Daichi held up his unwrapped present so everyone could see. His face had taken on an expression that she could only describe as polite awkwardness. He looked at Alia, then glanced at his present before audibly swallowing.
“It’s a thoughtful present, Lord-Prospect…” Daichi tapped his newly acquired book. “It’ll be a great help in my studies.”
Alia rolled her eyes.
“Firstly,” she began, raising a determined finger. “Stop calling Lord-Prospect. Serena will get annoyed and besides, everyone else calls Alia anyway and your mother isn’t here to tell you otherwise!” Her words earned her so laughter from the rest of the won in the room. “Secondly…” Alia took a step forward and pointed to the book, “we both know you already have a copy of Advanced Salinas Formations: A Prir. Stop pretending like I might have forgotten, and thirdly”—Alia tapped the book encouragingly—“why don’t you open it and see what your present really is?”
“Oh?” Daichi said with a frown. “Oh! Of course…” With everyone’s attention bearing down upon him, the third-circle mage opened the textbook. As he thumbed through the pages his expression slowly changed, his eyes widening as he flicked through more and more pages.
“Would you look at that,” l intoned, appearing behind Daichi and peeking over his shoulder. “That’s a lot of mathematics…”
“Incredible…” Hinako murmured, sticking her nose into Daichi’s present. “Look how she’s derived the aetherflow from the double-helix spin formation! Wait…!” Hinako forced her body so close against Daichi the man’s cheeks started to flush. “Are you saying it can be constructed while the reuleaux triquetra is forming. What… what’s this differential equation? How does it fit in with the Barfield-Sina Equations? Oh, how can you—”
“Officer Aikawa,” Daichi emphasised, twisting his body so it wasn’t so pressed up against the enthusiastic mage. “Don’t you think we should carry ourselves with a little more decorum, as officers of the Imperial Navy?”
“Officer Aikawa?” Hinako intoned sarcastically, tilting her head. “If you can call her Alia you can call Hinako! You did at the academy!”
“That was before we were commissioned officers. It’s only proper—”
“Who knows how long we’re going to be stuck in this tin can, Daichi.” Hinako rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You have to untwist your horns at so point! Now let …” Hinako shuffled back up against Dachi, peeking at Alia’s notes she’d scribbled alongside the aetherflow diagrams. “You will share this with , won’t you? Oh, incredible… to think the instantaneous thod could be used for this part…”
Alia grinned while Daichi and Hinako peered over her notes. Her ti at the academy had finally provided her with the correct nonclature to formally express how she felt her spell formations worked. Unlike most mages, who train in the Imperial Step-Wise thod, a process where spells were constructed in discrete steps that maintained overall stability while building towards the final formation, Alia intuitively did it all at once.
This thod, which Alia found out was called the Instantaneous Construction thod, wasn’t unknown. It was used extensively in the high-level duelling scene, where every fraction of a second could an the difference between winning the round or not. The problem was that it generally took far longer to master a spell that way. The discrete, building blocks of the Imperial Step-Wise thod were simply more intuitive to the logical minds of most mages.
But Serena hadn’t settled for most mages when recruiting for the Vengeance’s crew. For most of the final academic term Alia had done her best to demonstrate, over and over again, how her magic manifested. Progress had been good; while Daichi was the more powerful mage of the pair—firmly in third-circle—Hinako with her career aspirations of becoming a world renowned duelist had the edge when it ca to trying to match Alia’s speed and efficiency with aether.
“I’ve only found ti to cover the earth sub-formations common in the Salinas branch,” Alia explained. “But I’ve made so notes which can be applied to all branches, you’ll just need to recalculate the numbers using your own characteristics. I know it’s your present, Daichi, but make sure to share it with Hinako, okay?”
“Mmm,” ca the response. Despite Daichi’s determination to maintain the boundaries and etiquette structures that a lifeti under his strict family had molded into him, he was, right now, fully engrossed in the book, muttering and mumbling alongside Hinako, occasionally pointing parts of Alia’s notes out to each other. After a few seconds he seed to realise his lack of response and quickly apologised.
“Of course, Lord—” Daichi swallowed before continuing, “Of course, Alia. This is a generous gift, and I, uh, ahem…” The demon trailed off as Seonmi appeared next to him, leaning in on Daichi’s other side to take a look.
“You have such pretty handwriting, Alia,” Seonmi said. “So of the best I’ve ever seen.”
“Thank you,” Alia replied, trying not to laugh at Daichi, who was fighting to maintain his composure as the two female demons were invading his personal space. Was it Alia’s imagination, or did she catch a devilish glint in Seonmi’s eyes? She knew Seonmi’s history as a confidence trickster who had infiltrated Samino high society and, despite the outward appearance of obedience and relative ekness, Alia was certain that it was sothing Seonmi could switch on and off at will.
