Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete

Alright, Rest and Recover won, but it did remain close.

Could I get a d4 please. It won't show up this next chapter, but the one afterwards.

"Your commitment to your wellness is part of the revolution."
-Sub-Marshal Danielle to Sky-Marshal Victoria


Far sooner than you would have liked, the column of returning soldiers reaches the camp. All around you, you can hear welcoming cheers as those men and women who'd stayed behind greet their comrades, congratulating them on a great victory, asking for stories, and generally celebrating. You're sure there are some sad moments, people who are finding out that their friends aren't coming back, but on the whole everyone's in a pretty good mood.

You'd think that the people who'd participated in the raid, yourself included, would all be bundled off to bed while those who'd stayed keep you all safe. After all, you'd spent the last day and night awake! However, for reasons best known to the human brain, Artemis, once she's seen to Actaeon, begins making her way towards the command tent, along with the other nobles and leaders, for a meeting.

Meetings are good. Meetings are essential. Meetings should be held when everyone's awake!

Still, Artemis is your friend, and if there's going to be talk about what to do next you should probably be present for that… even if you are feeling a little grouchy as Dragon-You's irritation at being kept up flickers throughout your being. Therefore, you sigh and begin trudging after her.

However, your friend looks back with a small frown. "Ryza, you know you don't always have to join these things," she says. "You worked harder than anyone else last night with the possible exception of Dame Angela and her flight. Nobody'd think less of you if you were to go and rest, especially since you're going to have to find where your tent was put up. It should be near mine in the Agrithian section, but if someone forgot you can just use mine." She grimaces. "I have the feeling this is going to drag on a bit."

You hesitate, but you are really tired… "Alright," you say, letting your other self make the decision, in this case it's probably the right one. "Thank you. Sorry I'm too tired to help."

Artemis smiles. "As good a friend you are, Ryza, I did survive seventeen years before I met you, some of which involved dealing with a bunch of men trying to claim credit for things." She reaches out and pulls you into a one-armed hug. " Get some rest, Ryza, and don't worry. I won't let them either gloss over your contributions or volunteer you for anything."

"Okay," you say. "Thank you."

Your friend ruffles your hair. "You've given so much already," she says. "What good is victory if it breaks the ones who win it?"

It takes a while to find your way to Artemis's tent, with most of the soldiers being busy celebrating. Thankfully, Belle and Kelton remain with you, and they're able to help you see over the crowd without you having to use your tired wings. Thankfully, it seemed that whoever had been organizing things while you and Artemis had been in the Divine Realm had remembered to leave space for you and your friends, and so you were able to crawl in and lay down on the warm mat. You'll pay for this later with a messed-up sleep schedule, but for the moment you need sleep.

As you pull the blanket Mother had left for you over your head, you find your mind drifting back to those many frantic minutes of dragon-form flying and fighting. You remember the looks of horror, the screams of fear, the smell of blood…

'…We did the right thing, didn't we?' Dragon-you asks, picking up on your flickers of distress and taking them into herself, her Determination having long since been spent.

Quickly, you wrap yourself in her and her in yourself. Of course you had, you think logically. All evidence points towards some nefarious force in the Empire driving it to try and take over everyone else by force, no matter what the normal people thought. You're just protecting the people you care about, the people who would fight whether or not you did.

Your thoughts spin for a few more moments before both halves of yourself come to concordance. You know that you are doing what you have to, even if it's not what you want to.

However, you also decide that you do not want to go to war tomorrow.

That's fine, you think as you curl up into a ball under the blanket and let your tired body fall asleep. After all, Artemis had said that there would be time to rest. Unless something absolutely crazy happened, tomorrow, you would just… rest. Regather yourself, recover, maybe do some reading. Just… be Ryza for a day. Not Mistress Levinheart or the dragon fighting for Agrithe, just Ryza.

---

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kelton asks as you finish packing your scrolls into your bag, along with some food and water. "I mean, just because we punched the Imps in the face pretty hard last night doesn't mean the war's over, right?"

You nod. "I know," you say. "But you heard Artemis's announcement to the rest of the Agrithains, we're all getting a rest day, I don't see why that doesn't apply to me."

Belle looks up from where she's tenderly polishing her new sword (you're starting to think she loves that thing a little too much…). "I don't think he's saying that, boss," she says. "I think he's just a bit worried that you're going to be out of camp by yourself. You are small, squishy, and just painted a really big target on yourself last night. I wouldn't put it past the Empire to try and pull some crazy stunt."

Sighing, you fold your arms. "I understand that you're worried about me," you say. "And I appreciate it! Really, I do! But… but I just want to have a bit of time to rest and think on my own." Your friends glance at each other. "Which doesn't mean I don't like you or don't want to be around you or anything!" you continue hurriedly, a flicker of worry fanning within your other self before you can fully channel it away.. "It's just… sometimes, when I was little, I would just want some quiet time, and I'm feeling that feeling again."

