“Do you think I should refuse to speak to him?” Phoenix asked the little Cosmic Phoenix perched on the parapet, which ran along the edges on top of the wall surrounding the city that her party was left guarding.
“Cheep,” Ta responded with the most disapproving look she had ever seen from the bird.
She scowled back at her Familiar, but then sighed and said, “You’re right. He’d probably enjoy the silence too much to make it a punishment.”
“Cheep!” the chick seemed to argue.
“She seems angry with you,” a deep voice said from behind her.
She jumped slightly and turned to look at Uriel.
“You know, for being so much rger than me, you are way too quiet sometimes,” she huffed and rolled her eyes when he simply chuckled, “And she’s not angry. She just thinks I’m not coming up with a punishing enough solution to deal with Paul.”
“Cheep!” the Familiar protested again, but she crossed her arms indignantly and argued back.
“He deserves it! I’ve gone over it all again in my head after our st talk and Uriel was right, it doesn’t make sense!”
“You’re right about that, actually,” Uriel interjected, “I just came from talking with him a little over an hour ago, and he admitted he only said those things to keep you safe on the wall until he can hit Ruby.”
“What?”
“Yeah,” Uriel expined, leaning back against the parapet and rubbing Ta along her poofy speckled feathers, “He said I could rey that he’s pnning to come get us to join the fight once he ascends to Ruby.” He gave her a pointed look, “And that he owes you an apology for what he said.”
She blinked at him owlishly as she processed the information, almost wondering if Uriel was just saying it to make her feel better, and then noticed something extremely odd, “Where are your earrings?”
“Ah,” he suddenly got an awkward expression and hesitantly admitted, “Well… I sort of called Paul’s bluff and took them off to yell at him.”
“You did what?” she asked incredulously, “Why in the world would you think that would be a good idea?”
Uriel’s eyes narrowed at the ground as he stated firmly, “He had no right to lie to you like that. You don’t deserve to be told you’re weak just to be maniputed into obeying an order.”
“You… you took off your earrings and yelled at an Emerald Caste noble… just because he made me feel bad?” she crified, uncertain how to react to something that outrageous.
Uriel chuckled, meeting her gaze as he smiled wider than she had ever seen before, “Yeah, I guess I did. Reminds me a bit of the time someone used a dangerous Spirit Gem just to make me feel better.”
Phoenix flushed at the reminder but argued, “It’s not the same.”
“You’re right. Lord Waynd likely wouldn’t maim me forever like the gem might have done to you,” he retorted with another pointed look but there was no heat behind the words, and his smile remained in pce.
He sighed slightly before adding, “We promised, remember? To keep each other from breaking. He hurt you, broke a piece of your heart, and this was the only thing I could think of to try and fix it.”
Phoenix ignored Ta’s squawk of indignation—assuming it was merely from being startled by her sudden movement and causing Uriel to stop petting the Familiar—as she wrapped her arms around the rger man’s torso and hugged him tightly, not trusting herself with words at the moment.
She couldn’t remember anyone standing up for her like that, not when they had to face such a terrifyingly powerful person who could turn them to ash if they got angry enough. Not that Paul would do that, probably, but she had noticed how much Uriel had avoided the Padin, being his quietest whenever they were near him. It had made her better understand the Rule of Caste the people here grew up with and shaped their lives around.
Phoenix had expected the warm arms that wrapped around her from the naturally hot cinderen. What she hadn’t expected was another set of arms wrapping around the pair of them, these ones covered in fur from fingertip to halfway up the forearm.
She chuckled, distracted from her slightly overwhelming emotions, and managed to say, “Hello, Saiya.”
“You both feel so happy right now!” the empath practically squealed as she looked up at Uriel, “You stopped wearing them finally!”
“Ah,” he seemed a bit awkward as he extricated himself from the women and reached into a pocket to pull out a handful of small golden cuffs, “I didn’t mean for it to be a permanent change or anything. I was just a bit emotional after my argument and didn’t want them to shut me down again. I figured I’d be okay till the fighting got closer to us.”
“You should keep them off,” the Healer promptly stated.
“I can’t do that, Saiya. You know it’s too dangerous.”
“At least in town?” she asked with that adorable pout, and Phoenix had to cover her mouth to keep from ughing.
Uriel shook his head and countered, “And what if the arms signal a monster spawn in the city?”
“You’ll have plenty of time to put them back on before you remove the Silencer,” Saiya pointed out.
“Put what back on?” Dazien asked, walking up to them with Rayna at his side as well. He gnced at the pile of jewelry in his partner’s hand and said, “Oh. Well, that’s unexpected.” He looked up at the ember eyes and asked, “Are you thinking about trying to wear them less?”
“Do you think I should?” Uriel cautiously asked.
“You should do what you think is best for yourself,” Phoenix interjected firmly. She gave Dazien a pointed look but softened it with a smile, “Don’t try and cheat to make him do what you want.”
