Price and Balance (Part 1)
Maria Turn 11 Second Omake
202 E.K.
The sunlight punches through the window, right onto Lyssa's face. It hurts. No, actually, that's not true. Hurt, she'd dealt with before. Suffering, too. Even agony. But none of it – not a gods-damned thing – compared to this. Her mouth was a dry riverbed, baking in the heat until it cracked. Her head pulsed with awful, vivid shivers. Her flesh seemed to dance between freezing shivers and awful, vomitous heat.
It seemed fair to say that she didn't like being hungover. At all.
"Oy."
The voice was far too loud. Lyssa growled in miserable agony.
"Yeah, no. Get up."
A hand descended, caught hold of the front of her shirt, and dragged her upright. She struggled feebly, but it was no good. Someone had decided she was getting on her feet. Eventually, she gave up struggling, and open her eye.
Maria was shooting her an amused look as she set Lyssa standing.
"Scarlet Lyssa," she said, "Saviour of the Thousand, the Red Place herself."
"Don't," growled Lyssa. Her sister-self went on regardless.
"Hero of the age, and walker of the Loneliest Path, laid low by Ghostspice and Orange wine."
Lyssa gave her a feeble little snarl. Maria laughed. She couldn't really help herself – it was honestly just too easy.
The Legion had gotten its marching orders last week. They were splitting – the Scorpion Road would need defenders again, the Flood Dragons could use reinforcement as they built themselves up, Jingshen needed watching, Hong Xuan wanted paying, Song had fallen *yet* again… too much work, and too few hands. So everyone was heading everywhere, now, and usually not with the people they'd started with. Even their squad had taken the hit. Maria's Dawnies (although no-one could call them that now, blooded and deadly as they were) would be sent out to every corner that sheltered under the Bronze Aegis.
It wasn't surprising, really. This kind of thing happened all the time. Besides, they'd been short-handed as is since Draconis. They should have seen it coming. But gods, Imperator and unholy heaven, that didn't make it sting any less. Still, they'd dealt with it with considerable aplomb. The Legion's headquarters was never short of bars, and they'd hit all of them. No tears, in the end. Just laughter and promises to survive so they could get back to the work when all this was done.
And now, here they were, in the unfamiliar confines of their apartment in Legion headquarters. Nice spot, in truth. Spacious. But Maria had spent most of her life moving around as the orders required. They'd spent less than four months in this place overall. It wasn't home in anything but the most technical of senses. Neither of them had said it, but they were getting restless.
Well. No need to wait now. The work, at last, had come to them.
Maria ran a critical eye over her Sister-Self. The hangover was already fading thanks to the soothing influence of their cultivation base, but it was dragging its heels a little. She clicked her tongue, went to her store cupboards, and came back with a plate of grilled scorpion.
"Here. Eat that," she said. "Quickly, as well, or we'll be late."
Lyssa gave another half-hearted little growl before tucking in. Her appetite was coming back already; the plate was clean in under a minute.
"Better?"
"Don't know why you're bothering asking," she growled. Maria shrugged. The link between them was an odd thing, given to fluctuations and weirdness. Sometimes, they were one woman in two bodies. Others, like now, she felt flickers from her sister, and not much else. It probably signified something, but she had neither the wisdom or temperament to figure out what.
"Come on," she said. "Let's go."
---
The Wise Brother was one of those tea houses that cropped up everywhere; expensive enough to keep the beggars and peddlers out, cheap enough not to empty a legionnaire's wallet whenever they wanted a drink. It wasn't particularly memorable otherwise. If Draconis was honest, despite the dozen or so times he'd come here, he couldn't even remember the owner's name.
Still. It didn't matter. You didn't come to a place like this for the place itself. You came because it made a nice backdrop for the friends you'd meet there. The conversations. The reminiscing. It might not have been entirely appropriate to his rank, but he wouldn't trade it for the world.
Not normally, at least. Today, though, he was sitting alone for ten minutes, and the world was starting to look better and better.
Draconis made himself sip his tea, and tried not to lose his temper. This was to be expected, he told himself. Last night would have been extensive. That would of course slow everything down. They would-
"Hey! Hey, that's-"
"-Both of them, Gods, I never-"
"-Really a full thousand?"
"A full thousand, every one!"
"The Red and White!"
"The Red and White themselves!"
Draconis felt the tension go out of his shoulders, and allowed himself a thin smile. As always, patience went rewarded. He looked up from his booth on the second floor. There in the doorway, surrounded by gabbing mortals and legionnaires, were Maria and Lyssa. Grinning. Shaking hands. Fame suited them, he had to admit – or at the very least this kind of fame did, where people fell over themselves to be in their presence. It seemed to dim the grumpiness some.