"I mean, I guess," Kelton says. "But you could stay and rest in camp-"

You raise an eyebrow before gesturing around. "Kelton, do you really think I'm going to get any rest here?"

The soldier grimaces, nodding in understanding. You'd slept through the morning and most of the afternoon, but even as the day wears on and evening approached, the sounds of shouts, horses, armor, hammers, bowstrings, more shouts, and any number of other things fill the air. Almost constantly, groups of riders cycle through the camp from the scouting and poking they were doing towards the Imperials (not nearly as many as before, from what you've heard these are just the backup horsemen who didn't take part in the raid trying to keep the pressure on). Even after all you've done getting used to being around large numbers of humans, you don't understand how anyone could find this sort of thing relaxing.

"I promise, I'll be careful," you continue, pointing. "I'm going to go to that grove of trees near that stream over there, back to the east. It's away from the Empire, so I doubt anyone'd go poking there. I'll also take a careful look around to make sure there's no trouble before I settle down."

"…alright," Kelton says, patting you on the head. "Alright, we'll let Lady Cartese know where you're going in case something comes up, but hopefully we did enough damage last night that the Imps won't be able to try anything."

Nodding, you close your bag and heft it onto your back, feeling a bit pleased with yourself that it's not as hard as it was when you first started carrying it around. "I hope so too," you say. "I hope they take what I said to heart and just go away so this can all be over."

From the way your friends glance at each other again, you're pretty sure neither of them think that's going to happen. However, they're kind enough not to say so, not when you're just about to go take a break! They do walk with you as you make your way to the edge of the camp. You could have flown all the way, but that would draw attention and right now you honestly don't want a lot of that. You'll have to fly eventually, but by that time everyone will be behind you so it'll be easier to ignore the staring. You do hear some shouts and cries as you finally lift off and make your way towards the hopefully private spot, but since none of them are people you know, you are able to pretend you don't, and you soon leave the camp far behind you.

After a few minutes of flying, including a few circles around the grove to make sure that nobody's already there, you settle down in the middle, tipping your head back and taking a long, slow breath. It's quiet here, more quiet than anyplace you've been since you left Agrithe to come north. You know what you're doing is important, but it is nice to let your ears rest for a while.

Walking to the stream, you find a big, dry rock to put your bag on before taking your boots and socks off and dipping your feet into the cold water. Leaning back against the rock, you sit quietly, letting the flow of the stream slide against your feet and calves, washing away the ache.

'This is nice,' your dragon says. 'We should do this more often.'

'We should,' you agree, looking at a nearby tree. It's different from the ones you'd grown up around, with much bigger leaves than the small green needles of the mountain trees around your home. You've seen others like it, but you take the time to be quietly amazed at the sheer variety of different things that live in this world. Once this stupid war is over, you should take some time to just look around the continent. You'd never really had much wanderlust as a child, but after what you've already seen, what other wonders might you find? Of course, this would be after you did some work on helping humans use magic without dragonstones, looked for other manakete survivors-

Your other self tries to pull away from the coils of melancholy that start leaking into your thoughts as you remember all the things you need to do. 'No. No being sad or thinking about hard things right now,' she says. You nod, channeling your emotions to calmer thoughts. That tree looks really nice, and it has those odd nicks by some of its branches…
A memory drifts through your mind, and you allow yourself to sink into it.


"Mother, I'm tired!"

Your mother turns to look at you from where she's standing further down the path, her long gold hair flowing like a cape in the wind along the slopes below Kepesk-Okar. "That's alright, sweetie," she calls. "Come on, we'll rest here."

But she's so far, your forty-five year old mind thinks desperately. However, you don't want to disappoint her, so you force your aching feet to keep going, finally reaching the big rock she'd sat down on twenty or so of her paces ahead of you, even though it feels like miles and miles to you. "Why do we have to walk so far?" you whine as you first try to clamber up onto the rock next to her, before finally giving up and spreading your wings to flutter onto it. Your wings are tired too, having hovered some of the way down to try and make your feet hurt less.

Mother wraps an arm around you to pull you close. "Because despite what your father sometimes thinks, there is more to the world than just scrolls and tablets," she says teasingly, leaning down to kiss your forehead. "And I want you to be able to see it for yourself."

You puff up your cheeks. "But couldn't Dragon-You just fly me?" you ask.

"While all parts of me love spending time with you, my dearest child, that's excessive and you know it," Mother says. "Besides, you're getting to be a big girl now. You're growing up, which means that you don't need Father and I to carry you everywhere."

"But I'm tired…"

"And that's alright," Mother says. "Because you did make it here." Turning your head, she points you up towards the door, barely visible as a rough rectangle in the wall. "Look how far you walked."

