Alex had done that, pulling him away, only to find that she didn't quite know what she'd planned to do when they'd left. Tyr must've caught on quick, a rare thing for him, lifting her like a child and pushing up from the ground to alight on the balcony of a three story house. Quite the jump, made more impressive by the fact that he had managed to pick just the 'right' place to land. There were two completely nude elderly men present, feeding one another chocolate covered strawberries on a bed of roses. Both of their heads whipped around in surprise before their startled looks split into wide grins.

“...”

“Hey Tyr!” Both men waved energetically at him. “Wanna join?”

“Nelson.” Tyr greeted them flatly with a respectful nod to each. “Jerry. Not today, just passing through. As you can see, I've got other plans. Have a good time, though.”

“Aye! God's bless you!”

“...Not today!?” Alex's choked on her words as her open mouth was filled with wind after another long jump. Tyr carried her like this for some time, soaring through the air on powerful legs, his boots wreathed in blue lightning. Running sideways along walls and guiding them skillfully through the city, with a level of familiarity that was a bit shocking. To add to all of the other things that had astonished her. “Did you... Know those people?”

“Of course. Nelson owns the local inn and Jerry owns a few pig farms on the periphery and runs a butcher's wholesale in the city. Nice guys. Honest businessmen, fair prices, good to their employees as well. I do a lot of business with both.”

“You... Do business?” Alex raised an eyebrow skeptically at him. “Since when do you 'do business'?”

Tyr snorted in bemusement, they had this perception of him that must've been so one dimensional – that all he must dedicate all his time to foul things. “I do a lot of things, Alexis Goldmane, I have what we in the industry call a life.”

“I review all of our expenditures.”

“I also have a brain.” Tyr replied calmly. “The last thing I want you to do is take a look at a ledger and find out I'm spending thousands of gold arming a legion of monsters for my eventual conquest of the known world.”

“...”

His arms were strong, holding her in a princess carry as he dashed between buildings. Leaving Alex in awe at how finely honed his mana emissions were now, minute blasts of fire and water to the point where he was very nearly the point of flying. Flying, with nothing more than raw elemental projection, an incredible display of talent that made frustrated her as much as it made her proud. How much work ethic would it take to have come so far in such a short time...?

“That's fair... And what... What were they doing...?” Alex was blushing again, whether it was from the heady feeling of having her body jerked around while caught in the vise of Tyr's incredibly strong arms or what she'd just seen... As with so much, it didn't matter.

“Foreplay, I'd imagine.” Tyr shrugged. “Jerry is very romantic, I'd bet that he worked pretty hard on all of that. Chocolate prices are crazy high right now. Did you know that chocolate, unlike most other known substances, degrades in a dimensional ring? I always found that strange. Nobody knows why.”

“What's foreplay?” Alex raised an eyebrow at him from her position resting against his chest. He stopped at the platform of one of the bell towers that sat at the four corners of the outer wall of the council palace. It wasn't really a bell, in all actuality, it was just stylized to look like one. These were some kind of defensive structure that had never been used, but the interference on mana was such that their conversation couldn't be spied on. The huge bell shaped hunk of manatite vibrating pleasantly in the gentle breeze. He liked coming up here to think sometimes, with the city so small below. Atmospheric mana disrupted, relaxing the pressure in his core.

“It's when you, like...” Tyr gesticulated his hands. He'd never really done it, hadn't needed to with Jura and she didn't want him to, except in one very specific circumstance. Orcs had a certain level of... Control. Over their bodies, that is, that apparently most other races did not possess. “Touch each others genitals in preparation for sexual activity. In opposite sex coupling, the reproductive organs of a human female need to be sufficiently lubricated in order--”

“STOP!” Alex had a haunted look in her eyes. “I know what it's like to have a vagina... Who talks like that!?”

Tyr shrugged. “I read it in a book and that's exactly how it was phrased. It's just a part of nature. I was surprised to learn that you actually bleed out of your--”

“I swear to every god above that I will kill us both if you don't stop talking.” Alex shivered. “Now is the time when you tell me why we're here.”

“It's just a period, man. It's not that embarrassing.”

