Marron penned a quick message on a messenger crane and sent it off before they headed out of Yuriko’s suite.

“Leave Fri’Avgi here. I doubt anyone would be able to take it easily,” Marron grunted.

“Alright,” Yuriko assented, but just to be safe, she brought it over to her bedroom and hid Fri’Avgi under her bed. Afterwards, she closed the windows, and locked the bedroom door. She left the living room window ajar for Hunter Kitty.

She took a quick shower then changed into a casual outfit, a sleeveless light blue dress that she layered a darker grey cardigan over. The hem of the skirt reached just below her knees, she put on white ankle socks, and a pair of closed-toe, brown leather shoes. She put on one of the hats she managed to find in the bazaar, a white floppy with a black ribbon and bow on the band. She sheathed her combat knife on the wide leather belt that came with the dress.

“Let’s go!” She said cheerily.

“About time,” Marron grumbled.

“Well, I wanted to wash the dirt off,” she protested.

“Yeah, yeah. And what about your poor brother, eh?”

“You could have used the bathroom too.”

“Well, I could, but I’m too hungry.”

“Then stop complaining and let’s goooo!”

“Hmmph!”

When they passed by the lounge, Marron handed a card to the receptionist, who gave him back an ID card. Marron gave a short bow and the two of the left.

Marron was just as tall as Da, meaning she only reached below his chin. He was lankier too, and with his tall frame, it made him look thinner than he actually was. His shoulders were broad, and in the green long coat of the Watchtower’s Militia, he cut quite the handsome figure.

“Ah, it’s really been a while,” he reminisced. “Well, I don’t really go down this way, but I trained every day around the Central Reserve. I managed to make it to the top of class in my third year after I advanced to first order Journeyman.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Oh, they haven’t taught that yet? Journeyman Anima level is divided into three sub tiers.” Marron shrugged. “I’m already on the third order and quite close to advancing to Knight. Kato’s still on first order.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The quality of your Animus.” Marron explained. “The density of your core and the general condition of your Heritage and Facets. You won’t be able to tell now, of course, since your Animus is still a loose cloud but once you’ve reached Journeyman, a qualitative change needs to happen otherwise you’ll never advance to Knight.”

“Oh.” Yuriko shrugged. She’d always envisioned her core as a flame. It had been a candle flame before the Atavism Ritual, but it changed into a bonfire afterwards. When she inlaid her Facet, the bonfire had started changing, though she still didn’t know what final form it would take.

“I thought it was straight to Knight after Journeyman.”

“Well, yes. The divide between the three orders isn’t really that big. At the very least, it’s a good marker to check how close you are to advancing. For Apprentice, there’s the so-called Low and High Apprentice but the difference between them is so thin it might as well not exist.”

“What about Knight then? Are there any tiers in the level?”

“I don’t know. I’m not a Knight yet.” Marron chuckled. “Da was closemouthed about it, he never said what was needed to advance. He didn’t say how he made it to Knight-Captain either.”

“I wonder why? I could certainly have used his counsel.” Yuriko muttered.

“Well, he always did say that taking your own path was better rather than following something else.”

They arrived at the Strip and Marron led her to the Bistro Ilvain. As it was already past the lunch hour, the place wasn’t too crowded. Still, red-coated Agazans were there by the dozen.

“Good afternoon, Cicely, nice to see you again,” Marron waved at the waitress manning the reception counter.

“Oh, Mister Davar! What a rare sight! And who’s this lovely young creature with you, eh? My dear, you shouldn’t rob the cradle.”

“This is my younger sister!” Marron hastily yelped.

The woman, Cicely, raised a rather incredulous eyebrow. “Are you sure? You don’t look at all similar to each other.”

“She takes after Mum.”

“And you got nothing from her eh? Hie, hie, well you’re no pretty boy but you’re manly enough to set a heart a-flutter.”

“Oh shut it,” Marron was actually blushing. “I’d like a table for three. My other sibling, Kato will join us.”

“Oh, Kato’s already here. Let me bring you two inside.”

Cicely giggled as she spun on her heels quickly enough that her skirt lifted and revealed a bit of her garter belt.

Yuriko nudged Marron’s side and whispered, “Heartbreaker.”

