Maria and her beasts found the "new little sister" sitting upright, looking ghostly pale. Her breath was a rattle and she was scratching over the scales on her throat, staring down at her body. During her transformation her hair had been growing and a few small white strains had started appearing.

"Welcome, little sister." Sin's words caused the beast to look up, and her body reacted before her mind. She got off her feet, grasped the seams of her mantle and curtsied before Sin and her master. "Great sister, wise master. Born to serve, arisen from ruin."

The large head of Trinity hid her face, though the confusion was clear in her voice. "I do not know, who I am. My memories feel distant and, irrelevant. Am I defective?"

Sin crossed the distance between them, her approach causing the new beast to quiver in fear. "I accept my termi-" She was hugged by Sin, causing the new beast to blush fervently. "Your creation was very chaotic, but you are not defective, my dear sister. Your core is replacement, and she was uninitiated. Your former self was Trinity, sage of Prismata. Have you any recollection with that name?"

With the beast having calmed down, Sin took a step back, giving her space. "Trinity, Prismata." The beast stared down at her hands, her facial muscles tensing up. "There are shards, singular events that were precious to her, ideas of spells, but little more. All I can see is from the imprints of my Lore, her soul is, gone."

She seemed scared of her own words, with increasing panic she began to run her hands across her body as if trying to grasp for something that was no longer there. "How could her soul be gone, is she in the Bastille? Am I replacement for a 'traitor'?" Her voice was overripe with disgust at the last word.

"She is not with me, no. The paladins seem to have learned of the Bastille, and developed a mimicry of it to enchant their weapons with. You do not wear the Lore of a traitor, dear sister." Maria was looking at both of the two, growing increasingly anxious. "What did they learn, Sin? If this knowledge is so dangerous to know, should I not know of it too?"

Sin tried her best to appear polite, though her discomfort shone through as she bowed to her master. "I shall answer you, my master. Though I would ask to first stabilise my sister, if that is your wish?"

As per usual, the display of submission was enough to sate Maria at the moment, she nodded in agreement. "That is, alright, yes. But I would like to ask her something as well." Her approach caused the new beast to quickly cursty once more. "Wise master, how can I be of service?"

Despite all her changes that were still wracking her body, her voice was still the same as Melanie, an edge that made Maria's heart bleed. "The one who died, to give you her body, was called Melanie. Is there anything of her still with you?"

The words of her master puzzled the beast, once more she averted her gaze and went silent, staring at the ground in front of her feet. "I do, wise master. Scenes of pain, humiliation, sleepless nights of neglect, there are many, only, unsavoury memories I have inherited from her. Though they are not all like this."

Her arm was trembling as she reached out and laid her hand on her masters shoulder. "There is light, in her memories of you, my master. I cannot feel what she felt, I am not her. But I do believe that what she felt was love. I will hold onto these memories, wise master." A weak smile appeared on her lips. "She will not be forgotten, neither will her sacrifice."

Tears had begun to run down Maria's cheek, though this time she stood strong, and none returned after she wiped her face. "I am, glad to hear. Thank you, uhm. What is your name?"

Her question puzzled the beast, who looked from her to Sin, then back. "What is my name?" Was all she could say in response, sounding helpless. Sin took a deep breath and shrugged. "I would usually name you after your trials, but considering our situation, that is hardly an option for us. Chose something for yourself, dear sister."

"Chose, for myself?" The beast was no less puzzled, she began to walk up and down in the little space the inside of the van gave her. The tip of her hat was grinding against the ceiling, she held a hand in front of her mouth and was biting lightly onto her index finger. "I am new, born of Trinity, and the young Sage who gave herself up."

Finally she stopped her wandering, lowering her head in respect. "I would wish to be named Tetra, if it is not objectionable to my great sister nor my wise master."

"That sounds great, right, Sin?" Maria was gleaming, looking at her most senior servant. Sin nodded in response, her smile returning at the joy she could see her master display. "If it is of acceptance for my master, then it is acceptable to me as well. You shall be known as Tetra, taking the place of Trinity, the Sage of Prismata. How is your combat effectiveness, is your eye functional?"