“Please just answer the question...”

“First.” Tyr raised a hand. “That was Micah, wasn't it?”

“I'm not sure, but it would stand to reason.” She shrugged. “To think that he could unintentionally blink a living thing with no spoken word is... We knew how talented he could be, but that was surprising. Translocation like that shouldn't be possible with something that's alive.”

“It wasn't translocation.” Tyr steadied on her feet, puckering his lips in deeper thought. “That was a warp. I was in that space for an indeterminate period, but I'm not sure how to explain it. My body was torn apart dozens of times in the process, but as you know – I just heal. There's no concept of time beyond the veil, so none passed for any of you. But after further examination, I was there for a long time. Even if my mind could not truly perceive it...”

“Are you alright?” Alex flashed him eyes of rare and genuine concern, and he tilted his head.

“There's no time there, no pain or sensations. I don't even know if I existed there, or can exist. Please speak with him about this and consider giving him one of these.” Tyr raised the black bracelet on his wrist. He still doubted it actually worked, he felt nothing from it, but kept it on his wrist at all times in memory of his not-so-deceased mother. In any event, it seemed to have performed a valid job of preventing him from blowing himself up. “If he did that to a normal person it would most assuredly deposit little more than a pile of boneless meat on the other side. Might be some culinary application to that, though. Master Chef Micah of the chicken nuggets.”

Alex chuckled. “I'll do that. I can see what you mean.”

“I don't know if this is appropriate or not.” Tyr said softly, his voice could be heard just barely over the wind at such an elevation. Below them, the entire city stretched on, giving true significance to the scale of an entire state crammed into one major population center. “My mind is addled lately and I just felt like saying it, so take it how you will. But I've thought a lot about this, and I think it's time that I tell you that I love you. Both romantically, and as a friend and partner. I wish I was as complex enough of a character to make you happy, but I've never thought myself capable – and I was deathly afraid of our bond. Plus, at times, you can be a pretty shitty person – and then I realized that was just a projection of my own values. That you're not.”

Alex didn't seem overly impressed, skeptical at best, but there was something else – too. A powerful sense of self satisfaction radiated off of her, despite her attempts to keep it hidden. “You'll have to be more specific than that. Why? Or more appropriately, how do you know? I've always had faith in you, always, but I don't believe you this time.”

“First, you tick all my boxes. You are tall, and lean, you have a nice neck – pretty eyes – and beautiful hair.” Tyr said, noting the blush reddening her cheeks. She was a woman now, but sometimes she behaved like a child. Alex felt nice to be around, in her way. All of them did. They all had their own 'flavor', to be crude. “You have long legs and a nice pair of lips. As for your proportions, your cup size is well within the range that I find ideal.”

“...This is not at all how you compliment a woman.” Alex huffed, clearly irritated. “I know what I look like.”

“That's not all.” Tyr said with a raised finger. “First, I identified why I find you aesthetically attractive. An ideal romantic partner. But beyond that, you are also stern and incredibly talented. Far more intelligent than I am, and though your outward personality leaves a lot to be desired, I see how much you care. Your morality rules you from the standpoint of traditional logic, not dogma, just like your father. I don't know a single person more naturally gifted and just... Good at practically everything. We'd make a good pair, I think.”

“We always did. There's no past, present, or future to it – you were my only partner and I sacrificed any idea of taking another a long time ago. You're just too dumb to see that.” Alex sighed, leaning against one of the pillars surrounding the bell and crossing her arms – tapping her foot against the stone. “I wish you'd avoid the backhanded compliments. Feedback is always useful, but 'a lot to be desired' isn't an actionable critique.”

“I saw how much you've changed while I've been gone. You are so different. Before you would have punched or kicked me, and now you're weighing what I'm saying before letting your emotions take the reins.” Tyr smiled gently, but he still had the steel in his eyes, making it look a bit out of place. “This serves no other purpose than to let you know that I am watching you, and that I value and appreciate you. You and the others are the most important things in my life and I need you to remain in it. As made up as your mind was, and that's certainly been a part of why I'm saying this to you, and you alone, you stayed and really tried. I want you to know that I want you to remain in my life. Forever. And I appreciate everything you've done for me.”

