Arc 2 | Chapter 69: A Good Time to Have Readable Expressions

“Please, stars above, let this be the end! Let this be the end! Let this be the end~”

V’s babysitter shot Emilia the same look he’d been giving her since she and Key had caught back up with him and V. The cave had continued on in a ridiculously straight line, and she had forced Key to hurry his steps so they could all travel together.

Now, neither Key nor Taoran were happy. V was quiet, smile nowhere to be seen, although occasionally his and Emilia’s eyes would meet, and she could see the amusement dancing through them.

At least someone appreciated how much effort she was putting into annoying the older Enclave member. Seriously, what kind of man barely acknowledges anyone? He was so rude! Even ruder than the Stringer Matriarch, which was so impressive Emilia was half-tempted to bring back her annual ritual of giving each of her teachers awards for being the best or worst in whatever category she and her friends decided fit them best. None of her friends had ever volunteered that they had played a part in the awards, although it wouldn’t have been hard for anyone to guess who had been involved. Instead, she’d been the one to present the awards to their terrible teachers. She’d gotten in trouble a few times, but it was usually the end of the school year and there was little her teachers could do to her at that point.

Actually, the only one to ever volunteer they’d been a part of the process was Halen, after one of their teachers had threatened to fail her because of the award. He certainly hadn’t been her friend, but by that point their entire grade had known about the ritual and hated their teacher enough to offer their votes. The teacher had been awarded a dozen rewards, varying from “Worst Dressed” to “Best (and Worst) Stench”—seriously, how none of this man’s coworkers told him he stank was beyond any of them. He had not been happy, and Halen of all people had backed her up, and then their teacher had Halen’s parents threatening to pull funding from the school if they let the teacher remain. It had been nice, not having to drag her own parents into her fights with the school system for once.

Emilia didn’t think Taoran would appreciate an award for being “Rudest Man I’ve Ever Met,” but she was going to keep her options open, if they all survived, which—

“Yeah~” she cheered as they came around a rare corner and finally found the heartcore. “Finally! Does this mean we can leave soon?” she asked, not sure who she was directing the question at, given Key couldn’t understand her and V’s babysitter had refused to speak to either of them, even ignoring her attempts to introduce herself.

She felt bad for V, being stuck with such a terrible man, and for Rin, who had been forced to travel with him while they were separated, speaking of whom…

“Your other half,” V said blandly, nodding in towards where Rin was sitting against a wall, fast asleep.

“Rin~” she cheered, skipping off towards her friend, who startled awake when Emilia plopped down beside her. “You’re okay! I was worried!”

Rin blinked adorably sleepy eyes at her. ⸂Did Key not tell you I went to find another way through?⸃

Emilia sighed, shaking her head at the girl as Key came to stop in front of them, a mild smile on his face. “Sure, but there are monsters! Who knows what you could have run into!”

Rin tilted her head, eyebrows pulling together minutely in confusion before she turned her eyes on Key. ⸂Did you not tell her visitors are more likely to face difficulties traversing these labyrinths?⸃

“What?” Emilia asked, gapping up at Key. “No! No, he didn’t tell me anything like that. Although, neither did you.”

Rin shook her head. ⸂Key told me when we split up. I was also concerned, but he assured me I was more likely to be led easily from room to room while there were visitors also inside,⸃ she explained, shoulders rolling as she yawned.

⸂Sorry,⸃ Key said quietly, glancing back at the men behind him.

Emilia peeked around him, finding V being pushed towards the heartcore by Taoran.

⸄Hurry up,⸅ the man grumbled, glaring at the slightly taller man’s back as he refused to move any faster. ⸄We don’t have all day!⸅

“Psst~” she whispered, leaning in towards Rin, abruptly wondering if the former trainee could even hear her when she was whispering. “Do you think he knows V will pass out when he touches that?”

A whisper of private aether racketed between Rin and Key as they translated and discussed her question.

