listened to you, back when Raydrik first captured us."

Nanna shook her head. "He's a cruel man. He might've done the same thing regardless— or worse."

"Still… maybe we wouldn't have been separated."

"No use thinking about it now." Nanna reminded her. "We found our way back together, and all we need to do now is to rescue Eyvel."

"I found something out about that." Mareeta told her. "We have to find something called the Kia Staff— it should be somewhere in Munster Castle."

Nanna's eyes widened. "You found a way!?"

Mareeta nodded, unable to suppress a slight smile. She would've gladly taken on Eyvel’s rescue on her own, but she couldn't deny that it felt a lot more manageable now that she was reunited with everyone.

“You seem different, you know?” Nanna remarked, looking curiously at her.

“So do you.” Because Nanna really was in her element now, Mareeta had noticed. She might've played at being a village girl for the last five years, maybe even enjoyed it. But Nanna, with her effortless grace and golden hair and captivating eyes, had never really fit in Fiana. She was so obviously born to be a princess, and while being a commander wasn't quite the same, it was at least closer.

“No, really.” Nanna frowned. “Listen, back in Munster—”

“I don't really want to talk about it.” Mareeta tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword— she hadn't even told Nanna it was the same one yet.

“As you wish.” Nanna acquiesced without complaint. "By the way, I found this while we were escaping Munster." She withdrew an old, slightly crumpled scroll from her bag. "I know it isn't yours, but… I think you should have it anyway. If you want."

Mareeta cautiously took the scroll and unrolled it to reveal…

The Crest of Od.

The same crest that marred her back. The root of so much suffering. Just looking at it made her hands shake.

"Thanks, Nanna." She forced a smile and rolled the scroll back up. "Where did you get something like this?"

"A woman gave it to us as we were escaping Munster." Nanna recounted. "She said a tall man dropped it— but I don't know why she decided to give it to us. There was no one like that in our group."

"Maybe she just wanted to get rid of it." Mareeta said, almost thinking of doing that herself. But she was stronger than her past— or she had to try to be, for Eyvel's sake. "I'll keep it, though."

"You're not the real Prince Shannan."

"I didn't know how to tell you!" The imposter protested. "You were so excited, and I didn't think I'd run into you again…"

Mareeta just let out a huff. "Then what's your name?"

"Shannam."

"Come on, seriously—"

"It's true!" Shannam protested. In fact, half the reason he started impersonating the prince was because everyone misheard his name even when he tried introducing himself truthfully. "It's Shannam. And I really am from Isaach, too."

"Well, whatever." Mareeta just tapped her fingers against the hilt of her sword. "But if you're not actually Prince Shannan, then does that mean I didn't actually learn Astra?"

Shannam just snorted. "I wouldn't know, but you nearly killed me with those swings!"

"The real Shannan could've dodged those." She shrugged. "And besides, I don't think I was doing anything special—"

"You're kidding! Those strikes were faster than the blink of an eye!"

"Really?" Mareeta didn't even bother to be apologetic. "Then that means I did it, right!?"

"Er, sure…" Shannam just sighed. "Just don't point that sword at me again, alright?"

"What are you saying? You should be my new training partner!"

She ended up having to chase down Shannam every time she wanted to practice, but it paid off.

“It's unbelievable how good you've gotten.” Leif grinned as he stepped over the corpse of the commander she had defeated single-handedly.

Surprisingly, August agreed. “You're very valuable to the army.”

She just smiled wearily. She was only doing whatever it took to get to Eyvel.

"They're under siege?" Ced eyed the report with a frown. His first instinct was to believe that Leif's army was the one laying the siege, but as more reports came in, it became clear that it was the Empire that was trying to reclaim Leonster castle. He hadn't even realized that Leif had reached the city, let alone taken control of it.

"Should we send troops?"

"We can't." Ced's response was automatic. The Magi was barely holding out, thanks to Princess Ishtar's threats and Raydrik's increased scrutiny. And even if Ced managed to round up a handful of extra soldiers, he didn't like the idea of sending them to become cannon fodder in front of Friege's forces— if they even managed to make it to Leonster in the first place. "Prince Leif will have to manage on his own."

If Leif had the resources to capture Leonster with such speed, surely he could defend it for a little while. Maybe it would even help take the focus off of Munster, but even still… "No one can hold out against Friege forever." The scout pointed out, almost nervously.

"I know." As much as Ced wanted to convince himself, it was obvious that Leonster would fall eventually if they didn't receive outside help. "But we'll have to wait and see."

"And where is Princess Nanna?"

"She's… busy." Leif muttered, obviously annoyed. "I'll fill her in afterwards."

"With all due respect, Prince Leif," August began with an exasperated sigh, "you have much more important things to worry about—"

"I'll fill Nanna in." Mareeta interrupted, impatiently tapping the fingers of one hand against the hilt of her sword. "Let's just get started." She knew that Leif was going to go find Nanna after the meeting, regardless of any other obligations, and she was sure August knew that too. But Munster was too close— Eyvel was too close— to waste time on something minor like this.

August talked for a long time, about the terrain, the layout of the bridges, the estimated enemy forces. She listened, of course, maybe not as attentively as some of the others, but no one jumped quite like she did upon hearing the name of the enemy commander.

"What did you say!?" Mareeta asked, sure that she must have misheard, because there was just no way…

"The Empire's most esteemed tactician." August repeated through gritted teeth. "Bishop Saias."

"Something the matter?" Leif asked, leaning over to get a better view of her thoroughly horrified expression.

"No… nothing." She insisted. It couldn't be the same Saias, there was just no way it could be true.

After all, she told Saias about her past and her life in Fiana. She even told him about the brand and scars on her back. And in return, Saias had told where to find her mother and how to bring her back. He gifted her the very sword that was carrying now.

Saias lifted the curse— if he really was an enemy to her, why would he do that?

"Mareeta." She felt Leif's hand touch her shoulder, so she turned to face him. Though he had gotten taller than Nanna, the two of them still stood eye level to each other. "What happened?"

"Nothing," she lied. After all, she didn't want to try and explain her racing thoughts when she could hardly make sense of them for herself. Not to mention most of the other commanders were still milling about. "Just… anxious. To get to Munster."

Leif looked hesitant, like he didn't quite believe it, but he nodded. "Don't worry. We won't lose."

He went to find Nanna, leaving Mareeta with her thoughts. Even up until the moment the battle commenced, she couldn't decide if it was the same Saias or not. What were the odds that there was more than one Bishop Saias? Not to mention the days at a time he would disappear for, and his admittance to having been in Munster Castle at least once.

But when she thought of everything Saias had done for her… He had to have known, of course he knew that she would oppose Raydrik and the Empire, because it was necessary in order to save Eyvel. He was so careful about her wellbeing, making sure she didn't recklessly get herself killed. Everything was above and beyond what just a simple favor would entail.

She hadn't forgotten how abruptly Saias decided to let her go, and how it happened to be the very same day Leif's army was passing through the area… It just felt too perfect for everything to be a coincidence.

August and Leif had already put her on the front lines, the very front, but she couldn't stop herself from pushing even farther ahead into the enemy forces, desperately hoping that she could somehow catch a glimpse of their commander. She knew that there was no way they would be anywhere near the front lines, but she couldn't stop herself from trying anyway.

The thing that finally broke her concentration was the sound of screaming behind her. Mareeta turned, just in time to see a huge chunk of the bridge plunge into the raging River Thracia.

She didn't have to worry about the soldiers around her— everyone had lowered their weapons, watching in horror as the bridge continued to crumble. It was evident from the behavior of the soldiers around her that they weren't expecting this either.

It couldn't be her Saias that caused this… right?

She had to find him. She had to find a way to get to their fortress, to make sure it wasn't really him. It had to be someone else, it just had to be…

"Sara!" She managed to spot the girl hiding by the shore. Well, maybe hiding wasn't the right word, considering there were a fair few corpses surrounding her. But that wasn't important right now. "I need you to warp me."

Sara frowned. "Just because you're a commander doesn't mean I have to listen to you." But the girl readied her grip on the Warp staff anyway. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'll never have peace if I don't make sure." Mareeta insisted. She had never been warped before, but the others who had said it was a rather unpleasant experience, so she closed her eyes in preparation. "Warp me to the fortress, or wherever the commander is. And use Rescue to bring me back after ten minutes."

"And what will you do if it really is him?" Sara sighed. "Whatever. Try not to get killed."

One flash of her staff, and Mareeta vanished from the riverbank. A loud crack announced the end of the staff's life as the gem shattered and the wood slowly split into pieces.

Sara shrugged and dropped the remnants on the ground.

As soon as Mareeta touched the ground, she collapsed. Maybe it was because it was her first time, or maybe because it was such a large distance— she could barely make out the island where Sara was— but the nausea was so intense that it took several moments until she could finally stand and observe her surroundings. The world still rocked slightly as she moved, but she didn't want to waste any more precious time.

She was in the shrubs, looking out at the fortress. There were guards standing around, but they seemed pretty relaxed— probably thinking the fighting was too far for them to worry. In front of the fortress, there was a huddle, with people constantly coming and going. She squinted, trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of Saias’s red hair. Mareeta didn't end up seeing him, but she heard his name coming from another soldier's voice.

"How Olwen lives her life…Bishop Saias, do you mean to say that her path has split apart from mine?"

"Indeed. Though I do agree you should speak with her, if you find yourself with the opportunity."

Already, from the voice, Mareeta knew it was him. It was obvious, as much as she didn't want to believe it. And now that it was confirmed, all she had to do was hide until Sara summoned her back…

"Saias, how could you do this!?"

Everyone in the vicinity— which was a lot of people— unsheathed their weapons. But Saias stepped forward from the back of the group, finally entering Mareeta's line of sight. "Lower your weapons." He commanded, and his soldiers reluctantly obeyed.

"Bishop Saias," an old man next to him spoke up. "Who is—"

"It's fine." He walked up to Mareeta, ignoring everyone's concern. For her part, Mareeta clutched the hilt of her sheathed sword, not because she was waiting to draw it, but because she needed to still the trembling in her hands.

It really was him.

"What are you doing here!?” Mareeta asked, trying and failing to hide the despair in her voice. “Are you really with the Empire!?”

Saias remained unfazed, and instead, he turned to the other soldiers and waved his hand, dismissing them. "I won't patronize you with any lies. So yes— I do serve the Emperor."

"Why!?" She demanded. "How could you support them!? And if you're with the Empire, why would you help me!?"

"Why do I work for the Empire?" He mused. "Everyone has their part to play in this war, including me." Saias had lowered his voice a little so that the other soldiers didn't overhear. "As for why I helped you, it was—"

"A favor. That's all it was to you, right?" Mareeta didn't think it would hurt so much to say that.

"You're wrong." Saias said, surprisingly. "You're an admirable young woman. I want to see you succeed."

"We're enemies!" Mareeta reminded him, but it just worsened her confusion. It would be so much better, so much easier, if Saias had just turned out to be plain evil. "To succeed, we’ll have to defeat you here."

“Try it if you can.” Saias shrugged. "I won't try to make myself sympathetic in your eyes. But people fight, and they take sides, for reasons that are more than just black and white."

"So what are your reasons, then?" They had to be some good ones if Saias wanted to convince her. "And the bridge— how could you possibly justify that!?"

