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[Blade Master Model 42]

"Screw 'em." Sheila said when Leo brought up the rebellion. "The Emperor and the Empire are both trash, sure, but without a plan of what to do after, all dethroning the Emperor will do is get blood everywhere. And I never got an answer to what they planned once the bastard was dead. Things are bad, but they could plunge the whole world into civil war as people scramble to claim the throne. I don't have an interest in being part of that."

"Seems like you're right about Alec, yeah. Maybe Efa is in?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

"You're probably right. Without a plan to improve matters, the situation could just end up worse than it was. At the same time, I worry about leaving. They might hunt us for fear of compromising their secrets."

Sheila suggested finding Efa, and Leo nodded. He followed her along to the archer's room and knocked politely at the door.

"Efa? It's Leo and Sheila. Are you awake?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

"They need all the manpower they can get, as we already know. I doubt they'd devote anyone to hunting us down. Besides, I think we've all made it fairly clear that none of us support the empire, even if we don't support the rebellion. They probably wouldn't guess we'd do that. Probably."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"It is still a risk."

He didn't feel like dwelling on that.

"How did these past two days find you, Sheila?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

"Uh well, everyone else was really busy. You were doing your Sainthood stuff, Fezz was nowhere to be found and Grifen was busy treating injuries. So, I mostly just hung out and ate the food. And the sisters kept brushing me off whenever I asked what you were doing..."

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo chuckled nervously.

"Oh... they didn't tell me you came looking for me. I think they were rather enamored of me... I suppose they don't have male priests in Kretos. I didn't see any. Perhaps they believed they owed our sparing their lives to me? They did rather fawn over me a bit. As I said, this... makeover was their idea. I think it was the first time I've had a haircut in ten years."

That was probably terrible news for Sheila, since it meant she'd have to wait years for his hair to grow back out that long.

"Regardless, there was a lot to do. I had to sign the appropriate documents, write letters to the proper priests, perform the normal ceremonies... and then I also helped out with the rituals for the people we killed in the assault and take confession. Then I taught Fezz as much as I could about mediation in the brief time I had apart from all of that and sleeping. It's been a pretty eventful weekend."

[Sirus]

Grifen stepped inside Fezz's room, almost-but-not-quite closing the door behind her to cut out most of the light.Her pulse quickened slightly in the near-darkness, but she kept her voice even.

: "Mornin' Fezz. Matilda is askin' fer us to come down to the audience chamber. Guess she's got somethin' to say, and Sheila says she seemed pretty excited." The nomad took another step into the room, trying to make out the scholar's face in the gloom.

: "Do ya think ya can make it? If yer headaches are bad today, I can come back after the meeting and tell ya what happened."

[Xanmyral]

[FLASHBACK]

"He did, and he has. Our parents weren't the most well off, doing what they could to survive. They didn't expect twins, and they were afraid. They weren't sure if they could be able to care for three, much less four."

"My father, Sir Scordato, he aided them in their time of need by adopting me. I don't begrudge them. Scordato raised me well, and even if we're not by blood, he is my father no less." The scholar smiled as he thought back.

"I don't know why they didn't say anything to you though, I had thought they would of... Said something." The historian scratched the back of his neck and looked off to the side for a moment. "...Are they...?"


[PRESENT]

The historian dragged himself off of the bed and patted his clothes down. Looks like he was already dressed for travel, only needing to put his boots on and properly clasp everything tight.

"I can come, they've been getting better and better as the days pass thanks to you and Leo."

Looking around the dark room, the historian 'hmm'ed. The light from the doorway grew dimmer into the room, but in front of the historian a more brilliant light took place, a soft globe the size of a pebble that gave off a light comparable to a strong candle. He gathered his tomes thanks to the light, and he was soon ready to go.

The light-pebble, for its part, followed him in his tasks and moved of seemingly free-will. Once he finished, it moved towards Grifen, as if intrigued by in the nomad.

[Sirus]

Grifen gazed at the orb, fascinated. She reached out and almost touched it.

: "That's so cool! I mean, I figgered you could make beams of light from yer hands and stuff but I never imagined something like this! When'd you learn how to do that?"

[Powder Miner]

Efa groaned as her door was knocked on.
:"Urgh. Gimmea sec."

[Xanmyral]

When her finger drew near the orb, the light stayed where it was. It wasn't hot, it didn't really feel like much of anything was there despite the obvious light. The mote of light twirled around the nomad's hand, but she felt no disturbance in the air. Fezz smiled wide when Grifen complimented him on his magic.

"It was actually the first magic I ever learned. Back then it was more of a literal candle light though. This kind of magic is surprisingly malleable, I've been practicing my control over it lately."

The mote shivered for a moment in the air and changed. Two strange parts of it broke off and its body elongated and continued to change. Soon, it looked like a crude representation of a butterfly or moth, oval body being held aloft by its flapping 'wings.' It landed on the nomad's hand, although she couldn't feel it.

[Blade Master Model 42]

Sheila scowled and crossed her arms. "Wow, I thought women of the cloth weren't supposed to behave like that. How shameful." It was rather unlike Sheila to criticize that sort of behavior from someone else- Or at least hypocritical. "I still think they made a huge mistake chopping your hair off. You could have had, like, a stately braid or something. It's way too short now."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"I see. I suppose I can't fault their reasoning."

"I suppose they never said anything out of shame. The people of our hometown are very proud and self-sufficient people."

Fezz had asked a trailing question, and Leo attempted to answer.

"No, I haven't heard anything. Why? Do you want to visit them?"


"I don't think it was like that. They are priestesses, Sheila."

His tone was unsure, though.

"Unless things are quite different here in Kretos..."

Efa had answered from inside, and he turned his attention to the door rather than answer Sheila's odd obsession with his hair.

"All right, we'll wait."

[Blade Master Model 42]

"Well, uh, how different?" Sheila asked, unable to stop herself. "You've uh, never really elaborated on what you are allowed to do."

"I mean, all I know for sure is that you can't go all the way, so, what are you allowed? Just out of curiosity, I mean."

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo shrugged and folded his arms.

"Nothing overt, if that's what you're thinking. I would hardly break my vows for people I barely know. All I meant was that they seemed a bit friendler than the priestesses back in Ironmill, and I imagine it's because I haven't seen any male priests around here so my existence must be novel to them. I imagine the old duke made sure only priestesses were here. Disgusting."

Leo raised an eyebrow to her further questioning.

"Nothing that would be considered untoward. Why the curiosity?"