Preface

Presenting the return of Caelum Desanto and the gang of Galatea Academy.

This is a revision of the original "Pride X Valkyrie ReVamp" posted here on RRL a year ago, and released as a free ebook on Smashwords.

With my move to Amazon Kindle, and the interest shown in "Pride X Familiar ReVamp" we've decided to revisit the second volume and present the rewrite here on RRL before getting it ready for its commercial release.

Chapters will be posted sparingly as I am presently in the midst of finalizing "Andraste" for its May 13th release -- yep, a Friday the 13th release date.

My intention is to release the new "Pride X Valkyrie ReVamp" around November on Amazon Kindle.

Anyway, those of you remember the original story will notice that while some of it has changed, much as remained the same. The benefit of having completed it once is that I was able to see where I went wrong the first time, and hopefully correct them in this version of the story.

Comments are welcome. Suggestions too.

The new draft is in flux, so I will be taking constructive comments and criticisms into account.

With that, I present the new "Pride X Valkyrie ReVamp" to the faithful RRL members.

This is of course a first draft of the new story, so please bear with it.

The final Kindle release will be a polished manuscript for paying readers.

Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this re-vision of the story.

Prologue.

(Arisa)

#

School Week Five.

Monday evening.

I drove across Habitat One, Island Three from Arcala University to Galatea Academy in traffic that normally would make my blood boil.

I could have caught the mag-lev to the Academy, but I didn’t like the idea of leaving my car behind at the university, despite the institutes secure parking facilities.

As I said, heavy traffic like the one I was stuck in would normally have me venting steam, but today was another matter.

Today, I sat in the car, crawling along the motorway, with butterflies storming in my stomach.

During an afternoon lecture, I received a message on my palm-slate from none other than Galatea Academy’s Principal Lavinia Mason Lorian.

I had spoken to the woman in a while. In fact, I had expected to be summoned after the incident with Crimson Crescent, but for two weeks there was no summons at all. Nada. Zip. Nothing. Until today….

So I spent the forty minute drive from the university to the Academy pondering what the upcoming meeting would entail.

I drove around Galatea Academy and pulled into its west entrance.

After parking my precious Stormbird in the visitors’ area, I locked the car, then made the journey to the administration building.

To the south, and thus to the right of me, lay the sports fields. I watched the girls and boys of the Track-and-Field club participating in after school training, and I thought of Caprice and the aspirations she had once held.

A twinge of bitterness clouded my heart, and I turned away, walking the remainder of the way to the admin building without another glance to the sports fields.

No matter what…I will do right by her.

The admin building was locked to outsiders. I had to push the intercom button and announce my arrival before being allowed inside by the building’s security Assisting Awareness.

However, I was told to wait in the building lobby.

Doing my best not to tap my right foot impatiently, I waited with arms folded under my breasts until the arrival of a tall, slender blonde woman dressed in an immaculate business skirt suit.

I knew the attractive young woman wasn’t Lavinia, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know who she was.

Nicola Weinberg afil Lorian walked up to me, stopping a couple of feet away.

She offered me her hand, and I shook graciously.

“Lady Arisa, it’s good of you to come on such short notice.”

“Lady Weinberg, it’s good of you to greet me.”

She shook her head. “Nicola, is just fine.” She half turned and gestured into the building. “Principal Mason is expecting us. Shall we?”

I shook my head gently. “No. Before I face her, I’d like to know what this is about.”

“It’s quite alright. You don’t have to be concerned. Principal Mason has something to show you. Something you will find interesting and beneficial to your cause.”

“My cause?”

She nodded. “Please, follow me.”

If I wanted to know what this was about, I had no choice but to do so.

And so I followed Nicola Weinberg afil Lorian into an elevator, up six floors, then down a corridor to an office that occupied a significant amount of the top level’s floor space.

I glanced at Weinberg who walked elegantly on four-inch heels down the carpeted corridor.

She had the grace of a catwalk model, and the slender figure to match the top supermodels of Pharos’s fashion industry. As such, though her bust was modest, it in no way compared to mine.

I smiled inwardly to myself with pride.

I knew who Nicola Weinberg was…and who she had once been.

The Mistress of the Slaughter.

The leader of the Sirens of the Slaughter.