"My reasons? Not much different from yours, I'd guess." He shrugged. "And as for the bridge… I didn't have a choice."

"You sent them all into the river!" There were tears pricking her eyes— she had no idea if Leif, Nanna, all her friends from Fiana and her new friends in the army had even survived. "Your own soldiers, too!"

Saias hesitated. "If I want to maintain my role, I need to suggest the best strategies. And I want to keep playing this part."

"What part, and to what end!?" She demanded. It was so typical of Saias, to say cryptic things that didn't really make any sen— "Wait!" Her eyes widened when the glowing circle appeared beneath her feet. "Sara, not yet!"

But it was no use. Of course Sara couldn't hear her from so far away.

Again, she collapsed as soon as her feet touched the ground, but this time she didn't have the will to drag herself upright.

"Don't even think about going back." Sara rolled her eyes. "My staff is broken, and besides, your body obviously can't handle it."

"I know." She had to bury her sword into the sandy shore to stand up. "I just… didn't really get answers…"

"Did you ever expect to?"

Chapter Text

Ced considered himself a decent tactician.

Not perfect, obviously, but most of his plans usually went like he wanted. Part of that was because he knew his own limits, and those of his soldiers, and planned their attacks accordingly. The last time one of his plans went seriously awry was one year ago, when they rescued Prince Leif and a handful of children from Munster Castle.

Well, that was the last time before now.

“You're sure?” Ced asked his soldier disbelievingly. “They found our safe house?”

The soldier nodded, and gestured to the children gathered behind him. “We managed to get the children out, but there's no safe place to hide them.”

Ced wracked his brain for a moment, trying to think of a place, but it was no use. The safehouse had been their most secure location, and now that the whole city was an active warzone, he couldn't trust just hiding them in some random house or building. There was a reason, after all, he never tried to take over the castle— Ced knew it would be too chaotic to handle without reinforcements.

“And there's another thing, Sir Ced…” He mumbled something, so quietly that Ced barely heard.

"You can't be serious." He pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

"They're gathering on the mountains around the city." The scout muttered, looking rather terrified. "Thracian dracoknights— a lot of them."

"I'll go." Unlike most of the soldiers, Ced wasn't really afraid. In fact, he had an almost unfair advantage against dracoknights, but he had been planning to continue leading the raid of the castle. “Is Prince Leif's army in view?” The soldier nodded, so Ced took the Bragi Sword he had recovered and herded along the kids towards the gate, intent on meeting up with Leif’s army.

Ced took the kids up to the gate, but told them to stay within the wall's protection. Technically, Thracian troops shouldn't have any interest in capturing or killing children, but maybe they didn't care if some kids died if it meant taking out members of the rebel forces. And sure enough, a dracoknight dove to attack him immediately. The pages of Forseti fluttered, and a sharp gust shredded the wyvern's wings, sending both the beast and its rider tumbling out of the air.

He certainly didn't take any joy in doing that, but there was no way he could just let Munster fall into the hands of Thracia— not after everything he suffered to free the city from the Empire.

He held the tome with both hands and closed his eyes, focusing solely on the feeling of the wind around him. This would certainly take a lot of energy, but hopefully it would deter some of the dracoknights from approaching.

The kids behind him gasped, but Ced tried to maintain his concentration. He could feel the resistance as one dracoknight, then another, and then a third got caught in the tornado and were promptly thrown out of the air and to their certain death.

The last few knights of the squadron, including the captain, met a similar fate. But he could see another group lifting off from the nearby mountains, heading his way. At this rate, he would never be able to get the kids to safety—

“You look like you could use a hand.”

Ced wheeled around at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. A priest stood there, smiling and well armed with a light tome. “Who are you?”

“Just a traveler.” The man said. “If you need someone to escort the children out of the city, I believe I can be of assistance.”

Ced squinted at the priest. It was hard to be sure of course, but he didn't look like any person he had ever seen in Munster castle. And it was hard to explain, but he had a gentle, trustworthy sort of aura. But… “What would a royal priest be doing here?”

“I'm afraid there isn't time for me to explain everything.” He insisted. “I understand that you might not trust me, but whatever your choice is, you must make it now.”

“I can’t.” Ced admitted. He didn’t know how he was supposed to manage everything, but he also couldn’t entrust the safety of the children to a stranger, no matter how reliable they seemed. But then one of the older kids nervously tugged on his cape. “What is it?”

“He helped us escape from the castle.” The boy admitted. A couple of the other kids were nodding along, and Ced remembered suddenly about the group of disoriented children the Magi had found a few days ago. They had all thought it strange, but no one had the time to investigate.

“Is that true?” He asked the priest, who simply nodded. “How did you manage that?” Ced then asked. They didn’t really have a lot of time to be wasting on questions like this, but rescuing children from within Munster castle was not an easy feat, especially since Raydrik increased his security after Princess Ishtar’s threats. The Magi themselves had only managed it on a couple occasions since then, usually finding it much easier to rescue the children before they made it inside the castle.

“I had help from within the castle.” The priest explained, folding his hands behind his back.

Ced was about to inquire further, but the kids screamed as a dracoknight dove to attack them. He repelled them with another round of wind magic, but this couldn’t go on forever.

“Take the kids to the army over there.” He relented, pointing to Leif's army, which was just visible thanks to the hill the city stood on. “And deliver this sword to the commander, Prince Leif.”

“Oh my.” The priest accepted the sword with wide eyes. “This is the Bragi Blade, isn't it? I thought it was under heavy guard in Munster Castle.”

Ced just smiled warily. Getting a hold of that sword had been difficult indeed. “It's the only thing which can pierce the enchantment on Raydrik's armor.” It really was a testament to Raydrik's ego, that he would keep his one and only weakness so close by, but it worked out for them at least. And now, he couldn't risk the sword falling into enemy hands on the off chance something happened to him.

“If I may ask,” the priest began as he stowed the sword and began gathering the children together, “how do you plan to fight against Galzus?”

If the priest had heard of the Bragi Blade, and had an informant within the castle, it was no surprise that he also knew about the most fearsome mercenary in the city. “I don't know.” Ced admitted, his grip around Forseti tightening slightly. “I suppose I'll have to be the one to fight him.” It wasn't a battle Ced was sure that he could win, but at least he had experience fighting him. And there was no guarantee anyone in Leif's army would be up to the task.

"Everyone has a weakness." The priest mused. "For Raydrik, it's this sword.” He touched the sword that was now wrapped on his back. “But I would say Galzus has a much more mundane weakness. One that perhaps all of us have."

"And what's that?"

"Someone he can't bear to raise his sword against. A person who simply means too much."

Ced bit his lip. He didn't doubt the truth of those words, exactly, but it wasn't like he had the time to find this special person— not to mention he had no idea where to even look. Well intentioned advice, maybe, but it was useless to him.

"Just keep it in mind." He insisted, and then turned to the children. “Gather around now. And hold hands, we don't want anyone to get left behind.”

“Wait.” Ced suddenly remembered. “Who helped you rescue the children? If they're on our side, I'll avoid fighting them.”

The man smiled as he took the hand of the nearest child. The priest answered just moments before they warped away in a flash of light.

“Princess Ishtar.”

“I'm so glad you're okay!” Nanna rushed up to her and immediately pulled her into a hug, despite her bandaged shoulder.

“I think I should be saying that to you.” Mareeta couldn't help but smile though as she hugged her back. “Leif told me what happened…”

Nanna let go and stepped back, giving Mareeta a clear view of her now somber expression. “I still don't understand. Why would they destroy the bridge while their own soldiers were on it?”

Her stomach twisted. Saias was the one who had done this. His excuses were already flimsy, but after finding out that Nanna had very nearly died, Mareeta found what he had done to be even more unforgivable. “It doesn't make sense to me either.”

After being warped two times in quick succession, Mareeta had been in no shape to continue fighting. But she poked around and found out from Leif and some of the other commanders that the enemy general was an older man, and no one had seen a priest near the fortress.

She hated how relieved that made her feel. Saias saving one life, even if it was her own, didn't absolve him from being the Empire’s foremost tactician. She was supposed to wish him dead, like any other person who aided and abetted the Loptrians. But it was impossible— she only had to glance at the sword by her side to remember Dacia and everything Saias had done for her.

“You should be careful, though.” Nanna’s voice brought her back to reality. “We're almost to Munster, and if you keep pushing yourself, you won't be able to help save Eyvel.”

“Don't worry about me.” Mareeta said dismissively, thinking of the Stamina Drink she had been hanging on to for months now. “Nothing is going to get between me and Mother.” Not any exhaustion or injuries, not Saias, not Raydrik or his soldiers or any of his Loptrian superiors and their creepy magic.

“Why did you do it, though?”

“Do what?”

“Warp.” Nanna tilted her head. “Sara wouldn't tell us.”

“I just… I thought that…”

She was saved from having to invent a lie by Leif's arrival, who came to steal Nanna away for some strategy meeting.

“Do you want to join too?” He offered.

She shook her head. “Just put me in the vanguard. I don't care about the rest.”

Nanna gave her a disapproving glare, and Leif also looked concerned, but he nodded.

That was how she found herself right next to Leif at the front of the army as they marched towards Munster. Maybe he had picked up something on his own, or maybe Nanna had told him something, but he wouldn't stop glancing in her direction.

“Stop looking at me.” She grumbled after a little while.

Leif didn’t bother to deny it. “Maybe you should tell us what's wrong, then.”

“Nothing.” She tried to insist, but Leif was not buying it at all.

“We’re worried about you.” He said, turning back to the path. “Wait, do you see that?”

“See what?” She asked reflexively, but once she looked carefully, she could see faint figures on the horizon. “Are they soldiers?”

“I can’t tell.” Leif admitted. “Let’s try and get a closer look.” He motioned for Halvan to take his place at the front, and the two of them rode ahead.

“It's a bunch of kids.” He said, and again, Mareeta could only tell once he pointed it out. She halfheartedly complained about his superior eyesight, but Leif was still focused on the group.. “And… a man. A priest.”

“What!?” She turned to him. “A priest, are you sure!?”

“Definitely.” Leif glanced again at the group again for good measure, then turned his concerned glance towards Mareeta.

“Let's hurry.” She insisted. “Please.”

Once they got closer and the figures became clearer, Mareeta knew without a doubt it was the person she both hoped to see and also dreaded ever meeting again.

“Saias.” She dismounted her horse, too bewildered to even be angry. “What are you doing here!?”

“We meet again.” He said with a tilt of his head.

“I just can't understand you.” Mareeta said with an exasperated sigh. Leif came up beside her, but Mareeta had given up at this point. “First you take care of me in the forest, and then next you're destroying the bridge with everyone on it, and now I find you with a bunch of kids— Wait.” She drew her sword, but not without some uncertainty. “You're not taking these children to…”

“I'm not.” Saias, to his credit, seemed very displeased by her insinuation. “In fact, I'm escorting them out of Munster— and entrusting them to your army, on Prince Ced's orders.” He turned to Leif. “I hope that's alright, Prince Leif.”

“Er, sure?” Leif muttered, and at Saias's urging, the kids went to go stand with him and Mareeta.

“Prince Ced also sent this, for you.”

Leif unwrapped the blade Saias gave him. Mareeta watched rigidly, but there didn't seem to be any adverse effects. In fact, the blade seemed to radiate light, completely opposite of the Shadow Sword. “You're working with Ced?” He asked, a little dubious as he turned the blade over in his hands.

