40 - I Told You So (Patreon)

Phoenix was relieved when Uriel woke up only a couple hours later and she was able to finally hug him, but he had quickly extricated himself to find a shirt and avoid any and all conversation regarding his scars, bracer, and secrets.

She didn’t push hard, though, knowing from personal experience that pushing would only drive him further away and she didn’t want her friend to start avoiding her because she made him feel uncomfortable. That would definitely be what she would do if the roles were reversed.

They had planned to return to their original mission of clearing their section of the tundra of monsters but, before they could, Dazien had been called to the AOA building for further questioning about the encounter that had almost claimed their Mage’s life and had suddenly pulled their strongest Emerald Caster away from his own task.

That was when word came from the frontline scouts that the enemy had begun to move, pouring out of the mountains they had been hiding within, some with devastating effect to the terrain, and heading straight towards Tulimeir; seeming to not bother with the smaller fortress town to the south.

The reports described a fleet of Caged monsters and magical vehicles the size of small villages that were leaving a path of destruction in their wake as they slowly began advancing toward the capital.

It wasn’t just Crystal and Sapphire auras that were detected either but a couple dozen Emeralds spread throughout their massive army, which was not good news for avoiding collateral damage. With this revelation, even the non-combat Emerald Casters were being called from their background positions on the wall, and one-off missions, to help defend the city in the counter-assault soon to begin.

Phoenix worried for Paul, knowing that a lot of responsibility was being put onto his shoulders to save the capital and all its inhabitants. Since she started receiving more attention as someone chosen by the gods and began to feel the weight of expectations that it brought, she had gained a new appreciation and understanding for her Mentor’s strength and dependability; even more grateful for his presence in her life. However, even she knew they couldn’t depend on a single person to save them all. Everyone would need to contribute to the war that had finally arrived at their doorstep.

Surprisingly, she found herself looking forward to the battle; for the chance to prove, not just to Paul and her friends but also to herself, that she was someone worth relying on to protect everyone. That, perhaps, she could be worthy of the markings on her soul.

So when Dazien returned to the group with a sour expression after his meeting and informed them all that they were being reassigned as backup to be held in reserve along the top of the wall, they all became upset.

“What? Why would they do that? Haven’t we proven ourselves enough? One close call shouldn’t have benched us,” Rayna complained, giving voice to their grievance.

Their leader glanced away as he reluctantly said, “I asked the director the same question and she assured me that our performance was not the reason behind our reassignment.”

“If it wasn’t our performance then what would make her…” Uriel trailed off as his gaze went from his best friend to his redheaded friend and he finished simply with, “Ah.”

Phoenix looked at him in confusion, “‘Ah’ what?”

Uriel didn’t reply and she turned to their leader who was refusing to meet her eyes, “What is it, Daze?” her face fell a bit as she asked anxiously, “Did… did I do something wrong? Was it because I messed up with letting it sense me? Cause I almost got Uriel killed?”

“Of course not, sweet flower,” Saiya said reassuringly as the voxen moved to hold her hand, “There's probably just some politics at play here. Nothing for us to worry about.”

The Wayfarer scrunched up her face in consternation, “What politics? They didn’t stop us from going on missions before all this,” she argued, glancing back at Dazien as she asked, “You haven’t been adopted yet, so what changed?”

“Adopted?” Rayna said in surprise, looking towards the Defender.

“Ah, sorry,” Phoenix said sheepishly, “I didn’t mean to spoil that.”

Dazien gave a slight huff of annoyance, “We can talk about that later. Now is not the time as I haven’t actually gotten to accept yet,” he chided then began looking extremely uncomfortable as he looked everywhere but at the Wayfarer before relenting with a sigh. Saiya scooted over to hold his hand instead as he began, “What changed is the nature of the threat. Corruption is extremely dangerous, as we’ve seen firsthand now.”

He glanced down at the Healer who nodded reassuringly before finally meeting Phoenix’s eyes as he explained, “It turns out that Director Trayvious made a deal with Paul. In exchange for him leading Tulimeir’s Emerald Casters in the forward assault and formally accepting the position of an Officer, he requested that our party specifically be kept within the city for the duration of the battle against the Soul Reapers.”

Phoenix’s expression went from one of shock to fury in a few seconds. “No. He. Didn’t.” she enunciated each word in her rage and surprised all of them by conjuring her portal right there and stomping through it, promptly closing it behind her.

Paul rubbed at his temples wondering, not for the first time, why he could still get headaches at Emerald Caste and if hitting Ruby would make them go away. He was so insanely close that he was half tempted to go try and pick off one of the Emerald monster’s out there making its way towards his city just to push him over that last tiny bit and ascend before the real battle began.

“You know she’s not going to be happy,” Patricia said as she sat in one of the chairs across from his desk. His journal lay open in front of him but the pen was resting beside it as he tried coming up with a plausible excuse for his actions that didn’t paint him as an overprotective and controlling arse.

“That’s what I tried telling him,” Everin interjected, as the voxen perched on a stool next to the runeforged.

“She’s currently the heir of House Wayland,” he attempted to argue to the pair, “Making concessions like this isn’t completely out of the ordinary and I explained the position to her before,” he replied, not looking up to offer the keen woman even more insight into his motives. Even his stoic exterior never seemed enough to hide from his little sister and he wondered if that was his fault or a certain telepathic Familiar giving him away.