Sighing, you point down the slope. "But there's so much further to go…" you say despondently.

Mother is silent for a few seconds before pointing. "Do you see that big tree, the one that's standing by itself a bit?" she asks. You nod. "When I was a little older than you, I followed my bigger cousins there. They liked climbing it, challenging each other to get to the top. It was much shorter then, but it was still pretty tall."

"But couldn't you just fly up?" you ask.

"None of us were Sky-Blessed, I think that comes from your father's side," Mother says. "But where was I? I wanted to play too, but it was hard for me to climb up. What Saph did was make a little mark on the highest branch I could get to each day, like this." Her hand glows with Red magic as she causes the stone you're sitting onto to develop a long, smooth groove. "That way, each time I got higher than that, I could tell that I was improving." She pulls you into her lap, her wings extending to wrap around you. "You got tired here today, and that's okay. Next time we take this walk, you'll be a little stronger, get a little further. That's how we grow."

Smiling, you lean back into her embrace, tilting your head so you can look up into her eyes. "Yes, Mother," you say.


Swallowing, you stand, drying your feet on some grass before putting your socks and boots back on. Then, you make your way to the marked tree, running your fingers along its bark. "Look how far we've gotten," you say to yourself. "We can't even see the door from here." Hopping up, you grab onto the lowest branch and begin pulling yourself up with arms and legs alone, though your wings remain open just in case you slip.

It's difficult, but eventually you find yourself sitting at the top of the tree, letting you look out over the plains of the north part of the continent. 'Go us!' Dragon you says as you add a scratch to the top branch, alongside several others. Someone must have been climbing this tree, probably some children from that village you see a mile or so further east. You wonder if anyone will notice that someone else climbed their tree and left their own mark on it.

'Yes, go us,' you think, taking a rest.

Several long minutes pass before you fly down to retrieve your bag. You'd proved your point already, no need to do it again. As you consider what scroll to read, your eyes fall on The Dragon Within. Your other side's first two outings had both gone well, but Mother always said that growth was something that should never really stop. It was up to you to work to always be more in tune with all parts of yourself.

Unrolling the scroll, you find where you'd left off.

The Path may be named after the Awakening, but that is not where it ends. While it is expected and encouraged for heart and dragon to spend time simply getting to know each other after an Awakening, eventually they will need to begin working to improve their communication and coordination, so that they can mature into solid, stable manakete wholes.

'I think we're doing really well!' your dragon says, picking up on a tiny flicker of irritation and spinning it into herself.

You nod. 'True, but we have had a few snags. Let's see what the elders have to say.'

While different manakete will find different ways to work with themselves, one of the most common next steps is the Twinning of Wills. While both heart and dragon are awake, at this point in a manakete's psychological development they remain separated by which body they use. Aside from a few difficult rituals discussed elsewhere in this scroll, the heart is completely in control of the Heart-Form, and the dragon fully in control of the Dragon-Form. This is good and helpful to ensure that there is structure and organization in our lives, but there will be times when one or the other will wish to directly interact with the world while the manakete's body is in the other's form.

'You know, you're right, they're really smart! I could do all sorts of good if I could be in charge sometimes without people getting scared because I'm bigger than they are!'

Rolling your eyes, you "bop" yourself. "If you keep interrupting, we won't get anywhere!" Dragon you simply coils with teasing interest as you keep reading.

Dragons tend to be more insistent on retaining control of their own bodies, especially since they have usually spent so long with so little time being able to be the one directing the body. Thus, the first step will likely be the heart's, to invite their dragon to stand in their soft soles and truly feel what it is like to be small.

Even as your other self huffs, heart-you thinks that statement over. It makes sense. How often had your dragon whined about how unfair it was that you got to be in charge most of the time? While it was necessary, since she does tend to act first without thinking about whether you've missed some human social cue (such as when she'd zapped that poor Imperial Kelton'd hurt who you could have saved…). You shake your head, no thoughts about the stupid war right now. You're busy trying to be a better Ryza. You keep reading.

By our nature, manakete call upon our dragon in times of stress and trouble. While the heart will remain in conscious control, the dragon serves to protect the shared psyche from fear, doubt and second-guessing in times when decisive action is needed. To allow the dragon to step into the shoes of the Heart-Form, one needs to practice deepening this instinctive connection. By the methods one has learned to reach for the dragon within, wrap yourself in them, allow them to shape your actions. It will take time, and care must be taken not to trigger an unstructured transformation that might bring about Draconic Feedback, but with practice, the next step on the Path will be taken.