⸂I do not think so,⸃ Rin told her, and fucking stars was it nice to have an interpreter again. ⸂Key says he did not know you would pass out. He asked his father, and apparently it is a new phenomenon.⸃

So, either it was just a her thing, or something had changed since the last visitation. A moment passed and V finally reached out to touch the heartcore and—

“Nope, not just a me thing,”

Emilia thought as V collapsed to the ground, startling his Enclave babysitter, who bolted forward to roll him over.

⸂At least I caught you,⸃ Key scoffed, jaw tight as he watched the pair. His weight shifted uneasily from side to side, eyebrows scrunching together in what would have been an adorable look of concern were he not currently focused on Taoran.

He really was terrible at hiding his emotions, which was helpful in this case, because when Taoran abruptly threw a spell in their direction, Emilia was already prepared to stop it with a wall of pure aether—one of the few skills which had transferred between the real world and this one. The ability to throw up a defensive shield without going through your Censor had been drilled into every soldier capable of doing so, even if they were usually only good once or twice in a fight due to how exhausting they were.

Taoran blinked, surprised that his spell had been stopped by sheer force, the moment enough for Rin and Emilia to get their feet under them and haul Key out of the way of a second attack.

“What was that?” Emilia asked as they bolted behind one of the giant boulders littering the area.

⸂Key?⸃ Rin asked, voice strained as she enacted a proper magic barrier to protect them.

Key swallowed as he peeked out from behind the boulder at his uncle. ⸂I believe he wants to win the blessing. He is taking the opportunity to be rid of competition.⸃

“So he decided to kill his nephew?” Emilia asked, garnering her an odd look from Rin.

The girl shook her head when Emilia explained that Key had referred to the older man as

uncle

. ⸂It is simple a term of familiarity among the Enclave. I doubt they are related more than distantly, and even if they were—⸃

Rin’s words cut off as a spell slammed until her barrier, the air vibrating and screaming from the force of it.

“Well, I don’t suppose anyone will care if I kill him?” Emilia asked, already digging through her bag for her weapons. She’d spent a portion of their fall and walk examining her new clothing. Despite his embarrassment, Key had helpfully pointed out several spots that seemed designed for her weapons. Her {Blood Blade} slid into a new belt at her hips, while she had a number of slots on her leg wrappings for {Blood Needles}. She grabbed her {Blood Orb} as well, and elbowed Key in the side. “A little help?”

Key didn’t even need Rin to translate to know what she wanted, his body immediately wrapping around hers, his hands finding a home over hers. Energy ruptured out of him, reaching into the world in a way that reminded Emilia of her own, far-seeing skills.

⸂Brat,⸃ Taoran spit out and Emilia could hear him moving, trying to evade whatever attack he could surely feel them preparing.

Key’s energy vibrated through her, sliding up her meridians and into her core, until they were a hook through her soul and he was guiding their attack. Bubbles of blood splattered out of the {Blood Orb}, once more threatening to mar his hands with burns. Now, however, Emilia had training, and while it wasn’t much, she was able to focus and drag her unwieldy energy away from both Key and Rin… and after a moment of thought, V as well.

She didn’t know if he had known about this attack beforehand, but something told her not. The way the other visitor had angered at the needless spilling of local blood, his sadness over the murder of his Risen Guard babysitter…

No, Emilia was quite sure that he hadn’t known about this. If he had, Taoran waiting until his charge had passed out would also make little sense. But why attack them at all? She knew there was some amount of tension and competition between the Enclave families, but to attack your allies? To risk killing them, just so your family could claim the glory of supporting the Harbinger who attained the Blessing?