Tetra straightened her back, staying at attention with a similar gleam of pride. "Resonance of Lore and body is complete, and the eye of Prismata is functional." She ran a hand across the left side of her face. Under her hand, her left eye began to glow with a pure white light. Sin rose her right hand, black flames starting to spread around it. "Show me then, Tetra."

The new beast stared at her sister, the light spreading into a light flame that flared and writhed leftward. She rose her left hand in response, and within a moment the same black flames began to cover her arm. "No mystery shall be unknown to me, for the master, I shall know all."

When Maria looked at Sin, she could see nothing but pride. Both lowered their hands, their flames fading. "Very good. What of the rest? Do you still hold the three spells, or any of the old grimoire?" These remarks deflated Tetra's previous confidence, replacing it with shame. "I, do not. The Lore is synced, but the rewriting has not finished yet, the spells remain locked. It, pains me to say but, I appear to suffer the limitations of my predecessor, I."

Her cheeks were coloured a bright red as she pulled the brim of her hat to cover her face. "I cannot read."

Elaine, who had so far staid at Maria's side, stepped forward now. "Do not be ashamed, little sister, I shall teach you! It is the least I can do after failing my duty." Tetra stared down at the small beast, bowing deeply to her. "I will gladly learn from you, elder sister. I am, honoured by your care."

Elaine bit down on her lower lip, enough to pierce the fragile skin. She laid her arms around Tetra and held her sister tightly. "You will be back on track in no time, Tetra. And this time, I will keep you safe."

Sin watched the reunion of the two silently, then began to rummage through their luggage, producing the pile of books that they had procured for Maria from Mr. Weld, what felt like an eternity ago. "You can work with these, they should also be sufficient to have you re-learn your magecraft, Tetra."

After placing the books next to them Elaine and Tetra quickly went to work. Elaine was sitting in her sisters lap, holding the book. They began with Elaine slowly reading out aloud and Tetra stuttering as she repeated after her.

With a light chuckle Sin turned to her master, bowing deeply. "I believe we should let them be. If I remember correctly, you wished to know more, yes?" Maria gave a reluctant nod, still looking at her two beasts. "Well, yes but, should I not be there with them? I never even had a look at the books, all I know is how to command and how to see, and even that you usually do for me." She grasped her chest. "I want to learn how to fight too!"

To Maria's great surprise, Sin let out a sigh. "I would ask that you let me speak to your questions first. Would that be your wish?" Her resistance caught Maria off-guard, without protest she followed Sin out of the van and back onto the forest-clearing where they had parked. Here, amidst the trees, under warm sunshine, Sin straightened her back, hands folded in front of her.

"My master, I am aware that you may not have seen the entirety of your Lore yet. You may put me under authority, though I promise that I speak only the truth." Sin took a deep breath, avoiding her master's gaze. "The gift of your authority, is great. So great that it consumes most of your capacity."

While she did not quite understand her, Maria did begin to feel a lingering sense of worry. "It's just, one thing, and the beasts are already meant to do what I say, right? It can't possibly, be everything." With every word she spoke, the fear continued to spread through her body.

"My master, we beasts are shackled to your will. That is your authority. You control not just our bodies, but our very selves. Even the thought of betrayal is impossible. Your ancestors had to go through great strain and sacrifice to create and perfect this art, it is unique in the world of magecraft, even what we know of the ancients holds not even a mention of this control. I would not ask you to undress yourself here in the open, though during your next bath you may look for yourself."

After a pause and another deep breath, Sin finally said what Maria had feared, which caused her blood to turn to ice. "You may learn very simple magecraft, novice work. But you must understand that next to all of your Lore has been shaped to house and power your authority. When someone's Lore is rewritten in such a way, to aid in the casting of a spell or ritual, then you cannot use this part of your Lore for anything else. In your case, it covers about eighty percent."

Every sentence, every word was the hit of a battering ram against the foundations of Maria's self-esteem. Her legs were trembling unwilling, incapable of carrying her weight. "So I am, a failure even here?" Her hands clenched to fists as tears began to stream down her face. "I am going to be the queen one day, but even a novice could beat me one on one? I am still going to be pathetic?!"

