“And that’s everyone done,” Thera sighed as she leaned her head on Sonya’s arm. “How long do you think till this place starts to fill up again?”

“I’m sure it won’t be truly full until the wounded start being rushed in. Since you brought the patients down to zero, Lux can stop in easily enough before going to do the rest of her work.”

The hospital of Anailia was going to be one of the main treatment grounds for any patients whose injuries walked the fine line between needing to be treated on-site and those that weren’t so severe as to require immediate healing.

Thanks to the power of her father, her home nation was going to be one of the safest, even with an invasion point right at their doorstep, meaning that not only would the citizens not be evacuating for the first wave, but they’d be helping with war efforts in other ways, such as supporting the injured.

In a time like that after all, it didn’t matter if anyone ended up charmed. The effects would wear off no matter how undesirable the person under them might find it after, and being charmed was better than being dead.

“But with that done, I think I’ll be going to see Falk. Care to join me?” Sonya asked, getting a shake of her head in reply.

“Not this time. I need to talk to mom and I think I need to see Lux too. Since I have the time, I’m hoping she’ll let me help her with her work.”

The great light spirit was doing her part by doing the same thing Thera had been, only on a larger scale. Her aunt had been going to the hospitals reachable through each gate, providing all of the healing she could to ease their burdens for what was to come, and Thera fully intended to join her if she could.

It would make things faster for both of them and by being with her aunt when it happened she wouldn’t need to worry about anyone trying to recruit her. Thera would get the experience she desired, as well as the peace of being able to focus on her work, both options desirable considering what was to come.

She’d known the day was coming and knew that she, like so many others, would be fighting, but as it got closer it felt more and more real. She didn’t want to have to play any part in it. She wanted to hide away with Ben and her family and act like the world wasn’t going to fall down around them. She wanted to treat staying at craftsman's tower like any other trip, seeing the sights and exploring the city instead of being buried under the feeling of its oppressive aura when just being near the battlefield felt like it was pricking at her skin. She just wanted the long life she could expect to be filled with peace.

And I can keep wanting things that just won’t happen. She told herself. I can want them all I want as long as I deal with the reality of it all. I think I can finish up my job soon so I just need to focus on that and I can just distract myself the rest of the time. It’s fine. Well, as fine as it can be.

She wished she shared Ben’s unnatural level of focus on days like that. Being able to wholly put her mind to her tasks at hand would be a blessing, but failing that she could do the next best thing as she went to find her mother to have a conversation she was sure would haunt her thoughts for the rest of her life.

“Ah, Thera I’m so glad you stopped by,” Pelenia said, wrapping her daughter in a tight hug as she did. “It’s nice you remember little old me at times like this.”

“I already visit you more than I’d ever planned on when I moved to Stonewall, you know.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean I can’t want to see my lovely daughter even more.”

“Mmh, well I guess it’s nice to see you too,” She said, giving in to her mother’s love. “How are things here?”

“Calmer than you might think. We’ve prepared all we can by now, all that’s left is seeing where something will go wrong and putting out any fires that pop up. Funa, Karly, and Glob are off to the gate they’ll cover so it should be an easy way for them to gain plenty of experience and hopefully complete a couple jobs and other than that your father is off talking to the spirits to try and figure out where each kind can be sent to do the most good. And you? Are you sure you don’t want to stay here instead?”

For just a moment her mother’s mask slipped, letting her see the deep worry brewing beneath. So many people were planning to fight, but Thera was her only child. No matter how Pelenia could act, she wanted her to be safe.

“I’ll be with aunty and uncle Falk, it will be fine mom. Besides, I’ll be acting pretty far back. I’m basically security for uncle's work.”

“Hmph, I’d rather my sister and that stubborn old ape were here too, you know. Honestly, why must the people I love be such a handful?”

I can only imagine the two of them having aneurysms if they heard you of all people calling them a handful.

“Everyone just wants to do what they can mom. But anyway, that’s not really what I came here to talk about…”

She could feel herself starting to blush, a fact her mother could see clear enough as Pelenia’s eyes took a look of deep interest, always ready to enjoy whatever conversation could leave such a look on her daughter’s face.