“Even though I knew it was far from my best interests.” Alex grimaced. “I've always loved you. Since your memories returned, you should know that. It's an odd thing to say considering the fact that if things play out the way they are supposed to... Well, in any case. You are like a brother to me, and were family long before we were betrothed. I just wish you weren't so... You're not an idiot, but you act like it sometimes. You are strong in your own way, but you're also weak in so many others. You shouldn't run off on your own like that. Whether you live or die, you still feel pain and I would imagine that changes a man. Even if it didn't, I don't want to see you get hurt over and over again. I could barely watch the tournament, and left after your match with Saint Lucian.”

“It is what it is, and it's not overwhelming.” Tyr nodded though, it made sense from a logical standpoint. “I have said what I needed to say and I am grateful that you listened to me. And you have questions, so you should ask while I've an opportunity to answer them.”

“Okay.” Alex nodded. “And I can tell the others?”

“Absolutely not.” Tyr shook his head. “I will only answer honestly in the event that you give me your oath not to do so. You will understand why, you've got the brains to draw conclusions.” Surprisingly, she wasn't put off by the idea. A secret between them was the best offer she was going to get, and her desire to know was far stronger than her desire to share the information.

“Alright.” Alex agreed. “Tell me why you're here.”

“I am here to bait Hastur out of hiding so that primus Alexandros can kill him. I'm actually not sure if he'll be doing it himself or not.” Tyr answered the most obvious question with no need of it being asked. “Alexandros says 'Hastur' would never fight a real primus. Or at least he'd never expose his real self to them, using haemonculi instead. As I have learned, he is quite beyond my talent for making sure something stays dead. Maybe the most powerful human mage on the continent and all those beyond, but I have a plan.”

“And how do you plan to do that?” She said. Alex was not disturbed by this revelation. Hastur deserved to die and many in the 'aware' circles were disturbed that justice hadn't come down on him. Finally, it would seem, a primus was actually doing their supposed job.

“I do plan.” Tyr replied. “Tiber's strategy was to become a thorn in the lions paw, to be so incredibly irritating he'd have to face me. And I'm good at that, seeing as I cannot be killed through normal means. As to my specific means in pursuing it, that is a question you do not want an answer to.”

“You're killing people again.” She frowned, but this time Alex wasn't looking at him like he was some kind of monster, in disgust. Not quite. 'People' was the operative word. Like her father before her, Alex believed in due process and order – the proper implementation of law. Killing Hastur was fair play, Tyr had a fair right of vengeance against him, but the others involved were likely to be normal people. Maybe even innocents. “There are better ways than murder.”

“I am doing, and there most certainly are. A lesson I learned from you, Lady Alexis Goldmane.” Tyr nodded. “All I can say is that I am trying my best to live up to the expectations you set for me back then. I always give people a chance. Even if that chance can be boiled down to 'surrender or die'. Ask another question, I won't elaborate further.”

She was disappointed, but not necessarily with him. If she was disappointed at anything, it was herself for participating in that kind of abuse that might have shaped the warped man before her. Alex had always loved him, that was the truth, but she'd not been kind to him for a long while. Whether he deserved it or not was largely irrelevant, as he had done, she had done also. Abandoned him in anger and done nothing to try to help him in the ways she should have, calling him a liar when he'd said he didn't recognize her. “Who is the woman that sometimes comes to visit you at the academy? Is she your lover?”

“Lina?” Tyr chuckled. “I've lain with one woman thus far and I'll lay with no other unless it's one of you three when the time comes. I'm not sure how fel that falls on your ears but just know that I'm open to it, when you're ready. I'll be honest, though, I find it hard to imagine having that kind of relationship with Sigi. Her wrath is a powerful thing and it's all bottled up so dense I can taste it when I'm near her. She truly hates me and it started long before I ever wronged you. Or met you. That woman that you asked about... Lina is her name, and she is my handler. An estranged daughter of Alexandros. She is a good friend and mentor to me but we are not romantically involved. Turned me down, sadly, broke my heart. As I'm sure you've noticed, she's got a phenomenal ass.”