“I suppose I am, right now.” Saias answered after a moment of thought. “That sword is the only thing which can pierce Raydrik's armor, so—”

“Which is it, Saias?” She asked, unable to hold back her frustration. “Are you with the Empire, or against it!?”

He shrugged. “As I told you before, Mareeta, it's complicated. But you need to hurry to Munster— he should be happy to see you again.”

Before she could ask what that was supposed to mean, Saias warped away.

Leif, still holding his new sword and now saddled with a bunch of wide-eyed children, turned towards her. “You've got some explaining to do.”

And so, Mareeta finally did just that, telling everything to both Leif and Nanna once they set up camp for the day.

She didn't leave off any detail, including Saias's lecture, the origin of her new sword, and their meeting at the bridge.

The two of them listened with little interruption, but Nanna sighed once it was over. “I wish you would've confided in us sooner.”

“I know. And I'm sorry.” Though Saias’s advice had been well intentioned, it was hard to put into practice, and she still found it difficult to be open with her feelings. It was just so much easier to hide behind a veil of false confidence, but in the end, that was what made her fall victim to the Shadow Sword in the first place. “I'll… try to be more open.”

“There’s just one thing I don't understand.” Leif spoke up. “If Bishop Saias didn't rescue you from the castle, who did?”

“I genuinely don't know.” Mareeta admitted. “It was… a man, for sure. Someone really tall and strong, but gentle.”

“Do you think it might've been Prince Ced?” Nanna offered, but Leif shook his head.

“Ced isn't that much taller.” He mused. “And he's a mage. I don't think he's very physically strong.”

“Then who?” Nanna retorted, and Leif just shrugged.

“Could be anyone. Maybe they're not even in Munster anymore.”

Mareeta began to voice a thought, but she quickly thought better of it.

After all, there was no point to indulging in wishful thinking.

Time passed in a blur for Ced— he flitted between different factions of the Magi that were scattered around Munster, intent on securing as much of the city as possible. But he also single-handedly guarded the gates, using Forseti's power to crush any enemies that were trying to enter the city— both the Empire's reinforcements and Thracia's dracoknights.

He instinctively readied his tome when he sensed another group coming up the hill, but almost dropped it in relief when he realized it was actually his reinforcements this time.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting.” It took him a second to recognize Prince Leif at the front of the group, because the person he saw in front of him now was worlds apart from the boy he rescued from Munster Castle one year ago. He was relieved, though, to see the Bragi Blade hanging from his belt.

“Not at all.” Ced corrected. “You're right on time.”

“I never thanked you properly.” Leif admitted. “You rescued me and Nanna from the castle back then. And you've been fighting here all this time, even though you could've gone back to Silesse.” He lowered his eyes. “I'm sorry that I turned out to be so worthless. I couldn't help liberate the city last time I was here, all I could do was run—”

“You don't have to apologize. My plan was flawed to begin with.” After all, he was never supposed to fight Galzus, or attract the notice of Princess Ishtar (who’s confusing motivations he decided to decipher later). “I thought I could handle a raid on the castle, but even with Forseti, we were too weak.”

“Still…” Leif's expression remained downcast. “I envy you. You're a real leader, a real hero. Someone who can actually wield a Holy Weapon, a real Crusader. You and Lord Seliph—”

“You're wrong.” The conviction in Ced's voice must’ve startled him, because Leif instinctively looked up, looking him in the eyes properly for the first time. “I'm not a Crusader because I share the name of one, or because I inherited a Holy Weapon or the right type of blood. The Crusaders who fought back then did so to free themselves and their people from oppression— which is exactly what you've been, isn't it?”

“But I—”

“Neither I nor Lord Seliph have any right to call ourselves better than you.” He insisted. “Though you're the youngest, you've been fighting longer than any of us have been, and you've never given up. If you're not a Crusader, then none of us are.”

Leif looked like he wanted to protest still, but he just took a deep breath. “I just… I look at you and Lord Seliph, the scale of your armies and what you've achieved, and I just… I feel so small in comparison. Like a child.”

“Are you saying I need to be rescued by a child? Because that's a bit insulting.”

Leif looked up in alarm. “No! I didn't mean—”

Ced smiled. “I was joking. But back to the matter at hand. We have Raydrik trapped in a wing of the castle, but the city is still in chaos. I'll need you and your army's help to secure the last few areas before you can rest properly.”

“Do we have time to rest?” Leif asked anxiously, one hand clenched around the hilt of his new sword. “Raydrik might—”

“Raydrik isn't going anywhere.” Ced confidently told him. “He'll never give up the throne— and even if he does, there isn't anywhere for him to run.”

He traded a few more details with Leif and his tactician, and then the two of them went into the city, leaving room for more people to pass through the gates.

“It's nice to finally meet you.”

It took him a second to realize that those words were being spoken to him, by a pretty young woman with a feather in her hair.

“I'm Nanna.” She said with a tilt of her head. “Leif speaks very highly of you.”

Of course he had heard of Princess Nanna, but Ced had never given much thought as to what she might be like. And also… “His praise is misplaced…” He muttered, a little worn out by this topic, but he let Nanna talk, let her say how grateful she was for his help when they were trapped in the castle one year ago.

Their conversation was interrupted by the brisk arrival of another girl pushing through the crowd.

“Honestly Nanna, you're holding everyone up…” She grabbed Nanna’s hand and practically dragged her through the gate.

Ced leaned against the wall, suddenly tired. It was just too much to take in, after the days of fighting, talking to Leif, the dracoknights, the tornado…

“Sir Ced! Sir Ced!”

A familiar voice rang out, and he forced himself to stand upright as a very over-eager boy appeared in front of him. He had grown a lot, both in height and build, but his demeanor was the same as ever.

“It's good to see you, Asbel.”

“I missed you so much!” The boy wailed, suddenly throwing his arms around Ced. He blinked, not expecting such a show of affection, but after giving his mind a second to catch up, he patted Asbel on the head.

“I missed you too.” He said with complete honesty. Ced had other apprentices too, but none had even come close to Asbel's skill. And none of them had that cheerful, eager personality that he had come to appreciate.

The reunion got even more lively as two figures elbowed their way to the front.

“Heeeyyy Ced!” It was Lara who spoke up, though she was dressed much differently than he was used to seeing. “I decided to take up dancing again.” She admitted almost shyly when he asked.

Machyua was the same, if maybe a little worn. “I hope you've been taking care of my city.” She said with a laugh.

“I have, I promise.” He reassured her, but there was something missing. “Where’s Brighton?” Ced asked, suddenly filled with dread.

“He's with the supplies.” Lara spoke up, a little too quickly.

But Machyua let out a resigned sigh. “He was wounded badly at the River Thracia. I don't think he'll be able to fight ever again.”

He didn't know what to say.

“Don't be upset.” Machyua reassured him. “At least we're all alive.”

Ced knew he should've been the one reassuring Machyua, but he was too occupied with trying to figure what might have happened to Brighton, because no one seemed entirely willing to say. And he was too busy thinking of what he could have done differently to have prevented it.

“Don't dwell on it.” Asbel said, tugging his arm. “Let's go inside.”

Ced relented, but they didn't get very far before he started feeling a little dizzy. “You all go ahead.” He told them, giving the excuse of needing to check something. Machyua gave him a worried look, but they did as asked, and Ced ducked into the nearest sidestreet and leaned against the wall to rest a little. He tried to straighten up after a few moments’ rest, but the dizziness became even worse.

Admitting defeat, Ced slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. He pulled his knees up and put his head down, trying to quickly recover some energy before someone found him sitting here—

“Are you alright?”

Ced quickly looked up to find a pretty face hovering over him. He stood up instantly, but paid for it when the ground underneath him started spinning.

“Hey, be careful!” The girl scolded, grabbing his arm and his shoulder to steady him.

“I'm fine I swear…” He half-heartedly protested, trying to shrug off her grip. Ced took a few wobbly steps—

When he next opened his eyes, Ced wasn't in a place he recognized.

“Oh, good.” The same girl's face came into view above him. “You're awake.”

He tried to sit up, but let out what was probably a very undignified groan as he just collapsed back in place. His whole body ached as if he had been trampled by a pegasus. “What…happened…?”

“You've been using too much magic.”

“Makes…sense…” He wheezed.

“Our healer said you should sit out for the attack on the castle.”

His eyes widened. “No, no, I have to…” Ced tried to sit up again, this time succeeding, but it came at the cost of a lot of pain. “I need to… no one else can…”

“No one else?” Her voice took on a slightly irritated tone, but he was too delirious to notice. “I think you need to rest. I'm sure we can handle Raydrik.”

“Not… Raydrik…” He protested weakly. “It's… Galzus. He'll kill you… and everyone.”

“Galzus?” She questioned.

“Mercenary...” Ced told her even as she gently pushed on his shoulder to get him to lay down. He was too preoccupied with his warning to even try and resist. “Too strong… and really… fast… he almost killed me…”

“He's that dangerous? Is that even possible?”

Ced's eyes were fluttering shut, but he was determined to keep talking. “Swordmaster… descended from Od.”

The girl froze.

“They even… they say…”

“What?” She shook his shoulder a little to wake him up. “What do they say about him?”

“Mark of Od… on his back. But…it's just… a rumor…”

And then he was asleep.

Chapter Text

She stayed in the makeshift infirmary for a long time, sitting at the bedside of the fast asleep Ced.

There was no shortage of people who came to check on him. The Magi soldiers alone seemed endless, and poor Asbel looked about ready to faint himself. Leif stayed for a while, the guilt still clear on his face when he left.

Nanna came too. She talked with Safy, offering her opinion as a practiced healer, and then sat beside Mareeta.

“You don't have to stay here, you know?” Nanna offered. “Safy or Linoan can take over.”

“It's fine.” Mareeta brushed her off. “I was the one who found him, so I guess I feel responsible.”

Nanna frowned, but didn't protest any further, leaving to go help with preparations.

She had seen Ced at the gate, but hadn't paid much attention at the time. Now though, she had nothing to do but look at the Hero of Munster, the one who had fainted right in front of her eyes.

He wasn't really what she had expected. The way Leif, Asbel, everyone really, had talked about him put the image in her mind of someone more imposing, but he couldn't really have been much older than her. In fact, he was definitely younger than the other senior Magi members, Machyua and Brighton. And despite what Nanna thought, she knew for sure now that he wasn't the one who rescued her from the castle.

She tapped her fingers against the hilt of her sword, slightly bored. But there was no choice but to wait until Ced woke up, since he held all the information about the castle that Raydrik had barricaded himself inside. Mareeta was a little worried— they still had to find the Kia Staff, and she desperately hoped that Raydrik wouldn't get it in his head to smash Eyvel's statue.

It was at this point, with no one else nearby, that Ced finally stirred.

The first thing she noticed was that his eyes were very, very green— almost unnaturally so. The second thing she noticed was that he definitely wasn't in his right mind. He could barely move, and his words came out all slow and slurred, but he was insistently trying to tell her…

It would be so easy to dismiss what he said as the ramblings of a sleepy and injured person. But how could she ignore the mention of a descendant of Od, with the same mark as her?

“He should be happy to see you again.”