“Of course sweetheart, I’m always happy to talk.”

“That’s what makes doing it with you so hard,” Thera muttered. “You already look way too into this and you don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“Ah, but those shiny cheeks tell me it will be something entertaining,” She told her with a laugh, reaching out to cup her daughter's face as Thera pulled back. “So out with it before my curiosity gets the better of me. What’s on your mind?”

“There’s something I was hoping you’d get for me.”

“Yes?”

“...Anti-life rings.”

For the second time that day, the typically playful face her mother wore slipped away, revealing a look she’d never seen on her in all of the years she’d been raised. Her mother was not only blushing but clearly at a loss.

“Ah, oh, I see. Um, you know Thera, I have no issue with that sort of thing, but going from very clearly saying that you have no desire for romance to jumping into the far end… I mean, it's obviously Ben you’re thinking about, right? And he really is a lovely boy and you’re father and I completely approve of him and were hoping for this sort of development eventually, but you don’t need to rush into things just because you’re worried about the future and give some proper thought to what you want. I mean, if you do that’s great, but you need to plan for the future, not just act because you’re worried about not being around for it so I think first you should properly tell him how you’re feeling and go from there.”

It would have been amusing to hear her mother ramble like that if the topic didn’t feel so embarrassing, so for her own sake she was quick to put a stop to it before her mother could go on.

“Actually, my relationship with Ben has been, well, romantic for about a year now, and yeah I’m thinking about advancing it, but this isn’t out of the blue and it’s not a reaction to the world ending. I, well, I love him.”

“What!” Her mother yelled after the seconds it took to process what she’d just heard, all embarrassment forgotten in an instant. “You’ve been dating him for a year and this is my first time hearing about this? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear these words from my horribly stubborn daughter? Wait, does this mean Sonya knows too and you’ve both been hiding it from me? Why!”

“Because you’ve wanted this way too much and I knew it was going to be an uncomfortable conversation. Not to mention you literally forced us into an engagement. Honestly, I’m a little surprised you haven’t heard about it already, Greed ended his show with Ben confessing and the songs spread enough that even I’ve heard it a couple times now.”

“Wait, the ruby crab that stayed with us for a few days after he got out of the trial? Augh, he’d been sending invitations to his show for months as thanks that I just haven’t had time to accept! Are you saying I could have found out ages ago?”

“Sounds like it. So are you going to help or not?”

“Hmph, why don’t you just ask Ben to make them then?” She said as she pouted. “He could probably do a better job than anything I could get my hands on.”

“Ahem, well, I haven’t exactly spoken to him about it yet.”

“Really now?” Her mother asked, eyes lighting up again as the queen continued through the broad range of emotions she hadn’t expected to experience that day. “In that case, you’ll really have to let me know how it goes.”

“Absolutely not. So are you going to help me? I wouldn’t even be asking if I wouldn’t just break any enchantment I had to power myself.”

“I’m sure. Alright then, come with me.”

She quickly led Thera to her room before opening the closet, digging around a bit before tossing a box to her, which once opened revealed a collection of mythril bands with white mana crystals set within, over twenty of them with each at a different size.

“...Why do you just have these ready to go?”

“Because my lovely daughter destroys any enchantment she touches and I figured it would be better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them. They all have ninth-level enchantments on them so they should work fine.”

“And the sizes?” She asked, picking up one just slightly smaller than her wrist.

“Please, your aunt is in love with a yeti and I married a great spirit, I wasn’t going to just assume that if you ever met someone they’d be an incubus. And look at me, I was right for thinking that. Though I guess Ben’s body type is similar enough that I didn’t need to prepare anything quite that extreme.”

Thera hadn’t actually expected to get them quite so easily. A part of her had even thought that with everything going on she wouldn’t get her hands on them till after the first wave. As convenient as it was for things to go so smoothly, it meant one completely different thing for her as she was now faced with the reality of bringing the topic up with Ben.