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“Do you think I should refuse to speak to him?” Phoenix asked the little [Cosmic Phoenix] perched on the parapet that ran along the edges on top of the wall surrounding the city her party was left guarding.

“Cheep,” Tala 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 and she jumped slightly as she turned to look at Uriel.

“You know, for being so much larger 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.

“He deserves it! I’ve gone over it all again in my head after our last 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,” the Mage explained, leaning back against the parapet and rubbing Tala along her poofy speckled feathers, “He said I could relay that he’s planning 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,” the cinderen said hesitantly, “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 manipulated 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 clarified, uncertain how to react to something that outrageous.

The Mage 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 Wayland likely wouldn’t maim me forever like the gem might have done to you,” he retorted with a pointed look but there was no heat behind the words as his smile remained in place and 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 Tala’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 larger 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 Paladin, being his quietest whenever they were near the man, and it had made her better understand the Rule of Caste the people here grew up with and shaped their lives around.

The Wayfarer had expected the warm arms that wrapped around her from the 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 about halfway up the forearm. She chuckled and distracted from her slightly overwhelming emotions 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,” the cinderen 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 said promptly.

Uriel shook his head, “I can’t do that, Saiya. You know it’s too dangerous.”

“At least in town?” the voxen asked with that adorable pout and Phoenix had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

The Mage shook his head and countered, “And what if the alarms signal a monster spawn in the city?”

“You’ll have plenty of time to put them back on before you remove the Silencer,” the voxen pointed out.

“Put what back on?” Dazien asked, walking up to them with Rayna at his side as well. The gemite glanced at the pile of jewelry in his partner’s hand and said, “Oh. Well, that’s unexpected,” he glanced up at the ember eyes and asked, “Are you thinking about trying to wear them less?”

“Do you think I should?” the low bass asked cautiously.

“You should do what you think is best for yourself,” Phoenix interjected firmly, then gave Dazien a pointed look but softened it with a smile, “Don’t try and cheat to make him do what you want.”

The Defender laughed, “Perish the thought,” he replied to her playfully 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 the Healer elaborated, “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 collar 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,” the voxen said, pointing at the earrings, then looked up at the Mage 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 glanced down at the earrings then up at her friend’s umber face that had shown her the happiest smile she had seen from him only a few minutes ago and she 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.”

The Wayfarer was surprised yet again when both Saiya and Dazien wrapped her in a hug, causing them all to laugh and she was pleased to see Uriel slip the jewelry back into his pocket. She wasn’t the only one to notice 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 laughed, “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 Tala 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?” the bard asked, “That’s faster than running. Well, maybe not my running.”

The Defender 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?” the Wayfarer inquired.

Dazien 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 absorption 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 longer before needing to sleep than a regular 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,” the Astromancer pointed out as she used the starlight at her fingertip to draw out the common ritual diagram; a convenient ability granted by her [Beacon of Hope] talent. She also added, “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.”

The voxen glanced over at their leader who held up his hands in a defensive move to indicate he was not going to attempt to override the Wayfarer as he chuckled and said, “If I thought it might be a problem I would have mentioned it earlier.”

The Healer nodded, seemingly placated, “Alright then, but we shouldn’t get too complacent 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 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. The Healer 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 Wayland’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,” the Healer 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,” the Wayfarer said with a lopsided grin as she maneuvered Saiya into position, “Better to blame 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.

Then the Supporter activated the ritual and the gem seemed to shatter in the voxen’s furry hands before melding into the Healer 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 Wayland, prepare a portal to the Teras Estate, please. We will be arriving soon.”

“Orebela’s on her way,” the Astromancer 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 last time she was there.

The others matched her frown as 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 large black wings came into view and they saw that Paul was carrying Polissa and Mohala on either side of him and he soared at a fairly terrifying speed towards them.

When they landed on the wall amongst them, Po surprised Phoenix by hugging her tightly and saying, “I’m so glad you were kept safe. I couldn’t bear to lose even more.”

Saiya was already crying as Rayna was enveloped in a similar hug by Mohala and Dazien asked Paul what they all wondered, “Tanner and Simmon?”

The Paladin 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–” the summoner gave a shuddering breath, “He died protecting me. I– The Emerald–”

“There was nothing we could have done,” Mohala interjected, wrapped in voxen tails, “It was a slaughter until Lord Wayland 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 overwhelming the cinderen woman, “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,” then seemed to add 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 planning to ascend, she nodded in understanding. This would be one of the most important moments of his potentially very long life.

She 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. Mohala would be better suited for that role at the moment.

The dryad must have read her mind as Mo extricated from Rayna’s grasp and pulled Polissa from her, saying gently, “Let’s go, Po. I’ll help you tell them, okay?”

Polissa merely nodded and let herself be led through the portal and Phoenix turned to Paul, “Thank you for apologizing. I’m sorry for yelling back but 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.”

She glanced at her friends and gestured to the portal, “Does anyone else want to join Po or stick with Paul and me?”

Saiya sniffled, “We– I’ll miss Simmon a lot,” the voxen explained, wiping tears away, “But I want to be with all of you right now. We will have time to mourn the lost later.”

Phoenix nodded and closed the portal once nobody else seemed to want to leave, though Rayna looked like she was debating about it and Phoenix wondered briefly if there was more to that hug than she thought at first. 

The bard stuck with them, however, so she dismissed the portal while Paul flew ahead, sending a replacement team for their position on the wall, and she conjured another silver ring with a sheet of night inside it to take her party to the Wayland Estate; to their home.

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