"My master, you are not." Sin tried to reach out, but her hand was swatted away by Maria. "I am! Elizabeth was able to call down the light of a star, she could fight you! Why can she do that and I cannot learn anything like that? Why do I always have to be helped and saved by other people?!"

Maria could not see clearly, she did not even feel Sin's arms as they wrapped themselves around her. When her hand was laid on her servant's chest, all Maria could feel was disgust at herself.

"I want to be strong, why, why, why?"

Sin stared down at her master. Quietly she ran her hand through Maria's short blonde hair. "My master, you are not weak. You may not have my strength, Elaine's shield, or a vast pool of spells to draw from. But you have something that puts you above all of us, all of the degenerate weaklings that wallow at your feet."

Maria lightly raised her eyes, staring back at Sin, silent. Her servant locked eyes with her and continued. "You possess the will of a queen, my master. The only human will on this earth. The world looked down on you for your lack of power, and you looked down on them for their weakness. The heroes, the other families, even your Lady Elizabeth, they have strength, yes. But what do they do with it, my master? Nothing. That is why they are weak. The moment you were given power through your authority, you took it with both hands. And even if you do not hold it yourself, you are willing and ready to use it to impose your will on man. Even without your very body, reduced to only your lore and soul, we beasts would still fight and conquer in your name."

The words of her servant spoke to the same festering resentment that had been living within Maria all her life, and where it used to cause her pain whenever it grew stronger, it now caused her to straighten back up, eager to hear more.

"The humans of this world are so occupied with themselves, fearful of loss, short-sighted, that they would not even dare to do what you aim for, my master. You have the soul of a conqueror, befitting the legends of old. Not since the days of your great ancestor have I seen the same force of will that you hold, my master. So even if your body is weak, and your Lore fully occupied, you will always be stronger, more human than anyone."

Strong enough to stand on her own two feet, Sin let her master go, and went down on her knees. "You will bring this world to heel, I am certain of it. You will stand atop them with your beasts at your side, the last true human ruling over this malformed degeneracy. And through your actions, this world may yet be redeemed. So, I plead of you, my master: Do not consider yourself weak, when you are so clearly stronger than all alive on this wretched world."

Never before had Maria felt this strong. Not when she saw the scenes of devastation she caused, not when she had killed her traitor of an uncle, not when she first connected with her Lore. "Yes, I will. I will definitely save this world from itself, even if it doesn't know that. Thank you Sin, thank you so much."

Sin rose back to her feet, visibly satisfied with her work. "Should we return to my sisters then? I am nearly healed, we could soon plot a course and continue our journey." Maria nodded at her words, but did not follow when Sin began to walk off. "Just, one more thing. You didn't tell me what that Bastille was, or what the whole deal with the Paladins is."

Sin paused, turning back to face her master. "Ah, yes. To spare you the less relevant points, ah." She began to pace up and down, her head moving forward and back as she walked.

"When I was created, I was weak. I had none of the strength, spells or weaponry I posses now. All I had was the Bastille. You may think of it as a prison and armoruy both, a space deep inside of me. Over my centuries of war, I filled the Bastille with the souls of enemies, fallen allies, their knowledge and their weapons. As for the paladins, they are by far our most dangerous enemy. The other families may loathe us, yes, but as Lady Elizabeth has shown, they may cooperate, or at the least bend the knee. The paladins will not, we will first have peace when they are wiped from the face of the earth."

Maria stared at her servant with a growing sense of dread. "So you, all those people I saw, when I saw you, they really are, inside you?" After she saw her nod, her dread only grew. "And the paladins, why are they like that? Please don't tell me it is because of something you did."

Elegantly Sin ignored the lingering aggravation in her master's voice as she answered. "We were allies, more than a century ago. When your ancestor took the title of queen and demanded them to kneel, they refused. They always held ties of companionship as tightly as those of mine to my sisters. So every death we caused in their ranks was another unforgivable offense. They will never forgive this, you can be assured."

"Wonderful, just, just great." Maria sighed and finally followed Sin along to the van. "I really hope this isn't another one of your exaggarrations." Sin walked a step in front of her master, leaving the knowing smile on her face a mystery to her. "I would never lie to you, I am incapable of doing so, my master. You know that."