⸂I do not understand why he is attacking us,⸃ Rin noted, her words echoing Emilia’s thoughts as she sent out a barrier of fire when Taoran’s energy smashed towards them. Whatever attack he had been aiming at them burnt up under the pure force of the girl’s barrier. For all that Rin wasn’t yet the most experienced with spells, she was extremely capable with those she did know. Emilia had noticed it while they walked, that Rin’s energy was always tightly controlled when she let it out, searching for clues as to their location. It had vaguely reminded her of something at the time, but now she realized it reminded her of a girl she had known during the war—a soldier from the Free Colonies named Airilynn, who had possessed so much raw power that she had had difficulties controlling it.

Not that that was particularly relevant in the moment, except to make Emilia a little wary of accidentally getting in Rin’s way. While she had no idea if the other girl truly did have enough power that controlling it was difficult, she wasn’t about to risk it. Some people could pull their skills back with barely any thought—Emilia had no desire to be accidentally burned to death because Rin could do no such thing.

“Rin!” she called, risking dragging the other girl’s attention away from the fight so she could ask her to translate. “Can we fill the room with as many stationary bubbles as possible?” she asked, directing her question at Key, focusing diligently behind her. “So I can use my other weapons on him,” she added, when both of the locals gave her incredulous looks. The fact that she wanted to go fight the man head on didn’t do anything to help their skepticism.

⸂You cannot be serious!⸃ Key said, gaping at her. ⸂Uncle— Taoran,⸃ he corrected himself, shaking his head, ⸂is one of the most skilled Enclave members. Without magic—⸃

“I have weapons,” Emilia said, cutting the boy off before he said something stupid—or called the intentions of the universe down on them. She had no idea if such beliefs were a thing here, but in Baalphoria some believed that speaking—even thinking—something was enough to encourage it.

“Be mindful of your intentions, lest you bring misfortune upon yourself—or worse, bring a cracked, incomplete wish crashing down upon you,”

was a popular adage. Emilia wasn’t sure how much she believed it—while some areas of Baalphoria held firmer beliefs and customs regarding intentions, none of the places she had even lived did—but she also didn’t purposefully give voice to things she’d rather avoid.

“I also have decades of training,” she added, realizing too late that if Key and Rin hadn’t realized she was older than them before, they definitely did now. Oh well, they were bound to find out eventually. “Ready? Let’s go!”

Key blanched as she sent a hurricane of her energy racing into the {Blood Orb}, what may well have been hundreds of bubbles exploding out of it. From the other side of their hiding spot, Taoran swore, the sound followed by a thump and another curse. The bubbles paused, finding a home within the membrane of the aethernet, and both she and Key dropped their connection to the {Blood Orb}—or, Key dropped his and without that extra help, Emilia’s naturally fell away.

Emilia righted her weight, giving the pair of locals a wink as she said, “Cover me?” Her smile widened when neither looked impressed. Rin’s aethervoice vibrated against her, preparing to say something about how stupid she was, or how she didn’t know what awaited her in death, but Emilia was already bolting forward, hand reaching for one of her {Blood Needles}.

She was a moment away from letting it loose, Taoran’s furious, black eyes glued to her when suddenly he screamed out. A spear exploded out of his chest, bloody and brutal even before the beautiful, iridescent red metal of the shaft split open, ripping a hole twice the size of Emilia’s arm in the man.

The Enclave man fell to his knees, V stepping up behind him, flawlessly manoeuvring between the bubbles of glassy red floating through the area.

“How very rude,” the other visitor said, his expression harder than Emilia had seen it before—even harder and more frightening than it had been while they discussed the lengths the Risen Guard were willing to go trying to keep this world’s blood under control. His hand wrapped around the other end of the spear, just before the other, spiked weapon attached to the other end. He pulled, gore and muscle snagging on the spear end and pulling free of the man. “It is extremely rude to attack your allies,” he said quietly, barely blinking when his babysitter’s blood began to swirl around them, shooting through Emilia’s bubbles.

“I suggest we take cover,” Emilia said, smiling shakily at V.

“Mm…” the man agreed—probably agreed, his hum soft as his eyes rolled back and Emilia lurched forward, trying to catch him before he fell to the ground once more.