Saias's words echoed in her head for the hundredth time. She hadn't been able to make sense of them, no matter how hard she thought about it on their remaining trek to Munster. But now…

She had told herself that nothing could ever stand between herself and her mother. Mareeta would rescue her no matter what. Eyvel had saved her when she was a child, and now she was finally going to repay that favor.

Mareeta pulled out the Od Scroll from the pouch on her belt. The scroll Nanna had given her, and Nanna had gotten it…

“A woman gave it to us as we were escaping Munster. She said a tall man dropped it.”

If it really was true, it would be a steep cost, much worse than anything she could've possibly imagined. But if she had to do it, she would.

This time when Ced opened his eyes, there was no one there. Thinking that the attack on the castle may have started, he sat up in a panic, but his body was still protesting against any sort of movement.

Still, he refused to lay back down. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, but it was definitely far too long.

“...don't have to stay, you know?” A vaguely familiar girl's voice rang out. “You need rest too, Mareeta.”

“I told you, Nanna.” That voice, he knew for sure. “I just want to make sure…” Mareeta's voice trailed off as she pushed the tent flap aside and realized he was awake.

“Oh, you're up!” Nanna exclaimed, pulling her staff free as she entered. “How do you feel?”

“I've been better.” He admitted. Nanna asked him a variety of simple questions, like his name and the number of fingers she was holding up.

Though she was satisfied with his answers, the same couldn't be said of his movement speed. “You simply can't participate in the assault on the castle.” She told him.

Ced began to protest. How could he not? No one else but him had faced Galzus, knew the risk that awaited them. Raydrik wouldn't be half as much trouble as that terrifying mercenary. But he was still tired, and tripped over his words trying to explain.

“Here. Drink this and you'll feel better.” Mareeta dropped a bottle next to him on the cot. “Nanna, I'm telling Leif to call the meeting right now.”

“Mareeta, wait—” But Nanna's words just echoed through the empty tent, the other girl having already left. “What's with her?” She muttered to herself.

Ced had no answer to that either way, so he examined what she had given him— A short and wide bottle with the letter S marked on the front. “A Stamina Drink?”

He had only tried it once, when he was newer to the Magi and accepted it from Lara without knowing its value. But once Ced found out how rare— and more importantly, how useful they were— he resolved not to use any of their supply on himself, thinking that he didn't really need it compared to the others. Though that was probably the reason he ended up like this.

Nanna looked just as surprised at him, but she quickly returned to a neutral expression. “I suppose with that, you might regain enough energy to participate in battle. But either way, we need you at that strategy meeting.”

Right. Though he had told Leif the most important things at the gate, there was plenty he needed to explain about the upcoming battle. He downed the Stamina Drink, barely even registering the foul taste, and almost immediately, the heaviness in his limbs began to subside.

They arrived at the makeshift headquarters to find everyone already gathered around a map. He took the spot opposite Leif, while Nanna went to stand beside him. And Mareeta was standing a few spots away on Leif’s other side, but he tried to look anywhere else besides her.

The best target, he found, was the map.

"There's three passages here, so we'll need to split up." He recited as he traced the corridors in question. "One side has the children still held prisoner. The other has the Loptrians. And Raydrik is making his stand in the throne room."

"The Loptrians." A man with a curl of red hair hanging over his face spoke up. "Let me handle them."

"I'd like to go help the children." Nanna said, but she was only looking towards Leif. "Is that alright, Leif?"

"I suppose." He said. "But I want to finally pay Raydrik back for everything he's done."

“There's something else you have to consider.” Ced tapped the square that represented the throne room. “Raydrik’s personal mercenaries. They serve only him, and each of them is as strong as several men.”

Leif didn't seem particularly bothered by this, but he agreed to split the forces unevenly, with more in the throne room and less in the other two corridors.

“And even among the mercenaries, there's one…” Ced felt himself tense up just at the thought of fighting him again. “A man named Galzus—”

Mareeta was the one who spoke up. “I'll handle it.”

“He's incredibly dangerous.” Ced protested, finally having a reason to look her way. “Even more so than Raydrik. Fighting him alone is suicide.”

He had clearly scared Leif. “Mareeta, maybe…”

She shook her head. “I know what I'm getting into. Please.”

Ced didn't think that she did. “I'll go with you.” At least he knew what to expect from Galzus, and maybe he could even win if he got lucky. Involving another person was risky, but Mareeta obviously wouldn't be deterred.

She considered it for a moment. “Alright.”

“That should be everything—”

“Wait.” Leif called. “Do you know anything about a statue of a woman somewhere in the castle?”

Ced frowned. “I think I’ve heard something like that. But it would be in the altar under the throne room.”

Despite the relatively uncertain answer, Leif looked reassured. “And one more thing— We’re looking for something called the Kia Staff.”

“I haven’t heard of it.” He answered, but he quickly backpedaled once he saw the slight panic on Leif’s face. “But it could be somewhere in the altar too.”

With that, they finally dispersed to take their positions.

"I still think the two of us won't be enough." Ced warned Mareeta as he joined her near the doors to the throne room. That was what he said, but really he wanted to ask, Why are you doing this?

Maybe it was a stupid show of heroism, offering to fight the most difficult opponent single handedly. But Ced had learned since coming to Munster that acting heroic was just an easy way to get killed.

She seemed a little more tense now— maybe the reality of what she signed up for was more clear. But her response was even more confusing. "Please trust me."

There was no more time to ask— Leif gave the signal, and Dagdar shoved the heavy door open. The mercenaries began charging at them immediately, but there was a clear lone figure hanging in the back. The two of them ran past the other mercenaries, towards Galzus.

They got caught up in a fight with one of them, but Mareeta easily matched him blow for blow. Ced didn't want to risk hitting her with an offensive attack, so instead, he used the wind to sabotage their enemy's balance. Mareeta quickly incapacitated him, and Ced marveled at the speed with which she moved her sword. It was almost inhuman, really… And now that he thought about it, it reminded him a bit of…

“Let's go.” Her voice brought him back to reality.

Before Ced could remind her to be careful, she was already rushing ahead. But surprisingly, Galzus didn't draw his sword immediately— in fact, he didn't seem to register that Ced was even there.

"You… Why did you come back here!?" He snarled at Mareeta, who only raised her sword in response. "That sword isn't a toy…"

"I’m grateful that you saved me." She recounted, running her fingers over the flat edge of her sword. "I owe you for that— but I'm here to rescue my mother, and I won't let anyone get in my way.” She pointed her sword towards Galzus. “Not even my own father."

The bishop's words hit Ced like a pile of bricks. Someone he can't bear to raise his sword against. A person who simply means too much.

Galzus looked resigned, though. "So you knew. It was the bishop, wasn’t it—"

“He didn't tell me.” Mareeta’s hand was shaking slightly, but she kept her sword up. “There were other clues. But even without that… you look just like I remember.”

Ced stepped back a little. The two of them mentioning a bishop hadn't escaped him, but Galzus was wholly focused on his apparent daughter, and still hadn't noticed him. He hoped Mareeta didn't mind that he was close enough to overhear their conversation, but if things were still headed towards a fight, he wanted to be near enough to help.

“I searched for a long, long time, but you never turned up.” Galzus recounted. “And then, after a while… I figured it was better if you didn't have anything to do with me, with all the blood on my hands—”

“Why are you the one who gets to decide!?” She demanded. “What if I wanted to see you again!? What about the years and years I spent wishing I could meet my father!?”

Mareeta was talking about herself, obviously, but that struck a painful chord. A loud clattering noise made him jump— She had dropped her sword.

“So then… you don't hate me?”

“No!” Mareeta insisted, picking her sword up. But this time, she didn't point it at Galzus. “I never have. Even now, I don't want to fight you, but for my mother…”

“That lady, the swordswoman who got turned to stone.” Galzus said. “She's the one who rescued you from those slavers?”

Mareeta nodded. “She's raised me ever since.”

“Then I owe her a debt.”

He couldn't really be sure what just happened, but it seemed like Galzus was on their side now. But the mercenary's eyes finally, finally flickered past his daughter, and over to Ced. "...You!"

"I've been standing here the whole time." He remarked dryly. "I was beginning to think you didn't remember me."

"Like I would forget the brat that stabbed me in the leg!?"

"You did what!?" Mareeta turned to him, the shock written all over her face.

Ced refused to feel bad about that, though. "Your father," He glared at Galzus, "nearly cut my arm off with a tomahawk."

She wheeled back around to stare at Galzus instead. "Is that true!?"

He didn't answer.

"You two…" Mareeta muttered, not missing Galzus's hostile glare or Ced's irritated one. "You'll have to learn to get along, please..."

"Mareeta!" Leif ran up to them, eyeing Galzus cautiously. "Is everything…"

"Leif, please allow my father to fight with us." She clasped her hands together, trying to look at them rather than Leif's alarmed expression. "I'll explain everything to you later."

"Alright…" He said, looking at Galzus warily. Once the mercenary and Mareeta were out of earshot, Leif leaned closer to Ced. "Would you mind keeping an eye…"

"I've got your back." Ced reassured him. He had been keeping Galzus in his sights even before Leif asked. There was no way he could trust a former enemy so easily. But he didn't have to worry much— Galzus didn't lift a finger when Leif challenged Raydrik, and he stayed beside his daughter as they made their way through the altar.

But Mareeta caught up with him while they were walking, thankfully without Galzus.

“I'm sorry.” She said. “You probably thought I wasn't taking your warning seriously.”

“Maybe.” Ced admitted. After all, how was he supposed to expect this? Even knowing now that they were father and daughter, the resemblance wasn't particularly obvious. “I heard you were the one who found me, and you gave me that Stamina Drink… So I really didn't want you to get hurt. But now I think I shouldn't have been there—”

“It's fine.” Mareeta quickly reassured him. “I wasn't sure how it would go. I was prepared to fight if I had to, but… I'm not sure if I could’ve managed it on my own.”

Before he had arrived in Munster, Ced had imagined finding his father dozens, if not hundreds of times. He rehearsed the scenario over and over again— even though he wanted to believe Lewyn would agree to come back without protest, Ced knew it probably wasn't likely. So he thought out a variety of ways to convince him, as if it were some kind of convoluted chess game. But never in any of his imaginings did Ced think he would have to seriously fight, let alone kill his own father.

“Your resolve is impressive.” He said. “I certainly wouldn't be able to do that.”

“I'm just glad I didn't have to.”

“There’s one thing though…” Ced couldn't help but ask. “How did you know it was him?”

Mareeta tilted her head. “You were the one who gave me the most important clue.”

“...I did?”

“You—” Mareeta's explanation was cut short by the appearance of several Loptr priests. “Let's talk after we get out of here.” She suggested as she drew her sword.

“Good idea.” Ced sighed as he drew his tome. But that would be better, because there were other things he wanted to ask— mainly about the bishop Mareeta and Galzus both mentioned. There weren't many royal bishops around, so it was likely it was the same person as the man he met at the gates. And once the bishop had mentioned Princess Ishtar, Ced had a sneaking suspicion about who it might've really been…

Mareeta stood in front of the door of the chamber, feeling a lot less nervous than she had that morning. Nanna had found the Kia Staff in one of the other rooms. Leif had gleefully driven his new sword through Raydrik's eye. Her father— and it really was him— decided to join their side. And now, all they had to do was break the seal behind this door, defeat Veld, and then use the staff on Eyvel.

