Loc, Heldine, and Hannah are onboard a floating Rose Torpedo just a few miles away from the Notia settlement. The day is bright and clear. Loc is standing at the railing, deep in thought as he always is.

Rivna: (I do not like you being alone with them.)

Loc: (I prefer not to be alone with them either, but this is the safest way to keep them away from the settlement. I think I can handle myself just fine, Rivna.)

Rivna: (Perhaps I should come up there.)

Loc: (No, just stay put and guard the crew in my absence. Besides, I don’t think Heldine would appreciate you being on her ship after what you did to her last one.)

Rivna chuckles, but then lets out a slight sigh of defeat.

Rivna: (Very well.)

Loc: A Magi huh? I remember Uncle mentioning them. They’re a Sagi’s sworn enemy.

Heldine: Ugh, that uncle of yours, he’s in a great deal of trouble with Mother.

Hannah: I recall Mother saying that the Magi worship us for power.

Lady Agatha: (Those that are fully devoted to the witches are grant the mantle of Magi. And you recalled correctly Young King. Their ilk can be likened to the antithesis of a Sagi.)

Heldine: They do, well particularly Mother. And Prince Abaal is not just any Magi, but an especially devout one.

Completely unbeknown to anyone in a remote hall on the ship is Smoke, who is eavesdropping on their conversation.

Hannah: By the way Big Sis, I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while but if our family is human then why is it that we’re so much stronger than the other humans?

Heldine: Do you remember Big Sis Helga’s teachings about Iyn?

Hannah: It’s our soul, correct?

Heldine: Fundamentally, yes. What makes us humans so special?

Hannah looks down at her feet, deep in thought. Her eyes sparkle as she delivers an answer with sheer confidence.

Hannah: Our intelligence!

Heldine sighs.

Heldine: Weren’t you paying attention to your lessons? The Tahlyans have the highest cognitive ability. It’s our passions Hannah. Our passion, our emotions, and our human will that places us above the rest. And a Magi is a master of their Iyn.

Hannah pouts and averts her eyes to hide her embarrassment.

Hannah: Oh…well I knew that. I was just testing you because I overheard Helda saying you were the least brightest of us.

Heldine: That’s amusing, because last I checked I’m the most powerful and intelligent of all of Mother’s offspring. And if I had Hrist’s experience I’d already be ruling Irikihl with my beloved Loc. Helda is just jealous because I’m also the fairest.

Hannah pouts even harder.

Hannah: You don’t have to boast.

Heldine: Darling, the only way you’ll be victorious is if you make full use of your own Iyn. Your Iyn responds to your emotions. It’s like a second source of power beyond your vyrkra. In fact, it can even replenish your exhausted vyrkra reserves if the fire of your Iyn burns fiercely.

Loc: And this is what Prince Abaal has mastered?

Heldine: Yes. Because of his great devotion to worshiping Mother, she has blessed him by enhancing his zeal for her, thus greatly inflating his natural Iyn output. His vyrkra isn’t much greater than yours, but he has a lot more battle experience than you. And as I stated before his level of Iyn management is that of Magi.

Loc pauses to meditate on her words.

Loc: Now that you mention it I’m beginning to recall Uncle’s brief lessons on the matter. Apparently my own Iyn was responsible for the slaying of Daagon.

Hannah: Wait, you killed Daagon? I thought that was another one of the Witch Tier’s dastard achievements.

Loc: (That’s right, that was my own doing that day. Without realizing it I used the power of the Soul Pact to my own whims. Or were they my whims, or my Maker’s?)

Heldine: Yes, Hannah. My darling may not be human like us but he’s capable of many wonderful achievements.

Lady Agatha: (She’s right you know. As a Celestial, your capacity to utilize Iyn is rather limit compared to a human’s, at least without the lost knowledge of your ancestors. The Will granted you Rivna to compensate for this weakness, but now it appears he’s testing your resolve by removing your greatest crutch. I can assure you Young King, Prince Abaal will be much more formidable of an opponent than Daagon was.)

Loc sighs in frustration.

Loc: Just what does Prince Abaal want with me? The Witch Slayer couldn’t have been enough to win his desire for my head.

Heldine: It’s not so much what you did, but what your father has done. He and your uncle slew King Bahir, Prince Abaal’s father, during the Great Insurrection. Recently Queen Clockwork attempted to exact her revenge on Prince Gideon, but was astonishingly unsuccessful.

Loc: (It appears Uncle has his hands full with his own affairs. But knowing what I know now about him, it comes as no surprise to me that he fended off a queen. The Will has endowed him with enough might to challenge fully powered princess. But this Prince Abaal fellow does concern me. Because he’ll be using me as an outlet to vent his rage he’ll have the constant advantage of Iyn, which means he’ll be able to use his most physically exhaustive techniques more frequently than one’s natural limits. If I’m ever going to stand a chance in this duel, I’ll have to find a way to use his Iyn to my advantage.)

Lady Agatha’s delightful and warm chuckle echoes throughout the back of Loc’s mind.

Lady Agatha: (It appears The Will hasn’t relieved you of your greatest strength in this impending duel after all.)

Hannah: You mean they’re after my Big Brother? Ha! Well I won’t be having that. If he so much as even considers exacting his revenge on Loc I’ll burn him alive.

Heldine: No Hannah, Mother orders are not to interfere.

Hannah: But--

Heldine: Mother’s orders.

Hannah grunts.

Hannah: Now I really want to kill this Prince Abaal. It’s been almost a whole month since I’ve killed someone. I think I’m due for a severed head.

Heldine: No no, Hannah, remember you can only kill bad people.

Hannah: And this Prince Abaal person isn’t bad? He’s trying to kill Big Brother!

Heldine: Don’t worry Hannah. I’m certain my darling will come out victorious just like he always does. After all we’re destined to be together and have many children.

Loc grimaces at her words. A Rose Palyth marches to Heldine and salutes by putting the back of his left fist over his heart.

Rose Palyth: Great Princess, we must depart now if we are to arrive at the capital as scheduled.

Heldine: Aw, but I don’t want to leave my beloved Loc.

Hannah: Yeah go. Go on! Leave Loc to me, I’ll take good care of him for you.

Heldine sticks her tongue out at Hannah.

Heldine: Well darling. The next time I see you will most likely be at the banquet. Don’t forget, no matter what happens I’ll be rooting for you. Normally I would wish someone good luck right now, but I know you won’t need it. Your faith is your luck, isn’t it?

Loc appears to be intrigued by her genuine sentiment. Heldine pats Hannah on the head.

Heldine: And Hannah, you better not distract Loc too much. He has to focus for this big duel.

Hannah: I know, I know. Just go on already.

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Loc and Hannah stand at the edge of the island settlement of Notia as they watch Heldine’s ship leave. Hannah and Heldine are waving to each other goodbye. Smoke approaches Loc from behind.

Smoke: You ready kid?

Loc: For what?

Smoke: For my discounted lesson’s on how to kick that prissy prince’s ass.

Loc chuckles.

Loc: Discounted, huh?

Smoke: Don’t worry, I’ll just put it on your tab.

Chapter End