However, that had all come to an end some nineteen months ago, and the one responsible for ending her career as a hunter killer for the Sanctum was none other than Celica Desanto – Caelum’s older sister.

And now Weinberg was here…at Galatea Academy.

My stomach clenched uneasily.

The double doors to the office opened as Weinberg and I approached them.

Stepping inside, I found myself standing in a lavish office with a back wall composed of floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a panoramic view of Galatea Academy’s southern grounds.

Warm lighting lit the interior, and wood antiques furnished it.

It reminded me a little of the Student Council President’s office.

Quickly, I focused my attention on the woman who rose from the high-backed leather chair – the kind of chair you’d expect to find in a corporate executive’s corner office.

I walked up to the executive desk, but Weinberg assumed a position to the desk’s right.

“Madam Principal, Arisa Imreh Lanfear, as you requested.”

I studied Lavinia Mason as she studied me.

Her handsome yet austere appearance hadn’t changed my time attending the Academy many years ago. That’s not to say I hadn’t seen her since then, having spoken to her in person at the end of last year when we first discussed what to do about Crimson Crescent. My point is that the woman looked ageless, locked into her middle years.

She’s aging like a fine wine, I thought to myself.

Mason stepped around her desk, and offered me her hand in greeting.

I shook it, uncertain of where all this was leading.

She nodded to me faintly. “It’s good to see you again, Arisa.”

“Madam Principal,” I replied, offering her a slight nod. After a moment’s hesitation, I added, “I’m sorry things didn’t work out the way we planned.”

“There were plans in motion you and I were not aware of. Plans my Primogen withheld from me.”

For a heartbeat, I bit my lower lip. “All of this was to capture Celica, wasn’t it.”

“I believe so.” Mason sighed. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you about the Vault, or its significance.”

With a gentle shake of my head, I said, “I understand. However, I can’t help but wonder if everything we did was for nothing.”

She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head a few degrees. “I wouldn’t say so.”

“Why?”

“Because you brought together a collection of diamonds in the rough.”

I frowned, then understood she meant Caprice, Caelum, Rina, and Maya. “They need a lot of polish.”

“They do indeed.”

I sighed softly. “However, I’m afraid I don’t have the resources to polish them the way they deserve. And I can’t ask for more from my Pride.”

“And that is why I invited you here.”

Invited? I frowned inwardly. Lavinia Mason doesn’t invite people. They either show up or else expect retribution somewhere down the line.

I swallowed discreetly and asked, “What do you mean?”

Mason smiled a rare and gentle smile, which both settled and unsettled me.

“Arisa, let me show you.”

#

(Arisa)

#

Mason led Nicola Weinberg and I to a private elevator that descended well below street level.

I watched the numbers on the elevator’s display panel count upwards but it was apparent we were heading down.

Coming to rest, the doors slid open to reveal a spacious corridor with permacrete walls and recessed strip lighting overhead.

I followed the two women down the corridor, a couple of turns at tee intersections, then up a flight of stone steps into what I could only describe as an observation deck with enormous floor-to-ceiling windows that put those in Mason’s office to shame.

The observation deck had two levels, with the upper level resembling a loft with an overhanging balcony.

A trio of young women in casual attire sat on the lower level, their backsides on ergonomic chairs with legs that resembled metal paper clips. They operated holo-consoles with hands clad in photon gloves.

Mason and Weinberg stood in front of the glass windows, and looked out into what I perceived as an enormous rock cavern. The open space within the asteroid must have been a thousand feet wide, half as long, and equally as high. Floodlights mounted to the ceiling poured a billion candle power of light into the cavern.

I stood stunned before the glass windows, my gaze swarming over the incredible vista. “What is this place?”

In the corner of my eye, I saw Mason fold her arms. “This is our training facility under the Academy. It was constructed some thirty years ago. However, it remained sealed for many, many years. I decided to reopen it a year ago, and get it up and running once again.”

“Why?” I asked her.

Mason looked over her shoulder at me. “To give your rough diamonds a place to polish their skills, and become the jewels they were meant to be.”

I turned my head and stared at Mason. “Why?”

Lavinia inhaled deeply, and released sigh full of regret. “Because I didn’t offer you all my support. I held back. Yet you and those students did what you could to protect my Academy. I’m grateful for what you tried to do. And I regret not trusting you fully.”