Reaching the end of the section, you think over the scroll's words. In addition to the obvious benefit of letting your dragon interact with a bigger part of your life, so your friends can know all of you better, you're pretty sure that this act would allow your dragon to call upon the full weight of her power, at least for a little while. It probably wouldn't be safe to do it for long in a stressful situation like a fight, but if you wanted to, you could probably have nearly dragon-level magical strength in a heart-sized package…

That… could be very useful. In fact, it almost sounds like what you did when you were taking the practical portion of your test at the Marble Hall. Giving yourself entirely over to your dragon, letting her take the fore… and the results had been enough to stun even Blitzbolt into keeping his anti-manakete mouth shut! If your dragon had been Awakened at the time, would she have been able to speak directly? Move of her own will?

"Alright," you say. "Does this sound good to you?"

'YES!' Dragon-you thinks eagerly. 'Let's do it now right now!'

Laughing, you lean back. 'The scroll did say we'd need to practice,' you say. 'But yes, I think we should start working on this step.' Closing your eyes, you allow your wings and ears to lengthen as you dive into your draconic power, trying to push yourself deeper, to call upon her more fully, to focus…

It sort of works. You are able to pull your dragon closer, but in this peaceful place, you're not able to get nearly as deep as you feel you'd have to by the time you lose concentration and resurface.

That was okay. As Mother had said, it's okay to get tired, to make a little mark and say "I will do better next time."

(Twinning of Wills: 1/3 sessions completed.)

---

Night is starting to fall by the time you fly back to camp. You'd mostly focused on practicing the Twinning of Wills, but you'd also taken time to read other, lighter scrolls, as well as simply enjoy the peace and quiet. Tomorrow, you'll probably have things to do, but today's rest has done you a lot of good.

Landing, you begin making your way quietly through the camp on foot. You do still hear the whispers and feel eyes on you, especially since you're in the Vennlani portion of the camp. You haven't spent much time around this kingdom's group, since they didn't have the big cavalry contingent of Agrithe or Parves. From what you've figured out, they seem to be more focused on fortifications and siege-works, with several big ballistas mounted on towers sticking out of the makeshift wall around the Kingdoms camp.

No wonder Sir Rimpler's always talking about making defenses and fortifications, that's apparently what he's really good at!

As if summoned by your thoughts, you hear the knight's voice from ahead. A moment later, you hear Artemis responding to him. Turning, you begin making your way over, wondering what they're talking about.

You find the pair soon enough, standing off to one side of a main pathway as they talk to each other. You frown slightly as you see how tense Artemis's stance is, slowing your steps and closing your mouth before you call out to her.

"-still have my doubts," the man is saying, the feather in his big hat bouncing as he looks down at your smaller friend.

Artemis's eyes narrow. "Surely, after all she has done, Mistress Levinheart has more than proven herself as a friend of the Kingdoms?" she asks, her tone dangerously icy.

The older man doesn't seem cowed, however. "Perhaps, though I question why the dragon has wandered off, nowhere to be seen," he says. "Reliable soldiers are-"

"Manakete," Artemis snaps. "And Mistress Levinheart is not a knight of Agrithe, she is Head Mage, which as I would have thought you would know means that she's trusted and enjoys the right to flexibility and discretion." Your friend takes a step forwards into Sir Rimpler's space. "And even if she didn't, the war council decided that those forces that took part in the raid last night would take time to rest and reconstitute, while those that hadn't pull their weight."

You can't see Sir Rimpler's face, but from the way his shoulders go rigid, you get the feeling he does not appreciate that comment. "There is a place for heroic charges of unarmored horses and half-armored riders," he says. "But while casualties were surprisingly low, they did exist, and Dame Angela's report said that a pair of wyvern messengers was seen flying to the Meridiem army as the Northlanders began their withdrawal. When they arrive, they will be less susceptible to Agrithe's… preferred methods."

Okay, this is getting out of hand. Trying to hurry while not looking like you're hurrying, you make your way over, nodding to Phoebe as she spots you. "Hello," you say, pretending you hadn't overheard them arguing. Father and Mother had never liked it when you heard them fighting, after all.

"Ryza," Artemis says, softening her voice. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm well," you say. "Being in dragon form can be stressful, so it's important that I take time to rest to make sure we're both ready when we need to be. I was also practicing something interesting to do with my other half." You make sure not to look at Sir Rimpler as you say that, waiting for a few seconds before turning to look between him and your friend. "So, did anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

The man is silent for a moment before answering in a calm, even voice. "Scouts have determined that the Imperial army opposing us up until now is retreating," he says. "Though they do maintain a significant number of soldiers."

You nod. "Well, the more people they have, the more people they have to feed, right?" you say. "Which means it will be longer before they can come back." The man slowly nods. "Which means that, so long as we all work together, we won't have to worry about being outnumbered by the other Imperials when they arrive. Isn't that right?"

The two nobles glance at each other. "That's true," Artemis says. "We certainly won't have to fear the sort of attack we launched, with the fortifications that have been set up here."

Sir Rimpler's lip twitches, but he accepts the peace offering and nods. "They would have to get here, first," he says. "While they might have the heavy cavalry to punch through a cordon, it would be painful for them, and we'd have plenty of warning."