Alex slapped his arm, a hard frown on her lips. “You could stand to go a few minutes before aggravating me, you know?”

“It's mostly a joke.” Tyr snorted in amusement. “But we have both communicated our feelings on the matter. I am glad to call her friend but I was unusually cruel to her when we first met. Suffice it to say that she is her fathers representative on this little dalliance of ours with the Baccian's. Alexandros didn't trust me nearly enough to send me here alone, but because of my relationship to Hastur and the man's apparent obsession with me that stretches nearly two decades of my life, I am little more than bait. To rush a man that made an unfortunate enemy in his stupidity and invite a Cassus Belli for the Republic to seize an opportunity for war. Or so I think. He – like most people – speaks in riddles that I can't make heads nor tails of. And I sincerely doubt he'll ever actually come himself.”

“I see. Than, final question. Not a question necessarily, but a request. Let me help you.”

“No.” Tyr refuted the idea without a moment of thought. He didn't mention another conclusion he'd come to, who these girls really were and the fact that Alex in particular... If she died, he was absolutely confident that he would too. It had taken him some time to notice. Humans didn't commonly bond by soul, but he was very sure that some time in the past when he'd saved her, something he still couldn't remember doing, he had inadvertently bound his spirit to hers in an unnatural way. A 'one way' connection of sorts.

The complications of which were many, a foreboding nature to their bond that Tyr could use to do unspeakable things if he wanted to. Force her into compliance, and she could do the exact same thing to him if she was aware of it. And because of that, her confession of 'love' fell deaf on his ears – he was not a thing that could be loved. Tyr was a lie in and of himself, made personified. Faith was his aspect, and that too was the greatest lie of all.

“And I don't just say this out of some masculine way of protecting you like you're some weak thing. You aren't a weak thing. You are strong and proud, and more capable than I am. I say this because if you saw the person I was capable of being, you'd never speak to me again. I am like an animal, Alex, and I don't know why or how I ever became this thing. I hate it. I don't hate myself, but I hate that part of myself that flies in the face of everything human inside of me. I've behaved for the most part, but if anyone were to, hypothetically, hurt you – the effort I've put into this would fall away and I would lose another piece of myself.”

“I understand.” She gripped his arm reassuringly, aching for him. Alex was well aware of why Tyr had fallen down that hole he found himself in. He wasn't an animal, he was just cold, bereft of the morality that defined her. But her morality came from the way she was raised. Alex had killed a man and felt nothing of it except for the pride that she'd won. Gone on to kill more men than just her first – and they all deserved it. She'd behaved in an appropriate manner and meted justice on men who were slated for death via contract. Giving them a quick end as best she could, no dallying or any interest in making them suffer. With that being said, she couldn't say she liked it. Bounty contracts for criminals were common these days and she avoided them if she could. Some hope for her, at least. By all appearances, Tyr was confirming that this was all an act, confiding in her – though she wasn't totally sure if she believed it. It wasn't that she suspected him of lying, more like he didn't know it himself. Then again... She was curious enough to ask directly. “Is this all an act? The way you've been behaving? We followed you through the city and watched how you conducted yourself.”

“It is.” Tyr nodded, confirming it beyond doubt. “But it also isn't. I like doing these things, I don't feel some instinct to be good to people, but the feeling I get from positive deeds is... I don't know how to describe it. I help a woman with her bags and when I see how thankful she is – it's all ecstasy to me. I love that feeling and I feel like a leech for pursuing it. That was part of Alexandros' plan, and I don't quite understand why – but I am enjoying it. I am not acting with the children though, it is complex. There is a nuance to these things that I am not intelligent enough to communicate in a way you'll understand. It is my failing, not yours. But I...”

He coughed. “A mentor of mine said that he was certain I was the primus of love, and I doubted that. Thought I'd confirmed it wasn't true, but now I'm almost sure that I am. Children are full of love. It's not just them, either. Okami makes me stronger, because his love is so strong and unconditional. I give a stray dog a bone and I feel such a light connecting us that astonishes me. I think he wants me to make the world love me. If I can pretend to be a hero, maybe people will change their minds about me and I will awaken my aspect properly. It makes sense, too. My behavior has been the complete opposite. People hate or fear me and so I am weak, yet regardless of how they feel – it defines me. If I can capture their hearts, maybe I can be whole again. Does that make sense? Am I rambling?”

