Harlan awoke in his own bed not 30 minutes after being taken from the woods.

His natural healing factor combined with him intentionally taking the blade to his neck in such a way to avoid missing his arteries allowed the healing to be fast and easy.

Beside him was Ava, her eyes were red and puffy, she looked haggard despite it only being sometime before lunch.

“I hope they caught the attacker for questioning.”

She slugged him in the jaw and beat his chest, he was a little surprised that she actually was hurting him, it calmed his heart to know she was so strong already.

“YOU IDIOT, COMPLETE FUCKING FOOL, DIRT FOR BRAINS.”

The others rushed in as they heard her shouting and Adina tried and failed to pull her off of him, Zella wanted to beat him too so she didn’t help but she didn’t hinder her either.

It wasn’t until Ximena stepped in that Ava actually counterattacked, Ximena’s nose broke and at that point Harlan decided her temper tantrum was done.

Ximena was teary eyed but was trying her best not to cry, she wasn’t used to being hurt, she didn’t like fighting and she was a very careful person.

He leapt from the bed and got behind her in a flash, his arms crossed hers and she could not escape his grasp.

“You can hit me as much as you want, but you can’t hurt my friends.”

“OH, SOME FRIENDS OF YOURS THAT JUST LEFT YOU THERE.”

“I asked them too, you all left me there, not Zella, not Adina, not Ximena, you all left. You trusted me to be safe and you were right.”

She didn’t stop crying and trying to break free from his hold.

The others all decided that they should let them have their moment.

Isha brought them lunch and left the room.

“Idiot.”

“I should be the one upset, I had to take a sword in the neck to make sure I got him alive.”

Ava slammed her fist on the small table they shared, but she didn’t say anything.

“Ava, I am not normal, I think I know my limits now, if I was weak I would’ve just killed that man, I can only afford to show mercy because I knew I could. I didn’t rush in without a plan, I didn’t rush into a certain death. I know it is hard to watch me do this to myself, can you forgive me for it.”

“Not until you stop doing stupid bullshit like this.”

He smirked.

“So, where did you pick up that language?”

“You spend weeks alongside soldiers then try to not talk like this.”

“Does Autumn know?”

“I know how to stop, I just don’t want to. She can keep her pretty image and I’ll put on her dresses and go to her parties, but I can’t stand those other noble brats looking down at me.”

“I know how you feel.”

“No, you don’t, because the only time you are here is when you are either dealing with another mental break or you find some time in your busy schedule to meet your family.”

She stabbed her fork into the meat so hard she broke the plate underneath.

“I’ve missed you guys too, I’m sorry, but after academ-”

“Then you want to go on a trip to a meet you other friends, hopefully before another war breaks out or you get yourself killed with you fucking confidence in everyone else.”

“You can’t hide your emotions from me, I know you are just scared of losing me. I’m scared of losing everyone else too.”

“Bullshit ability.”

After they were done Harlan took down the broken plate to throw away, then he wanted to spar with her.

They stayed inside the walls this time.

She barely said a word as Harlan beat her every round, Ximena was standing at the sidelines ready to heal any injuries she sustained.

The longer Ava fought the more she realized that Harlan beat her in every way, she felt worthless as a fighter, the years that she gave up to fight didn’t matter against just being born better.

Then he sped up, she suffered broken bones, but Harlan didn’t stop, he didn’t slow down.

She felt like he was actually trying to hurt her just to prove a point and it burned her up inside, he could just toy with her, she never once surpassed him, he just kept improving faster than she ever could.

Tau stepped in before they let the fight go any longer.

“Harlan, I cannot believe you would be so cruel.”

“This isn’t cruel, she should understand why I am fine with throwing my body into the fire to save everyone else, I am just stronger, if she could beat me I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second to let her fight alongside me to capture the attacker.”

“So that’s it then, I’ve got nothing, I can’t be a noble woman like Autumn, I can’t do magic like Amber, I can’t even fight like you.”

Harlan misunderstood exactly what he was doing, beating her didn’t boost her idea of what Harlan was able to do and let her know that he would be fine, it only served to break her spirit.

“You and I both know that is bullshit. Breken could beat me any day.”

“Oh, yeah fantastic, the man with 25 years on both of us who devoted most of his life could beat you, the 14 year old freak of nature.”

“You have all the time in the world to be stronger, you’ve not even gone through puberty yet, your strongest years are ahead of you, not behind you.”

“You are just going to go through it too and I am sure it is going to boost you way past me even more.”

He wished he just didn’t wake up that morning.

Everyone he consoled were people where somebody or something else was bothering them, he didn’t know how to deal with him being the problem of somebody he loved.

Then a plan came to mind.

“I promise I am going to make you stronger, I can’t bear to see you like this, just let your stupid foolish fucking idiot of a brother help you. Meanwhile please just keep moving forward, I couldn’t forgive myself if I messed up your hopes because I am an idiot who can’t understand people.”

