Chương 162: Day One Hundred And Sixty One

Dear Diary, I swear, I do not understand politics. You say the exact same damn thing in a different way, and all of a sudden you're a hero rather than a villain. So the past couple nights I've rested well, because I've worked myself as hard as I could all day long, but Saffron disappearing on me when she fell asleep? Really poking at that whole 'abandonment issues' button, hard. Same dream as before, all night long. At least I woke up rested, right?

I swear, I need to get some kind of therapy about this abandonment thing before I go off half cocked and do something awful, like murdering someone, or Just Happening to Least Lancaster or some shit. Oof. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Anyway, woke up to Isnomi snuggling up to me, using me like a pillow a lot like I'd used Saffron last night. I lay there stroking her curls until I heard Marie getting up. I turned my head and met her gaze. As she finished putting on her final apron, I nodded at Marie.

She nodded back, collected a little uniform, then walked over to beside the bed. Once she stood there ready, I flipped the cover off of us, and she scooped Isnomi up and dressed her atop her cart. The menace fussed the whole time, but it was normal 'slow wake up, want to get back to the warm' fussing, not anything worse than that. I got the latter completely; as soon as Marie collected Isnomi, I leapt for the armoire, grateful that she'd left it open for me.

Slipped my pants on fast, shoved my feet into my uniform boots, pulled my blouse on, then set to tying and tucking everything as fast as possible so I could get my uniform jacket on. By the time I'd gotten myself fully dressed, Isnomi stood atop the cart, arms folded, staring at me and shaking her head. She looked so much like an itty bitty Saffron I had all I could do to keep from crying, but when she waved me over I stepped up.

She straightened my collar while Marie fixed the absolute mess I'd made of tucking in and tying my shirt. I absolutely was not crying. Marie must have been cutting onions or something. Once she had my collar straight, Isnomi wiped away my tears and hugged me. Okay, she mostly hugged my head, because bigger or not, she was still toddler sized. Big toddler, maybe, but toddler.

Once they had my sartorial madness more or less corrected, I scooped up Isnomi, pulled Marie into a hug, and said, "could you pick her up about half an hour before breakfast is over, please?" She nodded, "Yes.", hugged me again, and squeaked her way out of the room and down the hallway. Once we were out in the hall, Isnomi wriggled and said, "down." I shrugged, set her gently on her feet, whereupon she grabbed my hand and started pulling me down the hallway.

I had to half jog to keep up with her, because much like any other time she self-locomoted, she was running. She nearly gave me a heart attack on the steps when she didn't even slow down, but leapt down the flight, barely touching the middle step before launching herself down the rest. I couldn't very well manage the steps myself without slowing her down or letting go, and I absolutely wasn't about to let go of her while she did her daredevil leaping.

We hit the ground floor right behind a group of Cadets, and instead of slowing down, Isnomi dragged me around them. We wound up getting to the Dining Hall doors before anyone else, and they opened just after that. Nothing to do with Isnomi bouncing up and down and knocking on the door as high as she could reach, I'm certain. The Maid who opened the door gave me a sour look, then saw Isnomi when she bounced up and said, "Hi!" Friendly welcome replaced sourness so fast I wondered if I'd imagined her first response.

Isnomi shook my hand off, sprinted to the table, and started in on the sausages before I even got seated. Still only one tray of spicy eggs. Sad Tabitha noises. About half an hour before breakfast ended, just as Lancaster got up from his table, Marie came into the room from the hallway. Before she even got to us, Isnomi jumped onto the table, sprinted down its length, and leapt for Marie, who managed to catch her just before she faceplanted into the hard stone floor.

I got out of my seat like a sane adult, walked over to the pair of them, watching as Marie held Isnomi dangling, claws around her like a five point harness. The two stared at one another, and I saw suppressed fear, followed by sternness, capped off by frustrated acceptance all roll across Marie's face before she deposited the menace on her cart.

"Be good for Marie today, Menace," I admonished her before giving her hugs and kisses farewell. I moved on to Marie, who might have kept an eye on Isnomi the whole time, apparently half expecting her to swan dive off of the cart onto the floor. I intercepted Lancaster at the door.