After a moment, Maria looked up and caught his eye. She grinned at him, and raised a hand in greeting. The surrounding entourage turned to follow her gaze, before falling back into their babble. They'd be wondering who he was. He'd end up in one of those ridiculous newspapers before the day was out, he was sure of it; supposedly they had gossip pages, now. Still. For the captain, he'd tolerate it.
The twins pushed through the crowd, and tramped up the stairs to the second floor. Quieter up here, and more refined. He stayed standing until they'd closed with him.
"Captain," he said, bowing.
The twins shot him identical grins.
"Elder," they chorused, laughing.
Draconis smiled at that.
"A temporary grace, I'm sure. Please, let's sit. I bought tea."
They piled into the booth again, and he poured out the cups. There was a moment of silence as they drank. Then…
"Gods."
"What is this?"
"It's perfect, 'Conis."
"A green tea blend with ginger," he said. "Good for hangovers."
They shared a glance.
"You know her too well," said Maria, smirking.
"Oh yes, and you such a saint," groused Lyssa.
He smiled.
"A good sergeant anticipates his captain's needs."
They grinned at him.
"Not a sergeant any more, though."
"Not even a captain! Tell us, 'lieutenant', how goes life for those honourable masters of foundation establishment?"
Draconis smiled again.
"Intriguing," he said. "I'll be honest, I am… enjoying the prestige."
"I bet. Family must be veeeery proud!"
The conversation went on like that for a while. It was the first chance he'd had to really speak with Maria since… Well. Since the trials. There'd been too much madness in between. Honestly, there'd been too much madness before, too – her trip to Qiguai, her return, Lyssa, the caravan… there'd barely been a moment to stop and take stock.
And now here they were, separated by a table and a great realm. And who knew how long it'd be before they closed that gap? He felt it keenly, now, even if they didn't. It had kept him from the party last night, and it had taken him out of the squad. It was the cost of cultivation, he knew that, but…
No. This was stupid. He shouldn't let himself get so… bogged down in his own thoughts. Draconis turned his attention back to the conversation.
"It's fucking pathetic," Lyssa said. "The Floods held the line as well as anyone else, and the Sabers turn and run?"
"What else do you expect?" asked Maria. "They did the same to the Jin back in the day. The Palace cuts and runs all the damn time."
"I must agree with Maria," said Draconis. "There's not point getting upset over our enemies behaving as they always do." He ignored the sharp flicker of sadness as he spoke. Liming was a long time ago, now, and he wasn't willing to open that old wound again. The captain shot him a glance that, for her, edged on sympathetic. He didn't respond. "And besides. They're Righteous. We never could rely on them."
"Point." Lyssa finished her tea. "Still pathetic, though. I'll say now, too – I'm fucking looking forward to a *real* war."
Maria winced.
"Don't let Ajax hear you say that."
"Ah, let him whine. Come on. You know I'm right. The trials is all bullshit, one way or another. You're fighting to shatter a token every time, and they're always too strong as is; it's win-lose and that's all. No depth."
Draconis considered that.
"You're hoping to go back to Song, then?"
Maria shrugged. Lyssa nodded.
"Real war," said the red sister, smirking. "A siege, too. Chance to really hone our edge."
"You say that like you enjoyed Three Frogs," said Maria.
"I did."
Draconis furrowed his brow. The siege? Surely-
…Ah.
The Red and the White. Walkers of the Lonely Path. They might not have thought it through. Should he say anything?
…No. No, that wouldn't help. He wasn't Letha. It'd come out wrong. They'd find out soon enough.
But-
"Do you ever regret it?"
The words were out of his mouth before he'd even realized he was thinking them. The twins turned and shot him a confused look.
"Regret what?" asked Maria.
He should stop. He knew that. He didn't.
"Your path. Going for the Single Pillar. If you had chosen the orthodox path, you could be… I don't know. Ahead of me, certainly."
They seemed to ponder that for a minute.
"No," said Lyssa, eventually.
"We've had our share of battles to fight on the way," said Maria.
"Good ones."
"Hush. It's just… we can do it. Clan benefits from having Single Pillars. So why not?"
It was a sensible position, he knew that, but they'd missed his point. Surely-
But no. No. He'd pushed far enough. Too far, most likely.
"Admirable," he said instead. The tea pot was empty. He raised a hand for another.
"No," said Maria. She shot him a smile, apologetic and excited in equal measure, bound up tight in discipline. "Nothing personal, 'Conis, but ah… well. Time to get our walking papers."
Lyssa, next to her, flashed a savage little grin.
Ah.
"Well," he said. "It was good to see you both."
"And you," said Maria.
"Don't be a stranger now," said Lyssa, as they left. "Or I'll have to come back!"
He waved them off, and smiled, and tried not to think what they'd find.
---
@Alectai @no. @ReaderOfFate , may I have a threadmark please?