Forcing yourself not to smile, you nod. "Great! Well, I was going to head back to try and get some sleep," you say. "Tomorrow I'll probably go see if I can help the healers, it'll be good to practice my White magic a bit. You coming, Art- Lady Cartese?"

Artemis raises an eyebrow, but nods. "Yes, that sounds good," she says. "Most of our people have recovered, so if the Imperials haven't finished retreating by tomorrow we can see about picking off stragglers, remind them why they're running with their tails between their legs." She gives the Vennlani knight a nod. "Sir Rimpler."

"Lady Cartese," he replies, giving a small bow before turning to leave.

As you and Artemis head back towards your tents as well, Artemis sighs. "Thank you, Ryza," she says. "I was letting my temper get the better of me. Thank you for reminding me that, as much as we sometimes irritate each other, we are all on the same side right now."

You look up at Artemis, noticing the bags under her eyes. "Did you get any rest today?" you ask.

She sighs again. "Not as much as I probably should have," she says. "Spent most of the morning arguing with the rest of the leadership, where we alternated between congratulating each other, second guessing every single decision, and arguing whether we should march in force to try and finish the Imps off." Her eyes turn down. "Then I had to go through and look at how everyone was doing. We came off better than I'd hoped, thank you and the spirits, but there were still casualties, especially when we started to hit the enemy camp's wall. We won, and it was absolutely worth it, but it stung."

You cock your head. "Is there anything I can do?" you ask.

She shrugs. "I think you have the right idea to go check in with the healers tomorrow, relieve any of them that are getting tired, but for now things seem to be alright. I'll probably need to check in with the horse-"

Reaching out, you take her hand. "Do you need to do that?" you ask. "Or can someone else do it so you can get some rest?" When Artemis gives you a surprised look, you cling on more tightly. "I felt a lot better after I took a rest. You will too."

Your friend hesitates, but a soft cough from behind you draws both your eyes to Phoebe. "My lady, I think Mistress Levinheart has a point," she says. "We have had a long day, night and another day. You need sleep."

"But I'm in charge of these people!" Artemis says. "I can't-"

"My lady, we both know that Dame… that Selena would have dragged you back to your tent a long time ago if she'd been here," Phoebe says.

Artemis freezes for a long moment before slowly sighing and nodding. "She would have, wouldn't she?" she says softly. "Alright. Just give me a moment to give some directions, then I'll go take a rest. For her sake." You and Phoebe nod, falling in behind her as Artemis makes her way to a man you vaguely remember as one of Archduke Cartese's knights who acts as one of Artemis's aids. You don't understand most of the instructions she gives him, but he bows sharply.

"I will see it done, my lady," he says.

"I know you will," Artemis says. "If you have any issues, bring them to my attention immediately."

As she turns to head back towards the tents, you see Phoebe subtly shaking her head at the other man and gesturing to herself. He raises an eyebrow, but glances after Artemis before nodding and turning to carry out whatever job he'd been given.

Walking beside the two humans, a thought strikes you. "Artemis, Phoebe…" you say. "I… I've heard you mention Selena a lot. She's clearly important to you both. Would… could you tell me a bit about her?"

Artemis hesitates as she reaches her tent before nodding. "I suppose you've told us a lot about your parents, Ryza," she says. "So it's only fair. Phoebe-"

The cavalier nods. "I don't mind," she says. "Mistres-" You give her a Look. "Ryza is a friend to us both, and I'm sure Selena would have loved her. Eventually." She smiles sadly. "Besides, it has been… spirits, how long has it even been?" Taking the flap of the tent, she holds it for you and Artemis. "I'll just go grab something to drink for us all, since I get the feeling this will be a long talk. Then, after that, you get some sleep."

"Thank you," you say, crawling into the tent. It's mostly the same as the little one that you'd been given, just with a stand for Artemis's cloak and leather armor and another for her bow. You politely turn your back as Artemis slips out of her outfit and into a lighter tunic.

Once she's done, Artemis comes over and sits on the sleeping mat, running a brush through her long hair. "So, what do you want to know?" she asks.

You consider for a moment before shrugging. "Whatever you're willing to tell me," you say, sitting cross legged in front of her. "I heard from Robin that your father introduced you two. What happened with that?"

Artemis chuckles. "Well, if Robin was talking about my childhood, he would probably tell you I was a difficult daughter sometimes," she says. "Void, Father probably thinks I still am." She shakes her head. "Well, nobles will traditionally have a retainer or two, to act as a combination of trusted bodyguard and confident. Normally they choose their own, but since I was a child Father found someone for me."

Cocking your head, you frown. "I know he's busy, but why couldn't he or your mother look after you?" you ask. After all, Father and Mother had often been busy, but they'd always had time for you.