I shook my head slowly. “No, Principal. There was more at work than either of us was aware of. We didn’t see the bigger picture because we couldn’t.”

“Even so, I should have been more co-operative.” Mason looked down into the cavern. “I won’t make the same mistake again.”

“So does this mean you’ll help us?”

“Yes. Those young Familiars will have access to the facilities here to pursue their training.” She looked at me quickly. “I understand you have Kaleb Deneve in your corner?”

“For the time being. He’s on loan to me”—I held back a grimace—“from a family source.”

“I see.” She was quiet for a short while. “In that case, I will place Nicola at your disposal.”

My eyes widened sharply. “Excuse me?”

“Nicola is an excellent trainer. She will help to refine and polish those young students.”

I swallowed hard and gave Weinberg a questioning look.

However, the young blonde woman shrugged a shoulder and smiled faintly at me. “I’ll do my part,” she said softly.

For a long while, I didn’t know what to say. I was quite simply overwhelmed, yet a part of me was also deeply suspicious. I told the voice in the back of my mind that we would talk later.

I bowed to Principal Mason. “I’m in your debt, Madam Principal.”

Mason nodded, then turned back to the windows and their view of the cavern. “Well then, shall we see how they’re doing?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but then closed it when I noticed someone standing before the glass windows, a few meters away from Mason, Weinberg, and I.

It was a young girl with long auburn hair, falling in cascading waves down her back. She was dressed in a skinsuit that hugged her well-toned slender body as though it was painted on her.

To those that didn’t know her, they would have thought her expression was serene.

But I knew this girl rather well, and she was actually anything but happy.

I would stop short of calling her angry, but to me, she was quite clearly displeased.

Swallowing quietly, I circled behind Mason and Weinberg, and cautiously stepped up to the young girl.

I cleared my throat again. “Caprice?”

Caprice Steiner afil Lanfear spared me a glance, a nod, then resumed staring down into the cavern.

I edged closer to her. “What are you doing here?”

“Observing them.”

I looked in the direction she was staring, and saw a young man and young woman, both the age of high schoolers, running around the floor of the cavern.

They were running very, very fast.

In fact, the girl was chasing the boy with a furious passion that bewildered me.

She seemed to be yelling at him, and he seemed to be yelling back at her.

Both of them were wielding weapons that I recognized in a heartbeat.

The girl carried two katanas in her hands. The boy had sword-like gauntlet blades extending from both his forearms.

As I watched them, it was clear who was the hunter and who was the hunted.

“What—what is going on?” I muttered under my breath.

A few feet to my right, Principal Mason muttered the same, then turned to one of the girl’s operating a holo-console. “Pyra, would you turn on the exterior audio?”

The girl hesitated, then shared a brief look with her companions “Ah…are you sure, Madam Principal?”

“Of course I’m sure. Why wouldn’t I be sure?”

“Ah—of course, Madam Principal.”

I turned back to the scene below and saw the boy turn and fend off the girl. The air around their weapons flashed emerald when they clashed a number of times, before the boy turned and ran once again.

Then a girl’s voice blared angrily into the observation deck, courtesy of hidden speakers.

“Pervert—come back here!”

“I don’t think so!” a familiar young man’s voice frantically retorted.

“You are dead—you hear me!”

“I hear that a lot these days.”

“I’m putting you six feet under!”

“Someone already tried!”

“Stop running and let me finish what they started.”

“Hell no! I’m not going back to hospital.”

“Gah—I said stop running, you pervert.”

A zinging sound pierced the air in the observation deck as weapons clashed far below in the cavern.

The young man protested. “I’m not a pervert.”

He ran away a heartbeat later.

The girl pursued him, swinging her katanas at his back. “You walked in on us while we were changing.”

“I was lost!” he protested. “This place is huge.”

“Can’t you follow the signs?”

“I thought it was the men’s change room.”

“Can’t you read the signs?”

“I made a wrong turn.”

“A wrong turn? Are you freakin’ serious?”

Sharp zings filled the air. On the cavern floor, the young man defended with surprising good posture, but was soon overwhelmed by superior swordsmanship.

His panicked cry cut the air. “Can’t a man take a wrong turn in his life without getting killed?”

“You don’t take wrong turns.”

He blocked her swords with his gauntlet blades. “Why are you so mad?”