Hang in there, Daichi!
I wonder what his mother would say if she could see him now, Alia thought.
“I wonder what your mother would say if she could see you now,” l said. “A woman on each arm, Daichi. Never would have taken you for such a womaniser,” l finished with a grin, folding her arms in mock disapproval.
“I am not, I an, I’m not, I’m—” Daichi spluttered, snapping the book closed and taking a large step forward. “That is inappropriate and not representative of what—”
“You’re very naive,” Arin piped up, glancing up from her newly acquired scope. “You might have survived the academy, but you’d be eaten alive in the lowlands.”
“Well, I have no plans on hiking through the wilderness and battling beasts like you’re so fond of, Officer Song,” Daichi huffed.
“She’s not talking about the beasts,” Ido chid in, grinning widely. “If the rumours about Ishaq are true, you might find yourself in so trouble, Officer Ishitani.”
“And exactly what rumours might those be?” Daichi asked.
“Oh you know…” Ido waved a hand back and forth, “the kind that causes a man to leave everything behind. Especially an inexperienced one such as yourself.”
“Really?” Daichi replied sarcastically. “Inexperienced? I’m a third-circle mage and an officer of the Imperial Navy. I have enough talent to begin communing Salinas. I’m sure soone such as myself can handle whatever Ishaq can throw at . Even if it’s a place where unscrupulous individuals socialise and conspire, I think I can defend myself and others just fine.” Daichi punctuated his sentence with a confident nod of his head.
“Oh dear,” Arin mumbled.
“Oh dear,” l said, hiding a laugh.
“Oh dear,” Seonmi said smoothly.
“Oh dear,” Hinako echoed, elbowing Daichi lightly.
“I’m sorry,” Daichi said, looking befuddled. “Is there an echo in here?” Daichi beca more flustered as his question only prompted further laughter from the won in the room. Even Noburu was chuckling while shaking his head. “Would soone kindly share with this revelation that my brain is apparently unable to spot?”
“Don’t think with your brain, Daichi,” Ido said, tapping his singular horn. “Think with your horn.”
“My horn? Horns? What in the Seven Hells…?”
“No, not those horns, your other horn.”
Ido’s words prompted another round of giggles from the won.
“Now co on! Has everyone but gone mad?”
Even Alia couldn’t keep her laughter in, joining the rest of the room in their joyous chuckling while Daichi looked thoroughly confused.
“Daichi,” Alia said, taking the executive decision to put the poor demon out of his misery. “They’re talking about sex.”
“What?” Daichi stopped, frowning. “Oh…” His eyes slowly widened. “Oh…” Then, as if tid perfectly for the room’s entertainnt, his cheeks began to glow as red as the Red Moon. “That is… that is…” Daichi swallowed, then, without hesitating any more, declared he had so studying to do and more or less pushed past Alia and stord out of the room to even more laughter.
“I hope he’ll be okay,” Alia said once Daichi’s footsteps had vanished from her hearing.
“Bah.” Hinako shrugged her shoulders. “He’ll be back to his usual self within the hour. He’ll be fine.”
“His… type is quite common amongst the highborn,” Seonmi mused. “I’ve seen it more than once. Take a talented pair of horns like him, put them in a strict household with an overbearing and controlling mother and, well”—Seonmi gestured to the door—“that’s what you get.” Seonmi turned to Hinako and asked, “You ntioned he’d never left Asamaywa before?” As the mage nodded, Seonmi continued, “Once he’s travelled a bit and seen a bit more of the world he’ll realise there’s a lot more to life…” She trailed off with a shrug.
While the group discussed Daichi and his inexperience for a minute Alia made a ntal note to cheer the sullen demon up with a cup of Jimari when she next saw him. Until then, she had more presents to give out.
Hinako was next, who thumbed her small, envelope-shaped present.
“I’m guessing this isn’t a textbook filled with your notes,” Hinako offered, flexing the thin present. “Not unless you’ve found a way to write really small.” At Alia’s encouragent, the second-circle mage carefully unwrapped the gift, revealing that the envelope-shaped present was, in fact, an envelope.
“Open it!” Alia said, clenching her fists in anticipation.
“Hmm…” Hinako humd, opening the envelope to reveal a few folded pieces of paper. “Now what could this be…” Everyone’s attention was captured as she unfolded the docunts. “Wait…” Her eyes widened as she read, followed shortly by her mouth hanging open. “No… Alia… really!? Ahh!” With a sudden burst of energy Alia found herself wrapped in Hinako’s embrace as she was spun around.
“It’s only an offer, you don’t have to accept it,” Alia began.
“Of course I accept!”
“What is it?” l asked.
“Take a look!” Hinako handed l the papers.
“It’s…” l read silently for a mont. Then, like Hinako, her eyes widened as she threw a surprised glance at Alia. “It’s sponsorship!”