Dazien ughed, “Perish the thought,” he replied to her pyfully before redirecting his next words to his best friend with more sincerity, “Since you left the temple, it’s always been your choice, Senesh; at least when it comes to wearing them while Silenced. I’ll support your decision as best I can either way you choose. If you want to feel more secure by keeping them on, that’s perfectly fine. If you want to try something new, to start really feeling again, then I’m with you one hundred percent. This isn’t something I can or will choose for you.”
Uriel gave an annoyed huff, “It’d be a lot easier for me if you did.”
That caused the rest of them to chuckle, and Saiya piped up, “My vote is for change,” then she eborated, “You can always go back if it doesn’t work out well, but you’ve seemed… stuck. Not moving forward with your life and literally holding yourself back with these trinkets,” she said, gesturing to the earrings and colr around his neck.
“Lady Saiya, I know you’ve been hanging out at the temple of the Traveler a lot more recently, but you know those weren’t his choice to begin with. He still has rules to follow with the Silencer,” Dazien warned.
“But not these,” Saiya said, pointing at the earrings, then looked up at Uriel imploringly, “You have the choice with these.”
Uriel surprised Phoenix then by looking towards her and asking, “What’s your vote, Princess?”
“Um, well…” She gnced down at the earrings, then up at her friend’s dark ashen face that had shown her the happiest smile she had seen from him only a few minutes ago and said resolutely, “I think you deserve to feel happy. These might keep you from getting too angry, but they take away your joy as well. I want to see you smile more.”
She was surprised yet again when both Saiya and Dazien wrapped her in a hug, causing them all to ugh. Phoenix was further pleased to see Uriel slip the jewelry back into his pocket. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one to notice the action, it seemed, as the others pulled Uriel into the group hug as well, and Saiya said with happy tears, “I’m so proud of you, Uriel!”
Phoenix ughed, “You sound like a mom when you say it like that.”
“I think we have enough parental figures in our lives right now,” Rayna said, having perched up on the parapet next to Ta to give the little Familiar some attention.
“Oh, by the way, Uriel said Paul’s going to take us to fight once he hits Ruby,” Phoenix said, breaking up the hug fest with the important Adventuring news.
“I guess we’ll have to be patient for his arrival then,” Dazien said, “I believe his team left around an hour ago, though Emeralds do move extremely fast, even on the ground.”
“Can’t he fly now?” Rayna asked, “That’s faster than running. Well, maybe not my running.”
Dazien chuckled as he shook his head, “Yes, but not all of the Emeralds he’s leading can fly as well.”
“How long do you think it’ll take for him to return?” Phoenix asked him.
He shrugged, “Depends on how fast they find a suitable challenge, but I imagine two days at the most, even on foot.”
“I’m not so sure this is the best time, Phoenix,” Saiya said to her for the third time since she suggested doing the Spirit Bonding ritual right there on top of the wall while they kept watch from atop it.
It was a couple hours after midday and they wouldn’t be rotated out till the next dawn once they had done a whole day of wall patrol. This wasn’t the usual shift they would get but still reasonable as Crystal Caster’s could go a little longer before needing to sleep than a regur Mundane.
“Dazien just said earlier that it might not be till tomorrow that Paul gets back, which means no monsters or Soul Reapers are likely to reach the wall in that time,” Phoenix pointed out as she used the light at her fingertip to draw out the common ritual diagram; it was a convenient ability granted by her [Beacon of Hope] Talent. Saiya would be the one to actually activate the Sapphire Caste ritual, she was just helping with the drawing.
“Plus, it only takes a few moments for a single Spirit Gem. We can pause if something happens before that and will be ready to go again as soon as it’s over,” she added.
Saiya gnced over at their leader, who held up his hands in a defensive move to indicate he was not going to attempt to override Phoenix, and chuckled as he said, “If I thought it might be a problem I would have mentioned it earlier.”
She nodded, seemingly pcated, and relented, “Alright then, but we shouldn’t get too compcent just because we’re on the wall while they’re all out there. A monster could still spawn close by.”
“Yes, mom,” Phoenix teased, sticking out her tongue in a tease before grinning.
Dazien gave an exaggerated shudder, “Okay, no. I’m going to veto that one right now. I know you were joking earlier too, and while I agree that Lady Saiya will make a wonderful mother someday, when you actually call her that I can’t help but picture her alongside Paul, and that’s just… please no.”
Both twins scrunched their noses at that as well, and Uriel joined his best friend in an exaggerated shudder. Saiya then carefully said, “Age difference aside, as that gets a bit odd at higher Castes since everyone looks so young and lives so much longer, I don’t really think I’m Lord Waynd’s type.”
That caused a silence to fall upon the group and Dazien was the first to break it once more as he voiced what Phoenix was also thinking, “I honestly have no idea what that man’s type would even be.”