“Because you saw us—you disgusting male narcissist.”

“I am not a narcissist.”

“Shut up. Shut up and forget what you saw!”

“No way! A precious memory like that. Absolutely, positively, no way!”

“Why the Hell not?”

“To behold a girl wearing La Ruby’s latest trend is an opportunity not to be missed.”

“What the Hell? You recognized my underwear?”

“Of course. La Ruby’s Girl Exotic summer collection.”

“Oh my gods!”

The boy grinned at her. “I never imagined you had such mature preferences.”

“Aggh—now I’m definitely going to kill you!”

The girl groaned under immense strain as she pushed at the boy with dark hair, who seemed to be lost in the memory of seeing her clad in her underwear.

Their weapons lit up the air with an intense emerald glow that was a testament to how serious they were fighting each other.

Yes, fighting each other for disparate reasons.

One was fighting to make the other forget.

The other was fighting to keep what he believed was a priceless memory.

I realized I was biting my nails, and was startled when Caprice spoke up.

“I think I’d better go down there.”

I shot her a sharp look. “What? Are you sure?”

“If I don’t step in now, Maya will surely kill him.” Caprice started turning away from the windows, then paused and muttered, “I don’t understand why she’s so angry. All he did was look at us.”

I blinked slowly. Huh?

Suddenly a flash of ruby light cut across the cavern airspace.

The ground around the young man and girl exploded into a cloud of rock debris.

When it settled, they were both lying supine on the ground several meters away from each other with a large shallow crater between them.

I noticed they were both breathing hard, but my gaze quickly searched the far side of the cavern and fell upon a girl dressed in a black skinsuit and sporting a twin-tail hairstyle running toward them. She carried a large rifle that reminded me of something you would use to take out a hover tank.

However, I knew this wasn’t a regular rifle.

It was a Fragment – part of an Artifact that was waiting to be unlocked.

And I recognized the girl in a heartbeat.

Rina Sayen afil Sora ran to the crater, and then stopped a couple of feet short of it. She looked at Maya Khayman afil Sora and Caelum Desanto afil Lanfear.

She wore an expression of panic.

“Are you alright? Please! Tell me if you’re alright!”

Caelum Desanto sat up slowly, supporting himself on his elbows. “Are you trying to kill us both, or just me?”

Rina started bowing repeatedly in apology. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry. I forgot to regulate the output.”

His face twisted into a scowl. “Huh?”

“I forgot the output setting was set on high.”

Maya groaned but failed to sit up. By her voice alone, she was clearly exhausted. “Rina…I think you need more target practice.”

“I’m sorry.”

Maya raised her head and pointed at Caelum while stared at Rina. “You missed him.”

Caelum glared at Maya. “You really do want me dead.”

“Of course.”

He rose to his feet and wobbled around. “You know, Khayman, your beauty is just wasted on a man hater like you.”

He turned around and walked away from them, but then stopped and half turned to face the two girls.

Using a gauntlet blade to point at Rina, Caelum’s voice was harsh.

“The next time you shoot at me, don’t miss, because I’m going to be coming for you.”

Even from a distance, I could see Rina turn ashen.

The girl visibly shuddered and fell to her knees.

Caelum turned away, and resumed walking but once again stopped.

I watched his shoulders rise and fall a couple of times, before he shook his head in frustration. He half turned and looked at Rina Sayen who remained on her knees.

“Sayen…that ensemble from La Ruby’s Princess Royale line looked really good on you. You filled it out beautifully.”

Rina Sayen gasped. She wasn’t grey anymore. Now she was ruby red.

Caelum gave her a thumbs up. “You have excellent taste.”

Then he turned away and once more resumed walking toward the cavern wall, soon disappearing from sight.

I thought I heard something snap, and risked a peek at Caprice standing rigidly to my left.

Her green eyes were like thin slits on her face.

I trembled when she turned her cold gaze on me.

“Arisa, might I have a moment with you?”

“Ah—yes. Of course.”

Caprice’s eyes widened to normal, but her voice was frigid at best.

“Arisa, I have a favor to ask of you.”

I swallowed anxiously. “Oh?”

“Yes.” She smiled at me and it made me shiver. “A very important favor.”

She dipped her head and peered up at me.

“A very, very important favor.”

That smile of hers was going to give me nightmares.