"Did you pick up the practice blades today?" He shook his head, so I said, "meet me at the Entrance," and Translocated up to the storage shed, then stepped back down to the Entrance.

"I can't help but think that's somehow blasphemous, using divine powers for something so trivial." I shrugged, "if Loki says he doesn't want me doing it, I'll stop." You're fine, Tabitha. I'll certainly tell you should I wax wroth with you. Thanks, Boss. You're the best. I know. I shrugged at Lancaster.

"He doesn't mind, so we're good. You want to walk all the way there? Or should we take the quick way?" He looked conflicted, opening his mouth to speak like three times before shutting it. Finally, he shook his head and said, "I see no reason to freeze ourselves," and held out his hand. I grabbed his hand and stepped to Drivers'. We had to wait in line for a little bit; apparently the breakfast rush normally ends right around when the Dining Hall stops serving breakfast.

But we picked up three packages each, then I took his hand and stepped to the wall.

"That's," he said before pausing, then continuing, "bizarre."

"Did you expect anything less than weird from me?" He shrugged.

"Not really. But the first step I felt like I blinked, so I made sure to keep my eyes open the second time. There's a tiny fragment of a second where everything's just dark. Dark as the deep forest on an overcast night." If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Huh." I'd never noticed that before, although part of the whole Translocation thing was picturing some aspect of the destination so well you could almost see it. Without further ado, we walked down the wall, side by side, silently eating our breakfast pita burritos. I finished up before him, and when he finished I handed him his practice sword. He took it, saw me getting ready to shuck my coat, and said, "wait." When I paused with the coat hanging open, he continued, "keep your coat on and use your daggers.

I'm assuming you're using them because a Mana Blade of that size is easier to create?" I shrugged and buttoned my coat back up.

"More like if I don't think about making it any other size, it comes out that big." He nodded, "so for now, let's practice with coats on, no teleporting about. You need the practice, I think."

"And the coat?" He smiled, "good training." I sighed, "Fuck me, you're right." I couldn't tell if I imagined a little pink flushing his pale complexion, or if it was just from the cold, but he barked out, "begin!" and came at me. We sparred all morning, not stopping even once. I quickly realized that staying out of reach of his sword meant staying way out of reach of my daggers, so I adjusted by lunging inside his blade the way I had the day before.

We wound up flat on the stone walkway more than once as I barreled into him, but after the first time he dropped his sword, signaling I'd won that spar, because with me lying on top of him, he didn't have the angle or leverage to hit me solidly with his sword. By lunch he was definitely looking a little pale, so I ate slow to give him more time to recover. Tabitha? Yeah, Kitten? You might want to pay attention to this. I watched through her eyes as she walked into Lancaster's command tent.

She glanced downward to show me she had her official High Priestess garb on, and Lancaster had removed his armor as well. Hero Castro, Hero Potami, and the Marshall all stood around a planning table set up with a rough map of the surrounding terrain. Lancaster responded to her entrance first.

"High Priestess Aetos. I take it based on your garb you've something religious to discuss?" Saffron nodded, "I have information regarding the darkness that spreads through Underhill surrounding Phileo City and Camden Yards."

"Well don't just keep us in suspense," said the Marshall.

"What's going on with it?" Saffron looked at Lancaster and asked, "do you recall that I told you that Phileo City and Camden Yards presently have the blessing of Mimic?" Marshall duBois looked like he'd swallowed a grape down the wrong hole, but before he could say anything Lancaster replied, "I remember, yes. Is that changing?" Saffron shook her head, "no, but are you aware that since shortly after the Equinox, Apollo has been raining fire upon Phileo City from Olympus?"

Everyone else in the tent looked a bit taken aback. Eventually the Marshall asked, "how do you know? I mean, I think we'd all notice fire raining from the sky." Saffron shook her head, "Apollo launches his assault from Olympus, which lies in the Land of the Gods. Should his arrows hit, I suspect they would impact the material world as well as Underhill." Lancaster asked, "so why aren't they?"

"Because Mimic has protected our cities and our lands, her darkness blocking the divine wrath Apollo intended for us." Marshall duBois barked out, "why are we all just ignoring this profanity? She keeps referring to," here he waved his hand in the sign against evil, "Mimic, and all of you are just accepting it?" Hero Castro nodded and stepped next to the Marshall.