Easy.

Well, it probably wouldn't be. August had reminded them over and over again that the real enemy to be wary of wasn't Raydrik, but the Loptrian priest he answered to. And then there was Sara's cryptic warning about what was lurking behind these six doors.

Something that's not really human, she had insisted.

She glanced warily at her father. He had refused to let anyone else join their group, making it just the two of them. The only other group that had two people was the next chamber over, a little distance away. Ced stood there, along with just one of his Magi associates.

“Stop it.” Galzus huffed, catching his daughter's glance. “We don't need more people.”

“If you insist.” Mareeta shrugged. Things were still a bit awkward, but then again, she hadn't even had the chance to have a proper conversation with her long-lost father. That would have to wait until later.

Two thunderclaps rang out in the hall— the signal for everyone to get in position. Moments later, the doors swung open, courtesy of Tina's Unlock staff.

Mareeta rushed inside, eager to get the whole thing over with. Their opponent was facing away, but it was a woman with a large bow and brilliant golden hair that reached to her ankles. Despite what Sara said, she looked plenty human.

An archer would be an easy opponent, though. Or at least, that was what Mareeta thought before the woman turned to look at them, with a face that looked exactly like Eyvel's.

Chapter Text

It wasn't Eyvel. It couldn't be.

It wasn't just that the hair was far too long, or that she wielded a bow instead of a sword.

It was because, upon looking closely, whatever was in front of her was definitely not human.

Black seams and stitches separated the woman's face into individual features— one eye, and then another eye that wasn't quite the right color, a nose that was a little too straight, and a dozen other little inconsistencies. Mareeta knew what her mother looked like, and it definitely wasn't this.

But she was so transfixed by the strange sight, trying to decide if it was real or not, that she didn't notice the woman raising her bow, drawing it back…

Galzus did though, pulling her out of the way by one arm, but he wasn't quite fast enough. The arrow struck her other arm— her sword arm, burying itself near her shoulder. She let out an involuntary shriek, somewhat because of the pain, but also because of the shock of actually being struck.

“Wait, wait!” She tried to protest as Galzus pulled her out of the chamber by her good arm. “I—”

Galzus just glared at her, dropping her like a sack of potatoes against the wall by the door. “Wait here.” He commanded, before disappearing back into the chamber in spite of her protests.

It was basically impossible to move her arm, she realized. It hurt badly, so much that the corners of her vision were going dark. And now she was stuck sitting here while her father fought that strange… thing.

Useless again.

She always faltered whenever it actually mattered. There wasn't supposed to be anything that could stand between her and Eyvel, but she already fell short twice just within Munster Castle— it was just lucky that her father actually did care about her after all…

“Are you alright?”

Mareeta jumped a little at the unexpected voice— she had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed anyone coming up to her.

Ced just knelt beside her, eyes fixed on the arrow.

“I was… careless.” She said vaguely, trying not to let on how much the wound was hurting. And trying very hard not to look straight into those disconcerting green eyes.

He drew a staff from his belt. “I can help, if you'll allow me.”

She nodded, and Ced began to examine the wound. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she thought she felt a faint wind brush against her skin wherever his fingers touched. “What did you find inside the chamber?” She asked, realizing that if he was here, he must've already defeated what was inside.

He gave her a hesitant look. “I'm not sure if I should tell you.”

“Come on,” Mareeta complained. She probably looked pathetic, sitting here with an arrow in her arm, and that only worsened her mood.

“It was… not human.” Ced frowned. “A man that looked like he had been stitched together.”

She nodded. That was what she had seen too, mostly.

“And he sort of looked like your father.”

“What!?

“It wasn't him!” Ced quickly clarified, steadfastly looking down. “Of course it wasn't him. Actually, it was probably just my imagination…”

“No, I believe you.” Mareeta said, feeling a little like a weight had been lifted. It obviously hadn't actually been Galzus there, so the woman in the room wasn't Eyvel either. Not that she thought it was for more than just a moment, but still.

“Well, there’s good news and bad.” Ced gestured towards the arrow. “It missed the bone. But it’s a barbed arrowhead, so it has to be pushed through. If one of your healers can't do it, I can help after the battle—”

“Could you do it now?” Mareeta asked. She really didn't want to be wounded when they finally found Eyvel— the real Eyvel— or be useless again when the final door was opened.

Ced hesitated. “It's going to hurt. Badly.”

“It's fine. Just do it, please.”

Ced snapped the shaft off the arrow and tossed it aside. “Get ready.”

If she thought the pain was bad before, this was ten times worse, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from making any noise. But a moment later, the pain started melting away, and she opened her eyes to find Ced's staff glowing brightly.

“Thank you.” She said when the staff's light died down, still reeling slightly from the whole experience.

“Consider it repayment for earlier.” He stood up and offered a hand to her. “Can you stand?”

“Mhmm.” She had scarcely stood up when they were both distracted by the sound of breaking glass. It was the blue barrier in front of the final door, now covered in cracks. Even as they watched, the barrier shattered and the shards of light quickly faded away, and people began emerging from the chambers.

Ced suddenly tensed. “I should go.” He said, and before she could protest, he was already gone.

She realized why a second later, when a large shadow entered her vision and she turned to find her father glaring disapprovingly.

“The arrow’s gone.” She offered, but Galzus just let out an irritated huff.

Everyone was beginning to gather by the final set of doors, but Mareeta squeezed past her father back into the chamber. The woman’s body was still there, cut open across the chest by her father’s sword, but the blood that stained everything was black. There was nothing she could see in the wound except darkness— no flesh, no organs or anything, just a black void.

Not human, she reminded herself. This wasn’t Eyvel.

“You’re lucky to be alive.” Galzus’s voice rang out behind her.

She guiltily rubbed the spot where the arrow had hit. “She looked just like Mother. At first glance, at least.”

Galzus eyed the corpse distrustfully. “It’s just one of those sick Loptrian experiments. They’re always doing things like this.”

She wondered if her father knew that they were also working on a copy of him, but she decided not to mention it.

Nanna caught sight of her by the doors, and her jaw fell open in shock. “You’re hurt!” She exclaimed, hand reaching for her staff immediately.

“No, I’m not. Well, not anymore.” Mareeta amended. Ced had removed the arrow and healed the wound, but there wasn’t anything that could be done about the blood splattered over her arm and clothes.

“I’m surprised.” Nanna remarked. “You rarely ever get wounded.”

“I got caught off guard.” She said, not planning to say anything about the Eyvel look-alike, but then she guiltily remembered Nanna and Leif's frustration with her from earlier. “Inside the chamber… there was something really creepy.”

“Oh, I know.” Nanna pressed a hand over her heart. “It was horrifying, to be honest.”

“It was someone that looked like they had been stitched together, right?”

“What? No, it wasn't.” She shook her head. “It was Raydrik. But he was clearly already dead, and he still had all the wounds we just gave him.”

“...Oh…” Maybe the Loptrians hadn't had time to work on Raydrik's corpse. Maybe if they had, he would also be stitched together with new eyes, a new arm…

Was that what had happened to Eyvel?

“Mareeta?”

“Sorry.” She shook her head in a futile attempt to clear it. “Let's go.”

It had to be a look-alike, she thought as they made their way right up to the doors. She couldn't lose hope now, not after coming all this way…

“Mareeta! Mareeta, come on!”

“Nanna?” She had appeared without warning in her corner of the room. “What happened?” Nanna, Leif, and some others had gone to fight Veld directly, but all Mareeta had been doing was keeping watch over her section of the outer room, cutting down any Loptrians who warped into the area. Though even those had stopped by now, she had stayed there just in case.

“Come on! We found Eyvel!”

Nanna was practically running, so she ran too to keep up as they entered the room where Veld had his last stand. They slowed enough to gingerly step over his corpse and dodge around the other members of the army before continuing to an audience chamber deeper within the altar.

There, in the center of the room, stood Eyvel’s statue.

“Just give me a minute to get the staff ready.” Nanna said, but she was barely listening. She almost couldn’t believe that the moment was finally here.

Mareeta rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, trying not to be impatient as Nanna fiddled with the Kia Staff. Leif and the others from Fiana joined in the meantime, crowding around the sides of the room, but Leif didn't let anyone go closer than that. There were a lot of people not from Fiana, too. She caught Ced looking her way and gave him a sheepish smile— She would have to thank him properly later for helping with the arrow wound.

“Okay.” Nanna finally said, but Mareeta thought she looked a bit uneasy as she stood in front of the statue. She closed her eyes, and the jagged crystal on the top of the Kia Staff began to glow.

Mareeta didn't even have a moment to feel excited or relieved before the light abruptly went out and Nanna's eyes opened with a gasp. “What happened?” She couldn't help but ask.

“Nothing, sorry.” Nanna straightened up, and the staff began to glow again. It lasted a second longer than before, but it was still only mere moments before the staff’s light went out. And this time, Nanna collapsed, the staff clattering to the ground.

Mareeta quickly helped her up, with Leif rushing over too. August followed behind him, picking up the fallen Kia Staff.

“Nanna, what happened!?” Leif was frantic. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I'm sorry.” She was trembling. “I don't know what's wrong… but the staff is resisting me somehow.”

“What does that mean?” Mareeta asked, the dread clamping over her heart like a vice. They had found the staff, fought their way through the castle and the altar— there wasn't supposed to be any other hurdle. Or maybe she shouldn't have ever trusted Saias to begin with…

“There's a seal.” August noted, turning the staff over in his hands. “It may be possible to break it, but it will take some time.”

“How long?” Leif asked.

“A few weeks—”

“Oh, get out of the way!” A distinctive voice echoed through the room.

“Sara?” Leif questioned as the little girl pushed through the crowd and came to where they were in front of the statue. She swiped the staff out of August’s hands, who was too surprised to resist. “Wait, Sara, be careful with that!” He tried reaching for the staff, but Sara stepped back, hugging the staff tight against her little body.

“Don't worry.” She said, still holding close the staff that was much taller than her. “I know exactly how to get around Grandfather's spells.”

“Your grandfather?” Leif's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Who—”

But August had figured it out. “Archbishop Manfroy.” He interrupted. “That's who your grandfather is, isn't it?”

Leif's jaw dropped. “What!?”

Sara's expression darkened. “He killed my mom and dad. So I don't really want to talk about him.” She raised the staff up and it began to shine, silencing any further questions.

Mareeta hardly noticed everyone stepping back. She was too preoccupied with the Eyvel’s statue, which rapidly began to turn back to normal, starting from the bottom. The gray stone boots became worn brown leather, the petrified folds of the dress turned into orange fabric, and last of all, the hair became a brilliant golden blond.

“Mother…?” She asked tentatively, but there was no response. Though the last traces of gray stone were gone, Eyvel still seemed frozen in time, eyes staring blankly ahead. “Mother, please, wake up…” She could feel the tears welling up. If this didn't work, then…

“Mareeta!” Eyvel suddenly snapped back to life with a gasp. “You have to wake…” She trailed off, looking around in confusion.

“Mother!!” Mareeta threw her arms around her in a hug. “You’re alright!”

Though confused, Eyvel returned the embrace wholeheartedly. “Of course I am. What, did you really think Raydrik could get the better of me?” She glanced around though, at all the people gathered around the sides of the room. “Speaking of which… where is that bastard?”