“Sponsorship?” soone asked.
“Sponsorship!” Hinako echoed, buzzing with energy. “To ! From House Thornheart!” Hinako twirled, snatching the papers from l and holding them tight. “Do you know how significant this is!? It’s hard enough finding a wealthy rchant to sponsor you, but for a noble house? Especially one that’s already on the tongues and in the minds of half the Empire? It’s guaranteed success! Soon you’ll be hearing my na chanted from arenas from Ponan to Hokanai! No, even further!”
“Sponsorship… for her duelling?” Arin asked.
“Mmm!” Alia gave her a thumbs up. “And before you ask, there’s nothing stopping military officers from partaking in a duelling career, as long as they don’t do it while in uniform and their superior officer accepts it.” She gave Hinako a reassuring smile, saying, “Don’t worry, I buttered up Serena and convinced her it can be part of your training!”
For so reason, instead of reacting positively, Hinako and the other demons looked at her like she’d grown a second head.
“You did what to the captain?” Seonmi asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. “What an unusual use of butter. So highborn have strange tastes, but who am I to judge? Still…” Seonmi placed a finger on her chin, her mouth curling. “It does provoke so strange imagery.”
“Whoa whoa whoa,” Alia quickly said, shaking her head and holding her arms up. Everyone was looking at her like she was a second Daichi! Even l had started profusely blushing! What did her friend think Alia did to her girlfriend!? “It’s… it’s a human expression!” she quickly explained.
“Never heard of a human using that expression,” Seonmi said, now openly grinning. “You make it sound like the captain is a cake. Or a canvas to be covered…”
“It’s a Karlish expression!” Alia protested, relying on her artificial backstory of the far-away country to co to her defense. “It’s common over there! Everyone says it! It just ans to persuade soone!”
“By slathering them in butter?” Ido inquired, prompting the room to laugh and Alia to puff her cheeks out and pout. “Look at l! Any redder and she’ll start shedding crystal!”
“W-what?” l spluttered. “I’m not thinking of anything!” she said in a tone of voice that gave the ga away that she was, in fact, thinking of exactly what she was accused of.
“Anyway,” Alia said, doing her best to rein in the giggling demons that anyone looking in would think were a pack of gossiping teens rather than commissioned officers and sailors. “Hinako, I’ve heard the South has been the origin of many successful duellist careers. I bet Ishaq has more than a few arenas! I’ll be there to support you, and if you get injured, well…” Alia spooled up her aether, not enough to disturb the ship, but enough to make her dark brown hair glow a little. “I’ll be there for you!”
After another hug and sincere expression of gratitude, Alia turned to the last na on her list. “If you’ve quite finished turning red, l, would you like to guess what’s in your box?” Alia couldn’t help but tease the demon.
“I’ll show you red,” l muttered as she shook the small box. “So type of jewellery?” she guessed, holding it up to her ear and giving it a wiggle. “You told you went shopping for horn accessories in Kenhoro, didn’t you? What’s in here? Hornbands? Horncaps? Hmm…” Alia couldn’t stop herself from smiling, which only prompted l to grin in response. “I got it right, didn’t I? Oh, I hope you didn’t spend too much…”
“Technically, it cost nothing,” Alia said.
“Oh? Interesting…”
That’s because it’s not jewellery, Alia thought. Well, not the kind you’re thinking of!
“Open it!” soone shouted.
“Mmm!” Alia affird. “Go on!”
“Right, right…” l mused, carefully unwrapping the present, revealing a small, fist-sized jewellery box. “No markings on the box,” l observed, rotating it to look at all angles. “Right then, let’s see what we have here…” l raised the box to eye level, and, after dramatically casting her eyes over the room to raise the anticipation, slowly creaked open the box barely a few millitres before snapping it closed.
“Oh, co on!” Ido complained.
“It looked like a necklace,” l said, casting a look at Alia.
“Have another look,” Alia encouraged. “It’s not so much the necklace as what’s on it that counts!”
“What’s on it? What do you an?” l frowned before opening the box fully, revealing the contents.
She didn’t say anything for half a dozen seconds.
“Umm…” l swallowed. After the demon finished short-circuiting and rebooting she closed the box and faced Alia. “This is… this is too much… It’s too soon! You can’t do this! I an you can, but won’t it cause you problems!? I’m not a noble, I’m not… I’m just …”
“You’re lanie Mori!” Alia said proudly, putting her hands on the hips. “And that’s all you ever need to be! And no, you can’t refuse it! Sorry, but I insist!”
“Show us, already!” Ido cried. “What is it exactly? You’re acting like she just proposed to you!”
“Have a look,” l said in a shaky voice. She opened the box for the third ti, turning it so the room could see the necklace neatly positioned within. While the chain itself wasn’t anything of note, the real value lay in what hung from the necklace.