“Look who’s talking?” he hissed back.

“Huh?”

“Oh, come on, don’t be so dense.”

“Whatever are you talking about?”

Marron rolled his eyes then nodded at the boys in the dining area. Most of them were looking at them. “You think they’re staring at me?”

“Oh, I know they’re looking.” Yuriko shrugged. “I can feel their gazes on my skin.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Why do you think they’re looking?”

“I don’t know?”

“Argh!” He threw up his hands.

“What’s happening?” Kato asked from the table when he saw them. “Hey, big bro! What’s got you riled up?”

“Later,” he growled before addressing Cicely. “Bring us the house special each, please.” Once the server had left he continued, “Yuriko said she doesn’t know why guys stare at her.”

“Ah, well she doesn’t. She’s an airhead.”

“Hey, I’m right here, you know!” Yuriko grumped.

“Yes, yes. Here, have some sweet tea.”

“Oh, thanks!”

“Were you keeping an eye on her?” Marron asked.

“No, he wasn’t,” Yuriko said cheerfully. “I barely saw Kato the past few weeks. I don’t think he even knows I went to fight a Chaos Lord during the storm.”

“You what?” Kato yelped.

“Oh, it wasn’t so bad. I broke my blade but we managed to escape.”

“You didn’t know about this?” Marron rounded on Kato.

“She’s a big girl,” Kato said defensively. “Besides, she was with her peers.”

“This isn’t over.”

“Yeah, again, she’s a big girl. She can handle herself. She broke a lot of hearts too.”

“Huh, when did that happen?” Yuriko asked, confused.

“Well, according to the rumour mill, quite a number of boys tried befriending you and you barely gave them a second look. Well, not that I disapprove...”

“I’ve never given them any indication I was interested,” Yuriko protested.

“Well, with how you look, you can hardly blame them.”

“Why would their feelings be my responsibility?” Yuriko asked.

The two brothers exchanged looks then shrugged.

“Well, you’re correct there.” Marron chuckled.

“Yeah, you’re only going to be in trouble if you actually like someone that way,” Kato snickered.

Yuriko’s eyes narrowed and before he could react, Yuriko pinched his side and twisted. “That’s none of your business!”

“Ow, ow, ow! Yes, it is! We’re your elder brothers. Of course, it’s our business! Why? Are you seeing anyone? Which of those three boys, hmmm?”

“Huh?” Yuriko let go after a final twist. “Which three?”

“Those golden-haired twins and that Muryh boy.”

“Oh them? Hmmm, nope. I don’t feel that way about them.”

Marron muttered under his breath in a voice barely loud enough for her to hear. “Not yet...” then he burst out laughing. “Oh, Yuri, you are a heartbreaker.”

Cicely came up to their table and laid down a couple of platters of roast beef swimming in its juices. Baked potatoes with melted cheese, buttered vegetables, and dinner rolls came with it. The three of them happily dug in.

“Well, you didn’t drag me out here just to talk about Yuri, right?” Kato said around a mouthful of potatoes.

“That’s mostly it, actually.” Marron shrugged. “Well, I’m here in Rumiga City anyway and it’d be a shame not to at least have a meal.”

“Well, why are you here then?”

“Aside from delivering Yuri’s greatsword, I’ve a few reports to hand over to High Command,” Marron answered.

“And they made you, a Squad Leader, their errand boy?”

“It’s just part of my duties. Besides, I didn’t trust anyone else to handle the sword.”

“What about Vagaris?”

“All of them headed out to the Tidelands. There’s no Vagaris presence left around Faron’s Crossing.”

“Where are they going?” Yuriko asked excitedly.

“They’re looking for the root of the Wave. Legate Segawa said that he had a feeling that it wasn’t over yet.”

“Er, he didn’t leave any people behind?”

“Why would he? It’s the Militia’s job to protect and hold the line.”

“Ah.”

“Any news of Da?” Kato asked.

“Nothing definitive other than that he’s alive.” Marron sighed. “Vagaris is also looking for them, and they’ll find and extract the team as soon as they can.”

“I pray to the Ancestors that they succeed,” Kato said.

“May the Ancestors guide them,” Yuriko and Marron replied.