“He's already dead.” Mareeta sniffled, unable to stop the tears of relief from making their way down her face. “And the Loptr bishop too… the one who turned you to stone. He's dead too.”

“Stone?” Eyvel glanced down at her own body, as if she had to make sure. “I saw a man in a robe, but I don't remember anything after that…”

“It's been a year since then.” Her voice wavered when saying that. It didn't feel that long, with their constant battles and marches, but saying aloud reminded Mareeta of just how long it had been since she last saw her mother, or spoke to her… “I tried, we all did, to rescue you as quickly as possible—”

“Don't get that pretty face wet with tears,” Eyvel tried to calm her down, but it was no use. Mareeta was crying in earnest now, a year's worth of stress, frustration and anxiety all finally coming to an end. Eyvel just hugged her tighter. “I put you through a lot, didn't I? I'm sorry.”

“I'm just glad you're back.” Mareeta sniffled. It was one thing to say over and over again that she needed to rescue her mother. But now, here, having actually accomplished it… It hardly felt real.

“And I owe it all to you.” Eyvel took a step back so she could look over her daughter, but still held her hands. “Look, you've gotten taller, and stronger too…” Now Eyvel was tearing up too, at the thought of everything she had missed.

“I couldn't have done it by myself.” Mareeta admitted, remembering how ready she had been to leave Dacia and go to Munster all on her own. She wouldn't have lasted a minute without Leif and forces, and Leif’s whole army couldn’t have managed without Ced and the Magi…

“I can tell you worked hard.” Eyvel smiled. “I’m so grateful to have a daughter like you.”

Ced watched the reunion from a distance. He wasn't the only one, either— there were plenty of people who weren't from Fiana, but had heard of the legendary Commander Eyvel. Even Galzus was there, lurking in the corner.

It kind of made sense, because from what he had gathered, Mareeta was the closest person to Eyvel, and clearly the only person Galzus cared about was Mareeta. But once Leif, Nanna, and the others started crowding around, Galzus slipped out of the room.

He did promise Leif that he would keep an eye on him, but Galzus had behaved himself so far. He didn't think the mercenary would be causing trouble— at least not any time soon. In fact, he was thinking that he actually should follow his example and find a quiet place for himself. Maybe the roof would be nice, since he would be able to feel the wind—

He had scarcely taken two steps towards the door when Asbel and Lara each caught one of his arms. “Where are you running off to?” Lara asked, holding on with surprising strength.

“To rest.”

“No you aren't!” Asbel corrected. “We're all going up to the balcony, and the Hero of Munster has to be there!”

“Asbel, I don't want to—”

His words fell on deaf ears as Asbel and Lara frog-marched him all the way through the altar and up many flights of stairs, following the flow of the crowd. And then they marched him all the way to the front of the castle's main balcony, beneath which hordes of people were gathered.

He flinched a little at the cheers the crowd let out when he entered their line of sight. Thankfully, they were soon distracted by Leif and Nanna, and Ced was all too happy to let them take the spotlight, even if Asbel and the others still didn't let him leave.

The sun was setting by the time Ced finally escaped to one of the rooftops. He really wished he had left the altar sooner— not only so he could've escaped Asbel and Lara dragging him to the balcony and everything after, but also because he shouldn’t have watched Mareeta’s reunion with her mother. It was very touching, and it also very much reminded him that he would never have that kind of reunion with his own mother. He sighed and removed the tattered remains of his gloves— using magic really wore them out quickly.

It was probably time to go back to Silesse, he reflected as he looked at the irritating mark on the back of his hand. There was no point in looking for his father anymore, so Fee was the only family he had left.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t hate him too much.

The possibility of that worried him, though. And echoing his thoughts, a strong gust blew past and tore his worn gloves from his hands, sending them flying into the distance. He briefly considered trying to bring them back, but they were due to be replaced anyway—

“What's with this wind?” A familiar voice rang out behind him.

Ced scrambled to turn around so quickly that he came dangerously close to falling off the side of the castle.

“Be careful!” Mareeta yelped, one hand still above her eyes to keep her hair away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It's fine.” He said, trying his best to sound dismissive even though his heart was still racing and his mind was focused on calming down the strong winds. “What brings you up here?”

“You were asking me about my father. Down in the altar.” She reminded him.

“Well, yes, but…” It wasn't that he forgot, but… “I thought you'd want to spend time with your parents right now.” He certainly would be doing that, if their positions were reversed.

She didn't answer immediately, instead walking over and sitting on the edge like him. Mareeta idly kicked her feet once or twice before speaking. “Mother's sleeping. She looked tired… I think being petrified for so long…” She shook her head. “I hope it's just temporary. And my father… I haven't seen him since we left the altar.”

“He's probably around here somewhere.” Ced reassured her. He didn't think Galzus would bow out so quickly— or at least, he really hoped not. But his mind was more focused on the potential side-effects of petrification, which he hadn't considered at all before.

“I'm sorry, by the way.” Her voice brought him back to reality. “I hope my father didn't injure you too badly.”

“I'm fine now.” Ced absentmindedly rolled his once-injured shoulder. It had been bad at the time, with all the blood he had lost and the fact that he sent away Asbel, who was their best healer besides him. One of the more amateur members of the Magi had to heal the wound, and though they did their best, he was left with a noticeable scar. It didn't matter much to him, though— the fact that he still had a fully functional arm was far more important. “We were on opposite sides, so I don't blame him.” In fact, now he was glad he only gave Galzus a mild injury at best.

He realized Mareeta wasn't looking at him though, but his hand. His right hand, which for once, wasn't covered with a glove.

“Sorry.” Her cheeks flushed a bit when she realized she had been caught staring. “I've just never met another person with a crest before. Well, besides my father.” She amended.

That made him realize that he hadn't met another person besides Galzus either, though even that had been just a rumor up until recently. And now, Mareeta was the second. “Is that how you realized he was your father? No, wait…” Ced shook his head. “How would you have known about the mark…?”

“You were the one who told me about it.” Mareeta tilted her head.

“What?” He frowned. “When did I say that?”

“You don't remember at all?”

“No…” He mumbled, feeling rather put off. He didn't like the thought of having a missing memory. “What happened?”

“You woke up while I was watching over you in the infirmary.” Mareeta recalled. “It was only for a few moments, but you were trying to warn me about Galzus.”

Despite Mareeta's mild description, Ced was even more sure now that he had said something stupid. Maybe that he was the only one who could fight Galzus, or something to that effect.

“At first, I didn’t give it any thought. But you said there he had the Mark of Od on his back.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Which I also have.”

Ced glanced at the mark on his hand. According to his mother, Lewyn had his own mark on his chest rather than his hand. He wondered if his case was more common, or if it usually worked more like Mareeta’s. “So that's how you knew.”

But Mareeta hadn't seemed to even know her father's name. He had much more information on Lewyn— but that was assuming his father hadn't taken steps to hide his identity.

“You said that you remembered what your father looked like.” Ced mused. “How long ago were you separated?”

“You were really paying attention.” Mareeta noticed. “But Eyvel adopted me when I was four. So twelv— I mean, thirteen years now.”

“The reason I'm asking all this…” Ced felt the need to clarify his situation so that his questions didn't seem quite so prying. “I've been searching for my father too, and I came to Munster to look for him. He's been missing for almost the same amount of time— fifteen years.”

Mareeta stared, speechless from the shock.

“But it sounds like you and your father were separated by accident.” Ced continued. “My father abandoned our family. I don't even know if he's interested in a reunion.” He couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“I'm sure he would want to see you again.” Mareeta insisted. “I hope you find him soon.”

He was tempted to say he didn't care about finding Lewyn anymore, but he didn't want to get into the details of why he was trying to find him in the first place. “We’ll see what happens.”

“Even after all that time, I still recognized my father. So it’s possible for the same to happen to you.”

“You still had to know where to look, though.” Ced pointed out.

“That’s true. And there were other things, too.” Mareeta continued. “Someone rescued me from Munster Castle when we were captured last year, but I didn't know who. The bishop…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “He kept hinting that it was important.”

“You mentioned a bishop back in the throne room too…” Ced’s suspicions increased when Mareeta’s shoulders tensed up.

“I’m not really sure if I should be talking about him.” She admitted.

“It was Bishop Saias, wasn’t it?”

Her wide eyes confirmed the answer, but then they narrowed again. “I forgot. You were the one who sent him.”

“I…” It would be a bad look to admit he sent the children off with basically a stranger, but it was probably worse for her to think he gave them over to a prominent Empire official, even if said official had very confusing motives. “I didn't know it was him. I wouldn't have trusted him if I knew.”

“But he did what you asked.” Mareeta mused. “And he helped me, too. I… can't tell if he's a good person or not.”

“I can't either.” He admitted. And the same went for Princess Ishtar, if what Saias had said was true.

“Well, at least I'm not the only confused one.”

He was about to say that nothing about Saias seemed easy to understand, but his eyes caught on two distinct figures. "I don't mean to change the subject, really, but…" Ced pointed towards a balcony jutting from the castle wall, below and a little to the left of where they were sitting. "I think those two are your parents, right?

"My parents?" Mareeta sounded like she didn't believe it, but she turned to look anyway. "I didn’t even… introduce…them…" She helplessly finished the sentence as the moonlight illuminated the clear figures of Eyvel and Galzus "...Is it wrong to want to eavesdrop?"

"I mean, it's wrong." Ced confirmed. "But, if I were you…"

Mareeta shut her eyes tight, straining to try and hear. But it was no use— just as Eyvel and Galzus didn't know they were there, Mareeta couldn't overhear their conversation either. "It's no use…" She muttered, standing up. "They're too far away. Let's move somewhere closer—"

"Wait." Ced withdrew Forseti and flicked it open. It began to glow faintly as the pages fluttered all on their own.

It was subtle— so subtle that Mareeta wouldn't have noticed if she didn't see the spell being cast— but the direction of the wind shifted, now blowing away from Eyvel and Galzus, towards Mareeta and Ced. And along with the wind, came two clear voices.

"Why did you want to talk to me?" Eyvel asked.

"That's a great trick." Mareeta whispered, a smile lighting up her face as she sat back down. He just gave a slightly embarrassed smile in response as Galzus's voice came through.

"I wasn't planning on bringing it up at all, but I'll just make it quick."

"Sorry, but…" Eyvel's hesitation was clear even from a distance. "I'm not quite sure who you are."

Galzus didn't bother elaborating. "My daughter… How you've raised her, what you've made of her…"

"Huh!? Your daughter!?"

"Yes."

Ced glanced at Mareeta, trying to gauge her reaction. "I wanted to tell them…" She whispered, when she realized Ced was looking at her. “I wasn't sure how to, but…” She trailed off when Eyvel's voice reached them again.

“So you were out there somewhere.” He could vaguely see Eyvel crossing her arms over her chest. “Always figured you were dead, to be honest.”

“Well…” Galzus looked uncomfortable even from here. “Guess I should explain myself. Her mother… died just after giving birth, and then the kid and I wandered the world together. I'm not proud of it!” He quickly said, raising his hands defensively. “But one day, I took my eyes off her for just a second… a group of slavers took her.”

Ced glanced at Mareeta— he sort of already knew that, from the conversation he overheard in the throne room, but at that time, the severity of the words hadn't really registered. She just rubbed the back of her neck and looked away.