"I think you underestimate just how busy my father can get when he feels he has to," Artemis says. "There had just been a very nasty border war between Rignali and Legerius, one that Father was trying to mediate before Mantrae decided to ask for help from her family in the Empire, which would have been a disaster. That meant Father and Mother were often away, and when they were around they were having meetings." She shrugs. "Nowadays, I understand the importance of that, but I was a child, and not a precocious one like you. I did not take being shoved off well, so I shoved back."

Honestly, you can't imagine doing anything like that. You suppose that it could be that Artemis had been able to see so many other people, while Mother and Father had been your entire world, so any thought of sowing discord was out of the question. "So they thought Selena could help you?" you ask.

"Well, that and Father was still trying to convince me to take more interest in the knightly training he figured I'd need, so he thought having a cool woman knight around would help with that." She snickers. "Of course, that didn't work out the way he planned, but I suppose it did help Selena and I bond." She gestures you closer, and as you approach she starts brushing your hair. "I wasn't super fond of Selena at first. She was the daughter of one of my father's household knights, and while I could admit she was cool I was still being a brat about the whole thing. However, she convinced me to come with her to the training yard, and that's where I saw Robin. I decided then and there that I wanted to be an archer girl."

"And you worked out, didn't it," you say.

Artemis nods. "It did, thanks in part to Selena encouraging me. She would take me to the yard all the time, especially when Robin was around, and let me watch. I'm sure in part it's because she wanted me to be happy, she was such a kind woman who did like me even when I was being a pain, but also it did solidify her as someone I could trust in my little girl brain. Gave her something to build our relationship on."

You lean back into Artemis. "Well, I'm glad you had that," you say. "… If you don't mind, could you describe what she looked like?"

Your friend's brushing pauses for a second. "Sure," she says. "She'd be about… three, four inches taller than me, though part of that was her hair would absolutely never lie flat. She moaned about that all the time, how it was this bouncy bunch of brown curls that would become absolutely unmanageable if she tried to grow it out." She runs her finger through a knot in your hair. "She'd help me deal with my hair, but she always said how jealous she was that mine was nice and straight."

"She did that with me too," Phoebe says as she slips back in, two bottles and several cups in her hands. "Part of the reason why I never grew mine out much was because she would always get that sad, wistful look in her eyes when she saw me. Made me feel guilty, so I kept it in a short ponytail" Sitting down, she pours out a cup of the fruity drink you'd taken a liking to and hands it to you before pouring wine for herself and Artemis. "Why do you ask, Ryza?"

You shrug. "I don't know… it's just, whenever I hear about her, I almost feel like I've met her before, even if I know I haven't."

Artemis and Phoebe glance at each other. "Well, she was with me when I was going near your home, before… well, before," Artemis says. "You mentioned once that there was some sort of spirit there, one that let you see if I was worthy to wake you up. Maybe you were in her head for a while."

You suppose that's possible, though… "If that were the case, she probably would have," you say. "I mean, with how great she was, she probably would have been a good choice."

"Maybe, but she was super protective of me, and could be suspicious of strangers," Artemis says. "She might not have been the best choice, since I would have taken cues from her." Phoebe nods.

"Okay," you say. "That sounds kind of like Mother. She would have loved you eventually, but at first… but Father and I would have won her over in the end." The three of you sit in silence for a minute, simply drinking your respective beverages, before you look at Phoebe. "So how'd you meet her?"

Phoebe goes tense. before letting out a slow sigh. "That… is a complicated answer," she says.

Frowning, you reach out to pat her knee. "If you don't want to-"

She shakes her head. "No, no, it's fine," she says. "Well, my father was one of the Archduke's barons," she says. "He… well, let's just say, knowing what I do now, he was not a very good noble. I actually first met Selena when she was investigating him on behalf of the Archduke, but I didn't know that at the time. All I saw was this calm, confident woman, a member of the Archduke's household. I was just a little enamored, following her around the castle like a lost puppy."

"Were you there, Artemis?" you ask.

She shakes her head. "No. I'd got pretty badly ill at the time, and so I was stuck in bed for this whole adventure." She grimaces. "Ironic, I suppose, knowing what comes later." Phoebe flinches, causing your friend to bite back a word at herself and reach out. "Sorry, Phoebe. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, it's fine, my lady," Phoebe says. "Well, one thing led to another, and I ended up catching her eye. In the end, I had the choice between doing the right thing and the easy thing, and while it took me longer than it should have I ended up choosing the right thing. Of course, that meant that suddenly I didn't have a home anymore, but Selena took me in. I became her squire not long after, once she vouched for me." She takes a long drink from her cup before pouring herself another helping.

