Fern, Ember, and Bernie stepped out of the library, the door closing behind them with a quiet boom as the te afternoon warmth settled on the three of them. They had packed as little for the journey as possible, time and therefore speed being of the utmost importance; only what they could carry of food and water, and a variety of medical supplies to cover what Ember noted were 'the most likely eventualities'.

  "I really don't like that you seem to have prior experience with this sort of thing," Fern began a bit gloomily as they set out at a fast, sustainable pace, "but I'm gd you're here. It's not in my own line of work, that's for sure."

  The healer offered her a rare smile in response. "I'm gd I can put my skills and knowledge to use - for some people I don't hate, for once. Wasn't expecting that when I originally stepped off the boat." Maybe I am getting soft from this nd, she didn't say, just like that mu- ... pilot.

  The three of them didn't speak much for a while, just following the predicted path as closely as they could. It was all they had to go on, but fortunately Ember was a very good judge of distances and had determined that the giant wasp had flown off in an almost perfectly straight line. So they were simply taking that same vector; and Fern would cast her senses out occasionally, to check if there were any signs of aetheric disturbances that could lead them a little closer to the goal. She could contribute that much, at least, since the others couldn't.

  The distance wore on with no results for a while, and Fern finally decided to fill the quiet with her own thoughts as they weaved through the trees. "Have you ever had someone... betray your expectations?"

  "Is that how you feel about it? That she intentionally betrayed you?"

  She chewed on Ember's question for a bit. "Maybe not, but I do feel like she lied to me, by omission. And it's hard to trust her after that."

  "Mm. Trust is a fragile thing. ... Any luck?"

  Fern took a moment to ping the area, forcefully, her wave of aether bouncing off various things - but none of them out of the ordinary, just forest animals. "Nothing yet."

  Ember sighed quietly. "... To answer your question instead of avoiding it; yes. More times than I bothered keeping track of. It was probably inevitable, to be honest; in a line of work where you get told you're surrounded by heroes, working with the best and brightest, it's only natural that some of them are going to let you down."

  She didn't remember ever hearing about the other woman's job experience before, other than in the most general terms; but idolizing heroes was something she understood, at least. "How did you deal with it?"

  The healer didn't respond for a long moment. "I sort of stopped believing in people at all, I guess," she finally answered; not sadly, just... pensively. "Stopped trusting, stopped expecting anything from them. It's easier that way. You don't get disappointed or brokenhearted, you don't feel betrayed or lied to, since you never trusted them to do right by you in the first pce. They're just people. They're going to mess it up, eventually."

  Fern felt a horrible sinking feeling at the words. "That... sounds like a miserable way to live, though. How can you even think of loving anyone, if you don't start by trusting them?"

  Ember looked over at her, and the expression she wore was so horribly bleak it bordered on abyssal. Not just a ck of emotion, but a deep well of emptiness.

  "I haven't thought about love in a very long time, Fern. What makes you think I'd deserve it?"

  The question actually made her falter for a moment as it broke her concentration, her aether-coils almost dissipating completely as a result. Restoring the flow under her boots, she caught back up in the space of a few seconds and continued holding pace with the other two.

  "It's not about you deserving it," she began quietly, after a moment. "Love isn't a thing that anyone has to merit. It shouldn't be. No one-" The words hit her mind like a stream. "No one deserves to be miserable, regardless of their circumstances. Everyone deserves to feel the warmth of the sun, to see the beautiful, vivid colors in the world." She paused. "Life shouldn't ever be so gray and... lifeless. It's just not right."

  This time it was Ember who fell silent for a while as the group sped through the forest. "Those are some... hopeful words," she finally offered. "Idealistic, even. I suppose that's very like you, how you are, even as troubled as you're feeling right now."

  "Maybe so. But they're not even my words," she returned. "They're hers."

  The healer's eyes widened in surprise; and for just an instant, Fern imagined that a little sparkle of sunlight might find its way to the bottom of that deep, dark well.

  Then she looked away. "Can you check again? I think we're getting close to the foothills."

  Fern closed her eyes and forced out another ping, even harder than before. And this time, her mood lifted as she got something. "It's faint, but there's... something, right ahead along this path. Not an animal, not a person either - maybe. Something I can't quite see properly."

  The three shared a look and a nod, and increased their collective pace.

  She narrowed her focus and sent out more regur pings as they approached, trying to capture the shape of whatever it was, but it continued to elude her until they broke free of the treeline and she saw a sparkle in the grassy expanse - and near it, an overshadowed opening into the side of a hill that would have been all but invisible otherwise. Pointing it out, they approached warily, though nothing else seemed to be around - no aether, and no western smells for Ember to sniff out.

  Fern bent down and picked up the gem-like object - and knew it instantly. "This is one of Ravenna's tools," she murmured, holding the thumb-sized artifact up to one eye and seeing the compacted rotation inside it. "Like a battery for dark aether; but it's still fully charged, from what I can tell." She stood up. "She must have left it for us to find, instead of using it. Maybe that... wasp-thing is strong against the dark, and that's why this was a better option."