“You’ll just make us both monsters, I don’t want that either.”

“Would it be so bad if we were both monsters together?”

She thought over her answer before grabbing his hand and letting him pull her up.

“I am really really sorry, I didn’t realize I was hurting you so badly.”

“Shut up, it was just a moment of bruised pride, don’t tell anyone about this or I’ll kill you.”

“I think a gift is the way to the heart of a woman, let’s go into town.”

“Idiot, I’m not a woman yet.”

Nobody was really sure if Ava was alright or if she was just hiding her pain like Harlan did, and the statement about them becoming monsters raised alarm bells for everyone around them.

Harlan brought a notebook and furiously scribbled out dozens of ideas, he had hoped to have a set design for a brand new type of armor by the time he left, if he didn’t he would find the blacksmithing and engineering students and see if he couldn’t find a way to get them help him make it work.

He wasn’t as good as Dearil by a long shot, most of his designs were only derivative of his works, but he had fire and he had time, he refused to believe he couldn’t get something done with the right mix of those two.

It was just them in the carriage, everyone else decided it was fine that they just had a brother sister date in town so he could apologize to her.

They arrived at the sweets shop first, it was mostly hard candies since pre-made cakes didn’t last very long and they only made a certain number of them based on what they expected to sell.

“I need a cake, Ava, design it, no matter the cost. Get anything else you want as well.”

Harlan put a handful of gold coins on the counter to let the baker know that he was serious.

As the baker kept giving suggestions Harlan kept scribbling ideas, it wasn’t exactly a spur of the moment idea to make an armor that was almost a golem in itself, but he had worries over what opening that box would do.

In theory it could turn the best swordsmen into a good mage without issue, but the bigger problem would be turning any number of foot soldiers into instant mages.

There was a certain power in the army training its soldiers into basic mages, it let them take those skills home and refine them, it let them revolt against those more powerful than them, having the ability to manufacture mages and then take away that power was dangerous.

As much as he didn’t believe it would happen, the idea that the kingdom doesn’t have a complete monopoly on violence was a deterrent to some of their power.

He knew he couldn’t really hide it once he made it, he just hoped that by the time it became a problem he would be enough to put down the problems that came from the existence of something like this.

The baker told them to come back tomorrow to pick up the cake, Harlan barely paid attention to the cost.

Next he took her to Brig, he hoped the old man was still there.

“Aye, what do ya want?”

“I want you to take a set of full plate and trim it to fit my sister, I want the best you have and I don’t care about the cost.”

“Aye, I can do that, but why would I?”

“Because I won’t settle for anything but the best to make sure she is safe until I come back here with designs for something new. I’ll keep buying her more sets of armor when she grows.”

Brig had them follow him into a backroom and then told them to dig up a chest he hid there, what was inside was an armor that wasn’t quite like any other armor he had seen before.

It was fully lightsteel and made of dozens of connected pieces that after a little bit of adjustment fit Ava like a second skin, it split at the center from the crotch to the forehead and then fused itself back together as she stepped into the suit.

It fit her like a second skin, the metal shifted with her breathing, it twisted and bent but still looked sturdy.

Harlan could feel that the old man was nostalgic and sad to see the armor on her.

“Uh, this feels great, but how do I get out of it?”

“Never been in light steel before? Just tell it to open up again.”

It took a little bit of trial and error, but at least the armor couldn’t crush her.

“Whoa, how long have you had this?”

“A long time, it an old heirloom.”

“How old are you then?”

He smacked her head with a forging hammer but the helmet stopped it from doing anything but knocking her over.

“Sorry, is it alright to buy this then? Don’t you want to pass it along.”

“I piss vinegar and eat nails, no woman ll’ come near me, I ain’t got anyone to pass it to. I used my years to be a mean old man fore’ I was an old man, keep it, no use to a man like me.”

“How much does it cost then?”

“Ain’t you been listenin’? I said keep it, now get the hell out of my shop, go on, git.”

He tried pushing Harlan but he stood like a brick wall.

“I am going to miss you, I really do appreciate this. If you ever need a place to go, come over, just for a meal or a drink, my people will treat you well.”

“They make little shits from iron these days? Move out of my way.”

“I am sure you have a story you don’t want to tell, try leaving it in your will so I can read it after you are gone. I hope you are still here when I come next time though.”

Brig was happy to hear it, but outwardly he just started swinging his hammer and yelling at them.

As they stepped into the light Ava shined, the afternoon sunlight split into a rainbow of color across the surrounding buildings.

She didn’t like fancy dresses or jewels, but she couldn’t help but feel like a princess in her new armor; she was glad that the helmet covered her face and hid her bright smile and rosy cheeks.

She wanted a cloak to go along with it, something black.

Harlan almost hated the idea of messing with the armor to soulsmith it.

But more than that, he could tell that a gift and a promise was enough to get Ava to calm down, at least for now.