“I guess I'll explain too.” Eyvel said. “She was just a little girl when I found her. A young, innocent thing, wrapped in chains and half dead… When I saw her, I just… I killed every last slaver, and their guards too. And then I tried to get her home, tried to find you…”

“It was my fault. I never should've led a nomad's life with such a small child to begin with.” The bitterness in Galzus's voice was clear. “My daughter was very lucky to have found you. This is selfish of me, but… I think it would be better if you continued looking after her.”

“I agree, because Mareeta is my daughter now. I wouldn't let you take her away from me even if you wanted to.”

A loud gasp came from Mareeta. At first he thought it was because of what Eyvel said, but as she lurched to the side a little, he realized that the stone under hand had crumbled.

He quickly stood up, and pulled her away from the edge too, just in time.

“What was that?” Galzus's clearly alert voice reached them. There was no doubt he was looking up at the rooftop, but he didn't say anything more. All they heard was the sound of the door opening and closing.

Mareeta sighed and walked back over to the edge. “Stupid rock.” She kicked the partially broken stone, sending the rest of it tumbling into the gardens below. “I wanted to hear more of that.”

“I keep feeling like I’m hearing things about you that I’m not supposed to.” Ced admitted. First her conversation with Galzus, and then her reunion with Eyvel— granted, a lot of other people were there for that— and now this.

“You would've found out eventually.” She shrugged. “...probably. Though, what happened to my birth mother…” Mareeta shook her head. “I didn't know that.”

He was starting to think he had an easy childhood compared to this girl. “Slavers, too… I can't imagine what that must've been like.”

Mareeta rubbed the back of her neck. She did that a lot, he had noticed. “I don't remember that much of it.” She said slowly. “Not because I don't want to, but I can't actually remember anything besides—”

The entrance to the rooftop abruptly flew open, the loud noise making them both turn to look. And there, standing in the doorway, were Eyvel and Galzus.

Chapter Text

Victory felt hollower than expected.

Mareeta sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Eyvel was fast asleep on the bed, while she sat in a chair next to her.

At first, it had seemed like Eyvel had gone perfectly back to normal after Sara used the Kia Staff on her. But it was obvious that there were some kind of lingering side effects, because Mareeta had noticed how pale her mother had gotten after climbing all those stairs, and the way her joints creaked that had never happened before.

She tried to quash the worry she felt. There was no indication that it was permanent. It had only been a matter of hours since they revived Eyvel. It would be pointless to get worked up now.

But despite those rational explanations, Mareeta was too restless. She tried quietly pacing around the room, doing stretches, anything to try and distract herself, but it wasn't possible for anything to work while Eyvel's sleeping body was in front of her, serving as a constant reminder.

She decided to try and find her father. After the battle, he had disappeared somewhere instead of coming up to the balcony, and Mareeta hadn't tried to find him or force him to come at the time. After all, the people of Munster probably knew him as one of their most terrifying enemies, and she hadn't even explained anything to Eyvel yet…

She stood up with a sigh. Mother would be fine on her own for a bit. But walking around the castle, talking to anyone who was still awake, it seemed that no one had seen Galzus. Most people didn't even know who she was talking about.

Asbel knew, though. “The scary man who's actually your dad?” He asked with wide eyes, and Mareeta felt a spark of hope. “No, I haven't seen him since the altar.”

So much for that.

But seeing Asbel had reminded her of another person she was supposed to talk to after the battle. “Do you know where the prince is?”

“Leif? I think he's with Nanna—”

“Not Leif.” She rolled her eyes. As if she would ever call her little brother by his title. “The other one. Prince Ced.”

Asbel's huge eyes seemed to get even wider, which she didn't even know was possible. But then he seemed to hesitate a little. “I think he's a bit tired…”

“It's not like I'm going to ask him to spar or anything.” She huffed. “I just wanted to talk about something.”

Asbel started at her with those wide eyes, and she stared straight back until he gave in. “He's on the rooftop.” He said with a sigh of defeat before reciting the directions.

“Thanks Asbel.” She patted him on the head. “See you later.”

“So it was you.” Galzus said to her, not seeming all that surprised to find her on the rooftop. But then his eyes shifted over to Ced. “And you.”

Ced took a nervous step back. He looked like he was contemplating jumping off the edge of the castle, so Mareeta stepped forward. “Father, I—”

“So it's true, Mareeta?” Eyvel interrupted. “This man really is your father?”

“Now you're doubting me!?”

“I'm just asking my daughter.”

“Sorry.” Mareeta sighed, quietly enough for only Ced to hear as Eyvel and Galzus continued bickering directly in front of the doorway. “This wasn’t supposed to happen…”

“Well, you've definitely got your work cut out for you.” He observed. “That is, if you care about them getting along.”

“I want them to—”

“How long were you two eavesdropping?” Galzus asked, finally turning back towards them with his arms crossed.

“We weren't!” Mareeta quickly lied before Ced could say anything. “Really, we could only see you two from here, it's too far to hear anything!” She waited with hands clasped behind her as Galzus walked closer to the edge and looked down at the balcony with a dubious expression.

Eyvel didn't seem to care if they had or hadn't heard anything. Instead, she was looking over Ced with curious eyes. “So you're Prince Ced?”

He just nodded hesitantly.

“I owe you my thanks, then. From what I heard, you played a great part in freeing this city.”

That seemed to embarrass him just as much as the hordes of admirers that had greeted him at the balcony earlier. “I did what I could…”

“And you did very well, dear.” Eyvel told him sternly. “Be proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

His eyes widened. “I…”

“We'll talk later, how about that?” Mareeta quickly offered.

“Right.” Ced nodded, obviously relieved to have been given an out. “I'll take my leave. Good night.”

“Hmmm…” Eyvel watched the door back into the castle rapidly swing back and forth before it finally slowed and closed. “He's a nice boy. Handsome, too.” She winked at her daughter.

“Wait, it's not like that—”

“Don’t go near him.” Galzus snapped.

“Wait, what?” Mareeta couldn’t help but ask, rubbing her previously injured shoulder as she remembered the arrow wound. “He hasn’t done anything wrong, I think…”

“It's just…” He shook his head. “I don’t like him.”

She was about to protest such an unreasonable statement, but Eyvel beat her to it. “Would you lighten up?” She elbowed Galzus. “It's n-ot—” Eyvel doubled over coughing, and Mareeta rushed over to support her. She gently lowered Eyvel down until they were sitting on the floor.

“You shouldn’t have come all the way up here.” Mareeta chided, remembering all the stairs that she needed to climb to reach this rooftop. “You shouldn’t even be out of bed.” She turned pointedly towards Galzus. He just shrugged.

“I wanted some fresh air.” Eyvel reassured her. “And we just ran into each other.”

“Sorry for leaving.” Mareeta said, now feeling quite guilty. “I just couldn’t—”

“It’s fine.” Eyvel patted her on the shoulder. “By the way, I know you were lying, dear.”

“Wait, really?” Galzus narrowed his eyes. “So you did hear?”

Mareeta sighed and slumped against the wall. She should've known Eyvel would see right through her. “We really couldn't, at first. But then… Well, the wind was blowing just right.” She opted not to mention Ced’s involvement in that. “I was planning to introduce you two, but you were asleep, Mother. And I couldn't even find you.” She looked up at Galzus.

“I’ve said what I needed to.” Galzus just said, and just as abruptly as he showed up, he disappeared again.

“What did you guys talk about!?”

“Asbel?” Ced questioned, rubbing his eyes. He was getting kind of sleepy again.

“Well?” Asbel prodded him— literally, Asbel poked him in the arm. “How was it?”

“You're the one who told Mareeta where to find me?” He didn't mean for it to sound accusatory, but Asbel shrunk back a little. It made sense, though— someone like her who didn't have much knowledge of Munster castle would need to have gotten very lucky to find the area where he was sitting.

“Sorry…” Asbel deflated a little. “I know you wanted to rest, but, umm… She's pretty scary, you know?”

“It’s okay.” He didn't quite agree with that assessment, though. And Asbel still looked a little guilty, so Ced reassured him again. “Really, it's fine. I wanted to talk to her.”

“You did!?” As expected, it worked perfectly, but now Asbel was staring at him with wide, pleading eyes. “About what?”

“Well…” Now that he thought about it, they had talked about things that he couldn't exactly share lightly. He didn't think he had ever told anyone that Lewyn had deliberately abandoned their family, and those of the Magi and the Liberation that knew he was looking for his father only found out because of his run-in with Karin. He didn't want to say anything about Saias until he was sure what was going on. And he had no right to tell Asbel or anyone about Mareeta's past or parents, even if there was a possibility he already knew. “We talked about our parents.” Ced finally admitted. It was true while being vague enough to not give anything away.

“Oh yeah!” Asbel gasped. “Galzus is really her dad!?”

“Yes, he really is.”

“Oh! And you're looking for your dad too!”

“Well, I was.” Ced scowled. “But now I think I should just go back to Silesse.”

“What!?” Asbel gasped. “You're leaving!? No, you can't!”

“Wait, Asbel, calm down!” Ced yelped as Asbel threw his arms around him. “It's not like I'm leaving tomorrow! I-In fact, I didn't even decide for sure yet!”

That seemed to appease Asbel enough for him to let go, but those big, watery eyes were still threatening him.

“Don’t worry Asbel.” He tried again. “I’m not just going to disappear on you. I promise.”

Though the castle was finally free from Friege’s control, the next few days were still full of activity. He opted to let Leif’s army absorb the Magi, letting his advisors dictate the reconstruction and recovery efforts. And in those next few days, the last of Leif’s convoy finally entered the city.

Machuya couldn’t have hid it if she tried— and she did try, but it was obvious that she kept disappearing to the same spot, a particular tent just outside the city.

Ced hesitantly knocked on the post outside the tent, not too long after Machyua had left for the moment.

“Macha?” Brighton’s voice came through immediately. “You’re back already?”

“It’s me. Ced.” He corrected.

“Sir Ced!?” Something fell over in the tent and Ced winced. “Come in, come in!”

He couldn’t immediately see what was wrong. Brighton seemed normal— very happy to see him, in fact. But when his former comrade stepped forward to greet him, he quickly realized it.

“Your leg.” Ced sputtered. It was probably rude to blurt it out like that, but he was in too much shock to really think about it. Because where Brighton’s left leg should’ve been, there was a wooden pole jutting out from under his clothes. “Your leg…”

Brighton looked down to the wooden peg, and Ced caught an obvious flash of sorrow on his face before Brighton quickly fixed his expression.

“The River Thracia… it was a chaotic battle.” Brighton recalled. “One of the ballista bolts struck my leg, and, well…” He shook his head. “That was it.”

“I'm so sorry.” He couldn't help but feel responsible. “If I hadn't sent you with Leif…”

“Maybe I wouldn't have gotten hurt?” Brighton finished the thought, but shook his head. “Or maybe I would've died if I stayed in Munster. There's no use regretting what's already happened.”

“You wanted to be a knight again.” One reassurance wasn't nearly enough to make the guilt go away.

“Macha will be a knight. For both of us.”

Machuya. Whatever he was feeling was definitely nothing compared to what she must've felt at the time. “I'm glad you have her.”

Brighton nodded. “This injury is a small price to pay if it means she and the others remain unscathed. Besides, I still get to help.” Brighton gestured to the papers on his makeshift desk. “You're speaking with the Liberation’s Master of Arms, you know?”