Shifting out of Artemis's lap, you move over to Phoebe and wrap your arms around her. "I'm sorry," you say.
She jerks before returning your hug. "No, no, it's not you," she says. "Just… just thinking." you nod, the weight of your father's stone in your pocket reminding you of exactly how those thoughts feel. "I… I want to thank you," she says. "Thank you for being such a good friend to Lady Artemis. For… well, please don't take this the wrong way, but you kind of remind me of Selena, because you're super nice, but also super dangerous when you need to be."

"Thanks… I think."

Artemis and Phoebe laugh, and after a moment you join in. "It was a complement," Artemis says. "So, what else do you want to know?"

You don't know how long you, Artemis and Phoebe talk. Not just about Selena, but about your lives, your hopes, and anything else that comes to mind.

It's nice to just be a girl having girl talk time with your friends.

Support Rank: C with Phoebe.
Support rank B Artemis and Phoebe.

---

The next day finds you making your way over to the healer's area of the camp, still feeling content. You'd left Artemis to get some sleep, and from the lack of being woken up during the night it seems that things are still going fairly well. Even the faint whiffs of blood and sickness from your destination don't deter you. It's unpleasant, but it's something you can help with.

"Mistress Levinheart!"

Turning, you see an exhausted but pleased-looking Melissa making her way towards you, leaning slightly on her staff. "Hi," you say, hurrying over to her. "Are you alright? Did you stay up all night?"

The Realmer girl shakes her head. "Not the whole night, no," she says. "But there were plenty of wounded, so Selinda and I were pretty busy helping everyone. She's really cool, thanks for leaving me with her. It worked out great!"

You nod, it's good that they got along. You still feel a little guilty about dumping your task on the Sister with such short notice, but by the sound of it things went well. "Great," you say, looking around. "I was coming by to see if you all needed any help over here."

"I mean, if you want, we can always use more healers," Melissa says, turning and leading you deeper into the infirmary area. "Honestly, most of what we do is deal with accidents and illnesses, you would not believe how many people get sick! It's almost as if nobody's heard that they should wash their hands upstream of where the waste is disposed of!" She shakes her head. "That's why the Divine Realm puts such an emphasis on education; an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as Sun Father Hippeus said."

That makes sense. Mother had always told you to wash your hands too. "Well, I'll do what I can to help," you say, lighting up your hand with White magic. "Though I haven't done all the research on disease-curing magic. I can keep myself healthy, or at least I've been able to so far, but doing it for someone else is harder as I understand it."

Melissa grimaces. "Yeah, it is," she says. "Priests have theorized that the soul instinctively knows its own body, and so even relatively uncalculated healing can be used to cure illnesses in oneself, at least if they're minor. For someone else, or for a nastier disease or poison, then you need a Restore staff." She holds up her Heal staff. "I'm not really trained with those, but I can go around and make sure that the people who are suffering from illness keep their strength up so they don't die or get crippled. It's not glamorous, but it helps."

"That's good," you say. "Well, I'm here, so who needs help?"

You follow Melissa as she leads the way deeper into the infirmary area, pointing out three main sections that form a triangle that "points" deeper into the camp. The outer edge of the infirmary is split into two halves, with the right side being the emergency intake section. This is where wounded soldiers are brought, and it is the most open section so that healers can easily see where they are needed and rush towards the worst injuries. Proudly, Melissa declares that most soldiers who reach that section will survive.

However, some of those survivors will still need to rest and recover despite the healing magic, so they get transported deeper into the infirmary towards the main camp. This area is more closed off, with "wards" set up where groups of men (or groups of women) can look after each other without troubling the healers too much. There are a few central wash areas, but for the most part it just looks like another part of the camp, just a bit more quiet.

Where Malissa takes you, however, is the illness section. This part is a maze of curtains, with barrels of soapy water set up at seemingly every crossroads. Soldiers are kept as separate from each other as possible, in the hopes that they won't infect each other.

"This sort of healing and recovering system is the Divine Realm and Northern Kingdoms' greatest strength, the way we can keep a force in the field far longer and more safely than anyone else," Melissa says as the pair of you dip your hands in a barrel and scrub. "I've never seen them, but I've heard horror stories about Imperial medical malpractice, and honestly it's a sign of Sol Invictus's mercy that anyone survives their bungling! The way I hear it, they just shove everyone into one big section, no air-breaks, no wash stations, nothing but a bunch of overworked light mages and staff-users trying desperately to hold back the tide of illness!"

Before you can think of an answer to that, Sister Selinda's voice speaks up. "While their infirmaries are certainly far less organized and planned than ours, they are not so stupid or careless as that. They've stolen some of our ideas and systems, though to the best of my knowledge they have not determined exactly why we do as we do." As Melissa huffs, the older Solite gives you a nod. "Mistress Levinheart, it is good to see you again."

"You too," you say, checking on the first patient. The woman gives you a smile and a wave of her hand, she seems fine. "Thanks for keeping an eye on Melissa for me."