“Alright,” Phoenix interrupted, “Ritual ready. I remember Rayna got the Wave Spirit Gem a couple of days ago before we went out, but I’ll admit I was a bit surprised you bought one too. What gem did you end up getting again?”
“Karmic,” Saiya answered, “It was a good deal. Also, most people buy their gems, Phoenix. You’re one of the few I’ve heard of that seems determined to let fate decide for them.”
“It feels like I’ll be less likely to make a mistake this way,” Phoenix said with a lopsided grin as she maneuvered Saiya into position, “Better to bme fate than my sensibility if the power turns out going wonky.”
“I don’t think that’s how any of that works,” Uriel interjected with his own smile that seemed much lighter without the weight of his earrings.
Saiya interrupted the conversation by activating the ritual and the gem seemed to shatter in her furry hands before melding into them and cultivating another of her abilities.
A familiar voice entered Phoenix’s mind the very next moment, and Phoenix was relieved at the timing, “Little Miss, prepare a portal to the Teras Estate, please. We will be arriving soon.”
“Orebe’s on her way,” Phoenix said with a slight frown, “I think Po’s team will be arriving with them,” she added as she conjured a portal to the front door which Po had given her permission to do st time she was there.
The others matched her frown, and Saiya voiced their shared concern, “If they’re coming back as well, they might be injured.”
Their confusion was multiplied and their fears increased when rge bck wings came into view and they saw that Paul was carrying Polissa and Moha on either side of him and he soared at a fairly terrifying speed towards them.
When they nded on the wall amongst them, Po surprised Phoenix by hugging her tightly and saying, “I’m so gd you were kept safe. I couldn’t bear to lose even more.”
Saiya was already crying as Rayna was enveloped in a simir hug by Moha. Dazien asked Paul what they all wondered, “Tanner and Simmon?”
Paul shook his head regretfully, “Fell to an Emerald Caster that had broken from the monster it was paired with to take out as many lower Caste Adventurers that they could manage.”
Polissa gave a choking sob, “Simmon was too young, and Tan—” She gave a shuddering breath, “He died protecting me. I—The Emerald—”
“There was nothing we could have done,” Moha interjected, wrapped in voxen tails, “It was a sughter until Lord Waynd showed up. We’d be dead too without him.”
“I need—I need to let father know,” Po struggled to get out as the grief was obviously beginning to overwhelm her, “And Tan’s mother.”
Phoenix nodded, awkwardly patting her friend’s back, “The portal goes to your home. Do you need me to—”
“We have something else we need to do,” Paul interjected before she could finish offering her presence as comfort, “I have to return to the battle before we lose even more lives and I have a small list of things to get done before then that I want your party present for.”
He then added a bit awkwardly to her specifically, “If you’ll forgive my earlier behavior of overriding your agency for my own insecurities. I apologize for what I said in my worry. It wasn’t honest and I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
The fact that he actually admitted to having any kind of vulnerability went a long way in making any anger Phoenix had towards her mentor diminish. When she remembered that Paul being back meant he was pnning to ascend, she nodded in understanding. This would be one of the most important moments of his potentially very long life.
Phoenix wanted to be there for him. She also wasn’t sure that she would do well in providing Po the emotional support that the woman would need when informing the noble House that they had lost a promising young scion. Moha would be better suited for that role at the moment.
The dryad must have read her mind as Mo extricated herself from Rayna’s grasp and pulled Polissa along, saying gently, “Let’s go, Po. I’ll help you tell them, okay?”
Polissa merely nodded and let herself be led through the portal. Phoenix turned to Paul and quietly said, “Thank you for apologizing. I’m sorry for yelling back, but please don’t lie to me again. I trust you with everything, and I want you to trust me with your fears, too.”
Paul gave her a soft smile, “I’ll try to do better. For you.” He looked at the others and added, “For all of you.”
She gnced at her friends and gestured to the portal, “Does anyone else want to join Po or stick with Paul and me?”
“I would never miss your ascension,” Dazien said to Paul as he stepped closer. Phoenix swore she saw some odd emotion behind his eyes that was both hesitant yet hopeful, and she wondered if he was afraid Paul might turn him away.
Paul smiled gratefully and fondly put a hand on his shoulder as silent words seemed to pass between them. Her heart swelled for Daze when she realized that he really was looking forward to being part of their little family and bonding more with the father he had finally found, just like she had.
She looked towards the others again to see if anyone else was going.
Saiya sniffled and said, “We—I’ll miss Simmon a lot. He is—was a good friend… the kindest soul that easily drew everyone in.” She wiped tears away, “But I want to be with all of you right now. We will have time to mourn the lost ter.”
Phoenix nodded and closed the portal once nobody else seemed to want to leave. Rayna had looked like she was debating about it, and Phoenix briefly wondered when exactly those two became such good friends.
The bard stuck with them, however, and Paul flew ahead, sending a repcement team for their position on the wall. She conjured another silver ring with a sheet of night inside it to take her party to the Waynd Estate—to their home.