Besides visiting Brighton almost daily, he took on restoration related tasks, mostly taking inventory and overseeing others.

He didn’t really mind whatever they told him to do, given that it was usually very straightforward, but this situation he somehow ended up in was anything but.

“Please!” The woman in front of him sobbed. “They took him into the castle, but he’s not with the other children! You have to help me find him, please!” She could barely get the words out from how much she was crying.

“Don’t worry.” Ced reassured her, trying to sound much more calm and confident than he actually felt. “We’ll find your son. What does he look like?”

“Brown hair,” she hiccuped, “and, and brown eyes…”

That didn't help, he thought to himself. It had been days already since the castle had been seized, and as far as everyone knew, there were no kids left in the castle. And none of the children he had entrusted to Saias were from Munster either. So the woman's son had to be somewhere in the city… hopefully. He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news otherwise.

“I'll look around.” He told the woman. “I'll take you to the infirmary first— he might be over there.” Even if he wasn’t there, hopefully Linoan or Safy would have something that could help calm the woman down.

She sniffled and nodded, so they started walking that way. Along the way, Ced poked his head into any corners or alleys, but there were no lost children to be found.

They were just a few minutes walk away from the plaza that had been repurposed into an infirmary area when Ced heard a now-familiar voice.

“Really,” Mareeta sighed, “if you live in the Eastern Quarter, why were you wandering around here?”

The woman lifted her head up.

“Cause I got lost!” A little boy's defensive voice came through, and the woman gasped and started running ahead.

Ced followed behind, and when he rounded the corner, he found the woman on her knees, hugging a young boy with chestnut hair, and Mareeta standing just a few paces behind. “I was so worried about you!” The woman sniffled as she held her son.

The woman fervently thanked both of them, though Mareeta insisted that she hardly did anything, and Ced said the same thing. But finally, she and her son went on their way. As they walked down the street, they could vaguely hear the woman scolding her son.

“Where did you find him?” Ced couldn't help but ask.

“Just wandering around camp.” Mareeta shrugged. “Didn't want to admit he was lost at first, but it was written all over his face.”

The camp that made up the headquarters of the Liberation army was always bustling and crowded, so he didn't find it too strange that a kid could escape notice for a day or two. “Is your mother feeling better?” He asked next.

He wouldn't have been surprised to hear that Eyvel's condition remained the same, but Mareeta sighed heavily and sat down on a torn piece of wall in a way that made him worried. “She hasn't gotten better at all.” Mareeta admitted. “She keeps telling me not to worry, but…”

Ced, this isn’t something you should be worrying about.

“But you can't help it.” He finished, sitting down too. “I understand.”

Mareeta looked like she was about to ask more, but she thought better of it and looked back down at the ground. “I just feel helpless,” she said, “I don’t know anything about healing magic or remedies or anything that could help her recover. And the real healers don't know either.”

“It might take time.” Ced said slowly, but he was thinking of something else. No one had asked his input on Eyvel’s condition, but he was a decent healer too, even if he only became one out of necessity. And… “I know some remedies you could try—”

“You do!?” Mareeta’s eyes lit up, but Ced quickly tried to temper her expectations.

“Maybe you’ve already tried them.” He raised his hands in defense. “Or maybe they won’t do anything at all.”

“Anything’s worth a try,” she insisted. “Please.”

“I’m not trying to get your hopes up.” Ced warned again as they walked to the infirmary to find some writing supplies.

“I know.” Mareeta reassured him, but she already looked distinctly more optimistic.

That worried him slightly, as he didn't want to be giving her false hope. They ran into Princess Nanna on the way there. “Oh, Mareeta!” She stopped them. “Did you get that boy home safely?”

“We found his mom.” She nodded. “He should be safe and sound at home by now.”

Nanna smiled and left, but Ced thought she gave him a curious look before leaving.

“You know….” Mareeta began. “Apparently, that little boy was the one who found the Kia Staff.”

“What?”

As they walked, Mareeta explained the story that Nanna had told her about the Kia Staff’s secret hiding place.

“A secret room…” He shook his head. “I had no idea.”

“Who knows how long it might’ve taken to find.” Mareeta mused. “Or maybe, we never would’ve found it…”

“Don’t forget the seal.” Ced reminded her. “They went to great lengths to protect that staff.”

“Luckily, we had Sara there…”

They had reached the infirmary, which ended any further musings of what could've been, and they quickly borrowed a quill and parchment from Safy.

“Here are some things you could try…”

“You made this with what?” Eyvel wrinkled her nose.

“Crushed fish scales.” Mareeta repeated with her most pleading expression. Another one of Ced's remedies, though she wasn't telling her mother that. “I made sure it tastes good, don't worry.”

Eyvel relented with a sigh and took the bowl, but her expression quickly became one of pleasant surprise after trying a spoonful. “It’s good.” She admitted. “You've become a good cook too.”

“I did plenty of shifts in the kitchen.” Mareeta told her. “I'm going to go check on Father while you drink that.”

“Don't wear yourself out, dear.” Eyvel warned. “Just because he’s your father…”

“I know, I know.” Mareeta insisted. “But he talked a little more last time. Maybe he'll finally start to open up.”

Galzus usually stayed inside his quarters that were in the castle barracks. Mareeta had already visited him there a few times, but much to her disappointment, the visits usually consisted of them sitting in mostly quiet silence together. He just wasn't willing to talk about any of the subjects Mareeta wanted to talk about.

He didn't want to talk about her birth mother. He didn't want to tell her where she was born or what connection they had to Isaach's royals. He didn't want to talk about the first four years they spent together. He wouldn't even train or spar with her.

But she was determined to make it work, even if it meant she would just talk about her life in Fiana until he was willing to open up. Or at least, she was planning to, until she found the door to the room ajar and Galzus standing at the table, packing his things.

“Father?” She asked, but her voice was already breaking. Unfortunately, she had a good idea of what this meant. “What are you doing?”

Galzus couldn't look her in the eyes. “I'm going.”

“Why?” She couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t. It was true, it was awkward and quiet for most of the time they spent together, but that didn’t mean it was bad or worth giving up on. She never expected to undo the years spent apart in just a few days, but…

“What’s the point?” Galzus asked her. “In a week or two you’ll all go back to your village, and I’ll go back to my wandering mercenary life. So what’s the point of getting attached?”

“You don’t have to go back to that!” Mareeta insisted. “You can come live in Fiana, or anywhere nearby! We could see each other as much as we want!”

Galzus just scoffed.

“I don’t understand.” Mareeta couldn’t help it— she could feel giant tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. “All I ever wanted was to know my father, and now I thought my dream finally came true.”

“Wait, don’t cry.” Galzus dropped the compass he was holding from the shock. “Mareeta, wait, listen to me.”

“I’m listening.” She sniffled, if only because this was the most expressive thing Galzus had said since they seized the castle.

“There’s nothing I can tell you, nothing I could teach you, that would absolve me of my mistakes. I wasn’t there for you in the moment you needed me…” Galzus hands clenched into tight fists. “I have no right to call you my daughter, and you should not call someone with a heart as black as mine, ‘Father’”.

“But, what you said back in the castle…”

“I only intended to repay my debt to the woman who rescued you. Nothing more.”

“Father, please don't do this.”

“It's not because of you.” Galzus shouldered his pack. “I'm the one who doesn't deserve to be close to you.”

Mareeta stood in front of the door in a vain attempt to block it, and Galzus sighed. She was a tall girl, but he still towered over her. He grabbed her shoulder to push her aside, but Mareeta just buckled completely, and he instinctively knelt and caught her.

She was crying in earnest now, rambling nonsensically about nightmares and leaving. But he was focused on something else— on her back, he could feel the outline of countless scars under her tunic.

“Mareeta.” He tried to get her attention. “Mareeta?” But it was no use— whether from shock or exhaustion or just being overwhelmed, Mareeta had collapsed, fast asleep.

“Dehydration.” Safy scribbled on her parchment. “Exhaustion. Undoubtedly very high stress levels.”

Eyvel glared at Galzus. “This is all your fault. Bastard.”

Galzus scoffed. “You're the one who's ill. She's been running herself ragged trying to take care of you.”

“If you make my baby girl cry again, I’ll kill you.”

Safy coughed politely. “I would advise that you two not do… that… in front of her. Or anything else that may upset her.”

Safy then excused herself, leaving Eyvel and Galzus to glare at each other in peace. But eventually, he gave in.

“What happened?” He asked. “All those scars… I could feel them on her back.”

Eyvel fidgeted. “If she hasn’t told you, then I’m not sure that I should.”

“I have to know.” Galzus couldn't believe he was begging this woman, but he couldn't get his mind off of it. “Please.”

Eyvel was silent, and just as he was about to swallow his pride and ask again, she finally spoke.

“The slavers did it.” She told him. “Why, or how… I don't know. They were already there when I found her.” Even all these years later, Eyvel's voice was shaking from anger. “I killed all of them on the spot.”

Galzus averted his eyes, unable to even look at Eyvel.

“So I’m telling. You. Again.” Eyvel suddenly turned on him, and his eyes instinctively snapped back. “My baby girl has had enough tears for a lifetime. If you make her cry, I’ll kill you.”

It only reaffirmed his idea that Mareeta was better off without him. But when she woke in the middle of the night, he was the only one there.

It was a coincidence, really— he was just trying to avoid the times that her mother and her gaggle of friends were there.

“Father…?” She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

“I'm here.”

Mareeta looked at him with bleary, unfocused eyes. “Is this another dream?”

“No.”

“You care.”

It wasn’t a question. After waking up in the morning, she had immediately asked someone to bring Galzus to her room.

And now, she was stating the facts to him. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have rescued me from the castle last year. You wouldn’t have betrayed Raydrik, and you wouldn’t have saved me in the altar. You keep saying you don’t deserve to be my father, but you've already protected me so many times.”

“If I mess up again… or if I lose you somehow…”

“That won’t happen.” Mareeta said earnestly. “I’m not a helpless child anymore.”

“You should’ve told me. About the scars.”

“When?” She countered. “You didn’t want to talk to me, remember? If I started with that, you might have run away on the spot.”

Galzus winced. “Even now, I feel like I shouldn't be here…”

“And how is running away going to help?” Mareeta asked. “You'll just keep living in regret.” She balled up her hands, scrunching up the blanket inside her fists. If this didn't work, she would be the one who would have to let go.

Her father looked affronted by the suggestion. “How do you expect me to forget what happened?”

“I'm not asking you to forget.” Mareeta insisted, because now she finally understood what Saias had been trying to tell her. “You can remember, but don't keep regretting what happened in the past.”

Galzus stared at her for what felt like forever. When he finally moved, she feared for a moment that he would walk through the door, leave her again, for good this time.

But he just collapsed into the chair by her bedside and covered his face with his hands. “Is it really… okay…?”

She leaned forward and peeled his hands away. “It is.”

“The bishop said you're better off without me.”

“Bishop Saias isn't always right.” Mareeta scowled, remembering the bridge. And even besides that, he could've just told her that her father was here…

Galzus snorted. It was the closest thing to a laugh Mareeta had ever heard, and she was still trying to process it when Galzus stood up.

“When they let you out, come to the training ground. Bring your sword.”

Her eyes widened. “Does this mean you're staying?”

“Yes.”