It was a bronze insignia.
An insignia consisting of a circle split into quadrants, with two arrows sticking out from it as if they were horns. It was a symbol Alia had made herself by layering the symbol for human and the symbol for demon over each other. It was the formal symbol of House Thornheart.
“Is that…” Hinako began, swallowing. “Is that the first…?”
“It’s the second one I’ve given out!” Alia held out two fingers. “But the first one was silver. So this is the first bronze one. Now I know”—Alia rolled her eyes and tilted her head from side to side—“that you’re supposed to wait years before committing to such a relationship, but as the official Head of House Thornheart, I decided I had to snatch up l here before any other house realises what a valuable person she is!”
“I’m not… I’m not worth…” l swallowed loudly. “Shit, I think I might cry, you idiot.”
“See!” Alia exclaid with a grin. “She’s calling an idiot. That’s how you know she’s close to !” She bounced over and embraced l. “You better not start crying or I’ll start crying and then you’ll feel bad!”
“This isn’t just a gift, though,” l whispered. “It’s a public statent. And if it’s the first bronze insignia… it’s going to send a ssage. Oh, Moons, my family is going to… going to…” l trailed off, making a few expressions that finished on a confused one. “Actually, I don’t know what they’re going to do, but I know my brother will be extrely annoyed.” l laughed, shaking her head and then twisted to hug Alia back. “This ans more than you can know. Thank you, Alia.”
“Shut up, idiot,” Alia mumbled. “I’m crying.”
“Now I’m crying…” l replied.
A sniff sounded and Alia opened a watery eye to see Hinako wiping her eyes.
“Why are won so—ow!” Ido jumped up from his seat, rubbing his side where his sister had elbowed him. “Fine, fine… Have your mont.”
And so Alia had her mont, embracing her friend—lanie Mori, the first official friendship of House Thornheart. When Alia had received the newly created insignias from Johan in her Asamaywa estate, Serena had explained that bronze was the traditional tal of friendship. While normally they would only be given to individuals who had maintained both a friendly and beneficial relationship for many years, Alia hadn’t hesitated when she decided to give one to l.
After all, l had almost died for her. In fact, she would have died if the Empress herself hadn’t intervened and healed her!
It was the least Alia could do!
“I’m still going to exceed you,” l said, breaking the embrace and wiping her eyes. “I’ll be a Speaker before you know it and then we can have a real duel!”
“Mmm!” Alia humd happily. “You should work fast, I can't be that far away from orange!” She wiped her tears and began spooling up her aether to clean the both of them. Then, she changed her mind and stopped. Their tears and the dampness on their uniforms was a sign of their friendship. It wasn’t sothing that should just be magicked away. “I don’t know when we’ll be back in Asamaywa, but when we are, you should stay over at my estate. You all should co stay. I’ll cook you so delicious als!”
l laughed and hugged Alia again.
And, while they were embracing yet again, sothing in Alia’s mind clicked and she realised that she very much could, and would, kill to protect what she had right now. It wasn’t just the intense romance she had with the love of her life, but it was these platonic relationships that equally defined who she was and everything she stood for. Alia wanted to protect those she loved, and advocate for human-demon relations. Other than Serena herself, what better pairing was more suitable than her and l?
“Right,” Alia began, ending the embrace. “One last person on my list. She should be getting off shift right about now.”
“Who’s that?” Ido asked.
“The captain, obviously,” Seonmi mused.
“I hope you have sothing special planned,” l said, her cheeks flushing again for so reason. “I’d feel bad if I got the best gift. I know how close you are, after all.”
“Don’t worry,” Alia said with a grin. “I know just how to show my gratitude.”
Was it her imagination, or did l put a strange emphasis on the word ‘close’? Was it possible that l might suspect that sothing was going on between her and Serena?
Sure, Finella had said Alia wasn’t as subtle as she thought she was, but that was coming from a coffee-crazed demon that probably watched Alia’s every move for a single sign of Jimari beans. Alia was sure she was crafty enough to keep her relationship secret from l and the others!
Food for thought, Alia thought, filing the concern away for the future.
Bidding the group farewell, Alia gave them a final polite bow before exiting and making her way through the Vengeance’s narrow corridors towards the Captain’s Quarters. Perhaps l and the others underestimated just how sensitive her hearing could be, because as she turned a corner she heard their faint murmuring.
“We should pool our wages together and get her sothing in Ishaq,” Hinako said.
The following cascade of enthusiastic agreent filled Alia with every bit as much warmth as she was sure she had provided her friends from her gifts. Knowing there was a group of people, no, a group of friends so eagerly planning to make her happy in the near future was simply so validating for everything she stood for and everything she wanted.
After all, it felt good to do good things!
Humming to herself, Alia continued her journey.
It was ti to see Serena!
User Comments
0 comments from readers