“You sure are.” She smiled, squeezing him harder. “But if it helps you achieve your dreams, then I will love you twenty times over what the world is capable of. Just let me be there for you, I want you back in my life even if it's not romantic. Never in my life have I desired a man that treats me the way my father treats my mother. I don't want you to swoon over me and kiss the ground I walk on, I want you to respect me and see me as an equal. That is all I'll ever ask for, but the bank account is nice, too.”

Alex joked, but she was completely serious in all other regards. Even as a child, more ideal in demeanor or not, Tyr was the epitome of 'average' in talent. Until that day in Riven had come, that was, she'd always felt he was less than her and that was a source of pride. All of a sudden, he'd awakened to become an almost godlike existence, saving many lives in the process and sacrificing everything for it – which did nothing but hurt that pride of hers. One day, she'd seen how similar she was to her mother and decided not to be. Asha was a good woman, and a great mother – an even greater mage – but she had her faults. Alex looked just like her, almost identical in appearance, but she wanted to be like her father. Very few people loved Lady Asha, but everyone loved Lord Gideon.

“We are not equals, and we'll never be.” Tyr said, and her expression sank. Truly, how could they be equals? Tyr was a titan both in reputation and deed, whether fel or not. Alex had gone from seeing him as some kind of roguish, crude man, and now he was famous. The famous White Wolf. Infamous, more like. A bloody handed monolith of slaughter. She might not like it, but he was better than her and likely always had been, hiding his abilities and playing them all for fools.

Alex had come to that conclusion before their original reunion, and it had infuriated her. It was so... Disrespectful. But she wasn't wroth any more, just sad, wounded in pride and heart. Gideon had warned her of this. Alex had been a willful, prideful, and overall spoiled child. Made to believe that she was the greatest thing that had ever walked the earth.

Facing her insignificance in the face of one who would most assuredly live for generations beyond her final day was something that took character to do. She'd been too young to see it then, but now she could understand what he'd meant. Primus' were undoubtedly cursed to great sorrow, but in many ways so were their partners. There would never be a day where she wasn't irrevocably be in love with Tyr.

But the day would come where she'd be old and gray, and he'd be the same as he always was – ageless.

She was ephemeral, temporary, but Tyr was a product of the pain that had forged him, and he'd live on forever. Beaten until she wasn't sure how much was left, all because of those parents of his, one of which the man loved unabashedly, though Signe had never deserved such affection.

“You are better than I am in every single way. If you had been born a primus, and not I, you would be the strongest of all of them – I am sure of that. I am trying to be a man that can live up to the world you might have created if the universe we exist in wasn't so random and cruel.” That's what Tyr had to say on the matter.

“Oh...” Alex didn't know how to respond other than to offer a belated... “Well... Thanks.”

“I'd liked to have been a farmer, you know? I was born to this, and maybe I do want it, but sometimes I yearn for a less chaotic life.” He mused quietly.

“A farmer?”

“Yep.”

“One day.” Alex chuckled mirthfully. “We'll buy a nice farm and go live on it. I don't care about the county, my brothers can have it.”

“I have a request of my own though.” Tyr said. “Serve as my teaching assistant in the combat training courses. We are about to approach the point where magic will be allowed in our demonstrations and my own consideration of magic is not compatible with that. You are already a TA, attending a graduate program a year early, you are more than qualified as a level 4 mage to begin with.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “I will do that for you.”

“Thanks, Alex. For everything, I feel much better now.” Tyr said. “Because Lernin already gave his approval and I instated you three days ago.” With that, abruptly, Tyr stepped free from the top of the tower and disappeared from sight. She couldn't see where he'd gone, but it was assuredly 'down'.

“Fast...” She observed quietly... Before shouting, that is. “Wait, how am I supposed to get down from here!? You selfish bastard!”