“It is not This One’s fault that Wayland refuses to listen to reason,” Orebela stated.

“You also know she’s not going to see it that way,” the priestess pressed, “We both said we would try to lessen the influence of politics on her as much as possible.”

“If something were to happen to her-”

“Then I would take over and the House would be fine,” Patricia cut him off with the blunt statement, “Claiming Heir’s Privilege and hiding her behind the walls is a thin excuse for your true motives.”

The paladin ground his teeth, “You don’t understand.”

Everin rolled his eyes, “Oh, I understand.”

“Well, I don’t,” the runeforged confirmed with a huff of annoyance, “She’s an Adventurer, Paul. Risks are part of the job. Why are you holding her back?”

He glared at his younger sister, “I’m not. I’m protecting the stability of our house.”

“That’s a load of siva dung,” she rebuked, as the traitorous fox nodded in agreement with her, “My Patric will be out there with the other Sapphire Casters and Padma will be with the Crystals. Why are you holding back both Phoenix and Dazien? I don’t believe for a second that you’re worried about the survival of our family name. Are you that afraid of losing them in battle?”

“Yes!” Paul shouted, standing up, “It’s not about the monsters, Pati. We’re talking about Corruption here! They’re not prepared for something like that and the risk of not only dying but becoming trapped forever in an undying body, whose sole goal is to either taint everything around it or bow to the whims of its master, is not something I ever want to see any of those children face!”

His posture softened as he admitted, “Even if Phoenix survives, if one of the others fell like Karislian almost did… After everything else she’s been through, I’m fairly certain that would break her completely… and that’s not something I could bear to watch.”

The Rebel Cleric looked like he wanted to say something but Patricia beat him to ask, “Are you ever going to tell me about those events she’s been through? Even my Lady has been vague about why she’s so interested in her, aside from being a Wayfarer that is.”

Paul raised an eyebrow at her, “If even your goddess is silent, what makes you think I will talk?”

“Little Flower may be able to help us if she knew. This One does not think Little Flower would betray her family even for politics,” his Familiar pointed out and he agreed but couldn’t help but wonder. Everin had been told about Phoenix’s revival talent by Rebel, so what was holding the Cultivator back from telling his sister? Was it a matter of Caste or did the goddess just assume he would tell her and save the deity the cost of divine power?

She gave a huff and crossed her arms, “I hate secrets. I hate when the gods feel limited by the Confidant and Trickster or whatever other gods’ domains are at play here. It makes playing the game so much harder when I can’t see all the pieces.”

“Especially this particular piece,” Everin said and Paul shot him a look. The voxen shrugged, “What? Rebel told me because it’s literally game-changing information but I’m Oathbound to secrecy now. If Patirica knew it, then this discussion would be going very differently.”

“This isn’t a game, you two. Those kids aren’t some pawns.”

The noblewoman rolled her bright blue eyes at him, “We’re all pawns; some of us just get upgraded to advisors. Now, what are you going to tell your ward? That charming gemite might understand the politics you’re trying to play but your Wayfarer’s not going to like hearing you think she’s emotionally fragile.”

The warrior grimaced at her words, knowing she was right, “Hopefully, I’ll be gone and already fighting by the time she finds out.”

Just then the door slammed open and an irate Astromancer stormed into the room. Paul dropped back into his chair and let his face fall into his hands at the humor of the universe. Both Everin and Patricia gave him matching evil grins that, luckily, Phoenix couldn’t see as the young woman slammed her hand onto the desk separating her from the Lord of the House.

“You made us backup?!” the redhead fumed, her face almost matching her hair.

Paul looked up at her and started saying matter-of-factly, “As heir you have a responsibility to stay-”

“No!” she shouted, scrunching her face up in her rage, “You don’t get to punish us just to keep us safe!”

“Look, Phoenix, you knew this might happen when-”

“No! You said being heir was temporary. We’ve worked hard to show our worth as Adventurers! If you interfere to keep us safe behind the walls you’re basically telling all of my friends that we’re not good enough to fight! You don’t have the right to do that to them!”

Paul stood angrily and leaned over the desk as he said firmly, “I am the Lord of this House and you are my heir and Protégé. I have every right over your party. If I say you are assigned to the wall then it will be so.”

She glared up at him, “We’ve fought the Soul Reapers before! We’re strong enough to-”

“No!” the paladin slammed his own fist against the desk to silence her, causing the wood to splinter under the force but fortunately not break entirely as the magical enchantments bent under the abuse, “You are not strong enough, Phoenix! I will not risk you or your party to Corruption when I cannot be there to protect you!”

Her jaw went slack at his words and she asked in quiet disbelief, “You think I need you to protect me? Do you really think I’m too weak to be of use in the battle? Too useless to protect my friends? You think we’ll all die so easily and all your plans will be ruined?”

Paul clenched his teeth and resolutely lied, “Yes.”

His heart cracked as her tears fell while they stared at each other before she gave a mocking bow and said bitterly, “I guess I’ll go be useless on the wall then, my Lord,” then turned and practically ran from the room, slamming the door in her wake.

Silence fell as Paul fell back into his seat once more, staring at the ceiling as he contemplated if the rift he had just created was really worth sheltering them. His wandering thoughts were interrupted by Everin looking at his tiny silvery claws where nails would normally be and saying, “Well, I’m not usually one to say ‘I told you so’ but that went about as well as I expected.”

“One more word and they will never find your ashes, fox kit.”

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