  "Bloodhound," Ember said quietly, "augments."

  Bernie made a quiet sound of - was it pain, or just surprise? - as bck coloration spread over his hands and arms in the space of a few seconds. He shivered violently afterwards, like a man stepping into an icy waterfall, and rubbed his fingers together as if testing something. They made a soft but very noticeably metallic sound. "Didn't think you'd be pulling this trick out so soon," he murmured pcidly.

  "There's a need," she returned simply. "Directives follow. If it's mechanical, destroy or disable it. If it's human and not ours, nonlethal disables only, silence preferable. Protection order is now one, Ravenna Direfrost; two, Fern Skysh; three, yourself. All other autonomy preserved."

  "Yes ma'am."

  "We haven't even explored this pce yet, though," Fern spoke up, worriedly. "There's no guarantee we'll even find anything here; there's nothing to sense. I mean-" She looked over at the entrance - barely more than a vague shape - closed her eyes and pinged out again.

  Then she opened her eyes, mildly perplexed - but only for a moment. "Never mind. We're here, apparently; but everything is... below us. Deep below."

  Ember simply cracked her knuckles, and nodded; and in they all went.

  She didn't know how long it was before the darkness cleared away, but she knew this time she could see. And she'd never been happier to, when the thick metal door to her cell rattled and shrieked open in a flood of light, and silhouetted there was her very own hero, come to rescue her.

  Well, fallen hero, at least. "Fern!" Ravenna gasped hoarsely. "You came!"

  "Well... yeah? We never finished talking, and I still had a lot more to say to you," she returned, walking into full view. She looked upset - but then, it was only fair, wasn't it? I've done a lot of things to make her feel that way, the dark mage thought, guiltily. But she was here now. Everything would be okay.

  She tried to clear her throat, but it felt like it was on fire. Too long spent without water. "Go ahead then," she offered, the words feeling like they had hooks as they scratched their way out of her, "say what you want. I'm not going anywhere, haha-" The ugh devolved into a coughing fit, searing its way down her chest.

  Fern waited until she was done, just... standing there and watching her. Not helping. Just upset.

  "You hurt someone," she said, finally, "in a way I can't forgive."

  The words felt like ice in her veins.

  "And why?" she continued. "You didn't even need to do it. All I can tell is that you wanted to do it. To give into that monster in you and just break someone. It didn't make a difference to me. It was all for yourself."

  "N-no! It's not- it wasn't like that!" Ravenna protested, desperately. "I- I couldn't think what else to do in the moment! I didn't want to lose you, Fern! After all the time we spent together, everything I did for you-"

  "Everything you did for me?! What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Fern's face twisted painfully. "No, don't say anything. I already know. You never cared about me, really cared, did you? It was all about 'investing' that time, and making me a better asset as a partner, wasn't it?"

  Her heart sank even further. This was wrong, this was all wrong; their reunion wasn't supposed to go like this. "No, that's not- it's not like that! I do! I care!"

  Fern kept going as if she didn't even hear. "All you wanted out of me was someone you could work with. All so you could py your stupid fucking games with the other nobles - so you could win against them. Well, forget it."

  Ravenna's eyes widened as she reached up to her own ears. No - no, please, no, not this.

  She took the studs out and tossed them onto the dungeon floor with a quiet skittering noise. When the dark mage's heart snapped in half, it made no sound.

  "You can have those back. I don't want any part of whatever you're into," Fern finished, the edge in her voice dulled, no more anger left in it. She just sounded so... disappointed.

  Ravenna's eyes swam with tears as she watched her ex-partner turn and walk away, into the light, before it all faded.

  Another spsh of water woke her up.

  Ravenna didn't feel like waking up any longer. She didn't want to see what was waiting for her. She didn't want to feel anything, or move her body, or think, or breathe.

  She just wanted everything to stop happening. It was all too much.

  "Pathetic," the noble woman growled, from somewhere above her - she was ying on her back now. "A sp and a punch and it just folds you right in half. How did I ever think you were even worth my time?"

  I'm not worth anyone's time.

  "To think I built you up in my head all this time and you're just... made of paper beneath all those lies," she sneered. "You wouldn't even satisfy me if I spent a whole day making you bleed. Or even an hour. Absolutely worthless. You can't even stop moaning about your little commoner toy while you're under."

  She's not a toy and she's not even mine. She doesn't want to be. Maybe she never did.

  She sighed, the sound full of disgust. "Why are you crying? I'm the victim here, you little monster. I'm the one who risked everything on an engagement that you broke. And you couldn't even kill him properly! You turned him into a woman! Who even does something like that?"

  Realization finally sparked in her mind - the st job in the imperial capital, the prince. That dagger. Not to kill; to remove from succession. And she had done just that.

  I never knew he was engaged. One more unintended consequence, I guess.

  Not that it matters now.