"I'd like to know that as well." Potami said nothing, just giving Saffron a tiny Potami smile of approval. Saffron's salvation came from an unexpected quarter as Lancaster stepped between her and the Marshall.

"After Diana's betrayal on the Equinox, Cadet Aetos denied her and sought out a new Patron. Apparently her new Patron favors her, and has made her its High Priestess. I would be lying if I said I felt fully sanguine about her choice, but legally it is her right to choose. Had she done aught but support the City in time of war, I might agree with you, but it seems that no matter her religious affiliation, Cadet Aetos, now High Priestess and Council Woman Aetos, is a true daughter of Phileo."

"She, not it, and I am a true daughter of Camden Yards, but the two cities are so intertwined, to support one is to support the other." DuBois seethed a bit, but reined his temper in enough to ask, "how do we even know..." Saffron interrupted him, and fuzzy darkness filled the tent as her voice killed all other sound, "that I am her High Priestess? I trust this is enough proof for you?" The moment she finished speaking, the wisps of darkness faded, only to show Marshall duBois looking a little pale.

Lancaster half turned to look at Saffron, a twisted smile on his face. Then he looked back at the Marshall and said, "Honestly, William? I'm just glad she's on our side." That could have gone better. It could have gone far worse. How? Look at Potami and Castro. Both of them had stepped out from behind the Marshall, so now the group in the tent formed a circle around the table.

"So, despite the unusual nature of our defender, I would say she is clearly on our side, yes?" Potami and Castro both nodded, murmuring agreement, while the Marshall ran a hand across his face, sighing deeply.

"This goes against everything I learned as a kid, but... I trust Cadet Aetos." He half-glared at Saffron and said, "I really hope High Priestess Aetos does nothing to make me regret trusting her." Saffron nodded, "I will do my best to live up to your trust, Marshall." The rest of this meeting is likely to be deathly dull discussions of our readiness to storm the walls of Newark. Do I really need to watch that? Hardly. Oh, good. I'm gonna get back to finishing my lunch and then do some more sparring with Lancaster.

Have fun, Goof. Remember our deal if you Just Happen to him. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Love you, Kitten. With that she was gone. I finished my lunch, then stood from where I'd been sitting on an inner crenellation and walked over to where Lancaster had apparently fallen asleep midway through lunch. I reached down and shook him, but he didn't respond.

"Oh, shit." I whipped up a Stabilize, hammered him with it, but even though he gasped and kept breathing, he didn't wake up. I did the next best thing I could think of, throwing him into a Healing Coma, then scooping him up and stepping back to the Men's Infirmary.

"Tabitha? How did you get in here?" I looked at Doc DeLeon as I lay Lancaster on one of the Infirmary beds.

"Lancaster passed out again. I've stabilized him and put him in a Healing Coma, but I don't know what else to do at this point."

"You know how... never mind. Please go get Sister Siobhan for me? I'll need to consult with her on this, I think."

"You got it." I stepped to the Ladies' infirmary, lay a hand on a startled Sister Siobhan's shoulder and said, "Doc DeLeon needs you," then stepped back to the Men's Infirmary with her in tow. Doc DeLeon stood there with his mouth hanging open just a little bit.

"I intended for you to run, but I suppose that's quicker." He then launched into a detailed explanation that went over my head immediately. I said, "I'd better get back to the wall," and stepped back as soon as I finished speaking. The afternoon passed uneventfully. I made six of myself to watch the forest edge, which stubbornly refused to do anything more exciting than drop snow on the ground.

More snow fell, but not enough to do more than accumulate another inch outside the walls and make a slushy mess across the top of the wall. I figured I'd worry about that tomorrow or something. I ate dinner early, then stepped back to the cell and moped around until Saffron arrived, with Marie and the menace arriving with a cart loaded with bath supplies a few moments later. Bath night was fun, if limited to bathing and enjoying the view while Saffron got clean.

We lay down with her resting on me, and I fell asleep first. If I woke up when she fell asleep and left, I don't remember it, but she was gone in the morning when I woke.