The pair glance at each other as the three of you walk onwards, continuing to check on patients. "It was my pleasure, Mistress Levinheart," Sister Selinda says. "Cadet Melissa was instrumental in the aftermath of the battle, to aid in saving as many of those wounded as could be brought to safety."

"But not as instrumental as you!" Melissa says cheerfully. "I heard all about how you were flying all over the place and smashing all the Imps!"

A flicker of pleasure at the praise makes you smile sadly, the memories of that night beginning to flicker through your mind as your other self thinks them over. "I just wanted to make sure it could be done with as little pain as possible," you say. "I do hope they take the hint and just go away."

"It's not impossible," Sister Selinda says as you enter a section and cast your Healing magic on a man who's clearly suffering from his illness, allowing him to let out a long breath as the pain leaves his eyes. She takes a moment to check in with him while Melissa gets a cool rag to clean his face. Once the man seems better off, the three of you move on. "After all, there has been conflict with the Empire before, and the free nations of the world have remained so because we've shown that we're strong enough to make victory painful, especially when we stand together." She frowns. "Though from what the soldiers have been saying, Imperial prisoners have said that they're fighting to avenge their Emperor Thaddeus, so it will be harder to convince them to stand down this time."

Melissa snorts. "I mean, from what I heard, Mistress Levinheart put the scare into them with her big shout. I could hear he-" she stops suddenly.

You freeze just as you were about to check on the next patient. Something about what she'd just said… and the fact that she stopped herself… It could be nothing, just her having a thought or not wanting to bother you with something, but your instincts prick.

-You vaguely noticed that two of the healers are sticking pretty close together while others fan out solo…-

A flicker memory rises from your dragon-self. It's... faint, difficult to focus on, since she was in charge when it was made, but you do remember that at the time she didn't care and you'd been so tired you hadn't noticed either, but now… Picking up on your worry, Dragon-You refocuses and brings the memory into sharper recall. It's still not perfect, you were far away, you were tired, it was night, but one of the figures had definitely been smaller than the other…

Slowly, you turn around to look at Melissa, who's grinning in the way that you'd seen her smile around her mother when she said something she shouldn't have. "Could hear what?" you ask softly.

"I heard the men talking about you," she says, still smiling. "Some of them were kind of scared, but they were all super complementary…"

You fold your arms, spreading your wings and lifting into the air until you're the same height as the Solar Knight. "Melissa."

The pair of you stare at each other for a moment before Sister Selinda cuts in. "I bear responsibility, Mistress Levinheart," she says. "I allowed her to come along. As per your wishes, I kept her safe; we remained far back from the front, well away from any danger."

Flinching, you drop back to the ground. "But I promised her mother she wouldn't leave the Kingdoms!" you say.

"I mean, I didn't really," Melissa says. "That border's always been super fuzzy, so depending on who exactly you ask-"

"That is sophistry, Cadet, and you know it," Selinda says. "She asked to be able to help more, and I made the call. We needed every healer we could get in the reserve. Enough were already being drawn to support the main attack, they would be exhausted, their staves drained, and might even need healing themselves by the time the fighting was over. There needed to be a quick triage group ready to care for the wounded, and every healer was needed."

You grit your teeth. Remembering what you saw, she's not wrong. Despite your best efforts, there were a lot of people who got hurt, even Artemis said so. However, it's still irritating, to have the clear instruction and request you made ignored! "I gave my word to Knight Corona Marina that I would keep you safe!" you say to Melissa, who flinches and looks down, finally looking guilty. "I promised!"

"I know, Mistress Levinheart," Melissa says, her voice smoothing out from its normal overly-cheerfulness into a steady, quiet strength. "I know you did… but I was in this infirmary while you were meeting with the nobles. I saw how the people were suffering, and that was just from skirmishes! I… I couldn't just stand back, taking two healers away when they were needed most!" Looking up, she straightens her shoulders and meets your gaze calmly. "I saved five lives, Mistress Levinheart," she says. "And Sister Selinda saved eight. And those are just those who would have died then and there, not counting others who might have lost limbs, been crippled in other ways, or simply died of complications later. I will understand if you have to report to Mother, but those lives… they're worth it to me."


What do you do?

[] You can't help but understand. For all her flightiness, Melissa clearly cares deeply about people, as does Sister Selinda. "I will not tell on you, so long as you swear to never, ever go behind my back again." You really hope Mother Marina never finds out about this, since she will be furious. However, this will mean that you'll be able to keep Melissa around for now, and she'll owe you a favor.

[] You gave your word. You promised Mother Marina you'd follow certain rules, and Melissa had broken those rules. You'll have to report to her what happened right away, which will almost certainly mean that Melissa won't be allowed to stay. However, from what you've seen of the woman, you're pretty sure that the Knight Corona will accept that you did your best, so she shouldn't be upset with you.

[] Write-in