The conversation during the rest of the meal strayed away from the serious topics, dwelling instead on Yuriko’s classes. Both of her brothers were Agazan and of course, they were curious.

“Mostly lectures,” Yuriko shrugged.

Afterwards, they spent the majority of the afternoon chatting over tea, with Marron giving them more updates on what’s happening in Faron’s Crossing.

“Well, with Spellweaver Merill gone, the council’s scrambling for a temp. There aren’t many Spellweavers willing to base themselves on the frontier like that. With Armsmaster Byrne gone, Constable Andersen had taken over his teaching duties. While she isn’t a full Armsmaster, she’s a crack shot and passable with the spear.”

“Did Vice-Com Stuart take over?” Kato sipped his sweet tea.

“Still on temp. He isn’t a Knight-Cap like Da, so High Command’s reluctant to install him as the Watchtower’s commander.”

Yuriko listened with half an ear, her mind already wandering after the first half-hour of such talk. Now that she’d reestablished her bond with Fri’Avgi, she could easily pinpoint where the artefact was.

The sword in her mind, in the midst of her Facet, gave off a soft glow that mesmerized her when it pulsed. She thought back on the last time that happened. Was it during the battle with that Chaos Lord in Shillogu Woods? And she wondered whatever happened to the Avos. Her memories of those events were rather spotty.

She had been defeated, that she remembered. Batted away and ignored like a pile of dirt, she had let her emotions run rampant. That was…the first time Damien spoke to her, she thought. It couldn’t have been anything else. It was difficult to separate her own thoughts from his at that point, mainly since there was barely any difference in their voices. Or rather, her Chaos-addled mind had chosen to interpret Damien’s words as her own. That’s what she thought anyway.

Afterwards, nothing. Then she dreamt.

“Yuri?” Marron tapped her on the shoulder.

“Huh?”

“Deep thoughts?” Kato chuckled. “Well, we’re just about done here. Where are you staying, Marron?”

“At the Main Barracks. I’ll head back to the Watchtower either tomorrow or the day after. On the Commuter Tram, probably.’

“I see. We probably won’t see you before you leave then?”

“Seems likely.” Marron signalled for Cicely. “I’ll handle this.”

“Thanks, big bro!” Kato grinned.

“Oh, thank you,” Yuriko replied half a beat later.

Marron got up after paying for the meal. Yuriko hugged him tightly, though not enough to make him squeak. He kissed her on the forehead and they parted ways. The next time she saw would probably be the next Season of Fire.

Even though he had barely been home back in Faron’s Crossing, the fact that he could be home in less than half an hour made it seem that he wasn’t so far away. Now, it would take three or four days' travel before either of them could see each other. Much like how she missed Kato when he left for Agaza while she was still in prep school, now the tables have turned. Well, she missed Rami more than either of her older brothers, come to think of it. Being her only younger sibling, and with their Mum leaving while Rami was barely weaned, Yuriko had become somewhat of a surrogate mother for him.

Well, she would read his letter when she returned to her room, and make sure to pen a reply and send it to Marron before he left.

She walked alone back to the Golden Willow. Back in her room she took Fri’Avgi from under the bed, settled on a meditative pose with the greatsword on her lap and started working on distilling Chaos. She’d used up the motes she distilled this morning already and her Anima still needed it to recover fully.

Her Animus was pulled into Fri’Avgi’s red gem, and it coated the entire length of the blade, almost two paces long, with Pure Animus. She could feel a vortex of ambient Chaos being drawn in, affecting the material world as it did. The curtains billowed inwards as though strong winds blew from outside, but the windows were shuttered tightly. The Pure Animus discoloured almost immediately, and the next moment, the distilled Chaos was sucked back into the red gem, then quickly funnelled into her.

A flood of distilled Chaos flooded into her Anima, dozens of motes, far in excess of what she could normally bear. She could feel it suffocating her, staining her Anima.

“No…” she moaned, “Help!”

But her voice was too faint, and there was no one to listen to her. Even Hunter Kitty wasn’t around--off he had gone to patrol around the grounds.

Pain wracked her body and Animus as more cracks appeared from the weight of Chaos inside. Blood started to seep from her skin like sweat. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t scream.